Digital Media News

Media Giants Care More for Kids Than Money, Right?

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Article by April Rubin in Axios, 10/5/24

Headline: “States target social media companies over kids’ health, safety as Congress hesitates”

“Attorneys general of three states in less than a week revealed separate lawsuits against social media giants for their platforms’ alleged harmful effects on children, including sextortion, addiction and privacy violations.”

“. . . State attorneys general, most recently, sued TikTok, Snap and YouTube, alleging culpability in risks to children’s safety or wellbeing.”

https://www.axios.com/2024/10/05/state-lawsuits-social-media-children-harm-addiction

Traditional Media Sink or Swim?

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Article in the New York Times By Farah Nayeri, 9/29/24

Headline: “As Mainstream Media Faces Unprecedented Challenges, Can It Save Itself?”

Subhead: “A panel at the Athens Democracy Forum explores how and whether traditional news organizations can regain the influence and trust that once defined them”

“On the first day of the fall semester at Boston University, Michelle Amazeen, an associate professor of mass communication, asked her graduate students to fill out a questionnaire listing their favorite movie, band, book and news source. She was in for a surprise.

“Next to news source, many of her 16 students left a blank. Several mentioned TikTok, Instagram and X (formerly Twitter). One named a mainstream publication (The New York Times) as their source of news and information.

“By and large, young adults are getting their news, if they get it at all, from social media,” Ms. Amazeen said. As far as they’re concerned, “social media is exciting and it’s accessible,” because there’s little effort or expense required: just a scroll down a smartphone screen.”

https://www.nytimes.com/2024/09/29/world/democracy-media-challenges.html

Media Voter-Machine Fraud Claims, What Happened?

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Article on NPR by Maddy Lauria & David Folkenflik, 9/26/24

Headline: “Voting-tech company settles with right-wing network over false election claims”

“Once more, a voting tech company has settled its defamation lawsuit over false allegations of voter fraud in the 2020 presidential election before the start of trial — in this instance, Smartmatic USA’s suit against the conservative network Newsmax.”

“. . . ‘Lying to the American people has consequences,’ the company’s statement said. ‘Smartmatic will not stop until the perpetrators are held accountable.’ ”

https://www.npr.org/2024/09/26/nx-s1-5130183/newsmax-smartmatic-settlement-defamation-election-lawsuit

Media Are Transforming

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Article in Newsweek by Saul Hudson, 8/27/24

Headline: “Five Things Startup Founders Need to Know About Changing Media Landscape”

“A spate of content licensing agreements with artificial intelligence companies shows the media are in the midst of rapid disruption—again. Where once legacy print media stood as gatekeepers of information, now savvy users of social media dominate many conversations.

“Most media are digital, not print. Advertising operates under a completely different business model. It can all be dizzying, and for those who have kept pace with the innovations of the past 25 years, well done, but don’t get too comfortable. The rise of AI, crypto and other new trends is already pushing the media to become something new yet again.”

Read the article here:  https://www.newsweek.com/five-things-startup-founders-need-know-about-changing-media-landscape-1944944

 

 

Media Future in Computer World

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From the New York Times Columnist Gail Collins 8/12/23

“But on a more cosmic level, Bret, I worry and wonder all the time about the future of the media in a wireless world. Very hard to make money doing critical chores like covering state and local government. Or even just pursuing hard news.”

Now – What Was That Thing Called “Journalism” Again?

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Article in futurism.com,  5/11/23 Is Google getting ready to replace human journalists? From Futurism 5/11/23

Headline:  “Google Unveils Plan to Demolish the Journalism Industry Using AI”

https://futurism.com/google-ai-search-journalism


Chat GPT Future Journalist?

“The Silicon Valley giant has long claimed that its goal is to maximize access to information. SGE (AI-powered search interface, dubbed ‘Search Generative Experience’) though, seemingly seeks to do something quite different — and if the company doesn’t figure out a way to compensate publishers for the labor it’ll be gleaning from the journalists, the effects on the public’s actual access to information could be catastrophic.”

 

Is Twitter a News Medium or Just a Propaganda Outlet as Public Media Leave it in Droves?

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Artice from The Guardian by Guardian Staff,  4/14/23

Headline:  “PBS quits Twitter after being labeled ‘government-funded media’”

Sub-head:  “Broadcaster leaves platform a day after NPR’s exit over concerns labels undermine credibility as independent news outlets”


“The US’s Public Broadcasting Service, better known as PBS, has quit its use of Twitter after the platform labeled the organization as “government-funded media”.

“PBS’s announced its Twitter exit on Thursday, one day after National Public Radio also left the platform amid comments by the Twitter owner, Elon Musk, that NPR was “state-affiliated media” which should be defunded.

“The labels are shared by Russia Today and China’s Xinhua, whose editorial decisions are heavily influenced by their respective state regimes .. .”

https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2023/apr/14/pbs-quits-twitter-government-funded-media-label-npr

 

In Our Brave New World, Will News Be Delivered by Pre-programmed AI Journalist Robots?

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From the Guardian, 4/11/23:

Headline: “AI generated news presenter debuts in Kuwait media”

Sub-head:  “Kuwait News introduced Fedha, promising that it could read online news in the future”

“A Kuwaiti media outlet has unveiled a virtual news presenter generated using artificial intelligence, with plans for it to read online bulletins.

‘Fedha’ appeared on the Twitter account of the Kuwait News website on Saturday as an image of a woman, hair uncovered, wearing a black jacket and white T-shirt.

“’I’m Fedha, the first presenter in Kuwait who works with artificial intelligence at Kuwait News. What kind of news do you prefer? Let’s hear your opinions,’ she said in Arabic.

https://www.theguardian.com/world/2023/apr/11/ai-generated-news-presenter-debuts-in-kuwait-media