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4:15 AM ET, December 18, 2019

Mediagazer

 Top News: 
Joshua Fruhlinger / Thinknum Media:
Vox Media job listings show a drop in postings seeking freelancers for SB Nation starting in September, when California's AB5 law passed; staff openings rose 3x  —  Tweet it!  —  On Monday, Vox Media ($VOXMEDIA) announced plans to cut hundreds of freelance writers and editors in California …
RELATED:
American Society of Journalists and Authors:
The American Society of Journalists and Authors, representing nonfiction writers, sues California to stop AB5, a law effective Jan. 1 that impacts freelancers
CNBC:
Vox Media to end contracts of hundreds of freelancers to comply with CA's new AB5 law, which will forbid non-employees from submitting over 35 articles a year
Sara Fischer / Axios:
Facebook pilots a program in the US to use part-time contracted “community reviewers” to expedite the fact-checking process and aid its fact-checking partners  —  Facebook is creating a new pilot program in the U.S. that will leverage part-time contracted “community reviewers” to expedite its fact-checking process.
Kali Hays / WWD:
Former 60 Minutes correspondent Lara Logan sues New York magazine and writer Joe Hagan for a 2014 article about her and her Benghazi report that was retracted  —  Logan, who just landed a docuseries with Fox News, wants a court to “send a very strong message to other so-called ‘journalists.’”
Wall Street Journal:
A look at WSJ's AI tool for drawing its iconic “hedcut” portraits, which is now available for members to use after uploading their photo  —  A 40-year-old Wall Street Journal tradition gets recrafted with technology  —  The main difference was in the hair.
Alison Flood / The Guardian:
Gary Larson launches thefarside.com with plans for occasional new work; he credits better online graphics, security, and a desire to dampen copyright infringers  —  Beloved cartoons, which had been retired for 24 years without any official internet presence, now have an archive site with new work in the pipeline
Rachel Weiner / Washington Post:
Judge rules the US government is entitled to money Edward Snowden makes from his book and speeches because he disclosed classified information without approval  —  The government is entitled to any money former National Security Agency leaker Edward Snowden makes from his memoir and paid speeches …
Sara Fischer / Axios:
Facebook is funding a free 45-minute online Reuters course for journalists on spotting and handling manipulated media, now in English, French, Spanish, Arabic  —  Facebook is spending six figures to fund a course on manipulated media and deepfakes for newsrooms, executives tell Axios.
Robert Channick / Chicago Tribune:
Memo: Nexstar is shutting down Chicago local news channel CLTV, a cable channel in operation since 1993; most employees will be able to apply for jobs at WGN-TV  —  Nexstar Media Group, which bought Tribune Media in September, is shutting down Chicago cable news channel CLTV at the end of the month.
Ramona Giwargis / San José Spotlight:
San Jose mayor's office says it doesn't include online-only outlets in its daily “news clips” email; editor of San Jose Spotlight says the policy is outdated  —  When we launched San José Spotlight nearly a year ago, we came ready to work hard to earn — and keep — the public's trust.
Todd Spangler / Variety:
Audible announces founder Dan Katz will step down from CEO role on January 2, to be replaced by former Dun & Bradstreet executive Bob Carrigan  —  Audible, the Amazon-owned seller and producer of audiobooks and spoken-word entertainment, hired media and publishing veteran Bob Carrigan as CEO.
Discussion: Publishers Weekly and RAIN News
Dan Froomkin / Press Watch:
NYT's political coverage this weekend was a stunning display of bothsiderism and further proof of the collapse of NYT leadership  —  The New York Times's three-year struggle to sustain its reporting algorithms, built for two political parties that have comparable relationships to reality …
 
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 More News: 
Huw Edwards / LinkedIn:
BBC presenter Huw Edwards says critics are wrong to think its errors are partisan choices or that BBC echoes views of any one individual, like some newspapers
Charlotte Tobitt / Press Gazette:
European Parliament approves proposal to create a prize for European investigative journalists in memory of Daphne Caruana Galizia
Janko Roettgers / Variety:
Luminary now lets Alexa users subscribe to its podcast service or start a free trial via simple voice commands and pay using Alexa payments
Tom Balmforth / Reuters:
Maria Butina, who was convicted of being a foreign agent in the US and deported to Moscow, has been hired by RT to host an online show
 Earlier Picks: 
Kali Hays / WWD:
Media holding company Attention Capital buys Sophia Amoruso's Girlboss, which was valued at $13M in 2018; Amoruso will remain CEO
Agence France-Presse:
Reporters Without Borders: 49 journalists killed in 2019, the lowest death toll since 2003; ~389 imprisoned, up 12% YoY; and 57 are being held hostage
Joe Flint / Wall Street Journal:
Netflix shares detailed overseas subscriber numbers for the first time in a filing, and says 90% of total subscriber growth came from outside the US since 2017
 

 
From Techmeme:

Mishaal Rahman / Android Authority:
Source: Google has canceled the development of a second-generation Pixel Tablet, planned for release in 2025, due to concerns that it wouldn't sell very well

Mark Gurman / Bloomberg:
Sources: Apple is testing a more conversational version of Siri, dubbed “LLM Siri”, with plans to release it in spring 2026 as part of iOS 19 and macOS 16

Hannah Lang / Reuters:
Sources: a16z, Ripple, Kraken, and Circle are jostling for a seat on Trump's promised crypto advisory council, which is expected to set up a bitcoin reserve

 
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