Thursday, January 2, 2025 |
| Plus: Finding the strongest motivations for paying for news, how news orgs can help journalists’ mental health, and why partisan-based news consumption is heavier in the U.S. By Mark Coddington and Seth Lewis. |
What We’re ReadingReuters / David Shepardson
U.S. appeals court blocks Biden administration effort to restore net neutrality rules →“Net-neutrality rules require internet service providers to treat internet data and users equally rather than restricting access, slowing speeds or blocking content for certain users. The rules also forbid special arrangements in which ISPs give improved network speeds or access to favored users.”90.5 WESA / Oliver Morrison
Pittsburgh Post-Gazette’s publisher invites strikers into his home for conversation and carols →“In [John Robinson Block]’s living room, [Steve Mellon, a photographer who’s been on strike for more than two years] said, he believed he was looking at a man who could make him that guy again. But Mellon’s head was spinning. He was surrounded by golden-framed paintings that looked like they could fill the walls of the city’s exclusive Duquesne Club. He was trying to listen to Block’s musings about the state of the media landscape, while also thinking about what he could say to help the strikers who he would see at their morning meeting the next day.” “My synapses were going, ‘What’s going on here? This is so bizarre,’” he said. “This was not on my bucket list. I did not count on this to happen.”Financial Times / Cristina Criddle and Hannah Murphy
Meta envisages social media filled with AI-generated users →“We expect these AIs to actually, over time, exist on our platforms, kind of in the same way that accounts do,” said Connor Hayes, vice-president of product for generative AI at Meta. “They’ll have bios and profile pictures and be able to generate and share content powered by AI on the platform .” New York Times / Nicole Hong and Michael Rothfeld
Shen Yun needed publicity. The Epoch Times wrote 17,000 articles. →“The Epoch Times has long been known to have ties to Falun Gong..but the outsize influence that [Falun Gong founder Li Hongzhi] and his movement have exerted on the outlet’s coverage decisions — especially as they relate to a dance group, Shen Yun, that brings in tens of millions of dollars for the movement every year — has not been previously reported.”Semafor / Max Tani
The things we got wrong in 2024 →Shani Hilton, editor-in-chief, Civic News Company: “The subscription model for local metro newspapers — where you pay a flat fee for access to a warehouse of information — isn’t working the way I once hoped it would…this year I went to work at a place that isn’t under the illusion that subscriptions can save local news.”New York Times / Benjamin Mullin
The Atlantic beefs up politics coverage under Trump →“Ashley Parker, a senior national political correspondent for The Washington Post, and Michael Scherer, a national political reporter for the Post, will join a formidable political team at The Atlantic that includes Elaina Plott Calabro, McKay Coppins and Mark Leibovich. The magazine has been in discussions to hire additional Washington Post journalists, two people with knowledge of the talks said.”Duke University Center for the Study of the Public Domain / Jennifer Jenkins and James Boyle
These works just entered the public domain →“2025 marks a milestone: all of the books, films, songs, and art published in the 1920s will now be public domain. The literary highlights from 1929 include The Sound and the Fury by William Faulkner, A Farewell to Arms by Ernest Hemingway, and A Room of One’s Own by Virginia Woolf. In film, Mickey Mouse speaks his first words, the Marx Brothers star in their first feature film, and legendary directors from Alfred Hitchcock to John Ford made their first sound films. From comic strips, the original Popeye and Tintin characters will enter the public domain. Among the newly public domain compositions are Gershwin’s ‘An American in Paris,’ Ravel’s ‘Bolero,’ Fats Waller’s ‘Ain’t Misbehavin’,’ and the musical number ‘Singin’ in the Rain.'”TechCrunch / Kyle Wiggers
OpenAI failed to deliver the opt-out tool it promised by 2025 →“People familiar tell TechCrunch that the tool was rarely viewed as an important launch internally. ‘I don’t think it was a priority,’ one former OpenAI employee said. ‘To be honest, I don’t remember anyone working on it.'”Axios / Sara Fischer
Reuters and Gannett are launching a bundle aimed at local and regional U.S. publishers →“The bundle will include feeds of ready-to-publish stories, photos, graphics and video from both entities for media companies to license. It won’t include access to games and puzzles from Gannett’s newspaper brands, said Alphonse Hardel, the head of Reuters News Agency.”CNN / Elizabeth Wagmeister
Justin Baldoni sues New York Times for $250 million over Blake Lively story →“Lively filed a complaint with the California Civil Rights Department in December, accusing Baldoni of sexual harassment and retaliation. In the bombshell complaint, Lively claimed that after she raised concerns of sexual harassment on the set of their film, ‘It Ends With Us,’ Baldoni and his team retaliated against her, leaking unflattering press to try to ruin her professional reputation…Baldoni is alleging that Lively created false sexual harassment accusations so she could take control of the film.”Variety / Brian Steinberg
CNBC seeks $14.99/month for new CNBC+ streaming service →“CNBC+ will come in a variety of tiers. An all-inclusive offer, for $599.99 per year, bundles CNBC+ with an online investment club led by market analyst Jim Cramer, as well as a ‘pro’ tier that includes stock ratings and price targets and an ability to monitor a specific portfolio. The stand-alone pro tier, which does not include the Cramer investment club, sells for $299.99 per year, or $34.99 per month.”
Nieman Lab / Fuego
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