Top News:
Reuters:
Reuters says a strike on a hotel in eastern Ukraine killed Ryan Evans, who was a safety adviser for the agency, and two journalists were hospitalized — Ryan Evans, a member of the Reuters team covering the war in Ukraine, was killed and two Reuters journalists were injured in a strike …
Discussion:
Washington Post, London Evening Standard, BBC, TVNewsCheck, Deadline, Reporters Without Borders, CBS News, Committee to Protect …, @williamsjon, @beaking_news, Al Jazeera, @marikakatanuma, @w7voa@journa.host, The Wrap, Voice of America, @zelenskyyua, Associated Press, @kyivindependent_official …, @tggrove, @reuterszengerle, @christopherjm, Financial Times, Metro.co.uk, Bloomberg and Talking Biz News
Mia Sato / The Verge:
Gannett is shutting down its product reviews site Reviewed, sources say on November 1; staff previously accused Gannett of publishing AI-generated reviews — Newspaper giant Gannett is shutting down Reviewed, its product reviews site, effective November 1st, according to sources familiar with the decision.
Discussion:
@baekdal, @michaelbishop.me, @andyorin, @miarsato, @jhilburg, @ckrewson, @loudmouthjulia, @loudmouthjulia and @jeremymbarr
Bloomberg:
Sources: Paramount is moving ahead with asset disposals, including a potential sale of 12 TV stations that it considers non-core, which could fetch $500M to $1B — - Independent stations could fetch $500 million to $1 billion — Paramount remains the subject of an ongoing takeover saga
Discussion:
The Desk, @michellef_davis, Cord Cutters News and @matthewkeyslive
Max Tani / Semafor:
A group of media veterans and Democratic political operatives launch The Barbed Wire, a Texas for-profit digital news outlet; Olivia Messer is editor-in-chief — The Scoop — A group of media veterans and Democratic political operatives are launching a new for-profit digital news outlet in Texas.
Politico:
Sources: the Harris-Trump negotiations for the ABC debate on September 10 have hit an impasse; the Harris campaign says they want open mics during the debate — With help from Eli Okun, Garrett Ross and Bethany Irvine — DRIVING THE DAY — SCOOP: IS THIS THING ON?
Discussion:
Mediaite, Washington Post, HuffPost, The Wrap, Mother Jones, Fox News, The Daily Beast, New Republic, Al Jazeera, Associated Press, Raw Story, @nbcpolitics, CNN, @brianefallon, The Hill, New Jersey Online, Vanity Fair, New York Post, Fortune, CBS News, The Guardian, @katesullivandc, @yair_rosenberg, @tommyxtopher, @blueboxdave, @vincecoglianese, Rolling Stone, @scarylawyerguy, @keithboykin, @kneerecon, @selinawangtv, @kaitlancollins, @maxkennerly, @selinawangtv, Deadline, @skylerforny, @metzgov, @sahilkapur, @samstein, Media Play News, @eugenedaniels2, Forbes, @justinbaragona and @brianefallon, more at Techmeme »
Maxwell Zeff / TechCrunch:
Viggle, developer of 3D-video foundation model JST-1, raised a $19M Series A led by a16z; Viggle says the model is trained on public sources, including YouTube — You might not know Viggle AI, but you've likely seen the viral memes it created. The Canadian AI startup is responsible …
Discussion:
@allenlau, @venturetwins, BetaKit and Viggle AI, more at Techmeme »
Max Tani / Semafor:
Sources: ABC News adjusted 538's US election model after taking it down for nearly a month; Nate Silver and Nate Cohn criticize ABC over a lack of transparency — The Scoop — The most scrutinized election forecast model in the US is back online after a mysterious month-long hiatus.
Discussion:
@briangaar, @semaforben, @nate_cohn, @walthickey, @nick_field90, Newsweek, @nate_cohn, @maxwelltani, @mikeroe, @lxeagle17, @natesilver538 and @mappingfl
Bloomberg:
Despite some global box office hits, China has been a total washout for US studios this summer; 80%+ of China's box office is now generated by homegrown movies — Ticket sales are down, and fans aren't turning out for US films like they used to — We'll run through why the Chinese box office …
Discussion:
@thedragonfeeder and @lucas_shaw
Max Tani / Semafor:
Megyn Kelly's “The Megyn Kelly Show” YouTube channel, which has 2.3M subscribers, had ~117M views in July 2024, more than NBC News, CBS News, BBC News, and CNBC — The News — When then-host Megyn Kelly was pushed out of NBC News in 2019, many television network insiders thought her broadcast career was likely over.
Discussion:
@jasoncolavito, @politicalmath, Mediaite, Reason and TVNewsCheck
Nicole Sperling / New York Times:
After a string of misses at theaters, Apple reverses course on upcoming action comedy Wolfs, starring Brad Pitt, by opting for a very limited theatrical release — “Wolfs,” a new film starring George Clooney and Brad Pitt, was going to get a robust theatrical release. But the company is curtailing that plan.
Discussion:
@jbillinson@threads.net, Dexerto, @tvgrimreaper, @lokimicap, @tvgrimreaper, @traceyryniec, @culturecrave, Rotten Tomatoes and Screen Rant
Anna Tong / Reuters:
OpenAI supports CA bill AB 3211 to require companies generating AI content to add watermarks; the bill passed in the state Assembly 62-0 and heads to Senate — ChatGPT developer OpenAI is supporting a California bill that would require tech companies to label AI-generated content …
Discussion:
@psychosort, @cfgeek, @deanwball and Silicon Republic, more at Techmeme »
Alex Weprin / The Hollywood Reporter:
Memo: ESPN outlines a reorganization, including promoting David Roberts to oversee sports news and entertainment, and plans to cut “a few dedicated colleagues” — The Disney-owned sports media giant promoted Mike McQuade and David Roberts to oversee sports, news …
Discussion:
Sportico, Awful Announcing, The Wrap, Variety, Sports Media Watch, Deadline and @bristei