Mediagazer: Some users of X Pro, formerly TweetDeck, see an X Blue paywall when trying to use the tool; on July 3, X said that X Pro would be subscriber-only “in 30 days” (Jay Peters/The Verge)

1:25 PM ET, August 16, 2023

Top News:

Sarah Perez / TechCrunch:

Google adds AI-powered article summaries for free articles, not paywalled ones, to its Search Generative Experience and says publishers can block the feature — Google today is rolling out a few new updates to its nearly three-month-old Search Generative Experience (SGE) …

Discussion: The Verge, The Keyword, @baldur@toot.cafe, @kevin_indig, @lilyraynyc, @googledevs, @searchliaison, @sundarpichai, @aleyda, @chrismoranuk, @eric_young_1, @glenngabe, CNET, MediaPost, 9to5Google and Bloomberg, more at Techmeme »

Clay Risen / New York Times:

Joann Meyer, who worked for nearly 60 years at the The Marion County Record in Kansas, died on August 12, a day after police searched the newspaper's offices — She collapsed a day after the police raided her home and the offices of The Marion County Record, a weekly paper in Kansas.

Discussion: The Wichita Eagle, Media Nation, @jeanneachille, @dankennedy_nu@journa.host, @jamesrbuk, The Handbasket, @clancynewyork, @sdkstl, @lixilamb.bsky.social, @nytimes, KSHB-TV, @clancyny.bsky.social and The Guardian

Jay Peters / The Verge:

Some users of X Pro, formerly TweetDeck, see an X Blue paywall when trying to use the tool; on July 3, X said that X Pro would be subscriber-only “in 30 days” — X, the social network formally known as Twitter, appears to be finally following through on its promise to make TweetDeck a paid service.

Discussion: @bengrosser, @lorengrush, @walthickey, @martincloake, @wirthtm, @lordravenscraft, @mcwm, @russbengtson, @katebevan, @mattnavarra, TechCrunch, The Wrap, @thomsendrake.bsky.social, @braeburned.com, @darthbluesky.bsky.social, 9to5Google and @TodayInTwitter@mastodon …, more at Techmeme »

Murray Stassen / Music Business Worldwide:
X files for dismissal of a copyright lawsuit filed in June by the US National Music Publishers' Association over alleged infringements of ~1,700 works

Discussion: Plagiarism Today, Complete Music Update, Yahoo Entertainment, Billboard and Digital Music News

Washington Post:
X added five-second delays, some now removed, on t.co links to Instagram, Facebook, Threads, Bluesky, Substack, the NYT, Reuters, and other sites Musk attacks

Danielle Kaye / NPR:

NPR names Eva Rodriguez as VP and executive editor in charge of its global news operations; Rodriguez was previously the EIC of nonprofit The Fuller Project — NPR has named veteran newsroom leader Eva Rodriguez as its next vice president and executive editor, a role that will put her at the helm …

Discussion: @davidfolkenflik and @isalara

Jem Aswad / Variety:

SoundExchange sues SiriusXM to recover an estimated $150M in unpaid royalties and late fees owed under the Copyright Act for the use of sound recordings — SoundExchange, the top digital royalty collection and distribution agency for the music industry, has filed a lawsuit against SiriusXM …

Discussion: Billboard, Radio & Television … and Music Business Worldwide

Soraya Amiri / The Walrus:

A female Afghan journalist recounts leaving Kabul after the Taliban regained power in the country in 2021, as she reflects on life as a journalist in exile — At 8:30 one August morning two years ago, I was at home in the Pul-e Surkh area of Kabul when my sister called.

Discussion: Al Jazeera, @jhrnews, @thewalrus, @jenniferhollett, @inamdarsiddhesh, @thewalrus, Voice of America, Reporters Without Borders, Fox News and Semafor

Alexandra Alter / New York Times:

The Authors Guild, the American Booksellers Association, and the Open Markets Institute urge the DOJ and the FTC to investigate Amazon's book market “monopoly” — The online retailer's size and sway affects the free exchange of ideas, the groups argue.

Discussion: Bloomberg, The Verge and @arjun.bsky.social, more at Techmeme »

Claudia Chiappa / Politico:

Russia expels Eva Hartog, Politico Europe's reporter in Moscow, after 10 years reporting in the country, without giving any details on how the ruling was made — As Putin escalates crackdown on foreign media, longtime correspondent Eva Hartog is forced out by the Kremlin.

Discussion: Al Jazeera, @mariageorgieva, @polinaivanovva and @jason_corcoran

Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty:

Iran sentences Saeed Roustayi to six months for screening his film Leila's Brothers at 2022 Cannes “without authorization”; he will serve about nine days — Celebrated Iranian director and screenwriter Saeed Roustayi has been sentenced to six months of correctional imprisonment …

Discussion: Variety, The Guardian, Deadline, Byline Times and Hollywood Reporter

Wall Street Journal:

Analysis: the average price of major ad-free streaming services is up nearly 25% in about a year, as companies try to push users toward ad-supported tiers — Price push by Disney, others is part of effort to trim losses, steer users toward more-lucrative ad-supported plans — Call it streamflation.

Discussion: The Streamable, Fast Company, The Verge, MIT Technology Review, Digiday and Washington Post

Patrick Frater / Variety:

Tencent Music reports Q2 revenue up 6% YoY to ~$1.01B, revenue from music subscriptions up 37% YoY to ~$399M, and subscribers up 20% YoY to 99.4M — Subscriber numbers increased by 20% year on year and by 5 million quarter on quarter, to hit 99.4 million, the company said.

Discussion: RTÉ, Music Ally, Reuters, Digital Music News and Music Business Worldwide

Alex Weprin / The Hollywood Reporter:

Amazon hikes the price of Music Unlimited for Prime subscribers, up $1/month to $9.99 for individual plans and family plans up $1/month to $16.99 — Amazon previously raised the prime of Amazon Music Unlimited for non-Prime members earlier this year. — Amazon Music Unlimited …

Discussion: TechCrunch, Music Business Worldwide, Music Ally, Deadline, Billboard, Variety, The Verge, Digital Music News and Cord Cutters News

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More News:

Gene Maddaus / Variety:
WGA and AMPTP representatives met on August 15 in an effort to end the 106-day strike; sources: the sides remain at odds on streaming residuals and other issues

Discussion: @slack2thefuture, @jd_meltzer, @k_trendacosta, @erinsk8, @kimshum.bsky.social, The Wrap, The Hollywood Reporter, Deadline, Crain's New York Business, CBS News and New York Post

Lauren Forristal / TechCrunch:
Chicken Soup for the Soul Entertainment, which acquired Redbox in 2022, is cutting costs and plans to form a strategic review committee; CSSE closed down 47.3%

Discussion: Business Wire, The Streamable and Deadline

Bron Maher / Press Gazette:
Telegraph Media Group says the outlet has reached its target of 1M subscriptions, 70%+ of them digital, and that 300K of its subscribers use its app every day

Joe Flint / Wall Street Journal:
TSG sues Twentieth Century Fox and parent Disney, claiming the studio withheld profits and cut deals to boost Hulu, Disney+, and its stock, at partners' expense

Discussion: CNBC, Los Angeles Times, Variety, The Desk, The Wrap and Deadline

Jeremy W. Peters / New York Times:
A lawsuit that threatens to bankrupt a Wisconsin local news website highlights a trend of wealthy and powerful people using defamation law for retribution

Discussion: American Press Institute, @drewharwell@mastodon.social, @sapna, @persagen@mastodon.social and @JaneRLaForge@mstdn.social

Earlier Picks:

Meduza.io:
Investigation: Russian journalists Elena Kostyuchenko and Irina Babloyan were most likely poisoned in Munich and in Tbilisi, respectively, in October 2022

Discussion: Semafor, @kcarruthers@mastodon.social, Нов … and @kevinrothrock@infosec …

Sara Fischer / Axios:
Progressive local news group Courier Newsroom plans to open a Nevada newsroom this week and one in Texas and another one in New Hampshire in the coming months

Brian Steinberg / Variety:
ESPN sportscaster Sage Steele plans to leave the network after settling her lawsuit alleging ESPN violated her free speech rights; ESPN suspended Steele in 2021

Rick Porter / The Hollywood Reporter:
Nielsen: in July, linear TV made up less than 50% of all US TV usage, a first in over two years of tracking, and streaming hit a record 38.7% high of TV usage

Discussion: Nielsen, CNET, FTVLive, @digitalshields, The Verge, Music Ally, The Desk, NBC 7 San Diego, TechCrunch, TVLine, Fortune, IndieWire, Consequence, WORLD SCREEN, Variety, Wall Street Journal, MediaPost, Media Play News, Nielsen, Next TV and Deadline

From Techmeme:

Maggie Eastland / Bloomberg:
Sources: in a letter to US officials, Anthropic accused Alibaba of adversarial distillation, accessing Claude 28.8M times from April to June via ~25K accounts

Kif Leswing / CNBC:
Qualcomm unveils Dragonfly C1000, a new data center CPU built for agentic AI, and says Meta will use the chip when production starts in 2028

Don Clark / New York Times:
IBM details a 0.7nm chip manufacturing process that utilizes a “nanostack” 3D transistor architecture, which it says can maintain chip innovation for 10 years

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