Mediagazer: Trump says that if he's elected, Russia would release WSJ reporter Evan Gershkovich; the Kremlin denies any contact between Putin and Trump on the matter (Wall Street Journal)

1:40 PM ET, May 24, 2024

Top News:

Carpenter Media acquires 10 newspapers in Alabama and Georgia and a Georgia printing facility from Community Newspaper Holdings — The Carpenter Media Group announced Thursday it has acquired the Dalton Daily Citizen in North Georgia as part of an acquisition of 10 newspapers and a Valdosta …

Discussion: Editor and Publisher, The Tribune-Democrat and Media Nation

Wall Street Journal:

Trump says that if he's elected, Russia would release WSJ reporter Evan Gershkovich; the Kremlin denies any contact between Putin and Trump on the matter — Kremlin says Russian leader isn't in contact with former U.S. president about journalist — Former President Donald Trump …

Discussion: Washington Post, Newser, Mediaite, The Guardian, @dicktofel, New York Times, Metro.co.uk, Reuters, The Atlantic, New Jersey Online, The Daily Beast and The Hill

Dominic Ponsford / Press Gazette:

UK passes the Media Bill, repealing the not-yet-enacted Section 40 of the Crime and Courts Act, which required publishers to pay all court costs, win or lose — The Media Bill has been passed removing the threat of state-backed press regulation and modernising broadcasting regulations for the streaming age.

Dominic Ponsford / Press Gazette:
A bill strengthening the CMA, UK's competition watchdog, heads toward approval; the CMA could push tech giants to pay publishers for news linked on their sites

Discussion: AppleInsider, TechCrunch and Game Developer

The Hollywood Reporter:

Paramount and Charter reach a new multiyear carriage deal, adding the ad-supported versions of Paramount+ and BET+ for free to Charter subscribers later in 2024 — The news comes at a critical moment for the entertainment company.

Discussion: StreamTV Insider, The Streamable, MediaPost, Reuters, Los Angeles Times, WORLD SCREEN, The Desk, Charter Communications, Inc., Variety, Media Play News, Next TV, Cord Cutters News, Deadline, The Wrap and Benzinga

Hanaa' Tameez / Nieman Lab:

Documented, which covers immigration in New York City, experiments with posts on Nextdoor to reach Caribbean immigrants and uses WeChat and WhatsApp for others — “We are bringing onto this platform — where people usually talk about their lost cat or that they're looking for an apartment …

Todd Spangler / Variety:

Leave the World Behind was the most-watched title on Netflix globally in H2 2023, with 121M views, while One Piece was the most-watched series, with 71.6M views — Dystopian thriller “Leave the World Behind” was the most-watched film — and title overall — on Netflix globally in the second half of 2023 …

Janko Roettgers / Lowpass:

Comparisons between streaming bundles and the cable bundle are misplaced: the latter was much more expensive and had channels viewers didn't want and junk fees — Like comparing apples to a $125 fruit salad — In light of this week's news that Comcast is now offering a bundle of Netflix …

Variety:

Sony India's head NP Singh plans to step down months after merger with Zee collapsed, citing age and personal reasons; Singh has been with SPNI for 25 years — NP Singh, the well-respected head of Sony's entertainment businesses in India, is to step down. — The announcement was made on Friday local time.

Discussion: Deadline

Lucas Shaw / Bloomberg:

Sources: Alphabet and Meta have talked to Hollywood studios about licensing content for AI video generation tools; Disney and Netflix aren't willing to license — - Studios seek to harness AI's promise without losing control — Warner weighs licensing content; Disney, Netflix say no

Ted Johnson / Deadline:

Media Matters lays off over a dozen staffers, citing its defense against legal action and the shifting media landscape — Media Matters for America, the progressive watchdog journalism organization, underwent a round of layoffs today, as its president cited the shifting media landscape as well as its defense against legal action.

Discussion: Breitbart, The Daily Beast, @revrrlewis, @joekatz45, @mollytaft, @alexpattyy, @bad_takes, @mount_bees, @abughazalehkat, @ahmedbaba_, @nikkimcr, @taylorlorenz, @jaredlholt, The Wrap, Dylan MacNevin on LinkedIn, New York Post and Mediaite

Ashley Carman / Bloomberg:

Ben Smith and Nayeema Raza plan to launch Mixed Signals, a podcast about media, on May 31, sponsored by Google and available as audio-only and on YouTube — Sponsored by Google, the show will be available as an audio-only production and as a video offering on YouTube — Welcome back to Soundbite.

Discussion: @brianstelter, @mattdpearce@threads.net, @semafor@threads.net and Billboard

Etan Vlessing / The Hollywood Reporter:

Lionsgate Q4: a net loss of $39.5M vs. a loss of $96.8M a year ago, overall revenue of $1.117B; Starz had 12.59M streaming subscribers, down from 12.63M in Q3 — The latest quarterly earnings follows a spin of its studio business into a separately traded company, Lionsgate Studios.

Discussion: WORLD SCREEN, The Wrap, Media Play News, Variety, Deadline and Lionsgate

Archived Page Info:

This is a snapshot of Mediagazer at 1:40 PM ET, May 24, 2024.

View the current page or another snapshot:

Who's Hiring in Media?

Output Producer, CA — AP

China Markets Correspondent, Shanghai — Reuters

Senior Assignment Editor, DC — WaPo

Breaking News Editor, Tokyo — Bloomberg

Senior Correspondent - Wealth, NY — WSJ

Reporter - Ottawa Bureau — Globe & Mail

Local Government Reporter, IA — The Gazette

Research Director, CA — OCBJ

Immigration Enforcement Reporter — Documented

Presque Island Reporter, ME — Bangor Daily News

Contributing Parks Ed. - SW, CA — SFGATE

AI Content Editor, WA — Outlier

Legislative Reporter, TN — Daily Memphian

Editorial Assistant, Remote US — Launch Potato

Elon Musk Reporter, NY or CA — The Information

Government & Politics Editor, WA — Seattle Times

Business & GA Reporter. VT — VTDigger

Sports Reporter, WA — Everett Herald

Energy Reporter, TX — Houston Chronicle

Senior Reporter, SC — Island Packet

Trade & Climate Correspondent, DC — FT

Reporter, WI — Racine County Eye

Political Newsletter Writer, CO — The Lever

Jackson Reporter, MS — Verite

Music Editor, AZ — Phoenix New Times

Breaking News Reporter, NV — Las Vegas Sun

Fearless Reporter/Producer, IA — BPC

Reporter II - Technology, Remote — NPR

Editor, Remote US — Daily Kos

City Reporter, WA — Tacoma News Tribune

Executive Editor, OR — Lookout Local

Education & Budget Reporter, CA — Politico

Senior Writer/Editor, FL — Gulfshore Business

Media Editor, Remote — Axios

Add your company here

See Also:

Mediagazer: site main

Mediagazer River: reverse chronological Mediagazer

Mediagazer Mobile: for phones

Mediagazer Leaderboard: Mediagazer's top sources

Subscribe:

Mediagazer RSS feed

Mediagazer on X

Mediagazer on Mastodon

More News:

Selena Kuznikov / Variety:
Hollywood Commission, an advocacy organization chaired by Anita Hill, launches MyConnext, a website for entertainment industry workers to report workplace abuse

Discussion: IndieWire, The Wrap, Rolling Stone, Deadline, The Hollywood Reporter and Los Angeles Times

Pete Brown / Columbia Journalism Review:
An overview of existing deals between news publishers and AI companies and the questions they raise regarding long-term costs, the selection process, and more

Discussion: News Corp, @jonkeegan@mastodon.social, @nw@ioc.exchange, Press Gazette, City A.M., The Register, VentureBeat, Washington Post, Benzinga, MediaPost and Wall Street Journal

CNBC:
The DOJ and 30 state AGs sue Ticketmaster parent company Live Nation to break it up, alleging “anticompetitive conduct to exercise its monopolistic control”

Associated Press:
Michael Schumacher's family wins its legal case against German tabloid Die Aktuelle that published an AI-generated interview with Schumacher in April 2023

Discussion: Press Gazette, The Information, Decrypt, The US Sun, RTÉ and GB News

Sapna Maheshwari / New York Times:
TikTok limits the spread of videos from state-affiliated media outside their home countries and disrupted 15 influence operations in 2024, including from China

Discussion: The Verge, Washington Post, TikTok and Bloomberg

Earlier Picks:

Jeremy Gan / Dexerto:
Linus Tech Tips, accused in August 2023 of theft, ethical lapses, and sexual harassment, says an outside investigation found the claims were “largely unfounded”

Discussion: @linustech and Benzinga

Jacob Gallagher / Wall Street Journal:
Sources: revenue for watch enthusiast website Hodinkee fell to ~$70M in 2023 from ~$100M in 2021, amid accusations of mismanagement as the watch market crashed

Discussion: @wsj, Benjamin Clymer on LinkedIn, @aforjaz@threads.net and @simondowens@threads.net

Oliver Darcy / CNN:
WaPo CEO Will Lewis outlines plans for Post Pro and Post Plus subscriptions, and “flexible payments” to let readers make a one-time payment for reading a story

Discussion: Media Voices, Breitbart, The Wrap, @carnage4life@mas.to, @sarafischer, Poynter, Washington Post, @oliverdarcy@threads.net and @maxwelltani

Liz Neisloss / GBH:
Boston-based public media outlet GBH announced layoffs of 31 staff members, or 4% of its workforce, with roughly 10% of its news staff among those laid off

Discussion: KQED, Inside Radio, @nikdecostaklipa, Media Nation, The Boston Globe, @brianstorms@mastodon.social and Current

Amanda Meade / The Guardian:
Sources: News Corp's Rebekah Brooks and Robert Thomson joined Lachlan Murdoch in Sydney for meetings ahead of a major restructuring announcement next week

Discussion: Sydney Morning Herald, @onyadon, @mikecarlton01, @pressgazette and Dave Earley on LinkedIn

From Techmeme:

Paresh Dave / Wired:
Google says it wouldn't force its device makers, browser, and wireless carrier licensees to distribute Gemini to US users for three years, in a proposed remedy

Reuters:
Albania bans TikTok for a year from January 2025, part of a broader plan to make schools safer following the killing of a 14-year-old near a school in November

Satviki Sanjay / Bloomberg:
A look at India's quick food delivery market as Swiggy and Zomato enter the sector; report: online food delivery market in India to reach $15B by March 2029

Sister Sites:

Techmeme
Top news and commentary for technology's leaders, from all around the web

memeorandum
What US political commentators are discussing online right now

WeSmirch
The top celebrity news from all around the web on a single page