Top News:
New York Times:
Paramount reaches a $1.62B deal to sell Simon & Schuster to private equity firm KKR; the prestigious US publisher was first put up for sale in March 2020 — The deal, for $1.62 billion, will put control of a cultural touchstone in the hands of a financial buyer.
Discussion:
Variety, Wall Street Journal, New York Times, Associated Press, NPR, Business Wire, UPI, New York Daily News, The Hollywood Reporter, CNBC, Forbes, @thewrap, @maris.bsky.social, Publishers Weekly, @mariskreizman, Los Angeles Times, @sarangshah@mastodon.social, @danprimack, @benmullin, @harikunzru, The Wrap, @kerrymflynn, @mike_jung, @mariskreizman, Financial Times, @annaknicolaou, Graphic Policy, CNN, @kwharrison13, @mattlibrarian.bsky.social, Publishing Perspectives, The Wrap, @samhainnight@mstdn.social, CBS News, MediaPost, Bloomberg and The Bookseller
Max Tani / Semafor:
Sources: the NYT placed Baghdad bureau chief Jane Arraf on leave earlier in 2023 during a probe into her possible misuse of funds, like overpaying non-US staff — The Scoop — The New York Times fired its second Baghdad bureau chief in five years in a bizarre saga that has infuriated some of the paper's staff in the Middle East.
Alex Sherman / CNBC:
Sources: WBD is targeting the beginning of the MLB playoffs to debut a sports tier for Max, planning to use the Bleacher Report brand to target young audiences — - Warner Bros. Discovery plans to simulcast live games on cable TV and Max streaming in October.
Financial Times:
A profile of German millionaire Holger Friedrich, who has been engulfed by controversies since acquiring and leading a turnaround of the daily Berliner Zeitung — East German entrepreneur has been engulfed by a string of controversies since buying historic Berliner Zeitung
Discussion:
@laurapitel, @a_reader_ft, @rubenanguiano and @tonytassell
The Ringer:
Apple is “out-HBOing” HBO with quality scripted content filled with marquee casts, but its dividends in viewership, subscriptions, and revenue are murkier — Apple TV+ has amassed a rich library of original content in less than four years—with the awards season nominations to prove it.
Discussion:
@shermanjeff, @sarthakgh, @tvgrimreaper, @serenepapenfuss, @nycsouthpaw, @peterschorschfl, @joshschoen and Bloomberg, more at Techmeme »
Chris Lee / Vulture:
A group of 50+ Marvel VFX employees votes to be represented by IATSE, marking the first time VFX professionals have banded together to form a union — Call it the Hollywood-labor-organizing version of Avengers Assemble! On the heels of more than a year's worth of damning disclosures around …
Discussion:
Variety, The Hollywood Reporter, @stevie_mat, @glennf@twit.social, SlashFilm, Los Angeles Times, @darren_mooney, @oweeeeendennis.bsky.social, @elenaperez@mastodon.social, Bloomberg, @parismarx, @__chrislee, @rocketdyke@yellowmustard.club, CNN, The Wrap, IndieWire, @hypercubexl.bsky.social, @henrytcasey, The A.V. Club, Gizmodo, Collider, @rodhilton@mastodon.social, Deadline, @labuzamovies.bsky.social, Screen Rant and ET Canada
New York Times:
Shoddy self-published guidebooks, which appear to be compiled with the help of generative AI and promoted via deceptive reviews, are proliferating on Amazon — In March, as she planned for an upcoming trip to France, Amy Kolsky, an experienced international traveler who lives in Bucks County …
Dominic Ponsford / Press Gazette:
UK broadcast regulator Ofcom launches four impartiality investigations into GB News, after upholding two Mark Steyn COVID-19 coverage complaints earlier in 2023 — Broadcaster faces four Ofcom investigations over impartiality. — GB News is facing four new impartiality investigations from broadcast regulator Ofcom.
Sapna Maheshwari / New York Times:
After social media upended the fashion, beauty, and lifestyle magazine industries, some women turn to Facebook Groups and Substack for curated recommendations — People still want to know what to wear and what is actually worth buying — and they want to trust the person telling them.
Amanda Silberling / TechCrunch:
Prosecraft, a site which compiled 27K+ books to compare and rank the “vividness” of their language, shuts down after writers' backlash over its possible AI uses — On Monday morning, numerous writers woke up to learn that their books had been uploaded and scanned into a massive dataset without their consent.
Jon Henley / The Guardian:
Over half of the journalists at France-based Sunday newspaper Le Journal du Dimanche resign after their strike didn't prevent the arrival of a far-right editor — Bitter strike at Journal du Dimanche ends with staff exodus - and arrival of Geoffroy Lejeune, a supporter of leading xenophobe Eric Zemmour
Discussion:
@helfriedcarl, @nycjim, @photos_floues@bagarrosphere … and @ariadne@climatejustice.social
Lesley Goldberg / Hollywood Reporter:
NBCUniversal makes the first three Killing It Season 1 episodes available on YouTube and TikTok, as SAG-AFTRA's strike bars its stars from promoting Season 2 — Without star Craig Robinson to promote the return for season two, NBCUniversal is turning to other alternatives.
Discussion:
The Streamable, TechCrunch, Deadline and UPI
Accounting Specialist Editor, Remote US — 
Senior Correspondent - Wealth, NY — 
Asia Credit Reporter, Seoul — 
Senior Social Media Specialist, NC — 
Associate Editor - Aviation, TN — 
Assistant Editor - Digital, NC — 
Video Producer - YouTube, NY — 
Senior Managing Ed. - Daily Desk — 
Multimedia Journalist, CA — 
Content Managing Editor — 
Editor, MA — 
Team Editor - Breaking News, ON — 
Senior Reporter & Event Host, NY/CA — 
Associate Editor, Remote — 
Retail Reporter, MN — 
Managing Ed. - Berks County, PA — 
News Editor - UK, Remote — 
News Reporter, MA — 
Multimedia Journalist, PA — 
Service Journalism Editor, CA — 
Content Director, Remote — 
Los Angeles Issues Reporter, CA — 
Reporter - Middle East — 
Executive Editor, OR — 
California Playbook Writer, CA — 
Senior Media Editor — 
National Investigative Reporter, NY — 
Lexington County Reporter, SC — 
Reporter - Offshore Wind — 
General Assignment Reporter, FL — 
Staff Reporter, CA — 
Data Editor, NY — 
