Today’s newsletter lead item about the writers strike and AI was written by my Poynter colleague Angela Fu.

After 148 days, the Writers Guild of America ended its strike and released details of its tentative agreement with Hollywood studios.

Among the major gains in the proposed contract — which has yet to be ratified by the union’s membership — are protections regarding the use of artificial intelligence. AI was one of the last sticking points during negotiations, The New York Times reported.

Studios will not be able to use generative AI to write or rewrite literary material, and AI-generated content cannot be used as source material, according to a Writers Guild summary of the deal. Writers can use AI tools to supplement their work with the company’s permission, but they cannot be required to do so. Companies must also inform writers if any materials they give the writer were created with the help of AI.

In winning these protections, the Writers Guild largely received everything it has asked for in regard to AI. The advent of the new technology spurred fears that studios would use AI to avoid crediting or paying human writers.

The deal also gives the Writers Guild the “right to assert that exploitation of writers’ material to train AI is prohibited by MBA (the contract) or other law.”

The Writers Guild strike and subsequent deal marks one of the most high-profile, organized labor fights for protections against AI. Other unions in the media industry have sought similar provisions. The Directors Guild of America won a contract in early June that prohibited the use of generative AI to replace work performed by members, and actors in the Screen Actors Guild-American Federation of Television and Radio Artists are currently on strike in part over issues with AI.

Newsroom unions are also hoping to codify language that prevents companies from using AI to replace journalistic work. Proposals put forward by unions representing journalists at Gannett newsrooms, The Wall Street Journal and The Associated Press all prohibit the use of AI to replace work done by members.

CNET editor Laura Michelle Davis told Poynter earlier this month that her shop, which is part of the Writers Guild of America, East, has looked to the screenwriters’ demands as a blueprint in deciding what protections against AI are essential. The CNET Media Workers Union will start bargaining for a first contract this fall, and among the protections it is seeking are transparency about the data used to train the company’s AI tools and the right not to use AI.

The use of human-produced material to train AI tools has also caused consternation among newsroom executives, who are concerned about copyright violations. The New York Times, CNN, Reuters, the Chicago Tribune and other news outlets have blocked OpenAI, the company behind ChatGPT, from scraping its websites, The Guardian reported last month.

Some media organizations are exploring options to negotiate with tech companies over the usage of their content as training materials for AI tools, The Wall Street Journal reported, and the AP has already struck a deal with OpenAI to allow the company to license its archive.

Thanks to Angela Fu for that lead item. Now onto the rest of today’s newsletter …

Adding up the second debate

Fox News’ Dana Perino, shown here in 2021. Perino co-moderated Wednesday’s GOP presidential debate. (AP Photo/Richard Drew, File)

The Republicans held their second presidential debate on Wednesday night. I’ll have more reaction from how that went in Friday’s newsletter, but I did want to mention this interesting nugget from Semafor’s Max Tani. He talked to a prospective ad buyer for the first debate in August and Wednesday night’s second debate.

In the first debate on Fox News, the cost of a 30-second commercial topped $495,000. But the same 30-second spot for the second debate on Wednesday night was just over $200,000. Wednesday’s debate was hosted by Fox Business, but also was aired on the main Fox News Channel.

Tani wrote, “Another ad buyer did not share the rates for ads running during the first debate, but confirmed that Fox was charging $225,000 for 30-second ads during the broadcast immediately after the event, and $125,000 for 30-second spots during the broadcast before it.”

So why the drop? First off, there was always going to be more interest in the first one, just to see how the candidates acted in a debate. There was less of an I-wonder-what-they’ll-say aspect to a second debate.

There’s also this: It feels like a race for second place in a contest in which Donald Trump has a big lead. And, when it comes to presidential nominations, second place is no place. You can’t help but quote the great Ricky Bobby: “If you ain’t first, you’re last.”

One ad buyer told Tani, “Sans Trump … these debates just aren’t big-time TV, because the GOP primary race has become a snoozer.”

To be fair, Tani wrote, “A source familiar with Fox News’ debate advertising plans acknowledged that there was a decline in ad rates between the first and second debate, but told Semafor that the prices were ‘not accurate in terms of what were actually sold.’”

Baron’s new book

Former Washington Post executive editor Marty Baron has a new book coming out Oct. 3: “Collision of Power: Trump, Bezos, and The Washington Post.”

The Atlantic ran an adapted excerpt, which includes how the Post came up with its slogan, “Democracy dies in darkness.”

Baron recounts how Post owner Jeff Bezos wanted a phrase that captured what the Post did and the ideas totaled at least 1,000. Some of them, according to Baron, included: “A bias for truth,” “Know,” “A right to know,” “You have a right to know,” “Unstoppable journalism,” “The power is yours,” “Power read,” “Relentless pursuit of the truth,” “The facts matter,” “It’s about America,” “Spotlight on democracy,” “Democracy matters,” “A light on the nation,” “Democracy lives in light,” “Democracy takes work. We’ll do our part,” “The news democracy needs” and “Toward a more perfect union.”

Some of the finalists included “A bright light for a free people”; “The story must be told”; “To challenge and inform”; “For a world that demands to know”; “For people who demand to know.”

Baron wrote that they finally came up with “A free people demand to know,” but that was rejected by Bezos’ then-wife, novelist MacKenzie Scott, who found the phrase too clunky, calling it a “Frankenslogan.” (Don’t you just love that word?)

Baron wrote: “By then, we needed Bezos to take unilateral action. Finally, he did. ‘Let’s go with Democracy dies in darkness,’ he decreed. It had been on our list from the start, and was a phrase Bezos had used previously in speaking of the Post’s mission; he himself had heard it from the Washington Post legend Bob Woodward. It was a twist on a phrase in a 2002 ruling by the federal-appellate-court judge Damon J. Keith, who wrote that ‘democracies die behind closed doors.’”

The adapted excerpt in The Atlantic also tells the story of a dinner Post leaders had a few months after Donald Trump became president. It’s a fascinating account, well written by Baron.

We’ll have more reactions when Baron’s book is out, but the adapted excerpt certainly teases what appears to be a fascinating and well-told account of some of Baron’s time at the Post.

Devastating news

Chris Snow, right, with his wife, Kelsie, throwing out the ceremonial first pitch at Boston’s Fenway Park in 2021. (AP Photo/Mary Schwalm)

I wanted to share some sad news about a former fellow journalist.

Back in the early 2000s, I was a hockey writer, covering the Minnesota Wild for The Star Tribune. After I left, The Star Tribune eventually replaced me with a young sportswriter named Chris Snow. He was just a kid at the time, in his mid-20s. He asked me if I had any advice for him and, after I read a few of his outstanding stories, I said, “Nope, you don’t need any help from me.” Snow also once held the coveted Red Sox beat for The Boston Globe.

He was a superb sports reporter, but he moved from covering sports to working in sports. He was hired to work in the front office of the Wild and eventually became the assistant general manager of the Calgary Flames.

In June 2019, just a couple of months before his 38th birthday, Snow was diagnosed with ALS, also known as Lou Gehrig’s disease. He was told he had six to 12 months to live. But with the help of an experimental drug and a fighting spirit, Snow survived much longer. The story of Snow, his wife Kelsie and their two children became the subject of several TV features, including one for HBO’s “Real Sports.” Kelsie, a former sportswriter herself, started a popular and heartfelt (and brutally honest) podcast and blog, talking about the highs and lows, inspirations and struggles of their journey with ALS.

Despite losing the ability to eat, as well as most of the use of his arms and hands and struggling to communicate by speaking, Snow continued to work and, more importantly, be a father and husband.

But on Wednesday, Kelsie Snow posted a gut-wrenching message on social media. She wrote, “With a shattered heart I’ve come to share that yesterday Chris became unresponsive and went into cardiac arrest. Paramedics and doctors were able to get his heart beating again but, devastatingly, a scan showed Chris has suffered a catastrophic brain injury caused by lack of oxygen. His doctors do not expect him to wake up from this. My chest feels cracked open and hollowed out. Chris is the most beautiful, brilliant person I’ll ever know and doing life without him feels untenable. Hug your people.”

Media tidbits

• Deadline’s Ted Johnson with “CNN Max Launches With Schedule That Mirrors Much Of Its Linear Lineup.”
• The Information’s Erin Woo with “Musk’s X Cuts Half of Election Integrity Team After Promising to Expand It.”
• Variety’s Brian Steinberg with “Comedy Central Widens Search for ‘Daily Show’ Host Beyond Hasan Minhaj.”
• This clip of NBC News Capitol Hill correspondent Ryan Nobles challenging Rep. Jason Smith (R-MO) with solid questions created quite the buzz on social media Wednesday. That’s how you ask questions.
• Poynter’s Andrew DeLong with “How the Tampa Bay Rays helped a group of student writers put their best feet forward.”

Hot type

• A joint investigation from Debbie Cenziper of ProPublica; Michael D. Sallah, Michael Korsh and Evan Robinson-Johnson of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette; and Monica Sager of Northwestern University: “Philips Kept Complaints About Dangerous Breathing Machines Secret While Company Profits Soared.”
• Vanity Fair’s Joe Hagan with “Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World.”
• The Ringer’s Alan Siegel with “Nothing Is Better Than This: The Oral History of ‘Stop Making Sense.’”

More resources for journalists

• Celebrate journalism and democracy with Anderson Cooper at Poynter’s annual Bowtie Ball in Tampa, Florida, on Saturday, Nov. 18. Get tickets.
• Poynter ACES Introductory Certificate in Editing (Online) — Enroll now.
• Lead With Influence (Nov. 6-27) (Online seminar) — Apply by Oct. 13.

Have feedback or a tip? Email Poynter senior media writer Tom Jones at tjones@poynter.org.

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