Top News:
CNN:
CNN obtains tape in which Trump can be heard discussing with Michael Cohen about buying rights to story of Playboy model from American Media — (CNN)Presidential candidate Donald Trump is heard on tape discussing with his attorney Michael Cohen how they would buy the rights to a Playboy model's story …
Discussion:
@realdonaldtrump, @realdonaldtrump, Washington Post, Mediaite, Variety, New York Times, CNBC, NPR, Politico, Al Jazeera English, Daily Wire, @davidcorndc, CBS Miami, @mkraju, BloombergQuint, ThinkProgress, The Guardian, @renato_mariotti, @jimsciutto, @christinawilkie, @gabrielsherman, @ddale8, @asharangappa_, @markdistef, @yashar, @stephenathome, @joshtpm, Ad Age, @mollyjongfast, @johncardillo, @espiers, The Week, Wall Street Journal, CBS Philly, Mashable, Slate, globalnews.ca, Washington Post, Boing Boing, The Daily Caller and Fast Company
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Politico:
On Tuesday night, Trump tweeted about the FCC's ruling on Sinclair-Tribune merger, saying it was “sad and unfair” that the FCC wouldn't approve it — President Donald Trump on Tuesday night bashed an FCC decision that likely doomed conservative broadcast giant Sinclair Broadcast …
Discussion:
MediaPost, Terry Heaton's PoMo Blog, @orinkerr, @andrewfeinberg, @viacristiano and @daniellemuscato
Adi Robertson / The Verge:
A spliced-together video “interview” of House candidate Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez blurred lines between satire and disinformation, getting 1M+ views on Facebook — A conservative news outlet spliced together a “satirical” interview with Democratic congressional candidate Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez …
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Jon Levine / The Wrap:
CRTV host Allie Beth Stuckey says she will not apologize for satirical video of her “interviewing” Democratic Socialist candidate Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez — CRTV host Allie Beth Stuckey said she won't apologize for a satirical video she made of her “interviewing” …
Discussion:
The Intercept, Daily Wire and Mediaite
Lucas Shaw / Bloomberg:
Sources: Viacom is in advanced talks with Comcast about acquiring Awesomeness TV, for less than half of its $650M valuation in 2016 — - Youth-media brand is owned by Comcast, Verizon and Hearst — Viacom seeking to recapture viewers who fled MTV, Nickelodeon
Discussion:
Variety, Tubefilter and @digitalshields
Chantal Fernandez / The Business of Fashion:
Troy Young will succeed David Carey as president of Hearst's magazine division, overseeing 300 print editions and 240 digital brands — The architect of the division's digital media strategy will succeed David Carey, who announced his forthcoming departure in June.
Discussion:
Wall Street Journal and @richantoniello
Julia Ioffe / GQ:
Journalists who attended the Aspen Security Conference last week had strange encounters with an Uber driver, leading to speculation she was a spy — Last week, as America's top national security experts convened in Aspen, a strangely inquisitive Uber driver showed up, too. And caused a minor freak-out.
John Bowden / The Hill:
Cox Media Group is considering selling 14 local TV stations, appears to be seeking a large corporate buyer — Cox Media Group announced Tuesday that it is evaluating its ownership of 14 local news stations around the country, saying the move will likely result in the company losing full control over the stations.
Oliver Darcy / CNNMoney:
Interest in Breitbart News has waned as traffic has dropped and staff turned over, though people close to the site say it still commands influence on the right — In the early days of the Trump administration, Breitbart, the far-right website previously headed by former White House chief …
Discussion:
The Daily Caller
Greg Bluestein / Atlanta Journal-Constitution:
Georgia lawmaker Jason Spencer has resigned from his position, after yelling a racial slur in Sacha Baron Cohen's Showtime series “Who is America?” — The Georgia lawmaker who exposed himself and yelled racial slurs during an episode of Sacha Baron Cohen's Showtime series …
Discussion:
Slate, NPR, 89.3 KPCC, The Daily Caller, Mediaite, The Playlist and Deadline
Politico:
Reports: a private equity company has made a bid for Tronc, at $19-$20 a share; deal could be announced within a few weeks and may be close to $1B — Good Wednesday morning and welcome to the 400+ high schoolers from around the world who are beautifying Humboldt Park today with a $125,000 service project.
Tom Kludt / CNNMoney:
Source: Tronc exec Grant Whitmore meets with remaining NY Daily News staff, says he foresees no new layoffs and he's unaware of any plans to sell paper — As he takes over a newsroom that was just reduced by half, the New York Daily News' new top editor, Robert York, is asking his embattled staff for time to chart a new course.
Discussion:
Digiday, Newspaper Death Watch, @iwriteok, The Daily Beast, @bradfordpearson, @errollouis, The Concourse, New York Post, @rispolimike, @laobserved, @amandamull, @kenli729, @noahshachtman, @jbarro, @albertburneko, @brianstelter, @elivalley, @pwthornton, @tomgara, @andrewyangvfa, @maxwelltani, @tomkludt, @maxwelltani and Politico