A look at National Trust for Local News, which owns 65 newspapers across Colorado, Maine, and Georgia, employs ~250 journalists, and has 100K paying subscribers (Sarah Scire/Nieman Lab)

Mediagazer: A look at National Trust for Local News, which owns 65 newspapers across Colorado, Maine, and Georgia, employs ~250 journalists, and has 100K paying subscribers (Sarah Scire/Nieman Lab)

Top News:

Deadline:

Newsmax and election systems company Smartmatic reach a confidential settlement that averts Smartmatic's defamation lawsuit over 2020 election lies— Newsmax has reached a settlement with election systems company Smartmatic, averting a defamation trial that was set to start next week.
Discussion: NBC News, Washington Post, Crooks and Liars, @stuartathompsonnyt …, DNyuz, @katie_robertson, Newser, Axios, NPR, Forbes, Associated Press, @jswatz_tx@threads.net, CNN, Mediaite, CNN, Adweek, The Desk, The Wrap, CBS News, New York Times, The Daily Beast, The Guardian, The Hill, Reuters, Los Angeles Times, Radio & Television …, New York Daily News, TVNewsCheck, Barrett Media, ABC7, Media Matters for America and Advanced Television

Discussion:

Jeremy Barr /
Washington Post: Smartmatic and Newsmax settle defamation case involving 2020 election

Stuart A. Thompson /
@stuartathompsonnyt@threads.net: with Smartmatic and Dominion winning big $$$ in lawsuits, it'll be interesting to see how election deniers handle 2024. they'll avoid naming specific companies — only because they know their claims are BS. expect their lies to be vaguer, targeting people and groups and things that can't actually sue.

Katie Robertson /
@katie_robertson: Smartmatic and Newsmax settled for an undisclosed amount today, as a jury was being selected for trial. Smartmatic settled a similar case against OANN earlier this year. They still have a pending case against Fox. https://www.nytimes.com/...

Sara Fischer /
Axios: Newsmax, Smartmatic settle defamation lawsuit

Alison Durkee /
Forbes: Smartmatic Settles With Newsmax: Here's Where It And Dominion's Other Lawsuits Stand

Randall Chase /
Associated Press: Smartmatic voting tech firm reaches settlement with Newsmax in 2020 election defamation case

Marshall Cohen /
CNN: Newsmax faces ‘bet-your-company’ defamation trial over 2020 election lies

Ethan Alter /
Adweek: Newsmax and Smartmatic Settle Defamation Case

Josh Dickey /
The Wrap: Newsmax Settles Smartmatic Defamation Suit One Week Before Trial Opening Statements CBS News: Voting technology firm Smartmatic and Newsmax reach settlement in 2020 election defamation case

Katie Robertson /
New York Times: Newsmax and Smartmatic Settle Defamation Case Over 2020 Election

Lily Mae Lazarus /
The Daily Beast: Newsmax Settles Defamation Case With 2020 Election Firm on Eve of Trial

Dominick Mastrangelo /
The Hill: Newsmax settles with Smartmatic days ahead of trial

Tom Hals /
Reuters: Smartmatic has settled its defamation case against Newsmax, according to court official

Stephen Battaglio /
Los Angeles Times: Right wing network Newsmax settles defamation lawsuit with Smartmatic

Ted Johnson /
TVNewsCheck: Newsmax Settles Smartmatic Defamation Lawsuit, Averting Trial Over 2020 Election Rigging Claims

Olivia Rubin /
ABC7: Newsmax reaches settlement with Smartmatic regarding claims about 2020 election

The Hollywood Reporter:

Former child star Demi Lovato joined California Governor Gavin Newsom as he signed two bills that financially protect child influencers and content creators— Former child star Demi Lovato joined the California governor on Thursday as he greenlit legislation that expands the Coogan Law …

Discussion:
Governor of California, The Wrap, The Hill, @kayreneeesq, Maria J Da Mata Mulero on LinkedIn, ABC7, Rolling Stone, NBC News, Mashable, DNyuz, Billboard and KSTP-TV

Discussion:

Elanaross /
Governor of California: Governor Newsom joins Demi Lovato to sign legislation to protect the financial security of child influencers

Sharon Knolle /
The Wrap: Demi Lovato Meets With Gavin Newsom as He Signs Legislation to Protect Child Influencers

Filip Timotija /
The Hill: Newsom signs bills protecting earnings of child influencers, content creators @kayreneeesq: This is a good start. Hope for even more protection from exploitative parents Newsom signs bill requiring compensation for child influencers. https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/ ... Maria J Da Mata Mulero on LinkedIn: Great news. This is so important in this digital and social media age.

David González /
ABC7: New California laws protect ‘child influencers’ from financial abuse

Ethan Millman /
Rolling Stone: Demi Lovato Champions Signed Law to Protect Child Influencers From Financial Abuse

Daysia Tolentino /
NBC News: California enacts laws to protect child influencers' financial security

Chase DiBenedetto /
Mashable: Child ‘content creators’ granted protections in California by Gov. Newsom

Rania Aniftos /
Billboard: Demi Lovato Joins Governor Gavin Newsom to Sign Legislation to Protect Child Influencers' Financial Security

The Information:

Source: Amazon exceeded its goal of $1.8B in ad-spending commitments for its video-streaming offerings, including Thursday Night Football, in the coming year— Amazon's decision to introduce ads within its Prime Video streaming service is already paying off for the company.

Discussion:
The Wrap, Reuters, Deadline and Adweek, more at Techmeme »

Discussion:

Juby Babu /
Reuters: Amazon tops $1.8 bln ad-spending commitment target for video-streaming services, The Information reports

Bill Bradley /
Adweek: Here's What Buyers Really Thought of the 2024 Upfront

New York Times:

Sources: CNN will begin experimenting in early October with a metered paywall, charging some readers for digital access after they read a set number of articles— CNN will begin experimenting in October with a subscription model, in a major initiative from its chief executive, Mark Thompson.

Discussion:

Brad Pareso /
Adweek: Coming Up Next on CNN: A Paywall

Josh Dickey /
The Wrap: CNN Plans to Paywall News Content Starting Next Month

Charlie Nash /
Mediaite: CNN To Lock Content Behind Paywall ‘As Cable Television Erodes Industrywide’: Report

Oliver Darcy /
Status: CNN's Paywall Play

Dylan Byers /
@dylanbyers: I think I've reported this at least six times in the last three months... https://www.nytimes.com/... via @NYTimes

Paul Wiggins /
@paulwiggins: @BenMullin I wouldn't subscribe as a standalone package because it's too Democrat v Republican focused. Other factors that affect outcomes get scant attention. My view on this also applies to cable news rivals in the US.

Ben Mullin /
@benmullin: scoop: Mark Thompson's team at CNN will launch its paywall in early October. It's one of Mark Thompson's first major business initiatives. The plan is to launch a metered paywall at a low price point and see how readers react: https://www.nytimes.com/...

Dan Kennedy /
@dankennedy_nu@threads.net: Granted, cable's dying, but let's not overlook the fact that CNN is already getting an enormous amount of money from cable subscribers who are forced to pay whether they want it or not. CNN-dot-com is also giving up its main strength as a free source of quality news at a time when the best news outlets are charging for their journalism. …

Jessica DeWeese /
NewsBlues.com: CNN to Introduce Paywall for News Content in October

Josh Dickey /
TVNewsCheck: CNN Plans To Paywall News Content Starting Next Month

Kali Hays /
@kalihays1@threads.net: Even more paywalls are coming, cnn won't be the only one. Fair warning to all of you who love to comment “ugh paywall” “can't read paywall” “paywall can someone post a free link” gonna need you to direct your sense of injustice to the major tech companies (which have also all erected their own type of walled gardens over the last year or so)

Nieman Lab:

A look at National Trust for Local News, which owns 65 newspapers across Colorado, Maine, and Georgia, employs ~250 journalists, and has 100K paying subscribers— “What we're trying to solve for is not necessarily a business model problem. We're trying to solve for an ownership incentive problem."

Press Gazette:

A look at publishers' growing use of Subtext, founded in 2019 by Advance Local's Alpha Group, to drive traffic, reduce churn, and drive affiliate revenue— Could old-fashioned SMS texting be a more reliable alternative to fickle social media algorithms for publishers?

New York Times:

Sources: ESPN lays off NBA senior writer Zach Lowe as part of continuing cost cutting; his salary, in excess of seven figures annually, was the biggest factor— ESPN has parted ways with NBA senior writer Zach Lowe as part of the network's continuing layoffs, sources briefed on the decision told The Athletic on Thursday.

Discussion:
TVNewsCheck, Adweek, Washington Post, ComingSoon.net, New York Post, @kforch1@threads.net, Front Office Sports, Deadline, @sepinwall@threads.net, @johnjf125, @tyler_greever, @sherman4949, @waldersports, @philiprr_omd, @fmaddennba, @yourmandevine, @marcatracy, Mediaite, Sports Media Watch, New Jersey Online, Awful Announcing, @howelloneill.bsky.social, UPROXX, Barrett Media and USA Today

Discussion:

Brad Pareso /
Adweek: ESPN Lays Off NBA Senior Writer Zach Lowe

Ben Strauss /
Washington Post: Zach Lowe, star NBA journalist, laid off by ESPN

Tamal Kundu /
ComingSoon.net: What Happened to Zach Lowe? ESPN Lay-off Explained

Ryan Glasspiegel /
New York Post: ESPN lays off NBA reporter Zach Lowe over seven-figure salary @kforch1@threads.net: This makes me so mad. Zach is the reason I got back into sports writing, his podcast is tied so closely with my love of the game and following hoops. I know he will land somewhere great but such a bummer to see this chapter close https://www.nytimes.com/...

Michael McCarthy /
Front Office Sports: Why Did ESPN Lay Off Zach Lowe, and What's Next for Him?

Alan Sepinwall /
@sepinwall@threads.net: It's so depressing that there's so much more money to be made from angry bad-faith debate than there is from someone who is incredibly smart and eloquent about his area of expertise, whom everyone in the audience likes in large part because he makes them feel smarter, too. https://www.nytimes.com/...

John Fleming /
@johnjf125: I'm sure he'll go to The Athletic or The Ringer in a heartbeat, but is ESPN really this invested in spending half their payroll to have Pat McAfee run around shirtless and Stephen A. Smith yell directly at the New York Knicks?

Tyler Greever /
@tyler_greever: Coupling this with Woj retiring is one hell of a way to get people amped up for your NBA coverage.

Alex Sherman /
@sherman4949: Tectonic shift in ESPN's NBA coverage in the past week.

Chris Walder /
@waldersports: ESPN doesn't want knowledgable, sensible personalities. They want loud, obnoxious, hot take artists who can gain traction on social media. This is ridiculous. Zach Lowe is one of the best basketball writers on the planet.

Philip Rossman-Reich /
@philiprr_omd: Zach Lowe is what we all should want our NBA coverage to be. Endlessly curious about every facet of the league and smart about teaching why it's so fascinating. He is also a genuinely great guy from the few interactions I've had with him. He's the model for NBA coverage.

Frank Madden /
@fmaddennba: I'm sorry WHAT??????? Woj retires and ESPN responds by laying off the single best writer/analyst/podcaster in the NBA universe? Good lord what a clown show.

Dan Devine /
@yourmandevine: If this is true, it is galactically stupid.

Marc Tracy /
@marcatracy: I'm just a country NBA fan and ex-media reporter, but ... I think Lowe operated wonderfully as a sort of loss leader in front of the paywall, helping all of us be better NBA fans —> consuming more ESPN, and was less of a fit behind that specific paywall https://x.com/...

Ahmad Austin Jr /
Mediaite: Top NBA Writer Zach Lowe Let Go From ESPN as Layoffs Continue: Report

Jimmy Hascup /
New Jersey Online: ESPN layoffs continue with shocker: ‘This move is tough to figure out’

Patrick Howell O'Neill /
@howelloneill.bsky.social: please put a trigger warning on that salary for journalists working on anything but sports [embedded post]

Robby Kalland /
UPROXX: ESPN Laid Off Zach Lowe In Latest Shakeup To Their NBA Coverage

Charles Curtis /
USA Today: ESPN lays off Zach Lowe, beloved NBA analyst: What we know

The Verge:

X is blocking links to Ken Klippenstein's newsletter with a hacked JD Vance dossier and suspended Klippenstein's X account for posting Vance's private info— X is preventing users from posting links to a newsletter containing a hacked document that's alleged to be the Trump campaign's research …

Discussion:
Axios, HuffPost, Adweek, @pkafka@threads.net, NBC News, @alibreland, @leahmcelrath, @emptywheel, @leahmcelrath, @alibreland, @thezedwards, @leahmcelrath, @jessicalburbank, Breitbart, @rmac18, @leahmcelrath, @rmac18, @eliothiggins, @justinbaragona, New York Daily News, @newrepublic@threads.net, Engadget, @omimesis@mastodon.social, @BackFromTheDud@mas.to, New Republic, @oremus.bsky.social, @davekarpf.bsky.social, Ken Klippenstein, @Cyberpreppy@mastodon.social, @hn50@social.lansky.name, @digiphile@mastodon.social, Elizabeth Lopatto on LinkedIn, The Hill, @passantino@threads.net, Mediaite, @mmasnick.bsky.social, DNyuz and Hacker News, more at Techmeme »

Discussion:

Angrej Singh /
Axios: X suspends journalist who shared leaked Vance docs

Paige Skinner /
HuffPost: Journalist Banned From X After Publishing JD Vance Dossier

Brad Pareso /
Adweek: Journalist Banned From X After Publishing Vance Dossier, Links to Material Blocked

Peter Kafka /
@pkafka@threads.net: For those asking: This is not the same as the Biden laptop story. But it does have echoes: Twitter (and others, including Facebook), *thought* the laptop story could have been a hack and leak, with good reason. But no evidence ever emerged that it was, and Jack Dorsey subsequently apologized for banning links to the NY Post story that used the material. …

Kevin Collier /
NBC News: Independent journalist publishes Trump campaign document hacked by Iran despite election interference concerns

Ali Breland /
@alibreland: got temporarily locked out of twitter for posting about the jd vance dossier with a screenshot from his investments portion. it's not “private information” anymore [image]

Leah McElrath /
@leahmcelrath: Musk also locked Ken's attorney's account: @emptywheel: Hey @elonmusk: Did you just suspend @kenklippenstein bc you like JD Vance more than Hunter Biden?

Leah McElrath /
@leahmcelrath: The TOS are whatever Musk says they are, essentially.

Ali Breland /
@alibreland: notable how quickly they started enforcing the vance dossier given how diminished the moderation team is and how they often dont bother to handle a lot of things that otherwise violate the rules, or at least handle them quickly [image]

Zach Edwards /
@thezedwards: X is locking accounts that link to the J.D. Vance report released by Ken Klippenstein. I assume they are locking all the accounts that linked to the old 2016 leaked docs too? Oh right, forgot this is a partisan network now. [image]

Leah McElrath /
@leahmcelrath: So @kenklippenstein published the hacked dossier on JD Vance, and Elon Musk suspended his account: [image] @jessicalburbank: This is what happens when I try to click on @kenklippenstein's link to the JD Vance Dossier piece. Elon Musk, big free speech guy! [image]

Paul Bois /
Breitbart: Journalist Ken Klippenstein Temporarily Banned from X for Sharing JD Vance's Personal Information

Ryan Mac /
@rmac18: There are parallels to the NYPost Hunter Biden laptop story. The key difference is Twitter prevented distribution of the NYPost story because it believed the material had been hacked (though it later turned out not to be.) In Klippenstein's case, it's been established that the

Leah McElrath /
@leahmcelrath: I read through the table of contents of the JD Vance dossier. The information it contains appears to be all—or mostly all—part of the public record. It's hard to see how Ken violated TOS, especially since this entire platform is weaponized by foreign ICs.

Ryan Mac /
@rmac18: The irony of this is that it appears X got rid of the page explaining its once existent “hacked materials” policy. So it's unclear why Klippenstein was suspended. https://help.x.com/... https://x.com/... [image]

Eliot Higgins /
@eliothiggins: There's whole bot networks pushing Russian disinformation designed to interfere with the US election, yet they seem to operate without this level of intervention.

Justin Baragona /
@justinbaragona: UPDATE A Twitter/X spokesman told me that Ken Klippenstein was temporarily suspended for sharing JD Vance's personal information, specifically his home address and partial Social Security number. https://x.com/...

David Matthews /
New York Daily News: Journalist suspended from X after publishing allegedly hacked Vance dossier @newrepublic@threads.net: Independent journalist Ken Klippenstein was suspended from X shortly after sharing a leaked dossier on Republican vice presidential nominee J.D. Vance. https://newrepublic.com/...

Danny Gallagher /
Engadget: X suspends journalist Ken Klippenstein after he published J.D. Vance dossier @BackFromTheDud@mas.to: @Mediagazer Ay, Melon Husk has a variable definition of what “Free Speech” is.

Will Oremus /
@oremus.bsky.social: ingenious move by musk to go ham on the vance dossier while all the content moderation experts are locked up at a stanford trust and safety conference [embedded post]

Dave Karpf /
@davekarpf.bsky.social: I mean sure, I'm happy to point and laugh at Elon's hypocrisy here. — But I'm not gonna rally to the cause of engagement-bait. — Two things can both be bad for different reasons at the same time.

Dave Karpf /
@davekarpf.bsky.social: The Klippenstein thing is just raw Substackonomics: —Dude posts the Vance dossier, declaring “sure it's Iranian hackers but I'm a courageous journalist btw plz subscribe.” —bunch of people say “lol fuck yeah here's money.” —Elon suspends. —Next he'll say “I'm being silenced! plz subscribe!” [image]

Adrian Randall /
@Cyberpreppy@mastodon.social: It's Elon Musk's personal website. He owns it 100%. He can do whatever he wants with it. And he will never, ever let you use it in a way that threatens him or his allies. — https://www.theverge.com/... @hn50@social.lansky.name: X (Twitter) blocks links to hacked JD Vance dossier — Link: https://www.theverge.com/... Discussion: https://news.ycombinator.com/ ... #twitter

Alex Howard /
@digiphile@mastodon.social: Today, X suspended @kenklippenstein after he published a dossier the Trump campaign compiled on J.D. Vance on his newsletter on Substack, citing a rule against “posting private info.” Verge reports X is blocking the URL, scrubbing it from search, & deleted their hacked materials policy. https://www.theverge.com/... …

Elizabeth Lopatto /
Elizabeth Lopatto on LinkedIn: seems familiar... https://lnkd.in/g4DCN5Zm

Julia Shapero /
The Hill: Journalist booted from X after publishing hacked Vance document

Jon Passantino /
@passantino@threads.net: A spox for X says: “Ken Klippenstein was temporarily suspended for violating our rules on posting unredacted private personal information, specifically Sen. Vance's physical addresses and the majority of his Social Security number.” — RE: https://www.threads.net/...

Phillip Nieto /
Mediaite: Journalist Ken Klippenstein Suspended By X After Publishing Hacked JD Vance Dossier

Mike Masnick /
@mmasnick.bsky.social: I am sure that Jim Jordan will be launching an investigation into Elon Musk's suppression of this leak about someone close to a presidential campaign this close to an election. — Right? — Or did that only apply to the Hunter Biden laptop? [embedded post] DNyuz: X platform suspends journalist after he publishes JD Vance dossier allegedly hacked and leaked by Iran

The Hollywood Reporter:

CNN won 11 awards in the 2024 News & Documentary Emmy Awards, ABC News won eight including three credited to Hulu, and National Geographic won five— The awards were handed out at the Palladium Times Square in New York City on Wednesday. — CNN, ABC and National Geographic are among …

Discussion:
Talking Biz News, The Wrap, Variety, Barrett Media, CNN, Deadline, TVNewsCheck and GoldDerby

Discussion:

Chris Roush /
Talking Biz News: National Geographic, Netflix win business Emmys The Wrap: ‘Lakota Nation vs. the United States’ Wins Best Documentary on Final Night of News & Doc Emmys

Michael Schneider /
Variety: AMC+'s Mark Ruffalo-Produced ‘Lakota Nation vs. United States’ Lands Top Prize at Documentary Emmys

Michael Schneider /
Variety: 'It's Bisan From Gaza and I'm Still Alive' Wins News & Doc Emmy Despite Calls For Its Disqualification; Big Winners Include CNN, ABC, Nat Geo

Carly Thomas /
TVNewsCheck: ABC, CNN & National Geographic Among Top Winners At News Emmys, Night One

Daniel Montgomery /
GoldDerby: 2024 News and Documentary Emmy winners list: The best in nonfiction media awarded on September 25-26

RELATED:

The Wrap:
Palestinian journalist Bisan Atef Owda wins the Emmy for Outstanding Hard News Feature: Short Form, after the Academy rejected a push to rescind her nomination

Variety:

AI company Runway launches The Hundred Film Fund, offering grants of $5,000 to $1M for 100 short films and feature-length movies that use generative AI— Runway is launching The Hundred Film Fund, an initiative to help produce and fund as many as 100 short films and feature-length movies …

Discussion:

Cristóbal Valenzuela /
Runway: Runway launches fund to provide artists resources to make one hundred films

Jenny Priestley /
TVBEurope: Tech start-up offers filmmakers $1 million if they use AI @dfwsam.bsky.social: I have to wonder, what'll the average energy cost & thermal output be, for short film vs feature length? Possibly by genre, if it catches on.

Christina Lee Storm /
Christina Lee Storm on LinkedIn: I'm passionate about exploring the use of emerging technologies in storytelling with curiosity, constant iteration, and resilience. … @YakyuNightOwl@mastodon.world: @Mediagazer Have the robot herders considered helping minorities before the robots? — Maybe they look more like the robots, so they can't relate to the real human filmmakers.

Fifi Lamoura /
@fifilamoura@eldritch.cafe: @Mediagazer Gross.

Erik Hayden /
The Hollywood Reporter: After Inking Studio Deal, Tech Firm Says It Will Fund Moviemakers If They Use Its AI Tools

Radio World:

The FCC voted to impose fines for three Miami-area pirate radio operators totaling $800K+ and proposes fines totaling $1M for three suspected NYC-area operators— Commission carries out three fines, has three more proposed — The Federal Communications Commission has taken swift action …

Discussion:
@ampersine@mastodon.online: @Mediagazer — I heard it, I heard it, I heard it on the X — https://youtube.com/...

Kelcee Griffis /
Bloomberg: FCC Levies $6 Million Fine Against Biden Robocaller

Adam Jacobson /
Radio & Television Business Report: FCC Affirms Miami Pirate Radio Fines As N.Y. Offenders Get Proposed Penalties

CNN:

Nevada court hearings in the Murdoch family succession fight ended outside of public view; resolution may take weeks and be appealed to Nevada's Supreme Court— New York CNN — — The fate of Rupert Murdoch's vast media empire, including Fox News, is now in the hands of a Reno probate commissioner …

Discussion:
@passantino@threads.net

TechCrunch:

Subscription management platform RevenueCat acquires Dipsea, an app that offers subscriptions for “spicy” audiobooks, as a test ground for RevenueCat's features— On the heels of its earlier $12 million fundraise, subscription management platform RevenueCat has made its first acquisition — and it's an unusual one.

Matt Mullenweg:

Matt Mullenweg says Automattic has “been attempting to make a licensing deal” with WP Engine “for a very long time, and all they have done is string us along”— In short, WP Engine is violating WordPress' trademarks. Moreover, they have been doing so for years.

Discussion:
TechCrunch, Fast Company, @photomatt@mastodon.social and Automattic

Discussion:

Ivan Mehta /
TechCrunch: The WordPress vs. WP Engine drama, explained

Chris Stokel-Walker /
Fast Company: The chaos at WordPress revolves around a clash of egos

Matt Mullenweg /
@photomatt@mastodon.social: WPE & Trademarks — I've been writing and talking about WP Engine a lot in the last week, but I want to be crystal clear about the core issue at play. In short, WP Engine is violating WordPress' trademarks. Moreover, they have been doing so for years. …

RELATED:

The Register:
Matt Mullenweg says WP Engine no longer has free WordPress.org access and directs WP Engine customers having trouble with their websites to WP Engine support

Discussion:
Tedium, @viewfromthebox, @bowefrankema, WordPress News, @bgardner, @pressable, @automattic, @tmeister, @rmccue, @wpdavidv, @bgardner, @thedannorris, @shendison, @joshmanders, @williamsba, @patchstackapp, @fjzeit, @mrlanphear, @timbouchard, @stshank, @tomfrankly, @danielcid, @itsdavemartin, @dcurtis, @vinnysgreen, @t3dotgg, @slexaxton, @tealou, @benjmay, @thespacedmonkey, @seldo, @ozskier, @taraclaeys, @photomatt, @deviorobert, @photomatt, @davidtaggart, @photomatt, @carlhancock, @photomatt, @mgeheren, @bgardner, @jbenton, @raymmar_, @keithdevon, @wordpress, MarTech, Dave Martin, TechRadar, Search Engine Journal, WP Engine's Status Page, @runakog@threads.net, @dvk@toot.re, TechCrunch, @Kye@tech.lgbt, @Jayhoffmann@mastodon.social, @bretcarmichael@mastodon …, @jalefkowit@vmst.io and @chris@mastodon …, more at Techmeme »

Discussion:

Ernie Smith /
Tedium: Content Fighting Systems

Jacob Martella /
@viewfromthebox: Today in Matt destroys the WordPress community: you can't add plugins directly from the .org repo if you have a WP Engine site. And I can confirm that this is happening. https://www.reddit.com/... [image]

Bowe Frankema /
@bowefrankema: This is the absolute low point in #WordPress history. Crippling core functionality remotely due to a corporate conflict goes against everything the software stands for, and utterly destroys the mission of an open web, and the community that helped build it.

Matt Mullenweg /
WordPress News: WP Engine is banned from WordPress.org

Brian Gardner /
@bgardner: My heart is breaking. 💔 @pressable: If you're not happy with your hosting at WP Engine but you bought into an annual contract, we want to help set you free. Check out our special offer here: https://pressable.com/... @automattic: Automattic is deeply committed to open source, and we will continue to safeguard its ideals and the community that supports it. We want to make this clear: Using “WP” is not a trademark issue.

Enrique Chavez /
@tmeister: I totally agree with this take. Not only must #WPEngine win, but Matt should be removed from any position with decision-making power on any #WordPress entity (.org, .com and the foundation).

Ryan McCue /
@rmccue: For the continued health and vibrancy of the WordPress project, WP Engine must win. https://journal.rmccue.io/...

David Vogelpohl /
@wpdavidv: Schools, governments, emergency service websites, churches, non profits, healthcare websites. These are just some of the types of important websites Mullenwonka is exposing to security risks by blocking their sites from accessing .org. DANGEROUS, SHAMEFUL, WRONG.

Brian Gardner /
@bgardner: Many things out of my control, but some are not. I will continue to: ✴︎ Advocate for #WordPress. ✴︎ Make myself available to you. ✴︎ Create for the community. Please reach out if there is any way I can support you or your business.

Dan Norris /
@thedannorris: Big test happening now for Open Source CMS tech. It's always been confusing to me what was allowed and what wasn't. We named WP Curve pretty much because we saw @wpengine and others use that wording and assumed it was OK, but it's always been a grey area.

Scott Hendison /
@shendison: It took @wpengine support chat over 20 minutes to tell me that “this is a known issue”, and they'll update me by email, but NOW I know that it's an issue for ALL websites you host? WTF?!? Why not tell your support chat? Is this related to the @photomatt criticism / drama from [image]

Josh Manders /
@joshmanders: Automattic was an investor in WPEngine's Series A round. They had zero issues with what WPEngine has been doing until now. Imagine if I convinced Vercel to invest in my series A for Primcloud because I was going to have specialized hosting for Next.js and then a decade later

Brad Williams /
@williamsba: This now affects all of us. This is no longer anti-WPE, this is anti-WordPress. This hurts us all. Unreal. @patchstackapp: All @patchstackapp users with protection turned on at #WPengine will continue to receive virtual patches to all of the latest security vulnerabilities as usual. Meanwhile, we hope the situation resolves soon and users are able to update to patched versions ASAP. @fjzeit: Imagine if every large open source initiative went daggers at the commercial operations that profit from it without suitable financial support in return. Sure, the WP drama has other angles around appropriate conduct wrt impact upon users but the fundamental issue is solid. @mrlanphear: This latest stunt by Matt Mullenweg is unconscionable. You're not harming @wpengine. You're harming their customers. WordPress' customers. My agency's customers. You're about to make my life as a developer a living hell. Fix this before you can't undo the damage. @photomatt

Tim Bouchard /
@timbouchard: Matt's out of line. If he wants to waste money chasing bogus legal claims he should do it without affecting the people. Absolute insanity #WordPress

Stephen Shankland /
@stshank: The fight between @WordPress and @wpengine just got orders of magnitude uglier, with the latter's paying customers now unable to update their site plugins (which is to say secure their websites). WordPress statement: https://x.com/...

Thomas Frank /
@tomfrankly: This is absolutely the wrong way to handle this dispute. All my sites were previously on WP Engine. If I hadn't moved them a couple years back, I'd be feeling pretty screwed right now. Even though I did, I'm still pretty angry on behalf of all the site owners who did nothing

Daniel Cid /
@danielcid: To all WordPress and Linux users out there. Image how would react if Ubuntu (for example) blocked your servers from receiving updates and installing new packages because you never contributed back or donated to Ubuntu. If they found the IP ranges for all your servers and got it

Dave Martin /
@itsdavemartin: I shared my thoughts on Matt's recent comments. Here's my summary of the primary issue: WPEngine extracts a great deal of value from the WordPress ecosystem without giving much back to the WordPress commons in return. You can read my full thoughts here: https://davemart.in/...

Dustin Curtis /
@dcurtis: Automattic's bizarre, unconvincing fight with WP Engine is bad for Wordpress, bad for open source software, and bad for the web. There has to be more to the story than a petty fight over disabling revision history. It makes no sense.

Vinny Green /
@vinnysgreen: Let's triage the obvious problem before we start concerning ourselves with anything that appears as problem. WP Engine and Silverlake have never been in position to screw up WordPress as bad as Matt is screwing it up now.

Theo /
@t3dotgg: WordPress will never die, but today they killed the trust their community had in them.

Alex Sexton /
@slexaxton: genuinely have no clue about this wordpress drama but I feel compelled to say that I was on the board of the jQuery foundation during some of the glory years and @photomatt was the ~largest donor. definitely puts his money where his mouth is in supporting dependent oss.

Téa Smith /
@tealou: This is an absolutely disgusting move from @WordPress So in order to maintain continuity for clients, I need to eat the time sent on manual updates or migrate away from an excellent hosting provider. Not good enough. I stand with @wpengine

Ben May /
@benjmay: Wondering if this is a new option lol @thespacedmonkey: My thoughts on WP Engine drama. I feel like saying that WPE doesn't contribute to WordPress and WordPress ecosystem seems a little disingenuous. WPE, has sponsored countless WordCamps and local meetups. There bought and kept open source plugins like ACF & wpgraphql

Laurie Voss /
@seldo: Meanwhile over in Wordpress land things are escalating wildly. You can't power 40% of the web and act this way, people will fork your shit.

Dave Amirault /
@ozskier: This is absolutely insane and such a disgusting abuse of power by @photomatt. I have clients using @wpengine and now they can't easily install plugins or update themes. #WordPress [image]

Tara Claeys /
@taraclaeys: @LilJimmi @photomatt Massive panic and confusion coming from my clients who own their own accounts at WPE but have no idea what that means. It will cost them money to move, and cost us many hours to access their DNS and help move their sites to ... possibly the next company that gets banned?

Matt Mullenweg /
@photomatt: @TaraClaeys @LilJimmi No other company has attacked https://wordpress.org/, so you should be fine.

Robert DeVore /
@deviorobert: @DuaneStorey @schutzsmith “they have full access to the GPL code. they just need to host and run it themselves” - @photomatt I'm no mathematician, but I think Silver Lake may have enough money to clone https://wp.org/ and run an independent repository of the themes and plugins + core files found

Matt Mullenweg /
@photomatt: @hashim_warren ... WP Engine controls the code on your site, as they demonstrated by blocking the meetups widget. They should be able to copy all the GPL code in the repository and provide it to their customers. @davidtaggart: This Wordpress vs WP Engine mess is the dumbest damn thing I have ever seen. Whatever the backstory ends up being @photomatt just shot the WP ecosystem in the stomach. It will see a slow and steady death. Right now like 40% of sites are on WP. In 10 years it will be 20% or

Matt Mullenweg /
@photomatt: @DavidTaggart Let's check back in ten years! I set my calendar.

Matt Mullenweg /
@photomatt: @deviorobert ... They do, they just don't want to spend it. It will cost them a lot more than the 8% deal they turned down.

Matt Mullenweg /
@photomatt: @init_sh Nope! None of them have publicly attacked me and https://wordpress.org/.

Carl Hancock /
@carlhancock: For the record, if someone sued me I'd stop supporting them too unless I was compelled to do so by a judge. Just saying.

Matt Mullenweg /
@photomatt: @bgardner @wpengine Happy to unblock you, drop your legal claims and get a trademark license.

Michael Geheren /
@mgeheren: Not being able to do @WordPress updates because of the @photomatt/@wpengine fight is infuriating. For a small nonprofit, being caught in the middle of this could be costly if we need to migrate our sites to a new host. That money/time should be used for our mission.

Brian Gardner /
@bgardner: I want to share: https://wordpress.org/ has blocked @wpengine customers from updating and installing plugins and themes via WP Admin—disrupting essential work for #WordPress users, agencies, freelancers, and plugin developers. Please read: https://wpenginestatus.com/...

Joshua Benton /
@jbenton: This is getting very ugly. @raymmar_: This is absolutely bonkers. I've been a @wpengine customer for almost a decade and now I'm being punished arbitrarily by a so called “open source” platform. This is a sad day for the WordPress community.

Keith Devon /
@keithdevon: @WordPress Some of my clients use WP Engine. You're hurting them. You're hurting my business. You're hurting the WordPress community. @wordpress: Pending their legal claims and litigation against https://wordpress.org/, WP Engine no longer has free access to https://wordpress.org/'s resources. https://wordpress.org/... #WordPress

Roger Montti /
Search Engine Journal: WordPress Bans Thousands Of WP Engine Customers

Runako Godfrey /
@runakog@threads.net: The way this is written makes WordPress look bad. Petty management, opaque accusations, the whole thing. I don't know what went down, but this does not look like a mature reaction from the organization that powers 40%(?) of websites. https://wordpress.org/...

Danny van Kooten /
@dvk@toot.re: I'm pretty uncomfortable with these kinds of posts and use of language on the WordPress.org blog, regardless of whatever the f. is happening. — https://wordpress.org/...

Kye Fox /
@Kye@tech.lgbt: This has escalated to WP Engine being blocked from updates using the repositories on the open source project's servers. This is going to be the end of WordPress if it keeps up. https://wordpress.org/... #WordPress #wpengine

Jay Hoffmann /
@Jayhoffmann@mastodon.social: Every time I think Matt has found a point of no return, he goes a little bit further. — This is egregious, sloppy, and destructive for a community and software that I truly love. — https://wordpress.org/...

Bret Carmichael /
@bretcarmichael@mastodon.social: WordPress has confirmed that it terminated WP Engine's access to the plugin repo. Any legal consequences aside, this presents a lot like a malware attack. Instead of installing malware directly, WordPress is blocking WP Engine sites from receiving security updates that might prevent it, including critical severity ones. …

Jason Lefkowitz /
@jalefkowit@vmst.io: I am sincerely starting to wonder whether Matt Mullenweg is OK — https://wordpress.org/... [image]

Chris Wiegman /