Mediagazer: How BandLab, a music production app and social network for creators, woos users through its SongStarter AI tool, which generates royalty-free instrumental ideas (Catherine Wang/Forbes)

7:55 AM ET, February 15, 2023

Top News:

How women journalists around the world are targeted by powerful people, commonly by probing and speculating on the woman's personal life and relationship status — Tackling difficult subjects and holding powerful people accountable often triggers online attacks that torment and humiliate women journalists.

Wall Street Journal:

Source: Vice Media secures $30M+ in debt financing from Fortress; sources: Vice owes millions to vendors and advisers, some of whom have hired debt collectors — Company owes millions of dollars in overdue payments to several vendors, some of whom have resorted to debt collectors

Discussion: @jtoonkel, @niubi, The Information, @alexbruell, @tvgrimreaper, @mateirosca and The Wrap

Catherine Wang / Forbes:

How BandLab, a music production app and social network for creators, woos users through its SongStarter AI tool, which generates royalty-free instrumental ideas — A scion of Malaysia's richest family, Kuok Meng Ru transformed his love of classic rock and blues into a music empire.

Discussion: @forbes

Paul Kirby / BBC:

A Russian court jails journalist Maria Ponomarenko for six years over posting on social media about Russia's bombing of Ukraine's Mariupol in March 2022 — Russian journalist Maria Ponomarenko has been jailed for six years for posting on social media about a deadly attack by Russian warplanes on a theatre in Ukraine.

Discussion: Politico

Will Goodbody / RTÉ:

Dublin-based NewsWhip, used by Google, Meta, the BBC, and The New York Times, raised $13M led by AshGrove Capital to grow its media monitoring operations — Newswhip, the Dublin based predictive media monitoring firm, has raised $13m in fresh investment. — The round was led by London-based AshGrove Capital.

Discussion: NewsWhip, The Irish Times, Business Post and @paulyq

Bron Maher / Press Gazette:

An analysis of 12 news outlets' US job postings finds that average pay ranges at some are four times larger than at others; pay ranges widen with experience — Who in US media is hiring and what are the salaries on offer? — Pay transparency remains unusual in UK media, but in parts of the US, it's a legal requirement.

Discussion: @pressgazette, @scottnover, @michaelroston, @elliemaeohagan, @pressgazette and @pressgazette

Jonathan Stempel / Reuters:

A New York appeals court rejects Fox News' bid to dismiss a Smartmatic defamation suit over 2020 election statements and reinstates claims against Jeanine Pirro — A New York state appeals court rejected Fox News' bid to dismiss a multibillion-dollar defamation lawsuit accusing the network …

Discussion: NPR, @mjk_4mjk@mastodon.ie, @mollyjongfast, @jeremymbarr, @jeremymbarr, @jeremymbarr, Bloomberg, Insider, Reason, Associated Press and Deadline

Ted Johnson / Deadline:

Gigi Sohn, Biden's nominee for the last of five FCC seats, faced a third Senate Commerce Committee confirmation hearing amid telecom, media, and GOP opposition — More than a year since she last faced a Senate hearing over her nomination to the FCC, Gigi Sohn returned again on Tuesday …

Discussion: The Hill, Inside Radio, Wall Street Journal, Next TV, MediaPost, Light Reading, Fox News, Free Press, Ars Technica, The Verge, Fox News and Radio & Television …

Hanaa' Tameez / Nieman Lab:

The Dallas Morning News plans to reassign the five staff at Al Día on March 1, leaving its Spanish-language outlet to publish just translations and wire stories — Al Día, the Dallas Morning News' Spanish-language sister newspaper, will be disbanded on March 1 …

Discussion: @hanaatameez, @niemanlab, @sarahscire, @dallasnewsguild, @rebeccaaguilar, @marcela_elisa and Dallas News Guild

Elizabeth Dilts Marshall / Billboard:

Hipgnosis signs a deal giving song access to producers using Timbaland's Beatclub, an online marketplace where creators and producers sell their beats and music — Merck Mercuriadis' company gains a partner in film and TV through Beatclub's opportunities portal.

Discussion: Music Business Worldwide and Digital Music News

Mark Stenberg / Adweek:

The New Republic names Michael Caruso as its CEO and publisher; Caruso says he wants to expand the magazine's events portfolio and experiment with new verticals — Caruso aims to expand its events portfolio and experiment with new editorial franchises — The privately held publisher …

Discussion: New Republic, WWD and Talking Biz News

Lauren Forristal / TechCrunch:

Fox says its free ad-supported streaming TV service Tubi passed 64M MAUs, up from 51M MAUs in May 2022, and 25M MAUs when Fox acquired the service in March 2020 — Fox's free ad-supported streaming TV (FAST) service, Tubi, reached 64 million monthly active users, the company announced today.

Discussion: Fox Corporation, @tvgrimreaper, Light Reading, Media Play News, The Streamable, Fox Corporation and Cord Cutters News

Archived Page Info:

This is a snapshot of Mediagazer at 7:55 AM ET, February 15, 2023.

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Who's Hiring in Media?

Deputy Ed. - Gen. Assignment Desk, DC — WaPo

EU Technology Reporter, Brussels — Bloomberg

Breaking News Reporter, NY — Guardian US

Harrisburg Reporter, PA — PCBC

Senior Editor - Styles, NY — NYT

Part-time Editor, Remote — Techmeme

Home & Travel Reporter, Ireland — Newsweek

Assistant Digital Editor, MA — Boston Globe

Senior Editor - Visuals (Temporary), DC — NPR

South Reporter, GA/Remote — ProPublica

Private Capital Reporter, London — FT

Staff Writer, MI — Watershed Voice

Articles Editor, CA — SF Standard

Pharma Reporter, Remote US — Endpoints

Metro Reporter, TN — Daily Memphian

Higher Ed. Reporter, Remote CA — EdSource

Politics Reporter, Brussels — Politico

Investigations & Enterprise Ed., WI — Cap Times

Social Strategy Editor, NY — WSJ

Business Reporter, TX — Fort Worth Report

Senior Narrative Editor, CA — Cloud Chamber

News Correspondent, MS — Magnolia Tribune

Accountability Reporter, NC — Charlotte Observer

Editor-in-Chief, NY (flexible) — The 74

Housing Reporter, OK — The Frontier

Writer/AI Content Reviewer, CA — Outlier

Writer/Editor, Remote — Mediaite

Political Reporter, TX — Courier Newsroom

Afternoon/Night Editor, NH — Keene Sentinel

Education Lab Editor, WA — Seattle Times

Staff Writer, MA/Remote — Tech Advisor

State Worker Reporter, CA — Sacramento Bee

Executive Editor, NM — Searchlight

Reporter, NC — NC Newsline

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More News:

Andrew Fedorov / The Fine Print:
Sources and reporting show an Air Mail story defending Armie Hammer was thinly reported, one-sided, and didn't investigate sexual abuse and assault allegations

Discussion: @thefineprintnyc, Variety, @moiradonegan, @armieuk, @mediaevan, @thefineprintnyc, @nkulw, @caleweissman, @brokenbottleboy, @viajoshhunt, @annehelen, @bananapeele, @kattenbarge, @drvolts, @tylercoates, @benjamingoggin and Vanity Fair

Shubham Agarwal / Wired:
After a backlash, Spotify removes a clause that let Apple use audiobooks from Findaway Voices to train synthetic voices; Spotify acquired Findaway in June 2022

Discussion: @pt, @susannah_nix, @megantusing, @voxkimberly, @appleinsider, @wired and @rachelmetz

Gene Maddaus / Variety:
Producers of Rust plan a documentary about the completion of the movie, set to resume filming this spring, and cinematographer Halyna Hutchins' life and work

Discussion: The Hollywood Reporter, Deadline, Vanity Fair, @spaghetti, @b52malmet, Rolling Stone, Mediaite, The Guardian, Los Angeles Times, SlashFilm, The Hill, NBC10 Philadelphia and The Wrap

Sarah Perez / TechCrunch:
Following Facebook, Instagram plans to shut down live shopping on March 16, 2023, and focus on ads that help users discover businesses and shops on Instagram

Discussion: @herrmanndigital, @johnkoetsier, The Verge, Gizmodo, Search Engine Land and WWD, more at Techmeme »

Thomas Germain / Gizmodo:
Google launches Privacy Sandbox for Android in beta, starting with a “small percentage” of Android 13 devices, similar to Apple's App Tracking Transparency

Discussion: MediaNama, @ohthatflo, The Keyword, Ars Technica, MediaPost, The Verge, TechCrunch and AdExchanger, more at Techmeme »

Earlier Picks:

Sara Fischer / Axios:
Time plans to launch a commerce website in Q2 2023 with content by Taboola writers and editors; Time is Taboola's first Turnkey Commerce publishing partner

Discussion: Media Voices, What's New in Publishing, @jaredbkeller, @jsibo, @adamsingolda and Press Gazette

Ingrid Lunden / TechCrunch:
BuzzFeed launches Infinity Quizzes, which asks users questions so that Buzzy the Robot, an AI based on OpenAI's public API, can write a personalized narrative

Discussion: Tubefilter and The Verge, more at Techmeme »

Emily Bary / MarketWatch:
IAC reports a $1.4M net loss in Q4, down from $13M net income YoY, and $1.25B in revenue, up from $1.16B YoY; Dotdash Meredith generated $477.6M in revenue

Discussion: AdExchanger

Adam Coghlan / Eater London:
Eater London ceases regular publication after five and a half years due to the “economic circumstances in the US” but promises quarterly or bi-annual updates

Discussion: @meemalee, @e_casalicchio, @demarionunn, @onelongpiece, @angela_hui, @sejalsukhadwala, @sean_c_wyer, @emmahdhughes, @jameskhansen, @jjvincent, @gavincleaver, @chrisrickett, @shakeelhashim, @edcumming, @stephenkb, @dorianlynskey, @jonathanshainin and @eaterlondon

Politico Pro:
The EPA plans to decommission public records web portal FOIAonline on September 30, 2023, after over 10 years, due to departing user agencies and rising costs

Discussion: @kevinbogardus, @kevinbogardus, @mizzousundevil, @digiphile, @talkopan, @digiphile, @kevinbogardus, @digiphile and @digiphile

Selome Hailu / Variety:
Nielsen: Fox's Super Bowl airing averaged 113M viewers, up 1% over 2022's game and the third biggest TV program yet; Fox cited a record ~7M streams, up 18% YoY

From Techmeme:

Mark Gurman / Bloomberg:
Sources: Apple has renewed discussions with OpenAI about using its technology to power some features in iOS 18; talks with Google on using Gemini remain ongoing

Ryan Vlastelica / Bloomberg:
Alphabet closes above a $2T market cap for the first time, reaching a valuation of $2.15T after rising 10% on April 26, its biggest one-day jump since July 2015

Kate Kelly / New York Times:
Congress considers legislation to block DJI drones from running on US communication networks, effectively killing the Chinese company's US commercial business

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