Guardian shares free source-protection technology | London culture launch
And Getty Images kicks off a legal claim which could set the ground rules for whether publishers can protect their content from AI thieves
Good morning and welcome to your daily Press Gazette media briefing on Tuesday, 10 June.
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Safely getting information from online sources is devilishly difficult in the online age.
Civil and criminal courts in the UK can (and do) demand publishers hand over emails (as we saw in the disastrous Operation Elveden prosecution of News Corp sources).
And UK law enforcement can (and do) track mobile phones and seize call records of journalists and their sources. See Press Gazette’s extensive coverage of this as part of the Save Our Sources campaign.
Secure messaging apps like Whatsapp are OK, but most journalists don't want their mobile number sitting on a public-facing website. Secure document-drop websites also have their limitations and could arouse suspicion for a source who is being watched.
Now Cambridge University has come up with a system which could transform the way sources contact journalists, embedded in The Guardian app. And they have made it free for any publisher to adopt in their own technology. Full story here.
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It will have a five-strong team at launch with big-hitters lined up to lead what looks likely to be a battle with the bots for curation of London's cultural life. Shelton is betting that his human-written recommendations for restaurants, bars and entertainment can beat the AI-answer engines.
Getty Images has gone to court in London, arguing that Stability AI stole its photographs to train its synthetic image-creation software. We have the opening report of the High Court action here.
Press Gazette Future of Media Awards: 19 June is the deadline for entries
This event celebrates the websites, apps, podcasts, newsletters and commercial strategies which are lighting the way to a profitable future for journalism in the digital age.
On Press Gazette
New London culture title to launch in September with five-strong team
“Other culture publishers are strong on evergreen listings content, or it’s national newspapers doing weekend supplements. We sort of play this role in between – a focused go-to on culture. The audience, the journalism industry and the advertising industry tell us this doesn’t exist, so we’re confident.”
Getty legal action against AI photo firm is ‘day of reckoning’, start of trial hears
“There is no AI without creative works on which to train. The problem is when AI companies want to use those works without payment.”
This message will self destruct: Guardian launches new secure tech for sources
“It’s wonderful to see this technology released as open source software, and we are keen to work with other global news organisations to adopt this.”
Dale Vince legal claim against Daily Mail publisher thrown out
Vince claimed ANL misused his personal data and that the publication of his photograph with this story would lead readers to believe he had been accused of sexual harassment.
News in brief
Journalism education bodies including the NCTJ, BJTC and PPA band together to urge the government to reverse plans to withdraw subject funding from journalism courses this year. (NCTJ)
GB News comedy show Headliners has been cancelled and replaced with Patrick Christys Tonight Late Edition from 11pm to 12am Monday to Friday, and Ben Leo at the weekends. Head of programming Ben Briscoe said it's a "significant expansion and extension of our news and opinion programming". (GB News)
Netflix has bought a pilot TV show from The Daily Beast, expected to last 30 minutes focusing on a topical news event or series of events. (Semafor)
Warner Bros Discovery is splitting into two publicly traded companies, with CNN, TNT Sports U.S. and Discovery coming under WBD Global Networks and HBO, Warner Bros Pictures and DC Studios under WBD Streaming and Studios by the middle of 2026. (Axios)
San Francisco-based SF Gate says 12% of its site traffic now comes from coverage of national parks after hiring three journalists for the new coverage area at the start of the year. (SF Gate)
Premium Content
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Why Business Insider is axing 100-plus staff and who is leaving
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Newsletter platforms for publishers compared: Substack versus the rest
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Latest podcast: Death of the website, the never-ending pivot to video and why Dom loves Substack
'The death of the website' was the name of one panel session at a recent publishing industry conference. Press Gazette editor in chief Dominic Ponsford and UK editor Charlotte Tobitt discuss why this statement is nonsense, but also the tech and behaviour changes which are prompting people to say it.
They also analyse the latest publisher pivot to video (more a never-ending pirouette) and Dominic explains why he has become an unpaid brand ambassador for Substack.