Mediagazer: Google rolls out new changes to its Search ranking to help surface good content, downrank content that summarizes others' work, and more, as AI content spreads (David Pierce/The Verge)

3:45 PM ET, March 5, 2024

Top News:

Filing: GB News owner All Perspectives has been forced to provide a further £41M in funding to cover operating costs, and is now owed £83.8M by GB News — Vehicle backed by hedge fund tycoon Paul Marshall steps in as right-leaning broadcaster increases number of staff

Discussion: Broadband TV News and Advanced Television

Bron Maher / Press Gazette:
GB News reports year to May 2023 revenue up 80% YoY to £6.7M, losses up 38% YoY to £42.4M, for £76M in losses since 2021, and 295 staff, up from 175 in May 2022

Discussion: The Independent, @carolvorders, @otto_english, @rasmus_kleis, Nick Manning on LinkedIn, @seaninsound, @jamesrbuk and Mediaite

Tara Cobham / The Independent:

Presenter Dan Wootton says he's left GB News to launch an independent platform after Ofcom ruled misogynistic comments made on his show broke broadcasting rules — Mr Wootton's name no longer features in the channel's list of presenters on its website — Dan Wootton is out at GB News …

Discussion: Mediaite, The Guardian, Broadband TV News, PA Media, Dan Wootton Outspoken, BBC, Sky News, @danwootton, Byline Times, Ofcom, Variety, Financial Times, HuffPost, Advanced Television, Press Gazette and Deadline

Chris Roush / Talking Biz News:

Former Rolling Stone EIC Noah Shachtman is returning to Wired as a contributing editor, where he worked in the same capacity from 2006 to 2013 — Katie Drumm, global editor in chief of Wired, send out the following on Tuesday: — Hi All — I'm very, very excited to share …

Discussion: The Desk, @katiedrumm@threads.net, @noahshachtman@threads.net and @maxwelltani

Jesse Whittock / Deadline:

Source: Amazon Prime Video plans to lay off less than 5% of its staff across its European offices, as part of a restructure impacting Europe, MENA, and Africa — EXCLUSIVE: Prime Video is today beginning job consultations with staff in Europe, we hear. — It's understood a figure of less …

Discussion: The Desk

A. G. Sulzberger / Reuters Institute:

The NYT publisher's 2024 Reuters Memorial Lecture: journalistic independence, the Ukraine and Israel-Hamas wars, trans issues, being open to criticism, and more — It's an honour to be here to deliver this year's memorial lecture. The Reuters Institute has been an invaluable resource …

Discussion: The Daily Beast, Reuters Institute on YouTube, @risj_oxford, @rasmus_kleis, @risj_oxford, @mariaramirezny, @jongurutz and @jbenton

Elizabeth A. Harris / New York Times:

Authors Equity, a US book publisher from former Penguin Random House and Macmillan executives, launches with plans to give authors the “lion's share” of profits — Authors Equity is tiny but has big industry names behind it. Its founders hope their profit-sharing approach and experience will entice authors.

Discussion: Wall Street Journal, Publishers Weekly, Publishing Perspectives, The Bookseller and The Hollywood Reporter

David Pierce / The Verge:

Google rolls out new changes to its Search ranking to help surface good content, downrank content that summarizes others' work, and more, as AI content spreads — Google is rolling out a few new changes to its ranking systems in search, which are designed to help surface good content …

Discussion: Fast Company, TechCrunch, The Keyword, @hoonofthe.day and @itnewsbot@schleuss.online, more at Techmeme »

Sara Fischer / Axios:

NTWRK CEO says the company plans to fold its brand and business into Complex and form Complex NTWRK, less than two weeks after acquiring Complex for $108.6M — - The parent company that owns Complex will be called Complex NTWRK, but that will be the only place the NTWRK brand exists.

Sophie Culpepper / Nieman Lab:

Report for America, the nonprofit that placed 600+ reporters in newsrooms since its 2017 launch, is “phasing out” partnerships with hedge fund-owned outlets — Since Report for America was founded in 2017, the nonprofit has placed more than 600 reporters in local newsrooms around the country …

Discussion: Washington Post, @amanbatheja@threads.net, journal-isms.com, Kevin Grant on LinkedIn and @ernie.tedium.co

Apple:

Apple adds transcripts to Apple Podcasts, which let listeners read and search the text of the episode, available in English, French, Spanish, and German — Transcripts offer full-text display for each episode, making podcasts more accessible and immersive than ever before

Discussion: 9to5Mac, @rustyhammer.bsky.social, Dyllon Young on LinkedIn, The Apple Post, RedCircle Blog and Digital Trends

Bloomberg:

Vivendi's Canal+ increases its bid for South Africa's MultiChoice by almost a fifth, valuing MultiChoice's shares at $2.9B, and enters exclusive takeover talks — - Vivendi's Canal+ is working with JPMorgan, Bank of America — Vivendi says its committed to JSE listing, transformation

Discussion: Deadline, WORLD SCREEN, TVBEurope and Broadband TV News

Jane Elizabeth / Nieman Lab:

A look at the Chicago Public Media merger with Chicago Sun-Times two years later: newsroom and staff compensation grew, Sun-Times dropped paywall, and more — After a $61 million acquisition by public media, Chicago-Sun Times readers get free content and the newsroom has grown.

Discussion: Holly Edgell on LinkedIn, American Press Institute and @philmeyer@newsie.social

Dan Primack / Axios:

TollBit, a startup whose two-sided marketplace lets publishers make their content available to AI companies for a fee, raised ~$7M in pre-seed and seed funding — Sometimes there's a simple solution to an intractable problem. The sort of thing that feels obvious, but only in retrospect.

Discussion: Olivia Joslin on LinkedIn and TollBit

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Energy & Commodities Editor, Tokyo — Bloomberg

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

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Sports Editor, MI — Detroit News

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More News:

PA Media:
TalkTV plans to close down its linear TV channel in early summer 2024 and go online only, weeks after Piers Morgan left his daily show on the channel

Discussion: Mediaite, Bloomberg, Press Gazette, The Desk, Financial Times, @mediaguido, The Daily Beast, Guido Fawkes, The i Paper, @scottygb, Deadline, Telegraph, @mediaguido, TVBEurope, The Media Leader and Advanced Television

Daniel Thomas / Financial Times:
Reach reports FY 2023 revenue down 5% YoY to £568.6M, pre-tax profit down 45% YoY to £36.7M, and digital page views down 24% YoY due to Meta's 2023 news rules

Discussion: Press Gazette and Reach plc

Clara Aberneithie / Press Gazette:
An interview with ITN CEO Rachel Corp, who says the news cycle has become “absolutely relentless”, taking a toll on the mental health of journalists

Lucas Manfredi / The Wrap:
Warner Bros. Discovery plans to start cracking down on Max password sharing later this year with a wider rollout in 2025, joining rivals Netflix and Disney+

Discussion: The Verge, Business Insider, Cord Cutters News, Wired, @culturecrave, @thestreamable, @iamadequate_, @lucas_shaw, NewscastStudio, Media Play News, Next TV, Yahoo Finance, Appleosophy, Fox Business, The Streamable, BGR, 9to5Mac and Bloomberg

Financial Times:
Microsoft files a motion to dismiss the NYT's copyright lawsuit, accusing the NYT of “doomsday futurology” for predicting ChatGPT could ruin the news business

Discussion: @asilbwrites, @carnage4life@mas.to, New York Times, @crumbler@threads.net, CPO Magazine, CoinGeek and US Southern District of New York, more at Techmeme »

Earlier Picks:

Marty Swant / Digiday:
NewsGuard adds AI-assisted tools for early detection of election-related misinformation, with exclusion lists for advertisers that want to avoid such misinfo

Discussion: @martyswant, Washington Post, NewsGuard and Journalism.co.uk

Todd Spangler / Variety:
Fox CEO Lachlan Murdoch says the Fox, Disney, and WBD sports streaming joint venture is anticipating signing up 5M customers in the first five years

Discussion: The Streamable, Poynter, NewscastStudio, Deadline, @jbflint, @sherman4949, @jbflint, Sports Media Watch, Business Insider, New York Post, Sportico, Reuters, The Desk, Awful Announcing, The Wrap, Media Play News and Bloomberg

Bron Maher / Press Gazette:
An interview with Mehdi Hasan about his new media company Zeteo, which he says has gained “thousands more” paid subscribers than expected in its first week

Discussion: @matt_walsh and @ernie.tedium.co

Javier Espinoza / Financial Times:
The EU Commission fines Apple €1.8B for stifling competition from rival music streaming services, the EU's third-largest antitrust fine; Apple plans to appeal

From Techmeme:

Meta:
Meta launches Llama 4 Maverick with 400B parameters and Scout with 109B parameters and a 10M context window, and previews Behemoth with 2T total parameters

Emanuel Maiberg / 404 Media:
In backing Trump, effective accelerationists like Musk and Andreessen got a “Decel-in-Chief”, who instigated a brain drain and tariffs that hurt tech companies

Tom Warren / The Verge:
Microsoft unveils a demo of Quake II generated using its Muse AI model, with limited playability in a browser, as part of the company's Copilot for Gaming push

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