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☆ Rupert Murdoch's exit ends chapter for polarising figure in his native Australia
▼ + stars: | 2023-09-22 | by ( Byron Kaye | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +5 min

Even at a time when media consumption is splintering from traditional routes, particularly among younger people, Murdoch's influence is embedded in the country's information ecosystem because of its massive reach, media experts said. His local properties include Sky News Australia, a cable TV channel fashioned on the partisan style of U.S. network Fox News. "The Murdoch papers still have that key reach with working-class demographics that can still be influential," he said. "He has been in lots of ways a controversial figure, but an influential figure too, and this is an end of an era at News." Murdoch's exit cuts a native tie between News Corp and Fox Corp and Australia, where Murdoch was born.

Persons: Rupert Murdoch, Jonathan Ernst, Rupert Murdoch's, Stephen Mayne, Murdoch, Mayne, Shane Homan, Honan, Jim Chalmers, Chalmers, Penny Wong, Malcolm Turnbull, it's, Turnbull, Lachlan Murdoch, James Murdoch, Byron Kaye, Jamie Freed Organizations: USS, Air, Space Museum, REUTERS, Rights, Fox Corp, News Corp, Sky News Australia, Fox, Sky, Monash, Australian Broadcasting Corp, Labor, Labor Party, News, America, ABC, Google, Thomson Locations: New York, U.S, Adelaide, Australia, Britain, Australian, Sydney, Canada

[1/2] Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump (R) speaks to media mogul Rupert Murdoch as they walk out of Trump International Golf Links in Aberdeen, Scotland, June 25, 2016. "This provides an opportunity for a reset between President Trump and the Fox News network," Republican strategist Ron Bonjean said of Lachlan Murdoch's appointment. "The question is: does Lachlan Murdoch want to have a positive relationship with former President Donald Trump? Fox News did not immediately respond to a request for comment about political coverage under Lachlan Murdoch. Stuelpnagel said he believed the high cost of the Dominion lawsuit might make Lachlan Murdoch tread carefully on Trump coverage.

Persons: Donald Trump, Rupert Murdoch, Carlo Allegri, Rupert Murdoch's, Trump, Fox, Rupert Murdoch's son, Lachlan Murdoch, Biden, Ron Bonjean, Lachlan Murdoch's, Bret Baier, Jason Osborne, Osborne, Hillary Clinton, Larry Stuelpnagel, Dan Cassino, Karen Finney, Finney, Stuelpnagel, Lachlan, Tim Reid, Nathan Layne, Alexandra Ulmer, Heather Timmons, Jamie Freed Organizations: Republican, Trump, REUTERS, Fox Corp, News Corp, Fox News, Dominion, Systems, Fox, Republicans, Social, America News Network, Northwestern University, Fairleigh Dickinson University, Democratic, Thomson Locations: Aberdeen, Scotland, American, New Jersey

His son, Lachlan Murdoch, will become the sole chairman of News Corp and continue as the chair and CEO of Fox, the companies said on Thursday. The transition solidifies Lachlan's role as the leader of the media empire, putting to rest questions of succession within the Murdoch family. Lachlan was appointed CEO of the new Fox Corp. Murdoch controls News Corp and Fox Corp through a Reno, Nevada-based family trust that holds a roughly a 40% stake in voting shares of each company. The shares in Fox and News Corp owned by Murdoch’s children through the trust are a combination of both classes of shares.

Persons: Rupert Murdoch, Rafael Nadal, Kevin Anderson of, Mike Segar, Lachlan Murdoch, Murdoch, Lachlan, Fox, Brian Wieser, James, Chloe, Grace, Wendi Deng, Jonathan Miller, Sumner Redstone, Ted Turner, John Malone, Miller, Helen Coster, Aditya Soni, Dawn Chmielewski, Krishna Chandra Eluri, Saumyadeb Chakrabarty, Nick Zieminski Organizations: Fox News, Fox Corp, News Corp, Fox, Dominion, Systems, Wall, Walt Disney Co, Lupa Systems, Corp, Thomson Locations: York, U.S, Kevin Anderson of South Africa, Australia, United States, American, Reno , Nevada, London, New York, Bengaluru, Dawn, Los Angeles

☆ Elon Musk says Twitter, now X, is moving to small monthly subscription and has 550 million users
▼ + stars: | 2023-09-18 | by ( Lora Kolodny | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +5 min

Among other things, Musk said the social network is "moving to having a small monthly payment for use of the X system" in order to combat "vast armies of bots. During the livestream, Musk also divulged some new metrics from X, claiming it now has 550 million "monthly users," who generate 100 million to 200 million posts per day there. However, Musk also used it to dispute the perception that his social network is full of hate speech and antisemitism. Before meeting with Netanyahu, Musk also accused George Soros's foundation of wanting to "destroy" western civilization. On Twitter, Musk has repeatedly disparaged trans people, federal regulators, politicians, journalists, whistleblowers, critics of his companies, and short sellers.

Persons: Elon Musk, Benjamin Netanyahu, Musk, Netanyahu, George Soros's, Tesla, Donald Trump, Marjorie Taylor Greene, Andrew Anglin Organizations: SpaceX, Tesla, Artificial Intelligence, Twitter, Israeli, Anti Defamation League, ADL, X Corp, Open Society, Nazi Locations: Washington ,, West, Jewish, Hungarian, American, U.S

☆ Moody's estimates Hawaiian wildfire caused up to $6 billion in economic losses
▼ + stars: | 2023-08-22 | by ( Ramishah Maruf | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +1 min

New York CNN —Moody’s RMS estimated up to $6 billion in economic losses from the devastating wildfires in Hawaii, which killed at least 115 people and destroyed countless homes and businesses. The losses could range from $4 billion to $6 billion, Moody’s said Tuesday. About 75% of the losses will be covered by insurance because of the island’s high insurance penetration rates, according to the risk modeling agency. The loss estimate is wide-ranging, including “property damage, contents, and business interruption, across residential, commercial, industrial, automobile, and infrastructure assets,” Moody’s said. Most of the losses are concentrated in Lahaina, Moody’s said, where insured property value ranged from $2.5 billion to $4 billion.

Persons: Moody’s, ” Moody’s, ”, Rajkiran Vojjala Organizations: New, New York CNN, Maui Emergency Management Agency Locations: New York, Hawaii, “, Maui, Lahaina

The device features unique rotating speakers and immersive 5.1.4 Dolby Atmos performance. And that's where a Dolby Atmos soundbar system like the Vizio Elevate comes in. Vizio Elevate 5.1.4 Soundbar Vizio's Elevate soundbar offers a 5.1.4 Dolby Atmos experience with performance that rivals many full-fledged home theater systems. VizioThe Vizio Elevate is a good buy for anyone who wants a genuine 5.1.4 Dolby Atmos home theater system for under $1,000. If you don't have the space or money to invest in a traditional home theater setup, then the Vizio Elevate 5.1.4 soundbar is the next best thing.

Persons: I've, I'm, Vizio, Steven Cohen Organizations: Service, Netflix, Bluetooth, Google Locations: Wall, Silicon, soundbar, DTS:X

☆ New research on Facebook shows the algorithm isn't entirely to blame for political polarization
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-27 | by ( Jonathan Vanian | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +6 min

For all the blame Facebook has received for fostering extreme political polarization on its ubiquitous apps, new research suggests that the problem may not strictly be a function of the algorithm. Doing so during the three-month period, "did not significantly alter levels of issue polarization, affective polarization, political knowledge, or other key attitudes," the authors wrote. When altering the kind of content these Facebook users were receiving to presumably make it more diverse, they found that the change didn't alter users' views. "However, the data clearly indicate that Facebook users are much more likely to see content from like-minded sources than they are to see content from cross-cutting sources." The polarization problem exists on Facebook, the researchers all agree, but the question is whether the algorithm is intensifying the matter.

Persons: Meta, Holden Thorp, Science's, Thorp, Nick Clegg, Clegg, Stephan Lewandowsky, Lewandowsky, Susan Li Organizations: Facebook, Nature, Princeton University, Dartmouth College, University of Texas, Meta, University of Bristol Locations: U.S

☆ Protesters should work with sport - Wimbledon panellists
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-06 | by ( Mitch Phillips | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +4 min

Wimbledon has dubbed Thursday "Environment Day" and began it with a panel discussion hosted by former footballer-turned TV presenter Gary Lineker. But I think it’s like ‘come let's work as a team, collaborate'. It's never going to be perfect, but at least we can try to work together." "Don't think of us as competitors, think of us as potential collaborators and allow the amplification that our athletes and that sport can give to this," he said. Wimbledon responded by saying Barclays was committed to "creating access to sport for all" and that having a positive impact on the environment is central to the tournament.

Persons: Katie Boulter, Daria Saville, Hannah Mckay LONDON, Gary Lineker, Briton Heather Watson, It's, Monica Seles, Suzann Pettersen, Sebastian Coe, Hannah Mills, Mitch Phillips, Ed Osmond Organizations: Lawn Tennis, Croquet Club, Wimbledon, golf's Solheim, World, Diamond League, Barclays Bank, Barclays, Thomson Locations: London, Britain, Germany, Norwegian, Stockholm

☆ I made $20,000 in revenue last year working 2 hours a day on Amazon product descriptions. Here's how I landed clients on Fiverr.
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-30 | by ( Ella Hopkins | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +5 min

Gaurav Shrishrimal started copywriting Amazon product descriptions as a side hustle in 2015. I saw there were a few people on Fiverr offering copywriting help to clients to sell their products. I created my first "gig" on the site, saying I could write clients' Amazon product descriptions, in June 2015. I included a portfolioI wanted clients to understand up front how I worked. Last year I made around $19,000 from Fiverr from working around two hours a day in the week.

Persons: Gaurav Shrishrimal, Shrishrimal, I'd, they'd Locations: Bengaluru, India, —

☆ Here’s what we know about Meta’s planned Twitter competitor that has Elon Musk upset
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-22 | by ( Rohan Goswami | In Rohangoswamicnbc | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +1 min

Meta Platforms CEO Mark Zuckerberg speaks about the Facebook News feature at the Paley Center For Media in New York on Oct. 25, 2019. For months, Meta has been working on a Twitter-like, text-based social media network that would compete with Twitter and the bevy of clone apps that have gained prominence since Elon Musk took Twitter private in 2022. News of the plans have inspired a public spat between Musk and Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg, culminating in a joking challenge to engage in a physical "cage match" fight in Las Vegas. But given deep cuts to trust and safety teams at Meta and throughout the social media industry, content moderation may prove to be a challenge. Many advertisers fled Twitter after controversial content surged in the wake of Musk's acquisition.

Persons: Mark Zuckerberg, Meta, Elon Musk, Here's what's Organizations: Facebook, Paley Center For Media, Twitter, Elon, CNBC, Meta Locations: New York, Las Vegas

☆ 5 things men can do to help women be more successful at work, from a Yale lecturer
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-13 | by ( Morgan Smith | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +3 min

When women are able to thrive in the workplace, it benefits men, too: Men who work well with women and use the talents of a diverse team outperform their peers, LeanIn reports. Here are five things men can do right now to support their female colleagues, per Lipman:'Interrupt the interrupter'Several studies have found that men talk and interrupt more often than women. Give women credit for their ideasResearch has shown that women get less credit while working in groups than men do. Take paternity leaveIf the benefit is available to them, another move men can make to help level the playing field for women in the workplace is to take paternity leave. Paternity leave is good for dads, too: Men who take paternity leave report stronger bonds with their children than those who don't, according to the ACLU.

Persons: Joanne Lipman, Lipman, That's, It's Organizations: LeanIn.org, McKinsey & Company, Yale University, ACLU

☆ Facebook faces new allegations of gender discrimination in its delivery of job ads. Research by human rights group suggests it's a global concern
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-12 | by ( Clare Duffy | Carlotta Dotto | Naomi Hirst | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +18 min

But Global Witness' research suggests that this results in job ads being targeted to users based on gender stereotypes. And in some cases, human rights advocates say, the biases that appear to be shown by Facebook's ad system may exacerbate other disparities. Global Witness targeted the ads to adult Facebook users of any gender who resided in, or had recently visited, the chosen countries. Certain roles were less strongly skewed — a package delivery job ad, for example, was shown to 38% women users in the Netherlands. In December, Real Women in Trucking filed its EEOC complaint alleging that Facebook's job ads algorithm discriminates based on age and gender.

Persons: Naomi Hirst, Clara Wichmann, Ashley Settle, Settle, Meta, Linde, Ireland —, Caroline Leroy, Blanvillain, Fondation des Femme, Pat de Brún, de Brún, —, Brún, Facebook, Sheryl Sandberg, Sandberg, Peter Romer, Friedman, " Romer, Facebook's, Hirst, Meera Senthilingam, Seth Fiegerman, Carlotta Dotto, Carolina Moscoso, Tal Yellin, Damian Prado, David Blood, Gabrielle Smith Organizations: CNN, Facebook, Global, Facebook's, des, UK, Human Rights, Commissioner's, Meta, US, Employment, Commission, Real Women, Trucking, Ad, Ireland, Fondation des, Amnesty, Employment Opportunity Commission, University of Southern, Real, Data Locations: Europe, France, Netherlands, Canada, United States, India, South Africa, United Kingdom, Indonesia, University of Southern California

☆ ChatGPT’s responses to suicide, addiction, sexual assault crises raise questions in new study
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-07 | by ( Jacqueline Howard | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +7 min

And regulators could help monitor that such responses offer accurate and reliable information and resources. They’re underutilized already,” said John Ayers, an author of the study and a behavioral scientist at the University of California, San Diego. He said that now, while ChatGPT is still in development, is the time for public health experts and regulators to join forces with the chatbot’s developers to help curate responses to medical questions. The chatbot provided resources in two responses to a question about addiction, two responses for questions related to interpersonal violence and one response to a mental health-related question. “ChatGPT consistently provided evidence-based answers to public health questions, although it primarily offered advice rather than referrals,” the researchers wrote in their study.

Persons: They’re underutilized, ”, John Ayers, ChatGPT, “, –, ” Ayers, ” ChatGPT, “ ChatGPT, Ayers, Dr, Mike Hogarth, Sanjay Gupta, David Asch, Asch, ” Asch, he’d, Deidre McPhillips Organizations: CNN, JAMA, University of California, UC San Diego, Anonymous, Mental Health Services Administration National, Prevention, UC San Diego School of Medicine, Eating Disorders Association, CNN Health, University of Pennsylvania, Penn Medicine Center, Health Care Innovation Locations: San Diego, United States

☆ The Arctic may be sea ice-free in summer by the 2030s, new study warns
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-06 | by ( Rachel Ramirez | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +5 min

A new study published Tuesday in the journal Nature Communications found Arctic sea ice could disappear completely during the month of September as early as the 2030s. The researchers analyzed changes from 1979 to 2019, comparing different satellite data and climate models to assess how Arctic sea ice was changing. They found that declining sea ice was largely the result of human-caused, planet-heating pollution, and previous models had underestimated Arctic sea ice melting trends. Arctic sea ice close the coast of Svalbard, Norway, April 5, 2023. There has already been a rapid loss of sea ice in the region, with September sea ice shrinking at a rate of 12.6% per decade, according to NASA.

Persons: –, ” Seung, Min, Lisi Niesner, ” Min, Mika Rantanen, ”, Rantanen, “ Organizations: CNN, Nature Communications, Pohang University of Science, Technology, UN, NASA, National Oceanic, Atmospheric Administration, Finnish Meteorological Institute Locations: South Korea, Svalbard, Norway

☆ US, EU agree firm stance on China at trade, tech meeting
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-31 | by ( Philip Blenkinsop | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

The two partners sought at their Trade and Technology Council in Sweden to find common interests, such as over artificial intelligence and future trade in environmentally-friendly goods, but China proved a pervasive topic. The statement said the EU and the United States were deeply concerned about foreign information manipulation, interference and disinformation. The European Union plans to recalibrate its China policy, recognising coordination with a more hawkish United States is essential. U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken said the EU's and the United States' views of China had increasingly converged, noting neither was looking for confrontation. They also said they were committed to working with the G7 to coordinate action to counteract acts of economic coercion, which would include trade restrictions the EU says China has imposed on EU member Lithuania.

Persons: Antony Blinken, Margrethe Vestager, Jonas Ekstromer, you've, Philip Blenkinsop, Emelia Sithole Organizations: European, Trade, Technology Council, TT News Agency, REUTERS, European Union, TTC, EU, Lithuania, Thomson Locations: Lulea, Sweden, REUTERS LULEA, United States, Ukraine, China, EU, Brussels, recalibrate, Africa, Latin America

☆ High Schoolers Get In on an Avant-Garde Musician’s Latest Show
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-30 | by ( Seth Colter Walls | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: 1 min

Pleasant spring weather warmed the grounds of Girard College here on a recent afternoon. But even as classes were letting out for the weekend, some high school students at this boarding school had a few hours of work ahead of them. Inside the gymnasium of the school, which is devoted to children from single- and zero-parent homes who come from underserved communities, five teenagers began to gather around the bleachers. But she quickly broke away to welcome the students as they entered. A few minutes later the composer Tyshawn Sorey conferred with the instrumentalists.

Persons: Brooke O’Harra, Tyshawn Sorey Organizations: Girard College

For now, tech companies seem to view both trust and safety and AI ethics as cost centers. That included all but one member of the company's 17-person AI ethics team, according to Rumman Chowdhury, who served as director of Twitter's machine learning ethics, transparency and accountability team. Chowdhury referenced an initiative in July 2021, when Twitter's AI ethics team led what was billed as the industry's first-ever algorithmic bias bounty competition. Still, sources familiar with the matter said that following the layoffs, the company has fewer people working on misinformation issues. watch nowFor those who've gained expertise in AI ethics, trust and safety and related content moderation, the employment picture looks grim.

☆ EU and US to pledge joint action over China
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-13 | by ( Philip Blenkinsop | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

BRUSSELS, May 13 (Reuters) - Washington and the EU will pledge joint action to tackle concerns focused on China about non-market practices and coordinate their export controls on semiconductors and other goods at a meeting this month, a draft statement showed. Brussels says it considers China a partner in some fields, an economic competitor and a strategic rival. The European Union plans to recalibrate its China policy, recognising coordination with a more hawkish United States is essential. Highlighting the medical devices sector in China, the document said the transatlantic partners are "exploring possible actions" over the threat posed by non-market policies and practices. The two sides also said they were committed to working with the G7 to coordinate action to counteract acts of economic coercion, such as the trade restrictions the EU says China has imposed on EU member Lithuania.

Linda Yaccarino, NBCUniversal’s advertising chief, was preparing to interview Elon Musk, Twitter’s owner, onstage at a conference last month when she received an email from a peer in the advertising industry. Rob Norman, a former executive at the ad giant WPP, wanted to know if Ms. Yaccarino had seen the op-ed he wrote after Mr. Musk bought Twitter last year. Ms. Yaccarino said that she had and that she planned to raise such concerns, Mr. Norman said. Mr. Musk said on Friday that he had selected Ms. Yaccarino, 60, to become the company’s chief executive. Hours earlier, NBCUniversal announced that Ms. Yaccarino was leaving, effective immediately.

☆ Goldman Sachs CIO says it's important to decide who in a firm to 'superhumanize' with AI technology
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-11 | by ( Paige Hagy | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

Goldman Sachs' Marco Argenti told a conference how he assesses AI's return on investment. Firms can use AI to "superhumanize" talent, Argenti said. The top financial services firms, like Goldman Sachs, are looking to use artificial intelligence to "superhumanize" their talent. Generative artificial-intelligence will enhance productivity and efficiency across financial services, according to Marco Argenti, chief information officer at Goldman Sachs. Within Goldman Sachs, Argenti said the bank is looking to apply generative AI to data management, data classification, and workflow creation.

☆ US government is testing avian flu vaccines for birds, but ending the historic outbreak isn’t that simple
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-05 | by ( Jen Christensen | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +9 min

Eradication and vaccinationAs of April 26, the CDC says, nearly 58.8 million poultry have been affected by avian flu since January 2022. The virus has been detected in at least 6,737 wild birds, and the number is likely to be much higher. Vaccinated birds would be protected, but with this highly infectious disease, they still could shed some virus that could infect unprotected birds. Partial protection means more birds will be spreading the virus,” Gallardo said. The US has the largest poultry industry in the world, with 294,000 poultry farms.

☆ Social media raises bank run risk, fueled Silicon Valley Bank’s collapse, paper says
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-24 | by ( Tanaya Macheel | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +2 min

After the sudden end of Silicon Valley Bank in March, market participants were quick to point out the role social media played in the velocity of its failure. "Communication and coordination pose a risk to banks, especially when many of the deposits in the bank are uninsured," the academic paper says. "The amplification of bank run risk via Twitter conversations is a unique opportunity to observe communication and coordination that shapes a critically important economic outcome − distress in banks." One called it a "hysteria-induced bank run caused by VCs." "Open communication by depositors via social media increased the bank run risk for other banks that were ex ante exposed to such discussions in social media."

☆ Researchers used AI to determine if someone had a cold from the tone of their voice
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-09 | by ( Ryan Hogg | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

Researchers used AI to detect whether someone had a cold based on the tone of their voice. The researchers, led by electronic engineer Pankaj Warule, hypothesized that a cold could upset this regular pattern. The study was able to detect cold correctly about 70% of the time. Last year, a research group was able to use AI to detect Parkinson's through the breathing patterns of patients. Depression and several forms of cancer may also be detected with the use of AI-trained analysis of vocal patterns.

☆ Elon Musk appears to offer $1 million bounty to 'convict' those responsible for Twitter 'botnets'
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-02 | by ( Ryan Hogg | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

Elon Musk appeared to offer a $1 million bounty to help find the source of "botnets" on Twitter. The user said by taking control of several accounts, botnets were able to suppress certain accounts by mass blocking, unfollowing, and reporting them. Blogger Jane Wong pointed out that Twitter's algorithm specifically labels if Musk wrote a tweet. He plans to allow only the tweets of verified accounts and those users follow on the For You feed. "Legacy verified accounts," those verified by Twitter before Musk's takeover for free largely on the basis of noteworthiness, will begin to lose their verification marks this weekend, according to Twitter.

☆ At SXSW, OpenAI cofounder Greg Brockman tried to quell misinformation fears around ChatGPT and says he's still 'optimistic' about the future of AI
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-10 | by ( Madeline Renbarger | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +2 min

Greg Brockman, OpenAI president and cofounder, said he's still optimistic about the future of AI. Brockman spoke to a large crowd in one of the kickoff panels at South By Southwest in Austin. Despite concerns around misinformation and sentience, he thinks that AI will be a force for good. Musk, who severed ties with the company in 2018, is putting together a team to build a rival, "anti-woke" AI chatbot, The Information reported. Greg Brockman, the cofounder of OpenAI, speaks at SXSW in Austin, Texas.

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