Mediagazer: Vice News names its news director Michael Learmonth as new EIC, filling a role that has been vacant since 2019 (Lindsey Ellefson/The Wrap)

4:20 PM ET, May 17, 2021

Top News:

Brian Stelter / CNN:

AT&T to spin off WarnerMedia and combine it with Discovery in a $43B deal; the new company will be run by Discovery CEO David Zaslav — New York (CNN Business)The streaming TV race is about to get even more competitive. — On Monday morning AT&T (T) and Discovery, Inc. (DISCA) …

Discussion: Los Angeles Times, Financial Times, Wall Street Journal, New York Times, Hollywood Reporter, Washington Post, Axios, MediaPost, Variety, CNN, The Wrap, Bloomberg, ScreenRant, Variety, The Hill, Digiday, @sherman4949, Insider, @frankpallotta, @claireatki, Discovery, Inc., The Streamable, The Information, Variety, Fast Company, The Wrap, Ad Age, CNBC, Variety, Mediaite, Insider, Forbes, Vanity Fair, @annaknicolaou, @lucas_shaw, @sadogre, Den of Geek, @lucas_shaw, @gadyepstein, @pkafka, @hblodget, @karlbode, @andrearene, @benyt, @pkafka, /Film, Light Reading, @sherman4949, The Week, @sherman4949, @richlightshed, @sherman4949, @sherman4949, @kerrymflynn, @digitalshields, @karaswisher, @loudmouthjulia, @sherman4949, @brianstelter, @pkafka, @mbgelman, @dylanbyers, Protocol, @erikdavis, @ditzkoff, @lucas_shaw, @frankpallotta, @cgasparino, @mattdraperyt, @edmundlee, @backlon, @sherman4949, @jackmirkinson, @brazilbrian, @thetruebrendanf, @oliverdarcy, @zakiscorner, @cgasparino, @jeremymbarr, @cnbc, @loudmouthjulia, @carnage4life, @keithboykin, @loudmouthjulia, @alexweprin, @panzer, @sivavaid, @gracerandolph, @mims, @jimwaterson, @jbflint, @awallenstein, @sarafischer, @dylanbyers, @rakeshlobster, @richlightshed, @brianstelter, @magsvisaggs, @brianstelter, @w7voa, IndieWire, @thatjakepc, @jasonlynch, @scottporch, ZDNet, @sherman4949, AppleInsider and Adweek, more at Techmeme »

Brooks Barnes / New York Times:

Sources: Jason Kilar is negotiating his departure as CEO of WarnerMedia, after being kept in the dark about the deal with Discovery until recent days — Jason Kilar has hired a legal team to negotiate his departure as chief executive of WarnerMedia, according to two people briefed on the matter.

Hollywood Reporter:

John Stankey and David Zaslav discuss their vision for the WarnerMedia deal, saying the company will have a content spend that exceeds most competitors at $20B — AT&T chief John Stankey and Zaslav, who will lead the new venture, also addressed the status of WarnerMedia CEO Jason Kilar and the future of CNN.

Discussion: CNBC, Hollywood Reporter, CNBC, @loudmouthjulia, Observer, Awful Announcing, @jbflint, @loudmouthjulia, @loudmouthjulia, @stevekovach, @loudmouthjulia, @loudmouthjulia, @thejannissary, @felixsalmon, @alexweprin, The Playlist, @loudmouthjulia and @loudmouthjulia

Lindsey Ellefson / The Wrap:

Vice News names its news director Michael Learmonth as new EIC, filling a role that has been vacant since 2019 — Michael Learmonth was named Vice News' new editor in chief Monday, filling a role that has been vacant since 2019. He was promoted from news director, a job he held since 2016.

Discussion: @katiedrumm, MediaPost, @mccarthyryanj, @kenli729 and @learmonth

Jeremy Fuster / The Wrap:

Former Hollywood Reporter editor Matthew Belloni has become a founding member of a new media company that has raised $7M and aims to launch this summer — Matthew Belloni, former Editorial Director at The Hollywood Reporter, has joined as a founding partner for a new media company that will cover politics …

Discussion: Hollywood Reporter, Deadline, @jimmaiella, @benyt, @sonnybunch, @mattbelloni and Variety

Apple:

Apple says it will bring lossless audio to all Apple Music subscribers for free and will support Spatial Audio with Dolby Atmos, available from June — The next generation of sound on Apple Music is coming to subscribers June 2021 at no additional cost — CUPERTINO, CALIFORNIA Apple today …

Micah Singleton / Billboard:
Amazon Music HD is now available to Amazon Music Unlimited subscribers for free, effectively cutting the Hi-Fi service's price from $14.99 to $9.99 per month

Discussion: @amazonmusic, @richontech, 9to5Mac, @c_davies, musically.com, The Verge, @richontech, @kintan, MacRumors, @richontech, @johnlmacfarlane, @ampressman, @micahsingleton and Engadget, more at Techmeme »

Associated Press:

Israeli airstrike destroys a high-rise in Gaza City that housed offices of AP and Al-Jazeera, after the military warned people to evacuate the building — GAZA CITY, Gaza Strip (AP) — Israel slammed the Gaza Strip with airstrikes, in a dramatic escalation that included bombing the home …

Discussion: Jerusalem Post, New York Times, Associated Press, The Daily Beast, @linahalsaafin, @ap, The Guardian, American Press Institute, Associated Press, Mediaite, @idf, Committee to Protect …, @tomgara, @eylonalevy, Discourse Blog, @ajenglish, The Intercept, @jeremyscahill, @presssec, The Definitive Source, New York Times, Forbes, @w7voa, And another thing, New York Post, @kenklippenstein, @kenklippenstein, @brhodes, Wall Street Journal, Insider, @willdizard, The Racket News, @mattifriedman, News of the Jews, Foreign Exchanges, @kenroth, @lotteleicht1, Poynter, @tvietor08, @wesleylowery, @jpacedc, The Times of Israel, @annaknelson_rsf, Fox News, @isobelroe, @imtiaztyab, Voice of America, @rafaelshimunov, The Indian Express, @ap, @abihabib, @snowden, @ap, @mirza9, @mirza9, @brianstelter, @jpacedc, @tomgara, @kredo0, @ztsamudzi, Washington Post, @eylonalevy, @karenattiah, @imtiaztyab, @jimlaporta, @mattmcbradley, @jimlaporta, @ggreenwald, @cbsnews, @brandondarby, @seldeeb, @lsarsour, @adamjohnsonnyc, @mitchellreports, @johnmdonnelly, @snowden, @gchikermane, @alastairmca30, @redsteeze, @margbrennan, @dloesch and @jongambrellap

Reuters:

Axel Springer and Facebook strike a global deal, allowing content from Bild, Welt, Insider, and others to be distributed in Facebook News at its German launch — Axel Springer and Facebook said on Monday that they had agreed on a global cooperation deal under which content from the German publisher …

Discussion: Axel Springer SE, @fabiochiusi, @pressgazette, @gbrotman and @markscott82

Charlotte Tobitt / Press Gazette:

British GQ editor Dylan Jones departs after 22 years in the role; GQ to be led globally by American GQ editor Will Welch, as Conde Nast merges editorial teams — British GQ editor Dylan Jones is leaving the men's lifestyle magazine after 22 years at the helm.

Discussion: MediaPost

Todd Spangler / Variety:

DVD rental and streaming company Redbox is going public via SPAC in a deal that values the combined company at $693M; Redbox had earnings of $114M in 2020 — Redbox, the DVD-rental kiosk and streaming company, is going back to the public markets. — On Monday, Redbox announced that it reached …

Discussion: The Wrap and The Verge, more at Techmeme »

Alexandra Bruell / Wall Street Journal:

NBCUniversal is acting as a power broker between stars and advertisers as part of its upfronts, hoping its pull with talent will help it strike bigger deals — Comcast unit is pitching broad partnerships with stars during this year's TV-ad-buying ritual, hoping its pull with talent helps it strike bigger deals

Discussion: @lindayacc, @deggans, @bixin29 and @cloonanj

Washington Post:

Researchers detail a sprawling disinformation network in the US, including media websites such as GTV, that's pushing falsehoods about COVID-19 and the election — Guo Wengui, living in self-exile in New York City, is at the center of a digital web pushing election and covid falsehoods, according to Graphika research

Discussion: @oliverdarcy and @scout_finch

Archived Page Info:

This is a snapshot of Mediagazer at 4:20 PM ET, May 17, 2021.

View the current page or another snapshot:

Who's Hiring in Media?

Senior Data Journalist, NY — WSJ

Manager - Publishing Editorial, Manila — Reuters

Oil Reporter, Singapore — Bloomberg

Newsperson - State Govt. & Politics, CA — AP

Business Reporter, SC — Post & Courier

State Government Reporter, WA — Seattle Times

Climate Crisis Columnist — Prospect UK

Multimedia Journalist, CA — Paramount

Community Engagement Mgr., DC — Freedom Forum

Senior California Politics Reporter, CA — SFGATE

Staff Writer - Business, NY — WIRED

Team Editor - Opinion, ON — Toronto Star

Assistant Correspondent, DC — Kyodo News

Climate & Weather Reporter, MN — Star Tribune

Senior Tech Editor, Remote US — The Verge

Lead Business Reporter, TN — Daily Memphian

Managing Editor, WA — Everett Herald

Private Credit Reporter, NY — Debtwire

City Correspondent, London — Financial News

Legislative Reporter, CA — Sacramento Bee

Reporter, PA — Tribune-Review

Visual Editor, Remote — Rest of World

Staff Writer, MI — Watershed Voice

Senior Political Reporter, DC — The Lever

California Playbook Writer, CA — Politico

National Investigative Reporter, NY — HuffPost

Business & Gaming Reporter, NV — Las Vegas Sun

Coastal Climate Reporter, SC — Island Packet

Environment & Energy Reporter, CT — CT Mirror

Coordinating Editor, OR — OPB

Editor, Remote US — Daily Kos

Business Reporter, WA — Longview Daily News

Editor-in-Chief, AZ — Phoenix New Times

Add your company here

See Also:

Mediagazer: site main

Mediagazer River: reverse chronological Mediagazer

Mediagazer Mobile: for phones

Mediagazer Leaderboard: Mediagazer's top sources

Subscribe:

Mediagazer RSS feed

Mediagazer on X

Mediagazer on Mastodon

More News:

Peter White / Deadline:
Disney launches Onyx Collective, a new content brand for creators of color and underrepresented voices that will be found primarily on Hulu in the US

Discussion: Variety, Variety, Forbes, thefutoncritic.com and Hollywood Reporter

Sarah Krouse / The Information:
Sources: Google's plans to match Apple's ATT changes have been delayed by internal concerns that such moves will diminish mobile ad revenues

Discussion: AppleInsider, @amir, MacRumors, @carnage4life and @bysarahkrouse, more at Techmeme »

Jay Peters / The Verge:
Twitch says it is switching to localized subscription prices in some non-US markets, which will often be lower, starting with Turkey and Mexico on May 20

Discussion: Twitch Blog, Engadget, @paperstainedink, @aureylian, Kotaku and Cord Cutters News, more at Techmeme »

Zack Zwiezen / Kotaku:
After publishing and removing an article listing Palestinian charities, IGN says it didn't mean to make it seem “we were politically aligned with one side”

Discussion: @tha_rami, @tropicalmaku, @mattbinder, @papapishu, @charalanahzard, @tha_rami, Axios, @austin_walker, @iyagovos, A. Khaled's Blog, @dannyodwyer, @scully1888 and @andyplaytonic

Variety:
Investors and analysts including Warren Buffett weigh in on “stupid” stock swings affecting ViacomCBS, Discovery, and AMC Entertainment, plus problematic SPACs

The Daily Beast:
Unlike many in the media, MSNBC's Mehdi Hasan and Ayman Mohyeldin are granting airtime to Palestinians instead of heavily relying on Israeli government accounts

Discussion: @joyannreid, @hotlinejosh and Financial Times

Earlier Picks:

Josef Adalian / Vulture:
How Netflix uses both personalization and objective rankings in its lists of popular shows, and how it continues to test rankings to encourage more viewing

Discussion: Streamfunc, @blackamazon, @tvmojoe and @vulture

Matt Pearce / Los Angeles Times:
A look at the Ambies, Podcast Academy's annual podcast awards whose nominees across 23 categories were chosen by 100+ members, ahead of its inaugural show

Discussion: @stephenwilson, @davewiner, @mattdpearce, @laura_nelson, @neddonovan, @teddwoods, @mattdpearce and @latimes

Manish Singh / TechCrunch:
Amazon launches miniTV, an ad-supported free video streaming service that is available within the Amazon shopping app in India

Discussion: TNW, @yourstoryco, @amazonin, @sub8u, @8ap and The Verge

The Intercept:
The Intercept stands by its reporting on Gab and “Riot Squad”, after it was accused of doxxing conservative journalists, says its reporters have been harassed

Discussion: @jeremyscahill, @therealhoarse, @ryanlcooper, @jeremyscahill, @natsecgeek, @ijbailey, @ggreenwald, @richiemcginniss, @jasonrantz, @malcolmnance and @shoq

Jack Crosbie / Discourse Blog:
In internal meeting, CEO Meredith Levien defended NYT's refusal to voluntarily recognize The NYT Tech Guild, saying its members are tech people, not journalists

Discussion: @jscros, @backspace, @awinston, @mcallguild, @k_gillespie, @baekdal, @zagatam, @pilhofer, nyguild.org and @kathyvsinternet

From Techmeme:

Kent Walker / The Keyword:
Google says the DOJ's “wildly overbroad proposal goes miles beyond the Court's decision”, would hurt US consumers, and jeopardize the US' global tech leadership

Jay Peters / The Verge:
Adam Mosseri says Threads is rebalancing ranking to prioritize content from people that users follow, warns that creators' “unconnected” reach may go down

Paige Smith / Bloomberg:
The CFPB will supervise tech companies with digital wallets, like Apple Pay, Google Pay, and Venmo, with 50M+ annual transactions, treating them more like banks

Sister Sites:

Techmeme
Top news and commentary for technology's leaders, from all around the web

memeorandum
What US political commentators are discussing online right now

WeSmirch
The top celebrity news from all around the web on a single page