A US federal grand jury indicts Venezuelan TV network owner Raul Gorrin Belisario in an alleged $1.2B scheme to launder funds from Venezuela's energy company (Jasper Ward/Reuters)

Mediagazer: A US federal grand jury indicts Venezuelan TV network owner Raul Gorrin Belisario in an alleged $1.2B scheme to launder funds from Venezuela's energy company (Jasper Ward/Reuters)

Top News:

Mediaite:

Nicole Shanahan, ex-wife of Google's Sergey Brin and a rising MAGA star, allegedly offered WaPo reporters writing a profile piece on her $500K to reveal sources— Nicole Shanahan has been “tapping a vast divorce settlement” from Google co-founder Sergey Brin to launch herself …
Discussion:

Ariel Zilber /
New York Post: Ex-RFK Jr. running mate Nicole Shanahan offered $500K to Washington Post reporter to reveal sources: report

Gustaf Kilander /
The Independent: RFK Jr's billionaire running mate has rebranded herself as a MAGA-health guru

Maya Boddie /
Alternet.org: Trump allies' obsession with vice president's top aide is 'part of the Harris campaign's strategy': report

Dominick Mastrangelo /
The Hill: Nicole Shanahan offered $500K to Washington Post reporter to share sources, be a ‘whistleblower’

Glenn Thrush /
@glennthrush: Jaw dropping

Elizabeth Dwoskin /
@lizzadwoskin: The bribe offer is just the tip of the iceberg

Elizabeth Dwoskin /
@lizzadwoskin: One of the stranger things that has happened to me in my journalistic career.

Jennifer Carole /
@jcarole: @lizzadwoskin @MollyJongFast Damn integrity. The plague of so many. Alas, I too would have demurred.

Ashley Parker /
@ashleyrparker: When we began reporting on Nicole Shanahan, she offered us $500,000 to be “whistleblowers” and share our sources. We declined — but kept reporting our profile. W @lizzadwoskin, @MerylKornfield + @aaronjschaffer: https://www.washingtonpost.com/ ...

Bill Kuchman /
@billkuchman: “Half a million dollars to be a whistleblower.” https://www.washingtonpost.com/ ... [image]

Nu Wexler /
@wexler: Definitely would NOT recommend this media relations tactic https://www.washingtonpost.com/ ... [image]

Peter Kafka /
@pkafka: Everyone says the business model for journalism is screwed. But there are plenty of opportunities to make money if you're willing to be creative and ethically flexible.

Christopher Ingraham /
@_cingraham: Wow. Does kind of make you wonder about typical business practices in Silicon Valley and elsewhere.

Jack Shafer /
@jackshafer: “Shanahan said she would ‘pay your friend’ — The Post reporter — ‘half a million dollars to be a whistleblower’ to expose people Shanahan claimed were spreading false information about her.” https://www.washingtonpost.com/ ...

New York Times:

Suchir Balaji, who spent four years at OpenAI, says OpenAI's use of copyrighted data broke the law and failed to meet fair use criteria; he left in August 2024— Suchir Balaji spent nearly four years as an artificial intelligence researcher at OpenAI. Among other projects …

Discussion:

Kyle Wiggers /
TechCrunch: Longtime policy researcher Miles Brundage leaves OpenAI

Lucas Ropek /
Gizmodo: Former OpenAI Staffer Says the Company Is Breaking Copyright Law and Destroying the Internet

Mark Milstein /
Mark Milstein on LinkedIn: Former OpenAI Researcher Says the Company Broke Copyright Law — Suchir Balaji spent nearly four years as an artificial intelligence researcher at OpenAI. …

Henry Mulak /
Henry Mulak on LinkedIn: Just off a class on intellectual property rights in the era of Artificial Intelligence at Stanford Continuing Studies, there's this follow up. …

Matthew Schruers /
Matthew Schruers on LinkedIn: This NY Times article on OpenAI and copyright litigation is disappointing. The subject of AI copyright litigation calls for more coverage …

Alexis Morrell /
Alexis Morrell on LinkedIn: This is just going to keep getting more and more interesting — and complex! — “Former OpenAI Researcher Says the Company Broke Copyright Law …

Ben Grover /
Ben Grover on LinkedIn: Interesting article and questions to ponder: — The fact that ChatGPT claims that they are doing “fair use” by consuming material that has a copyright seems pretty tenuous to me. … @jeffjarvis: This is terrible editorial conflict of internet at The Times. The story is based on a guy with a CS BA not a law degree defining fair use in league with The Times' suit against OpenAI. Awful. Former OpenAI Researcher Says the Company Broke Copyright Law https://www.nytimes.com/... @jwildeboer@social.wildeboer.net: #WhereIsMySurprisedFace „Former OpenAI Researcher Says the Company Broke Copyright Law" (gift link) https://www.nytimes.com/...

CNN:

CNN Chief International Correspondent Clarissa Ward describes being held captive by a militia in North Darfur in Sudan for 48 hours— North Darfur, Sudan CNN — “La tasweer! La tasweer!” ("Don't film! Don't film!") the general shouted, his eyes flashing with anger, his jaw clenched as he stormed towards us.

Discussion:
New York Post, One America News Network, @Nonilex@masto.ai, Politico, The Wrap, @_hudsonc, @clarissaward, @saskiadekkers and Deadline

Discussion:

Alexandra Steigrad /
New York Post: CNN reporter Clarissa Ward, crew held captive as ‘spies’ by militia in Darfur

Blake Wolf /
One America News Network: CNN Crew Shares ‘Harrowing Experience’ Of Militia Captivity While Covering Sudanese Civil War @Nonilex@masto.ai: A team of #CNN #journalists, including chief international correspondent #ClarissaWard, was recently #detained by a #militia for 48 hours while on a reporting trip in the #Darfur region of #Sudan. — Ward recounted her team's experience in a first-person essay for CNN on Wednesday. …

Eric Bazail-Eimil /
Politico: Top CNN reporter: I was captured by gun-toting militia in Darfur

Kayla Cobb /
The Wrap: CNN's Clarissa Ward Describes ‘Clawing Sense of Panic’ in 48 Hours of Captivity in Darfur

Cameron Hudson /
@_hudsonc: Amazing story from @CNN chief foreign correspondent @clarissaward who was detained while reporting from North Darfur. A good reminder of why there is little on the ground coverage of #Sudan's conflict by international media. But these stories must get out. https://www.cnn.com/...

Clarissa Ward /
@clarissaward: Two weeks ago, our team was held captive by a militia in Darfur. As a journalist, one never wants to become the story. But I wanted to write this because in some ways our experience tells a bigger story of the complexities of the situation in Darfur and the challenges of getting

Saskia Dekkers /
@saskiadekkers: CNN's international correspondent Clarissa Ward details experience being held captive by a militia in North Darfur... 'The world doesn't see us:' What a militia chief said while holding me captive in Darfur https://www.cnn.com/...

Newcomer:

Eric Newcomer, founder of the Newcomer newsletter on startups and VCs, marks its four-year anniversary and says he expects $1M in profit on $2M in 2024 revenue— Newcomer is on track to generate more than $1 million in profit on more than $2 million in revenue this year.

Discussion:
@scottnover, @ericnewcomer, @jaycodon, @jamescham, @sqs and @ericnewcomer

Discussion:

Scott Nover /
@scottnover: “In 2023, Newcomer generated $712,000 in net income on $1.6 million in revenue.” Good stuff. https://www.newcomer.co/...

Eric Newcomer /
@ericnewcomer: at the AMO Summit @JayCoDon got me to give up my revenue figure so figured I might as well give the whole snapshot https://www.newcomer.co/...

Jacob Donnelly /
@jaycodon: @EricNewcomer I am glad you're hiring an account executive. Congrats, Eric.

James Cham /
@jamescham: A terrific look at what the new new media looks like — https://www.newcomer.co/...

Quinn Slack /
@sqs: @EricNewcomer Congrats on the incredible revenue! I am a happy subscriber and love what you do. And as a founder whose revenue estimate you did reveal, I appreciate you not giving yourself special treatment. Seriously! :)

Reuters:

A US federal grand jury indicts Venezuelan TV network owner Raul Gorrin Belisario in an alleged $1.2B scheme to launder funds from Venezuela's energy company— The U.S. Justice Department said on Wednesday that a Venezuelan television news network owner was charged in an alleged $1.2 billion money laundering scheme.

Discussion:
US Department of Justice

Committee to Protect Journalists:

Interviews with journalists, advocates, and others in the country of Georgia on the stakes for independent media in upcoming elections, press reform, and more— On October 26, Georgia heads into what is widely viewed as its most critical election since independence from the Soviet Union in 1991.

Discussion:
Reuters, Atlantic Council, New York Times and Civil Georgia

Discussion:

Eto Buziashvili /
Atlantic Council: Russia is directly and indirectly meddling in Georgia's upcoming election

Notes From Poland:

Poland launches an antitrust probe into Meta for limiting visibility of Facebook posts linking to Polish media; Meta cited legal doubts over a new copyright law— Poland's Office of Competition and Consumer Protection (UOKiK) has launched an investigation into Meta, the owner of Facebook …

Discussion:
@uokikgovpl

Discussion:

TechCrunch:

Google open sources SynthID Text, which lets developers watermark and detect text generated by AI models, available under the Apache 2.0 license— Google is making SynthID Text, its technology that lets developers watermark and detect text generated by generative AI models, generally available.

Discussion:
The Drum, MIT Technology Review and Digital Trends, more at Techmeme »

Discussion:

Kendra Barnett /
The Drum: Open access to Google's AI text watermarking tool may help advertisers win audience trust

Melissa Heikkilä /
MIT Technology Review: Google DeepMind is making its AI text watermark open source

Andrew Tarantola /
Digital Trends: Google's AI detection tool is now available for anyone to try

Wall Street Journal:

Jefferies says the anime market in North America has grown from $1.6B in 2018 to $4B in 2024, as once-niche anime is shaping up as Japan's next big export— As Japanese animation and comics go global, opportunities abound for investors — Move over, Marvel. The next blockbuster entertainment franchise might come from Japan.

Discussion:
Douglas Montgomery on LinkedIn and Semafor

Discussion:

Douglas Montgomery /
Douglas Montgomery on LinkedIn: Anime the Apple of NY's Eye — The Wall Street Journal and the The Economist have both written articles on the global strength of #anime in the last few weeks. …

Paige Bruton /
Semafor: Fast-growing anime industry boosts Japan's soft power

Press Gazette:

Bloomberg Media says it added 200K subscriptions in the past four months, and launches a magazine-style Weekend Edition led by ex-Quartz EIC Katherine Bell— Bloomberg Media says it has added 200,000 subscriptions in the last four months as part of a growth plan that also saw it launch a new …

Variety:

Yahoo News partners with McAfee to utilize its deepfake image detection tech to identify pictures and photos that may have been generated or altered by AI— Yahoo News is bringing in a partner to help keep misinformation at bay. — The news-distribution giant, the holder …

Discussion:

Kat Downs Mulder /
Kat Downs Mulder on LinkedIn: We are excited to partner with McAfee to implement their new deepfake image detection technology into the content quality system on Yahoo News. … McAfee: McAfee Introduces AI-Powered Deepfake Image Detection Technology on Yahoo News to Verify Authenticity of News Images

Jon Healey /
Los Angeles Times: To keep deepfakes from infiltrating its site, Yahoo News enlists help from McAfee

Sona Iliffe-Moon /
Sona Iliffe-Moon on LinkedIn: In the evolving age of AI, it's more important than ever to promote a reliable news environment. To help us ensure we're staying steps ahead …

Axios:

The NewsGuild of New York files an NLRB unfair labor practice charge against the NYT, claiming management violated rules by interrogating staff about strikes— - “While we respect the union's right to engage in protected actions, threatening a strike at this time feels both unnecessary …

Discussion:
@crguildny, @sarafischer, @bymikedavis, @anastasiakeeley and NewsGuild of New York

Discussion:

Sara Fischer /
@sarafischer: Scoop: @newsguild files unfair labor practice charge against @nytimes —Claims at least 20 Tech Guild members have been pulled into 1:1 interrogation mtgs w managers to ask if they supported a strike. (Tech guild voted to authorize a strike last month.) https://www.axios.com/...

Mike Davis /
@bymikedavis: “Only contracts negotiated under the current NewsGuild leadership have taken more than two years” yeah because newsguild members decided they were absolutely fed up with acting like doormats for billionaire bosses. solidarity forever with @NYTGuildTech

Annie Shields /