Business of Media
Twitter takes legal action after source code leaked online
Twitter has revealed some of its source code has been released online and the social media platform owned by Elon Musk is taking legal action to identify the leaker, reports the Guardian’s Dan Milmo.
According to a court filing made on Friday, Twitter is demanding that GitHub, a code-sharing service, identifies who released on the platform parts of its source code – the underlying software on which the service operates.
GitHub has taken down the leaked code but Twitter has asked a US court to order the Microsoft-owned business to “identify the alleged infringer or infringers who posted Twitter’s source code on systems operated by GitHub without Twitter’s authorisation”.
The code was posted online by a GitHub user who used the name FreeSpeechEnthusiast, in an apparent nod to Musk, referring to himself as a “free speech absolutist.”
Musk is obsessed with the threat of Twitter being sabotaged by current and former staff, according to the tech newsletter Platformer, after a takeover that led to the immediate firing of half of Twitter’s 7,500 staff and the reinstatement of formerly suspended rightwing accounts including that of Donald Trump. Twitter’s workforce now numbers fewer than 2,000 people.
Newly fired Fox News producer seeks to recant testimony in $1.6 bln Dominion lawsuit
A newly fired Fox News producer is seeking to recant testimony she said network lawyers coerced her into providing as Fox defends against Dominion Voting Systems’ $1.6 billion defamation lawsuit, reports Reuters’ Jonathan Stempel.
Abby Grossberg said Fox’s lawyers left her feeling she “had to do everything possible to avoid becoming the ‘star witness’ for Dominion or else I would be seriously jeopardizing my career at Fox News.”
The former producer for Maria Bartiromo‘s Sunday morning show and later Tucker Carlson‘s prime-time show made the accusation as she filed amended lawsuits in Manhattan federal court and Delaware Superior Court accusing Fox of discrimination, retaliation, sexism and misogyny.
Grossberg said Fox fired her on Friday, four days after she originally sued and was put on administrative leave.
She also filed complaints against Fox on Monday with the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission and the New York City Commission on Human Rights.
Publishers prepare for showdown with Microsoft, Google over AI tools
Since the arrival of chatbots that can carry on conversations, make up sonnets and ace the LSAT, many people have been in awe at the artificial-intelligence technology’s capabilities, report the Wall Street Journal’s Keach Hagey, Alexandra Bruell, Tom Dotan, and Miles Kruppa.
Publishers of online content share in that sense of wonder. They also see a threat to their businesses, and are headed to a showdown with the makers of the technology.
In recent weeks, publishing executives have begun examining the extent to which their content has been used to “train” AI tools such as ChatGPT, how they should be compensated and what their legal options are, according to people familiar with meetings organized by the News Media Alliance, a publishing trade group.
“We have valuable content that’s being used constantly to generate revenue for others off the backs of investments that we make, that requires real human work, and that has to be compensated,” said Danielle Coffey, executive vice president and general counsel of the News Media Alliance.
ChatGPT, released last November by parent company OpenAI, operates as a stand-alone tool but is also being integrated into Microsoft’s Bing search engine and other tools. Alphabet Inc.’s Google this week opened to the public its own conversational program, Bard, which also can generate humanlike responses.
Disney layoffs start this week, Bob Iger tells employees as 7,000 cuts loom
The layoffs at The Walt Disney Co. will start this week. In a memo to employees Monday, Disney CEO Bob Iger said that the company will now begin the process of notifying impacted staff, with two more rounds of cuts planned in the next couple of months, reports the Hollywood Reporter’s Alex Weprin.
Iger said in February that the company would shed 7,000 jobs as the company restructures around three core divisions: Disney Entertainment, ESPN, and Parks, Experiences and Products. The cuts are “necessary for creating a more effective, coordinated and streamlined approach to our business,” Iger wrote on March 27, adding that senior leaders have been evaluating their operational needs since he announced the cuts.
Iger said in his memo that a second round of layoffs planned for April will be “larger” than the round this week, with “several thousand” cuts set to take place at that time. A third round of cuts will take place “before the beginning of the summer to reach our 7,000-job target.”
“For our employees who aren’t impacted, I want to acknowledge that there will no doubt be challenges ahead as we continue building the structures and functions that will enable us to be successful moving forward. I ask for your continued understanding and collaboration during this time,” Iger added. “In tough moments, we must always do what is required to ensure Disney can continue delivering exceptional entertainment to audiences and guests around the world – now, and long into the future.”
Iger returned as Disney’s CEO in November, with his successor and predecessor Bob Chapek departing after only about two and a half years on the job.
Television
Australian Idol 2023 winner Royston Sagigi-Baira reveals challenge of including his Indigenous language in pop songs
Australian Idol winner Royston Sagigi-Baira said it will be challenging to introduce his community’s Indigenous language to his future pop songs because missionaries in far north Queensland banned it being spoken at the turn of the 20th century, reports News Corp’s Kathy McCabe.
As artists including Baker Boy, King Stingray and the late Gurrumul have brought their languages into the pop mainstream, the 2023 Idol winner said he wanted to explore written texts of language from the Tjungundji people in Mapoon in far north Queensland for future lyrics.
The singer auditioned for Idol to be a role model for children in remote Indigenous communities and represent queer and plus-sized artists on a major television franchise.
“I would love to be able to incorporate that into my songs in the future,” he said.
“We have some words written down but we don’t speak it because it was eradicated when the missions came along and said if you speak your language, it’s against God; they basically brainwashed people against speaking it and eventually it got lost, which is sad.”
See Also: Why Australian Idol’s Royston Sagigi-Baira’s win is so much more than $100K and a music contract
Brenda Blethyn says ‘yes’ to more Vera
Veteran UK star Brenda Blethyn has confirmed her intent to return to the role of Detective Chief Inspector Vera Stanhope, reports TV Tonight.
On social media she told a fan she was all in for more mystery episodes.
The hit series has screened 12 seasons following production disruption by the pandemic.
Sports Media
AFL succession drama could stretch to June, club presidents fear
Pressure is building on the AFL to name a successor to Gillon McLachlan, with club presidents and executives hoping the game will end a more than 12-month saga about who will replace the outgoing chief executive, report Nine Publishing’s Mark Di Stefano and Patrick Durkin.
Senior sources at the AFL now believe McLachlan could be in the role until at least the May federal budget to see if the Albanese government stumps up cash for a new stadium in Tasmania.
The decision on whether to grant Tasmania an AFL team had been one of the items on McLachlan’s to-do list before exiting the role after eight years. But so had several other items, including negotiating a new collective bargaining agreement with AFL players.
The rolling delays and blown deadlines to putting in place a successor to McLachlan has become one of the mysteries of Australian sport, with clubs left in the dark as to why the game’s commission, led by chairman Richard Goyder, has taken so long to fill the AFL’s most important job.
One club president suggested a successor could be named imminently, with McLachlan remaining in his post until after the decision on Tasmania.
The US TV advertising market is slumping, but sports ads are booming
As major media, entertainment and technology companies downsize in search of better profit margins, a recurring theme has been advertising. In recent months, Warner Bros. Discovery CEO David Zaslav has called the ad market “very weak,” NBCUniversal chief Jeff Shell deemed it “shallow,” while Paramount topper Bob Bakish described it “cyclically tough,” reports the Hollywood Reporter’s Alex Weprin.
But the difficult advertising environment obscures a silver lining: Despite the tough macro environment, the sports advertising business is still booming. Look no further than Fox’s broadcast of the Super Bowl last month, where 30 second ads sold for north of $7 million, and with the network anticipating a record ad haul.
Or the NCAA March Madness men’s basketball tournament, which Bloomberg Intelligence estimates will bring in $1.2 billion in ad revenue for broadcast partners Warner Bros. Discovery and Paramount this year, up 8 percent from a year ago.
In a world where the strongest media companies are seeing their ad revenue flat year over year, an 8 percent gain can be considered, well, madness.