The world’s wire services call out British palace PR for a royally doctored photo

[Nieman Lab: The Daily Digest] Monday, March 11, 2024 [The world’s wire services call out British palace PR for a royally doctored photo]( When Photoshopped royal PR meets journalistic standards, something’s got to break. (And for the record, that isn’t a real photo of Kate Middleton mixin’ pixels on an IBM PCjr.) By Joshua Benton. [Five of this year’s Pulitzer finalists are AI-powered]( Two of journalism’s most prestigious prizes — the Pulitzers and the Polk awards — on how they’re thinking about entrants using generative AI. By Alex Perry. [Feeling the industry-wide pinch, ONA makes programming cuts]( “ONA is not immune to the challenges facing journalism. The industry continues to contract, and that impacts all of us.” By Sarah Scire. What We’re Reading The Daily Beast / Justin Baragona [Deadspin is being sold to some new European company and gutted →]( “Lineup Publishing will ‘not carry over any of the site’s existing staff and instead build a new team more in line with their editorial vision for the brand,’ the staff-wide note added. ‘While the new owners plan to be reverential to Deadpin’s [sic] unique voice, they plan to take a different content approach regarding the site’s overall sports coverage. This unfortunately means that we will be parting ways with those impacted staff members.'” BBC News [Clare Hollingworth, the reporter who broke the news of World War II, has died at 105 →]( “Hollingworth was a rookie reporter for the Daily Telegraph when she fell upon ‘the scoop of the century.’ It was she who spotted German forces amassed on the Polish border while traveling from Poland to Germany in 1939…She scored another scoop when the Nazis launched their invasion three days later.” Los Angeles Times / Thomas Curwen [The L.A. Times has printed its own newspapers for the last time →]( “Now, six years after Dr. Patrick Soon-Shiong bought The Times in 2018, the lease on the Olympic plant is expiring, and paying rent has become untenable. The paper will be printed in Riverside by the Southern California Newspaper Group, with its circulation numbers remaining the same.” The Atlantic / Paul Farhi [It’s getting easier to bully the local press →]( “Reporters and news organizations in hundreds of communities have faced interference, intimidation, and harassment from local officials in recent years. These episodes have occurred at a time of waning public support for the news media and amid the industry’s ever-deteriorating financial condition. In other words, officials may be emboldened to bully the press because they believe they can get away with it.” Semafor / Ben Smith [The transatlantic fight for The Telegraph →]( “A British regulator will decide Monday whether to allow the Abu Dhabi-backed investment group Redbird IMI, represented by former CNN chief Jeff Zucker, to take control of The Telegraph, or whether to move the deal to another stage of review and give its opponents more time to kill it.” The Wall Street Journal / Nick Kostov [France’s Bernard Arnault aims to grow his sprawling media empire →]( “The billionaire, one of the world’s richest people, already controls France’s leading financial title, a daily newspaper, and a classical radio station, among a host of other media investments. His latest target is Paris Match, a French magazine best known for spreads of politicians and celebrities.” Twitter / Center for Public Integrity Union [The Center for Public Integrity is laying off the majority of its union’s members →]( “Let’s be clear where the fault lies. The Center’s current financial troubles are the result of mismanagement by the organization’s leadership. They do not reflect the incredible dedication and talent of our members nor the quality of their top-notch investigative journalism.” The New York Times / Ian Austen [Several countries are debating limits or bans of ads for sports betting →]( “Last year in Australia, an inquiry recommended phasing out ads for online gambling over three years…The Guardian announced last year that it would no longer accept gambling ads on its news websites to address the ‘pervasive nature of retargeted digital advertisements that trap some people in an addictive and unhealthy cycle of gambling.'” South China Morning Post / Sammy Heung [Hong Kong’s new state secrets bill adds a public interest defense for the media →]( “While journalist groups welcomed the inclusion of the clause, one of them raised concerns that the threshold for the defence might be too high, which could make it difficult to convince a judge the information reported concerned great public interest.” Press Gazette / Aisha Majid [Print circulation for U.K. newspapers dropped 19% in 2023 →]( “Print nevertheless still makes up 75% of revenues of [British newspaper chain] Reach, which also publishes a number of the U.K.’s best-known national news brands including the Mirror, with digital on 25%.” Deadline / Bruce Haring [Fresh from wrecking Sports Illustrated, Authentic Brands Group is now focused on making an AI Marilyn Monroe →]( “The Digital Marilyn can interact in real-time using advanced natural language processing, deep learning, and Open AI’s ChatGPT 3.5. What that means is another step forward in extending the ability to monetize celebrities even after their death.” (Also, esteemed magazines.) The New York Times / Sam Roberts [R.I.P. William Whitworth, longtime editor-in-chief of The Atlantic →]( “Mr. Whitworth offered every individual he profiled ample opportunity to be quoted, providing each with equally ample petards on which to hoist himself.” The Guardian / Tom Dart [Apple’s MLS broadcasts sound like state TV →]( “Downplaying officials’ roles and not dwelling on their errors suits the league’s purposes. As the lockout drags on, it strengthens MLS’s negotiating position to promote the impression that the replacement officials are doing well and that it is business as usual even without the first-choice crews. Anything else would hand leverage to the regular referees.” Bloomberg / Amy Or [Reddit is seeking a valuation of $6.5 billion in its IPO →]( “Founded in 2005, Reddit averaged 73.1 million daily active unique visitors in the fourth quarter, according to its February filing. The company reported a net loss of $91 million on revenue of $804 million in 2023, compared with a net loss of about $159 million on revenue of $667 million a year earlier.” The Verge / Alex Heath [Sam Altman rejoins OpenAI’s board after an investigation into his sudden firing →]( “For those seeking to better understand why Altman was suddenly fired from his perch last fall, OpenAI’s public summary of the WilmerHale investigation is frustratingly light on details.” Press Gazette / Charlotte Tobitt [News industry urges U.K. police to “break the cycle of abuse” against women in journalism →]( “While all journalists may be subject to online abuse, women are far more likely to experience gendered attacks: recent research showed that three-quarters of women working in the UK journalism and media industries had experienced rape or death threats, harassment, stalking, misogyny or sexual approaches online in connection to their work.” Axios / Sam Baker [Four years ago: The day everything changed →]( “The pandemic destroyed entire industries, birthed others, and transformed the rest.” Flaming Hydra / Jonathan Katz and Maria Bustillos [“I used to do this, or I still do this. I don’t know, I’m a reporter.” →]( “Within minutes, Katz had figured out that Britt was not talking about some newly traumatized child migrant but a fully grown anti-trafficking activist…He shared his findings through his TikTok, in a post that has since received 169.6 thousand hearts and 8212 comments.” [Nieman Lab]( / [Fuego]( [Twitter]( / [Facebook]( [View email in browser]( [Unsubscribe]( You are receiving this daily newsletter because you signed up for for it at www.niemanlab.org. Nieman Journalism Lab Harvard University 1 Francis Ave.Cambridge, MA 02138 [Add us to your address book](