Mediagazer: Meta rolls out AI ad-targeting tech it calls a Variance Reduction System in an effort to comply with its DOJ settlement and reduce discrimination in housing ads (Jon Fingas/Engadget)

5:15 PM ET, January 9, 2023

Top News:

Sara Fischer / Axios:

The Intercept, founded in 2014, is spinning off as an independent nonprofit from its parent company First Look Media and lays off an undefined number of staff — The Intercept, a progressive nonprofit investigative news outlet, is spinning 0ff as an independent nonprofit from its parent …

Discussion: The Intercept, @heerjeet, @froomkin, @andrewdfish, @teddyschleifer, @ryangrim and @sarafischer

Dade Hayes / Deadline:

OpenAP, Fox, NBCUniversal, Paramount, TelevisaUnivision, Warner Bros. Discovery, and the Video Advertising Bureau form a committee to push Nielsen alternatives — Media ratings collective OpenAP, along with national programmers Fox, NBCUniversal, Paramount, TelevisaUnivision …

Discussion: Variety, Ad Age, MediaPost, The Wrap, Radio & Television …, Adweek, AdExchanger, @bristei and The Hollywood Reporter

Max Tani / Semafor:

A look at Punchbowl News' relationship with Kevin McCarthy, as the outlet's newsletters and Jake Sherman's Twitter drove the narrative around the Speaker's race — The crazy fracas on Capitol Hill Friday night had a few winners: C-SPAN, of course; the right-wing House Freedom Caucus …

Discussion: @matthewfoldi, @jamespmanley, @matthewkassel, @maxwelltani, @pegobry, @dicktofel and @ddayen

CNBC:

Email: Disney CEO Bob Iger tells hybrid staff to return to the office four days a week starting on March 1, stressing the importance of in-person collaboration — - Disney CEO Bob Iger told hybrid employees on Monday they must return to corporate offices four days a week starting March 1, according to an email obtained by CNBC.

Discussion: The Wrap, Los Angeles Times, New York Post, @juwanthewriter, @ashleylcarter1, Deadline, @tmfjmo, @brianstelter, The Hollywood Reporter, @stevekovach, @brianbyrdman and @sherman4949

Chance Miller / 9to5Mac:

Report: Apple VP of Services Peter Stern, who helped build Apple TV+'s business, plans to leave at the end of January, as Apple reorganizes its Services unit — One of Apple's top services executives is departing the company. Peter Stern, Apple's vice president of Services …

Discussion: Insider, @claireatki, Bloomberg, @anthony, AppleInsider, @bzamayo and @pkafka, more at Techmeme »

Aisha Malik / TechCrunch:

YouTube plans to begin sharing ad revenue with Shorts creators on February 1, and starts rolling out new terms for all creators in the YouTube Partner Program — YouTube will begin sharing ad revenue with Shorts creators on February 1, the company revealed on Monday.

Discussion: Engadget, 9to5Google and MediaPost, more at Techmeme »

Axios:

Axios plans to launch a centralized news hub in 2023 for national and local coverage, offering data-driven coverage, special weekend reports, and city guides

Discussion: @hollytmoore, @jakewilkns, @danprimack, @sarakgoo and @casey_moore

Alex Barker / Financial Times:

A look at the Murdoch family's succession dilemmas, questions about plans to reunite Fox and News Corp, and whether heir apparent Lachlan will get free reign — The proposed Fox-News Corp merger could portend a realignment of the interests of Rupert Murdoch's children

Discussion: @janinegibson, @tonytassell, @digbijaymishra1, @annaknicolaou, @jderbyshire, @khalafroula, @janinegibson and @aservais1

Todd Spangler / Variety:

Netflix Worldwide Ad President Jeremi Gorman says the company is pleased with its ad tier's growth and will add single-show sponsorships and targeting options — Netflix is “pleased with the growth that we're seeing” in its ad-supported tier since its launch nine weeks ago, said Jeremi Gorman, president of worldwide advertising.

Discussion: Android Police, TechCrunch and @xpangler

Sara Guaglione / Digiday:

An analysis of US publishers' self-reported employee diversity data from 2020 to 2022: media businesses are slowly getting less white and less male-dominated — This article is part of a limited editorial series, called The 2023 Notebook, and is designed to be a guide to marketing and media buying in the new year.

Discussion: @blackamazon, @blackamazon, @dcnorg, @jasminedotiwala, @juwanthewriter, @blackamazon, @jason_kint and @digiday

Shaad D'Souza / The Guardian:

Designers for major tours, including Lady Gaga's Chromatica Ball and Lorde's Solar Power, discuss creating social media-friendly sets and other considerations — From Lorde to Rosalía, today's biggest stars deliver shows that seem precision-engineered for social media.

Nate Raymond / Reuters:

SCOTUS lets Meta's WhatsApp pursue a lawsuit accusing Israel's NSO Group of exploiting a bug to install spyware, allowing the surveillance of 1,400 people — The U.S. Supreme Court on Monday let Meta Platforms Inc's (META.O) WhatsApp pursue a lawsuit accusing Israel's NSO Group of exploiting …

Discussion: TechCrunch, The Register, Al Jazeera, The Guardian, NBC News, MediaPost and @jsrailton, more at Techmeme »

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Part-time Editor, Remote — Techmeme

Home & Travel Reporter, Ireland — Newsweek

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Senior Editor - Visuals (Temporary), DC — NPR

Copy Editor, Remote US — ProPublica

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More News:

Charlotte Tobitt / Press Gazette:
Free London business newspaper City AM ends its Friday print edition as commuters continue to prefer working from home on Fridays, and says no jobs will be lost

Discussion: @jamesrbuk, City A.M. and @silvesterldn

Jon Fingas / Engadget:
Meta rolls out AI ad-targeting tech it calls a Variance Reduction System in an effort to comply with its DOJ settlement and reduce discrimination in housing ads

Discussion: CNET, Meta AI, @sdnynews, @jose_pagliery, @metanewsroom and Meta, more at Techmeme »

Sarah Perez / TechCrunch:
In February, Instagram plans to replace the Shop tab with a Reels button in the app's bottom navigation bar and return the Compose button to the center

Discussion: Gizmodo, Adweek, Engadget, @markdistef, The Verge and 9to5Mac, more at Techmeme »

Jem Aswad / Variety:
Alamo Records founder Todd Moscowitz and Sony Music launch Santa Anna, an artist and label services company to be led by former Geffen Records GM Lee L'Heureux

Discussion: Billboard and Music Business Worldwide

Georg Szalai / The Hollywood Reporter:
French media and entertainment conglomerate Vivendi's Canal Plus Group plans to acquire telecom Orange's production arm Orange Studio and TV channels unit OCS

Discussion: Deadline, Light Reading, Broadband TV News and Variety

Eric Ducker / New York Times:
A look at music trailerization, the practice of reworking existing tracks to maximize their impact in TV and movie previews

Discussion: @theericgoldman, @jayacunzo, @westernwilder, @bradmeltzer, @ericducker, @nytimesarts, @nytimesarts, @robertloerzel and @aegies

Alex Kantrowitz / Big Technology:
The economic downturn is hurting the creator economy, one of the most-hyped sectors of the past decade, in particular since its middle class hasn't yet emerged

Discussion: Somalis in Tech Newsletter, @venkatananth, @counternotions, @digitalshields, AdExchanger, @duderichy, @rowlsmanthorpe, @kantrowitz, @rafat, @randfish, @carnage4life and The Rationalist

Earlier Picks:

Karen Hao / Wall Street Journal:
The Cyberspace Administration of China will start regulating “deep synthesis” tech like AI-powered image, audio, and text-generation software on January 10

Discussion: Quartz, @jchengwsj, @billbirtles, @jchengwsj, @joshchin, @martijnrasser, @adhutchinson, @jchengwsj, @_karenhao, @_karenhao and IAPP Daily Dashboard

Bloomberg:
Sources: Twitter cuts staff in its already diminished trust and safety team handling global content moderation and in a unit for hate speech and harassment

Discussion: Engadget, The Verge, The Desk, Rolling Stone, MediaPost, @jamesrbuk, @alanajoy, @daveyalba, @daveyalba, @grogsgamut, @daveyalba, @alexeheath, @kurtwagner8, Appuals.com, BGR India, Reuters, The Guardian, New York Post and Forbes

Austin Karp / Sports Business Journal:
Sports accounted for 94 of the 100 most-watched US telecasts in 2022, of which a record 82 were NFL games; no scripted show made the top 100 for the second year

Discussion: Observer, @redveale, @austinkarp, @austinkarp, @austinkarp, @billschammert, @austinkarp, @austinkarp, The Streamable and Awful Announcing

Katy Waldman / New Yorker:
An interview with NYT reporter Maggie Haberman about her book Confidence Man, her “contextual scoops”, why she sees herself as a Trump “demystifier”, and more

Discussion: Politico, @richardhudock, @xwaldie, Poynter, @meinmelbourne, @jalexa1218, @lionhuntermusic, @johngib28171194, @andyblewis, @newyorker, @jayrosen_nyu and @michaelluo

William Turvill / Press Gazette:
A look at the expansion of British news outlets into the US, looking for more ad revenue per user and a larger audience to compensate for years of print decline

Discussion: Media Voices, @baronessbruck, @pressgazette, @pressgazette, @charlottetobitt, @pressgazette, @wturvill, @davidclinchnews, @pressgazette, @arusbridger and @pressgazette

Andy Maxwell / TorrentFreak:
A US judge partly grants a summary judgment in YouTube's favor in a 2020 class action copyright lawsuit filed by musician Maria Schneider, as the case continues

Discussion: Plagiarism Today and ScreenRant

From Techmeme:

Foo Yun Chee / Reuters:
Sources: EU may accept Apple's proposal to open its NFC payments tech to rivals, and may close its antitrust probe in May, letting Apple avoid hefty fines

George Steer / Financial Times:
Nvidia closed down 10% on Friday, falling the most since March 2020 and losing more than $200B of its market value, as investors pull back from AI bets

Gaby Del Valle / The Verge:
The US Senate reauthorizes FISA's Section 702; some communication service providers had threatened to stop cooperating with the US government in case of a lapse

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