Mediagazer: Internal email: Google invited employees to test Playables, a YouTube product that lets users play games like Stack Bounce instantly on the YouTube site or app (Miles Kruppa/Wall Street Journal)

11:40 AM ET, June 24, 2023

Top News:

Lisa Laman / Collider:

WBD CEO David Zaslav's gutting of staff at Turner Classic Movies, while he adopts a movie mogul's persona, is one of his most wicked and devastating maneuvers — The staff behind Turner Classic Movies has been gutted, which will have enormous consequences for cinema as an art form.

Discussion: The Wrap, New Republic, @chaikomanduri, @turnageb, TVLine, The Mary Sue, The A.V. Club, Bulwark+, New York Times, Next TV, The Playlist, The Streamable, Screen Rant, Fortune and MediaPost

The Hollywood Reporter:

Sources: Turner Classic Movies will now be overseen by Warner Bros. Pictures CEOs Michael De Luca and Pamela Abdy; WBD will not consider selling the channel — Putting the filmmaker friendly executives in charge is meant to reassure the film community, which has expressed concern after the exit of TCM boss Pola Changnon.

Discussion: IndieWire, Deadline, @davidkittredge, @aaroncouch, @toobaddiane, @kimmasters, @cnschedules, @carlquintanilla, @thr, @kimmasters, @derfelmacguffin, Variety, The Wrap, Decider and GoldDerby

Jem Aswad / Variety:
Sources: Warner Bros. Discovery is negotiating to sell around half of Warner studio's film and TV music-publishing assets for ~$500M, likely to a major label

Benjamin Mullin / New York Times:

IAC Chairman Barry Diller says The Daily Beast is not for sale; he had been in talks with Ankler Media but has withdrawn from them — Mr. Diller said he had considered combining The Daily Beast with Ankler Media, a start-up co-founded by Janice Min, a longtime magazine editor.

Discussion: @mediaevan, @vanityfair, @benmullin, @vanityfair, @helaineolen and Vanity Fair

Nico Grant / New York Times:

NetBlocks: at least five Russian telcos block Google News and other ISPs reduce access to the service, as Russia's feud with a mercenary leader intensifies — At least five telecommunications companies have blocked the service, which aggregates news from various sources …

Discussion: @sherman4949, @rmac18, @netblocks, @nytimes, Reclaim The Net, emptywheel, @nicoagrant, New York Post, @thechandlerdude, @mediaactive, Insider, @andreasharsono and @alfaiomi, more at Techmeme »

Adam B. Vary / Variety:

With a potential SAG-AFTRA strike looming, Marvel, Netflix, Sony Pictures, and other studios plan to skip panels at San Diego's Comic-Con, which starts July 19 — For two years, the biggest annual fan convention in North America was forced to cancel the five-day gathering due to the COVID-19 pandemic …

Jay Peters / The Verge:

Google adds a Perspectives tab to search results, featuring info from individuals posted on YouTube, Reddit, Stack Overflow, and more, after its May 2023 reveal — Google's new search feature that shows you different perspectives (ideally, human ones) in search results will be available on Friday, the company said on Twitter.

Discussion: 9to5Google, more at Techmeme »

Marvie Basilan / International Business Times:

Report: layoffs hit Altice USA-owned Cheddar News on June 22, affecting around a dozen people; in April, around six staffers for Cheddar's YouTube team were cut — KEY POINTS — News network Cheddar News reportedly slashed several jobs Thursday, including numerous producers and two longtime anchors.

Discussion: Insider, Talking Biz News, @reedalexander, @tomaxwell, Adweek and @lmoses

Gene Maddaus / Variety:

DGA members vote to ratify their new contract, with 87% voting in favor; the contract includes a 76% increase in foreign streaming residuals — Members of the Directors Guild of America have voted to ratify their new contract, bringing the industry one step closer to achieving labor peace.

Discussion: DGA, The Hollywood Reporter, @michaelmohan, @scottemovienerd, @brianduffield, The Wrap, Deadline, @manmademoon, @scottemovienerd, @averagejenn, @scottemovienerd, @lmcnelly, @mynette, @neptunesalad, @kabirakhtar, SlashFilm, @khascat and Comic Book

Voice of America:

Georgia's president pardons the country's only jailed journalist, Nika Gvaramia, who was convicted in 2022 for abuse of power as the director of a broadcaster — Greeted by cheering crowds and surrounded by journalists, including from his own station, one of Georgia's most prominent journalists walked …

Discussion: International Press Institute, Amnesty International, Radio Free Europe/Radio …, @jodieginsberg, Committee to Protect …, Politico and UPI

Lisa O'Carroll / The Guardian:

Media experts condemn the latest draft of the European Media Freedom Act that would let national security agencies place spyware on journalists' phones — Move to allow spyware to be placed on reporters' phones would have a ‘chilling effect’, say media experts

New York Times:

A look at Broadcaster U., a two-day NBA players' camp, where current and former players learn to host a show or podcast, provide color commentary, and more — A two-day camp trains current and former basketball players in the lucrative art of broadcasting, podcasting and throwing verbal bombs on camera.

Discussion: @hmfaigen, @sopandeb, @thenbpa, @sopandeb, @kingno_, Front Office Sports, Awful Announcing and New York Post

Jay Peters / The Verge:

YouTube is testing Aloud, an AI-powered dubbing tool developed by Google's Area 120, with “hundreds” of creators, starting with English, Spanish, and Portuguese — YouTube wants to make it easier to dub your videos in other languages by giving you some help with AI.

Discussion: Aloud, TechCrunch, @zonozi, gHacks Technology News, XDA Developers, Wccftech, @christianism, TechSpot, WinBuzzer, @nealmohan, MSPoweruser, TechRadar, @kevincutliffe, Engadget, ZDNet and ICYMI, more at Techmeme »

Archived Page Info:

This is a snapshot of Mediagazer at 11:40 AM ET, June 24, 2023.

View the current page or another snapshot:

Who's Hiring in Media?

Energy & Commodities Editor, Tokyo — Bloomberg

Politics Reporter, TX — Texas Tribune

Consumer Brands Reporter, GA — AJC

Deputy Editor - Health Care, VA — Politico

Product Editor, CA — CalMatters

Indigenous Affairs Editor, Sydney — Guardian US

China Markets Correspondent, Shanghai — Reuters

Bangor Reporter, ME — Bangor Daily News

Commerce Editor - Health, Remote US — Yahoo

Sports Editor, MI — Detroit News

Managing Editor, Remote US — Velo

Lex Writer, London — FT

See Also:

Mediagazer: site main

Mediagazer River: reverse chronological Mediagazer

Mediagazer Mobile: for phones

Mediagazer Leaderboard: Mediagazer's top sources

Subscribe:

Mediagazer RSS feed

Mediagazer on X

Mediagazer on Mastodon

More News:

Dietrich Knauth / Reuters:
Bloomberg, Dow Jones, NYT, and FT appeal a ruling that allows FTX to keep customer names secret, arguing it can't get a “sweeping exception” to disclosure norms

Miles Kruppa / Wall Street Journal:
Internal email: Google invited employees to test Playables, a YouTube product that lets users play games like Stack Bounce instantly on the YouTube site or app

Discussion: Engadget and @wsj, more at Techmeme »

Matthew Keys / The Desk:
Lithuania's telecoms regulator starts blocking IP addresses tied to Russian TV channels including RT, effectively blocking streaming of banned Russian channels

Elizabeth Djinis / Poynter:
Survey of 500+ local journalists in the US: ~72% reported experiencing personal burnout, 70% reported work-related burnout, and 72% considered leaving their job

Discussion: @allisonprang, @andrwfhenderson, @kylejandrews_, The Desk and The Rural Blog

RTÉ:
Ireland's RTÉ suspends its Director General Dee Forbes after revelations that a presenter was paid €345,000 above his annual published salary for several years

Discussion: @mir_ocall, @alisonoconn, @tweet_dec, @michael_o_regan, @reidyconor, @robertburke84, @caitrionaperry, @mandy_mcauley, @philipdwyer_moi, @lucymarcus, Variety and The Guardian

Earlier Picks:

Tory Shepherd / The Guardian:
Australia's ABC asks for more funding to counter China's information war in the Asia-Pacific, saying China spends $3B+ a year compared to ABC's $11M

Discussion: @peggymel2001, @joel_p_atkinson and @melaniedoak

Paul Sawers / TechCrunch:
French data protection watchdog CNIL fines Paris-based adtech company Criteo €40M for breaching GDPR by failing to obtain users' consent for targeted ads

Discussion: noyb.eu, @eric_seufert, @chronotope, @nickbotton, @cnil_en, @sgclark92, @montezumachavez, @lukolejnik, VideoWeek, Digiday, @maxschrems, Privacy International, Adweek and MediaPost

Claire Atkinson / The Media Mix:
An interview with Sinclair CEO Chris Ripley on “antiquated” FCC rules blocking TV groups from competing with big streamers, what went wrong with RSNs, and more

Discussion: @andria.bsky.social and Sportico

Andrew Romero / 9to5Google:
YouTube will require fan channels to make it clear they don't represent original creators and won't let them reupload others' content, starting August 21, 2023

Discussion: @glenngabe, Engadget, The Verge and TechCrunch

Rashi Shrivastava / Forbes:
NYC-based Captions, an AI-powered video editing app, raised a $25M Series B led by Kleiner Perkins at a $250M valuation, bringing its total funding to $40M

Discussion: @mvernal, @svangel, @joulee, @zypsycom, @dwightchurchill, @jtriest, @jacobandreou, @getcaptionsapp, The Information, Business Wire and Tubefilter

From Techmeme:

Financial Times:
US Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick says consumer electronics exempt from tariffs may be included in semiconductor tariffs likely coming in “a month or two”

Arjun Kharpal / CNBC:
Sony hikes PlayStation 5 prices in Europe, the UK, Australia, and New Zealand, citing a “challenging economic environment”; the PS5 Pro remains the same price

Mark Gurman / Bloomberg:
Sources: Apple is working on a lighter and cheaper Vision Pro and a Mac-tethered model with ultra-low latency; an overhaul will make iPadOS 19 more like macOS

Sister Sites:

Techmeme
Top news and commentary for technology's leaders, from all around the web

memeorandum
What US political commentators are discussing online right now

WeSmirch
The top celebrity news from all around the web on a single page