Top News:
Anna Betts / The Guardian:
A judge orders an evidentiary hearing for next week to determine whether the Infowars auction was conducted fairly — Judge to audit if conspiracy theorist's bankruptcy auction was fair, which could delay buying process for satire site — A judge has intervened and ordered a hearing …
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Benjamin Mullin / New York Times:
The Onion, backed by some Sandy Hook families and Everytown for Gun Safety, buys Infowars in a bankruptcy auction, and plans a January 2025 relaunch as a parody — The satirical news site planned to turn Infowars into a parody of itself, mocking “weird internet personalities” who peddle conspiracy theories and health supplements.
Discussion:
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Charlotte Tobitt / Press Gazette:
An interview with Telegraph Director of Technology Dylan Jacques on the goal of launching 12 significant uses of AI in the newsroom over 12 months — The Telegraph set out in March to launch 12 significant uses of AI in its newsroom over 12 months. — The tools include newsroom workflow aides …
Discussion:
TVNewsCheck, Acast Podcasts and Editor and Publisher
Liam Scott / Voice of America:
Reporters Without Borders sues X in France for “complicity in disseminating false information”, after X failed to block a fake video with RSF's logo — The press freedom group Reporters Without Borders on Thursday announced that it is suing the social media company X, accusing it of spreading disinformation.
Discussion:
TVNewsCheck, Politico, Reporters Without Borders, @shayne.bsky.social, @digiphile.bsky.social and Al Jazeera
Reuters:
Prince Harry's lawsuit against News Group Newspapers moves towards trial; all but one other litigant in the roughly 40 lawsuits against NGN have settled — Prince Harry is continuing his lawsuit against Rupert Murdoch's News Group Newspapers (NGN) over alleged unlawful activities by journalists …
Discussion:
The Guardian, Byline Times, Press Gazette, Financial Times, Cele|bitchy and GB News
Peter Blumberg / Bloomberg:
X sues to block California's AB 2655, aimed at curbing AI-generated deceptive election content on social media, claiming it impinges on free speech — Elon Musk's social media platform X sued to block a California law aimed at curbing AI-generated deceptive election content on social media …
Discussion:
The Wrap, Forbes, @YellowPup@mstdn.party and @branchdonovan.bsky.social
Jenny Gross / New York Times:
The NYT's lawsuit against the European Commission, meant to establish whether text messages qualify as documents subject to transparency laws, opens — The news outlet is pushing the Commission to release text messages between the E.U.'s top official and Pfizer as they negotiated a Covid-19 vaccine contract.
Discussion:
Politico
Lachlan Cartwright / Columbia Journalism Review:
Just before the election, a Trump lawyer demanded $10B in damages from the NYT and Penguin Random House, part of a flurry of Trump's legal threats to media — Legal letter follows complaints aimed at CBS News, the Washington Post, and the Daily Beast. — The letter, addressed to lawyers …
UnHerd:
Scientific American EIC Laura Helmuth is stepping down, following criticism for her social media posts suggesting Trump voters were racist, sexist, and fascist — The embattled Editor-in-Chief of Scientific American is leaving her role after her anti-Trump social media posts gained national attention.
Discussion:
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Matthew Keys / The Desk:
Disney said Disney+ Q4 ARPU in the US and Canada, down 1% QoQ to $7.70, was affected partly by new wholesale arrangements with some distributors — The Walt Disney Company's recent distribution agreements with Charter Communications and DirecTV impacted a key metric that analysts …
Discussion:
Motley Fool, The Verge, RetailWire, The Streamable, StreamTV Insider and Cord Cutters News
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Todd Spangler / Variety:
Disney plans to add an ESPN “tile” to Disney+ for US subscribers on December 4, giving users access to some free ESPN content
Disney plans to add an ESPN “tile” to Disney+ for US subscribers on December 4, giving users access to some free ESPN content
Discussion:
Cord Cutters News, Barrett Media, @sherman4949, Awful Announcing, AdExchanger, Tv Technology and Deadline
Dade Hayes / Deadline:
Disney investor call: Bob Iger says 60% of all new Disney+ subscribers are for the ad tier, and in a hot-mic moment wonders if he should have said the detail
Disney investor call: Bob Iger says 60% of all new Disney+ subscribers are for the ad tier, and in a hot-mic moment wonders if he should have said the detail
Discussion:
StreamTV Insider, Observer, Rameez Tase on LinkedIn, Marketplace, Adweek, The Wrap, IndieWire and Tubefilter
Elizabeth Lopatto / The Verge:
Fake AI albums added to artists' pages are flooding Spotify to profit from royalty fraud, abusing a distribution process effectively based on the honor system — How fake music targets real artists. … I first noticed something weird when a HEALTH album dropped on my Spotify new release radar.
Discussion:
@jzellis, @js@podcastindex.social, Spotify and @waxy@xoxo.zone, more at Techmeme »
Jesse Whittock / Deadline:
Small to mid-sized US unscripted producers like Lucky 8 are looking overseas to find new business and co-producers as the US market contraction hits budgets — Last month at MIPCOM, many regulars at the Cannes TV market noticed more American accents on the Croisette than usual.
Sara Fischer / Axios:
Newsletter platform Beehiiv launches a “beehiiv Media Collective” for journalists, offering health insurance stipends, backend tools for accounting, and more — - Journalists that have recently joined the beehiiv platform include former CNN media reporter Oliver Darcy …
Discussion:
The Information and @crumbler@threads.net