Automattic sends a cease-and-desist letter to WP Engine, alleging unauthorized use of the WordPress trademark, after WP Engine sent its own letter on Monday (Ivan Mehta/TechCrunch)

Mediagazer: Automattic sends a cease-and-desist letter to WP Engine, alleging unauthorized use of the WordPress trademark, after WP Engine sent its own letter on Monday (Ivan Mehta/TechCrunch)

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 …
Discussion: @pressgazette

Axios:

Univision says Harris and Trump will appear at separate town halls in front of a Spanish-speaking audience in October, moderated by journalist Enrique Acevedo— - “There are more than 36 million Hispanics eligible to vote in the U.S., making them the largest minority in the country …

Discussion:
HuffPost, TelevisaUnivision, Adweek, The Hill, @brianstelter, @bsdtectr.bsky.social, Variety, The Wrap, TVLine, The Hollywood Reporter, TVNewsCheck and Deadline

Discussion:

Nick Visser /
HuffPost: Univision To Host Town Halls With Harris, Trump As Candidates Squabble Over Debate TelevisaUnivision: Noticias Univision Announces 2024 Townhalls with Former President Donald Trump & Vice President Kamala Harris

Brad Pareso /
Adweek: Univision to Host Separate Town Halls for Harris, Trump

Ashleigh Fields /
The Hill: Harris, Trump agree to separate town halls on Univision

Brian Stelter /
@brianstelter: MSNBC says Kamala Harris “will join Stephanie Ruhle from Pittsburgh, Penn. for her first one-on-one network interview since becoming the Democratic presidential nominee.” Airing tonight at 7pm ET. @bsdtectr.bsky.social: Acevedo has already been knocked for doing a softball interview with Trump earlier this year. [embedded post]

Gene Maddaus /
Variety: Trump and Harris to Appear at Separate Univision Town Halls With Latino Voters

Alex Weprin /
The Hollywood Reporter: Kamala Harris and Donald Trump Agree to Participate in Dueling TelevisaUnivision Town Halls

Nieman Lab:

Chartbeat: Facebook traffic to 700 US news sites fell 40% from January 2023 to July 2024 to ~500M page views, as page views from Google Search grew 10% to 1.5B— Traffic from Google Discover now exceeds traffic from Google Search for some publishers, but what works there is a bit of a guessing game.

Discussion:
Adweek and @laurahazardowen

Discussion:

Brad Pareso /
Adweek: Google Discover and WhatsApp Emerge as Traffic Opportunities for News Publishers, While Social Falls

TechCrunch:

Automattic sends a cease-and-desist letter to WP Engine, alleging unauthorized use of the WordPress trademark, after WP Engine sent its own letter on Monday— The brouhaha in the WordPress community looks likely to escalate into a legal battle around trademarks.

Discussion:
@carnage4life and more at Techmeme »

Discussion:

Dare Obasanjo /
@carnage4life: Usually companies change licenses in response to this form of asymmetric competition. It's unusual to first demand a portion of revenue and then sue for trademark violations instead. The business impact on Automattic/WordPress must be non-trivial https://techcrunch.com/...

Dare Obasanjo /
@carnage4life: WordPress hit the same problem other open source cloud software like Redis, MongoDB and ElasticSearch have. You do a bunch of R&D only for another company to host your software and provide the same or better service with your free labor. [image]

RELATED:

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”

Discussion:

Matt Mullenweg /
@photomatt: Heard a rumor @wpengine is trying to remove the news feed from wp-admin dashboards so people don't see my post about them, can anyone confirm or deny?

Matt Mullenweg /
@photomatt: @wpengine “I wanted to let you know that WP Engine is modifying the WordPress dashboard's news widget to strip out any negative comments about them. We had a couple of users where the website broke because of that.”

Justin Ferriman /
@justinferriman: @wpengine In the days leading up to Mr. Mullenweg's September 20th keynote address at the WordCamp US Convention, Automattic suddenly began demanding that WP Engine pay Automattic large sums of money, and if it didn't, Automattic would wage a war against WP Engine. Yikes. 😬

Andrey Savchenko /
@rarst: my cynical read is that A8c business model of taking investor money to “partner with WordPress” is drying up. blackmail to “license” a trademark is really scratching on the bottom of a barrel for last shreds of its value.

Matt Paulson /
@mattpaulsonsd: Matt Mullenweg is effing with the wrong company. WordaPress is open source software anyone can use and implement, managed by a non profit foundation. Matt is just crabby that someone else figured out how to make more money off WordPress than he did.

Jacob Wolf /
@jacobwolf: I'm sort of on WP Engine's side in this argument... Like Vercel, they certainly take advantage of developers' lack of know how (same could be said for many SaaS apps). But they've also contributed a ton to open source and making WordPress better — ACF, WPGraphQL, etc.

Tom Wentworth /
@twentworth12: All of this over WP Engine turning off a setting? Weird.

Jason Cohen /
@asmartbear: This is the entire cease and desist letter sent to Matt Mullenweg and the board of Automattic (but not the foundation, as Matt erroneously claimed earlier today). Very sad for the community that we have to screenshot and share the truth, but the misinformation has to stop.

Katie Keith /
@katiekeithbarn2: I'd love to read @automattic or @photomatt's response to this well-written letter so that we can see both sides to the story. So far, I haven't seen ANY legally valid claims against WP Engine - just nonsense about moral obligations, non-trademarked terms, post revisions, etc.

WP Engine /
@wpengine: Today WP Engine sent what is called a “cease and desist” letter to Automattic demanding that Automattic and its CEO Matt Mullenweg stop making and retract false, harmful and disparaging statements against WP Engine. In response to misinformation he has disseminated about the r/Wordpress: Get the Reddit app — Scan this QR code to download the app now — Or check it out in the app stores

Matt Mullenweg /
WordPress News: WP Engine is not WordPress

Axios:

The International Fund for Public Interest Media plans to raise $150M by mid-2025 to help independent media in 50 low- and mid-income countries over three years— - Of the 40 countries already eligible for funding, 30 will hold elections between 2026 and 2028, the fund notes in its investment thesis.

Discussion:
@sarafischer

Discussion:

Telegraph:

The Spectator appoints ex-UK cabinet minister Michael Gove as editor, starting on October 8, after its takeover by GB News co-owner Sir Paul Marshall— Former Cabinet minister will take over from Fraser Nelson on Oct 8 - three months after standing down as MP

Discussion:

Charlotte Tobitt /
Press Gazette: Michael Gove to replace Fraser Nelson as Spectator editor under new ownership

David Folkenflik /
@davidfolkenflik: Rupert's longtime longshot pick for PM

Stryker McGuire /
@strykermcguire: Great to welcome ⁦@michaelgove⁩ back to journalism. ⁦@FraserNelson⁩ is a tough act to follow; at a time when great magazines were foundering everywhere, Fraser managed to propel ⁦@spectator⁩ from strength to strength. https://www.spectator.co.uk/ ...

Warwick Mansell /
@warwickmansell: Wow-Michael Gove now teaming up with his old friend Sir Paul Marshall, who has just bought the Spectator. Gove was close to Sir Paul M during the latter's time chairing the academy chain Ark Schools. Sir Paul donated to Gove's Tory leadership campaigns in 2016 and 2019.

Hasan Patel /
@hasanpatel: Ladies and gentlemen, meet the new leader of the opposition who will unite hard right media, think tanks and politicians under his stewardship. @michaelgove to be named the @spectator editor https://www.telegraph.co.uk/ ...

Mic Wright /
@brokenbottleboy: Michael Gove as editor of The Spectator. Just when you thought you might not have to see him all over the media anymore.

Duncan Hothersall /
@dhothersall: Some carefully chosen words here. Fraser Nelson “steps down” in favour of Michael Gove at the Spectator, days after the title was bought by GB News owner and hedge fund tycoon Paul Marshall. Nothing says “No change in editorial direction” like immediately replacing the editor.

Caroline Slocock /
@carolineslocock: Didn't take long for the new owner of the Spectator, Paul Marshall, a co-owner of GB News, to replace Nelson with Gove. This picture of Gove with Marshall in 2010 speaks volumes, as does Gove's defence of evidence of extremism revealed by various tweets https://hopenothate.org.uk/.... [image]

Noah Keate /
@noahkeate: Huge media news - Fraser Nelson has edited the Spectator since 2009. How the magazine's direction/choice of topics/writers change after such a long tenure will be fascinating to watch. https://www.telegraph.co.uk/ ...

Dan Barker /
@danbarker: Interesting news from The Spectator: - Fraser Nelson stepping down - Michael Gove the new Editor - Charles Moore the new Chair I expect Fraser Nelson will be inundated with offers, but it would be interesting to see what he'd do at The Standard (formerly Evening Standard)

Rupert Myers /
@rupertmyers: Congratulations to ⁦@michaelgove⁩ on becoming editor of ⁦⁦@spectator⁩ and good luck to ⁦@FraserNelson⁩ in whatever he does next. It was a joy to occasionally write under his editorship. https://www.telegraph.co.uk/ ...

Freddie Sayers /
@freddiesayers: We have some major announcements today here at The Spectator. Fraser Nelson is to step down as Editor, after 15 incredibly successful years. He leaves the magazine modernised, digitised and with more readers than ever before. I am delighted to say he will continue to write for

Euan Rellie /
@euanrellie: I don't always agree with @TheSpectator - I'm a softie liberal by comparison - but I really enjoy reading it and I'm pleased that the brilliant and quirky @michaelgove is taking over as editor. https://www.spectator.co.uk/ ...

Jonn Elledge /
@jonnelledge:

Gordon Rayner /
@gordonrayner: 🚨 EXCLUSIVE: Gove made editor of Spectator Michael Gove to be editor of The Spectator following takeover https://www.telegraph.co.uk/ ...

The Handbasket:

Q&A with NPR Media Correspondent David Folkenflik on the Olivia Nuzzi and RFK Jr. saga, Ben Smith's defense of Nuzzi and sexual relations with sources, and more— The longtime media reporter sounds off. … Johnson was hired there in 2013 by then-Editor in Chief Ben Smith …

Discussion:
@marisakabas2, @justinbaragona, @samwangphd, @marisakabas2, @davitydave, @youngvulgarian, @jokelley, @radfemme74, @thatjakepc, @mattdpearce, @davidgross_man, @tessaduvall, @marisakabas2, @teachequitably1, @tattersking, @nikkimcr, @leah_sottile, @tbridis, Los Angeles Times and The Wrap

Discussion:

Marisa Kabas /
@marisakabas2: “My feeling is you can do almost anything as a journalist that you're willing to disclose to your editors, but also to your audiences. & if you're uncomfortable disclosing it to your audiences, maybe that's a sign that it's something you shouldn't be doing"https://www.thehandbasket.co/ ...

Justin Baragona /
@justinbaragona: .@marisakabas2 spoke to @davidfolkenflik about Ben Smith's “bonkers” take on the whole Olivia Nuzzi-RFK situation, and he had a lot to say. “This is pretty bananas as a claim.” https://www.thehandbasket.co/ ... [image] @samwangphd: A must-read on the ethics of a journalist forming a personal relationship with a subject. Among others, @ChrisCillizza @maggieNYT should read and think a moment. Tweeps, cite more journalists who need to see this in replies https://www.thehandbasket.co/ ...

Marisa Kabas /
@marisakabas2: NEW: I spoke to @NPR media correspondent @davidfolkenflik about @semaforben's newsletter and the Nuzzi/RFK Jr. fiasco. “I think it is fair for readers of Semafor, if they so choose, to question what the ethical standards are after reading this.” https://www.thehandbasket.co/ ...

Marisa Kabas /
@marisakabas2: https://www.thehandbasket.co/ ... [image]

David Lytle /
@davitydave: He should feel embarrassed for believing this, let alone writing it for publication. How fucking cynical.

Marie Le Conte /
@youngvulgarian: side note but on this - it's interesting to see how the British press likes to paint itself, given that Serena Cowdy was essentially hounded out of British political journalism not ten years ago for exactly that, and no one involved was nearly as high profile as Nuzzi/RFK [image] @jokelley: Given how prominent Ben is in the political journalism landscape, this right here makes the Nuzzi story an industry-wide scandal

Jake Cole /
@thatjakepc: Truly incredible year for the American press. Rubberstamping every single piece of Israeli propaganda and taking a brief sabbatical from that to defend the professionalism of inappropriate relationships with subjects. Just a completely debased profession.

David Grossman /
@davidgross_man: The Havrilesky quote is what really gets me. Why does the world need the “excitement” of journalists sleeping with their sources?

Tessa Duvall /
@tessaduvall: Why so many prominent *male* journalists feel the need to defend Olivia Nuzzi — while countless women in the profession are screaming from the rooftops about how her alleged behavior harms the perception of ALL of us — is beyond me.

Marisa Kabas /
@marisakabas2: this is some really sick shit from ben smith. what the actual fuck. https://www.semafor.com/... [image]

Gay Bittertweets /
@teachequitably1: Ben Smith's implication here (for his employees) is that real journalists sleep with their sources to get the story, everyone who doesn't is an ineffective “anonymously emailing moralist,” and he will notice if they don't since he expects all the details of his reporters' trysts. @tattersking: This is genuinely infuriating to me. The idea that fucking the subject of your article is just a mild faux pas and honestly a fact of cool metropolitan life and anyone with a problem with it should get a life is putrid. Journalists are supposed to critique power, not fuck it

Nikki Mccann Ramírez /
@nikkimcr: this one should have absolutely been nuked in the drafts [image]

Leah Sottile /
@leah_sottile: Last week a source gave me a jar of salsa she'd just canned from her garden, and I went through an entire mental exercise over if taking it compromised my ethics. Meanwhile, Ben Smith writes this bullshit:

Ted Bridis /
@tbridis: Semafor editor Ben Smith, regularly contrarian on media ethics, wonders why it's a big deal for journalists to sleep with subjects of our reporting (but still wants his reporters to tell him when they are involved romantically with people they cover) https://www.semafor.com/... [image]

Press Gazette:

Mill Media plans to launch Glasgow-focused title The Bell on September 30 on Ghost, initially without a paywall, and release content three times per week— The new Glasgow-focused title from local newsletter start-up Mill Media will be named The Bell, Press Gazette can reveal.

Discussion:
@mlothianmclean, @millmediauk, @theglasgowbell, @joshi, @mlothianmclean, @alistairkgrant and The Bell

Discussion:

Moya Lothian-McLean /
@mlothianmclean: The Bell will go out 3x a week via email, like other Mill titles, but we're the first to also have a (beautiful) dedicated site. It will house upcoming pieces by the likes of @DaniGaravelli1 & @MagsTaylorish. All completely free for now. Sign up here: https://www.glasgowbell.co.uk/

Moya Lothian-McLean /
@mlothianmclean: Thrilled to reveal my new role is at the @theglasgowbell 🔔and we'll be launching Monday! Sign up now, via next tweet. Nice write up in @pressgazette, where you can read more of what's on the immediate cards for @robbiejourno and me. Read here: https://pressgazette.co.uk/... @millmediauk: Big news in @pressgazette: Our new title @theglasgowbell launches on Monday 🔔 It's led by @mlothianmclean and @robbiejourno, and will start publishing next week. https://pressgazette.co.uk/...

Joshi Herrmann /
@joshi: 🔔Our Glasgow publication is here! Follow @theglasgowbell and make sure to join the mailing list before Monday, when we start publishing. It's led by @mlothianmclean and @robbiejourno, who spoke to @pressgazette about our plans. https://pressgazette.co.uk/...

Moya Lothian-McLean /
@mlothianmclean: @DaniGaravelli1 @MagsTaylorish Why ‘The Bell’? You can read more in the Gazette article but it references the bell in Glasgow City Council's coat of arms, which itself represents St. Mungo's bell. Plus it means I can say ‘Got a tip? Give us a bell!’. Which I will be doing. Repeatedly. https://pressgazette.co.uk/...

Alistair Grant /
@alistairkgrant: Looking forward to reading @theglasgowbell. The more journalism in Scotland, the better.

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.

Discussion:
TVNewsCheck and Music Ally, more at Techmeme »

Discussion:

Stuart Dredge /
Music Ally: Authors suing OpenAI will soon be inspecting its training data

The Hollywood Reporter:

Stability AI says filmmaker James Cameron has joined its board of directors; Stability AI CEO Prem Akkaraju was previously CEO of VFX company WETA Digital— The director says that “the intersection of generative AI and CGI image creation is the next wave” of film technology …

Discussion:
TVBEurope, Stability AI, AV Club, Rolling Stone, Ars Technica, Forbes, The Verge, Deadline, Destructoid, Reuters, SlashFilm, Variety, IndieWire and The Wrap, more at Techmeme »

Discussion:

Jenny Priestley /
TVBEurope: James Cameron joins board of AI visual media company

Ana Guillen /
Stability AI: James Cameron, Academy Award-Winning Filmmaker, Joins Stability AI Board of Directors

Emma Keates /
AV Club: James Cameron is joining the board of an AI firm

Benj Edwards /
Ars Technica: Terminator's Cameron joins AI company behind controversial image generator

Dani Di Placido /
Forbes: Guillermo Del Toro Strikes Back Against AI-Generated Art

Charles Pulliam-Moore /
The Verge: James Cameron is joining Stability AI's board of directors

Mike Fleming Jr /
Deadline: He Has Called His ‘Terminator’ Film A Cautionary Tale About Artificial Intelligence; Now, James Cameron Joins Stability AI Board Of Directors

Tiago Manuel /
Destructoid: James Cameron Joins board of big AI company

Jaspreet Singh /
Reuters: ‘Titanic’ director James Cameron joins Stability AI board

Valerie Ettenhofer /
SlashFilm: The Director Who Warned Us About Artificial Intelligence Will Now Try To Embrace It

Carolyn Giardina /
Variety: James Cameron Joins Stability AI Board of Directors

The Hollywood Reporter:

Wrapbook, which simplifies the payroll process for TV, film, and commercial productions, raised $20M from Bessemer Ventures at a $750M valuation— The financial services firm plans to grow by more than 100 staffers as it takes aim at private equity owned Cast & Crew and Entertainment Partners.

Discussion:
FinTech Global and WKRN-TV

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 …

Discussion:
Jaideep Agarwal on LinkedIn, Variety and Mumbrella

Discussion:

Jaideep Agarwal /
Jaideep Agarwal on LinkedIn: Here is the exciting news: Max all set to Launch in Asia - starting in Japan followed by other markets!! Looking forward to it. — WBD India Warner Bros. Discovery

Patrick Frater /
Variety: WBD's Max Readies Rollout in Asia-Pacific, Requires Multiple Models: ‘Our Goal Is to Reach the Fan Base’

Nathan Jolly /