WaPo CEO Will Lewis outlines plans for Post Pro and Post Plus subscriptions, and "flexible payments" to let readers make a one-time payment for reading a story (Oliver Darcy/CNN)

Mediagazer: WaPo CEO Will Lewis outlines plans for Post Pro and Post Plus subscriptions, and “flexible payments” to let readers make a one-time payment for reading a story (Oliver Darcy/CNN)

Top News:

Wall Street Journal:

News Corp and OpenAI announce a multiyear agreement to bring News Corp's news content to OpenAI; sources say the deal could be worth $250M over five years— Agreement could generate over $250 million over five years for News Corp in cash and credits — Wall Street Journal owner News Corp struck …
Discussion: News Corp, New York Times, Press Gazette, The Verge, City A.M., @marlownyc, Columbia Journalism Review, The Register, VentureBeat, Digital Trends, The Information, The Wrap, Nicholas Gray on LinkedIn, Washington Post, @benny6toes.bsky.social, Artem Fishman on LinkedIn, Variety, Axios, Sydney Morning Herald, @jeffjarvis@mastodon.social, Benzinga, The Hollywood Reporter, MediaPost and Talking Biz News, more at Techmeme »

Discussion:

Katie Robertson /
New York Times: OpenAI Strikes a Deal to License News Corp Content

Charlotte Tobitt /
Press Gazette: News Corp says OpenAI deal marks ‘beginning of beautiful friendship’

Jess Jones /
City A.M.: News Corp: The Times and Sun publisher pens ‘beautiful friendship’ deal with OpenAI worth £200m

Marlow Stern /
@marlownyc: so chatgpt is gonna be right-wing

Pete Brown /
Columbia Journalism Review: Licensing deals, litigation raise raft of familiar questions in fraught world of platforms and publishers

Thomas Claburn /
The Register: Read AI about it... OpenAI does deal with News Corp

Nick Wingfield /
The Information: News Corp and OpenAI Strike Multiyear Deal

Natalie Korach /
The Wrap: News Corp and OpenAI Strike Multi-Year Licensing Partnership to Train Chatbots

Nicholas Gray /
Nicholas Gray on LinkedIn: This is a very important global (including Australian) deal for our company and industry. It is vital all tech platforms recognise and pay …

Gerrit De Vynck /
Washington Post: News Corp. signs deal with OpenAI to show news in ChatGPT @benny6toes.bsky.social: So now ai will get help hallucinating from actual people who hallucinate? — Im sure this won't be problematic at all...

Artem Fishman /
Artem Fishman on LinkedIn: We're excited to announce this landmark partnership with OpenAI. As a professional news, information and data company, we have so much ahead of us, in this new age of AI advancements.

Todd Spangler /
Variety: News Corp Inks OpenAI Licensing Deal Potentially Worth More Than $250 Million

Sara Fischer /
Axios: News Corp. strikes content licensing deal with OpenAI

Shirin Ghaffary /
Sydney Morning Herald: News Corp signs lucrative content deal with ChatGPT maker OpenAI

Jeff Jarvis /
@jeffjarvis@mastodon.social: The big, old publishers grab their bag o' gold from OpenAI et al, leaving out all of local, Black, Latino, digital, and new media and the needs of the public. The industry should instead band together for a news API. But it's every mogul for himself. — https://www.wsj.com/...

Adam Eckert /
Benzinga: News Corp Stock Pops On Multiyear Deal With OpenAI

Alex Weprin /
The Hollywood Reporter: News Corp. Decides to Take the Money From OpenAI In Major Licensing Deal

Ray Schultz /
MediaPost: News Corp. And OpenAI Ink Content Agreement

Chris Roush /
Talking Biz News: WSJ parent strikes content deal with OpenAI

CNN:

WaPo CEO Will Lewis outlines plans for Post Pro and Post Plus subscriptions, and “flexible payments” to let readers make a one-time payment for reading a story— On Wednesday, Will Lewis, the newly minted publisher and chief executive of The Washington Post …

Discussion:
@sarafischer and @oliverdarcy@threads.net

Discussion:

Sara Fischer /
@sarafischer: Today @washingtonpost CEO Will Lewis will unveil next phase of WaPo's turnaround strategy: “Build It” phase —"Say It" phase identified 10 focus areas: SEO; Print; Social, Data; Events; Habit; Consumer Journalism; DEI, Culture; Remote work —"Fix It" phase saw groups dvp solutions

Oliver Darcy /
@oliverdarcy@threads.net: On Wednesday, Will Lewis, the newly minted publisher and chief executive of The Washington Post, strode on stage before gathered staffers at the company's D.C. headquarters to outline his vision for shepherding the iconic newspaper into a financially prosperous future. Details in @cnnreliablesources: https://cnn.it/3wPIWGv

RELATED:

@maxwelltani:

— Washington Post CEO Will Lewis is introing the paper's new “Build It” plan today. In a meeting with staff, he noted that the paper lost $77 million over the past year, and saw a 50% drop off in audience since 2020: “To be direct, we are in a hole, and we have been for some time.”

Discussion:
Poynter, Washington Post, @maxwelltani, Digiday, @maxwelltani, @wilson__valdez, @mcoatney, @macktubs, @darrylmason, @scarylawyerguy, @reubenr80027912, @froomkin, @jaycockburn, @maxwelltani, @justicar.xyz, @alttag.bsky.social, @worknowitzki.bsky.social, @cocktailhag.bsky.social, @natalieweiner.bsky.social, @missingthept.bsky.social, @jonastraxler.bsky.social, @dextrosity.bsky.social, @thatweissguy.bsky.social, @charles.littlegreenfootballs …, @atherton.bsky.social, @benharris1.bsky.social, @cfaller96.bsky.social, @estarianne.bsky.social, @tomscocca.bsky.social, @hammancheez.bsky.social, @markshatraw.bsky.social, @tomscocca.bsky.social, @tcarmody.bsky.social, @erinannmcc.bsky.social, @852dude.bsky.social, @karlbode.bsky.social, @socio-steve.bsky.social, @eleanorofs.bsky.social, @nslayton.bsky.social, @andrewsshi.bsky.social and @vortexegg.regretfully.online

Discussion:

Tom Jones /
Poynter: The Washington Post lays out an optimistic new strategy after grim financial numbers

Jeremy Barr /
Washington Post: Washington Post announces new subscription plans in bid to boost revenue

Max Tani /
@maxwelltani: Lewis says the says the three pillars of the new strategy are: great journalism, happy customers, and making money: “If we're doing things that don't meet all three...we should stop doing that.” He adds that the company will also be looking for ways to use AI in its journalism.

Kayleigh Barber /
Digiday: Media Briefing: Why some publishers are resurrecting their print magazines

Max Tani /
@maxwelltani: AI is a major component of the Post's internal strategy announcement today. WaPo's chief tech officer told staff that going forward, the paper has to have “AI everywhere in our newsroom.”

Mark Coatney /
@mcoatney: I really would love to see that number unpacked. How in the world did WaPo lose $77 million, exactly? What was driving that?

Mack Tubridy /
@macktubs: If democracy dies in darkness, then the Washington Post will die in whatever the hell this is

Darryl Mason /
@darrylmason: The Washington Post lost 50% of its readership in just 4 years. Another successful ‘news brand’ sent down the shitter after hiring ridiculous conservative columnists and promoting them as “Premium Content Worth Paying For.” Truly extraordinary how they fukt it so fast. @scarylawyerguy: Boring old Joe Biden competently steering the ship of state might be good for little d democracy (not to mention American leadership in the world) but it's killing media outlets that got hooked on the chaos of Trump's presidency (which is why they want him back so badly!)

Reuben Rodriguez /
@reubenr80027912: Again, the problem is not that the media is incorrectly reporting on the economy Ppl are just not reading the news like they used to McDonalds has doubled in price, they see Biden shuffling on TV and are amorphously annoyed w/o being very engaged. Don't overthink things!

Dan Froomkin /
@froomkin: 50% drop in audience! Holy shit! That's even worse than they'd previously indicated. And it's probably too late to turn things around. Allow me to explain: https://presswatchers.org/... [image]

Jay Cockburn /
@jaycockburn: What's the point of being bought by one of the world's largest and most profitable companies if they aren't going to fund your operation? Why sell to Bezos in the first place?

Max Tani /
@maxwelltani: Lewis says the says the three pillars of the new strategy are: great journalism, happy customers, and making money: “If we're doing things that don't meet all three...we should stop doing that.” He adds that the company will also be looking for ways to use AI in its journalism.

Max Tani /
@maxwelltani: Lewis says the company is focused on growing subscriptions organically but is open to growing them through an acquisition if it makes sense...

Glenn White /
@justicar.xyz: Context: Washington Post owner Jeff Bezos' current wealth is $201B. This means that he made $77M in interest before he even had his first sip of extremely expensive coffee this morning. [embedded post]

Tom /
@alttag.bsky.social: It's so weird what paywalls will do to readership. — If only we could understand why people don't read our stuff, which we mostly keep locked away.

WorkNowitzki /
@worknowitzki.bsky.social: I'm not normally a conspiracy guy on stuff like this, but...this would give a newspaper a pretty strong interest in Trump getting elected. @cocktailhag.bsky.social: Bezos could come up with that from the couch cushions on his yacht. — Clearly, he bought the paper to kill it, and is succeeding. [embedded post]

Natalie Weiner /
@natalieweiner.bsky.social: oh, a 50% drop off in audience since the year when a global pandemic started and we needed to check the news constantly to avoid sickness and death? [embedded post]

Jonas Traxler /
@jonastraxler.bsky.social: So the daily Ashley Parker “Biden is old” stories aren't drawing enough eyeballs? @dextrosity.bsky.social: I really worry news rooms are looking at that post-2020 audience drop, thinking (perhaps correctly!) that Trump in charge is better for their bottom lines, and the resulting impact on democracy. [embedded post]

Andrew Otis Weiss /
@thatweissguy.bsky.social: National News $200 — Local News $150 — International News $50 — Smooth Brained Feature/Editorial Columnists $150,000,000 — Arts & Lifestyle $150 — someone who is good at the economy please help me budget this. my newspaper is dying [embedded post]

Charles Johnson /
@charles.littlegreenfootballs.com: So firing their liberal columnists and increasingly pandering to the right wing for clicks isn't working? Huh. [embedded post]

Kelsey Atherton /
@atherton.bsky.social: For fractions of their unfathomable wealth, billionaires could fund news and leave everything alone, but they actually by and large hate media and are happy to see it die rather than treat its continued viability as a sign of their benevolence. They can't even get easy PR right.

Kelsey Atherton /
@atherton.bsky.social: Billionaires love to buy vital institutions and then claim they're not self-sufficient and run them into the ground rather than part with one shiny coin to sustain the institution indefinitely.

Ben Harris /
@benharris1.bsky.social: I'm going to keep this in mind the next time I see a story about the Iowa caucuses with 7 reporters on the byline, or an AI-generated story about how a deceased basketball player is now useless. [embedded post] @cfaller96.bsky.social: It's almost as if traditional outlets are producing garbage (at the direction of management/editors) and customers have moved on. It's almost as if “lol fuck you libs” as an outlet's market approach is fundamentally wrong. [embedded post] @estarianne.bsky.social: I will resubscribe if they stop doing right wing stenography. [embedded post]

Tom Scocca /
@tomscocca.bsky.social: It's a quarter of one percent of Bezos' gains this year. It's 1/5 of the amount of money his fortune fluctuated overnight. [embedded post] @hammancheez.bsky.social: CEO : in order to improve morale we are replacing you with LLMs trained on CSAM [embedded post]

Mark Shatraw /
@markshatraw.bsky.social: Couldn't Bezos have plopped like, a billion and a half in an index fund somewhere and literally funded the Post with the interest

Tom Scocca /
@tomscocca.bsky.social: Seventy-seven million dollars is less than 1/2,500 of Jeff Bezos' net worth

Tim Carmody /
@tcarmody.bsky.social: I am a fan of newsrooms and revenue teams working with AI. But you can't just sprinkle a little bit of it all over your company and expect your pockets to fill with money. You need a strategy. Ideally, one that doesn't erode your brand. Otherwise you're just doing the same things but it costs more $ [embedded post]

Erin A. McCarthy /
@erinannmcc.bsky.social: I just re-subscribed for a measly $20/year, and this makes me think that that was a good choice. [embedded post] @852dude.bsky.social: I dunno, but if I were the Washington post and it's owner I may consider editorial practices that could not be considered “money gobbling shit stirrers” — That could be the solution. — But I'm not in journalism and I'm not a smart man. So who knows. [embedded post]

Karl Bode /
@karlbode.bsky.social: surely the overpaid ivy league ivy league brunchlords actually in charge of strategy for WAPO will be the first to feel the firm repercussions for their missteps — (sad trombone, farting noises) [embedded post]

Stephen Nuñez /
@socio-steve.bsky.social: As @johnbrownstan.bsky.social has noted journalism has increasingly transformed from a club good (excludable, non-rivalrous) to a public good (non-excludable, non-rivalrous). Generally we do public funding/provision for public goods. because the markets don't work. [embedded post] @eleanorofs.bsky.social: Seems like the discourse on here is focused on this part of the thread. I agree it's stunning and worth talking about, but really: click the link and view the rest of the thread. — IMHO as a mere news consumer... this does not seem like a good plan. [embedded post]

Nicholas Slayton /
@nslayton.bsky.social: I thought the entire point of Bezos owning them was that they wouldn't have financial issues? [embedded post]

Andrew Reeves /
@andrewsshi.bsky.social: Wait wasn't the whole thing supposed to be Bezos's money-losing vanity project? [embedded post]

Dexerto:

Linus Tech Tips, accused in August 2023 of theft, ethical lapses, and sexual harassment, says an outside investigation found the claims were “largely unfounded”— Linus Tech Tips has released the findings from an investigation of the allegations levied upon them in 2023 …

Discussion:
Benzinga and @linustech

Discussion:

Rounak Jain /
Benzinga: Popular Tech YouTuber Linus Sebastian Says Months-Long Investigation Finds Ex-Employee's Harassment Claims ‘Not Substantiated’

The Guardian:

Sources: News Corp's Rebekah Brooks and Robert Thomson joined Lachlan Murdoch in Sydney for meetings ahead of a major restructuring announcement next week— Staff brace for significant cuts as media giant prepares to make moves to counter decline of print and slow advertising market

Discussion:
Sydney Morning Herald, @onyadon, @mikecarlton01, Dave Earley on LinkedIn and @pressgazette

Discussion:
Sydney Morning Herald: ‘Hunger Games’ with Lachlan Murdoch, Rebekah Brooks in town as News plans shake-up

Robert Smith /
@onyadon: #NewsCorp staff are bracing for significant cuts as the media giant moves to slash tens of millions of dollars in costs to counter the decline of print and a slow advertising market.

Mike Carlton /
@mikecarlton01: The Murdochracy gathers for a chainsaw massacre at NewsCorpse. https://www.theguardian.com/ ...

Dave Earley /
Dave Earley on LinkedIn: Rebekah Brooks and Robert Thomson are in town, joining Lachlan and Michael Miller as staff, who “are bracing for significant cuts” …

GBH:

Boston-based public media outlet GBH announced layoffs of 31 staff members, or 4% of its workforce, with roughly 10% of its news staff among those laid off— GBH announced layoffs of 31 staff members on Wednesday, representing 4% of its overall workforce.

Discussion:
The Boston Globe, @nikdecostaklipa, @brianstorms@mastodon.social and Current

Discussion:

Nik DeCosta-Klipa /
@nikdecostaklipa: Damn. GBH laying off over 30 staffers and “immediately” ceasing production of TV shows Greater Boston, Talking Politics and Basic Black https://www.wgbh.org/... [image]

Austin Fuller /
Current: Boston's GBH lays off 31 staff due to $7M budget gap

Wall Street Journal:

Sources: revenue for watch enthusiast website Hodinkee fell to ~$70M in 2023 from ~$100M in 2021, amid accusations of mismanagement as the watch market crashed— The website Hodinkee reinvented watch culture, giving luxury timepieces the same air as a pair of rare Nikes.

Discussion:
@aforjaz@threads.net, @wsj and @simondowens@threads.net

Discussion:

Antonio Forjaz /
@aforjaz@threads.net: Hodinkee's tanking is another example of the struggling luxury market. Other than LVMH, there aren't many who have won in the past year in this sector. The only business that seems to be booming is the one addressed to every fresh billionaire coming out of the oven. In the US, 748 new billionaires were made in 2023. … @wsj: The luxury watch website Hodinkee was once hosting champagne-filled parties and selling out watches with the speed of rare Nikes. What happened? 🔗 https://www.wsj.com/... https://www.wsj.com/...

STLPR:

Big Lou Media has sold The Riverfront Times, an alt weekly in St. Louis, Mo, to an undisclosed buyer, and the entire writing and editing staff has been laid off— The Riverfront Times, St. Louis' alt-weekly newspaper, is no more, at least in its current state.

Discussion:
@kavahnmansouri, @alexiszotos, @sarahfenske, @kallieecox, @sarahfenske, @judy__lucas, @rftmusic, @alecdeclares, @sarahfenske, @sireddiec, @jordan_harper, @doylemurphy, @jsodonoghue, KSDK-TV and MediaPost

Discussion:

Kavahn Mansouri /
@kavahnmansouri: The RFT served as my first professional newsroom. @sarahfenske gave me a shot as an intern. Now I'm covering its death and I feel like I've been stabbed. “It's devastating for St. Louis.” https://www.stlpr.org/...

Alexis Zotos /
@alexiszotos: Just really tough news for St. Louis and journalism. The RFT has been sold and all staff laid off. So much talent there including Daniel who has mad me laugh so hard over the years with his writing. Sending ❤️ to all the staff

Sarah Fenske /
@sarahfenske: Well, on this story the RFT got scooped, and @stlpublicradio has a good overview of what we know about its future. It breaks my heart that the good stories we were working on won't be published. It breaks my heart that good people lost their jobs today https://www.stlpr.org/...

Kallie Cox /
@kallieecox: I was laid off today along with the entirety of the Riverfront Times staff. @rft is officially dead. It was an honor to work with my colleagues and I can say this is the best paper I've ever had the pleasure of working at.

Sarah Fenske /
@sarahfenske: @ZacharyLinhares ... Daniel and I used to joke about going down with the ship. Turns out it was not a joke! Journalism is like that these days, and it breaks my heart. -30-

Judy Lucas /
@judy__lucas: I interned at RFT my junior year (about 5 years ago)-Daniel sent me a welcome email with a list of his “areas of expertise.” Feels like a good time to share. RFT was my first gig in a city and I learned a helluva lot, esp. how to laugh when reporting gets hard. What a HUGE loss. [image]

Daniel Hill /
@rftmusic: RIP RFT 1977-2024 helluva run, honestly held out longer than anyone could have imagined. if anyone has a line on a suitable job for a degenerate lunatic who happens to have a way with words, hit up danielhillprofessionally@gmail.com thanks for reading! [image]

Alec /
@alecdeclares: RFT gave me an internship, published my articles, and hired me to work events, showing so much St. Louis that I never knew even as a resident. A staple in STL Journalism and one of the coolest staffs I've ever worked with. RIP RFT oh and Someone hire Daniel Hill right now

Sarah Fenske /
@sarahfenske: This was a small team, but a remarkably scrappy one, and we left it all on the floor, every damn day. I have no idea what I'm going to do tomorrow, but I know I'm going to miss waking up and working with this remarkable crew

S E /
@sireddiec: rip @RiverfrontTimes man that publication will forever have a place in my heart because they were the first to write about me + put me on a festival. finally getting some type of co-sign back then affirmed a lot + meant the world rft's potential is a loss for local music [image]

Jordan Harper /
@jordan_harper: My first full-time job as a writer was as the music editor of the RFT - heartbreaking to see it die.

Doyle Murphy /
@doylemurphy: Wrecked by this. The RFT was a newspaper like no other. But I like knowing RFT alumni, including Kavahn, are working all over the country, injecting a bit of that energy, creativity and hunger for telling stories into their work.

Julie O'Donoghue /
@jsodonoghue: I'm just...really upset by this. In no other community where I've lived has an alt weekly been such an essential part of the media landscape. Awful.

Ray Schultz /
MediaPost: Alternative St. Louis Weekly Sold To Unidentified Buyer

Axios:

Source: the US DOJ and state AGs plan to sue Live Nation on Thursday for illegally abusing its live ticketing monopoly through its 2010 Ticketmaster acquisition— - It will argue that Live Nation leveraged Ticketmaster's exclusive contracts with concert venues to maintain a monopoly …

Discussion:

Stuart Dredge /
Music Ally: Reports suggest DoJ's Live Nation lawsuit will come today

Evan Perez /
CNN: Justice Department expected to file antitrust suit against Live Nation and its Ticketmaster unit

Niket Nishant /
Reuters: US DOJ could seek break up of Live Nation, Bloomberg reports

Wall Street Journal:
Justice Department to Sue Live Nation, Seek Breakup of Concert and Ticketing Giant

Ashley King /
Digital Music News: U.S. Department of Justice Expected to File Lawsuit Against Live Nation and Ticketmaster This Week — Here's the Latest

Megan Armstrong /
UPROXX: US Department Of Justice Reportedly Suing To Break Up Live Nation & Ticketmaster, Citing ‘Illegally Maintaining A Monopoly’

Ethan Millman /
Rolling Stone: Ticketmaster and Live Nation Should Be Broken Up, DOJ Will Say in New Lawsuit

Ashleigh Jackson /
WFLA-TV: DOJ expected to file antitrust lawsuit against Ticketmaster owner Live Nation: reports

Sharon Knolle /
The Wrap: Live Nation Faces Antitrust DOJ Lawsuit in Latest Move to Limit Concert Ticket Dominance

Wall Street Journal:

As TV audiences get older, media executives are focusing more on the mass-market reach of TV, and playing down the importance of age for advertisers— With viewers in their 60s, networks aren't pretending to have youth appeal; they're touting the virtues of older audiences

Discussion:
@blackamazon, @jbflint and @jeffjarvis

Discussion:
@blackamazon: Again they get data they don't like and rather than work with it they decide To just avoid it

Joe Flint /
@jbflint: Call it the “Balance of Nature” effect. With the median age of TV viewers well into the 60s at many networks, media companies' new advertising pitch is that age doesn't matter. W @thesimonetti https://www.wsj.com/...

Deadline:

Sources: Sundance is weighing proposals from 15 locations to move the festival in 2027; a decision is expected internally around the end of September— EXCLUSIVE: The Sundance Film Festival is looking South for a potential new home, as well as in its backyard.

The New York Times Company:

The New York Times hires Puck's Teddy Schleifer, who covers politics, billionaires, and business, to work as a correspondent on its Politics desk— Teddy, previously a David Rosenbaum reporting fellow in Washington, will be a correspondent on the Politics desk. — Folks,

Discussion:
@dylanbyers, @loudmouthjulia, @teddyschleifer, @tina_nguyen, @teddyschleifer and @shanegoldmacher

Discussion:

Dylan Byers /
@dylanbyers: Teddy is the best. It's been a true pleasure working with him and watching him thrive at @PuckNews, and I look forward to following his work at the Times.

Julia Alexander /
@loudmouthjulia: The biggest win for the NYT. Teddy digs into how the wealthiest people in the world, who want access to complete power at the federal level, operate behind the scenes to ensure they have access to global leaders for their own continued status/wealth building. A fundamental beat.

Teddy Schleifer /
@teddyschleifer: 👋🏼I have some exciting news. I am joining the Times next month to write about politics and billionaires and campaign finance and business. This is a dream job. I cannot wait to report, report and report some more. This beat could not be more important. https://www.nytco.com/...

Tina Nguyen /
@tina_nguyen: Teddy's not just an incredible reporter and colleague, but also an amazing friend, dog dad and adventure buddy. (Ask him about the time we almost got blown off a mountain in a blizzard in Texas.) The Times is lucky to have him, and no im not crying YOU'RE crying 😭😭😭

Teddy Schleifer /