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I criticised Rwanda, now I wake up screaming after sustained online attacks | Michela Wrong
Sockpuppet accounts launched a smear campaign after a book about Paul Kagame’s extraterritorial assassination campaign Paul Kagame understands the value of the visual image. He loves being snapped glad-handing a dignitary at the World Economic Forum in Davos – this month, it was Ukraine’s president, Volodymyr Zelenskiy. That’s only bettered by posing back home for…
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How podcast networks are testing AI tools for faster translation, ad sales
It seems it’s not just big digital publishers like BuzzFeed and BDG looking to generative artificial intelligence tools as ways to streamline their sales process. Podcast networks, like Acast, iHeartMedia and Spotify, are also testing these tools to increase their outreach to prospective clients, expand the range of shows that fit a buyer’s brief and…
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Sanofi eyes less carbon, more impact from ads
Sanofi is playing eco-detective to sniff out just how green its advertising really is. And no, this doesn’t sound like the usual corporate green spiel; the pharmaceutical giant appears to be actually strapping in for the heavy lifting in cutting emissions. Prasad Sridhar, Sanofi’s head of media, spells it out: marketers there are doing more…
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Government responds to broadcasting in Wales report
In its report published in October 2023, the UK House of Commons Welsh Affairs Committee called for the Six Nations rugby tournament to be included in Group A of the Listed Events Regime. The UK Government has explained that listing an event in Group A or B does not guarantee that it will be available free-to-air,…
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January 23 launch for France 2 UHD
Ahead of the upcoming Paris 2024 Olympic and Paralympic Games, PSB group France Télévisions has announced the January 23rd launch of first 4K full-time channel, France 2 UHD. It will be followed on July 10th by France 3 UHD, a part-time channel dedicated to special events. The two UHD signals, which are set to present…
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Sky’s van Rooyen stepping down
Stephen van Rooyen, Sky UK and Ireland CEO and Group CCO, has announced that he will leave his role at the end of February. Effective immediately, Sky’s UK and Ireland business will report to group CEO Dana Strong. Van Rooyen commented: “I have taken the decision that now is the right time for me to…
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Zee, Sony merger called off
The long-awaited ZEEL-Sony merger is off. Despite reports over the weekend that the $10 billion merger between Zee Entertainment Ltd (ZEEL) and Sony’s Culver Max Entertainment was close, news has emerged that Sony has run out of patience and had sent a “termination letter” to ZEEL. Bloomberg is reporting that a key meeting was held…
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Government seeks BBC impartiality reforms
The UK Government has recommended major reforms to help boost audience confidence in the BBC’s impartiality and complaints system, following the first Mid-Term Review. Launched at the halfway point of the BBC’s 11-year Royal Charter, the Mid-Term Review evaluates the effectiveness of the governance and regulatory arrangements introduced by the Charter in 2017, with recommendations…
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Some publishers are starting to see revenue lift from alternative IDs
If you asked publishers last summer which alternative identifiers presented the most promise for replacing third-party cookies, most would have responded with a fatigued shrug. But now some are able to quantify the cookie replacements’ revenue impact. In a test of Unified ID 2.0 — which was developed by The Trade Desk and is now…
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AI Briefing: How a media agency built a robotic alien to show off its generative AI tools
Aliens and robots are both synonymous with sci-fi, but one marketing agency decided to design something more extraterrestrial to manifest its AI. To show off its new AI platform, S4 Capital’s Media.Monks created an “Alien AI advisor” called Wormhole. With an aesthetic and personality inspired by the worm-like Annelids from “Men In Black,” Wormhole is…