Mediagazer: Some tech CEOs are turning to friendly podcasters like Lex Fridman as a way to “go direct” and avoid traditional media, which they view as unfairly critical (Ellen Huet/Bloomberg)

7:30 PM ET, March 30, 2024

Top News:

Retail investors, who hold 40% of Disney stock, may decide the Disney-Peltz proxy fight, which is expected to be one of the most expensive in history — Individuals hold as much as 40 percent of the company's shares, and they may decide a proxy battle that is one of the most expensive in history.

Discussion: Deadline, Hollywood Reporter, @annmlipton, @annmlipton@esq.social, Quartz and The Wrap

Ellen Huet / Bloomberg:

Some tech CEOs are turning to friendly podcasters like Lex Fridman as a way to “go direct” and avoid traditional media, which they view as unfairly critical — Tech CEOs have a growing set of ways to sidestep traditional media. But first... Don't press

Discussion: @business, @balloneytony, @samidhas, @curiouslpc, @samidhas, @dannygroner, @martyswant, @technology, @thekenyeung, @dave@social.masto.land, @balloneytony, @nikitabier, @garrytan and Talking Biz News, more at Techmeme »

James Pomfret / Reuters:

US-funded Radio Free Asia closes its Hong Kong bureau, citing concerns over staff safety after a stricter national security law came into effect on March 23 — U.S.-funded Radio Free Asia said on Friday it had closed its Hong Kong bureau citing concerns over staff safety after the enactment …

Discussion: Radio Free Asia, JURIST, Reporters Without Borders, The Guardian, NPR, Semafor, Fox News, Voice of America and New York Times

New York Times:

A look at the impact of Georgia's filming incentives on tiny Thomasville; the state paid $5.2B+ in incentives between 2015 and 2022, compared to New York's ~$7B — When movies are made in Thomasville, Ga., it welcomes celebrities and an infusion of cash. But the financial incentives that attract studios have cost the state billions.

Discussion: @rob_abiera

Gene Maddaus / Variety:
Georgia lawmakers kill a plan to cap film and TV tax credits at ~$900M annually; existing incentives let Atlanta compete with California, New York, and others

Discussion: Atlanta Journal-Constitution, Los Angeles Times and Deadline

Christopher Mims / Wall Street Journal:

Several legal experts say Section 230 will not protect firms from lawsuits over the outputs of generative AI, echoing SCOTUS Justice Gorsuch's 2023 statement — Legal scholars, lawmakers and at least one Supreme Court justice agree that companies will be liable for the things their AIs say and do …

Discussion: Dr. Jeffrey Funk on LinkedIn, @nathandgregory, PJ Pereira on LinkedIn, Esther Dyson on LinkedIn, Christopher Mims on LinkedIn and @mimsical@mastodon.social, more at Techmeme »

Frank Landymore / Futurism:

Many of Amazon's Kindles are displaying ads for blatantly AI-generated books on the lock screen, with some appearing to be flagrant copies of existing works — “I've never minded the ads on them... until they became flooded with AI-generated books.” — Amazon has been a huge staging ground …

Discussion: @laurab7, @poet_economist, @i_dont_caroline, @alex_roddie@mastodon.scot, @thomasfuchs@hachyderm.io and MediaPost, more at Techmeme »

Podnews:

Survey of Americans aged 12+: 47% of have listened to a podcast in the last month, up 12% YoY, 76% listened to online audio in the past month, and more — The portion of Americans who listen to any kind of online audio, and the portion who listen to podcasts, have both reached new record highs …

Discussion: Edison Research, Inside Radio, RADIO ONLINE and RAIN News, more at Techmeme »

Jerusalem Post:

Iran International says journalist Pouria Zeraati was hospitalized with multiple knife injuries after he was attacked by a group outside his London home — The Iranian regime has planned multiple attacks against Iran International. — Iran International announced on Friday that one of its journalists …

Discussion: Telegraph, The Independent, The Guardian, @shachar_baron, @ksadjadpour, @yashar, The Times of Israel, The Daily Beast, Daily Express, Iran International and National Union of Journalists …

Bill Toulas / BleepingComputer:

Google informs users in the US that Google Podcasts is shutting down April 2 and recommends exporting podcast subscriptions to YouTube Music — U.S. users have just a few more days to make the transition from Google Podcasts as the company moves forward with the process of discontinuing the service globally.

Discussion: TechCrunch, Deadline, @carnage4life@mas.to, @killedbygoogle, @killedbygoogle, @jmwilt21, @andrewmccalip, Google Help Center and @BleepingComputer …

Jackie Snow / Quartz:

How newsrooms like Semafor and Skift are using generative AI for internal editing, story summaries, paywalled chatbots trained on their archives, and more — Beyond high-profile wins and faceplants, understated but impactful applications of generative AI are transforming newsrooms

Discussion: @rafat, @thinkverum, @ismaelnafria and @semaforcomms

NPR:

How Richmond Standard, a newspaper funded by the California town's biggest employer Chevron, puts its own spin on events as the town's primary news source — NPR's David Folkenflik reported this story with Miranda Green of Floodlight, a nonprofit newsroom that investigates the powerful interests stalling climate action.

Discussion: John BV Kelly on LinkedIn and Columbia Journalism Review

Ashley Carman / Bloomberg:

How MowPod, which sells podcast advertising tools, uses mobile game ads to incentivize gamers to follow shows on Apple Podcasts in order to earn in-game tokens — At least nine of the current top 50 shows on Apple Podcasts have been promoted in mobile games — Welcome back to Soundbite.

Discussion: @film_girl, @jasonhitchcock, @ashleyrcarman, @michaelkuz, @seyitaylor, @nkulw, @mattzeitlin, @ashleyrcarman, @blythebrum, John McDermott on LinkedIn and @kantrowitz

Archived Page Info:

This is a snapshot of Mediagazer at 7:30 PM ET, March 30, 2024.

View the current page or another snapshot:

Who's Hiring in Media?

Congress Editor, DC — WaPo

China Night News Reporter, London — Bloomberg

Senior Reporter, DC — LexisNexis

Transcription Copy Editor - Opinion, CA — NYT

Part-time Editor, Remote — Techmeme

Home & Travel Reporter - Ireland — Newsweek

Weather Reporter, MA — Boston Globe

South Reporter, GA/Remote — ProPublica

Awards Specials Editor, CA — Hollywood Reporter

Middle East Editor, Remote — Semafor

Arts Editor, London — FT

Deputy Tech Ed. - CNBC, CA — NBCUniversal

Reporter - Police Beat, OR — The Oregonian

National Tech Reporter — States Newsroom

Articles Editor, CA — SF Standard

Harrisburg Reporter, PA — PCBC

Higher Ed. Reporter, Remote CA — EdSource

Alabama Reporter, AL — Inside Climate News

Tech Reporter, CA — Fortune

Digital Editor, DC — Stars & Stripes

Deputy Editor - Investigations, NY — WSJ

Senior Writer - Biotech, Remote — Fierce

Business Reporter, TX — Fort Worth Report

News Correspondent, MS — Magnolia Tribune

Accountability Reporter, NC — Charlotte Observer

Freelance Reporter - L.A. Education, CA — The 74

Associate Editor, London — WIRED

Copy & Weekend Editor, NH — Keene Sentinel

Political Reporter, TX — Courier Newsroom

Staff Writer, MA/Remote — Tech Advisor

Economic Mobility Reporter, FL — Miami Herald

Reporter - Skift Meetings, Remote — Skift

Reporter, NC — NC Newsline

Add your company here

See Also:

Mediagazer: site main

Mediagazer River: reverse chronological Mediagazer

Mediagazer Mobile: for phones

Mediagazer Leaderboard: Mediagazer's top sources

Subscribe:

Mediagazer RSS feed

Mediagazer on X

Mediagazer on Mastodon

More News:

Daniel Thomas / Financial Times:
New York-based The Brandtech Group, which provides generative AI-based tools for advertising and marketing campaigns, raised a $115M Series C at a $4B valuation

Discussion: The Brandtech Group

Peter Kafka / Business Insider:
The proposed Living Wage for Musicians Act would add $4-$10/month to streaming fees, distributed based on usage and also capped to limit funds to top artists

Discussion: @pkafka, @pkafka, The Guardian and UMAW

Reuters:
Blackwells, which is in a proxy fight with Disney, sues Disney over possible disclosure violations in dealings with ValueAct; Disney calls the claims “baseless”

Discussion: The Wrap, Yahoo Finance and Deadline

Washington Post:
Scammers are using sample videos of influencers with modest social media presence to create AI deepfake ads that often push offensive products and ideas

Discussion: @willoremus@mastodon.social, Ben Colman on LinkedIn, @nitashatiku@mastodon.social, @AnnaAnthro@mastodon.social, @pranshuverma_, @robleathern, @nitashatiku, @nitashatiku, @gentrifiedrose@mastodon … and Nigel Caplan on LinkedIn

Sara Guaglione / Digiday:
BDG's SVP of marketing details changes amid referral traffic declines, including prioritizing quality, focusing on Instagram and TikTok, and staging events

Earlier Picks:

Advanced Television:
European Audiovisual Observatory: Netflix, Prime Video, and Disney+ took 85% of VOD viewing time in nine EU countries from September 2022 to September 2023

Discussion: European Audiovisual …, European Audiovisual Observatory and Broadband TV News

Andrew Deck / Nieman Lab:
Q&A with Phoebe Connelly, The Washington Post's first-ever senior editor for AI strategy and innovation, on prompt training, anxiety about job loss, and more

Discussion: Shashidhar Nanjundaiah on LinkedIn, @niemanlab and Phoebe Connelly on LinkedIn

Jake Kanter / Deadline:
Actor Sara Poyzer says BBC is using AI instead of her voice in a documentary; the BBC says it is to recreate the voice of a dying person at a family's behest

Discussion: NME, The Guardian, @sarapoyzer, Fox News, Inside Radio, Mediaite, @matthewg_yoga, @nathanwyburnart, Observer, The Guardian, Daily Mail, Rolling Stone, The Daily Beast, The Drum and The Hollywood Reporter

Alexandra Bruell / Wall Street Journal:
The Atlantic is profitable, has 1M subscribers, and revenue grew 10% in 2023 thanks to a 50% price hike, a harder paywall, and a shift to in-depth reporting

Benoit Berthelot / Bloomberg:
BuzzFeed signs an agreement to license the UK and Ireland operations of HuffPost, Tasty, Seasoned, and BuzzFeed to the Independent, which ~30 staff will join

Discussion: The Guardian, @buccocapital, BuzzFeed, Inc., The Wrap, Reuters, The Independent and Press Gazette

From Techmeme:

Kyle Wiggers / TechCrunch:
OpenAI unveils GPT-4o, a new flagship generative AI model that is faster and natively multimodal, rolling out for free to all ChatGPT users in the coming weeks

David Pierce / The Verge:
Apple iPad Pro (2024) review: gorgeous screen, blazing performance with M4, thin, front camera is in the right spot, but iPadOS can't keep up with the hardware

Christopher Dring / GamesIndustry.biz:
Sony Interactive Entertainment announces two new CEOs: Hermen Hulst, who will lead studios, and Hideaki Nishino, who will lead platforms, effective June 1

Sister Sites:

Techmeme
Top news and commentary for technology's leaders, from all around the web

memeorandum
What US political commentators are discussing online right now

WeSmirch
The top celebrity news from all around the web on a single page