In a small city in Massachusetts, an experiment in hyper-local AI podcasting →

“The Melrose Update Robocast was made by dropping public documents into an artificial intelligence program that then generates a conversation about the issues with these fake people. Its creator isn’t trying to hide that, even leaving in small quirks to signal an inhuman feel, like the AI-generated logo that adds an extra ‘e’ to the end of Melrose.”

The hurricane conspiracies made it clear: we’re going climate delulu →

“In the aftermath of the hurricanes, AI-produced images spread across the internet. Some seemed harmless enough: a dog rescuing a child from a flood, for example. Another viral post misleadingly showed Disney World flooded out in Florida, and a costumed worker carrying a child through knee-high water. Conservative politicians, however, have shared such images as if they’re proof of the Biden administration’s failure to respond to the disasters.”

What’s the matter with the Knight Foundation? →

“There are, as I see it, three issues here: 1) the decision to so heavily front-load grants without warning the field that it was doing so; 2) the administrative shortcomings Knight now acknowledges; and 3) the decision to now launch a strategic review of journalism grant-making attendant with a partial pause, without any general announcement of that fact.”

How Fox News loads the dice so Trump always wins →

“That unfolded during the hours of programming that followed the interview, during which hosts and producers clipped the least flattering moments from the conversation and presented them to viewers with a slathering of spin.”

TMZ criticized for photo said to be of former One Direction singer Liam Payne →

“The site initially published a cropped image of a body lying on a wooden deck, saying that it was at a hotel in Buenos Aires, where Mr. Payne died. TMZ said it had identified him from his distinctive tattoos. ‘We’re not showing the whole body, but you can clearly see his tattoos — a clock on his left forearm, and a scorpion on his abdomen,’ text accompanying the photo said, according to screenshots of the article circulating online.”

Australia’s largest media company apologizes for systemic bullying and harassment →

“The report, based on 122 interviews, concluded that ‘known perpetrators’ of inappropriate workplace behaviors were not dealt with. Instead, staff who were victims of the perpetrators were simply warned to just avoid them. The report does not name individuals, but it found some ‘leaders’ attempted to cover up inappropriate workplace behaviors or discouraged the reporting of incidents.”

Mark Robinson sues CNN over report he wrote racist posts on porn website →

“The lawsuit, filed in Wake county superior court, comes less than four weeks after a television report that led many fellow GOP elected officials and candidates, including Donald Trump, to distance themselves from Robinson’s gubernatorial campaign. Robinson announced the lawsuit at a news conference in Raleigh.”

Flat is the new up for CNN star anchor salaries →

“Thompson recently gave Jake Tapper a new three-year deal, but without an increase in pay, leaving the host of The Lead — and CNN’s chief Washington correspondent — making around $7 million a year, I’m told. Blitzer also has been renewed with a three-year deal at his previous salary (about $3 million).”

The key decisions that saved The Boston Globe →

“Privately-owned Boston Globe Media does not publish financial results but today has close to 1,000 employees, with 261,000 digital subscriptions and 75,000 in print…’The first important decision was separating Boston.com from The Globe. One would be free and one would be a premium paid reader revenue-focused site which was Globe.com.'”

The St. Louis Post-Dispatch is the latest daily to get out of the printing business →

…the Post-Dispatch will close its Maryland Heights press, laying off 72 employees. Though it will still be printed seven days a week and be delivered at the same time to subscribers, the paper will be missing a few developments. Earlier press deadlines mean that news that breaks in the evening will not be included in the morning paper. That loss includes reports from Cardinals night games and other sports.”

Marketers are not won over by new AI-powered search tools →

“The conversation around search advertising has reached a new fever pitch thanks to recently launched AI-powered tools like Perplexity and Google’s AI Overviews. Despite the buzz, some marketers and advertisers remain uncertain about AI tools in search, citing too many unknowns.”