Profile: Ari Levy, CNBC
July 1, 2021
3:14 pm
Senior technology reporter Ari Levy has “been there” — seven years at CNBC after 11 at Bloomberg.
>> Teleconference
Otter.ai: Transcription Tool for Targets, Today and Tomorrow
June 30, 2021
11:55 am
Over the past few years, conference calls via Zoom, Microsoft Teams, and other tools have replaced the traditional phone line for conducting interviews. As it turns out, the benefits extend beyond saving on the phone bill.
Profile: Michael Calore, Wired
June 16, 2021
4:37 pm
SWMS contributor Rhiannon Pacheco writes: We had the chance to sit down with Michael Calore, senior editor overseeing Wired’s consumer products coverage in print and on the web.
Chris Preimesberger’s Next Act: ZDNet
June 14, 2021
3:22 pm
Few B2B journalists are more respected than Chris Preimesberger. After more than 15 years at eWeek, Chris now contributes to ZDNet, writing for Larry Dignan, who hired Chris into eWeek all those years ago.
Lewis DVorkin: ‘Wait and See’ on Indie Newsletters, Social Audio
June 1, 2021
4:13 pm
If anyone truly understands the power of indie influence, it’s got to be Lewis DVorkin. Lewis was the editor who transformed Forbes into a home for hundreds of independent contributors. Before that, in 2008, he launched the indie publishing platform True/Slant — a decade before Substack appeared on the radar.
Profile: Andy Patrizio, IT Freelancer
May 13, 2021
11:44 am
Andy Patrizio has been a tech freelancer for more than a decade. You may know Andy from Network World but he also writes for Business Insider and others. He’s technical, but strives to write simply because he knows his readers may not be. Andy depends on PR to contribute its share of story ideas. For you, Andy has this advice.
Two Questions: Kia Kokalitcheva, Axios
April 29, 2021
8:07 am
SWMS contributor Rhiannon Pacheco writes: “Growing up in the heart of Silicon Valley, Kia Kokalitcheva grew up discussing tech over the dinner table with her engineer father — it was inevitable that she’d end up working in tech. As VC and tech reporter at Axios, and in her former work at Fortune and VentureBeat, she’s had access to the tech scene’s who’s who.”
‘Genius Makers’ Reveals Priorities of Author Cade Metz
April 12, 2021
4:48 pm
You may think of Cade Metz as a good writer, but he’s also a voracious reader — which in turn makes him a better writer. When Cade arrived at the idea of Genius Makers — about “the mavericks who brought AI to Google, Facebook and the world” — he set out to write “a nonfiction book about the AI arena, but to have it read like a novel.”
Two Questions: Mark Gurman, Bloomberg
April 5, 2021
6:36 pm
SWMS contributor Rhiannon Pacheco writes: We connected with Bloomberg consumer tech reporter Mark Gurman to explore what it would take for him to cover a less well-established company than Apple, and why he’s excited to explore (and cover) the technology that will follow the smartphone.
Two Questions: Cade Metz, NYT
March 31, 2021
4:41 pm
Cade Metz is consistent. We interviewed him in 2008, 2012 and 2015. Each time he has carried the same message: though he reports on tech, it’s always about the people. This week we checked in with Cade to discuss Genius Makers, his new book about “the mavericks who brought AI to Google, Facebook and the world.” Again with the people!
YOUR ACCOUNT
FRIDGE NOTES
Refinery29 Buys An Event Company
May 8, 2024
Another scoop from Sara Fischer at Axios: Refinery29 is “taking over” B2C event brand Beautycon, among the most successful F2F events in the beauty space. The idea is to augment the R29 brand and make the title less vulnerable to a weak advertising market.
Nic Carlson Resigns as Business Insider EIC
May 8, 2024
It’s dangerous to publish content that antagonizes the powerful.
Nic will stay on as editor-at-large.
That BI announced no successor implies that this situation has a life of its own, and is not under Axel Springer’s full control.
News Corp. Is Negotiating With AI Companies
May 8, 2024
Quoted by the UK-based Press Gazette, News Corp. CEO Robert Thomson said, “Courtship is preferable to courtrooms – we are wooing not suing. But let’s be clear, in my view those who are repurposing our content without approval are stealing.”
The Gen AI titans are currently paying publishers between $1M and $5M a year to train their LLMs on publishers’ content, the Press Gazette reports.
FT Opens Up Its Content to OpenAI
April 30, 2024
While the NYT pursues its suit against OpenAI, the Financial Times has chosen to license its content to help OpenAI train current and future LLMs. The NYT seems to be on the wrong side of this issue, with the Associated Press and Axel Springer also choosing to see OpenAI as a source of income, rather than an enemy.
Here’s the opposing view, from Press Gazette’s Dominic Young, who advises publishers to play a game of chicken with OpenAI and its LLM competitors.
Newsweek Uses AI…
April 18, 2024
… and it has no problem disclosing how. Reporters still run the joint, but they are getting AI assistance.
The Atlantic’s Karen Hao Has A Big Idea
April 16, 2024
The Atlantic’s Karen Hao, in conjunction with the Pulitzer Center, is designing a course in AI for journalists. Classes begin next month. Details here. Might be something to alert your friendlies about. Karen hopes to help train 1,000 journalists in AI over the next two years.