Mediagazer: NewsGuard finds 49 websites with generic names like “News Live 79” using generative AI and posing as news outlets; some feature falsehoods and programmatic ads (Davey Alba/Bloomberg)

2:25 PM ET, May 1, 2023

Top News:

Dominic Patten / Deadline:

At the WHCD, President Biden called for the release of Evan Gershkovich and Austin Tice, offered support to their families, and said “journalism is not a crime” — “I believe in the First Amendment, and not just because my good friend Jimmy Madison wrote it,” …

Rebecca Rubin / Variety:

The Super Mario Bros. Movie crosses $1B globally at the box office, becoming the first to do so in 2023 and the most financially successful video game movie yet — “The Super Mario Bros. Movie” is officially the first film of the year to cross the coveted $1 billion milestone.

Discussion: Nerdist, The Hollywood Reporter, The Verge, The Wrap, Comic Book, TMZ.com, @starryeyedwho, The Week, IGN, Associated Press, Media Play News, Forbes, Screen Rant, SlashFilm, Vanity Fair, Collider and Gizmodo, more at Techmeme »

John Eggerton / Next TV:

FCC judge suspends her review of the deal between Standard General and TV broadcaster Tegna, likely dooming the acquisition as financing expires May 22 — Says, in effect, why start the process if deal may crater anyway — There will now definitely not be any action from the Federal …

Discussion: The Desk, Tv Technology, Adweek, Fierce Video, NAB Blog, FTVLive and Inside Radio

Matthew Keys / The Desk:

Source: three more local Sinclair newsrooms will be replaced with The National Desk in the coming months, in addition to two recently shuttered newsrooms — Three more local television stations will shut down their local news operations, with even more slated to close in the coming months.

Discussion: FTVLive, Thanks:@thedeskdotnet

Matthew Keys / The Desk:
Sinclair Broadcast Group is replacing local newscasts at Toledo's WNWO and Southern Oregon's KTVL with The National Desk, and laying off their entire newsrooms

Discussion: Adweek, @directorcarey, @mjmckean, @ccolin, @blackamazon, @thedeskdotnet, WTOL-TV, OPB, FTVLive and Cord Cutters News, Thanks:@matthewkeyslive

Elon Musk / @elonmusk:

Elon Musk claims that Twitter plans to let media publishers charge users on a per-article basis, with one click, starting in May 2023 — Rolling out next month, this platform will allow media publishers to charge users on a per article basis with one click. This enables users who would not sign up for a monthly subscription to pay a higher per article price for when they want to read an occasional article.... https://twitter.com/...

Discussion: TechCrunch, Mediaite, The Verge, The Guardian, Engadget, @josephpolitano, @ryanatdust2, @idvck, @strobist, @jsblokland, @arctechinc, @panopticonomy, @ashkan, @catale7a, @icodrops, @sharonodea, @deanrosario, @jakehaleee, 9to5Mac, @aphelelejody, @beirutspring, Variety, @apagut, @whereisdaz, @givenality, @apagut, @electroniceggs, @jt_mag_os, @hacksultan, @electionlegal, @juddlegum, @mahirzeynalov, Metro.co.uk, @stevanzetti, @mcwm, @benedictevans, @ezralevant, @prestonjbyrne, New York Daily News, @brianmbunde, @mattnavarra, @jamesrbuk, @realtombohn, @iamasarch, @martinsfp, @choisungho, @chaddepue, @taylorlorenz, @philduan, @bmeiselas, @sullycnbc, @royprice, @t0nyyates, @schmmuck, @truedevonthomps, @arrington, Rolling Stone, The Wrap, Deadline, The Information, The Hill, Insider, Fortune, New York Magazine and Bloomberg

Sarah Fielding / Engadget:

Amazon announces plans to make 100+ Prime Video original series available on its free streaming service Freevee gradually throughout the year — Amazon has announced it's making over 100 Prime Video original series and movies available on Freevee, its free streaming service.

Discussion: The Wrap, TechCrunch, Variety, The Verge, Deadline, TVLine and The Hollywood Reporter

Davey Alba / Bloomberg:

NewsGuard finds 49 websites with generic names like “News Live 79” using generative AI and posing as news outlets; some feature falsehoods and programmatic ads — The news-rating group NewsGuard has found dozens of news websites generated by AI chatbots proliferating online …

Discussion: @alistairmbarr, @daveyalba, Gizmodo, @gianluca_string, @ouranosaurus, @sarahscire, @daveyalba, @adamsinger, @mattdpearce, @mmitchell_ai, @independent_ie and @mylesudland, more at Techmeme »

John Herrman / New York Magazine:

The death of BuzzFeed News and the pivots to nowhere by bloated social media giants show the absurdity of the news media marrying a speculative tech industry — The media bet its future on Facebook. Did it learn from that mistake? — BuzzFeed, the archetypal new media company of the 2010s …

Discussion: @semaforben, @rafat, @chr1sa, @lisatozzi, Digiday, CNBC, @amelscript, @brianroemmele, @localmediarocks, @bobbyallyn, @ckrewson, @mattvella, @marcissist, @jwherrman, NPR, BuzzFeed, Wired and Press Gazette

Jason Zengerle / New York Times:

How Tucker Carlson became the far right's standard-bearer in the culture wars, as his dark influence on US politics is set to continue after his Fox News ouster — For the quarter-century-plus that the Fox News Channel has been coming into America's living rooms, it has operated according …

Discussion: The Daily Beast, Mediaite, Next TV, @jayrosen_nyu, @kausmickey, @nandoodles, @andrew_levidis, Poynter, @curtishebert, @notjessewalker, The Desk and The Hill

Pesha Magid / Columbia Journalism Review:

A profile of Jeff German, a Las Vegas Review-Journal reporter murdered in September 2022 after a career covering the city's mob violence and the men behind it — In 1978, forty-four years before Jeff German was murdered, he left Milwaukee for a job at The Las Vegas Sun.

Discussion: Washington Post

David Pierce / The Verge:

How 24/7 free ad-supported TV channels like Tubi, Pluto, and The Roku Channel, which offer big content libraries, became the fastest-growing streaming segment — Call it FAST, call it AVOD, call it whatever you want. Free ad-supported streaming is having a moment, and it's only going to get bigger from here.

Discussion: Variety, Digital Content Next, @hshaban, @buzzedition and Adweek

Ben Smith / Semafor:

Sources: ABC News is scrambling to replace Nate Silver's election forecasting model, which the network rented from Silver as part of the initial ESPN deal — I've spent my career in digital media, so it was humbling to stand in a corner at the lavish CBS News party at the French Ambassador's …

Discussion: @jbillinson

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More News:

Tabata Viapiana / Brazil Reports:
Brazil's “fake news bill” to regulate social media is set for a vote next week, as platforms argue for self-regulation and critics raise free speech concerns

Discussion: Breitbart and Reclaim The Net

New York Times:
As labor contract negotiations heat up in Hollywood, unions representing screenwriters and actors seek to regulate the use of AI-produced material

Discussion: @highbrow_nobrow, @alecstapp, @noamscheiber, @nytimesbusiness, @nytimes, @joefav, @jackarking, @noamscheiber, @bostonvoiceguy, @j_g_allen, @noamscheiber, @jeffjarvis and @v21collective, more at Techmeme »

Brian Stelter / Los Angeles Magazine:
A look at the diminished state of late-night TV as James Corden departs; sources: his show cost $60M to $65M per year to produce but brought in less than $45M

BBC:
Wikimedia won't comply with the Online Safety Bill's age checks of its UK readers or contributors, citing the foundation's “commitment to collect minimal data”

Discussion: Breitbart, @carnage4life, @pgildersleve, @tonyajoriley, Derry Journal, Verdict, The Guardian and Light Reading

@hearstunion:
[Thread] WGA East members at Hearst Magazines announce they have a union contract, subject to a ratification vote starting next week, after years of bargaining

Discussion: @lisacullen, @tracyvwilson, @timesunionguild, @ericfrancisco24, @joshgondelman, @tamara_fuentes, @evanromano, @tylercoates, @laurpuckett, @dominicknero, @sesmith, The Wrap and Deadline

Earlier Picks:

Aisha Majid / Press Gazette:
Advertising Association/WARC: UK ad spend grew 8.8% YoY to £34.8B in 2022 and fell 1% YoY to £1.88B across news and magazines, of which £937M was online, up 2%

Discussion: @pressgazette

Angie Drobnic Holan / Nieman Lab:
Q&A with Mark Coddington and Seth Lewis about RQ1, their newsletter spotlighting academic research about journalism, its audience, fact-checking, and more

Discussion: @niemanlab and @janebsinger

Reuters:
EU lawmakers push forward an AI Act draft, which includes requiring companies deploying generative AI tools to disclose copyrighted material used for training

Discussion: @bnox, @vanbergheneu, @drnicka, @phat_controller, @mlamons1, Verdict, The Verge and MediaNama

Alexandra Bruell / @alexbruell:
The New York Times is using a new format that breaks down some news articles into sections like “Why It Matters” and has told some reporters to shorten stories

Alex Weprin / The Hollywood Reporter:
The NBA's Phoenix Suns sign a broadcast deal with Gray Television and a streaming deal with Kiswe, bringing the games to 2.8M+ households, triple the old RSN

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

Chance Miller / 9to5Mac:
A number of Apple users say they were logged out of their Apple ID across multiple devices on April 26 and forced to reset their password before logging back in

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