Top News:
New York Times:
Sources: Sony and Apollo sign NDAs but back away from their $26B offer for Paramount's assets, partly due to Sony shareholders' concerns over streaming costs — The two companies have expressed interest in acquiring the media conglomerate, but are backing away from their $26 billion all-cash offer.
Discussion:
The Wrap, Deadline, @benmullin, @shanabellucy and Financial Times
Sarah Scire / Nieman Lab:
Q&A with New Yorker journalist Rachel Aviv on her Lucy Letby article, the cost of trial transcripts in the UK, the police documentary about the case, and more — “So much of the media coverage — and the trial itself — started at the point at which we've determined that [Lucy] …
Ivan Mehta / TechCrunch:
Reddit reintroduces the awards system it shut down in 2023, ends the replacement Golden Upvotes system, and expands its Contributor Program to 35 countries — Reddit announced on Wednesday that it is reintroducing its awards system after shutting down the program last year.
Discussion:
The Verge and r/reddit, more at Techmeme »
Evan Drellich / New York Times:
Source: Roku's Sunday morning MLB package is worth $30M over three years, but the MLB can earn more from ads; Peacock paid $30M/year for the package before — Major League Baseball's Sunday morning package on Roku, called “Sunday Leadoff,” is worth a total of $30 million over three years …
Discussion:
Sports Media Watch, @tvgrimreaper and Awful Announcing
Laura Wagner / Washington Post:
Seven Black and female Chicago Tribune journalists file a federal suit against Alden, claiming it has knowingly paid them less than White and male counterparts — It's the latest revolt by journalists at a newspaper owned by Alden Global Capital. — Chicago Tribune journalists filed suit Thursday …
Discussion:
Boing Boing, Chicago Sun Times, Chicago Tribune, @royalpratt, @ctguild, Associated Press and @jsmithrichards
Committee to Protect Journalists:
The CPJ led a coalition of media and civic groups urging the US DOJ to drop charges against WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange, who has a UK hearing on May 20 — The Committee to Protect Journalists led a coalition of civil society organizations urging the United States Department of Justice …
Discussion:
Sydney Criminal Lawyers
Hayley Wong / South China Morning Post:
The US says it is deeply concerned over reports that Zhang Zhan, imprisoned after covering COVID-19 in China, has disappeared after her expected prison release — - Zhang Zhan, arrested in 2020 after reporting on coronavirus in Wuhan, has not been heard from since her expected prison release date, advocates say
Discussion:
@statedeptspox, Daily Mail, UPI, BBC, @ameshaa and @angoffinet
Emily Tomasik / Pew Research Center:
Survey: 39% of Americans say it is at least somewhat important that they get news from journalists who share their political views — Most Americans say it is not important that the news they get comes from journalists who share their political views, age, gender or other traits.
Discussion:
@mediathoughts
Mia Sato / The Verge:
Memo: Gannett is adding AI-generated summaries to the top of some stories, with a disclaimer at the bottom; some USA Today stories already show the summaries — Gannett, the media company that owns hundreds of newspapers in the US, is launching a new program that adds AI-generated bullet points …
Discussion:
Dan Ackerman on LinkedIn, Futurism, @roc_howe, @rocnewsguild, @kennysmith@mstdn.social, @miasato.2@threads.net, Futurism and Digiday
Arasu Kannagi Basil / Reuters:
OpenAI and Reddit partner to bring Reddit content to OpenAI tools including ChatGPT via Reddit's Data API and to add AI features to Reddit; RDDT is up 12%+ — Reddit (RDDT.N) has partnered with OpenAI to bring the social media platform's content to popular chatbot ChatGPT …
Discussion:
The Verge, Joel Deutscher on LinkedIn, CNBC, Reddit Upvoted, Conan Hines on LinkedIn, Quartz, Ars Technica, Amanda Guisbond on LinkedIn, Sherwood News, The Register, Glenn Gabe on LinkedIn, Fast Company, Associated Press, @lilyraynyc, @mikeisaac, @kyliebytes, @andrewcurran_, @haydenfield, @shiringhaffary, @leanmediaorg, @kantrowitz, @ryanjones, @lilyraynyc, @reddit, @openai, @sipi@union.place, Search Engine Journal, Norman Brauns on LinkedIn, Reuters, Engadget, @juliancday@writing.exchange, Axios, Benzinga, @crumbler@threads.net, Wall Street Journal, VentureBeat, Bloomberg, The Hollywood Reporter and @aarongreenspan.com, more at Techmeme »
Benjamin Mullin / New York Times:
Sources: many NPR employees expressed anger or concern over the Backstop, a new layer of editors who will review all of NPR's journalism before it is released — Many employees have expressed concern that a new group of six editors called the Backstop will be unnecessary and slow down NPR's journalism.
Discussion:
NPR, Inside Radio, Columbia Journalism Review, @lowkell, @lydenfreeagent, @donlinn, @jayrosen_nyu, @obviousdwest@hachyderm.io and Current
Cade Metz / New York Times:
Two voice actors sue AI startup Lovo, saying it illegally used recordings of their voices to make audio clones without their permission; Lovo denies the claims — Two voice actors say an A.I. company created clones of their voices without their permission. Now they're suing.
Steven Waldman / @stevenwaldman:
The California Senate Appropriations Committee approves a bill imposing fees on Alphabet, Meta, and Amazon to pay for local news through employment tax credits — The California Senate Appropriations Committee minutes ago approved Sen. Glazer's bill to put a fee on Alphabet, Meta & Amazon to pay for reviving local news (through employment tax credits). 1st time such a fee would be dedicated to saving local news. https://www.rebuildlocalnews.org/ ...
Discussion:
@danibergstrom and @mattdpearce
RELATED:
Jon Campbell / Gothamist:
New York's $90M employment tax credit for local news outlets currently excludes publicly traded TV and radio companies as well as nonprofit news outlets
Discussion:
Variety, @wesleylowery, @nicdawes, @nicdawes, @baekdal, @vitalcitynyc, @civiletti, @nicdawes, @joncampbellny, @giambusso and @christrobbins
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