Senior editorial director Brown among CNET layoffs
Senior editorial director Rich Brown was among the layoffs at tech news site CNET. Brown was the editorial lead for CNET’s Home and Wellness sections, based in Louisville, Kentucky. Before moving to Louisville in 2013, Brown ran CNET’s desktop computer review section for 10 years in New York City. He had been at CNET since […]
Cheng, head of CNET News, departs after 11 years
Roger Cheng, the head of CNET News, has left the news organization after 11 years. “Running CNET News is not a responsibility I took lightly, and I’m incredibly proud of the kind of place we built,” he wrote on Twitter. “CNET wasn’t just a site for gadget reviews, but a bastion of excellent journalism and […]
CNET leadership change as Auriemma becomes editor
Lindsey Turrentine, executive vice president of content and audience at CNET, sent the following note to the staff: Today marks two editorial leadership changes at CNET, both of which will help guide our storied buying advice brand into the future with steady hands and inspiring leadership. Connie Guglielmo, who has served as an Editor in […]
CNET editor in chief Guglielmo to step down
Longtime CNET editor-in-chief Connie Guglielmo will step down from her role and take on a new job as senior vice president of AI content strategy and editor-at-large at its parent company, reports Mia Sato of The Verge. Sato reports, “In her new role, Guglielmo will work on machine learning strategy at Red Ventures, the private equity-backed media company that […]
Tech news site CNET has laid off a dozen staffers
Tech news site CNET is doing layoffs that include several longtime employees and total about a dozen staffers, reports Mia Sato of The Verge. Sato writes, “The layoffs began Thursday morning and were announced internally via email by Red Ventures, the private equity-backed marketing-turned-media company that bought CNET in 2020. In the email, a Red Ventures executive suggested […]
CNET pushed reporters to be more favorable to advertisers
Tech news site CNET pushed staff to be more favorable to advertisers, reports Mia Sato of The Verge. Sato reports, “Multiple former employees told The Verge of instances where CNET staff felt pressured to change stories and reviews due to Red Ventures’ business dealings with advertisers. The forceful pivot toward Red Ventures’ affiliate marketing-driven business model — which generates […]
CNET’s parent feared Google backlash over AI-produced stories
Red Ventures, which owns tech news site CNET, feared Google would notice the dismal quality of stories written by artificial intelligence software and cut off the precious supply of search results that Red Ventures depends on for revenue, reports Jon Christian of Futurism. Christian writes, “Google’s current position is that it’s not limiting the visibility of online […]
CNET found errors in more than half of its AI stories
CNET issued corrections on 41 of the 77 stories the outlet published that were written using an artificial intelligence tool, reports Mia Sato and Emma Roth of The Verge. Sato and Roth write, “In a note published today, CNET editor-in-chief Connie Guglielmo defended the use of the AI writing tool but said that an internal review of stories uncovered numerous […]
Futurism: CNET’s AI articles show evidence of plagiarism
A Futurism investigation found extensive evidence that the CNET’s artificial intelligence-produced stories show phrasing similarities to articles previously published elsewhere, without giving credit, reports Jon Christian. Christian writes, “In other words, it looks like the bot directly plagiarized the work of Red Ventures competitors, as well as human writers at Bankrate and even CNET itself. “Jeff Schatten, a professor at Washington and […]
CNET pauses using AI to write stories
Tech news site CNET will pause publication of stories generated using artificial intelligence “for now,” the site’s leadership told employees on a staff call Friday, reports Maria Sato of The Verge. Sato reports, “The call, which lasted under an hour, was held a week after CNET came under fire for its use of AI tools on stories and one day […]
