Category Archives: Media

UK government to invest in film and TV AI special-effects research

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Almost £150m to be spent on research labs to help future-proof industry and lift creative economy

Ministers are seeking to future-proof the UK’s multibillion-pound film and TV production industry by investing almost £150m in a network of research labs across the country tasked with developing the next generation of special effects using tech such as artificial intelligence.

The scheme aims to build on Britain’s reputation for producing hi-tech hits from Star Wars to Harry Potter, and is part of wide-ranging plans to drive the UK creative economy. The government has earmarked millions to support grassroots music venues hammered by the Covid pandemic, and is tripling a fund designed to find and support the next generation of homegrown superstars like Adele and Ed Sheeran.

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Pakistan media decry de facto ban on giving airtime to Imran Khan

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Journalists say directive on hate speech issued by regulator indirectly affects coverage of former PM

Broadcast journalists in Pakistan have decried a de facto ban on mentioning Imran Khan by name or showing his image after a series of directives issued by the country’s media regulator.

Pakistan’s parliament ousted Khan from parliament in April last year. Since then he has been making nearly daily headlines with fiery speeches and tweets directed at the government and army.

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Why access to Tory party members is big incentive for owning Daily Telegraph

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Newspaper retains considerable influence among those who will shape the direction of Conservatives

Whoever buys the Daily Telegraph is not just purchasing a historic and profitable newspaper – they are acquiring direct access to Tory party members who will control the future direction of the Conservatives.

Paul Goodman, the editor of ConservativeHome, said the newspaper retained “considerable” influence among the approximately 160,000 card-carrying members of the party’s rank and file who vote in leadership elections and MP selections.

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Former Italian PM Silvio Berlusconi back in hospital

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Eighty-six-year-old readmitted to Milan hospital weeks after long stay linked to chronic leukaemia

The former Italian prime minister Silvio Berlusconi has been readmitted to a hospital in Milan for scheduled medical checks, weeks after being discharged after a long stay.

The media tycoon, 86, had left San Raffaele last month after six weeks of treatment for a lung infection linked to a chronic myelomonocytic leukaemia, a type of cancer that affects the white blood cells.

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Radio New Zealand investigates Russia-friendly editing of Ukraine articles

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At least four wire articles published by national broadcaster had been edited to add pro-Kremlin phrasing

New Zealand’s national radio broadcaster is conducting an internal investigation after evidence emerged that an employee had edited wire reporting on the Ukraine war to add Russia-friendly phrasing.

The state-funded RNZ, or Radio New Zealand, published at least four articles attributed to the Reuters wire service that had been edited to add pro-Kremlin phrasing.

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Sydney Morning Herald apologises for failing ‘dismally’ on coverage of 1838 Myall Creek massacre

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Nine Entertainment paper says it ‘essentially campaigned’ for 11 stockmen accused of killing at least 28 Aboriginal people to escape prosecution

The Sydney Morning Herald has apologised for failing “dismally” in its coverage of the Myall Creek massacre and two subsequent trials in the 19th century.

On 10 June 1838, with the Myall Creek Station manager away, a dozen stockmen led by John Henry Fleming rounded up and brutally killed at least 28 Wirrayaraay women, children and elderly people while their young men were away helping another settler.

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Struggling Meta showcases new AI tools at company meeting

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Employees get preview of chatbots similar to ChatGPT for Messenger and WhatsApp

Facebook’s owner, Meta, announced new artificial intelligence-focused tools in an internal company meeting on Thursday and outlined its plan after months of financial struggle.

The company confirmed a New York Times report that employees were given a sneak peek of new products it has been building, including ChatGPT-like chatbots planned for Messenger and WhatsApp that could converse using different personas.

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Tucker Carlson lawyer hits back at Fox News claim of contract breach

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Carlson attorney Bryan Freeman accuses network of attacking first amendment rights amid dispute over post-firing settlement

Responding to Fox News’s contention that Tucker Carlson was in breach of contract when he debuted his Twitter show this week, a lawyer for the fired hard-right host accused the network of attacking his client’s first amendment rights.

“Fox defends its very existence on freedom of speech grounds,” said attorney Bryan Freedman in response to reports, first by Axios, about a letter to Carlson from a lawyer for Fox.

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Army of fake social media accounts defend UAE presidency of climate summit

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Sultan Al Jaber – Cop28 president and CEO of state oil firm – is ‘ally the climate movement needs’, posts say

An army of fake social media accounts on Twitter and the blogging site Medium have been promoting and defending the controversial hosting of a UN climate summit by the United Arab Emirates.

The president of the Cop28 climate talks is Sultan Al Jaber, who is also the chief executive of the state oil giant Adnoc, which has major net zero-busting expansion plans.

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‘Former estate agents’: the strange life of the Barclay twins

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Losing Telegraph newspapers will not turn remaining twin Frederick Barclay into a pauper, but it’s a bitter end to brothers’ empire-building

From humble beginnings growing up in a west London house so close to the railway line the window frames rattled when a train passed, the Barclay twins, Frederick and David, became an extraordinary, energetic and eccentric power couple.

They built an empire of glitzy hotels and made many millions in shipping and retail before plunging into the world of newspapers but – largely – eschewed the trappings of life in the London fast lane to live in strange isolation in a sprawling mansion on a small rocky island just off the French coast.

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Major newspapers could face a $40m hit if governments follow Victoria in abandoning print advertising

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Data highlights total government spending on print as experts say Daniel Andrews’ move will be watched

Major metropolitan newspapers could lose up to $40m in advertising revenue if state and federal governments follow Victoria’s lead and pull their print advertising.

In 2022 state and federal governments spent about $40m placing government ads in major capital city newspapers, and another $5m on digital advertising on news websites like heraldsun.com.au and theage.com.au, according to media agency data collected by Standard Media Index.

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‘A watershed’: Meta ordered to offer mental health care to moderators in Kenya

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Trauma experienced by staff at Nairobi Facebook hub recognised in legal ruling that may have global implications

Meta has been ordered to “provide proper medical, psychiatric and psychological care” to a group of moderators in Nairobi following a ruling in a Kenyan employment court that heard harrowing testimony about the distressing nature of their work.

The instruction by judge Byram Ongaya formed part of a broader interim ruling that saw the moderators’ jobs restored after they sued Meta in March for what they termed a “sham” mass redundancy.

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BA, Boots and BBC staff details targeted in Russia-linked cyber-attack

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Hack attributed to criminal gang hit MOVEit software used by third-party payroll provider Zellis

British Airways, Boots and the BBC are investigating the potential theft of personal details of staff after the companies were hit by a cyber-attack attributed to a Russia-linked criminal gang.

BA confirmed it was one of the companies affected by the hack, which targeted software called MOVEit used by Zellis, a payroll provider.

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Google and Facebook urged by EU to label AI-generated content

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Call comes amid moves to combat disinformation from Russia, while Twitter is warned to comply with new digital content laws

Social media companies including Google and Facebook have been urged by the EU to “immediately” start labelling content and images generated by artificial intelligence as part of a package of moves to combat fake news and disinformation from Russia.

At the same time, the EU has warned Twitter that it faces “swift” sanctions if it does not comply with new digital content laws that come into effect across the bloc on 25 August.

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Studio Ghibli to release Hayao Miyazaki’s final film with no trailers or promotion

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The director and veteran of Studio Ghibli plans to retire after the release of How Do You Live? which will forgo trailers and marketing ahead of its Japanese release next month

Hayao Miyazaki’s next and apparently final film will be released with no trailer, marketing or other new promotional materials, it has been revealed.

In an interview with Japanese magazine Bungei Shunju, translated by the Hollywood Reporter, producer Toshio Suzuki said the film, titled How Do You Live?, would be released with “no trailers or TV commercials at all … no newspaper ads either.” He added: “Deep down, I think this is what moviegoers latently desire.”

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Chuck Todd to leave NBC’s Meet the Press after nearly 10 years

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Kristen Welker, the network’s chief White House correspondent, will take over hosting duties for the political affairs show

Chuck Todd has announced that he will be leaving NBC’s Meet the Press after nearly 10 years.

On Sunday, Todd, who has hosted the political affairs show for more than nine years, told viewers: “It’s been an amazing nearly decade-long run. I am really proud of what this team and I have built over the last decade.”

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British Vogue editor-in-chief Edward Enninful promoted to new role

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After six years at the helm of British Vogue Enninful is poised to take on new global role at Condé Nast next year

It’s one of the most coveted jobs in fashion. But, just six years after being named editor-in-chief of British Vogue, Edward Enninful is stepping down from the position. Or, rather, stepping up to take a new global role at the publisher Condé Nast that invites speculation he occupies pole position to one day take over from the legendary editor-in-chief, Anna Wintour.

“I am excited to share that from next year I will be stepping into the newly appointed position of editorial advisor of British Vogue and global creative and cultural advisor of Vogue, where I will continue to contribute to the creative and cultural success of the Vogue brand globally while having the freedom to take on broader creative projects,” Enninful wrote to staff.

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Chinese censors remove protest site Sitong Bridge from online maps

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Amid usual scrubbing for Tiananmen Square anniversary, searches for bridge where protest was held in 2022 return no results

Chinese censors scrubbing the internet of any words or symbols that could be used to reference the Tiananmen Square massacre in the run-up to Sunday’s anniversary have a new target in their sights: a bridge in Beijing where a rare protest was staged last year.

As the 34th anniversary of the 1989 massacre approaches, anyone searching in Chinese for Sitong Bridge on Baidu maps will draw a blank.

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