Top News:
Michael M. Grynbaum / New York Times:
Sources: ABC, CBS, CNN, NBC, and Fox News draft a letter urging President Biden and former President Trump to do televised debates ahead of the election — Speculation has swirled in the political world about whether the presumptive candidates will agree to the traditional face-to-face events, a campaign staple since 1976.
Discussion:
Axios, @jeffjarvis@mastodon.social, CNN, Deadline, @jeffjarvis, The Desk, @brianstelter, @_hadasgold@threads.net, @GottaLaff@mastodon.social and HuffPost
Uri Berliner / The Free Press:
A 25-year veteran editor at NPR says an “open-minded spirit” no longer exists there and blames ex-CEO John Lansing's focus on race and identity starting in 2020 — Uri Berliner, a veteran at the public radio institution, says the network lost its way when it started telling listeners how to think.
Discussion:
NPR, Media Nation, JONATHAN TURLEY, Fox News, @jhweissmann, @jbenton, Fox News, The Wrap, @stevesi, @joshgerstein, @erikwemple, @joshshepperd, @ggreenwald, @josephwulfsohn, @ggreenwald, @petermoskos, @erikwemple, New York Post, @marcthiessen, @journostephen, @bariweiss, @stano.bsky.social, @gartenberg, @eyeslasho, @jflier, @erikwemple, @daveweigel, @erikwemple, @mattzollerseitz, @petermoskos, @olivia_reingold, @anton, @thehonestlypod, @stevemullis, @rubensteinadam, @erikwemple, @elonmusk, @rapsonenergy, @mccormickprof, @stevemullis, @rubensteinadam, @guypbenson, @ayaan, @airbagmoments, Mediaite, The Daily Beast, @mikeisaac, @chr1sa, @sfmcguire79, @jongreen.bsky.social, @stevemullis, @gundisalvus, @erikwemple, @maxwelltani, @CosmicTraveler@mastodon …, @benjaminmullin@threads.net, @zammer.bsky.social, Mark Achler on LinkedIn, @shockerbotany.bsky.social, @marychoe.bsky.social, Mediaite, @ikevin.bsky.social and The Daily Caller
Vince Morris / Washington City Paper:
An internal “traffic sheet” from a source shows the Washington Post website had ~55M monthly visits in February 2024, down 60% from ~140M visits in April 2020 — Newspapers across the country have experienced a drop in website traffic and circulation since Donald Trump left office …
Discussion:
@wcp, @vincentmorris and @paleofuture.bsky.social
Sara Fischer / Axios:
Robinhood launches its independent media brand Sherwood News, with Joshua Topolsky as editor-in-chief — - It plans to focus on ad sales before expanding to other revenue streams, like events. … The content produced by Sherwood is editorially independent, says Topolsky …
Discussion:
@walthickey, @ranimolla, @manvbrain, kottke.org, @nicolebarbosapr, @jbenton, Toby Bochan on LinkedIn, @joshuatopolsky and @loudmouthjulia
Christopher Palmeri / Bloomberg:
Comcast says it sold a record ~$1.2B in ads for the upcoming Summer Olympics and Paralympic Games in Paris, with $350M+ of the ad sales coming from new sponsors — The opening and closing ceremonies are sold out, according to a statement from Dan Lovinger, head of Olympics sales for Comcast's NBCUniversal …
Discussion:
Reuters, NBC Sports Pressbox, MediaPost, Sportico, Deadline, Variety and The Hollywood Reporter
Sara Fischer / Axios:
Puck acquires Artelligence, a Substack newsletter about the global art market with 32K free and paid subscribers; Puck now has 17 journalists and 12 newsletters — Puck has acquired Artelligence, a Substack newsletter about the global art market authored by veteran art director …
Axios:
BDG Media's Nylon will release its first physical magazine this month since stopping print editions in 2017; the company plans biannual editions going forward — The music-themed issue coincides with its annual “Nylon House” experience at the Coachella music festival this weekend.
Sara Fischer / Axios:
Campbell Brown, ex-Meta VP of media partnerships, becomes senior adviser for TollBit, a startup building a marketplace between AI companies and media outlets — Media veteran Campbell Brown is joining TollBit as a senior adviser, Brown told Axios. The startup is building a marketplace between AI companies and media outlets.
Discussion:
Campbell Brown on LinkedIn and Toshit Panigrahi on LinkedIn
Gene Maddaus / Variety:
SAG-AFTRA is pushing for a CA bill requiring detailed consent to use actors' digital replicas and another banning use of dead performers without heirs' consent — Would you buy a car from an AI chatbot? What if it looked and talked like Tom Hanks?
Discussion:
Gene Maddaus on LinkedIn and @virtualbri@mastodon.online
Sheena Vasani / The Verge:
Rakuten Kobo announces its first color e-readers, the $220 Kobo Libra Colour and the $150 Kobo Clara Colour, available for preorder now and shipping on April 30 — Rakuten Kobo is launching its first color e-readers, the Kobo Libra Colour and the Kobo Clara Colour.
Newshub:
WBD confirms plans to close its Newshub outlet in New Zealand on July 5, cutting ~300 jobs, leaving state-owned TVNZ with a near-monopoly on TV news production — Warner Bros. Discovery (WBD) has confirmed plans to close its Newshub news operation, as part of a wider restructuring …
Nicola Agius / Search Engine Land:
WPP announces a collaboration with Google, integrating Gemini AI tools with WPP data to create scripts, product images, and more for ad clients like Coca-Cola — The groundbreaking partnership implies Google's robots could begin creating ads for world-leading brands like Coca-Cola. — Chat with SearchBot
Discussion:
PRWeek, @carnage4life@mas.to, MediaPost, LifeHacker and The Media Leader, more at Techmeme »
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