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Acast buys New York Times-backed podcast company RadioPublic
Sweden-based podcast giant Acast has acquired public benefit corporation RadioPublic in a deal that gives it access to the podcaster's tech and talent.
The New York Times expands its briefing series on Alexa
The New York Times is expanding its slate of audio programming to Alexa, with dedicated daily news briefings, quizzes and arts and travel coverage. On weekdays, the paper will offer a news briefing hosted by The Daily's Michael Barbaro. Once you've activated the skill by saying "Alexa, enable The New York Times Briefing," you can hear a rundown of the day's top stories by requesting your flash briefing or asking "what's in the news?" Alternatively, you can ask the voice assistant to play the latest installment of The Daily.
Verizon and Disney think 5G can 'transform' entertainment
Verizon has announced at CES 2019 that it's teaming up with Walt Disney Studios to bring emerging technologies, namely 5G, to media and entertainment. The partnership is designed to deliver the network's 5G connectivity to every facet of the studio's work, from production to personal consumer experiences. According to Variety, the deal between the two companies will give Disney's StudioLab the ability to tap into Verizon's next-gen wireless broadband, which offers data transferring speeds of up to 10 gigabits per second.
Malware stalls delivery of LA Times and other major US newspapers
If you still look forward to reading a physical newspaper now and then, you might have been in for a rude surprise this weekend. An unspecified malware strain has attacked Tribune Publishing's network, delaying the release of Saturday editions of at least some of its papers (including the LA Times, San Diego Union Tribune and South Florida Sun Sentinel) as well as West Coast versions of the New York Times and Wall Street Journal, both of which are printed at the LA Times' Los Angeles plant. It was particularly severe for San Diego residents -- between 85 to 90 percent of Saturday papers didn't reach customers.
Apple may relaunch its Netflix for magazines service in the spring
Apple may launch a new version of Texture, a magazine subscription app it bought in March, in the spring. However, publishing executives are reportedly wary of including their products in the service and potentially losing revenue to Apple's all-in-one model.
Facebook's top lawyer delays departure as crisis continues
Despite announcing that he would leave the company earlier this year, Facebook's top lawyer Colin Stretch will stay on as general counsel into 2019, according to Recode. The change of heart comes as Facebook is embroiled in yet another controversy following a bombshell report from the New York Times that documents the company's mishandling of a number of situations it has been faced with in the last two years.
The New York Times taps Google's AI to find stories in old photos
The New York Times has somewhere in the realm of five to seven million physical photos in its enormous archive, many of which date back more than a century. The images document vital moments and contain valuable records of our recent history, but the hard copies are vulnerable to deterioration (they fortunately survived flooding in 2015). To protect the photos, the Times is digitizing the archive with Google Cloud.
NYT lawsuit accuses FCC of withholding evidence of Russian meddling
Are you frustrated that the FCC has been reluctant to cooperate with investigations into fake anti-net neutrality comments? So is the New York Times. The newspaper has sued the FCC after the regulator repeatedly refused to provide server logs for its public comment system under the Freedom of Information Act, even after the NYT reduced the scale of its requests. Journalists believe the records will "shed light" on the degree to which Russians interfered with both the commenting process and American democracy at large.
Apple seeks major newspaper allies for its subscription bundle
While rumors indicate Apple has bigger plans for its subscription bundle than just news, it has to start somewhere. In order to get that rolling, Recode reports it has opened discussions with the New York Times, Wall Street Journal and Washington Post about signing on with its recently-purchased "Netflix of magazines" app, Texture. All three have business models offering subscriptions to their news as premium pay content so it's obvious why Apple would want to include them, but less clear about whether they're inclined to join. According to Recode, Texture pays out to publishers based on how much its customers use a particular title, while the subscriptions each paper has bring money in regardless of whether a customer reads any or all of their content. Apple may have relationships with publishers via their apps and selling subscriptions in its Apple News outlet, but figuring out a way to get content aligned with a new business model could be the first hurdle to becoming an even bigger player in all forms of media.
‘New York Times’ iOS app allows you to personalize your reads
Finding all the articles that are of interest to you when a publication puts out hundreds of articles a day can be a challenge. That's why The New York Times unveiled a new section of its iOS app called Your Feed. It gives users the option to follow one of 24 channels, such as "From the Magazine," "Gender & Society," "At War" and "Space."
Uber whistleblower Susan Fowler's next chapter: NYT editor
Susan Fowler (now Susan Fowler Rigetti) has had a momentous, influential year and a half. Her blog post exposing sexual harassment culture at Uber not only prompted a change in corporate culture, but contributed to CEO Travis Kalanick's downfall and a broader investigation of harassment in tech. There's even a movie in the works. It's only fitting, then, that her next job will maintain that focus. The New York Times has hired Fowler Rigetti as its Op-Ed section's Technology Editor, where she'll commission and sometimes write pieces discussing the influence of technology on culture, politics and beyond. She'll stay in Northern California and will start work in September.
Tim Cook says Apple has never received user data from Facebook
Facebook was once again under the privacy spotlight yesterday, when the New York Times published a report suggesting the company had given at least 60 device makers access to sensitive user data. Tim Cook, CEO of Apple -- one of the companies named as an alleged recipient of this information -- has now refuted these claims. In an interview with NPR, Cook directly addressed the report, which he said "is so foreign" to Apple, as it had never received nor requested data from Facebook.
Report: Facebook gave Apple, Samsung broad access to user data
Facebook may have violated a 2011 FTC consent degree by giving Apple, Samsung, BlackBerry and other device makers detailed access to user data, according to the New York Times. The social network struck partnerships with at least 60 device makers so that they could offer messaging, "Like" buttons and other features without the need for an app. However, an NYT reporter found that the BlackBerry Hub, for one, was able to glean private data from 556 of his friends, including their religious and political leanings and events they planned to attend.
Hulu to stream New York Times docu-news show ‘The Weekly’
FX and Hulu have acquired the rights to broadcast The New York Times' 30-minute documentary news show called The Weekly building off the newspaper company's hit podcast The Daily. The cable network bought a minimum of 30 episodes that will air on Sundays starting later this year. Then, a day later, they'll be available on Hulu for subscribers to watch.
YouTube still has an ad problem
YouTube's problem with automated ads appearing on extremist channels isn't getting any better. A recent CNN investigation revealed that companies including Adidas, Amazon, Hershey, Netflix and Under Armour -- and even the US government -- had their ads placed on unsavory channels.
Mirai botnet creators plead guilty to charges over 2016 attack
The individuals behind the Mirai botnet that caused nationwide internet outages in October of last year have pleaded guilty to federal charges, ZDNet reports. Paras Jha, Josiah White and Dalton Norman were indicted by a court in Alaska earlier this month and have pleaded guilty to charges that carry a sentence of up to five years in prison.
New York Times reduces free article limit to five per month
Back in 2011, The New York Times made a decision to limit the number of free articles any given user could read a month. After 20 articles, people without subscriptions would hit a paywall. That was reduced to 10 articles in 2012. Now, according to Bloomberg, the Times is reducing that number to just five articles per month.
Twitter: Suspension of New York Times account was human error
Twitter has fumbled yet again. Over the weekend, the platform temporarily locked a New York Times account for violating its rule against hateful conduct, but the tweet in question, a report on Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau's apology over the treatment of native people in Newfoundland and Labrador, was rather unoffending -- further muddying what will and won't get you suspended by the platform. The account was fully restored about a day later and Twitter has said that the suspension was the result of human error.
Does social media threaten the illusion of news neutrality?
For journalists, social media can be a double-edged sword. On the one hand, they can use platforms like Facebook and Twitter to share their opinion on a wide range of matters, from sports to politics. But at the same time, they have to remember to exercise caution, because whatever they say can be taken out of context and have major implications on the publications they work for. If a reader who follows your tweets or Facebook posts doesn't agree with you, that can motivate them to claim your entire newsroom is biased.
New York Times offers new subscribers a free Google Home (updated)
The New York Times has been upping its tech game recently in hopes to keep subscription numbers up in an age of free internet news. It made digital access free during the 2016 election, bundled free Spotify accounts this past February and bought a VR agency to help the Times create immersive news content. Now you can get a "free" Google Home smart speaker with a $17 per month All Access or $18 per month Home Delivery subscription.
