Top News:
Alex Weprin / The Hollywood Reporter:
Don Lemon says Elon Musk canceled The Don Lemon Show's partnership with X, hours after taping an interview with Musk on March 8 for the show's debut episode — The former CNN host interviewed the tech mogul last week, with the chat set to be the launch episode of his new ‘Don Lemon Show.’
Discussion:
@karaswisher, @elonmusk, Axios, Mediaite, The Verge, Fox News, @xbusiness, New York Post, @donlemon, Variety, @karaswisher, @karaswisher, Deadline, Us Weekly, The Hill, Quartz, @kurtwagner8, The Daily Beast, @pkafka@threads.net, @kurtwagner8, @brianstelter, UPROXX, The Guardian, @crumbler@threads.net, Business Insider, @GossiTheDog@cyberplace.social, Rolling Stone, @dylanbyers, Los Angeles Times, @helenkennedy.bsky.social, Engadget, CNN, @karaswisher, Wall Street Journal, HuffPost, Newser, TMZ.com, Page Six, Fast Company, @kurtbardella, @brianstelter, The Daily Dot, @charlesarthur, Bloomberg, CBS News, MediaPost, The Wrap, Reuters, Consequence, Vibe, TVLine, TechCrunch, The Wrap and NewsNation, more at Techmeme »
RELATED:
Max Tani / Semafor:
Sources: Don Lemon had not technically inked an X contract before Elon Musk killed the deal; Lemon plans to post his interview with Musk on March 18 on YouTube — The Scoop — Elon Musk and Don Lemon are escalating towards what could be a bitter contract dispute after X's owner abruptly terminated …
Cristiano Lima-Strong / Washington Post:
The US House passes a bipartisan TikTok bill that forces a sale or ban of the app; the legislation faces an uncertain Senate path without a companion measure — The swift rebuke shifts attention to the Senate, where the bill faces significant political barriers and constitutional concerns
Discussion:
@tiktokpolicy, The Verge, New York Times, Mediaite, The Hill, Semafor, Business Insider, Fox News, NPR, The Hill, Engadget, CNN, @jakesherman, @alexbarinka, @matthewstoller, @jakesherman, PCMag, Digital Music News, WSPA 7NEWS, @repmtg, USA Today, @mikeisaac, The Information, @parismarx@mastodon.online, @mattdizwhitlock, @repjeffduncan, @adamkovac, Music Business Worldwide, @bostonjoan, @tomselliott, @davetroy, @sahilkapur, Yahoo News, @repmcgovern, NBC News, @howardmortman, @boblatta, @conorsen, @mikeisaac, The Drum, W Media Research, CBS News, @ally_sammarco, @mtracey, @axiospro, @jason_kint, @reppfluger, @committeeonccp, @sachalouise, @emilybell, @govgianforte, @igorbobic, @kateclarktweets, @jacobhelberg, Across Illinois, IL Patch, Cherie Thacker on LinkedIn, @senmarkey, TMZ.com, @jonhaidt, The Independent, @carnage4life, @randpaul, @repthomasmassie, @stephenkentx, @jakesherman, New York Post, @matthewstoller, @willoremus, @repjames, @jingjing_li, @tiktokpolicy, @repdanbishop, @aoc, @carnage4life, @senmarcorubio, @cspan, @mkraju, @atrupar, @jwherrman, @repspanberger, GSMArena.com, @sahilkapur, Forbes, Louisiana Illuminator, Ars Technica, 9to5Mac, Washington Post, Rolling Stone, The Verge, Billboard, The Wrap, The Guardian, Engadget, Polygon, @darnell@one.darnell.one, @willoremus@mastodon.social, Axios, Financial Times, TechCrunch, Variety, UPI, MediaPost, iMore, Digiday, The Daily Beast, Reuters, Chico Enterprise-Record, Punchbowl News and Ars OpenForum, more at Techmeme »
Manish Singh / TechCrunch:
Filing: Paramount Global has agreed to sell its 13% stake in Indian media house Viacom18 to Reliance for $517M, raising Reliance's stake to 70.49% — Paramount Global has reached a binding agreement to sell its 13% stake in Reliance-controlled Indian media firm Viacom18 to Reliance for $517 million, both companies said Wednesday.
Discussion:
Bloomberg, Reliance Industries, WORLD SCREEN, The Wrap, Deadline, @tim_bays, The Hollywood Reporter, Reuters and Variety
The Moscow Times:
Kremlin-linked RIA Novosti says Russia has charged Mikhail Zygar, former EIC of broadcaster Dozhd, with spreading “fake news” about Russian army atrocities — Russian authorities have pressed criminal charges against journalist Mikhail Zygar for spreading “fake news” …
Discussion:
Newmark J-School, @newmarkjschool, @k_sonin, @brizzyc, @newmarkjschool and @zygaro
Shirin Ghaffary / Bloomberg:
OpenAI announces partnerships with Le Monde and Prisa Media to bring French and Spanish language news content to ChatGPT and help train OpenAI's models — The startup has made a global effort to reach licensing agreements with publishers. — OpenAI has inked licensing deals …
Discussion:
@aifray, @eduardosuarez, Le Monde.fr, @shiringhaffary, @tolgabilge_, @risj_oxford, Reuters and OpenAI, more at Techmeme »
Bloomberg:
Sources: Disney is focusing on divisional heads Dana Walden, Jimmy Pitaro, Josh D'Amaro, and Alan Bergman in a search for an eventual successor to CEO Bob Iger — Walt Disney Co.'s board is focusing on four divisional heads as part of a formal search for an eventual successor …
Discussion:
@tvgrimreaper
Jane Croft / The Guardian:
The UK plans legislation to “ban foreign state ownership, influence, or control” of UK newspapers and magazines, which could thwart Redbird's Telegraph takeover — New legislation could thwart planned £600m purchase of newspaper group by UAE-backed consortium
Discussion:
Mediaite, Semafor, The Independent, Financial Times and Press Gazette
Zeynep Tufekci / New York Times:
The UK media's extreme deference over covering Kate Middleton during her medical absence highlights its double standards in its Meghan Markle coverage — “Where Is Kate Middleton?” yet another headline blared on Monday. The public speculation following her unspecified abdominal surgery …
Discussion:
New York Post, @ron_fournier, @nikkigemmell, @emayhawk, Axios, The Daily Beast, Vox and Los Angeles Times
Zac Ntim / Deadline:
Argentina's far-right government claims to have found a $4M deficit in the INCAA film body's budget and pushes through controversial plans to cut state funding — The government of Javier Milei, Argentina's far-right leader, has pushed through highly controversial plans to defund all state funding …
Discussion:
Variety
Corey Hutchins / Nieman Lab:
The National Trust for Local News bought a used printing press and plans to move it to Denver to handle printing for Colorado Community Media's newspapers — “Demand has gone down for printed newspapers, but the supply chain for providing newspapers in a printed format is collapsing faster …
Chris Eggertsen / Billboard:
Neil Young brings his music back to Spotify after requesting its removal in January 2022, saying “Apple and Amazon have started serving the same disinformation” — Neil Young is bringing his music back to Spotify more than two years after requesting its removal from the platform …
Discussion:
NYA Times Contrarian, RAIN News, Engadget, Gizmodo, Inside Radio, Us Weekly, @bgurley, Music Business Worldwide, Lefsetz Letter, New York Post, Los Angeles Times, Fortune, Business Insider, Fox News, Digital Music News, FOX 7 Austin, @gyokusai@mastodon.social, CMU, Wall Street Journal, @fivetimesaugust, @fivetimesaugust, @popcrave, @rollingstone, 9to5Mac, AppleInsider, The Guardian, BBC, Deadline, The Daily Beast, @tommylightfootgarrett …, Variety, The Wrap, The Hollywood Reporter, UPROXX, The A.V. Club, @elsandifer.bsky.social, Consequence, @bowiesongs.bsky.social and Rolling Stone