Top News:
CNNMoney:
Amid its Time Warner merger, AT&T confirms it paid Trump's personal lawyer Michael Cohen for “insights” on administration in 2017 — AT&T confirmed Tuesday evening that it paid President Trump's personal lawyer Michael Cohen in 2017 for “insights into understanding the new administration.”
Discussion:
CNBC, Fast Company, The Wrap, @eorden, CNN, The Atlantic, @evanperez, @brianstelter, @alexisgoldstein, @christinawilkie, @nycsouthpaw, Terry Wickwire and @hadas_gold, more at Techmeme »
Natasha Lomas / TechCrunch:
Facebook bans foreign spending on ads about Ireland's May 25 abortion referendum, enables Irish users to see all ads any advertiser is running — Facebook has announced it has stopped accepting ads paid for by foreign entities that are related to a referendum vote in Ireland later this month …
Discussion:
New York Times, Business Insider, WIRED UK, The Irish Times, @lornabogue, BBC, CNNMoney and The Daily Caller
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Hannah Kuchler / Financial Times:
Facebook unveils 20 issues that will require more disclosure from advertisers targeting the US to help label and place the ads in a political ad archive — Facebook will require extra checks from people buying advertisements on political issues ranging from abortion and guns …
Discussion:
Facebook, MediaPost, Politico, Multichannel News and Axios
Wall Street Journal:
Sources: James Murdoch, mentioned as possibly taking a senior position at Disney after it buys 21st Century Fox, plans to strike out on his own if deal closes — 21st Century Fox CEO had been mentioned as possibly taking senior position at Disney; plans possible venture-capital fund
Discussion:
New York Times, Multichannel News, @keachhagey, @jbflint, @jbflint, Mediawire, /Film, Light Reading, Reuters, @hadas_gold and Fortune
Gizmodo Special Projects Desk:
Univision has been in decline for years, with a shark-obsessed boss, millions wasted on consultants, and an executive who insisted on publishing softcore porn — This is the story of how corporate raiding, complacency, excess, and incompetence are gutting a media company that matters to tens of millions of people.
Georg Szalai / Hollywood Reporter:
21st Century Fox has struck a deal to acquire seven TV stations from Sinclair Broadcast Group for $910M, in key NFL markets, like Denver, Miami, and Seattle — The news of the purchase of stations in key NFL markets, such as Denver, Miami and Seattle, comes after Fox's $52.4 billion December mega-deal …
Discussion:
The Wrap and Broadcasting & Cable
Jason Guerrasio / Business Insider:
SEC filing: MoviePass parent Helios and Matheson Analytics had $43.4M on hand on April 30, average cash deficit of $21.7M/month since Sept.; stock down over 30% — - On Tuesday, MoviePass' parent company, Helios and Matheson Analytics, said in a filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission …
Discussion:
Gizmodo, 9to5Mac, Bloomberg, @natemcdermott, @newsynick, Fortune, New York Post, @trengriffin, The Playlist and @jasonguerrasio
Michael Calderone / Politico:
Business Insider has named Matt Turner its new executive editor and editor in chief of Business Insider US — CNN'S CHRISTIANE AMANPOUR pointed out that after President Donald Trump announced that the U.S. would renege on the Iran nuclear deal, John Bolton, his national security adviser …
Discussion:
@nichcarlson
Variety:
A breakdown of pay packages of media execs in 2017 including Moonves, who was compensated $69.3M, Bewkes, who received $49M, and Zaslav, who got $42.2M — It's good to be the king, Mel Brooks famously joked in “History of the World: Part 1.” — When it comes to the entertainment business, he was especially right.
Discussion:
@brentalang and Ad Age
Stu Woo / Wall Street Journal:
Vodafone to buy some of cable giant Liberty Global's European assets, including operations in Germany, Hungary, Romania, and Czech Republic, for €18.4B — Deal includes operations in Germany, Hungary, Romania and Czech Republic, would create one of the continent's biggest telecommunications carriers
Discussion:
Multichannel News, The Guardian, Vodafone, Fortune, Bloomberg, Sky News, Financial Times, BBC, Broadband TV News, Broadband TV News, City A.M. and LegalWeek.com, more at Techmeme »
Kurt Badenhausen / Forbes:
The NBA and Intel announce plans to jointly evaluate tech startups for investment and collaboration, seeking to “create a new immersive media world” — LeBron James added another iconic moment to his brilliant career Saturday night with a one-handed, buzzer-beating bank shot while drifting away from the basket.
Discussion:
TechCrunch and VentureBeat, more at Techmeme »
Thomas Gorton / Dazed:
Q&A: Richard Turley, Mia Kerin, and Lucas Mascatello on their newly launched NYC-focused magazine Civilization, a focus on text, and a diarist approach to news — We speak to the three editors who just launched the first issue - a text-obsessed New York-focussed magazine covering everything …