Top News:
Financial Times:
Sources: Bari Weiss' The Free Press raised about $15M at a ~$100M valuation; Bari Weiss posted an article this week that said the outlet had 800,000+ readers — The fundraise values Bari Weiss's venture at $100mn — US media start-up The Free Press has raised a further round of funding from investors …
Winston Cho / The Hollywood Reporter:
Filing: OpenAI agrees to give representatives for authors suing the company access to review its training data to see if OpenAI used authors' copyrighted works — At a secure room in its San Francisco office, representatives for authors suing OpenAI will examine materials that were used to train its AI system.
Abid Rahman / The Hollywood Reporter:
WBD launches Max in Japan via local partner U-Next and plans to roll out the streaming service direct-to-consumers in Australia and New Zealand in H1 2025 — Max officially launched in Japan via local partner U-Next. … On the day that Max launched in Japan via local partner U-Next …
Mark Stenberg / Adweek:
Vice relaunches its print magazine, on hiatus since 2019, and debuts $10 per month and $4 per month subscriptions with access to paywalled content — The publisher hopes to reach 10,000 subscribers by next spring — The digital media company Vice relaunched its print magazine and debuted …
Discussion:
Mark Stenberg on LinkedIn and VICE
Barry Hertz / Globe and Mail:
Netflix pauses funding for some professional development programs in the Canadian film and TV industry as Canada imposes a 5% tax on foreign streamers' revenue — /arts/arts/arts//artsThe future of several professional development programs crucial to the health of the Canadian film …
Discussion:
iPhone in Canada Blog and @mgeist
Sara Fischer / Axios:
Sources: Koch's PE arm is in talks with a media entrepreneur to partner on a bid for Forbes valuing the company at ~10% less than its $630M 2021 SPAC valuation — The firm often targets companies that are poorly managed or undervalued. — It will often partner with a strategic buyer …
Discussion:
Sara Fischer on LinkedIn and Talking Biz News
Sara Fischer / Axios:
The NYT aims to sell podcast subscriptions via Apple Podcasts and Spotify, requiring users to pay to access older episodes, starting Oct. for $6/mo. or $50/year — - “A big part of our strategy is building direct relationships with our customers,” said Ben Cotton, The Times' head of subscription growth.
Katie Kilkenny / The Hollywood Reporter:
SAG-AFTRA calls a strike against League of Legends, formerly exempt from the video game strike, alleging parent Formosa Interactive tried hiring non-union labor — The union charges one of the multiplayer game's producers, Formosa Interactive, with attempting to work around its ongoing video game strike …
Discussion:
SAG-AFTRA, Associated Press, The Verge, The Wrap, Variety, Reuters, Los Angeles Times and Engadget, more at Techmeme »
Alex Ritman / Variety:
A group of journalists abandons a press junket at the San Sebastian Film Festival, in protest of a larger trend of limited access to stars at film festivals — A group of international journalists abandoned a press junket for the Johnny Depp film “Modi” at the San Sebastian Film Festival …
Discussion:
Deadline
Jake Kanter / Deadline:
Sources: UK's Evening Standard has made plans to use AI to write reviews under the name of its former art critic of 30 years Brian Sewell, who died in 2015 — Deadline understands that London's historic Evening Standard newspaper has been making plans to revive its former writer using artificial intelligence.
Discussion:
@_zeets, @eddiehenryjames, Empire, @siddhantadlakha, @chrismoranuk, @sturgios, @wendyide, @willardfoxton, @nina_metz and @jscalzi@threads.net
Ivan Mehta / TechCrunch:
WP Engine sends a cease-and-desist letter to Automattic to “retract false, harmful, and disparaging statements”, after Matt Mullenweg called it a “cancer” — WordPress hosting service WP Engine on Monday sent a cease-and-desist letter to Automattic …
Brian Steinberg / Variety:
Memo: Paramount unveils “phase two” of layoffs and says 90% of them will be complete after this round, following its August plan to cut 15% of its US workforce — Paramount Global unveiled a second wave of staff cuts Tuesday morning, part of a larger bid by the owner of CBS …
Discussion:
The Wrap, Digiday, @dylanbyers, Deadline, The Hollywood Reporter, TVLine, Variety, Deadline, Deadline, New York Post, The Desk, TVNewsCheck, Adweek, Los Angeles Times, AV Club, Next TV, TVNewsCheck, Bloomberg, Barrett Media and Advanced Television
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