SoylentNews

fliptop [soylentnews.org] writes:

The future of Sports Illustrated looked dire Friday after the publisher of the diminished outlet announced mass layoffs [nypost.com] because its license to use the iconic brand’s name in print and digital was revoked:

The Arena Group — which had been roiled by reports that the fabled magazine published AI-generated content — admitted to failing to make a $3.75 million quarterly licensing payment to Authentic Brands Group due this week.

As a result, the publicly-traded Arena announced Thursday it would make a “significant reduction” in its workforce of more than 100 journalists.

SI’s unionized workers received a memo Friday telling them “some employees will be terminated immediately, and paid in lieu of the 60-day applicable notice period under the [union contract].”

[...] The outlet’s website had a smattering of fresh stories Friday, suggesting a skeleton crew was still employed.

Meanwhile, SI’s annual Swimsuit edition – which launched the careers of supermodels from Cheryl Tiegs to Tyra Banks – has been completed and will be released in the spring, a source close to the situation told The Post.

Also at NBC News [nbcnews.com], CNN [cnn.com] and HuffPost [huffpost.com].

Related: Sports Illustrated Published Articles by Fake, AI-Generated Writers [soylentnews.org]

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