A Muck Rack survey of 402 US journalists found that their primary sources of stress include workload, salary, and the expectation that they always be "on" (Angela Fu/Poynter)

Mediagazer: A Muck Rack survey of 402 US journalists found that their primary sources of stress include workload, salary, and the expectation that they always be “on” (Angela Fu/Poynter)

Top News:

The Register:

Matt Mullenweg says WP Engine no longer has free WordPress.org access and WP Engine customers having trouble with their sites should contact WP Engine support— WordPress on Wednesday escalated its conflict with WP Engine, a hosting provider, by blocking the latter's servers …
Discussion: WordPress News, TechCrunch, Search Engine Journal, WP Engine's Status Page, @runakog@threads.net, @taraclaeys, @photomatt, @davidtaggart, @photomatt, @deviorobert, @photomatt, @carlhancock, @photomatt, @mgeheren, @bgardner, @viewfromthebox, @dvk@toot.re, @jbenton, @bretcarmichael@mastodon …, @Kye@tech.lgbt, @jalefkowit@vmst.io, @keithdevon, @chris@mastodon …, @Jayhoffmann@mastodon.social, @raymmar_, @wordpress and One Man & His Blog, more at Techmeme »

Discussion:

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

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/...

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. @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.

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.

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/...

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]

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/...

Joshua Benton /
@jbenton: This is getting very ugly.

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. …

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

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

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.

Chris Wiegman /
@chris@mastodon.chriswiegman.com: I wasn't totally convinced that it was time to abandon #WordPress completely but now I know that it is definitely the right time to do so. How long until this happens to every host? https://wordpress.org/...

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/... @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. @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

Adam Tinworth /
One Man & His Blog: What the hell is happening at Automattic (part 2)?

RELATED:

TechCrunch:
Automattic sends a cease-and-desist letter to WP Engine, alleging unauthorized use of the WordPress trademark, after WP Engine sent a C&D letter on September 23

Discussion:
@darnell@one.darnell.one, @carnage4life and

Discussion:
@darnell@one.darnell.one: This digital pissing match between two #WordPress giants will leave @WordPress & many users wet with regret. — @photomatt & @wordpressdotcom need to seek arbitration as this will damage the brand and convince many hosts to seek out alternatives in order to avoid a lawsuit. …

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/...

Nieman Lab:

A look at Project 2025's plans for the news media, including defunding NPR, PBS, and other public broadcasters and removing restrictions on media ownership— From defunding NPR and PBS to kicking reporters out of the White House, it's an array of conservative priorities and Trumpian retreads.

Discussion:
@froomkin, @jillgeisler, Tong Li on LinkedIn, @johnastoehr, @newsjennifer, @jbenton and @laurengbarton

Discussion:

Dan Froomkin /
@froomkin: Good read. Grim stuff.

Jill Geisler /
@jillgeisler: Read and share.

Tong Li /
Tong Li on LinkedIn: The Nieman Lab article on Project 2025 offers a crucial look at how this initiative could reshape the journalism landscape … @johnastoehr: Reporters will be as surprised by their political incarceration under Trump as they have been by the economic boom under Biden. Why? Because they weren't doing their jobs as journalists.

Jennifer Schulze /
@newsjennifer: HOLY HELL THIS IS FRIGHTENING. Make sure you read this @jbenton piece on the #Project2025 plans to crack down on journalists.... and share it with everyone you know.

Joshua Benton /
@jbenton: New by me —> You've heard about what Project 2025 would mean for abortion rights, climate policy, immigration, and much more. But what would it mean for journalists and the news industry? (a brief 🧵) https://www.niemanlab.org/...

The Hollywood Reporter:

Disney officially launches its password sharing crackdown; users can add an “Extra Member” for $6.99/month for Disney+ Basic or $9.99/month for Disney+ Premium— The company rolled out what it is calling its paid sharing policy this week, letting users add a member outside their household …

Discussion:

Emma Keates /
AV Club: Disney+ says bibbidi bobbidi bye to password sharing

Erik Gruenwedel /
Media Play News: Disney+ Expands Password Sharing Crackdown, Updates Paid Account Sharing Guidelines

Jill Goldsmith /
Deadline: Disney+ Unveils Details Of Password Sharing Crackdown

Anna Washenko /
Engadget: Disney+ account sharing crackdown starts today in the US

Ryan Faughnder /
Los Angeles Times: Disney+ launches password sharing crackdown. What you need to know

Todd Spangler /
Variety: Disney+ Launches Broad Password-Sharing Crackdown, Offers Paid ‘Extra Member’ Option

Lucas Manfredi /
The Wrap: Disney+ Password Sharing Crackdown Rolls Out for US Subscribers - Here's Everything You Need to Know

Jacob Siegal /
BGR: Disney+ password sharing: How much it costs and how it works @juwanthecurator.bsky.social: I'm sorry, I just can't imagine willingly handing over your bank accounts for this nonsense [embedded post]

Chance Miller /
9to5Mac: You can officially no longer share your Disney+ account without paying extra

Poynter:

A Muck Rack survey of 402 US journalists found that their primary sources of stress include workload, salary, and the expectation that they always be “on”— A Muck Rack survey found high levels of burnout and exhaustion among journalists. One potential reason? The upcoming election.

Discussion:
@risj_oxford, @jackcarterbenjamin …, Muck Rack, MediaPost and r/Journalism

Discussion:
@risj_oxford: 56% of US journalists have considered quitting their job this year due to exhaustion or burnout. 40% have done so in the past. <25% have access to mental health services at work. -from @muckrack's work-life balance in journalism report via @angelanfu https://www.poynter.org/...

Jack Benjamin /
@jackcarterbenjamin@threads.net: Per a new survey conducted by Muck Rack, 56% of US journalists considered quitting their job this year due to burnout and salary concerns. — Over 60% said they work on 4+ stories a week. — 80% said they work outside business hours at least once a week. — 70% said their vacation days have been disrupted by work. …

The Verge:

Mark Zuckerberg says Meta will likely strike “certain partnerships” for AI training content, but some publishers may be overestimating their content's value— 'If they demanded that we don't use their content, then we just wouldn't use their content.'

Discussion:

Winston Cho /
The Hollywood Reporter: Mark Zuckerberg Must Face Deposition in Sarah Silverman's AI Lawsuit Against Meta

Megan Cerullo /
CBS News: Here are the celebrity voices Meta now uses for its AI chatbots

Mary Kate Carr /
AV Club: Mark Zuckerberg will go to court for A.I. lawsuit while plowing ahead with new celeb endorsements

Dominic Patten /
Deadline: Ta-Nehisi Coates & Sarah Silverman Win Bid For Meta “Chief Decision Maker” Mark Zuckerberg To Be Deposed In AI Suit

Anne F. /
Anne F. on LinkedIn: The sheer arrogance is beyond words — Zuck indicating he can steal because - really - our work doesn't matter ! — If its not valuable - then why steal it ? … @noellemitchell@mstdn.social: Mark Zuckerberg: creators and publishers ‘overestimate the value’ of their work for training AI — “Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg says there are complex copyright questions around scraping data to train AI models, but he suggests the individual work of most creators isn't valuable enough for it to matter.” …

Kevin Beaumont /
@GossiTheDog@cyberplace.social: Mark Zuckerberg: creators and publishers ‘overestimate the value’ of their work for training AI — Get tae Falkirk on this one, Mark - people deserve to be paid, or have informed opt in consent about not being paid. — https://www.theverge.com/...

Bobby Miller /
@therealbobbymiller@threads.net: Cool take! Mark Zuckerberg: creators and publishers ‘overestimate the value’ of their work for training AI https://www.theverge.com/...

Nilay Patel /
@reckless1280@threads.net: This is broadly how basically every tech company feels about the value of AI training data — they are using so much of it no single creator or publisher matters, and they're striking deals to keep the loudest happy. Sort of good that @zuck just came right out and said it on Decoder so everyone can stop pretending the industry feels otherwise: https://www.theverge.com/...

Ashley Belanger /
Ars Technica: Cloudflare moves to end free, endless AI scraping with one-click blocking

Deadline:

Sources: Disney is laying off ~300 people in the US in corporate operations, including in communications; ESPN, Disney Entertainment, and parks are not affected— Disney is in the middle of a new wave of cuts as part of a “cost-saving initiative,” sources tell Deadline.

Discussion:

Todd Spangler /
Variety: Disney Lays Off Several Hundred Corporate-Level Employees

Thomas Buckley /
Bloomberg: Disney Undertakes Fresh Round of Job Cuts at the Corporate Level

Poynter:

The New York Post reporter covering top Wisconsin political races has strong ties to Republicans and conservatives and was paid by Republican entities in 2023— In the wake of Olivia Nuzzi-RFK Jr. scandal, New York Post fails to disclose GOP politics work of reporter covering Wisconsin races

Discussion:
JSOnline, @coffeebean26, @patrickdmarley, @mattortega, Crooks and Liars and @kennysmith@mstdn.social

Discussion:

Daniel Bice /
JSOnline: Bice: New York Post campaign reporter was a paid consultant for the Wisconsin GOP

Coffee Bean /
@coffeebean26: 👀 Good grief Wisconsin! Amy Sikma's husband Brian is a Senior Fellow at Foundation for Government Accountability And FGA is a member of the advisory board of Project 2025. 😎 Rupert Murdoch's NY Post is a scam. #Wisconsin #wipolitics #wisdems #wisgop

Patrick Marley /
@patrickdmarley: New York Post campaign reporter was a paid consultant for the Wisconsin GOP https://www.jsonline.com/... — via ⁦@DanielBice⁩

Matt Ortega /
@mattortega: Conservatives make a mockery of the journalistic profession. It is all part and parcel with the larger right-wing's desire to obliterate objective journalism and usher in an era of warring propaganda fiefdoms. [image]

Matt Ortega /
@mattortega: Tweets are @amysikma's own. Retweets ≠ endorsement. Articles ≠ in-kind donations. [image]

Kenny Smith /
@kennysmith@mstdn.social: Poynter going in on the Post. — QT @Mediagazer — The New York Post reporter covering top Wisconsin political races has strong ties to Republicans and conservatives and was paid by Republican entities in 2023 (Tom Jones/Poynter) — https://www.poynter.org/... http://mediagazer.com/... …

iMore:

iMore, which covers Apple products and services and is owned by Future PLC, says it will no longer post new content; its forum will stay active until November 1— Time to power down for good. — Dig out your old iPod and fire up your ‘Songs to cry to’ playlist, I come bearing sad news.

Discussion:

Wesley Hilliard /
@HilliTech@techhub.social: This news comes as a shock. I followed iMore from the early days. Rene Ritchie, Serenity Caldwell, and Lory Gil were all big names I read in those days. — When I first became interested in covering tech I reached out to Rene Ritchie, this was before he left iMore, and asked him about work and shared what I had written. …

Rene Ritchie /
Rene Ritchie on LinkedIn: Future has killed iMore — But it was never just a bunch of database entries on a server farm that can be frozen in carbonite and forgotten. …

Daryl Baxter /
@darylbaxter@mastodon.social: It's now official. — I was proud to be part of a site I had read for years, way before I realised writing could be a career. — https://www.imore.com/...

Wired:

X releases its first transparency report since Elon Musk took over; X took action on 2,361 accounts over hateful content in H1 2024, down from 1M in H2 2021— In the first half of 2024, the report says, X received nearly 67 million reports of hateful conduct, and took action on more than 2,000 accounts.

Discussion:

Cristiano Lima-Strong /
Washington Post: Musk decries government ‘censorship.’ His X has been more compliant.

Karissa Bell /
Engadget: X just released its first full transparency report since Elon Musk took over

Sam Gutelle /
Tubefilter: X gives advertisers “greater transparency” by reporting its moderation efforts @safety: We are thrilled to introduce X's Global Transparency Report, covering the period from January to June 2024. This report highlights the extensive efforts by our Safety team to cultivate a healthy and secure environment, reaffirming that X remains a safe platform for all users.

Lucas Lago /
Núcleo Jornalismo: Impressoras com IA

Emma Keates /
AV Club: Twitter/X is suspending way more people under Elon Musk

David Gilbert /
@daithaigilbert: Elon Musk has finally published a Twitter transparency report. In the last report, covering the second half of 2021, the number of accounts Twitter took action against for posting hateful content was: 1,000,000 Under Musk? 2,600 accounts Says it all https://www.wired.com/...

Michael Bishop /
@michaelbishop.me: and it shows [embedded post]

William Gavin /
Quartz: Elon Musk criticizes censorship, but his X grants more government requests than Twitter did

Casey Newton /
@crumbler@threads.net: So, according to X's own numbers, content moderation there has declined by 99.99 percent. — Meanwhile revenue has dropped 84 percent. — In case anyone wondered if there's a business case for content moderation. — RE: https://www.threads.net/...

Queenie Wong /
Los Angeles Times: Elon Musk's X says it's policing harmful content as scrutiny of the platform grows

The Intercept:

CNN's Jake Tapper and Dana Bash accused Rep. Rashida Tlaib of antisemitism and doubled down after the source of a statement attributed to Tlaib corrected them— In the last three days, CNN hosts Jake Tapper and Dana Bash have performed a masterclass in journalistic malpractice — better described in this case as “lying.”

Discussion:

Steve Neavling /
Detroit Metro Times: Fact-check: Tlaib did not say Nessel charged pro-Palestinian protesters because she's Jewish

Lisa Schmeiser /
@lschmeiser.bsky.social: This is what you want from your modern political reporters, an absolute immunity to facts if it gets in the way of their narratives. [embedded post]

Erick Fernandez /
@erickfernandez: Just incredible stuff. Two CNN anchors @jaketapper and @biannagolodryga engaging in a smear of what Rashida Tlaib said and the reporter of the original piece, @MCmuckraker, is in the mentions trying to correct the record and letting them know they're spreading lies. [image]

Steve Neavling /
@mcmuckraker: Anatomy of a Smear Campaign Against Rashida Tlaib: A step-by-step breakdown of how a lie started, spread, and was picked up on by elected officials and high-profile journalists. https://zeteo.com/... @statuscoup: “When I was talking to Rashida Tlaib she was talking about Anti-Palestinian bias that's across many institutions...not because they are Jewish. It was a complete misrepresentation.” - Detroit @metrotimes reporter @MCmuckraker on MI AG Nessel/CNN smearing Rep. Tlaib as antisemitic [video] @mobute.bsky.social: Absolute garbage people. They should be unemployed. If they need to editorialize a few lies into demonizing Muslims for kicks, they can go to the park and meet all the fists they want. [embedded post]

Saeed Jones /
@theferocity.bsky.social: I... really, really don't like those two people (or their producers.) [embedded post]

Steve Neavling /
@mcmuckraker: Now Dana Bash from CNN is lying about what happened. U.S. Rep. @RashidaTlaib did not say Nessel filed the charges because she's Jewish. She said there is an anti-Palestinian attitude among many institutions, and most of them are not run by Jewish people.

Dan Gillmor /
@dangillmor@mastodon.social: “CNN Anchors Won't Stop Lying About Something Rashida Tlaib Never Said” — Reprehensible. https://theintercept.com/...

Deborah Sampson /
@DSDJ3147@mastodon.social: #jaketapper is a scab. — So is #danabash #cnn & sadly my own Gov #gretchenwhitmer & #dananessel — I'm so furious I could spit. This is an outrage! — I hope there will be a lawsuit for #defamation — There only putting the #swingstate of #michigan out of reach for #KamalaHarris …

Steven Zekowski /
@steve_zeke@freeradical.zone: > Steve Neavling, the Metro Times reporter who interviewed Tlaib, on whose story the antisemitism claims are based, spent the last two days attempting to counteract the lies, tweeting at Tapper and Bash, and publishing an explicit fact-check report in the Metro Times. — https://theintercept.com/... …

New York Times:

How NBC News, CNN, Fox News, and others are preparing for election day, with contingency plans to push back against misinformation and cover legal reviews— Here's how they're preparing to make calls in a very tight race — and ensure that viewers and readers believe them.

Discussion:
Media Matters for America, TMZ.com, @benmullin and

Discussion:

Ben Mullin /
@benmullin: new w/@grynbaum: News organizations across the United States, from CNN to the A.P. to The New York Times, are bracing for chaos and misinformation on election night. “There's distrust in elections — there's distrust in institutions in general.” https://www.nytimes.com/...

TorrentFreak:

A US district court judge grants a judgment against LibGen for copyright infringement, ordering it to pay $30M and requiring the disabling of LibGen domains— A New York federal court has ordered the operators of shadow library LibGen to pay $30 million in copyright infringement damages.