Top News:
John D. McKinnon / Wall Street Journal:
Google sues unnamed individuals in India and Vietnam for tricking US-based SMB owners with Facebook accounts into clicking fake Bard ads that install malware — Lawsuit attributes the alleged scheme to hackers in India and Vietnam — Scammers are capitalizing on the rush of consumer interest …
Discussion:
The Keyword, Bloomberg, MediaPost and The Verge, more at Techmeme »
Axios:
The Block sells an 80% stake to Singaporean VC Foresight Ventures, valuing the crypto outlet at $70M and freeing the business from financial ties to FTX — Crypto media company The Block sold a majority stake to Singaporean venture capital firm Foresight Ventures in a deal valuing the crypto outlet at $70 million.
Discussion:
CoinDesk, @sarafischer and @lawmaster, more at Techmeme »
Matthew Belloni / Puck:
Source: after a social media backlash, Warner Bros. plans to let the filmmakers of Coyote vs. Acme shop the movie to other potential distributors — In a surprising about-face, Warner Bros. executives will allow the filmmakers of Coyote vs. Acme, a $70 million live action/CGI hybrid Looney Tunes film …
Carly Thomas / The Hollywood Reporter:
Actress Justine Bateman says union members should only approve SAG-AFTRA's tentative deal “if they don't want to work anymore”, calling out its AI provisions — The actress-writer-filmmaker said union members should only approve the deal “if they don't want to work anymore.”
Discussion:
@hewizard, @kellengoff, @actorjoshprice, IndieWire, @chescaleigh, @stephanfleet, @ohheydj, @rmbee, @justinebateman, @justinebateman, @justinebateman and The Wrap
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Gene Maddaus / Variety:
The SAG-AFTRA national board approves its new contract with the major studios with an 86% approval vote, sending the deal to membership for ratification
Rolling Stone:
SAG-AFTRA's deal would require studios to get consent before making digital replicas of living and deceased actors, disclose their use, and pay actors for them
Discussion:
Puck, @vkhosla, @discussingfilm, @synopsi, @variety, @carnage4life@threads.net, @kayla__lmao, @awards_watch, @jbflint, @coveredgeekly, @amyklobuchar, New Scientist, Comic Book, IndieWire, ABC7, Variety, New York Post and Wired
Brooks Barnes / New York Times:
Marvel's The Marvels, which cost ~$300M to make and market, netted just $47M in US and Canada ticket sales over the weekend, the lowest ever for a Marvel movie — “The Marvels” cost about $300 million to make and market and arrived to $47 million in domestic sales.
Discussion:
Variety, CNBC, BBC, EW.com, Associated Press, Deadline, @nickmenakos, The Hollywood Reporter, CNN, @stephenking, Bloomberg, The A.V. Club, The Wrap, Variety, Collider, The Playlist, @johndilillo, Rolling Stone, @marvel, MediaPost and The Messenger
Daniel Thomas / Financial Times:
Ofcom Chair Michael Grade describes the BBC's license fee as a “regressive tax”, and calls for the BBC to strengthen its governance and complaints mechanisms — Michael Grade wants more transparency in how the UK's state broadcaster handles complaints
Discussion:
Broadband TV News, The Guardian, @danielthomasldn and City A.M.
Priscille Biehlmann / Reuters Institute:
A look at TOPO, a French magazine launched in 2016 covering the news and complex issues in a graphic-novel format for a teen audience, reaching ~5K subscribers — TOPO uses graphic novel techniques to tackle complex issues for its teenage audience. It's reached 5,000 subscribers since its launch in 2016
Discussion:
Lisa Drew on LinkedIn and @janebsinger
Bron Maher / Press Gazette:
Reach Chief Digital Publisher David Higgerson says that “there is no plan to replace journalists with social media influencers”, after the company cut ~450 jobs — Comments given by CEO Jim Mullen to The Telegraph prompted confusion and anger among staff.
Discussion:
@davidhiggerson, @mattgoodingtm, @davidhiggerson, @davidhiggerson, @jnkappers, @paulbreeden2 and @davidhiggerson
Choe Sang-Hun / New York Times:
A look at efforts by South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol to silence journalists in the name of fighting disinformation, including lawsuits and criminal probes — He calls fake news an enemy that threatens democracy. Critics of President Yoon Suk Yeol say he is silencing journalists in the name of fighting disinformation.
Discussion:
Fox News and The Kyiv Independent
Bloomberg:
Hybe, the South Korean music company behind BTS, acquires Spanish-language studio Exile Music, its first step into the burgeoning market for Latin music — - Hybe, the home of BTS, acquires Exile Music from Candle Media — Music sales increased by 26% in Latin America last year
Discussion:
@nachouy, @tim_bays, Reuters and Digital Music News
Dan Williams / Reuters:
Israel signals that the government will hold off on a threatened closure of Al Jazeera's local bureau, omitting the outlet from new emergency media regulations — Israel signalled on Monday it would hold off on a threatened closure of the local bureau of Al Jazeera, leaving …
Discussion:
The Times of Israel
Brian Morrissey / The Rebooting:
A survey of 201 publishers: the goal of subscriptions is to diversify revenue, 30% are seeing <10% growth in subscription revenue, and churn is a looming issue — Today, I'm releasing The Rebooting's second research project. With partnership from BlueConic, I surveyed over 200 publishers …
Discussion:
@peristrathearn and Simon Owens's Media Newsletter
Moira Donegan / The Guardian:
The era of explicitly feminist media in the US appears to be over with the closure of Jezebel, which outlasted the rest of the feminist blogosphere — Websites like Jezebel revived feminism, showing the internet might have a re-radicalizing effect. Who will carry the torch? — Jezebel is dead.
RELATED:
Jason Koebler / 404 Media:
The brand safety industry crushes news sites by keeping ads away from articles that algorithms say make people sad or upset, leading to shutdowns like Jezebel's
Discussion:
Media Voices, The Overspill, @22@octodon.social, @pluralistic@mamot.fr, Blair Hickman on LinkedIn, Lou Paskalis on LinkedIn, @chronotope, @chronotope, @chronotope, @chronotope, @jason_kint, @learmonth, @jgreigj, @scottnover, @kattenbarge, @jason_koebler, @jason_koebler, @dollydeighton, @jason_koebler, @jeffhorwitz, @mollytaft, @koumdros, @lisettevoytko, @themattmager, @rach_greenspan, @bobsaietta, @xpatriciah, @josephfcox, @carolynmichelle, @josephfcox, @vanderhoofy, @emanuelmaiberg, @loudmouthjulia, @loudmouthjulia, @josephfcox, @unchartedworlds@scicomm.xyz, @ben@werd.social, @herhandsmyhands …, Dan Ackerman on LinkedIn, @stefan@stefanbohacek.online, Nick Lucchesi on LinkedIn, @lilithsaintcrow …, @rpardee@hachyderm.io, @ernie@writing.exchange, @jplebreton@mastodon.social and MediaPost
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