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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.
Technology
Why Some Of The Largest Book Publishers Are Hiring AI Engineers
McClatchy is using AI generated content on Northwest news sites. Its reporters are trying to put up guardrails
The reporter who tried to replace herself with a bot
https://www.platformer.news/journalism-job-automation-claude/
UK media groups should be allowed to opt out of Google AI Overviews, Competition and Markets Authority says
A running list of digital publisher lawsuits targeting Google’s ad tech practices
https://digiday.com/media/a-running-list-of-publisher-lawsuits-targeting-googles-ad-tech-practices/
Anthropic faces new music publisher lawsuit over alleged piracy
Google Project Genie lets you create interactive worlds from a photo or prompt
Google Photos’ latest feature lets you meme yourself
Me Meme lets users create memes by combining their own images with photo templates. Powered by Gemini AI and Nano Banana.
https://techcrunch.com/2026/01/23/google-photos-latest-feature-lets-you-meme-yourself/
Britain to work with Microsoft to build deepfake detection system
Anthropic launches interactive Claude apps, incl Slack & other workplace tools
You can use Slack, Canva, Figma, Box, Clay, and soon Salesforce, within Claude. Plans integration in Claud Cowork for agentic AI. Anthropic warns you limit access to sensitive data.
Chrome takes on AI browsers with tighter Gemini integration, agentic features for autonomous tasks
Airtable’s Superagent maintains full execution visibility to solve multi-agent context problem
https://venturebeat.com/data/airtables-superagent-maintains-full-execution-visibility-to-solve-multi
WhatsApp will now charge AI chatbots to operate in Italy
https://techcrunch.com/2026/01/28/whatsapp-will-now-charge-ai-chatbots-to-operate-in-italy/
Factify wants to move past PDFs and .docx by giving digital documents their own brain
Factify treats documents not as static files, but as intelligent infrastructure w a unique identity, live permission system, and an immutable audit log that travels w it.
OpenAI’s latest product lets you vibe code science
Prism is a ChatGPT-powered text editor that automates much of the work involved in writing scientific papers.
A Social Network for A.I. Bots Only. No Humans Allowed.
A new website called OpenClaw (formerly Moltbook) has become the talk of Silicon Valley and a Rorschach test for belief in the state of artificial intelligence.
The Adolescence of Technology
Anthropic Co-Founder writes about Confronting & Overcoming Risks of Powerful AI: AI brings threats to humanity and there is genuine tension between the different dangers. Mitigating some risks making others worse, so we must thread the needle extremely carefully.
https://www.darioamodei.com/essay/the-adolescence-of-technology
Roblox’s 4D creation feature is now available in open beta
https://techcrunch.com/2026/02/04/robloxs-4d-creation-feature-is-now-available-in-open-beta/
Amazon to close Amazon Go and Amazon Fresh physical stores
https://massmarketretailers.com/amazon-to-close-amazon-go-and-amazon-fresh-physical-stores/
Amazon Told to Drop Price Policy, Pay $70 Million in Germany
Iran’s internet blackout may become permanent, with access for elites only
https://restofworld.org/2026/iran-blackout-tiered-internet/
Publishing & Media
Spotify Adds Bookshop.org Links
Spotify Premium in US & UK soon able to purchase physical books thru Bookshop.org. Affiliate links will appear on Spotify app, and Bookshop.org to handle pricing, inventory, & fulfillment.
Bookshop.org Teams with Draft2Digital
Online bookselling platform Bookshop.org will now offer Draft2Digital authors the ability to sell self-published e-books. This has the potential to add 1.2M e-book titles from 330K authors.
The Washington Post disaster is an indictment of both publishers and society
This disaster is an indictment of the business side of journalism: its inability to understand what remaining readers value, its mistaking novelty for strategy, its cowardice about insisting the product has economic value, its refusal to collaborate as an industry, and its refusal to get out of the way of the product it exists to serve.
Of course, there is also a failure of society. We faced a test over the past thirty years: Did we educate ourselves to value truth (and civility and justice and progress)? Do we care enough to pay enough to keep the machinery of reliable information going — the way we do for beer and sneakers? And guns in dumb places and guaranteed healthcare in smarter ones? Turns out that we did not.
A Tale of Two Publishing Houses
By @BoSacks The NY Times is expanding, innovating, reinventing itself. WaPo was a once mighty institution now unraveling in public is shedding staff and stability like it’s trying to make itself lighter for an emergency landing.
https://www.bosacks.com/bosacks-speaks-out/bosacks-speaks-out-a-tale-of-two-publishing-houses
The Literary Ecosystem Is Dying
https://www.theatlantic.com/ideas/2026/02/books-news-washington-post/685897/
Why Good Housekeeping’s New App Signals a Shift in Media Product Thinking
HT @BoSacks Rather than just replicating web content into mobile formats, apps like GH Kitchen are aiming to embed themselves into users daily lives by becoming utility tools.
https://whatsnewinpublishing.substack.com/p/why-good-housekeepings-new-app-signals
Sports betting reshaped newsrooms, and it’s “a little gross.” Now, here come the prediction markets
10 Facts Writers Need to Know to Stay Safe from Scammers
https://annerallen.com/2026/01/stay-safe-from-scammers/
What 25 years of New York Times bestsellers reveal about language of book cover design
The Power of Reading to Children
https://publishingperspectives.com/2026/02/the-power-of-reading-to-children/
Resources & Opportunities
Bookstore & Brasserie with Kathleen Schmidt
2/12 6:30 p.m. ET. WMG members only; FREE
Join Women’s Media Group Board member Kathleen Schmidt for an evening of bookstore love and camaraderie! We’ll meet at 6:30 at the bookstore for shopping in the East Village of NYC and then walk to dinner to talk about our favorite books.
https://www.womensmediagroup.org/event-6509655
Creative Power, Responsible Practice
2/17 12-1 p.m. ET Free for WMG members; $15 for non-members (Zoom)
As AI tools become ubiquitous in writing and reporting, many professionals are asking the same questions: What’s allowed? What’s ethical? And what could put my work—or job—at risk? This program brings together experts in AI ethics to unpack what responsible AI use actually looks like and answer urgent practical questions about ethics, ownership, and professional responsibility. Panelists will address what writers and journalists should—and should not—do when using AI, the business risks organizations must consider, and how to draft and follow effective AI ethics guidelines. Learn how to approach copyright and attribution and use AI thoughtfully, legally, and in ways that protect both your work and your values.
https://www.womensmediagroup.org/event-6542066
WMG Job Seekers
2/23, noon; Penguin Random House, NYC. WMG members only; FREE
Are you looking for a job, underemployed, or planning to pivot? Women’s Media Group is pleased to offer our first Job Seekers event of the year to network, share tips, and offer support. Come join us for a free, in-person, members-only small group session. Connect with each other, hear from an expert, and come armed with questions! Former WMG Membership Chair Susan McCulloch will be in conversation with WMG Board member Keline Adams, Director at Penguin Random House. Feel free to bring your own lunch.
https://www.womensmediagroup.org/event-6509718
Film Screening: Women Laughing
3/19 5:30-7:30 p.m. Society of Illustrators, 128 E. 63rd St., NYC
$25 for WMG and Society of Illustrators members; $30 for non-members
Join acclaimed cartoonists Roz Chast, Liza Donnelly, and Emily Flake for a private screening of the acclaimed new documentary, Women Laughing, in which Donnelly, director and producer, set out to explore her lifelong passion for women’s humor and cartooning with a probing look at the history of women cartoonists at The New Yorker. The film offers a unique insider’s look at the state of women’s humor over the last century through the perspectives of pioneering women cartoonists, then and now, who have wrestled with some of the central social issues of our time in a field historically dominated by men. Inspired by Donnelly’s book, Very Funny Ladies, it includes intimate conversations with some of the most celebrated and groundbreaking New Yorker cartoonists, including our featured guests, plus Sarah Akinterinwa, Liana Fink, Amy Hwang, and Bishakh Som. In a panel discussion after the event, the film’s producer, Judith Mizrachy, talks with Chast, Donnelly, and Flake about their creative processes and current challenges and opportunities for women cartoonists.
https://www.womensmediagroup.org/event-6542015
‘The Librarians’ To Premiere On PBS ‘Independent Lens’ 2/9
https://www.pbs.org/independentlens/documentaries/the-librarians/
Library Lovers Week 2026
February 9–13, 2026 | 5 PM, 7 PM & 9 PM ET on Facebook Live & YouTube Live
Join EveryLibrary Live! for Library Lovers Week 2026, a three-night virtual celebration of books, authors, and the libraries that connect readers to stories. Featuring bestselling and award-winning writers across adult, YA, and middle-grade fiction, the event highlights the power of reading, discovery, and access.
https://www.everylibrary.org/llw2026
Association of Writers & Writers Programs Award Series Endowments
Prizes for Poetry, Creative Nonfiction, Short Fiction, Novels. Deadline 2/28
https://www.awpwriter.org/AWP/AWP/Contests/AWP-Award-Series/Overview.aspx
2026 Poynter Journalism Prizes
Accountability reporting. Distinguished writing. Short writing. Commentary. First Amendment work. Diversity-centric leadership. Justice reporting. These are just a few of the categories being honored and celebrated. Deadline 2/13.
https://poynterprizes.secure-platform.com/a
2026 ICFJ Knight International Journalism Award
Literary Agents of Change Fellowship
Summer fellowship program matches college students from historically underrepresented groups with a literary agency and Association of American Literary Agents member, and LAOC provides a grant directly to the student. Deadline 3/2.
https://literaryagentsofchange.org/fellowship-1
19th News Fellowships
The fellowship offers early- and mid-career alums of Historically Black Colleges and Universities yearlong, salaried fellowships.
https://19thnews.org/2026/02/frances-ellen-watkins-harper-fellowship-2026/
2026 Cision Insights Fellowship
Attn. PR & comms students: $1,200 fellowship. Deadline 2/15.
https://instituteforpr.org/awards/cision-fellowship/
Open Call for Applications for the 2026 NALAC Leadership Institute
https://www.nalac.org/open-call-for-applications-for-the-2026-nalac-leadership-institute-nli/
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