Q&A with PolitiFact founder Bill Adair on the value of fact-checking amid polarization, journalists holding politicians accountable, free speech, and more (Calder McHugh/Politico)

Mediagazer: Q&A with PolitiFact founder Bill Adair on the value of fact-checking amid polarization, journalists holding politicians accountable, free speech, and more (Calder McHugh/Politico)

Top News:

NBC News:

After allegations of poor working conditions on MrBeast's Amazon Studios show Beast Games, industry insiders call for more safety oversight on creator-run sets— YouTube channels are gaining more mainstream attention — but some in the digital entertainment industry think growth should require better oversight.
Discussion: @nbcbayarea, @nbcwashington and @carnage4life@mas.to, more at Techmeme »

Discussion:
@nbcbayarea: YouTube channels are gaining more mainstream attention — but some in the digital entertainment industry think growth should require better oversight. https://nbcbay.com/uXknCMB @nbcwashington: Allegations of poor working conditions on YouTuber MrBeast's new Amazon Studios show have pushed some people who work with creators to call for more safety oversight on their sets. https://nbc4dc.com/A9plxrn

Dare Obasanjo /
@carnage4life@mas.to: The backlash against Mr. Beast has been fascinating to observd primarily because it's followed a path typically reserved for startups not individual. — Non-stop positive stories about how focused and hardworking he is despite making millions have now given way to tales of how he makes millions from exploiting people. …

Politico:

Q&A with PolitiFact founder Bill Adair on the value of fact-checking amid polarization, journalists holding politicians accountable, free speech, and more— A veteran of the business explains the war over truth, and what it means for 2024. — The Biden administration stole $1 billion from FEMA.

Discussion:
@cchoksy, @wuerker, The Independent and Mediaite

Discussion:

Dr. Carol E. B. Choksy /
@cchoksy: Trump's lying technique is called “dazzle” named after the WWI striped paint on ships that makes shooters hesitate because they don't know what to target. Trump's Soviet dazzle method is to tell lie after lie so people don't coalesce around one truth https://www.politico.com/...

Matt Wuerker /
@wuerker: Remember just a year or so ago the mainstream media was very hesitant to call lies lies?

James Liddell /
The Independent: Top fact-checker finally reveals which party lies more: Democrats or Republicans

Press Gazette:

How the Boston Globe, which nearly went out of business in 2009, has become a thriving regional newspaper, including through a metered paywall and newsletters— Chief commercial officer Kayvan Salmanpour explains how the Boston Globe has made local news pay.

Discussion:
Dominic Ponsford on LinkedIn and @simondowens@threads.net

Discussion:

Dominic Ponsford /
Dominic Ponsford on LinkedIn: Boston Globe chief commercial officer Kayvan Salmanpour revealed how the title has become a rare local news success story. …

Simon Owens /
@simondowens@threads.net: The Boston Globe has about 260,000 digital subscribers paying $360 a year — so about $93 million in annual subscription revenue. It operates two different sites; a free one that consists of general news and lifestyle content and then a paywalled site with more in-depth coverage. …

Financial Times:

Filing: Sky reported a £224M operating loss in 2023, up from £111M in 2022, revenue flat at £10.2B, amid increased investment in sports, film, and TV production— Media and telecoms group betting on sports coverage to give it a competitive edge

Discussion:
The Desk, The Guardian, Sky UK and Telegraph

Discussion:

Matthew Keys /
The Desk: Comcast's Sky Group reports full-year loss of £224 million

James Titcomb /
Telegraph: Sky losses top £750m as cost of football climbs

Bloomberg:

Berkshire Hathaway now has a stake of ~32.5% in Sirius XM's publicly traded stock, having become the top holder last month; Sirius XM's shares are down ~50% YTD— Berkshire Hathaway now has a stake of about 32.5% in Sirius XM's publicly traded stock, having become the top holder last month.

Discussion:
Inside Radio, RADIO ONLINE, Barron's Online and Motley Fool

Discussion:

The Guardian:

A profile of Pablo González, a Spanish reporter arrested by Poland for spying who was among those released to Russia in exchange for Evan Gershkovich and others— As a Spanish reporter, Pablo González charmed his way into Russian opposition circles and covered Putin's wars.

Discussion:
@shaunwalker7, @johnmooneyirl, @conucrania, @leonidragozin, @oliverbullough, @shaunwalker7 and @20committee

Discussion:

Shaun Walker /
@shaunwalker7: With thanks to @christogrozev for his sharing his - as usual, breathtakingly good - digging, as well as my colleagues @ashifa_k and @PjotrSauer who helped a lot with the research.

John Mooney /
@johnmooneyirl: Do read this excellent piece of journalism

Con Ucrania /
@conucrania: @shaunwalker7 We're Ukrainian expats in Spain, we knew him (even met at Yashin ‘showroad’ in Madrid -watched him in action-) and we can say this is solid reporting overall (yet it's weird to see he's mentioned by his alias instead of his real name, Rubtsov) @marta_ter ☝️

Leonid Ragozin /
@leonidragozin: Fascinating read

Oliver Bullough /
@oliverbullough: Great piece this. Is the moral of the story to be suspicious of any journalist with too big an expenses budget? https://x.com/...

Shaun Walker /
@shaunwalker7: Spent a couple of months working on this longread about Pablo González / Pavel Rubtsov, the Spanish journalist accused of being a GRU spy. Hopefully it goes some way to answering a few of the questions around Pablo. https://www.theguardian.com/ ...

John Schindler /
@20committee: Or? Really? Peak Guardian has been unlocked.

Reuters Institute:

Experts discuss Italy's declining press freedom under Giorgia Meloni's government, legal threats to journalists, public broadcaster RAI's independence, and more— As two reports point to political interference, three experts discuss the risks posed by litigation and the future of the country's public broadcaster

Discussion:
Sara Manisera on LinkedIn, @_goncaloalmeid, @mouradteyeb, @piper5078, @lucialessi, @erika_marzano, @lucialessi, @francesdibi

Discussion:

Sara Manisera /
Sara Manisera on LinkedIn: Under a far-right government, journalists fear press freedom in Italy is heading down a slippery slope — La situazione in Italia. — https://lnkd.in/...

Gonçalo Almeida /
@_goncaloalmeid: Antonio Scurati, the author of a documentary novel about Mussolini and the rise of fascism, was preparing to read a TV monologue to mark the anniversary of the end of Nazi occupation in 1945. But at the last minute, it was cancelled. https://reutersinstitute.politics.ox.ac .uk/ ... @mouradteyeb: #Italy #FarRight “The Italian far right has always thought that mainstream #media hold a negative opinion of those who come from neo-fascist groups.” #Meloni #RAI #Populism #Fascism https://reutersinstitute.politics.ox.ac .uk/ ...

Laura Kirkpatrick /
@piper5078: “When clichés about Russia, the pandemic, the economy, and Ukraine are repeatedly echoed by the government, the result is serious.” In Italy, a cautionary tale of a leader who vilifies a free press and is starting to apply types of censorships. https://reutersinstitute.politics.ox.ac .uk/ ...

Lucia Alessi /
@lucialessi: “The Italian press has a limited tradition of fairness and impartiality,” @riotta added. “It operates in a partisan, biassed manner, and social media, both on the right and left, have fuelled this tendency to the point of absurdity.” https://reutersinstitute.politics.ox.ac .uk/ ...

Erika Marzano /
@erika_marzano: “There has never been such unprecedented intrusion into editorial policy,” said Renate Schroeder, Director of the European Federation of Journalists (EFJ). In recent months, concerns about press freedom in Italy have intensified. https://reutersinstitute.politics.ox.ac .uk/ ...

Lucia Alessi /
@lucialessi: “In Italy, we started late with web journalism, data journalism, and now AI. It's not a matter of right or left, but a cultural, anti-tech Luddite flaw. In fact, when it comes to AI, both the right and left are stuck in the past,” @riotta said. https://reutersinstitute.politics.ox.ac .uk/ ...

Lucia Alessi /
@lucialessi: “I don't believe in a hidden plan or agenda, but in the growing weakness of mainstream media, and the spread of online disinformation,” @riotta said. https://reutersinstitute.politics.ox.ac .uk/ ...

Francesca De Benedetti /
@francesdibi: Reuters Institute ⁦@risj_oxford⁩ (Uni. Oxford) writes about #Meloni's attacks on #MediaFreedom and “a potential drift towards democratic backsliding”. Thanks ⁦@Marina__Adami⁩ for interviewing me, and for writing about what's happening in #Italy https://reutersinstitute.politics.ox.ac .uk/ ...

CNN:

A federal judge issues a restraining order against Florida's surgeon general for threatening TV stations with criminal charges for airing a pro-abortion ad— New York CNN — — “To keep it simple for the State of Florida: it's the First Amendment, stupid.”

Discussion:
Adpulp, @pete.buttigieg@threads.net, Washington Post, Joe.My.God., Associated Press, @nbcnews@threads.net, People, Washington Examiner, Ars Technica, Orlando Sentinel, Slate, UPI, @twrling@sfba.social, Reuters, NBC Bay Area, Techdirt, Advocate, The Week, Fox News, Digby's Hullabaloo, The Guardian, Reason, al.com, New York Times, Daily Kos, @unbonfromage@threads.net, Axios, Florida Politics, New Republic, Mediaite, Raw Story, The Hill and Election Law Blog

Discussion:

Pete Buttigieg /
@pete.buttigieg@threads.net: Florida Republicans literally threatened prosecution over political advertisements that displeased the Governor. So much for free speech. Glad this direct attack on the 1st Amendment was quickly shot down in court.

Lori Rozsa /
Washington Post: Judge orders DeSantis administration to stop threats over abortion ads

Joe Jervis /
Joe.My.God.: DeSantis Lawyer Quits Over Threats To TV Stations Associated Press: Judge tells Florida's top doctor not to threaten TV stations over abortion-rights ads @nbcnews@threads.net: A federal judge on Thursday issued a temporary restraining order against Florida's surgeon general, the latest development in a legal battle over a television ad supporting the state's abortion rights ballot measure.

Colson Thayer /
People: Judge Orders DeSantis Administration to Stop ‘Threatening’ Florida TV Stations for Airing Abortion Ads

Gabrielle M. Etzel /
Washington Examiner: Florida judge orders DeSantis administration stop threats over abortion amendment ads

Jon Brodkin /
Ars Technica: Judge slams Florida for censoring political ad: “It's the First Amendment, stupid”

Skyler Swisher /
Orlando Sentinel: 'It's the First Amendment, stupid.' Abortion rights supporters praise judge's harsh words for DeSantis administration

Tracy Rosenberg /
@twrling@sfba.social: “To keep it simple for the State of Florida: it's the First Amendment, stupid”. #Amendment4 #Abortion https://www.cnn.com/...

Brendan Pierson /
Reuters: Florida officials barred from threatening TV stations over abortion rights ads

Danielle Abreu /
NBC Bay Area: Judge blocks Florida from threatening TV stations over abortion ad: 'It's the First Amendment, stupid'

Mike Masnick /
Techdirt: 'To Keep It Simple... It's the First Amendment, Stupid': Judge Slams Florida's Attempt To Censor Abortion Initiative Ads

Ryan Adamczeski /
Advocate: Florida judge chastises Ron DeSantis for threatening abortion ad: 'It's the First Amendment, stupid'

Peter Weber /
The Week: Florida ordered to allow pro-abortion rights ads

Tom Sullivan /
Digby's Hullabaloo: “It's the First Amendment, stupid”

Carter Sherman /
The Guardian: Judge slaps down Florida effort to ban abortion ad: 'It's the first amendment, stupid'

Elizabeth Nolan Brown /
Reason: 'It's the First Amendment, Stupid': Federal Judge Slams Florida for Threatening TV Stations

Lawrence Mower /
al.com: Judge tells DeSantis to stop threats over abortion TV ad: 'It's the First Amendment, stupid'

Patricia Mazzei /
New York Times: Judge Orders DeSantis Administration to Stop Threats Over Abortion-Rights Ad

Morgan Stephens /
Daily Kos: Trump and other GOP goons can't stop stomping all over free speech

Liam Reilly /
@unbonfromage@threads.net: “Chief U.S. District Judge Mark E. Walker of the Northern District of Florida granted a temporary restraining order against Florida's surgeon general after the state health department threatened to bring criminal charges against broadcasters airing the ad.” — Read my full story with @brianstelter for @cnn here: …

Sareen Habeshian /
Axios: Florida judge grants temporary restraining order over abortion measure ads

Gabrielle Russon /
Florida Politics: Judge grants restraining order to stop state's threats over pro-abortion ads

Michael Luciano /
Mediaite: Judge Brutally Smacks Down DeSantis Ban on Pro-Abortion Ad: 'It's the First Amendment, Stupid'

Matthew Chapman /
Raw Story: 'It's the First Amendment, stupid': Federal court smacks down Ron DeSantis

Juliann Ventura /
The Hill: Judge issues temporary injunction against Florida health officials over abortion ad threats

Variety:

The BFI London Film Festival pulls the documentary Undercover: Exposing the Far Right at the last minute over safety concerns— A documentary exposing a network of far-right activists in the U.K. has been pulled from the BFI London Film Festival at the last minute over safety concerns.

Discussion:
The Guardian, @xankarn@mastodon.online, Deadline and The Hollywood Reporter

Discussion:

Vanessa Thorpe /
The Guardian: Undercover film exposing UK far-right activists pulled from London festival

Alexander Karn /
@xankarn@mastodon.online: @Mediagazer — Tough call. Safety first, but also: Do not obey in advance.

Zac Ntim /
Deadline: London Film Festival Pulled Far-Right Doc At Eleventh Hour Over “Safety” Concerns

CNBC:

A look at possible reasons, per sources, DirecTV has lost 10% of its commercial customers this NFL season, including customers choosing the EverPass bundle— A version of this article first appeared in the CNBC Sport newsletter with Alex Sherman, which brings you the biggest news …

Discussion:
Alex Sherman on LinkedIn and Jason Chung on LinkedIn

Discussion:

Alex Sherman /
Alex Sherman on LinkedIn: Sunday Ticket wars! A candid Q&A on NIL with Big East Commissioner Val Ackerman! And more! — The new CNBC Sport newsletter is out. …

CommonWealth Beacon:

A look at Melrose Update Robocast, a podcast generated using Google's NotebookLM and public documents and born of frustration with a Massachusetts news desert— A NEW LOCAL PODCAST covering Melrose debuted this month. Over about 15 minutes, an unnamed man and woman chat …

Discussion:
@brucemohl and @morisy@jawns.club

Discussion:

Bruce Mohl /
@brucemohl: In Melrose, Tom Cataloni is so desperate to see coverage of hyper-local news that he dropped zoning documents into an artificial intelligence tool and created a podcast featuring AI-created people talking about local issues. https://commonwealthbeacon.org/ ... via @cwbeacon

The Bookseller:

Penguin Random House amends its copyright notice globally to prohibit the use of books for training AI; the notice will be included in new titles and reprints— The world's biggest trade publisher has changed the wording on its copyright pages to help protect authors' intellectual property …

Discussion:
Pluralistic, @joeo10@mastodon.sdf.org, TechCrunch, @RobertDaleParker@mstdn.social, @suzanasukovic, @isobel_starling, @mrewanmorrison, @rachel@norfolk.social, @santi_garcia@mastodon.world, @jalefkowit@vmst.io, Lynn Johnston on LinkedIn, Iurgi Urrutia AALIA (DCP) on LinkedIn, Suzanne Arnold on LinkedIn, Engadget, The Verge and Gizmodo

Discussion:

Cory Doctorow /
Pluralistic: Pluralistic: Penguin Random House, AI, and writers' rights (19 Oct 2024)

Joe Ortiz /
@joeo10@mastodon.sdf.org: Penguin Random House has changed the wording on its copyright pages to help protect authors' intellectual property from being used to train LLMs and other AI tools. https://www.thebookseller.com/ ... But the devil is in the details as Cory Doctorow (@pluralistic) wrote today. …

Robert Dale Parker /
@RobertDaleParker@mstdn.social: So Penguin Random House is revising its copyright pages to rule out the use of PRH books for AI scraping. Good! But why do they have to make that change? AI scraping of copyrighted publications wd obviously be illegal if ordinary folks did it, but when billionaires do it, suddenly people take copyright violation as the billionaires' God-given right. …

Suzana Sukovic, PhD /
@suzanasukovic: @penguinrandom amended its copyright notice to protect authors and their works from being used for LLMs. “PRH is believed to be the first of the Big Five anglophone trade publishers to amend its copyright information” to address the use by AI https://www.thebookseller.com/ ...

Isobel Starling /
@isobel_starling: #writingcommunity Finally, we have a trad publisher who is rebuffing AI and changing their copyright page to ensure their authors are protected. It's an important move during a very turbulent time for all in publishing. https://www.thebookseller.com/ ...

Ewan Morrison /
@mrewanmorrison: Well done- other publishers should also protect authors from theft by AI systems.

Rachel Lawson /
@rachel@norfolk.social: Interesting and encouraging to see Penguin House specifically calling out using their content for training of large language models is not permitted and subject to copyright. — I'd love them to go ahead and sue any end user of generative AI whose content appears to contain their copyrighted material. …

Santi Garcia /
@santi_garcia@mastodon.world: Penguin Random House changes the #copyright page of its #books to address their use as a source for #AI training: “No part of this book may be used or reproduced in any manner for the purpose of training artificial intelligence technologies or systems.” — https://www.thebookseller.com/ ...

Jason S. Pumpkins /
@jalefkowit@vmst.io: “The world's biggest trade publisher has changed the wording on its copyright pages to help protect authors' intellectual property from being used to train large language models and other artificial intelligence tools, The Bookseller can exclusively reveal. …

Lynn Johnston /
Lynn Johnston on LinkedIn: NEW: Penguin Random House will add the following language to the copyright page of new titles and backlist that are reprinted …

Iurgi Urrutia /
Iurgi Urrutia AALIA (DCP) on LinkedIn: This is a step in the right direction. It's been really disturbing to see artists finding traces of their art in AI generated art. …

Suzanne Arnold /
Suzanne Arnold on LinkedIn: Very interested to see Penguin Random House adding “No part of this book may be used or reproduced in any manner for the purpose …

Danny Gallagher /
Engadget: Penguin Random House amends its copyright rules to protect authors from AI

Todd Feathers /