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6:55 PM ET, March 28, 2023

Mediagazer

 Top News: 
Wall Street Journal:
Sources: Disney closes its metaverse unit, cutting ~50 jobs, and cancels an Amazon Prime-like program integrating Disney+, online retail, and theme park apps  —  The unit, once seen as developing a new form of storytelling, had about 50 employees  —  Mickey Mouse has left the metaverse.
RELATED:
Alex Sherman / CNBC:
Memo: Disney plans to start layoffs this week, the first of three rounds before the summer that will amount to 7,000 roles, as part of $5.5B in cost cutting
Aamna Mohdin / The Guardian:
The Guardian owner Scott Trust apologizes for the role the newspaper's founders played in the slave trade and announces expanded reporting on Black communities  —  Scott Trust to invest in decade-long programme of restorative justice after academic research into newspaper's origins
Sara Fischer / Axios:
Substack invites its newsletter writers and others to invest, aiming to raise $2M; source: the raise is an extension of Substack's $65M Series B in March 2021  —  Substack, the newsletter platform, will open up a community fundraising round on Tuesday, allowing writers on the platform to invest in the company.
Sewell Chan / The Texas Tribune:
The Texas Observer editors raise $200K+ in emergency funding through a GoFundMe drive and urge its board to reconsider its decision to shut down the magazine  —  Journalists at the progressive publication expect to be laid off this week.  Relations between the board and senior staff have severely eroded.
The Verge:
Elon Musk says only verified accounts will be recommended in Twitter's For You tab and be able to vote in polls to address “AI bot swarms”, starting on April 15  —  Twitter users will need a “verified account” to get recommended on the platform's For You page starting on April 15th …
James Rainey / Los Angeles Times:
A look at the decline of Gannett's The Salinas Californian, whose only original content comes from paid obituaries after its last reporter quit in December 2022  —  When brown water overflowed the banks of the Salinas River in January, flooding thousands of acres and throwing an untold number …
RELATED:
Zoë Schiffer / Platformer:
Documents: Twitter closely monitors and boosts ~35 accounts including Matt Yglesias, Glenn Greenwald, Noah Smith, Adrian Wojnarowski, Ben Shapiro, and @catturd2  —  Congratulations to Ben Shapiro, AOC, and ... LeBron?  —  Last week, Twitter began notifying users who were verified under …
Sarah Perez / TechCrunch:
OverDrive, which lets libraries and other institutions lend their digital catalogs, plans to shut down its app on May 1, 2023 and redirect its readers to Libby  —  For over a decade, the OverDrive app has offered a service that allows institutions, including public libraries and schools …
Discussion: The Bookseller
Charlotte Klein / Vanity Fair:
A profile of Kara Swisher where she explains why she left The New York Times, the importance of editorial control and owning your IP, writing a memoir, and more  —  The ultimate media insider is juggling podcasts, writing a memoir, and texting with “half the planet.”  ("She has a coffee before bed," says Ben Smith.)
 
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 More News: 
Steve Herman / The Newsguy:
VOA's Steve Herman, who was suspended from Twitter and returned after withdrawing his appeal, explains Twitter's influence on journalists despite its many flaws
Alex Sherman / CNBC:
Digital media companies like BuzzFeed, Vice, and Vox, which focused on consolidation to counter Google and Meta, abandon rollups to focus on differentiation
The Daily Beast:
New York Times managing editors Carolyn Ryan and Marc Lacey held “tongue-lashing” meetings and wrote warnings to ~20 staff who blasted the NYT's trans coverage
Kat Tenbarge / NBC News:
A look at the non-consensual deepfake porn economy, with video sites easily accessible via top Google search results and some accepting Visa and Mastercard
 Earlier Picks: 
Isabella Simonetti / Wall Street Journal:
Sources: CNN is finalizing a deal for Gayle King to host a weekly prime-time show; in March, CNN may hit its lowest monthly rating in decades for ages 25 to 54
Sara Fischer / Axios:
Sources: Grid News' website shuts down as owner The Messenger evaluates what to do with Grid's products and interviews Grid's staff for roles at The Messenger
Fiona Sturges / Financial Times:
Audio content agency This Is Distorted launches Synthetic Stories, a podcast created in 24 hours using AI, including for the plot, music, artwork, and narration
 

 
From Techmeme:

Financial Times:
Microsoft invests $1.5B in Abu Dhabi-based AI group G42 for a minority stake, after G42 severed ties with Chinese suppliers; Brad Smith will join G42's board

Raphael Satter / Reuters:
The Open Source Security Foundation and the OpenJS Foundation say the attempt to insert a secret backdoor into XZ Utils “may not be an isolated incident”

Matthew Connatser / The Register:
Intel's Gaudi 3 white paper details the made-for-China processors HL-328 and HL-388, likely designed to comply with US sanctions by reducing performance
 
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