Mediagazer: A Guatemalan court orders the release of journalist José Rubén Zamora, who was jailed for nearly two years on money laundering charges; he awaits a new trial (Sonia Pérez D./Associated Press)

2:40 PM ET, May 15, 2024

Top News:

Joe Biden proposes two debates with Trump, ditching the bipartisan commission that has conducted presidential debates since the late 1980s; Trump accepts — During recent weeks, both the Trump and Biden campaigns held behind-the-scenes talks about debate planning.

ABC News:

Joe Biden and Donald Trump agree to an ABC News presidential debate on September 10 — Biden challenged Trump to two debates, Trump said he's “ready and willing.” — President Joe Biden speaks at a campaign rally for Democratic gubernatorial candidate Wes Moore at Bowie State University on Nov. 7 …

Discussion: Mediaite, Associated Press, Deadline, The Hill, New York Post, Alabama Reflector, @dylanbyers, @maggienyt, @alexthomp, @joebiden, Breitbart, CNN and Al Jazeera

CNN:

CNN plans to host the Joe Biden and Donald Trump presidential debate in Georgia on June 27, after both accepted CNN's invitation — President Joe Biden said Wednesday that he's accepted an invitation from CNN to debate former President Donald Trump on June 27 - challenging the former president …

Washington Post:

Biden's debate proposal asks for broadcast networks that hosted GOP debates in 2016 and Democratic debates in 2020: CNN, ABC News, Telemundo, and CBS News — The president said he will not participate in the traditional televised showdowns organized by the Commission on Presidential Debates.

Discussion: Mediaite, @kaitlancollins, Fox News, @brookesingman, The Wrap, WCMH-TV, The Hill, Associated Press, New York Post, @brianstelter, @michaelscherer, @jmart, @brianstelter, @brianstelter and Forbes

Alex Weprin / The Hollywood Reporter:

Netflix strikes a three-year deal with the NFL to stream two new Christmas Day games this season, and “at least one game” in 2025 and in 2026 — The streaming giant lands the league's two new Christmas Day games, beginning this season. — Netflix will stream live NFL games, beginning this season.

Casey Newton / Platformer:

The arrival of AI search bodes ill for everyone who relies on web search to have their business discovered, their blog post read, or their journalism funded — When Sundar Pichai took the stage at Google I/O on Tuesday morning, he said that the rise of generative artificial intelligence …

Oliver Darcy / CNN:

News/Media Alliance CEO Danielle Coffey says Google's AI Overviews rollout will be catastrophic, as the little traffic publishers get will be further diminished — Editor's Note: A version of this article first appeared in the “Reliable Sources” newsletter. Sign up for the daily digest chronicling the evolving media landscape here.

Discussion: News/Media Alliance

Jem Aswad / Variety:

The National Music Publishers Association sends a cease-and-desist letter to Spotify over its use of lyrics in its videos feature, remix tool, and more — Spotify was hit with a cease-and-desist letter from the National Music Publishers Assn. over its use of lyrics in its recently launched video function …

Discussion: Bumper, Rolling Stone, Billboard, 9to5Mac, Music Ally and CMU

Sonia Pérez D. / Associated Press:

A Guatemalan court orders the release of journalist José Rubén Zamora, who was jailed for nearly two years on money laundering charges; he awaits a new trial — A Guatemalan court ordered the release Wednesday of journalist José Rubén Zamora, jailed for nearly two years on money laundering charges.

Discussion: @pressfreedom and Committee to Protect …

Max Tani / Semafor:

NYT reporters are circulating a draft of an open letter to Joe Kahn, criticizing the editor over recent comments they said were dismissive of young reporters — The Scoop — New York Times reporters are circulating a draft of a letter to Joe Kahn, criticizing the paper's top editor …

Discussion: New York Post, @jayrosen_nyu, @emptywheel, @gregtsargent and @meyer_hm

New York Times:

Sources detail the tensions at NBC and its parent company Comcast over MSNBC's embrace of progressive politics, as NBC News strives to appeal to a mass audience — NBC's leaders have been forced to grapple with how to square its cable news network's embrace of progressive politics with the company's straight-news operation.

Discussion: @jeffjarvis@mastodon.social, @markhisted.org, @mrhoward.bsky.social and @jeffjarvis

Todd Spangler / Variety:

Bob Iger says Disney is “pretty dramatically” reducing its spending on traditional TV content and Disney+'s overinvestment “resulted in volume, not quality” — Company originally ‘invested too much’ in streaming content, which ‘resulted in volume, not quality,’

Discussion: The Hollywood Reporter

Annie Palmer / CNBC:

Amazon made its debut Upfronts pitch on May 14, competing with major media networks and highlighting its push beyond digital ads and into traditional media — Amazon has become a growing threat to digital ad incumbents Meta and Google, attracting billions of dollars a quarter from brands …

Discussion: @sherman4949, AdExchanger and Ad Age, more at Techmeme »

Mark Stenberg / Adweek:

Politico rolls out its first consumer registration wall, as part of Axel Springer's plans to gather more reader data to use for ad and product strategies — The publisher will use the data to inform its advertising and product strategies — The politics publisher Politico began the rollout …

Discussion: David Smydra on LinkedIn, @politicopress and Mark Stenberg on LinkedIn

Bron Maher / Press Gazette:

The New Yorker published an article about convicted child serial killer Lucy Letby in its UK print edition, after blocking the story online due to a court order — A New Yorker story revisiting the conviction of Lucy Letby has been published in the title's print and mobile app editions despite …

Discussion: @jon_allsop, ITV News and @jon_allsop

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Commissioning Editor - Practical Law — Reuters

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State Government Reporter, WA — Seattle Times

Climate Crisis Columnist — Prospect UK

Multimedia Journalist, CA — Paramount

Community Engagement Mgr., DC — Freedom Forum

Staff Writer - Business, NY — WIRED

Editor, MA — Nieman Reports

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More News:

Kate Knibbs / Wired:
Lineup Publishing says Deadspin will include “betting content” but insists the outlet won't become an SEO clickfarm, and restores deleted posts

Discussion: Awful Announcing

David Bauder / Associated Press:
An interview with veteran entertainment journalist Jed Rosenzweig about LateNighter, his news site and newsletter launched in February to follow late-night TV

Oliver Darcy / CNN:
Q&A with Nicholas Kristof on how security for foreign correspondents has changed, the need for more reporting and less punditry, protecting sources, and more

Discussion: Poynter

Michael Schneider / Variety:
Streamers are ordering linear-esque content, like procedurals and sitcoms, with 15- or 16-episode seasons, as they seek to avoid churn and emulate broadcasters

Discussion: Inside the Magic, H Schuster on LinkedIn, Morad Koufane on LinkedIn and Herman Phillips on LinkedIn

Clara Aberneithie / Press Gazette:
Interviews with journalists from BBC Russia, BBC Persia, and BBC Arabic about BBC World Service's 310 exiled journalists, fighting censorship, and more

Discussion: @bluechalkmedia

Ivan Mehta / TechCrunch:
Adam Mosseri says Threads “recently rolled out” its own fact-checking program after piggybacking on Instagram and Facebook's network for a few months

Discussion: Engadget and @mosseri@threads.net

Nidhi Subbaraman / Wall Street Journal:
Fake studies have flooded publishers of scientific journals, resulting in retractions and millions of dollars in lost revenue; Wiley plans to close 19 journals

Discussion: STAT, The Overspill, @ianrosewrites@scicomm.xyz, @Wolven@ourislandgeorgia.net and @cbecker@hci.social

Anthony DePalma / New York Times:
Canadian author Alice Munro, who won the Nobel Prize in Literature in 2013 and was referred to as “a master of the contemporary short story”, dies at 92

Earlier Picks:

Justin Baragona / The Daily Beast:
Sources: Jimmy Finkelstein met with potential investors to drum up interest in a new venture, which is in the planning stages, after The Messenger's failure

Discussion: @michaelroston and @mediaevan

Washington Post:
Eight TikTok creators sue the US government over the law forcing a sale or ban of TikTok, arguing the move violates their First Amendment rights

Discussion: New York Times, Engadget, The Hill, @yoda, @artofangles, @taylorlorenz, MediaNama, @taliacadet, CMU, Associated Press, CNBC, NBC News, Reuters, CBS News, The Verge, The Information, The Daily Beast, Bloomberg, MarTech, NPR and Techdirt, more at Techmeme »

Ty Pendlebury / CNET:
Google unveils Music AI Sandbox, a suite of music tools that include the ability to create loops via text, without disclosing when it will be publicly available

Discussion: Music Business Worldwide, Music Ally, @facesofhaiti_, @reach_vb, @googledeepmind, @googledeepmind, @aggualaqisaaq@mastodon …, BGR and Engadget

Jeffrey Dastin / Reuters:
YouTube says it will comply with a Hong Kong court order to block 32 video links, after the government sought to ban the Glory to Hong Kong protest anthem

Discussion: Reuters, Hong Kong Free Press HKFP, City A.M., Music Ally, Voice of America, CNN, Financial Times, Associated Press, New York Times and Bloomberg

Neel Dhanesha / Nieman Lab:
Q&A with NPR's David Folkenflik and Floodlight's Miranda Green on uncovering how The Richmond Standard, a local newspaper, was set up as Chevron's mouthpiece

Discussion: American Press Institute, @davidfolkenflik, @sarahscire, @dabeard, @twrling@sfba.social and @michellemanafy@journa.host

Lauren Forristal / TechCrunch:
Reddit launches new tools for its Ask Me Anything Q&A feature, including a dedicated AMA tab, support for up to five guest hosts, and promotional options

Discussion: Reddit Upvoted

Ashley Capoot / CNBC:
Reddit's stock closed up 7.13% on May 14, as posts on r/WallStreetBets drive a meme stocks rally; GameStop closed up 60.10% and AMC up 31.98%

Discussion: Quartz, New York Post, Axios, Fox Business, CBS News, Rolling Stone, Fast Company, CityNews Toronto, Know Your Meme, New York Times, USA Today, IGN and Financial Times

Kayla Cobb / The Wrap:
Nielsen launches The Media Distributor Gauge, showing TV usage ranked by company: Disney accounted for 11.5% of TV viewing in April, YouTube accounted for 9.6%

Discussion: Nielsen, MediaPost, Adweek, Amit Ghorawat on LinkedIn, Radio & Television …, Brian Fuhrer on LinkedIn, Deadline, The Hollywood Reporter, Wall Street Journal and Forbes

From Techmeme:

Mark Gurman / Bloomberg:
How Tim Cook may navigate Trump's presidency, a closer look at Apple's upcoming smart home command center, sources detail a new AirTag coming in 2025, and more

The Information:
Sources: in recent months, Nvidia has asked its suppliers to change the design of server racks for Blackwell GPUs several times to overcome overheating problems

Nextgov/FCW:
Sources: CISA's director Jen Easterly and deputy director Nitin Natarajan plan to leave the agency on January 20, 2025, the day Trump will be inaugurated

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