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While I focus on Technology, Innovation, and Publishing, because I have a platform, I also flag items that I think are important. I also try to include some resources & opportunities. Please let me know what you think.

Important Items

Opinion: Trump is turning the FCC and FTC Against Free Expression

The FTC and FCC are engaging in a hostile takeover of the marketplace of ideas by treating editorial decisions as fraud and conditioning mergers on news content

https://www.nytimes.com/2026/02/24/opinion/fcc-ftc-free-speech-trump.html?unlocked_article_code=1.OlA.taXr.QuGj3C25tTqm&smid=url-share

I am a 15-year-old girl. Let me show you the vile misogyny that confronts me on social media every day

MT @AnnOlivarius Girls try extremely hard to avoid misogynistic content online. And yet they’re bombarded with it. We need to recognize that this is a business decision by the platforms, not a technical problem. It is, however, a cultural, legal and moral problem.

https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2026/feb/23/15-year-old-girl-misogyny-social-media-online-abuse

Innovation

This Tiny Glass Square Could Store 2 Million Books of Data For 10,000 Years

Microsoft demonstrated a system called Silica for writing & reading info in ordinary pieces of glass, which can store 5TB of data in a thin, palm-sized square.

https://www.sciencealert.com/this-tiny-glass-square-could-store-2-million-books-of-data-for-10000-years

There is (at least) one factory in China with 5,000 3D printers—soon to be 10,000

MT @chr1sa For years, 3D printing has been relegated to a prototyping technology, not a production one, on the grounds that it was too slow and expensive to compete with injection molding at scale. That’s now changing with massive-scale print farms in China. As a result, the economic crossover point for using 3D printing rather than injection molding is shifting rapidly to the right.

https://www.voxelmatters.com/there-is-at-least-one-factory-in-china-with-5000-3d-printers-soon-to-be-10000/

This Startup’s Air‑Powered Fuel Could Rewrite the Future of Energy

https://www.inc.com/maria-jose-gutierrez-chavez/this-startups-air-powered-fuel-could-rewrite-the-future-of-energy/91296983

Technology

Marketplaces Are the Next Frontier in Publisher Deals With AI Companies

Microsoft, Amazon, Dow Jones Factiva are planting flags in a new industry as publishers look for additional revenue. Microsoft AI Marketplace has People, AP, and Hearst.

https://www.wsj.com/business/media/marketplaces-are-the-next-frontier-in-publisher-deals-with-ai-companies-11515b00

UK news giants form ‘NATO for news’ group to control AI scraping

Guardian, BBC, Financial Times, Telegraph and Sky News are founding members of coalition on AI licensing called SPUR: the Standards for Publisher Usage Rights coalition.

https://pressgazette.co.uk/news/uk-news-giants-form-nato-for-news-group-to-defend-against-ai/

ProPublica Inches Toward Strike Over AI Use

ProPublica has been moving toward a potential strike in what would be the first such industry action over AI

https://apnews.com/article/ai-media-newspapers-propublica-f4ebcf2902b82469783f912df2f99c2e

Amazon Gives Entertainment Giants a New TikTok-Fighting Tool

AI-Powered Vertical Video Tech AWS Elemental Inference will let networks and studios convert live sports, news and other content into vertical video in nearly real-time. AWS expects media companies to use the tech to stream on social platforms like TikTok and Instagram, where vertical video rules, as well as to create vertical formats for use on their own streaming platforms. Fox Sports and NBCUniversal have already signed on.

https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/business/digital/amazon-tiktok-fighting-ai-powered-vertical-video-tech-fox-1236512376/

Meta’s plans for AI facial recognition smart glasses ‘threatens safety of all women and girls’

Women and girls could be put at risk of harassment, stalking, and abuse if Meta presses ahead with plans to add AI facial recognition features to its smart glasses, leading charities have warned. It could enable abusers to locate and track them, and it potentially threatens the safety of “all women and girls in public” by giving wearers the ability to access information about them without their consent and could lead to deepfakes. A charity supports “countless survivors subjected to tech-facilitated abuse every single day” and that it is “currently far too easy for perpetrators to weaponise smart accessories” – with “devastating” consequences for survivors. It comes after reports that women are being filmed without their consent using smart glasses. Abusers are increasingly using wearable technology, such as smartwatches and rings to stalk, harass, and coerce survivors. There was a 62% rise in referrals to the charity’s tech-facilitated abuse and economic empowerment team last year.

https://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/home-news/meta-glasses-facial-recognition-domestic-abuse-b2923551.html

AI startup Perplexity says Dow Jones badgered its bot in copyright infringement court fight

https://www.businessinsider.com/perplexity-files-motion-copyright-lawsuit-dow-jones-wall-street-journal-2026-2

Accenture tells senior staff to use AI tools or risk losing out on leadership promotions

https://www.cnbc.com/2026/02/19/accenture-ai-orders-senior-staff-lose-out-promotions.html

Google’s Pomelli Photoshoot Feature is Here to Hammer Nails into the Coffin of Photography

Photoshoot uses Google’s generative AI tools, including Nano Banana, to create “professional” images of a product. Users simply click on ‘Create a Product Photoshoot’ and upload a photo of their product. It can be any photo, no matter how bad. “Don’t worry about polish — we’ll take care of it,” Google says facetiously. From that user-generated image, Photoshoot will create various shot templates, including Studio, Floating, Ingredient, and In use. Users can also pick from lifestyle images showing the product in a real scenario – work that would have previously been done by photographers. A recent survey by the Association of Photographers in the UK found that 58% of its members have lost work to generative AI.

https://petapixel.com/2026/02/20/googles-pomelli-photoshoot-feature-is-here-to-hammer-nails-into-the-coffin-of-photography/

Jia Zhangke Creates AI Video With Seedance 2.0 

https://variety.com/2026/digital/news/jia-zhangke-ai-video-1236665296/

The rise of ‘micro’ apps: non-developers are writing apps instead of buying them

Vibe coding will bring “a lot of innovation and problem solving for communities that wouldn’t have access otherwise.”

https://techcrunch.com/2026/01/16/the-rise-of-micro-apps-non-developers-are-writing-apps-instead-of-buying-them/

Read AI launches an email-based ‘digital twin’ to help you with schedules and answers

https://techcrunch.com/2026/02/26/read-ai-launches-an-email-based-digital-twin-to-help-you-with-schedules-and-answers/

Threads is testing a shortcut to quickly start DM conversations

Threads also recently introduced an AI-powered feature that lets users personalize their feed and the ability to share posts directly to an Instagram Story without leaving the app. Threads was spotted exploring in-message games last month. Threads now surpasses X in daily mobile usage (although X still dominates Threads on the web).

https://techcrunch.com/2026/02/26/threads-is-testing-a-shortcut-to-quickly-start-dm-conversations/

Child’s Play – Tech’s new generation and the end of thinking

A really fun, yet crazy/scary read about AI, Silicon Valley, Tech, and Nihilism.

https://harpers.org/archive/2026/03/childs-play-sam-kriss-ai-startup-roy-lee/

Writing Crystalized Thinking At Amazon. Is AI Muddying It?

HT @benedictevans Amazon is famous for the 6-page memos everyone reads at the beginning of mtgs. (Bezos argued it forced clear & comprehensive thinking about a problem so everyone understood the issues before a discussion.) Now Amazonians are told to use AI to write and others use AI summarize! (Like the joke about half the people using AI to write an email based on bullet points and the other half asking AI to summarize the email into bullet points!)

https://www.bigtechnology.com/p/writing-crystalized-thinking-at-amazon

Relooted is a fine heist game—but it’s a better history lesson

In a 2018 report commissioned by French president Emmanuel Macron, Senegalese academic Felwine Sarr and French art historian Bénédicte Savoy assessed that 90% of the tangible cultural heritage of sub-Saharan Africa is held in Western collections—a product of centuries of colonial exploitation. In the fictional future of the Relooted game, you can break into museums to Robin Hood the artifacts back to where they came from.

https://www.pcgamer.com/games/puzzle/relooted-is-a-fine-heist-game-but-its-a-better-history-lesson/

Publishing & Media

Literary agents urge writers to avoid AI as they see ‘change in nature of submissions’

https://www.thebookseller.com/news/literary-agents-urge-writers-to-avoid-ai-as-they-see-change-in-nature-of-submissions

Revenge of the English majors: The age of AI is driving new respect for humanities skills

AI Is Giving English Majors Some Unexpected Leverage in the Job Market.

https://www.businessinsider.com/ai-job-market-english-majors-humanities-demand-2026-2

Spotify is rolling out Audiobook Charts

Audiobook Charts will help users discover content. They also recently rolled out “Audiobook Recaps,” which are short audio summaries to catch you up on what you’ve already read so far.

https://techcrunch.com/2026/02/27/spotify-is-rolling-out-audiobook-charts/

Condé Nast’s LGBTQ Media Brand Them Acquired by Equalpride, Publisher of Out and The Advocate

https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/general-news/conde-nast-them-lgbtq-brand-equalpride-acquisition-out-mag-1236517192/

How reading books regulates your nervous system

Books don’t just stimulate the mind — they trigger physiological changes throughout the body.

https://bigthink.com/mind-behavior/how-reading-books-regulates-your-nervous-system/

Resources & Opportunities

Get Involved with WMG: Committee Information Session & Social

3/4 6-7pm ET. WMG members only; FREE (Zoom)

Have you ever thought about becoming more involved in the WMG community? We’re looking for new committee members and leaders. Join the board for a virtual social and hear how to become involved. We will review the committees (listed here) & talk about the rewards of giving back thru WMG committee work.

https://www.womensmediagroup.org/event-6561336

Stop Stalling, Start Posting: Live Social Media Audit with Miral Sattar

3/9 12-1pm at Penguin Random House, NYC

$10 for WMG members; $20 for non-members

Have you been meaning to show up on social media but keep overthinking it? Join Miral Sattar, award-winning podcaster (>2M subscribers) and digital strategist, for an interactive workshop combining a live social media audit & practical training on short-form video storytelling for authors. Miral will review select attendees’ profiles in real time, sharing clear, actionable guidance. You’ll leave with concrete video ideas you can post right away.

https://www.womensmediagroup.org/event-6574011

WMG Job Seekers

New date: 3/16, 12-1pm, NYC. WMG members only; FREE

Looking for a job, planning to pivot, or underemployed? Join us to network, share tips, and offer support. Connect with each other, hear from an expert, & come armed with questions! Former WMG Membership Chair Susan McCulloch will be in conversation w WMG Board member Keline Adams, Director at Penguin Random House.

https://www.womensmediagroup.org/event-6509718

Film Screening: Women Laughing

3/19 5:30-7:30pm, Society of Illustrators, NYC

$25 for WMG & Society of Illustrators members; $30 for non-members

SOLD OUT – You can join the waitlist!

Join acclaimed cartoonists Roz Chast, Liza Donnelly, & Emily Flake for a private screening of the acclaimed documentary, Women Laughing, in which Donnelly, director and producer, set out to explore her lifelong passion for women’s humor & cartooning with a probing look at the history of women cartoonists at The New Yorker. In a panel discussion after the screening, the producer, Judith Mizrachy, talks with Chast, Donnelly, & Flake about their creative processes and opportunities for women cartoonists.

https://www.womensmediagroup.org/event-6542015

Built to Belong: Creating Impact Through Connection & Purpose

3/24, 5:30-7:30 pm, Penguin Random House, NYC

$20 for WMG members, $25 for non-members

We’re often told that impact requires independence and hustle. But the truth is simpler—and more powerful: the most meaningful legacy is built together. Aiko Bethea (Author, Anchored, Aligned, Accountable), Allison Gilbert (Co-Author, The Joy of Connections), Genevieve Piturro (Speaker & Founder, Pajama Program), and Karen Salmansohn (Author, Your To-Die-For Life), join Moderator Ann Shoket (CEO, The Li.st) for an extraordinary discussion you won’t want to miss! Come for inspiration and insight; leave activated with a plan to build connection, lead in harmony with your values, and shape a legacy rooted in community (and maybe make a new friend).

https://www.womensmediagroup.org/event-6573185

Annual Business Meeting

3/25 12-12:30pm ET; WMG members only; FREE (Zoom)

Spend 30 minutes with Co-Presidents Jane Wesman and Jodi Brockington, and members of the Board, in a brief virtual meeting to vote in the new Board and review highlights of the past year.

https://www.womensmediagroup.org/event-6573950

Well-Read & Well-Fed in NJ with Elisa Ung and Nicole DiMella

4/9, 4/9 6:30-9pm [words] Bookstore, NJ; WMG members only; FREE

You can never have too many books—or bookstores. Meet WMG members Elisa Ung and Nicole DiMella at [words] Bookstore, an independent shop with a mission to provide vocational training and employment for individuals with autism. At 7:30, we’ll continue next door to Coda Kitchen and Bar for dinner. Note: attendees pay for their own books, food, and beverages.

https://www.womensmediagroup.org/event-6566129

Poets & Writers free Small Presses database

The database provides contact info, submission guidelines, & representative authors for >250 presses vetted by their editorial team—everything you need to determine which publishers match your vision for your writing.

https://www.pw.org/small_presses

Free Books at 14th Annual Book Day on St. Patrick’s Day in NYC

MT @IrishArtsCenter We celebrate every St. Patrick’s Day w the most cherished of Irish traditions: sharing our stories. Our family of volunteers, staff, sponsors & supporters, w our partners NY City Council, will hand out free books at Book Day pop-up stations across NYC March 17.

https://irishartscenter.org/event/14th-annual-book-day

 

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