Top News:
Washington Post:
Investigation: earlier in 2023, Vietnam tried to plant Predator spyware on the phones of CNN journalists, two Asia-based reporters, and others via posts on X — The attempts appear to have been unsuccessful, but came as the U.S. and Vietnam were negotiating an agreement that President Biden signed last month in Hanoi
Natalie Weiner / The Verge:
A look at Discogs, a user-generated music database and marketplace for physical music media, as sellers complain about the website's old tech and increased fees — A home for music diehards has been fractured by increased fees that are pushing sellers and shoppers to other platforms.
Discussion:
@jwelte, @dupuisj, @libationlegacy@mastodon …, @mulderbatflip, @natalieweiner and @burn_amb, more at Techmeme »
Max Tani / Semafor:
A look at the cottage industry around artificially boosting podcast numbers, used to push podcasts to the top of Apple's podcast charts and more — The News — Earlier this year, PJ Vogt received a strange proposition: If he paid a few dollars to a small self-described media buying company …
Discussion:
@semafor, @semafor and @semaforben
Wall Street Journal:
Sources: activist investor Nelson Peltz's Trian, now one of Disney's largest investors with a $2.5B+ stake, plans to launch a fresh push for Disney board seats — Activist's Trian Fund Management has accumulated a holding valued at more than $2.5 billion — Nelson Peltz is planning a fresh push for board seats at
Discussion:
@asharma, @davidpoland, @zugmanfabio, @batmongoose, Variety and NBC 7 San Diego
Tim McDonnell / Semafor:
Advertisers face growing pressure to cut their emissions; Scope3: digital ads create ~7.2M tons of CO2 annually, equivalent to 1.4M US homes' electricity usage — The News — Of all the sectors under pressure to cut their carbon footprint, advertising has largely flown under the radar.
Discussion:
@semaforben, @msbeverlybryan, @briandevine, @semafor and MarTech Series
Richard J. Tofel / Second Rough Draft:
Q&A with Independence Public Media Foundation President Molly de Aguiar on the frequent disconnect between local media funders and national funders, and more — Molly de Aguiar on a key goal of plans like Press Forward … Q. I think we agree that the only way to really sustainably achieve …
Angelique Chrisafis / The Guardian:
A look at the launch of the French Sunday newspaper La Tribune Dimanche, as the only other Sunday paper, Le Journal du Dimanche, turns into a far-right outlet — La Tribune Dimanche goes on sale in landscape of declining print sales, culture wars and scrutiny of billionaire proprietors
Discussion:
Media Voices and @TheEuropeanNetwork …
Cat Zakrzewski / Washington Post:
Alexa has been claiming that the US 2020 presidential election was stolen, citing unvetted Rumble and Substack sources; Amazon says the errors have been fixed — The popular voice assistant says the 2020 race was stolen, even as parent company Amazon promotes the tool as a reliable election news source …
Discussion:
@katienotopoulos, @karlauerbach@sfba.social, The Messenger, @jaxalemany, @nadlermk, @emzorbit, @carnage4life@threads.net, @LALegault@newsie.social, @JoshuaHolland@mastodon.social, @funnymonkey@freeradical.zone, @dsilverman@mastodon.social, @GottaLaff@mastodon.social, @rootwoman123@mastodon.world and @davemark@mastodon.social, more at Techmeme »
NPR:
Sources: Florida Politics founder Peter Schorsch lets politicians buy unlabeled stories and distorts coverage at the behest of political campaigns that buy ads — This story was reported by NPR's David Folkenflik and Miranda Green of Floodlight, a nonprofit newsroom that investigates the powerful interests stalling climate action.
Reuters:
Delhi police accuse Xiaomi, Vivo, and others of helping transfer funds illegally to news outlet NewsClick, which India accused of spreading Chinese propaganda — Indian police have formally accused Chinese smartphone makers Xiaomi Corp and Vivo Mobile of helping transfer funds illegally …
Discussion:
MediaNama, @arpanc_, @jairam_ramesh, @officialsauravd, @pun_starr, @sritara, @vijaita, @vijaita, @svaradarajan, @baxiabhishek, @mnshap, @cryptic_miind, @pun_starr, @t_d_h_nair, @vijaita, @sherbir, The Hindu, The Hindu, The News Minute, Deccan Herald, Business Today, The Indian Express, The Quint, The Wire and Scroll.in
RELATED:
Max Rivlin-Nadler / hellgatenyc:
New York Public Radio lays off 20 staff members and cuts two podcasts from its studio division; three more employees took union-negotiated voluntary buyouts — “It is not a good use of any of our time, looking in the rearview mirror and trying to figure out where we should place blame,” …
Discussion:
@jaycowit, @paulinepark, @bailyn_detocque, @cekent, @macfathom, @grace_panetta, @christrobbins, @estherxlwang, @askhalid, @jacremes, @jaycowit, @streever, @maxrivlinnadler, @grace_panetta, @acdha@code4lib.social, @emilybell.bsky.social, @anarchosynthism …, @hellgateny.bsky.social, @jasonisaacdrums@heads.social, Gothamist, Current and Inside Radio
Emilia David / The Verge:
The BBC blocks OpenAI and Common Crawl from scraping its data, but plans to explore using generative AI for research, production, and personalized experiences — The BBC, the UK's largest news organization, laid out principles it plans to follow as it evaluates the use of generative AI …
Discussion:
MediaNama, @owenboswarva, @back_the_bbc, @coolshannes, @leokelion, @darrenwaters and BBC
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