Media Insider: Facebook Removes Facial Recognition, Byron Allen Eyes Tegna Deal, LA Times Created Digital Día de Muertos
Welcome to Media Insider, PR Newswire’s roundup of media news stories from the week.
NEW YORK POST | JOSH KOSMAN
Byron Allen’s media empire has everything riding on an $8B TV bet
Weather Channel owner Byron Allen is eyeing an $8 billion deal to acquire Tegna. The deal would include 64 TV and radio stations, formerly owned by Gannett, that reach more than 50 U.S. markets. Allen will be bidding against hedge fund Standard General and private-equity giant Apollo Global Management, who have partnered to acquire Tegna. Allen is reportedly talking with several investment management firms to create a joint bid as well.
Related: DraftKings has submitted a bid to buy sports news site The Athletic.
THE NEW YORK TIMES | KASHMIR HILL AND RYAN MAC
Facebook, Citing Societal Concerns, Plans to Shut Down Facial Recognition System
Facebook announced it will shut down its facial recognition feature. The feature, introduced in December 2010, automatically identifies people who appear in users’ digital photo albums. The technology has fueled privacy concerns, government investigations, a class-action lawsuit, and regulatory woes at Facebook. Jason Grosse, a Meta spokesman, said, “Making this change required us to weigh the instances where facial recognition can be helpful against the growing concerns about the use of this technology as a whole.” Facebook plans to delete the facial recognition data of more than one billion users by December, but will not be eliminating the software that powers the system.
More news from Facebook: Facebook, Snap eye commerce expansion as Apple roils ads businesses.
POYNTER | KRISTEN HARE
The LAT built space for communities to remember
A team of journalists at the Los Angeles Times created a digital Día de Muertos altar for people to remember those they’ve lost. The project was led by Fidel Martinez, an audience engagement editor, Martina Ibáñez-Baldor, senior art director, and Vanessa Martínez, a data and graphics journalist. The three journalists hoped for at least 50 submissions and ended up receiving more than 1,000. The team posted 900 ofrendas, which included a photo and small space to talk about who the person was.
ICYMI: Former owner and publisher of The Washington Post, Katharine Graham, will appear on a postage stamp in 2022.
CNN BUSINESS | BRIAN STELTER
Justice Department sues to stop Penguin Random House’s purchase of Simon & Schuster
The Justice Department has filed a lawsuit to block Penguin Random House from acquiring Simon & Schuster. The suit argues that the proposed acquisition would eliminate competition since the companies would collectively control more than two-thirds of the market. In a court filing, DOJ lawyers said the combination of the two book publishing giants “would give Penguin Random House outsized influence over who and what is published, and how much authors are paid for their work.” The two companies have been trying to win regulatory approval since the $2.175 billion deal was announced last November.
Read next: The Local Journalism Sustainability Act is back in the Build Back Better Act.
THE GUARDIAN | MARK SWENEY
Rothermere family offers £3.1bn to take Daily Mail owner private
The Rothermere family and parent company DMGT tabled a 255 pence per share offer valuing the publisher of the Daily Mail at £850m including debt. The family, founders of the Daily Mail, first announced their plan to buy the 64% of DMGT they did not control in July with a number of preconditions. Since then, DMGT has fulfilled some of those preconditions. One of DMGT’s largest shareholders, Majedie Asset Management, argues that the business is worth at least twice the price offered and urges shareholders not to accept the offer. The £3.1bn deal will end a 90-year run as a publicly listed company on the London Stock Exchange.
Read more from the Guardian: BBC earns £300,000 from Saudi oil firm despite net-zero pledge.
