Mediagazer: Patreon adds Discord-like group chats to mobile, letting creators join up to four chats and restrict access based on subscriber tiers; desktop is coming later (Mia Sato/The Verge)

3:25 PM ET, September 7, 2023

Top News:

Katie Robertson / New York Times:

The MacArthur Foundation and 20+ non-profits announce Press Forward, an initiative to invest $500M over five years in local news, eventually rising to $1B — The effort, spearheaded by the MacArthur Foundation, will give grants to support newsrooms and start-ups as concern grows over the rapid disappearance of local news outlets.

Discussion: macfound.org, The Hill, Nieman Lab, @mitrakalita, @jimfriedlich, NPR, Associated Press, Axios, Poynter, Free Press, Second Rough Draft, @chicagosamir, American Public Media, @peterlattman, @vabvox and @journalismproj

Linda Hardesty / Fierce Wireless:

The Senate votes 55 to 43 to approve Anna Gomez as the fifth FCC commissioner, breaking the deadlock at the agency and giving the FCC a 3-2 Democratic majority — Today, the U.S. Senate finally approved a nominee to fill the vacant, fifth seat on the Federal Communications Commission (FCC).

Krystie Lee Yandoli / Rolling Stone:

Interviews with 16 current and former staffers describe a toxic workplace at The Tonight Show, starting at the top with Fallon's outbursts and erratic behavior — Sixteen current and former staffers say Fallon's erratic behavior spoiled their “dream” of working on The Tonight Show — I

Max Tani / @maxwelltani:

Memo: Andrew Golis, WNYC's chief content officer and formerly VP of network development for Vox Media, is leaving WNYC — Per an internal memo to staff today, chief content officer Andrew Golis is leaving WNYC.

Discussion: @maxwelltani

Christopher Dring / GamesIndustry.biz:

The ESA announces organizer ReedPop will not be working on future E3 events and informs the Los Angeles Convention Center that 2024's E3 will not be held there — E3 2024 may still happen, but not at the Los Angeles Convention Center — News by Christopher Dring Head of Games B2B

Discussion: Rock, Paper, Shotgun, Video Games Chronicle, VentureBeat, @film_girl, Neowin, The Verge, My Nintendo News, IGN and Insider Gaming, more at Techmeme »

Sarah Perez / TechCrunch:

Snapchat adds new safety features for minors, including making it harder for strangers to contact teens and removing accounts marketing inappropriate content — Snapchat today is announcing a series of new safeguards for its app, aimed at better protecting teen users, similar …

Discussion: CNN, Engadget and Snapchat

Sarah Scire / Nieman Lab:

An interview with Jonathan Knight, head of games at the NYT, on the paper's new game Connections, creating a “news plus games” daily habit for readers, and more — “Come for the news, stay for the games.” — Jonathan Knight, head of games for The New York Times, has a few rules for new games.

Discussion: Media Voices, USA Today and PC Gamer

Jess Weatherbed / The Verge:

Google releases its relevance and measurement APIs for Privacy Sandbox in general availability, making them available in Chrome without browser flags or trials — Google's Chrome browser is now one important step closer to its goal of phasing out third-party cookies by the end of 2024.

Discussion: AdExchanger, The Privacy Sandbox, Gizmodo, 9to5Google, @baekdal, Neowin and The Register, more at Techmeme »

Mia Sato / The Verge:

Patreon adds Discord-like group chats to mobile, letting creators join up to four chats and restrict access based on subscriber tiers; desktop is coming later — Beginning today, Patreon creators who want a dedicated space to interact with fans will have a built-in option: group chats.

Discussion: TechCrunch, @simli.bsky.social and Insider Intelligence

Financial Times:

Sources: DMGT, which owns the Daily Mail and Metro newspapers, has held talks with Qatari investors about a combined £500M+ bid for the Telegraph Media Group — Gulf finance in demand as rival media groups circle conservative broadsheet — Lord Rothermere's Daily Mail and General Trust …

Discussion: The Guardian, @pressgazette and @mediaevan

Rick Reger / Local News Initiative:

A survey of 1,507 US teens aged 13 to 17 finds 46% saw local TV news daily or weekly, while 42% encountered national network TV news daily or weekly — New Medill survey shows higher-than-expected news engagement among young people — An oft-cited factor in the continued struggles …

Discussion: @localnewsini, The Desk and @timafranklin

Gene Park / Washington Post:

Nintendo of America President Doug Bowser describes the company's evolution from a gaming company to a broader entertainment company, including live events — For decades, Nintendo was synonymous with video games. Now in its second century, the Japanese company wants to be much more.

Discussion: The Messenger, @carnage4life@mas.to and @genepark

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More News:

Josef Adalian / Vulture:
How Paramount Network reversing the release order of 1883 and Yellowstone on streaming and broadcast helped grow viewers, a tactic other companies could adopt

Discussion: TVLine

Lesley Goldberg / The Hollywood Reporter:
Sources: Warner Bros. Television Group suspends several overall deals for top creatives, including J.J. Abrams, Greg Berlanti, Bill Lawrence, and Mindy Kaling

Discussion: New York Times, Variety, @snoodit, @salcalleros, The Wrap and Deadline

Jay Peters / The Verge:
YouTube plans to drop individual Studio controls for pre-roll, post-roll, skippable, and non-skippable ads, starting in November 2023; mid-roll ads won't change

Discussion: Insider, Tubefilter, Beyond Search, TechCrunch, The Keyword, @ekstasis.bsky.social, Neowin and 9to5Google, more at Techmeme »

Joe Coscarelli / New York Times:
Ghostwriter, the anonymous creator who used AI to mimic Drake and The Weeknd, has met with record labels, Grammy organizers, and more, and releases a new song

Discussion: TechCrunch, Billboard, VIBE.com, The Verge, Engadget, Music Ally, Variety, Digital Music News, Deadline, Futurism, The Fader, Gizmodo, Consequence, Forbes, UPROXX, TMZ.com, The A.V. Club, The Messenger and ET Canada, more at Techmeme »

Davey Alba / Bloomberg:
Google plans a November policy update requiring election advertisers to prominently disclose when their ads contain generative AI-based images, video, or audio

Discussion: The Verge, Gizmodo, MediaNama, MIT Technology Review, Neowin, Financial Times, @carnage4life@mas.to, Washington Post, The Messenger, @Noupside@saturation.social and The Hill

Barbara Krasnoff / The Verge:
Some small independent publishers struggle after Amazon ended Kindle Periodicals on September 4; Fantasy Magazine said its last issue will be in October 2023

Discussion: The Messenger, @unwiredben@nycr.social, Fantasy MagazineRSS and MediaPost

Earlier Picks:

Alex Weprin / The Hollywood Reporter:
How the NFL conquered Hollywood via $110B in deals for exclusive live games with broadcasters and streamers, producing scripted and unscripted content, and more

Discussion: Barrett Media, @alexweprin, @alexweprin and New York Magazine

Lucas Shaw / Bloomberg:
Sources: WBD plans to add live sports to Max at no extra cost for a limited time later in 2023, and start charging a sports fee likely in February or March 2024

Discussion: MediaPost, The Streamable, Quartz, Engadget, Barrett Media, Media Play News, The Verge, @bristei, @bristei, @bristei, Sports Media Watch, Awful Announcing, The Desk, Front Office Sports, Reuters and The Messenger

Deadline:
A look at Netflix's success-based residuals in France, Germany, and Scandinavia, driven by laws about authors' rights, as some in the US debate such metrics

Discussion: @thejakeneutron, @cinemasai_, @gamedesigndan, @ashtonpittman, @theoceanblooms, @discussingfilm, @todd_spence, 98 Rock Online, IGN, The A.V. Club and Deadline

Reuters:
A Burmese court sentences photojournalist Sai Zaw Thaike to 20 years in prison, the longest known prison term given to a media employee since the 2021 army coup

Discussion: Reporters Without Borders, Associated Press, Voice of America, Fox News and Committee to Protect …

David Pierce / The Verge:
Spotify tests making song lyrics a Premium-only feature, currently “with a limited number of users in a pair of markets”, as the company seeks to boost revenue

Discussion: @realjoseph123, @thequietkid4l, @jon_speaks_, Gizmodo, 9to5Mac, Music Business Worldwide, Music Ally, Billboard and TechCrunch

From Techmeme:

CNBC:
OpenAI closes a $40B funding round, the most ever raised by a private tech company, at a $300B post-money valuation; SoftBank led the round with $30B

Juli Clover / MacRumors:
Apple releases iOS 18.4 with Priority notifications for Apple Intelligence, which gets support for eight more languages, Ambient Music via Control Center, more

Vicky Ge Huang / Wall Street Journal:
Eric and Donald Trump Jr.'s American Data Centers plans to merge with Hut 8's American Bitcoin and take a 20% stake, aiming to create the world's largest miner

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