Mediagazer: A group of 18 state AGs backs Montana's bid to ban TikTok, urging a US judge to reject the company's legal challenges before the January 1, 2024, effective date (David Shepardson/Reuters)

8:10 PM ET, September 19, 2023

Top News:

Angela Fu / Poynter:

A Las Vegas Review-Journal reporter and her colleagues faced social media attacks when users, including Elon Musk, distorted her coverage of a fatal hit-and-run — The Las Vegas Review-Journal is facing a harassment campaign stoked by Elon Musk, one year after a reporter was killed for his coverage.

Discussion: Las Vegas Review-Journal, @markokern.bsky.social, @MaryAliciaZiff@mastodon …, Mediaite, @cfwij, @elizthompsn, @johnnykats, @jimi_writes, @ralstonreports, @ttangap and @emilymiller

Emma Roth / The Verge:

WBD plans to add a Max live sports tier, Bleacher Report Sports, in the US on October 5 for $9.99/month, or free for current subscribers until February 29, 2024 — Max, the streaming service owned by Warner Bros. Discovery, is adding a live sports tier in the US on October 5th.

Nilay Patel / The Verge:

Q&A with Matthew Panzarino, who recently stepped down as TechCrunch EIC after 10 years, on the site's Silicon Valley relationship, the future of media, and more — It's been a rocky and chaotic decade — and now digital media is on the brink of yet another existential crisis thanks to generative AI.

Casey Newton / Platformer:

Highlights from three years of Platformer: from <75K free subscribers to 155,355 in a year, plans to experiment with ads, ~95% of readers do not pay, and more — Has the Substack revolution come and gone? PLUS: What's changing in year four — I. State of the union

Discussion: Simon Owens's Media Newsletter, @thekenyeung, @legendaryscoop, @samtranum, @manjaselva, @caseynewton@mastodon.social and Nieman Lab

Gretel Kahn / Reuters Institute:

How Russia spreads pro-Kremlin messages in Africa through local journalists and media outlets like Afrique Média, a Cameroon-based, pro-Wagner Group TV channel — This Cameroon-based outlet reaches millions through linear TV and boasts over one million followers on their social channels

Discussion: GitHub and Washington Post

Abbey White / The Hollywood Reporter:

Over 175 writers, musicians, and others in creative fields sign an open letter against book bans in schools, in an effort led by Reading Rainbow's LeVar Burton — “It's only a matter of time before regressive, suppressive ideologues will shift their focus toward other forms of art and entertainment …

Discussion: The Wrap, Billboard, The Guardian, The Hill, MoveOn, The Messenger and MoveOn

Eshe Nelson / New York Times:

How the SAG-AFTRA strikes are impacting the UK, where Barbie, Mission: Impossible, Indiana Jones, and more were filmed, as many now find themselves out of work — Many U.S. studios' blockbusters are filmed in Britain, so the walkouts by actors and screenwriters have caused thousands of U.K. film crews to lose work.

Discussion: The Wrap

Lucas Shaw / Bloomberg:
With the WGA and the AMPTP set to resume talks on September 20, a look at the biggest myths impeding a deal, including that streaming services hoard the profits

Discussion: Los Angeles Times, The Atlantic, @lucas_shaw, @lucas_shaw, Reuters and @atheisticsnail.bsky.social

Bobby Hristova / CBC News:

The Hamilton Spectator, one of Ontario's longest-running newspapers, plans to close its office in October; last week, Torstar's owner Nordstar cut 605 staff — Meanwhile, several area weeklies are going online only and their reporters will be let go — The Hamilton Spectator is losing …

Discussion: @fallonhewitt_, @mollyhayes, @bobbyhristova, @terrycookehcf and @charlizealcaraz

Max Goldbart / Deadline:

The BBC and Channel 4 remove TV and audio shows featuring Russell Brand; the BBC did not say which shows while Channel 4 removed GBBO and Big Brother episodes — - ‘The Madigan Chronicles’ Optioned By Particle6; London Film Festival Jury; MBC's Arabic-Language Feature - Global Briefs

Discussion: BBC, inews.co.uk, @TomSwirly@toot.community, Bleeding Cool News, The Hollywood Reporter, The Guardian, @marinahyde, The Sun, The Messenger, UPROXX, The Daily Beast, The Independent, The Times and New York Post

Naman Ramachandran / Variety:
YouTube suspends ads on videos by actor Russell Brand to “protect” its users, citing his “off-platform behavior”, after allegations of rape and sexual assault

Sara Fischer / Axios:

Advance Local is building GulfLive, a New Orleans-based sports and news website, four years after Advance sold the Times-Picayune, the area's biggest newspaper — - All of the Times-Picayune's 161 staffers were let go in 2019 amid that sale. … - The creation of GulfLive suggests Advance …

Discussion: @sarafischer

Alex Sherman / CNBC:

Mark Thompson is set to begin as CNN's CEO on October 9; sources say CNN's 2023 EBITDA is expected to bounce back closer to $1B after falling to $750M in 2022 — - Mark Thompson, the former New York Times CEO, will begin as CNN's CEO on Oct. 9. — In his new role, Thompson will focus …

Discussion: @sherman4949, @sherman4949 and TVNewsCheck

Patrick Frater / Variety:

Filing: Alibaba Pictures plans to acquire Alibaba-owned Damai, a major provider of live entertainment in China, for $167M, signaling a move into live events — Alibaba Pictures, the separately-listed film investment and distribution unit of China's tech giant Alibaba behind recent box office hit “Lost in the Stars,” is to buy Damai.

K.J. Yossman / Variety:

BBC Studios forms a Global Entertainment division, led by Matt Forde, to oversee its production bases in Los Angeles, India, Australia, South Africa, and Europe — BBC Studios has merged three areas of its formats business to create a new global entertainment division led by Matt Forde.

Discussion: Media Play News

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More News:

Kerry Flynn / Axios:
Electrify Video Partners, whose model is to acquire 50% to 100% of a YouTube creator's business, raised $85M from Capital D and says the startup is profitable

Discussion: Tubefilter

Sarah Perez / TechCrunch:
TikTok launches a tool that lets creators label their AI-generated content and plans to test other ways of labeling such content automatically

Discussion: TikTok, The Information, Digital Music News, Billboard, The Drum, 9to5Mac, The Verge and Music Business Worldwide, more at Techmeme »

David Shepardson / Reuters:
A group of 18 state AGs backs Montana's bid to ban TikTok, urging a US judge to reject the company's legal challenges before the January 1, 2024, effective date

Discussion: CNET, The Hill, @seanspicer, Insider Intelligence and Bloomberg

Charlotte Tobitt / Press Gazette:
An interview with The Independent CEO Christian Broughton on the newspaper's growth drivers: e-commerce, Independent TV, reader revenues, US expansion, and AI

Earlier Picks:

Yoel Roth / New York Times:
Twitter's former head of trust and safety reflects on Donald Trump and Elon Musk attacking him, the resulting abuse, fact-checking, the Twitter Files, and more

Discussion: CoinDesk, @datasociety, @urbanachievr, @anneapplebaum, @larakate, @ggreenwald, @karaswisher, @jeffjarvis@mastodon.social, @jvagle@mastodon.lawprofs.org, @Noupside@saturation.social, @justinhendrix@mastodon.social, @yoyoel@macaw.social, PolitiFact, The Information and Mediaite

Matt Grobar / Deadline:
Disney says Elemental is Disney+'s biggest movie premiere so far in 2023, drawing 26.4M views in its first five days, after earning $484M+ at the box office

Marshall Cohen / CNN:
A Delaware judge rules that Dominion's $1.6B defamation lawsuit against Newsmax over the network airing 2020 election lies will go to trial in September 2024

Discussion: The Wrap and @brianstelter

Reuters:
Putin signs a decree transferring publishing assets controlled by Nobel Peace Prize-winning Russian journalist Dmitry Muratov to “temporary state management”

From Techmeme:

Bloomberg:
Sources: DOJ antitrust officials plan to ask a judge to force Google to sell Chrome, license Search data, uncouple Android from Search and Google Play, and more

Rob Pegoraro / PCMag:
Brendan Carr claims Big Tech “worked with marketing, ad, & ‘fact checkers’ to punish free speech outlets” and asks tech leaders about NewsGuard partnerships

CNN:
Two Baltic Sea internet cables, connecting Lithuania with Sweden and Finland with Germany, were suddenly disrupted, sparking concerns of Russian sabotage

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