Top News:

Tech CEOs looking to “go direct” and avoid traditional media, which they view as unfairly critical, turn to friendly podcasters like Lex Fridman — Tech CEOs have a growing set of ways to sidestep traditional media. But first... Don't press
Discussion:
@dannygroner, @martyswant, Talking Biz News, @garrytan and @nikitabier

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 — Georgia has dropped an effort to cap its billion-dollar film and TV tax credit, after the state House and Senate could not reach agreement on the issue.
Discussion:
Deadline, New York Times, Los Angeles Times and Atlanta Journal-Constitution
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, New York Times, The Indian Express, Voice of America, Semafor and Reporters Without Borders

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:
Inside Radio, RADIO ONLINE and RAIN News

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:
@i_dont_caroline, @laurab7 and @poet_economist

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:
@semaforcomms

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 …

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.

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

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

Blackwells, which is in a proxy fight with Disney, sues Disney over possible disclosure violations in dealings with ValueAct; Disney calls the claims “baseless” — Blackwells Capital upped the pressure on Walt Disney (DIS.N) in a long-running boardroom battle …
Discussion:
The Wrap, Quartz, Yahoo Finance, The Indian Express and Deadline

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 — The Brandtech Group will use funds to disrupt industry with machine-generated content and artificial intelligence
Discussion:
The Brandtech Group