Mediagazer: RSF says Georgia refused entry to two French journalists in recent months; both had covered the protests and crackdown that followed the October election (Felix Light/Reuters)

Felix Light / Reuters:

RSF says Georgia refused entry to two French journalists in recent months; both had covered the protests and crackdown that followed the October election — Two French journalists have been refused entry to Georgia in recent months, press freedom advocacy group Reporters Without Borders …

Discussion: Reporters Without Borders

Hanaa' Tameez / Nieman Lab:

Gannett says it will stop publishing its workforce demographic and diversity data and has removed diversity mentions from its website, citing Trump's EO on DEI — The company also removed mentions of “diversity” from its corporate site. — America's largest newspaper chain, Gannett …

Discussion: @projomike, @sarahscire, @kylewilsontharp, @sarahscire, @fitzbeat, @dankennedy.net, @fitzbeat.bsky.social, @notaaroncraig.bsky.social, @tracyjan.bsky.social, @buckscountybeacon.bsky.social, @froomkin.bsky.social, @sarahscire.com, @hanaatameez.bsky.social, @laurahazardowen.bsky.social, @aliciak2010.bsky.social, @laurahazardowen.bsky.social and Cincinnati Business Journal

Andrew Deck / Nieman Lab:

How Patch transitioned from human-curated local newsletters, which were shut down in November 2023, to AI-generated newsletters, which have 400K+ subscribers — Local news aggregation was primed for automation. In the transition Patch left human curators behind.

Mark Stenberg / Adweek:

People magazine launches its first standalone app, featuring a TikTok-style interface and exclusive content; e.l.f. Beauty is the app's launch sponsor — e.l.f. Beauty is the app's launch sponsor — People Magazine launched its first standalone app on Thursday with a TikTok-style interface …

Discussion: Press Gazette, Simon Owens's Media Newsletter, @markstenberg3, @alexandrakerr, @_alyssamora_ and Axios

Lauren Watson / Columbia Journalism Review:

A look at the changes at Outside that prompted some contributors to request their bylines be removed, including directions to staff to avoid political stories — Layoffs, acquisitions, and a contributors' revolt. — Last month, thirty-five of Outside magazine's contributing editors …

Discussion: @evaholland.bsky.social, @harrymccracken@mastodon …, @cestmoilanglois.bsky.social and @columjournreview.bsky.social

Kendra Barnett / Adweek:

Two new lawsuits allege that The Trade Desk tracks people online, builds out user profiles, and monetizes consumer data without adequate disclosures or consent — The adtech company faces new legal challenges over its use of consumers' personal information

Discussion: Hospitality Net

Winston Cho / The Hollywood Reporter:

In a tentative ruling, a US judge denies CBS' bid for a preliminary injunction to temporarily block Sony's efforts to distribute Jeopardy! and Wheel of Fortune — A court rebuffed CBS' bid for a preliminary injunction that would've allowed the network to continue distributing the two shows.

Discussion: Deadline, Cord Cutters News, Los Angeles Times, CBS News, TVNewsCheck, The Wrap and Variety

Amanda Silberling / TechCrunch:

BeReal rolls out in-feed ads in the US, after Voodoo acquired it for €500M; BeReal says it has ~40M MAUs, including 5M in the US, and 85% of its users are Gen Z — It's time for BeReal to get real — it's difficult to turn a profit on a social photo-sharing app without selling ads or memberships.

Discussion: @joshuaogundu, @kantrowitz, Tubefilter, MediaPost, Adweek and Marketing Dive, more at Techmeme »

Dietrich Knauth / Reuters:

Publishers Clearing House files for bankruptcy and will shed its direct mail catalog marketing and magazine subscription businesses to focus on digital ads — Publishers Clearing House, the sweepstakes company known for showing up on prize winners' doorsteps with oversize checks …

Discussion: Business Wire, Fortune, KHOU-TV, @denisethewriter.bsky.social, KHBS, Newsday, Wall Street Journal, 960 The Ref and Bloomberg

Andrew Marchand / New York Times:

Sources: MLB has held talks about licensing its MLB.TV game package; MLB.TV has been exclusively controlled by MLB since launch — Major League Baseball has held discussions about licensing its MLB.TV game package to networks and/or digital platforms, sources briefed on the discussions told The Athletic.

Discussion: @themizzler1, @imperfecttl, @catherinetinker, @masonkeith25, @latino_chill, Sports Business Journal, TVNewsCheck, The Streamable, Cord Cutters News, Awful Announcing and Barrett Media

Sarah Perez / TechCrunch:

YouTube is rolling out a new feature that lets creators use AI to generate instrumentals, available in the Creator Music marketplace — YouTube is launching a new feature that will allow creators to use AI technology to generate instrumental backing music that can be added to their videos.

Discussion: People, Android Headlines, Creator Insider on YouTube, Android Police, Passionfruit and Digital Music News

Dan Milmo / The Guardian:

British startup Synthesia, whose AI-generated avatars are used by companies in corporate videos, strikes a deal with Shutterstock to train its latest AI model — British startup will license content to train latest model for more ‘human-like performances’ from its avatars

Discussion: Engadget, UKTN and Synthesia LTD