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Pod_Scope: Observador mantém liderança nas marcas em setembro, apesar de recuperação da Renascença

16 October 2026 at 17:44

Os podcasts produzidos em Portugal auditados pelo ranking Pod_Scope, serviço da Marktest para a medição técnica, auditada e independente, registaram cerca de 10,2 milhões de downloads no mês de setembro, uma recuperação de 41,5% face aos 7,21 milhões registados no mês de agosto. O valor representa mesmo assim o segundo registo mais baixo do ano.

A liderança dos publishers continua nas mãos do grupo Impresa, que registou 3,38 milhões de downloads mensais, cerca de 846 mil downloads semanais e 485 mil listeners semanais.

Logo a seguir, o Observador mantém-se no segundo lugar, com 2,53 milhões de downloads mensais. Já o Grupo Renascença regista 2,18 milhões, não conseguindo recuperar o segundo lugar perdido em agosto. A Bauer Media mantém-se no quarto lugar, com 1,42 milhões de downloads e a RTP no quinto lugar, com 687 mil. Esta ordenação mantém-se tanto nos downloads semanais como nos listeners semanais.

Analisando por marcas, o Observador mantém-se na liderança, obtida em agosto, com 2,53 milhões de downloads mensais. A Renascença recupera, ultrapassando o Expresso, mas não o suficiente para voltar ao lugar cimeiro de julho. Em setembro, a marca do Grupo Renascença Multimédia alcançou 2,08 milhões de downloads e a marca da Impresa registou cerca de 1,55 milhões.

A Rádio Comercial mantém-se no quarto lugar, com quase 1,3 milhões de downloads. A SIC Notícias fecha o top cinco com cerca de 1,27 milhões de downloads.

No universo de 25 marcas analisadas, 14 viram os seus números mensais aumentar em setembro, 10 desceram e uma ficou igual, a Cidade FM, com exatamente 856 downloads nos dois meses. Em agosto tinham sido 22 marcas em queda. A RTP Notícias registou um crescimento de 131,8% — de 5.105 downloads para 11.834 downloads. Tal permitiu à marca subir de 16.º para 13.º, alcançando a maior subida de posições do mês.

O “top 3” – Observador, Renascença e Expresso – continua a reunir a maioria da quota de mercado, representando 60,46% dos downloads entre as marcas analisadas.

No que toca aos listeners semanais – dispositivos/apps conectados à internet que efetuaram downloads de podcasts entre 31 de agosto e 27 de setembro –, o Observador mantém a liderança, com 288 mil. O Expresso mantém-se no segundo lugar — com 250 mil — e a Renascença recupera para o terceiro lugar — com 218 mil –, não conseguindo ainda voltar ao lugar cimeiro que ocupava em julho. A SIC Notícias cai assim do terceiro para a quarta posição — com 208 mil — e a SIC mantém o quinto lugar, com 109 mil.

No mês anterior, recorde-se, o pódio era ocupado por Observador, Expresso e SIC Notícias, por esta ordem.

Nos formatos individuais, o “Extremamente Desagradável”, da Rádio Renascença, manteve a liderança com o maior número de downloads mensais — quase 1,6 milhões, tendo sido lançados 15 episódios. “O Homem que Mordeu o Cão” – Rádio Comercial – mantém-se no segundo lugar, com 865 mil downloads mensais e novos 19 episódios. O “Expresso da Manhã” (Expresso) também mantém o terceiro lugar, com 278 mil e 24 novos episódios, face aos 305 mil registados e 25 novos episódios em agosto.

Em conjunto, estes três títulos representaram 26,84% de todo o consumo deste formato nos grupos auditados.

British students, like their French peers, have been known to challenge authority | Letters

16 October 2026 at 17:32

Pete Crockett says the history of British education is not simply one of children dutifully accepting adult instruction, while Simon Dawson says Kitty Sayers misses the mark when describing English attitudes. Plus a letter from Kevin Donnelly

Reading Kitty Sayers’ interesting article, I was reminded of the rich, and perhaps too easily forgotten, history of direct action by British schoolchildren (Angry French students take to the streets. British students don’t – and I think I know why, 10 October). Far from being historically meek or unquestioningly compliant, they have demonstrated a remarkable capacity for challenging authority.

At Marlborough college, troops were once summoned to dislodge rebellious pupils occupying an island in the school grounds. In the late 1700s, Winchester college experienced several rebellions.

Continue reading...

© Photograph: Amer Ghazzal/Alamy

© Photograph: Amer Ghazzal/Alamy

© Photograph: Amer Ghazzal/Alamy

Disney agreed to pay $60 million to 66 employees from an AI startup that filed for bankruptcy, weeks after tech layoffs

16 October 2026 at 16:01
D'Amaro Anand
Disney CEO Josh D'Amaro plans to hire employees from Character.AI, where new tech chief Karandeep Anand worked.

Taylor Hill/FilmMagic; Manaure Quintero / AFP via Getty Images

  • Disney plans to pay $60 million to hire 66 employees from Character.AI, which filed for bankruptcy.
  • Former Character.AI Karandeep Anand is Disney's new chief technology officer.
  • CEO Josh D'Amaro's company laid off tech staffers in September in its third round of cuts this year.

Disney is paying up for employees from an AI chatbot startup that filed for bankruptcy, shortly after trimming its own tech workforce.

The Mouse House plans to pay $60 million per year to 66 workers from Character.AI, according to a Chapter 11 filing on Tuesday from its parent company. In mid-September, Disney hired Character.AI CEO Karandeep Anand to be its first-ever company-wide tech chief. (The company hasn't yet disclosed how much it's paying Anand.)

These additions are part of Disney's AI strategy under CEO Josh D'Amaro, who's been investing in the media giant's tech platforms to help jumpstart a stagnant stock that's up less than 2% in the last 12 months and is down over 36% in the last five years.

Disney's decision to bring in these Character.AI staffers came two weeks after it laid off several hundred workers — including some tech employees. The late-September cuts were Disney's third major round of layoffs since D'Amaro took over in mid-March.

In addition to the $60 million in compensation, Disney is setting aside an additional $30 million for an "aggregate retention pool" to incentivize Character.AI employees to stay. The company expects to spend $180 million on "total compensation and retention" for these staffers in the next three years, the filing said.

Of the 66 Character.AI staffers who were offered jobs by Disney, 56 have already resigned from the AI startup, while the other 10 are waiting for the US government to update their work visas.

Entertainment lawyer Corey Martin of Granderson Des Rochers, who advises companies on media transactions, said he's not surprised by those pay figures since Character.AI's employees are its biggest asset.

"They're highly compensated employees. The numbers can be eye-popping, but it's not that unusual in this space," said Martin, who didn't work on the deal or with Disney.

Disney also agreed to pay $20 million for Character.AI's key assets, including some of its IP and tech. Other companies can submit competing bids for the assets by November 20. The entire process will be overseen by a bankruptcy court judge. Disney didn't respond to requests for comment for this story.

Character.AI filed for bankruptcy after facing lawsuits from families who alleged that their teenagers harmed themselves or committed suicide after using the company's custom AI chatbots. The AI startup and Google, one of its backers, settled several child safety lawsuits earlier this year.

Disney sent a cease-and-desist letter to Character.AI last fall, telling it not to create AI chatbots featuring its copyrighted characters without permission. Character.AI complied, removing chatbots with characters from Disney franchises like Star Wars and Marvel.

In its bankruptcy announcement, Character.AI said that it had been facing "significant legal, regulatory, and operational headwinds."

Anand told Disney employees in a memo last Friday that the Mouse House was "uniquely positioned to win" in a competitive media business that he said was "at an inflection point." The tech chief also said he enjoyed meeting his new colleagues and looked forward to working with them.

"What stands out most is the talent and care this team puts into its work, the craft Disney has perfected, and the strong foundation you've built," Anand said.

Read the original article on Business Insider

"O Joaquim Letria foi um gigante na nossa profissão"

16 October 2026 at 15:56
O jornalista Gonçalo Pereira Rosa recorda o amigo, Joaquim Letria, como um gigante da comunicação e espírito livre que dominou a imprensa, televisão e rádio.

© Diana Quintela /Global Imagens

Todos os projetos de lei sobre os novos estatutos da Lusa rejeitados na generalidade

By: Lusa
16 October 2026 at 14:58

Os projetos de lei do PS, IL, PCP e Livre sobre os novos estatutos da Agência Lusa foram rejeitados esta sexta-feira na votação na generalidade na Assembleia da República. Os quatro projetos contaram com o voto contra dos deputados do PSD, CDS-PP e Chega.

O projeto de lei do PS, intitulado “Aprova o modelo societário e os estatutos da Lusa — Agência de Notícias de Portugal”, contou ainda com a abstenção da IL. Já o projeto de lei da IL, “Mais independência para a Lusa”, não teve abstenções, mas contou com os votos contra de Livre, PCP e BE.

Tanto o projeto de lei do PCP (Aprova o modelo societário e os estatutos da Lusa – Agência de Notícias de Portugal, como Entidade Pública Empresarial), como o do Livre (Aprova o modelo societário e os estatutos da Lusa), contaram com os votos contra de PSD, Chega, IL e CDS-PP, sendo que a proposta comunista teve a abstenção do PS.

O plenário aprovou um projeto de resolução (uma recomendação ao Governo, sem força de lei) do Chega que recomenda ao executivo que “assegure a independência editorial, a autonomia institucional, a transparência financeira e o escrutínio parlamentar da Lusa”. A iniciativa contou com a abstenção de IL, PS, Livre, PCP e BE.

A 9 de setembro, a Entidade Reguladora para a Comunicação Social (ERC) deliberou que a reestruturação da agência “não está conforme com o quadro normativo aplicável” nem com as recomendações e “boas práticas do funcionamento independente de um meio de comunicação social público”, considerando que as desconformidades terão efeitos sobre “os níveis de independência da Lusa face ao poder político”.

Morreu o jornalista e escritor Joaquim Letria

By: + M
16 October 2026 at 13:21

Joaquim Letria, jornalista e escritor, morreu esta sexta-feira, 16 de outubro, aos 82 anos, em casa. A notícia foi avançada pela agência Lusa, que cita fonte familiar.

Nascido em Lisboa a 8 de novembro de 1943, Joaquim José da Conceição Letria iniciou a carreira no Diário de Lisboa, tendo trabalhado também na revista Flama e no Rádio Clube Português. Foi repórter internacional da Associated Press e correspondente da agência alemã Deutsche Presse-Agentur, tendo passado ainda por Londres, onde trabalhou na BBC.

Regressou a Portugal em 1974, após a Revolução de Abril, para assumir funções na direção de informação da RTP. Na televisão pública, apresentou programas de informação e criou formatos que marcaram o percurso da estação, como Tal & Qual. Foi também um dos jornalistas ligados ao histórico debate televisivo entre Mário Soares e Álvaro Cunhal, em 1975, que ficou na memória coletiva pela expressão “Olhe que não, olhe que não”.

Joaquim Letria integrou a equipa fundadora do Expresso e esteve na origem de O Jornal, lançado em 1975, e do semanário Tal & Qual, fundado em 1980. Em 1988, assumiu a direção da revista Sábado, função que exerceu até 1992.

Foi ainda presidente do Sindicato dos Jornalistas e porta-voz do então Presidente da República, Ramalho Eanes. Foi também autor e apresentador de vários programas de rádio e televisão e dedicou parte da sua atividade ao ensino das Ciências da Comunicação.

13h. Morreu o jornalista Joaquim Letria aos 82 anos

16 October 2026 at 13:16
Começou a carreira de jornalista em 1963, no Diário de Lisboa. Foi repórter internacional e comentador, e um dos moderadores do debate entre Álvaro Cunhal e Mário Soares a 6 de novembro de 1975.

Invasão da RUC. Associação Académica apresentou à Provedoria

16 October 2026 at 13:00
Associação Académica de Coimbra pediu à Provedoria de Justiça "que se pronuncie sobre a gravidade dos acontecimentos, em particular sobre a entrada não autorizada nas instalações".

© Tiago Petinga/LUSA

Associação Académica de Coimbra sublinha que não se pode "normalizar nem desvalorizar uma situação desta natureza"

New details about Khaby Lame's $975 million deal deepen the mystery

16 October 2026 at 12:45
Khaby Lame of Team QuickStars and Nissan Formula E Team looks on in the garage during the Jeddah Formula E EVO Sessions at Jeddah Corniche Circuit on February 15, 2026 in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia
Khaby Lame has been pursuing other partnerships as his big payday remains in question.

Simon Galloway/LAT Images

  • Khaby Lame's splashy $975 million deal is still on ice nine months after it was announced.
  • Lame's plan to merge his business with a publicly traded firm was celebrated by creator economy insiders.
  • The public company's stock price has fallen 99% since its January high.

A new financial filing provides fresh details — and more questions — about a mysterious $975 million deal struck by TikTok's top star, Khaby Lame.

On January 9, Lame — who has over 160 million followers — entered into an agreement that would theoretically net him a major payday and take his company public. The mechanism: a merger with the publicly traded Rich Sparkle Holdings, a financial printing firm based in Hong Kong.

Then, in late January, Lame went silent on the merger. Now, we have an update: the deal is still on ice. A Rich Sparkle financial filing on September 30, its first since March, described the deal as conditional on a due diligence process, a minimum valuation of Lame's company, and stock exchange approval. That's the same language that has appeared in previous filings.

While the deal has been in limbo, Rich Sparkle's stock has plummeted 99% from its peak. In the wake of the announcement of the deal with Lame's company in January, the stock shot up to a high of about $180. On Thursday, it closed at $1.93. Several prominent brokerages had restricted or blocked trading in the stock, Business Insider exclusively reported in April.

The original deal announcement was celebrated throughout the creator economy, since such rich valuations are rare among influencer-founded companies, and it would give everyday investors an unusual opportunity to directly bet on a creator. The high profile of Lame, a Senegalese-Italian creator who rose to fame from dialogue-free comedy videos, means the outcome of the deal could impact how investors assess the viability of backing businesses centered on individual creators.

The January deal terms promised Lame's company 75 million shares, which would be worth about $145 million at Thursday's closing share price. The initial agreement had valued that stake at $975 million.

Rich Sparkle and Lame did not respond to multiple requests for comment.

At the time of the original announcement, Rich Sparkle said that it planned to create an AI avatar of Lame to do brand deals and sell products on social media. It projected this business could drive more than $4 billion in annual product sales.

An unusual stock detail

The new filing contains another intriguing detail: Rich Sparkle issued nearly $39 million in stock to its staff as part of their compensation during the six months ended March 31, resulting in an operating loss of almost $40 million. In the year-earlier period, it issued no share-based compensation.

This new share issuance means some employees could have benefited from the stock's massive spike following the Lame deal announcement. The filing doesn't indicate which staffers received shares or exactly when they got them within that six-month period.

Paul Nary, a management professor at Wharton, said the size of the share issuance was unusual relative to the company's valuation and revenue.

If the deal is in motion, we haven't heard a peep from Lame, who removed Rich Sparkle's stock ticker, ANPA, from his social-media bios in late January. The content creator continues to post for brands, recently making a cameo in the James Bond-inspired video game "007 First Light," signing on as a brand ambassador for travel eSIM company Holafly, and promoting the Dakar 2026 Youth Olympic Games.

Read the original article on Business Insider

26% of Americans say influencers have swayed their vote. Political campaigns are racing to win them over.

16 October 2026 at 12:30
Jake Paul wearing a Maga hat on a BI template
YouTuber Jake Paul joined President Trump for an Ohio rally ahead of the midterm elections.

Aaron Schwartz/Stringer/Getty; BI

  • The battle for voters in the 2026 midterm elections is playing out on the TikTok For You Page.
  • One in four Americans say creator content has influenced who they voted for.
  • Political candidates are scrambling to connect with more creators in order to reach voters.

Content creators are influencing much more than our coffee orders and skincare routines.

About one in four Americans (26%) say influencer content has affected who they've voted for, according to a survey of around 2,000 US adults conducted by Morning Consult in September, commissioned by Business Insider.

Creator content is an "underestimated avenue" for political campaigns, said Nicole Dunger, a founding partner at the marketing firm People First, which works with candidates and advocacy groups on their creator strategies. "It is a real player and a big player in this space now."

If 2024 was the podcast election, 2026 is shaping up to be the influencer one. Instagram and TikTok creators have joined Fox News hosts and personalities like Joe Rogan as go-to sources of information for voters.

Stacked Bars

Influencers like Jake Paul and Hasan Piker have emerged as main characters in politics this year.

Paul recently joined President Donald Trump in Ohio for a midterm rally, posting TikTok clips of his Air Force One flight. Piker, meanwhile, has become a campaign ally for progressives like Michigan's Abdul El-Sayed and a negative talking point for Fox News commentators.

As online attention has become a key asset in politics, influencers are helping candidates break through the noise.

A little over half of US adults (56%) told Morning Consult that creator content had affected their views on political or social issues to some degree. That figure jumped among Gen Z respondents, where close to three in four respondents said their views had been swayed by influencer posts.

For campaigns, the challenge is identifying the right creators to work with, particularly when many influencers don't regularly talk about politics.

"You have to have your base of people, your core supporters, and then you have to have a broader cultural space of people who don't always talk about politics," said Parker Butler, a managing partner at the digital strategy firm Luminary Strategies, which works on social strategy with Democratic candidates like James Talarico. "It's worth having different pockets of creators for different purposes."

Reaching creators with smaller followings than Piker (about 3 million Twitch followers), or Paul (around 21 million YouTube subscribers) is a focus in 2026, Butler said.

He said the goal is to shift the creator outreach strategy from "this person has a million followers" to identifying influencers who work in a particular niche a campaign is trying to reach.

Stacked Bars

Political chatter is moving from TV to YouTube

More and more, political discussions are playing out on digital platforms, whether that's podcasts, YouTube videos, or Twitch streams.

YouTube was the top source for political and election news among US adults in September, narrowly beating out TV, print, and X (formerly Twitter), according to a survey from Syracuse University.

About one in five Democrats and Republicans said podcast appearances could make them "more likely to support a candidate," according to a July through August survey of likely midterm voters from the podcast industry group Sounds Profitable. A smaller share of Independents (11%) said podcasts could make them more likely to back a candidate.

While campaigns see attention moving online, they're still spending the bulk of their ad budgets on TV.

Part of that may be because they're accustomed to buying TV spots. They're also reckoning with the fact that influencer marketing is harder to predict and measure, particularly as social-media feeds become more personalized and algorithmically driven.

"It can be very challenging, but you see the results in the end," Dunger said. "It's the same with door knocking. We know door knocking somehow works and has worked for so long, but it's not like we have those direct measurements."

Read the original article on Business Insider

Influencer marketers are leaning into FOMO to cut through the noise

16 October 2026 at 11:00
Erika Veurink hosts an event at Rothy's
Substacker Erika Veurink hosted a pop-up vintage sale for her readers at Rothy's.

Courtesy of Rothy's

The latest hot marketing KPI: RSVPs.

Creators ranging from Substackers to "SNL" stars are jumping off the screen to in-person events — and marketers can't get enough.

"IRL is the No. 1 brand equity builder of all the channels," said Justin Thomas-Copeland, CEO of the American Association of Advertising Agencies (4As).

As it becomes harder to reach customers online, in-person events offer a way for brands to connect with their biggest fans — and hopefully inspire a flurry of social content.

One night last month, Snapple turned a decommissioned Staten Island Ferry into a floating comedy club featuring Colin Jost and Pete Davidson.

Lindsay Burstein, a top marketer at Snapple parent Keurig Dr Pepper, said the night resulted in about 200 pieces of user-generated content.

"It is the buzziest thing that the brand has done in a very long time," she said.

Snapple threw a "Snapple Island Ferry" event with comedians Colin Jost and Pete Davidson.
Snapple threw a "Snapple Island Ferry" event with comedians Colin Jost and Pete Davidson.

Snapple

Events aren't a new phenomenon, but interest from marketers is surging. In its annual survey of marketers, Linqia found that 53% said they planned to work with influencers on events in 2026, up from 34% in 2025.

"We've seen an uptick in both custom brand pop-up experiences and brand activation at large events," Linqia's chief strategy officer Keith Bendes said.

Influencer marketers are becoming event planners

IRL activations and events can also help brands gauge the depth of a creator's connection with their audience — and how valuable partnering with them might prove.

Substack creators, for instance, have "rabid fans and followers" who are hungry to connect in person, said Rothy's VP Anna Doré.

After Substacker Erika Veurink's article for New York Magazine featuring Rothy's shoes went viral, Rothy's struck a partnership with the writer that included a vintage pop-up experience at a Rothy's in New York City.

The Rothy's pop-up drew over 200 people and grew the store's foot traffic by 75% that day.

There can be category-specific reasons some brands are going all in on events. Flushable wipes maker Goodwipes, for one, leans on IRL experiences, said SVP of marketing Meredith Diehn, "partially because it's an intimate category, but there's a lot of questions around flushability and why should I leave toilet paper for Goodwipes."

Still, it can often be harder to measure success from an IRL event and prove it's an efficient use of marketing dollars.

Poppi worked with influencer Jake Shane
Beverage brand Poppi is also a fan of IRL events and pop-ups.

Courtesy of Poppi

"Live experiences is not an efficient business," Bilt CMO Zoe Oz said. "It's like the most inefficient, unscalable thing you can possibly do. But we found those to be 10 times more effective than the other ways we used to spend money."

Events also aren't a foolproof strategy, Copeland of 4As said.

There's a lot that goes into an experience, and if one part goes wrong or a creator is involved in an inauthentic way, criticism can spread quickly.

They present practical challenges as well, sometimes forcing marketers to wear yet another hat: event planning.

Burstein said that planning Snapple's comedy event — despite its eventual success — took her "blood, life, sweat, and tears."

Read the original article on Business Insider

“A rádio só este ano vai finalmente recuperar valores de investimento publicitário pré-pandemia”

16 October 2026 at 09:57

O investimento publicitário em rádio deverá recuperar este ano os valores pré-pandemia, antecipou ao +M Vítor Dourado, chief investment officer da Havas Media Network Portugal, à margem da segunda edição do (re)THINK MEDIA, que teve como tema “Áudio: de meio ‘de fundo’ a meio de intimidade” — após uma primeira edição focada na televisão e Connected TV.

O meio rádio regista atualmente um crescimento a dois dígitos, à semelhança do exterior, enquanto a televisão linear cresce a um dígito.

“De todos os meios, a rádio foi aquele que demorou mais tempo a recuperar pós-pandemia. Enquanto todos os outros meios em dois/três anos conseguiram recuperar níveis de investimento anteriores a 2020, a rádio só este ano é que vai finalmente, pelas contas que temos e pelo forecast que é possível fazer neste momento, recuperar valores anteriores pré-pandemia“, explicou.

Sendo “o último meio a recuperar” os níveis de 2019, Vítor Dourado explica que esta recuperação mais lenta esteve relacionada com as necessidades pós-pandemia das marcas. Na sua visão, os orçamentos foram direcionados para o regresso aos eventos e ações de rua, bem como pelo “boom extraordinário” do consumo de vídeo e streaming durante a pandemia e a sua continuação nos anos seguinntes. Ainda assim, ressalva o responsável, a rádio mantém-se como um meio “muito dinâmico, inovador” e de forte intimidade com o público.

Vítor Dourado destaca ainda que “o investimento do meio exterior em Portugal tem uma fatia muito superior àquilo que é a média no mundo e isso afeta depois a quota que vai caber a todos os outros meios”.

Quanto aos novos formatos de áudio, como os podcasts, o investimento das marcas continua a ser “mais lento do que a evolução do próprio consumo”. Uma realidade que Vítor Dourado justifica com a cautela das marcas, que preferem analisar a consolidação destas tendências antes de avançarem com investimentos mais expressivos.

O valor do áudio na era da inteligência

No primeiro painel, sobre o tema “O valor do áudio na era da inteligência”, Rudolf Gruner, diretor-geral do Observador, explicou como a tecnologia é utilizada no grupo para transcrição de podcasts, sound design — criação ou procura de efeitos sonoros — , tradução noutras línguas e criação de vídeos a partir de videocasts.

Com uma publicação de 50 podcasts por dia, Rudolf Gruner frisou que a transcrição automática resolve a invisibilidade do formato nas pesquisas online. Sem isso, “do ponto de vista da internet significa que o podcast não existe”, destacou, acrescentando que “a partir do momento em que temos a transcrição feita, todo o arquivo passa a estar indexado”.

Outra das vertentes que abordou na sua apresentação foi a utilização da inteligência artificial para replicar a voz da radialista Maria João Simões — com a sua autorização — de forma a ser utilizada para ouvir artigos do jornal. Apesar dos avanços tecnológicos, sublinhou que a vertente emocional, de investigação, de escrita e conversa continua a ser estritamente humana.

Na mesma linha, Rebecca Attali, do Spotify, definiu a IA como “uma extensão da criatividade humana”. “Se a usarmos a nosso favor, percebemos que está provavelmente a trazer mais oportunidades e possibilidades do que propriamente a tirar-nos coisas. Pensem numa grande ideia que pudessem ter no passado. Se quisessem criar uma variação diferente ou até traduzi-la para vários idiomas, tinham de pensar no custo, nos recursos, em quantas pessoas teriam de trabalhar nisso. Hoje, com a IA, é muito mais fácil”, argumentou.

A plataforma conta com 3,4 milhões de utilizadores na versão com anúncios em Portugal, que utiliza maioritariamente o smartphone (77%) para aceder o serviço e cuja franja de idades com maior expressão é entre os 25 e os 34 anos (35%).

De acordo com estudo The Sound On Era, que envolveu cinco mil participantes, 105 anunciantes e 30 especialistas da indústria, 70% dos anunciantes concorda que o áudio captura a atenção de forma mais efetiva do que outra rede social. O estudo destaca ainda que dois em cada três concordam que os anúncios de áudio são mais eficazes a alcançar os consumidores quando eles estão altamente recetivos, quando comparado com outras plataformas visuais ou redes sociais.

A credibilidade foi o eixo central da intervenção seguinte. Domingos Andrade, administrador da Notícias Ilimitadas, destacou o papel da TSF, cuja audiência se concentra em 70% na classe média-alta e alta, defendendo a construção de um ecossistema assente na reputação.

“A TSF que hoje estamos a construir não é uma tentativa de regressar ao passado. Pelo contrário, o que tornou a TSF relevante é confiança, a proximidade, a reportagem, a capacidade de explicar o que está a acontecer, sendo que está a dar origem a um novo ecossistema de consumo de média e um ecossistema territorial que trabalha em conjunto com outras marcas”, explicou, apontando a importância da confiança para criar valor.

Dos clássicos aos podcasts: o áudio em constante reinvenção

No segundo painel, o foco esteve na criação de comunidades. Renata Silva, do Grupo Renascença Multimédia, trouxe a palco a personagem Tia Bli — interpretada por Vasco Pereira Coutinha — numa interação com os presentes. A responsável explicou depois como a personagem passou de uma criação de rádio a um ícone e a uma marca com uma comunidade própria. Outro dos exemplos dados foi o Extremamente Desagradável, que classificou como um “fenómeno cultural”. “Somos e sempre fomos produtores de conteúdos. Produzimos conteúdos que criam comunidades e relações entre as pessoas”, frisou.

O painel abordou também o regresso de um formato clássico, a radionovela. O grupo apostou em Cataplana de Paixão, na RFM. António Mendes, que a idealizou com Pedro Fernandes, Rui Melo e Henrique Dias, explicou que o projeto foi construído “exatamente como se fazia uma radionovela há 50 anos ou muito parecido”, mas com dupla vida — pode ser ouvida ou vista.

Por sua vez, José Manuel Gomes, da Medialivre, defendeu uma abordagem multimédia 360º, notando que “o áudio não é outro meio, é muitas vezes a porta de entrada. A mesma história pode ser lida, ouvida, partilhada, vista”.

“Hoje em dia não se fala em comprar espaço, mas sim em construir audiências”, apontou, acrescentando que o que os anunciantes querem é “mais audiência, mais relevância e mais resultados e por isso é que temos que cruzar as plataformas todas que temos”.

Já na reta final do debate, a vitalidade da rádio e a sua relação com o mercado publicitário foram postas em perspetiva. Rita Sobral, do Bauer Media Audio Group, lembrou que 82% da população portuguesa ouve rádio semanalmente e que a distribuição digital fortaleceu essa proximidade.

“A rádio não é só o FM. Há toda uma fábrica de conteúdos, além também aquilo que passa na rádio. A imagem, o vídeo e as redes sociais vieram trazer uma maior conexão e uma maior ligação às nossas comunidades e aos nossos ouvintes”, reforçou. “A forma de distribuir mudou, a ligação não mudou. Ela até se intensificou”, rematou.

Rita Sobral destacou que existem três ingredientes essenciais para as marcas se associarem à rádio nesta nova era, “criatividade para surpreender”, “confiança para alguma imprevisibilidade” perante o improviso do direto e e uma “grande obsessão pela nossa audiência”, garantindo que o conteúdo é suficientemente relevante e impactante para o público.

A maturidade do meio foi ilustrada por Pedro Ribeiro, vice-presidente da Bauer Media, através da emissão conjunta de seis rádios da Bauer Media e do Grupo Renascença Multimédia que serviu de apoio à seleção nacional, promovida pela Galp. “Perdemos muitos anos só falar uns para os outros. Quando deixamos de falar uns para os outros e passamos só a falar com as pessoas, isso mostrou que de repente o meio estava maduro o suficiente para fazer isto. Ninguém morreu, toda a gente se deu bem e eu acho que há um antes e um depois disto”, diz, notando que gostaria de fazer o mesmo com mais marcas de rádios.

Pedro Ribeiro concluiu lembrando a essência inovadora do setor, destacando que “fazer o que ainda não foi feito é aquilo que a rádio faz desde que foi inventada”.

Trump's new press secretary Katie Zacharia is having a rough ride — even on friendly territory

16 October 2026 at 09:28
Katie Zacharia, White House press secretary,
Katie Zacharia, White House press secretary, has had a rough first week at work.

Bloomberg/Getty Images

  • Katie Zacharia says she did her best at her first White House briefing despite having little time to prepare.
  • She said on "Hannity" that she only received briefing materials the morning of the press conference.
  • Trump's new press secretary also confirmed she sat for the bar exam but did not pass.

Katie Zacharia has had a tough first week at work.

Her first briefing as the new White House press secretary lasted about 14 minutes, and she took three questions. Then came scrutiny over her legal career.

During a Thursday appearance on "Hannity" on Fox News — known to be friendly territory for the Trump administration — Zacharia said she had done her "very best" in her debut and addressed the criticism over her legal career.

"What I feel is I really stepped up to the plate to do the press conference, Sean, with very little prep time," Zacharia told host Sean Hannity.

Zacharia said she had been on the job for “less than maybe eight hours” and only received briefing materials on Tuesday morning — the day of the press conference.

She also responded to criticism that she had taken questions only from conservative outlets, saying she had called on the Daily Mail, which "is not known to be a conservative outlet or friendly to conservatives."

Zacharia said she “probably should have stepped aside” after introducing herself, rather than take questions.

Hannity then asked Zacharia about her background in law.

She confirmed that she had taken the bar exam but had not passed, and had not retaken it.

Zacharia said she graduated from Pepperdine the same week she got married, and planned to move to China. However, she had already registered for the exam.

"The results of the bar were inconsequential, and I sat for it because I didn't want to have a withdrawal status," she said.

In China, she said she got a job in the "international practice of a Chinese law firm" where she "was doing cross-country border transactions and multimillion dollar shareholder agreements."

Zacharia also confirmed that she consulted with legal professionals over whether she could call herself a lawyer because she had a "valid Juris Doctor from a good law school."

Hannity then brought up a Thursday CNN report about how she had shared several social media posts in which she described herself as an attorney.

"I think they were retweets, and I corrected the record and said that that's not endorsing the title. They were retweets of a title that had been given," Zacharia said.

Scrutiny over her legal background

Over the past week, questions have mounted over Zacharia's legal credentials.

She graduated from Pepperdine University's Caruso School of Law in 2011, but the Substack publication Popular Information reported on Tuesday that she had not been admitted to any state bar.

On Wednesday, two watchdog groups filed complaints with California's state bar, calling on it to investigate whether Zacharia had violated state law by calling herself a lawyer.

Her work experience in China has also drawn attention to her legal credentials.

Chinese law experts told Business Insider that only Chinese nationals can take the country's bar exam. Foreign employees at international law firms can work on some transactions without passing it, but their role is limited.

"She was never a lawyer in China. It doesn't mean she didn't do law-related work, but she was never a lawyer in China," Jacques deLisle, a professor at the University of Pennsylvania law school who studies the Chinese legal system, told Business Insider.

Read the original article on Business Insider

AI threatens democracy. But we are not powerless: here’s how to fight back | Carine Fouteau

16 October 2026 at 08:49

Tech platforms pillage public-interest journalism for profit. But we have leverage as they sow the seeds of their own downfall

  • Carine Fouteau is president and publishing director of the French investigative news outlet Mediapart

Big tech companies pose an immeasurable threat: socially, politically, militarily and ecologically. They are also causing a profound crisis of information. The tools they design now serve as weapons of mass destruction against democracy. There is so much at stake that an urgent and broad mobilisation is required.

From the harvesting of personal data and the weaponisation of public opinion, to the destruction of jobs, the infringement of civil liberties and environmental damage, ordinary citizens are the main victims of this predatory economy – an economy with an agenda that aligns with the interests of the planet’s most authoritarian and reactionary states.

Carine Fouteau is president and publishing director of the French investigative news outlet Mediapart

Mediapart is hosting Hacking Big Tech, a public event about technology, AI and democracy in partnership with the Guardian, in Paris on Saturday 17 October 2026. The conference will be live-streamed free on Mediapart’s website, app and YouTube channel and can be accessed here from 1pm CEST on 17 October

Continue reading...

© Photograph: Marcela Barsse/Getty Images

© Photograph: Marcela Barsse/Getty Images

© Photograph: Marcela Barsse/Getty Images

Jorge Mendes prometeu fortuna a Cândido Costa na Rússia?

16 October 2026 at 08:36
A promessa de 35 mil euros por mês voou assim que o treino começou e o treinador pediu centrais. Pelo meio, Herman José estreou a piscina e parou no hospital.

Brickbat: Penalty for Posting

16 October 2026 at 09:00
Facebook photo of 15-year-old Will Fraser and U.K. politician Nigel Farage | Will Fraser/Facebook

Four police officers woke and arrested Will Fraser, a 15-year-old Reform U.K. activist, at his Walsall home. More than two months later, police still have not clearly explained the exact reason for the arrest, but The Telegraph found that it stems from a few Facebook posts. For example, Fraser criticized a Tory member of the Wolverhampton City Council for wearing casual clothes at meetings, then later remarked that he was glad the councilor was "not looking like a rent boy." Officers took Fraser to the station, questioned him, took his DNA and fingerprints, seized his phone and laptop, and released him on bail while banning him from council meetings. His lawyers and free speech groups say the arrest was an overreaction that threatens free speech, while the councilor in question claims the posts felt like targeted harassment.

The post Brickbat: Penalty for Posting appeared first on Reason Magazine.

China previews a world where the algorithm is switched off

16 October 2026 at 07:34

The Australian government has introduced its digital duty of care legislation to parliament today. The bill includes an “off switch” to allow social media users to opt out of recommender algorithms. If passed, Australians could choose to switch off their algorithmic recommendation and consume a news feed populated by the accounts they subscribe to. It’s […]

The post China previews a world where the algorithm is switched off appeared first on Asia Times.

ByteDance's short-drama app is turning into China's latest obsession

16 October 2026 at 06:40
A staged scene of three smartphones showing different content by the app of Hongguo Short Drama, a Chinese digital platform owned by Bytedance, specializing in short-form dramatic video content.
ByteDance's short-drama app Hongguo is taking over China.

LIU JUNFENG/ Feature China/Future Publishing via Getty Images

  • ByteDance's short-drama app, Hongguo, is riding high in China.
  • It now trails only Douyin, WeChat, and Douyin Lite in terms of how much time Chinese users spend on it.
  • Meanwhile, major long-form streaming platforms in the country are losing ground.

Forget three-hour movies. China is getting hooked on bite-sized dramas — and ByteDance's Hongguo app is becoming one of the country's biggest platforms for streaming them.

In August, ByteDance's apps accounted for 41.8% of the time users spent on China's 50 biggest mobile apps, up from 34.2% a year earlier. The figures come from Nomura's China Internet and New Media Monthly App Tracker, published October 5.

Much of that growth came from its two apps: Douyin, the Chinese version of TikTok, and Hongguo, a streaming platform focused on short dramas.

Hongguo ranks fourth among the country's biggest apps, behind ByteDance's Douyin and its Lite version, as well as WeChat.

At the same time, China's long-form streaming services are losing ground. In August, the monthly time Chinese users spent on iQIYI, Tencent Video, and Mango TV fell by 35%, 40%, and 27%, respectively, year-on-year.

Short dramas on the rise

Launched in 2023, Hongguo is essentially TikTok for short dramas, operating on a free, ad-supported model.

Chinese data firm QuestMobile said the platform had nearly 370 million users as of June.

Hongguo is riding a broader short-drama boom in China. These shows are made for phone screens, with episodes lasting several minutes and storylines ranging from high-stakes romance and revenge to fantasy and family feuds.

The format is taking off overseas, too. Tech market analysis firm Omdia expects the US, its largest market outside China, to generate roughly half of the $3 billion in international short-drama revenue forecast for this year.

Omdia puts global short-drama revenue at about $11 billion in 2025 and expects it to climb to $14 billion by the end of this year.

The format has also become a testing ground for AI-made video.

Speaking more broadly about the industry at the DBS Asia Future Forward Conference in Singapore on Monday, TikTok CEO Shou Zi Chew said AI video tools can help brands create ads at a fraction of the usual cost, a trend he said is already playing out in China's short-drama industry. TikTok and Hongguo are both owned by ByteDance.

Chew said he believed the "overwhelming majority" of short dramas now being produced use AI models, including ByteDance's Seedance.

Read the original article on Business Insider

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