Top News:
Ben Smith / Semafor:
Internal presentation: around 70% of the Los Angeles Times' projected $232.5M in revenue in 2023 comes from print, helping explain the recent cuts to 70 jobs — Progressive media activists, rattled by the collapse of a generation of youth-oriented digital news outlets like Vice and BuzzFeed News …
Discussion:
Semafor, @maxwelltani, @tvmojoe, @beachwoodreport, @stufalk, @stufalk, @phil_rosenthal and @jeffjarvis
Emily Flitter / New York Times:
How government officials have increasingly retaliated against local newspapers over unfavorable coverage, by stripping them of contracts to print public notices — When coverage upsets them, towns and counties are revoking newspapers' lucrative contracts to print public notices. — Reporting from Delhi, N.Y.
Discussion:
@emoltzen, The Rural Blog, @joelmmathis, @dankennedy_nu, @karynregal, @jisraelbalderas, @jayrosen_nyu, @kdkleman, @aarongell, @scottbrodbeck, @rkarpel and @jrcflatheadmemo
Thomas Germain / Gizmodo:
Some publishers say they have seen a sharp drop in Facebook traffic since May 2023; Echobox: the share of traffic to publisher sites from Facebook fell ~50% YoY — With no communication from the company, publishers relying on Facebook traffic are at the mercy of the inscrutable algorithm, and they say it's punishing them.
Discussion:
@saptarshinath, @coswise, @thomasgermain and @mattnavarra, more at Techmeme »
Alexandra Bruell / Wall Street Journal:
Group Black, an investor in Black-owned media, strikes a deal with NBCU to sell ads in Peacock shows popular with Black audiences, keeping most of the revenue — Some marketers have sought ways to invest more advertising dollars in Black-owned media — Comcast's NBCUniversal said Group Black …
Discussion:
Radio & Television …, @kerrymflynn, @alexbruell and The Hollywood Reporter
Alex Barinka / Bloomberg:
Snap hopes to use My AI chatbot interactions to personalize ads; 150M+ Snapchat users, or ~20% of MAUs, sent 10B messages to My AI since its late February debut — Snap Inc., the maker of the Snapchat app, is testing ways that its popular new artificial intelligence chatbot can boost the company's advertising business.
Discussion:
@matt_mcgowan, more at Techmeme »
Ben Smith / Semafor:
The organizers of Cannes Lions, the ad industry's top awards, tell juries to steer clear of politics and advocacy in favor of more commercially-minded campaigns — The organizers of the advertising industry's top awards ceremony have quietly instructed juries to steer clear of politics …
Discussion:
Ad Age, The Drum and @semaforben
Rebecca Tan / Washington Post:
Sources: Meta plans tighter content rules in Vietnam, its seventh largest market, and keeps a list of officials not to be criticized, after government requests — HANOI — When Facebook took off in Vietnam about a decade ago, it was like a “revolution,” said two of the company's early employees in Asia.
Discussion:
@davidscloud, @sarahemclaugh, @thr, @alexdukalskis, @kenroth and @rachel_chason, more at Techmeme »
Marah Eakin / Wired:
How Pixar used neural style transfer, a type of AI used to make photos look like popular artworks, to animate Ember, a lead character in its movie Elemental — It's harder to make fire than you might think. But the Pixar team was determined to do the impossible. — Pixar had a problem.
Discussion:
Screen Rant, Los Angeles Times, The Guardian, SlashFilm, PinkNews, Comic Book, Variety, Looper, IndieWire, GoldDerby and The Walt Disney Company, more at Techmeme »
Podnews:
Spotify executive Bill Simmons calls Harry and Meghan “grifters” after their $20M deal ends with 12 episodes; sources say some interviews were done by staffers — Archewell, the podcast company owned by Prince Harry and Meghan Markle, will not have its contract renewed with Spotify.
Discussion:
Awful Announcing, @jodyavirgan, The Wrap, UPROXX, CNN, The Guardian, Variety, New York Post, Global News, New York Daily News, CBS News, @loldev3, Fortune, @buckgenoiii, @ishmaelrjohnson, @yoda, @seanmbailly, @mikegolicjr, TMZ.com, @jerseydeanne, @chewithblingon, @sonnybunch, @itsthebrandi, @edsbs, @garycaffrey, Mediaite, @josephzucker, @tweets_by_zo, @bleez17, @newmethos, @terryfuck45, @chronotope.aramzs.xyz, @cockybovine, @drewbutler, @kontra402, @natalieweiner, The A.V. Club, CNBC, @adamsinger, @moorehn, @r0wdy_, Deadline, @imryan, @snarkyredhd, Sky News, Decider, Fox News, SheKnows, Page Six and The Big Lead
Mark Caro / Local News Initiative:
An interview with Stephanie Lulay, one of three co-founders of Block Club Chicago, as the nonprofit outlet hits its fifth anniversary with 29 full-time staffers — Exceeding its DNAinfo origins, Block Club Chicago hits 5th anniversary doubling down on the power of neighborhood reporting
Discussion:
@alexanderrusso, @journogeoffz, @danielkayhertz, @timafranklin, @poynter, @markjacob16 and @poynter
Megan Graham / Wall Street Journal:
Duolingo says the company significantly scaled back TV ads and its DAUs growing 62% YoY to 20.3M in Q1 2023 is due in part to efficient social media marketing — The language-learning app now relies more on memes—helping it climb to 20 million daily active users
Discussion:
@trengriffin, more at Techmeme »
Jo Ellison / Financial Times:
A look at Vogue Ukraine, which is published under license from Condé Nast by Vanguard Media and has focused on Ukraine's war effort since Russia's invasion — How Vogue Ukraine became an unlikely voice of defiance — There was a huge kerfuffle surrounding the news earlier this month …
Discussion:
@ifmparis
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