Mediagazer: Ex-American Media CEO David Pecker was the first witness at Trump's hush money trial, as prosecutors outline National Enquirer's role in “catch and kill” scheme (Sean Piccoli/Deadline)

4:15 PM ET, April 22, 2024

Top News:

Sean Piccoli / Deadline:

Ex-American Media CEO David Pecker was the first witness at Trump's hush money trial, as prosecutors outline National Enquirer's role in “catch and kill” scheme — UPDATE: David Pecker, the former CEO of the celebrity magazine and tabloid company American Media, was first witness today …

Ian Youngs / BBC:

Huw Edwards, the BBC news anchor who has been off air since July 2023 after reports that he paid a young person for explicit images, resigns on “medical advice” — Huw Edwards has presented major national events for the BBC including general elections and the funeral of Queen Elizabeth II

Ben Smith / Semafor:

Sources: Axel Springer sees the WSJ as a “top acquisition target”; CEO Mathias Döpfner pushed to fire BI's Nic Carlson after Bill Ackman's pushback on coverage — The WELT-Wirtschaftsgipfel is a major moment in the German business calendar — and in particular for its host, the media giant Axel Springer.

Discussion: @jonathan_miller, @tomaxwell, @pauldemko, @nkulw, @shakeelhashim, @froomkin, @semaforben, @froomkin, @parismartineau, @maxwelltani and @corbinhiar

Washington Post:

Analysis: the 25 most-cited US news organizations lost 75% of their Facebook user engagement and 58% of their Instagram interactions between Q1 2022 and Q1 2024 — Waves of layoffs and policy shifts are forcing campaigns to change tactics, potentially transforming the 2024 election

Discussion: @mishasal22, @csmap_nyu, @rpark1013, @blackamazon and @beneltham, more at Techmeme »

Alex Sherman / CNBC:

Memo: Aaron LaBerge, the CTO of Disney Entertainment and ESPN, will leave the company after June for personal reasons, to become the CTO of Penn Entertainment — The Walt Disney company logo is displayed on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange during morning trading on Dec. 1, 2023.

Discussion: The Hill, The Desk, The Wrap, Variety, Wall Street Journal, Deadline, Tv Technology, @sherman4949 and The Hollywood Reporter

Cuyler Dunn / The Lawrence Times:

How high school student journalists convinced a district in Kansas to remove their files from an AI surveillance system, saying it violated their press rights — Journalism students at Lawrence High School have convinced the school district to remove their files from the purview …

Discussion: Kansas Reflector, @daveleebbg@threads.net and @ctdunn7

Matt Burgess / Wired:

Researchers: files on a misconfigured North Korean server hint local animators worked on upcoming Prime Video and HBO Max TV shows, possibly via a Chinese front — Thousands of exposed files on a misconfigured North Korean server hint at one way the reclusive country may evade international sanctions.

Discussion: The Desk, @mattburgess@infosec.exchange, @GossiTheDog@cyberplace.social, Reuters, @martyn_williams, @mgkarayan, @coneee, @rastilin@aus.social, @martyn_williams, @skybound, @38northnk, @aptwhatnow, @martyn_williams, @zackwhittaker@mastodon.social and @mrjeffu, more at Techmeme »

Lucas Shaw / Bloomberg:

The hangover from the Hollywood strikes has lasted longer than anyone anticipated, as studios, networks, and streaming services simply aren't buying as much — Everyone was supposed to get back to work once two strikes concluded last year, but the hangover has been longer than anyone anticipated.

Discussion: @empirecitybo, @back_the_bbc, @ashkan and @lucas_shaw

Alexandra Topping / The Guardian:

The BBC plans to invest £6M in AI to make its educational offering BBC Bitesize more personalized and interactive, hoping to attract future licence fee payers — Hopes investment to make Bitesize more personalised and interactive will attract future licence-fee payers

Discussion: Patrick Fordham on LinkedIn, @sauthoff.bsky.social, Mark Ashmore on LinkedIn and Richard Graham on LinkedIn

Nilay Patel / The Verge:

Newsletter service Ghost says it plans to add ActivityPub support in 2024; rival service Buttondown also plans ActivityPub support — Interoperable social media is having a real moment — Open platforms keep gaining support out there — newsletter platform Ghost just published what amounts …

Discussion: TechCrunch, @remkusdevries, @buttondown, @ghost, @davewiner and @bsletten@mastodon.social

Andrew Marchand / The Athletic:

Sources: NBA is seeking new contracts that are at least a decade long with streaming as the main distribution method; Amazon Prime Video, Peacock are contenders — In TV rights negotiations, the NBA is seeking new decade-long — or longer — contracts that will alter how it traditionally delivers games …

Discussion: Mediaite, The Streamable, The Hill, USA Today, SportsPro, Awful Announcing, Sports Media Watch, @andrewmarchand and Sportico

Charlotte Tobitt / Press Gazette:

ITV News hires Newsnight deputy editor Becky Emmett as head of its streaming service ITVX for ITV News, replacing Chris Achilleos, who left last month — Newsnight deputy editor Becky Emmett is joining ITV News amid an overhaul of the BBC programme. — Emmett, who was Newsnight's co …

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