Mediagazer: Filing: Baidu terminates its $3.6B acquisition of Joyy's Chinese livestreaming business YY Live, as some conditions haven't been met; Joyy seeks legal advice (Bloomberg)

8:45 AM ET, January 2, 2024

Top News:

Hong Kong tycoon, pro-democracy advocate, and Apple Daily founder Jimmy Lai pleaded not guilty in his landmark trial; prosecutors laid out key allegations — Hong Kong tycoon and pro-democracy advocate Jimmy Lai pleaded not guilty on Tuesday in his landmark trial, where he is accused …

Georg Szalai / Hollywood Reporter:

Dish and EchoStar close an all-stock merger announced in August 2023, reuniting Charlie Ergen's telecom empire; Hamid Akhavan will serve as president and CEO — With the all-stock deal completed, Hamid Akhavan serves as president and CEO of the combined company, known as EchoStar …

Discussion: Bloomberg, EchoStar Corporation and Cord Cutters News

Pamela McClintock / The Hollywood Reporter:

Comscore: US and Canada box office revenue rose 20% in 2023 to cross $9B but was still below the $10B+ in 2009 and the $11B+ in every year from 2015 to 2019 — If Hollywood isn't setting off huge fireworks in celebration, it's because revenue is still down from pre-COVID times while worry looms …

Discussion: @pdergarabedian, @lightfootinhwd, Paul Dergarabedian on LinkedIn, @pdergarabedian, Patrick von Sychowski on LinkedIn, Variety, ScreenRant, Deadline and Associated Press

J. Edward Moreno / New York Times:

The lawsuits against tech companies could shape what copyright means for AI, or simply serve as leverage for plaintiffs to secure more favorable licensing deals — The use of content from news and information providers to train artificial intelligence systems may force a reassessment of where to draw legal lines.

Discussion: Press Gazette, @random_walker, @davidclinchnews, @sarthakgh, @carnage4life@mas.to, @barrymosk, @toddbigphoto and @walterisaacson, more at Techmeme »

Julia Kollewe / The Guardian:

UK film, TV, and video game producers will get more generous tax breaks with the new tax credit system for audio-visual expenditure and video-games expenditure — Industry has said Britain could lose out to other countries, particularly in animation and special effects

Discussion: GOV.UK, @paulino_cuevas, Telegraph and Neil Anderson on LinkedIn

Bloomberg:

Filing: Baidu terminates its $3.6B acquisition of Joyy's Chinese livestreaming business YY Live, as some conditions haven't been met; Joyy seeks legal advice — - Tech industry's focus has turned to generative AI now … The Beijing-based company said its $3.6 billion deal for Joyy's YY Live …

Discussion: JOYY Inc., @alex__pitti, Wall Street Journal, Reuters, @desmondjywee, SiliconANGLE and CNN, more at Techmeme »

GhoulsWhoCode:

Hoodline, a local news service acquired in 2020 by PR agency owner Impress3 Media, seems to have fake people of color bylining stories with automated content — Hoodline.com/Chicago appears to be using AI to generate fictional people of color to re-write aggregated news, often directly pulled from existing news sources or PR agencies.

Alejandra Molina / Los Angeles Times:

A two-year NAHJ survey of investigative journalism units at 22 US newsrooms: 60% of investigative news reporters are white, 13% are Latinos, and 9% are Black — A two-year survey of 22 major metro newsrooms found that investigative news reporters and editors are overwhelmingly white.

Discussion: @rubennews, @m_joel17 and National Association …

The Nation:

Interviews with journalists in Gaza on struggling simply to stay alive, as mounting challenges of reporting have meant the world gets a fraction of the story — The work of Gaza's journalists has been essential these past months, but as the challenges of reporting continue to mount, the world is getting only a fraction of the story.

Discussion: National Union of Journalists …, European Federation …, @cpjmena, @lilahass, @lilahass, @thenation, @grahamstarr, @lilahass, @imran_jan, @jefftparrott and @monaeltahawy

Margaret Atwood / In the Writing Burrow:

Margaret Atwood argues that Substack violates its own terms of service by permitting Nazis to publish on its platform, and says Substack can't have it both ways — Or, “A cannot be both itself and non-A at the same time,” Logic 101. — ∙ Paid — This instructive cartoon …

Discussion: @miki_lou@mastodon.social, @MelodyWainscott@zirk.us, @kevinrns@mstdn.social, @hunterwalk@threads.net, @hg_richardson@threads.net, @dfisherwrites@threads.net, @oneunderscore__@threads.net, @dsilverman@threads.net and @scottalister@threads.net

Alexandra Topping / The Guardian:

Berrow's Worcester Journal, owned by Newsquest and first published in 1690, hires “AI-assisted” reporters who use an in-house copywriting tool based on ChatGPT — Berrow's Worcester Journal is one of several papers owned by the UK's second biggest regional news publisher to hire ‘AI-assisted’ reporters

Discussion: @antihippy, @shantharmohan, The Financial Express, @dchristian5, @darrenwaters, @skamugasa, @totalcrime and @luissantos

Jessica Murray / The Guardian:

John Pilger, an Australian journalist and documentary filmmaker who covered conflicts in Vietnam, Cambodia, Bangladesh, and Biafra, dies at age 84 — Celebrated Australian journalist and documentary film-maker covered conflicts in Vietnam, Cambodia, Bangladesh and Biafra

Discussion: Press Gazette, The Guardian, @johnpilger, @harrogateant, @ggreenwald, @wallacemick, @wikileaks, @jeremycorbyn, @kennardmatt, @zei_squirrel, Associated Press, The Wrap, Sky News, BBC and Deadline

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Cristina Criddle / Financial Times:
A look at the rise of AI-generated virtual influencers, with some charging thousands of dollars to promote products, leading to concerns from human influencers

Discussion: @gunblaze1969, @jimharris, @brianroemmele, @jaroslawmarciuk, @rizstanford, @alexisgoncalves, OSnews, Business Insider, Ethan Tan on LinkedIn, Dilan Thampapillai on LinkedIn, @digichelle@hachyderm.io, @librarianshipwreck …, @parvXtl@tech.lgbt, LinkedIn and Michael Hobbs on LinkedIn

Gursimran Kaur / Reuters:
Venezuelan media mogul Gustavo Cisneros, who co-founded Univision in 1992 and launched DIRECTV Latin America in 1995, dies at 78 as conglomerate Cisneros' chair

Discussion: Barrick Gold Corporation, Sportskeeda, HOLA, AS/COA, Miami Herald, @cisnerosmedia, New York Post and Bloomberg

Earlier Picks:

Alex Weprin / Hollywood Reporter:
Paramount Global and Comcast Xfinity strike a new carriage deal, averting a potential January 1 blackout that would have included CBS, MTV, and other channels

Discussion: @felixindafuture, Deadline, Variety and The Desk

From Techmeme:

Financial Times:
The EC's president says the EU won't revisit its “untouchable” rules, like the DMA, and could tax digital ad revenue, hitting Meta and Google, if US talks fail

Tripp Mickle / New York Times:
Sources: Tim Cook approved doubling Apple's AI chips budget in 2023 after John Giannandrea sought more GPUs, but CFO Luca Maestri cut the increase to under half

Erin Woo / The Information:
Source: Google cuts hundreds of employees in its platforms and devices unit, which works on Android, Pixel, and Chrome, after offering buyouts in January 2025

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