Mediagazer: A look at the debate about how much authors should get paid to license books for AI; Microsoft offered HarperCollins $5,000 per title, of which authors get 50% (Alice Robb/Bloomberg)

Amanda Holpuch / New York Times:

Lee Enterprises says a “cybersecurity event” has disrupted operations at its newspapers since at least February 3, forcing some to not print at all — The media company Lee Enterprises said a “cybersecurity event” had created havoc at dozens of its newspapers, prompting some to publish shorter editions or not print at all.

Discussion: Daily Progress, Press of Atlantic City, St. Louis Post-Dispatch, Omaha World-Herald, Buffalo News, News & Advance, La Crosse Tribune, WISC-TV, @kennysmith.bsky.social, Augusta Free Press, Kenosha News, Ravalli Republic, The Beatrice Daily Sun and @dicktofel.bsky.social

Ashley Carman / Bloomberg:

Edison: despite Spotify's video push, only two of the top 10 US podcasts post videos on Spotify; 37 of the top 50 US podcasts regularly post videos on YouTube — Popular programs like New Heights and Club Shay Shay have yet to put their videos on the streaming service

Discussion: Edison Research, Barrett Media and Podnews, more at Techmeme »

Alice Robb / Bloomberg:

A look at the debate about how much authors should get paid to license books for AI; Microsoft offered HarperCollins $5,000 per title, of which authors get 50% — Most experts agree that tech companies should pay creators whose work is used to train artificial intelligence.

Discussion: @newsfromcity and @alicelrobb, more at Techmeme »

Bloomberg:

While traditional TV viewership has plummeted, the NFL's share of TV viewing has doubled over the past two decades, despite a brief dip around 2016 — While viewership of everything else on traditional TV plummeted, the NFL somehow got bigger. — Good afternoon from Chicago and happy Super Bowl Sunday.

Benj Edwards / Ars Technica:

A look at WikiTok, a site that lets users vertically swipe through an endless stream of random Wikipedia article stubs without algorithmically tracking the user — On Wednesday, a New York-based app developer named Isaac Gemal debuted a new site called WikiTok, where users can vertically swipe through …

Discussion: @sohkamyung@mstdn.io and @kyle@mister.computer, more at Techmeme »

Washington Post:

Many independent media organizations in Ukraine and exiled Russian news outlets that relied on US funding are struggling to survive after Trump suspended USAID — Independent media in Russia and Ukraine have been critical of their governments and provide alternative reporting, but much of it relied on U.S. grants.

Discussion: Reporters Without Borders, @goldstein.bsky.social, New York Post, EADaily, The Daily Wire and PolitiFact

Thomas Germain / BBC:

An Adalytics report shows how ad systems run by Google, Amazon, Microsoft and others inadvertently placed ads on a website that hosts CSAM — Some of the biggest tech companies in the world served ads on a website featuring images of child abuse, helping to fund its operations.

Discussion: adalytics.io, Marketing Brew, Politico, Koen Smeets on LinkedIn, Josh Golin on LinkedIn, EsstN, Nick Swimer on LinkedIn, @jpmarthoz.bsky.social, @andil.bsky.social, @thedesk.net, Digiday and Adweek

Discussion: Adweek, U.S. Senator Marsha Blackburn …, The Register and DoubleVerify

Matthew Luxmoore / Wall Street Journal:

A profile of Russia's most influential news anchor Dmitry Kiselyov, once an admirer of Western news networks who has since become Putin's propagandist in chief — Dmitry Kiselyov rose through the aftershocks of the Cold War and emerged as Vladimir Putin's propagandist in chief

Discussion: @mjluxmoore

Kerry Flynn / Axios:

Analysis: since his political career began in 2015, the number of media and defamation suits involving Trump or his businesses grew 4x vs. prior three decades — - Each case is unique yet connected, Kevin Goldberg, vice president at Freedom Forum, a nonpartisan nonprofit fostering First Amendment freedoms, tells Axios.

Discussion: @kerrymflynn

Emmanuel Morgan / New York Times:

A look at former NFL player Shannon Sharpe's success moving from TV commentator to podcasting, especially with his own show, Club Shay Shay — “Club Shay Shay” became a must-stop destination for Hollywood after Katt Williams aired his grievances. “This was our ‘Thriller’ album,” said the host Shannon Sharpe.

Carolyn Giardina / Variety:

Sources: the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences is considering changing its Oscar submission requirements to make disclosing films' use of AI mandatory — The use of AI in best picture contender “The Brutalist” recently grabbed headlines and ignited controversy …

Discussion: Gizmodo, @kraywhiseheart, @davidpoland, @discussingfilm, AV Club, JoBlo, Oh No They Didn't!, @runtcpip.bsky.social, @slownick.bsky.social, IndieWire, World of Reel, @tnewmsblues.bsky.social, @samadams.bsky.social and GoldDerby

Dato Parulava / Politico:

The Georgian parliament plans to introduce a new bill to “define the standards of media objectivity and ethics” and ban foreign funding for media altogether — Georgian authorities are doubling down on media and civil society groups, putting forward a range of new restrictions apparently inspired …

Discussion: Dato Parulava on LinkedIn