Top News:
Julian Fowler / BBC:
A UK court finds the Police Service of Northern Ireland and the Metropolitan Police unlawfully spied on two Belfast journalists to identify their sources — The Police Service of Northern Ireland (PSNI) and Metropolitan Police acted illegally by spying on two Belfast journalists' to identify their sources.
Axios:
Sources: NYT's Cliff Levy and Meta's Anne Kornblut withdrew from consideration to become The Washington Post's executive editor after hearing its strategy — - One person involved in the search told us Lewis' pitch was foggy and uninspiring. … Other candidates include current interim executive editor Matt Murray.
Discussion:
@davidfolkenflik, @cuneytdil, @jmhaigh, @doriandavis, @mikeallen and @jimvandehei
CNN:
Syrian locals say a man filmed by CNN being released by rebels from a Damascus jail was a former intelligence officer with the deposed Syrian regime — A man who was filmed by CNN being released by rebels from a Damascus jail was a former intelligence officer with the deposed Syrian regime …
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Sean Craig / The Daily Beast:
Syrian fact-checking group Verify-Sy says that a Syrian man may have given CNN a “false identity” during a segment depicting his apparent release
Syrian fact-checking group Verify-Sy says that a Syrian man may have given CNN a “false identity” during a segment depicting his apparent release
Discussion:
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Oliver Darcy / Status:
Memo: LAT opinion staff express concern over Soon-Shiong's new policy forcing editorials critical of Trump to be presented side-by-side with an opposing view — Patrick Soon-Shiong, the owner of the Los Angeles Times, has dismayed staffers as he curtails critical coverage of Donald Trump.
Hadas Gold / CNN:
Donald Trump says he plans to sue The Des Moines Register over its final poll of Iowa voters by Ann Selzer, saying he wants to “straighten out the press” — New York CNN — — President-elect Donald Trump had not been terribly successful in suing media organizations until …
Discussion:
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Melissa Clarke / ABC:
Australia's ABC names former Nine CEO Hugh Marks as managing director, starting March 10, 2025; Marks oversaw the AU$4B merger of Nine and Fairfax Media in 2018 — In short: — The ABC's next managing director will be former Nine Entertainment chief executive Hugh Marks.
Discussion:
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Lucas Shaw / Bloomberg:
A look at Saudi Arabia's Red Sea Film Festival, attended by movie stars, filmmakers, and execs in search of cash, as the KSA tries to boost its local industry — Stars, producers and financiers are traveling to Saudi Arabia looking for cash. The country wants foreigners to help nurture a local industry in exchange.
Discussion:
@lucasshaw.bsky.social
Danielle Kaye / New York Times:
A US judge sentences Ozy Media co-founder Carlos Watson to almost 10 years in prison for trying to defraud investors and lenders by lying about Ozy's finances — A federal jury in July found Mr. Watson, who started the digital media company in 2013, guilty of trying to defraud investors and lenders.
Discussion:
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Lawrence Hurley / NBC News:
ByteDance asks SCOTUS to block the US law that could ban TikTok on January 19; when asked about the law, Trump says he has a “warm spot” in his heart for TikTok — The law will go into effect on Jan. 19 if the justices don't grant the company's request.
Discussion:
TVNewsCheck, HuffPost, @kaitlancollins, 9to5Mac, @eggerdc, @atrupar, @hannahbrandt_tv, @macfarlanenews, @mattschett, HotAir, CBS News, Washington Post, The Gateway Pundit, Washington Examiner, KTVU-TV, Digital Music News, Variety, NBC Bay Area, Forbes, Bloomberg Law, Bloomberg, SCOTUSblog, MarTech, New York Post, TechCrunch, USA Today, Passionfruit, @jdbunchanumbers.bsky.social, Semafor, Associated Press, Adweek, The Verge, Deadline, Election Law Blog, MediaPost and Capital Brief, more at Techmeme »
Joseph Cox / 404 Media:
Amnesty International: Serbian authorities used phone hacking startup Cellebrite's tools to unlock a journalist's phone before infecting the device with malware — A new report from Amnesty International reveals multiple cases where Serbian authorities used Cellebrite devices …
Financial Times:
The UK opens a consultation on AI and copyright, and aims to offer an “opt out” copyright exception, force companies to open models to scrutiny, and more — Consultation could see easier access to copyrighted works but require tech groups to be clearer on what they have used
Discussion:
The Guardian, The Mirror, CNBC, GOV.UK, GOV.UK and CMU, more at Techmeme »
Jay Peters / The Verge:
Mark Zuckerberg says Threads now has 100M+ DAUs, revealing its DAU figure for the first time, and 300M+ MAUs, up from 275M+ MAUs in November 2024 — It's a notable milestone not just because it's a big number; it's also the first time Meta has a daily active user figure publicly.
Discussion:
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Ivan Mehta / TechCrunch:
YouTube is testing the ability for some US creators to reply to comments on their videos using voice notes in its iOS app — YouTube is experimenting with a new way to engage fans by giving creators the ability to post voice notes and reply to comments on their videos, the company announced on Monday.
Discussion:
TVNewsCheck, Digital Music News and The Verge, more at Techmeme »
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Sarah Perez / TechCrunch:
YouTube adds a tool to let creators authorize third parties, including Amazon, Anthropic, Apple, Meta, Microsoft, and OpenAI to train AI models on their videos
YouTube adds a tool to let creators authorize third parties, including Amazon, Anthropic, Apple, Meta, Microsoft, and OpenAI to train AI models on their videos
Discussion:
@eshumarneedi.com, The Verge, Social Media Today, Cord Cutters News, Google Help Center and Yahoo Finance