Mediagazer: Amazon announces the $50 Fire TV Stick 4K, the $60 Fire TV Stick 4K Max, the $120 24-inch Fire TV Soundbar, and generative AI updates for Fire TV voice search (Brian Heater/TechCrunch)

2:10 PM ET, September 20, 2023

Top News:

Michael Wolff's The Fall excerpt: how Tucker Carlson's success became a headache for Rupert Murdoch, making Carlson a casualty of the Dominion settlement — Rupert Murdoch didn't want to dump his ratings leader and favorite Fox host. But was Tucker Carlson giving him a choice?

Discussion: Insider, The Guardian, Politico, Vanity Fair, @anncoulter, The Daily Beast, Columbia Journalism Review, @martinpengelly, @aghamilton29, UPROXX, @michaelwolffnyc and @justinbaragona

Martin Pengelly / The Guardian:
Michael Wolff's new book, The Fall: The End of Fox News and the Murdoch Dynasty, says in 2022, Rupert Murdoch thought $787.5M Dominion suit would cost Fox $50M

Discussion: CNN, New York Times, @janinegibson.bsky.social, Insider and The Wrap

Brian Heater / TechCrunch:

Amazon announces the $50 Fire TV Stick 4K, the $60 Fire TV Stick 4K Max, the $120 24-inch Fire TV Soundbar, and generative AI updates for Fire TV voice search — Amazon just added another devices to the growing Fire TV family. Unveiled at its Devices event in Virginia …

Discussion: CNET, The Verge, Bloomberg, @raywongy, @lanceulanoff, @lanceulanoff, @lanceulanoff, @lanceulanoff, @mustafachakmak, @markgurman, @markgurman and Cord Cutters News, more at Techmeme »

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

New York Times:

The Authors Guild and a group of prominent novelists sue OpenAI over allegedly infringing on authors' copyrights by using their books to train ChatGPT — The suit, filed with the Authors Guild, accuses the A.I. company of infringing on authors' copyrights, claiming it used their books to train its ChatGPT chatbot.

Discussion: Screen Rant, MediaPost, The Verge, The Hill, CNBC, Deadline, CBS News, @michellemanafy, bookforum.com and Lieff Cabraser

The Guardian:

The Guardian launches a digital Europe edition to offer “a European lens on world issues”, the fifth edition after the UK, the US, Australia, and international — Expanded presence to showcase original journalism and highlight issues that matter to European readers

Discussion: Nieman Lab, Journalism.co.uk, @pippacrerar and @shafldn

Jay Peters / The Verge:

Substack redesigns its app, changing the layout and a adding new Home tab that makes the app feel like a more traditional social media app — After a tease in a blog post on Tuesday, Substack officially shared details about its redesigned app on Wednesday, which offers a new “Home” tab and some adjustments to the app's current layout.

Discussion: TechCrunch, @andydehnart.bsky.social, @hamishmckenzie, On Substack and @hamishmckenzie

Manish Singh / TechCrunch:

Kuku FM, which offers audio content in six Indian languages for 99 rupees per month, raised a $25M Series C, bringing its total funding to $60M — Google-backed audio content platform Kuku FM has raised $25 million in a new funding round as it looks to make deeper inroads with its audiobook offerings in the South Asian market.

Kim Willsher / The Guardian:

France arrests an investigative journalist who reported on leaked documents that alleged French intelligence was used to target civilians in Egypt — Ariane Lavrilleux, who reported on leaked documents alleging French intelligence used to target civilians in Egypt, is in custody

Discussion: Reporters Without Borders, @redfrog@mamot.fr, Committee to Protect …, Al Jazeera and European Federation …

Anna Chernova / CNN:

A Moscow court refuses to hear an appeal against Evan Gershkovich's pre-trial detention, which could mean he remains in jail until at least November 30 — Wall Street Journal reporter Evan Gershkovich will remain behind bars after a Moscow court refused to hear an appeal against his pre-trial detention on Tuesday.

Discussion: Wall Street Journal, The Independent, ABC News, UPI, The Atlantic, Los Angeles Times, Voice of America, The Hill, Fox News, Associated Press, Talking Biz News, The Sun, The Messenger and New York Times

Dan Sabbagh / The Guardian:

A British journalist who previously worked in Kurdish-controlled Syria was held by police at Luton airport for five hours in August without being arrested — Matt Broomfield, who has worked in Kurdish-controlled north-east Syria, had his phone and laptop seized when he was questioned last month

Discussion: @natalieben, @RadicalAnthro@c.im and @profbillmcguire

Charlotte Tobitt / Press Gazette:

Radio Times, started 100 years ago as the BBC's “official organ”, remains “highly profitable”; the magazine also offers a website, an app, and a weekly podcast — One hundred years on, the Radio Times print magazine continues to be the highly profitable “mothership” …

Patrick Brzeski / The Hollywood Reporter:

Paramount plans to launch Paramount+ in Japan on December 1 as a free-of-charge addition to the on-demand services of local operators J:COM and Wowow — The deal will give Japanese subscribers to J:COM and Wowow access to Paramount+ content as a free-of-charge add-on.

Discussion: The Wrap, MediaPost, Broadband TV News, WORLD SCREEN, Media Play News, Variety and Paramount

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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

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Alphaville Reporter, London — FT

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More News:

Daniel Thomas / Financial Times:
Sky calls on the UK government to tackle regulatory red tape that threatens to stifle the creative sector, ahead of a planned government review of TV trends

Discussion: Deadline

Axios:
Filing: Disney plans to spend ~$60B in the next 10 years on its parks and cruise line segments, nearly doubling the investment it has made over the past decade

Ashley Carman / Bloomberg:
Sources: Sony Group cancels Emily Ratajkowski's podcast and lays off podcast unit staff; spokesperson: cuts involved a “significant percentage of the division”

Discussion: New York Post, @ashleyrcarman, Podnews and @maxwelltani

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

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

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

Earlier Picks:

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

Discussion: GitHub

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

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

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

more at Techmeme »

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

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

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

Discussion: American Press Institute and @sarafischer

From Techmeme:

Qianer Liu / The Information:
Sources: Intel and TSMC have reached a preliminary agreement to form a joint venture that will operate Intel's chipmaking facilities; TSMC will take a 20% stake

Kif Leswing / CNBC:
Tech stocks fall after President Trump announced new global tariffs: Amazon closed down 9%, Meta 9%, Nvidia 7.8%, Alphabet 3.9%, and Microsoft 2.4%

Emma Roth / The Verge:
Amazon is testing a “Buy for Me” button powered by agentic AI that will let users purchase products from third-party websites without leaving Amazon's app

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