“[One applicant] submitted a ‘Legally Blonde’ spoof—which she said took about six hours to produce—to Gannett as part of her application, alongside a less-colorful video in which she lists her career accomplishments, including freelance photography and video gigs for large sports networks.”

“It’s easy to forget now that the Times is so massive, but up until recently it was a newspaper that catered to under 2 million subscribers, who cherished it for its singularity: the stacked headlines, the lofty writing, the serious-minded Manhattan snobbishness it exuded. Many reporters who work there now are dismayed that New York Times seems to be vanishing as it morphs into a far more mass-market enterprise, with many more readers than before, half-following the live updates on their phones and chewing over the vastly expanded ‘Opinion’ pages while Wordling daily. It’s all about the bundle [as Nieman Lab has reported].”

“Social networking apps are beginning to integrate A.I. into their image capabilities to make their platforms more social. After Facebook, Instagram and other apps have become more corporate over the years, A.I. imagery presents a way for them to bring back the whimsy and fun so users can rediscover what was once the point of the platforms: to share and interact with one another.”

“The prevalence of ‘news deserts’ has apparently led some to think it’s normal for neighborhood news outlets to function as lapdogs rather than watchdogs. A Marion grocery store owner told the Times that the local paper ‘should of course be positive about everything that is going on in Marion, and not stir things up and look at the negative side of things.’”

“On Sept. 30, FOIAonline will stop accepting new FOIA registrations and requests and begin the process of shutting down….A new tool, referred to as a ‘FOIA Wizard,’ is being developed by the Department of Justice’s Office of Information Policy and could go live as early as this fall, the office’s director, Bobak ‘Bobby’ Talebian, said in an interview with MuckRock. That tool, a mixture of machine learning and logic-based processing, could help users search for keywords related to their request and find what’s been previously requested.”

“Ahead of 70 elections around the globe in the coming year, the controversial businessman confirmed on X: ‘Oh you mean the ‘Election Integrity’ Team that was undermining election integrity? Yeah, they’re gone.’”

“The reorganization by industry, which publishers like Hearst Magazines have also embraced, also reflects a growing emphasis on live events, a key source of revenue growth for the publisher, according to Sharon Mussalli, founder of media rep firm Xtracrisp. Publishers increasingly find themselves in need of unique ways to weave brand sponsors into their editorial, and events can provide that integration in a way social platforms are unable to replicate.”

“‘You can’t fight the platforms,’ Bryan said, quite a different tune from back in 2015 when Bustle and its peers were riding the Facebook distribution wave. Now, big numbers don’t matter: ‘We’re no longer focused on reaching 100 million or 50 million people,’ he said. ‘We’d rather reach the right 30 million.'”

“I saw, and see, no reason not to take general support money from OSF, and would have felt the same way about the Wyss Foundation (or, for that matter, Charles Koch). It would be naïve or worse, however, not to understand that gifts from controversial people may come with controversy. If you disclose them, you send an important signal that you understand that and accept it, and also, at least in my view, bolster reasonable people’s confidence that you remain independent of these donors— along with all the others.”

“The small number of [freelance presenters who work on the BBC’s ‘flagship programmes’] will have their ability to share political views severely restricted while their BBC programme is on air. They will also have to stay quiet on party politics for a two-week period before and after the series has been broadcast.”

“Linda Yaccarino is not confirming if the company plans to go to an all-subscription model. She’s completely dodged Julia Boorstin’s question about if everyone will be charged to use X.”