Top News:
Sam Roberts / New York Times:
William Whitworth, who wrote revealing profiles in The New Yorker before working as the EIC at The Atlantic from 1980 to 1999, died on March 8 at age 87 — After writing memorable character sketches and fine-tuning others' copy at The New Yorker, he spent two decades as editor in chief of The Atlantic Monthly.
Discussion:
Northwest Arkansas …, @meyer_hm, @ckummer, @samrob12 and @pudgeyale92
Rick Porter / The Hollywood Reporter:
Nielsen: Biden's State of the Union address averaged 32.23M viewers across 14 broadcast and cable outlets, up 18% over 2023; Fox News led with 5.84M viewers — The president's annual speech to Congress improved by 18 percent over 2023. — The 2024 State of the Union address drew a larger TV audience than the 2023 address.
Discussion:
The Wrap, Mediaite, Adweek, New York Post, New York Post, Washington Post, The Wrap, Los Angeles Times, The Hill, New York Times, Mediaite, Forbes, Deadline and TVLine
Scharon Harding / Ars Technica:
Roku faces a backlash after it appears to lock devices of users who don't agree to its new Dispute Resolution Terms, asking them to write a letter to opt out — Users are opted in automatically unless they write a letter to Roku by March 21. — Roku customers are threatening to stop using …
Kylie Robison / Fortune:
Source: X plans to launch a TV app, which looks “identical” to YouTube's TV app, for Amazon and Samsung smart TVs next week — In a bid to compete with YouTube and recast itself as a video platform, Elon Musk's X is launching a television app for Amazon and Samsung smart TVs, a source at the company told Fortune.
Discussion:
@chris@threads.net, @trevorcroker@threads.net, The Information, @alexrkonrad, @kyliebytes and Bloomberg
@publici_union:
[Thread] The Center for Public Integrity Union says the nonprofit plans to lay off 11 staffers, which represents over half of its members — Today, @publicintegrity management informed us that they will lay off 11 of our beloved coworkers. This figure represents more than half our unit.
Discussion:
@publici_union and @benmullin
Nilesh Christopher / Al Jazeera:
Indian political parties BJP and Congress have created and shared AI-crafted political content on Instagram, Facebook, and YouTube, without explicit disclosures — Political parties are pushing the limits of AI's use to both ridicule opponents and boost their own popularity.
Bruce Haring / Deadline:
Digital Marilyn, an interactive AI avatar of Marilyn Monroe that was created using GPT-3.5 by Soul Machines and Authentic Brands Group, was unveiled at SXSW — One of Marilyn Monroe's most famous quotes was, “I don't mind living in a man's world as long as I can be a woman in it.”
Discussion:
@harrymccracken@mastodon …, Engadget, @nzsimonm, @rollingstone, @gothspiderbitch, @thr, @variety, Soul Machines, @tranniehall.bsky.social, @theangelremiel.bsky.social, @zitron.bsky.social, @sauthoff.bsky.social, Soul Machines, Rolling Stone, Variety, The A.V. Club, The Hollywood Reporter and Reuters, more at Techmeme »
Kim Kleman / Poynter:
Report for America's head says it is ending support of hedge fund-owned newsrooms to “prioritize partners that will be springboards for the next generation” — Our program must focus on areas where it has the most impact, RFA executive director Kim Kleman writes
Discussion:
@mainemonitor, @report4america, @sahogan, Sam Kille on LinkedIn, The Seattle Times, RTDNA and The Rural Blog
Reuters Institute for the Study of Journalism:
Analysis: only 24% of 174 top editors across 240 major news outlets in 12 markets across five continents were women, ranging from 43% in the US to 0% in Japan — In this Reuters Institute factsheet we analyse the gender breakdown of top editors in a strategic sample of 240 major online …
Max Goldbart / Deadline:
An interview with UK Culture Secretary Lucy Frazer about the indie movie tax credit, challenges faced by freelance workforce, Ofcom's probes into GB News, more — EXCLUSIVE: UK Culture Secretary Lucy Frazer has said the 40% indie film tax relief will bring balance to a movie sector …
Discussion:
@deadline
Sammy Heung / South China Morning Post:
Journalist groups welcome Hong Kong's inclusion of a public interest defense for people charged with offenses related to state secrets in a security bill — Hong Kong authorities have included a public interest defence for people charged with offences related to state secrets in a domestic security bill …
Discussion:
Fortune, Reuters and Associated Press
Max Goldbart / Deadline:
Jeff Zucker says Andrew Neil is “quite the hypocrite”, alleging he became a critic of RedBird's Telegraph bid after being refused the job of Telegraph chair — Jeff Zucker did not hold back today in taking on some of Britain's biggest media stalwarts as RedBird IMI pushes …
Discussion:
@thenewsagents, @psythor, @pressgazette, Mediaite and Telegraph
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