Penguin Random House Acquires Hay House (publishersweekly.com)

Meredith Corp. is launching a company-wide, cross-platform editorial initiative this fall in response to the difficult events this year, called “Reasons for Hope in America.” The project will focus on the “inspiring stories of community, giving thanks, inspiring change and reflecting on what matters most,” according to the publisher. "Reasons for Hope in America" — which will span across print, digital, video, broadcast and social — is inspired by the People franchise “100 Reasons to Love America.”

The Association of American Publishers (AAP) joined forces with more than 10,000 creators and coalition partners, including authors, musicians, actors, artists, and photographers, to condemn the theft of creative and intellectual authorship by big tech companies for use in their Generative AI models. In fact, these consumer-facing models and tools would not exist without the books, newspapers, songs, performances, and other invaluable human expressions that were—and continue to be—copied, ingested, and regenerated in blatant disregard of the law. This is a crucial time for AI policy development globally, as authors and their publishers call on their governments and courts to uphold the most fundamental of copyright principles: Reproducing works of authorship, and creating derivatives of them, requires the clear consent of those who created, invested in, and otherwise made them possible in the first place. “The Association of American Publishers is proud to stand with thousands of creators and partner organizations to highlight that human authorship is the basis of Generative AI,” said Maria A. Pallante, President and CEO. “What is true is that creators operate in service to a well-read, informed, and inspired global public, not the unsanctioned, unregulated profits of big tech companies. It goes without saying that technology collaborations are a key part of publishing, but they are built on lawful licenses and respect, not a land grab.”

Two Northern Rhode Island dailies, The Call of Woonsocket and The Times of Pawtucket, are merging into a single paper. The new paper will be published six days a week, including a weekend edition on Saturdays, The Public’s Radio, NPR’s Rhode Island member network, reported. The Sunday edition of The Call is being shuttered. The combined staffs include two news reporters, two sports reporters and one photographer. Seth Bromley is editor of both, The Public’s Radio continues.