Italy’s RAI journalists strike over budget streamlining, complain of censorship and media repression

ROME — Some journalists at Italy’s state-run RAI went on strike Monday to protest budget streamlining and what they said was an increasingly repressive atmosphere in Italy for media under the government of Premier Giorgia Meloni. The 24-hour RAI strike is the latest protest by Italian journalists against what they say are threats to freedom … Read more

Abrdn CIO slams jabs at company’s rebranded name

The abrdn Plc office at St Andrew Square in Edinburgh, U.K. on Thursday, Nov. 11, 2021. Jonne Roriz | Bloomberg | Getty Images The press making jabs at the current name of asset manager Abrdn, which was rebranded from ‘Standard Life Aberdeen’, amounts to “corporate bullying,” the firm’s chief investment officer Peter Branner said. The … Read more

Delete a background? Easy. Smooth out a face? Seamless. Digital photo manipulation is now mainstream

NEW YORK — It’s been a common refrain when seeking proof that someone’s story or some event actually took place: “Pics, or it didn’t happen.” But in a world where the spread of technology makes photo manipulation as easy as a tap on your phone, the idea that a visual image is an absolute truth … Read more

Why the AP retracted the first official photo of the Princess of Wales since her abdominal surgery

LONDON — The first official photo of Kate, the Princess of Wales, since she underwent abdominal surgery nearly two months ago, was pulled from circulation by The Associated Press and several other news organizations because the image appeared to have been manipulated. Kensington Palace had issued the image Sunday as speculation swirled on social media … Read more

Biden’s team signaling a more aggressive posture toward the press

NEW YORK — Occupants of the White House have grumbled over news coverage practically since the place was built. Now it’s Joe Biden’s turn: With a reelection campaign underway, there are signs that those behind the president are starting to more aggressively and publicly challenge how he is portrayed. Within the past two weeks, an … Read more

Chinese firm behind ‘news’ websites pushes pro-Beijing content globally, researchers find

A Chinese flag in Pudong’s Lujiazui Financial District in Shanghai, China, on Monday, Sept. 18, 2023. Spread over websites in 30 countries, the propaganda material is interspersed with news aggregated from local news outlets and Chinese state media, according to a research report the Toronto-based group released on Wednesday. Bloomberg | Bloomberg | Getty Images More … Read more

Think the news industry was struggling already? The dawn of 2024 is offering few good tidings

NEW YORK — On Friday, the National Press Club is offering solace — and a free meal — by giving recently laid-off journalists tacos in recognition of a brutal stretch that seems to offer bad news daily for an already struggling industry. For anyone who works in the news media, the list is intimidating — … Read more

Hal Buell, who led AP’s photo operations from darkroom era into the digital age, dies at 92

SUNNYVALE, Calif. — Hal Buell, who led The Associated Press’ photo operations from the darkroom era into the age of digital photography over a four-decade career with the news organization that included 12 Pulitzer Prizes and running some of the defining images of the Vietnam War, has died. He was 92. Buell died Monday in … Read more

Trump’s live appearances pose a riddle that news executives still haven’t solved

NEW YORK — Even as Donald Trump seeks his third straight Republican presidential nomination, his live appearances still present an unsolved riddle for many news outlets: How do you cover him? The question hung in the air as CNN, MSNBC and some streaming outlets started — then stopped — showing Trump’s speech following Tuesday’s New … Read more

Artist-dissident Ai Weiwei gets ‘incorrect’ during an appearance at The Town Hall in Manhattan

NEW YORK — NEW YORK (AP) — Ai Weiwei, the Chinese artist and dissident who believes it his job to be “incorrect,” was hard at work Tuesday night during an appearance at The Town Hall in Manhattan. “I really like to make trouble,” Ai said during a 50-minute conversation-sparring match with author-interviewer Mira Jacob, during … Read more