Top News:
Gene Maddaus / Variety:
SAG-AFTRA and the major studios suspend talks, as the AMPTP says that the gap between the two sides is “too great”; SAG-AFTRA accuses studios of “bully tactics” — In a statement to members after midnight, the union accused the studios of engaging in “bully tactics …
Discussion:
SAG-AFTRA, Deadline, Screen Rant, @thr, Cord Cutters News, The A.V. Club, The Daily Beast, Gizmodo, The Verge, Associated Press, TVLine, Reuters, @sagaftra, What's On Disney Plus, IGN, CNN, @vanthebrand, Next TV, @joesteel@duck.haus, @slack2thefuture, Engadget, @filmupdates, @sagaftra, @mattbelloni, Insider, @danhindmarch, New York Times, @itsmecarolamptp, @carolinerenard_, @elainelow, Reuters, ABC7, IndieWire, The Wrap, Rolling Stone, Los Angeles Times and The Hollywood Reporter
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Kathy Jones / Committee to Protect Journalists:
In the first five days of the Israel-Hamas war, at least seven journalists have been killed, two are missing, and two have been injured — The Israel-Gaza conflict has taken a severe toll on journalists since Hamas launched its unprecedented attack against Israel on October 7 and Israel declared war …
RELATED:
Joe Pompeo / Vanity Fair:
A look at the work of a small group of journalists based full-time in the now blockaded Gaza Strip, reporting for the BBC, the AP, Reuters, AFP, and Al Jazeera
Discussion:
Variety, @rushdibbc, Reuters, Screen, Insider, CBS News, Adweek, Washington Post, Mediaite and Al Jazeera
Sarah Perez / TechCrunch:
Automattic expands ActivityPub support to WordPress.com hosted sites, letting blog owners reach 13.3M users across the fediverse, including Mastodon's 1.8M MAUs — Earlier this year, WordPress.com owner Automattic acquired a plugin that allowed WordPress blogs to be followed in the fediverse …
Mark Stenberg / Adweek:
The Information hires Morning Brew COO Matthew Resnick as its COO, to grow consumer revenue and brand partners; chief commercial officer Karl Wells is leaving — Technology publisher The Information has hired Matthew Resnick, the former chief operating officer (COO) of Morning Brew …
Discussion:
Talking Biz News
Morgan Sung / TechCrunch:
Many writers at fanfiction site Archive of Our Own restrict viewing to registered readers in an effort to prevent their writing being scraped to train AI models — Kinktober. Whumptober. Kisstober. Flufftober. Goretober. October is a bacchanal of fan fiction …
George Gene Gustines / New York Times:
A group of comic book writers and artists form Ghost Machine, a company jointly owned and operated by the creators, who will be exclusive to the company — The founding writers and artists of Ghost Machine will be exclusive to the company and will jointly own, operate and profit from it.
Discussion:
The Wrap, Image Comics and Brad Meltzer on LinkedIn
The Verge:
In an October 11 meeting, New York Public Radio's CEO said NYPR would be shifting to a “broadcast to podcast” strategy, cutting almost all podcast-only titles — On Wednesday afternoon, staffers at WNYC's podcast division sat down for an all-hands meeting looking for answers.
Discussion:
@joelleeman and @askhalid
Bloomberg:
How Google Chrome's Discover feed serves propaganda to Russian Android users; source: services in Russian are a lower priority after Google left Russia in 2022 — Mobile users in Russia are being served pro-war propaganda from sources Google has blocked elsewhere.
Gabe Bullard / Nieman Reports:
Internal memo: NPR lost a negligible amount of traffic in the six months since leaving X, after the service labeled the outlet “US state-affiliated media” — The numbers confirm what many of us have long suspected — that Twitter wasn't worth the effort, at least in terms of traffic
Discussion:
The Hill, The Wrap, One Man & His Blog, American Press Institute, Ian Betteridge on LinkedIn, Roger Feeley-Lussier on LinkedIn, @sergiomarbel, Digiday, @aulia@threads.net, @travelfishery@threads.net, @mosseri@threads.net, @travelfishery@threads.net, @dangoodin@infosec.exchange, @dangillmor@mastodon.social, @kalihays.bsky.social, @tchambers@indieweb.social, @Zeb_Larson@zirk.us, @Johannab@wandering.shop, @paul@oldfriends.live, @randfish@mastodon.social, @thesiswhisperer@aus.social, @emmalbriant@mastodon.online, @claesdevreese@mastodon.social and The Times of Israel, more at Techmeme »
Morgan Sung / TechCrunch:
Twitch rolls out a long-requested anti-harassment feature that automatically blocks a streamer's banned users from watching their streams — Twitch streamers can finally block banned users from watching their streams, thanks to a recent update to the platform's anti-harassment features.
Lauren Forristal / TechCrunch:
Fave, an app and marketplace for superfans to connect and get perks from brands and artists, raised $2M in an ongoing round from WMG, Sony Music, and others — Fave, the app for superfans to connect with like-minded music lovers and obsess over their favorite artists, secured $2 million in an ongoing round …
Paul Sandle / Reuters:
The UK CMA launches an investigation into whether the BBC, ITV, Hat Trick, Tiger Aspect, and others broke competition law when buying services from freelancers — Britain's antitrust regulator said it suspected that television production companies including the BBC, ITV (ITV.L) …
Discussion:
GOV.UK, The Guardian, @lewis_crofts, Deadline and Advanced Television
Lauren Forristal / TechCrunch:
Block acquires Hifi, which launched in 2020 as a financial rights organization for artists and in 2021 rolled out Cash Flow to pay artists a bi-monthly salary — Block, the Jack Dorsey-founded fintech company previously known as Square, has acquired Hifi, a music-focused fintech startup.
Discussion:
Music Ally and Billboard
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