The Recording Academy, the group that votes for Grammys, says it now has over 13,000 voting members; at least 38% are people of color and at least 28% are women (Paul Grein/Billboard)

Mediagazer: The Recording Academy, the group that votes for Grammys, says it now has over 13,000 voting members; at least 38% are people of color and at least 28% are women (Paul Grein/Billboard)

Top News:

ProPublica:

Sources and records: Trump Media has forced out its COO, CPO, and other executives after internal allegations that CEO Devin Nunes is mismanaging the company— Several people involved with the former president's company, operator of Truth Social, believe the departures …
Discussion:

Luke /
@jdluckenbach: Alleged mismanagement by Nunes. One person said they include allegations of misuse of funds, hiring of foreign contractors and interfering with product development.

Robert Faturechi /
@robertfaturechi: NEW: Trump's media company forced out execs after internal allegations that CEO Devin Nunes is mismanaging Truth Social, according to interviews + records. Several people involved believe the ousters are retaliation following “whistleblower” complaint. https://www.propublica.org/...

Brian Stelter /
@brianstelter: ProPublica: Donald Trump's media company “has forced out executives in recent days after internal allegations that its CEO, former Rep. Devin Nunes, is mismanaging the company, according to interviews and records of communications among former employees.” https://www.propublica.org/...

Jennifer Slack /
@JenniferSlack@mastodon.social: Trump Media fires executive whistleblowers who reported CEO Nunes (remember that weird guy who hated the spoof Nunes' cow account on Twitter?) for a variety of violations. — https://www.propublica.org/... @ProPublica@newsie.social: Top Execs Exit #Trump Media Amid Allegations of CEO's Mismanagement and Retaliation — Several people involved with the former president's company, operator of #TruthSocial, believe the departures were retaliation following internal complaints about CEO Devin Nunes to the company board. …

The Guardian:

A study finds Australia has the second-highest media concentration in the world after Brazil; in the newspaper sector, four companies control 84% of the market— Google and Meta should fund traditional public interest journalism, a new international study reports

Discussion:
@mediamorphis, @ruthmahalia, @simon_rosenberg, Caroline James-Garrod on LinkedIn and Global Media …

Discussion:

Dwayne Winseck /
@mediamorphis: Excellent write-up by @meadea in @GuardianAus on @FlewTerry, Cam McTernan, Rob Nicholls & Scott Fitzgerald's recently released study of media concentration in Australia as part of the @GMICProject. https://www.theguardian.com/ ... cc @SSHRC_CRSH @Carleton_U

Ruth McHugh-Dillon /
@ruthmahalia: Four companies - News Corp, Nine Entertainment, Seven West Media and Australian Community Media -own 84% of print media in Australia. Only Brazil had a higher media concentration. https://www.theguardian.com/ ...

Simon Rosenberg /
@simon_rosenberg: “Australia's media concentration ranked second-worst in world” And JFC does it show in the embarrassingly poor quality that passes for most journalism in this country. https://www.theguardian.com/ ...

Caroline James-Garrod /
Caroline James-Garrod on LinkedIn: Dire, albeit unsurprising. — Important new research by Terry Flew and peers, highlighting the alarming scale of news deserts in Australia's local news coverage. …

Bloomberg:

Sources: the NFL is in talks with Skydance Media and its major investor RedBird Capital Partners that could result in a sale of NFL Media and NFL Network— - Discussions revolve around the league's media assets — Earlier conversations with ESPN are said to have stalled

Discussion:
The Desk, Business Insider, Dan Rayburn on LinkedIn, The Streamable, Randall Williams on LinkedIn and TVNewsCheck

Discussion:

Peter Kafka /
Business Insider: The most valuable programming on TV is for sale. Why hasn't anyone bought it?

Dan Rayburn /
Dan Rayburn on LinkedIn: Bloomberg reports that Skydance is in talks with the NFL to purchase the NFL Network, which includes the NFL Network cable channel and NFL Films. …

David Satin /
The Streamable: First Paramount, Now NFL Media? Skydance in Talks With NFL to Purchase NFL Network

Randall Williams /
Randall Williams on LinkedIn: I'm back again, this time alongside the pro party pooper that is Lucas Shaw. — Sources tell us the National Football League (NFL) …

The Verge:

Google rolls out ads in AI Overviews when a user's question has a “commercial angle”, and identifies the ads with a “sponsored” header, on mobile in the US— Google is rolling out ads in AI Overviews, which means you'll now start seeing products in some of the search engine's AI-generated summaries.

Discussion:
Digiday, Mediaweek, PRWeek, 9to5Google and Search Engine Land, more at Techmeme »

Discussion:

Marty Swant /
Digiday: AI Briefing: Pinterest, Microsoft and Google bring new generative ad features for social and search

Michelle Castillo /
PRWeek: Pinterest unveils AI-fueled ad tools

RELATED:

TechCrunch:

Google rolls out AI-organized Search results in the US on mobile, showing users AI-aggregated pages of content from forums, articles, YouTube videos, and more— Google will begin to show ads in AI Overviews, the AI-generated summaries it supplies for certain Google Search queries …

Discussion:
SE Ranking Blog, Chris Andrew on LinkedIn, The Drum, @mizshellytee.bsky.social, Semafor, @xodaniwrites.bsky.social, Adweek, @feralhattie.bsky.social, @dshieldspgh.bsky.social, Search Engine Land, The Information, Ad Age, @bookjockeyalex.bsky.social, @wagatwe.com and 9to5Google, more at Techmeme »

Discussion:

Chris Andrew /
Chris Andrew on LinkedIn: Sponsored content is appearing in Google AI Summaries. As AI summaries cannibalize traditional organic search results we'll see the new paid formats rolling out. …

Webb Wright /
The Drum: Google launches ads in AI Overviews as it pushes onward in the generative AI race

Shelly /
@mizshellytee.bsky.social: Today's a good day to switch your default search engine to something else, if you haven't already. [embedded post] @xodaniwrites.bsky.social: Even with human editors, the headline can make or break a piece. [embedded post]

Trishla Ostwal /
Adweek: Publisher Traffic Spiked Thanks to Google's Gen AI Overview Tweaks @feralhattie.bsky.social: Just in time to lend a smidge, a dollop, a hint of added election chaos! Thanks awfully, goog [embedded post]

Dan Shields /
@dshieldspgh.bsky.social: <insert thisisfine.gif> [embedded post]

Danny Goodwin /
Search Engine Land: Google AI Overview ads launch on mobile in U.S.

Alex Brown /
@bookjockeyalex.bsky.social: please. i'm begging you to stop. no one wants this. [embedded post]

CNN:

Melania Trump's book publisher asked CNN to sign an NDA and pay $250K to interview her, but then called the request a “miscommunication”— Nearly two months ago, CNN reached out to Melania Trump's book publisher to request an interview with the former first lady ahead of her upcoming memoir.

Discussion:

Tanzina /
@tanzinavega@threads.net: More than frowned upon. In my experience It's absolutely prohibited to pay *anyone* for a news interview.

Brandon Weathersby /
@weathersbywi: Price of the brick went up since April. [image]

Molly Jong-Fast /
@mollyjongfast@threads.net: Paying a public figure for an interview, especially the spouse of a political candidate, is highly frowned upon in most newsrooms, which tend to have strict guidelines against such a practice. It is also highly unusual for the request to come from a representative purportedly acting on behalf …

Leslie Gray Streeter /
@lesliestreeter: You can't miscommunicate a check that big.

Clay Travis /
@claytravis: Honestly they should have asked for $10 million. Why should Melania speak to CNN when Kamala and Walz ignore you guys too? (Except for a ten minute slobber fest with Dana Bash).

Devon Heinen /
@heinendevon@threads.net: And just for clarity for non-journalists here on Threads: We journalists, nor our outlets we work for, do NOT pay for interviews or for people to be our sources in our stories. Paying for sources is unethical and can cause a subjectivity issue.

Stephanie Kaloi /
The Wrap: Melania Trump's Publisher Demanded $250,000 for CNN to Interview Her

Dan Friedman /
@dfriedman33: $500K and she'll exclusively change her mind to pro-life. https://www.theguardian.com/ ...

Hadas Gold /
@hadas_gold: Even if the contract was mistakenly sent, the amount fits in with what she's been paid for appearances in the past as @PamelaBrownCNN reports

Bess Levin /
Vanity Fair: Melania Trump Says Women Should Be Able to Make Their Own Decisions About Abortion, a Right Her Husband Helped Take Away From Millions

Jessica Kwong /
Metro.co.uk: Melania Trump book publisher ‘tried to charge CNN $250,000 for an interview’

Christine Fernando /
WOI: Melania Trump says she supports abortion rights, putting her at odds with the GOP

Emily Crane /
New York Post: Melania Trump doubles down on pro-abortion stance after memoir leak : ‘No room for compromise’

Juliann Ventura /
The Hill: Van Jones: Melania Trump breaking with GOP on abortion ‘bizarre’

Sarah Rumpf /
Mediaite: CNN Reporter Absolutely Shreds Melania Trump Over ‘Completely Unprecedented and Very, Very Unusual’ $250K Request to Do an Interview

Jason Weisberger /
Boing Boing: Melania's representatives backpedal after attempt to fleece CNN

William Vaillancourt /
The Daily Beast: Anderson Cooper Rendered Speechless by Melania's Book Promo

Billboard:

The Recording Academy, the group that votes for Grammys, says it now has over 13,000 voting members; at least 38% are people of color and at least 28% are women— It's a new academy compared to the one that showered Adele and Bruno Mars with Grammys in 2017 and 2018.

Discussion:
GoldDerby, KSTP-TV, Variety, Los Angeles Times, The Hollywood Reporter and GoldDerby

Discussion:

Daniel Montgomery /
GoldDerby: Grammys tout improvements in diversity and gender representation in 2024 membership report KSTP-TV: The Grammys' voting body is more diverse, with 66% new members. What does it mean for the awards?

Jem Aswad /
Variety: As Grammy Voting Begins, the Recording Academy Has Added More Than 3,000 Female Voters in Five Years

Mikael Wood /
Los Angeles Times: Recording Academy boots Grammy voters. CEO says awards should be decided by ‘relevant music people’

Mesfin Fekadu /
The Hollywood Reporter: 66 Percent of Current Grammy Voters Have Joined Since 2019: “Most Diverse, Representative Grammy Electorate Ever”

Daniel Montgomery /
GoldDerby: Grammy voting, explained: First-round voting starts October 4

Voice of America:

The US Embassy in Cambodia calls for the release of Mech Dara, one of the country's last independent journalists, who has been arrested on incitement charges— Cambodia this week has seen an outpouring of support from journalists, media groups and embassies for Mech Dara …

Discussion:
The Hill, @usembphnompenh, Adweek, The Diplomat and CamboJA News

Discussion:

Dominick Mastrangelo /
The Hill: US calls for release of award-winning Cambodian journalist @usembphnompenh: We are deeply troubled by the arrest of Mech Dara and call for his release. He is a leading voice against human trafficking & online scams, a 2023 🇺🇸 @StatDept TIP Hero & an advocate for freedom of expression-guaranteed in the constitution. We encourage authorities to engage w/

Brad Pareso /
Adweek: US Calls for Release of Award-Winning Cambodian Journalist

David Hutt /
The Diplomat: What's Wrong With Calling Hun Sen ‘Despicable’?

The Times:

Reuters withdraws two stories on the World Anti-Doping Agency after it was found that WADA's media head received a Reuters press pass for the Masters golf event— World Anti-Doping Agency media chief James Fitzgerald accredited for golf event via Reuters, who have admitted to ‘a violation of our journalistic standards’

Discussion:
KSTP-TV, @tariqpanja, The Guardian, @2xaught7.bsky.social, Reuters, Talking Biz News

Discussion:

KSTP-TV:
Reuters withdraws two articles on anti-doping agency after arranging Masters pass for source

Tariq Panja /
@tariqpanja: The WADA official denies to @martynziegler the two things are connected and that he was attending the golf in a private capacity. [image]

Tariq Panja /
@tariqpanja: @martynziegler This is the note attached to the stories that are now no longer available. [image]

Tariq Panja /
@tariqpanja: Global news agency Reuters has pulled two stories related to the World Anti Doping Agency after WADA's chief comms officer was found to have been supplied with a Reuters press pass for the coveted Augusta Masters golf. Story here by @martynziegler https://www.thetimes.com/...

Chris Roush /
Talking Biz News: Reuters pulls stories on anti-doping agency

Reuters:

Google says it'll stop linking to news content and cut ties with news orgs in New Zealand if the country passes law forcing digital platforms to pay for content— Google said on Friday it will stop linking to New Zealand news articles and ditch the agreements it has with local news organisations …

Discussion:
NZ Herald, @jason_kint and Google New Zealand Blog, more at Techmeme »

Discussion:

Shayne Currie /
NZ Herald: Google threatens to remove links to New Zealand news and ditch local agreements as threats ramp up over Fair Digital News Bargaining Bill - Media Insider

Jason Kint /
@jason_kint: Google will run the same tired playbook falsely calling this a link tax, threatening to pull from the market. Meanwhile, ignoring it's a smart way to deal with an imbalance in bargaining power, now backed up by courts, to fund a free and plural press, precious to democracy. [image]

Reuters:

Thomson Reuters agrees to sell FindLaw, which provides legal information, to Internet Brands, which owns WebMD and more, in a deal expected to close in Q4 2024— Thomson Reuters (TRI.TO), (TRI.N) said on Thursday that it was selling its FindLaw business to Internet Brands.

Discussion:
Thomson Reuters

TechCrunch:

Spotify launches Offline Backup, which automatically makes recently streamed and now playing queued songs available as an offline playlist for Premium users— Spotify introduced a new feature today called Offline Backup. This feature for premium users is essentially a list of songs …

Discussion:

Omar Gallaga /
CNET: Spotify Adds a New Offline Backup Feature for Premium Users

Mikael Bolle /
Mikael Bolle on LinkedIn: I typically work on things that you hear rather than see. However, today I'm excited to share something that breaks that pattern: Offline Backup. …

Steve Vegvari /
iPhone in Canada Blog: Spotify Introducing Offline Backup Feature, Storing Songs Using no Extra Data

Chandraveer Mathur /
Android Police: Spotty networks won't bother Spotify users anymore

Ashley King /
Digital Music News: Spotify Now Automatically Generates an Offline Playlist When You Lose Internet Access

Dua Rashid /
Gizmodo: Spotify's New Offline Backup Playlists Will Be a Game Changer for Frequent Flyers

Mahmoud Itani /
Android Authority: Spotify puts its song cache to good use with a new auto-offline playlist

Andrew Liszewski /
The Verge: Spotify now automatically creates an offline playlist when you lose internet

Rowan Davies /