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Todd Spangler / Variety:
ABC News anchor George Stephanopoulos deactivated his account on X, where he had 2.3M+ followers, over the weekend after ABC News settled Trump's lawsuit — ABC News anchor George Stephanopoulos deactivated his account on X, formerly Twitter, where he had more than 2.3 million followers.
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Brian Stelter / CNN:
Some media lawyers say ABC had a good chance of beating Trump at trial, but risked severe reputational damage when internal emails are scrutinized in discovery
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Kyle Wiggers / TechCrunch:
DeepMind unveils Veo 2, a next-gen video-generating AI model that can create 2+ minute long clips in resolutions up to 4K, behind a waitlist as part of VideoFX — Google DeepMind, Google's flagship AI research lab, wants to beat OpenAI at the video generation game — and it might just, at least for a little while.
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Ivan Mehta / TechCrunch:
YouTube is testing the ability for some US creators to reply to comments on their videos using voice notes in its iOS app — YouTube is experimenting with a new way to engage fans by giving creators the ability to post voice notes and reply to comments on their videos, the company announced on Monday.
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CNN:
Syrian locals say a man filmed by CNN being released by rebels from a Damascus jail was a former intelligence officer with the deposed Syrian regime — A man who was filmed by CNN being released by rebels from a Damascus jail was a former intelligence officer with the deposed Syrian regime …
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Sean Craig / The Daily Beast:
Syrian fact-checking group Verify-Sy says that a Syrian man may have given CNN a “false identity” during a segment depicting his apparent release
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Lawrence Hurley / NBC News:
ByteDance asks SCOTUS to block the US law that could ban TikTok on January 19; when asked about the law, Trump says he has a “warm spot” in his heart for TikTok — The law will go into effect on Jan. 19 if the justices don't grant the company's request.
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Danielle Kaye / New York Times:
Ozy Media co-founder Carlos Watson is sentenced to almost 10 years in prison for trying to defraud investors and lenders by lying about the company's finances — A federal jury in July found Mr. Watson, who started the digital media company in 2013, guilty of trying to defraud investors and lenders.
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Hadas Gold / CNN:
Donald Trump says he plans to sue The Des Moines Register over its final poll of Iowa voters by Ann Selzer, saying he wants to “straighten out the press” — New York CNN — — President-elect Donald Trump had not been terribly successful in suing media organizations until …
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Rachel Metz / Bloomberg:
OpenAI makes ChatGPT Search available to logged-in users, not just subscribers, and says they can set ChatGPT Search as their browser's default search engine — The product, called ChatGPT Search, will be available to any user who is logged in with an account for the chatbot across …
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Oliver Darcy / Status:
Memo: LAT opinion staff express concern over Soon-Shiong's new policy forcing editorials critical of Trump to be presented side-by-side with an opposing view — Patrick Soon-Shiong, the owner of the Los Angeles Times, has dismayed staffers as he curtails critical coverage of Donald Trump.
Melissa Clarke / ABC:
Australia's ABC names former Nine CEO Hugh Marks as managing director, starting March 10, 2025; Marks oversaw the AU$4B merger of Nine and Fairfax Media in 2018 — In short: — The ABC's next managing director will be former Nine Entertainment chief executive Hugh Marks.
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Caitlin Huston / The Hollywood Reporter:
Virgin Music Group, which is owned by UMG, strikes a deal to acquire Downtown Music Group Holdings for $775M, with the deal expected to close in H2 2025 — Downtown Music Group includes FUGA, Downtown Artist & Label Services, Curve Royalties and more. — Virgin Music Group …
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Jay Peters / The Verge:
Mark Zuckerberg says Threads now has 100M+ DAUs, revealing its DAU figure for the first time, and 300M+ MAUs, up from 275M+ MAUs in November 2024 — It's a notable milestone not just because it's a big number; it's also the first time Meta has a daily active user figure publicly.
Discussion:
TechCrunch, Engadget, Social Media Today, @zuck@threads.net, @tomwarrenuk@threads.net, @joshmcconnell@threads.net, @sarahfrier@threads.net, @mosseri@threads.net, @kurtwag8@threads.net, @richphoto.io@threads.net, @greenbaumly@threads.net, @noise.in.vacuum@threads.net and @jaypeters.net, more at Techmeme »
David Enrich / New York Times:
How Trump and his allies are using actual or threatened lawsuits to crack down on unfavorable media coverage, even before Trump moves back into the White House — The small flurry of threatened defamation suits is the latest sign that the incoming Trump administration appears poised …
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