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Source: Nelson Peltz has sold his full Disney stake; in April, Peltz' Trian Partners lost a proxy battle after trying to elect Peltz and Jay Rasulo to the board — Activist investor Nelson Peltz has sold his entire stake in Disney, according to a person familiar with the matter.
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Axios, 24/7 Wall St., The Hollywood Reporter, Deadline, Yahoo Finance, New York Times, Gizmodo, Reuters, The Wrap and Variety
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The Atlantic and Vox Media sign multi-year licensing and product deals with OpenAI; The Atlantic plans an experimental Atlantic Labs with OpenAI tech — - The Atlantic has been publishing content since 1857. … - Both agreements also allow OpenAI to tap into the respective publishers' current content …
Discussion:
Columbia Journalism Review, Poynter, Engadget, Vox Media, @vox_union, The Atlantic, @stephentotilo, @vox_union, @nxthompson, @xpangler, @emilybell, @edmundlee, @pranavdixit, @rafat, @jeffjarvis, @tsuvik, @tomwarren, @nkulw, @edmundlee, @openai, VentureBeat, @attackerman.bsky.social, Bloomberg, @WarnerCrocker@mastodon.social, The Verge, @quillmatiq@threads.net, @daveleebbg@threads.net, @kylie.robison@threads.net, @reckless1280@threads.net, @jbillinson@threads.net, The Information, Variety, The Wrap, The Drum, @dandock.bsky.social, @dandock.bsky.social, The Hollywood Reporter, The Hill and @chrismvasq.bsky.social, more at Techmeme »
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An investigation finds seven Russian and Belarusian journalists and activists who were targeted and/or infected by Pegasus between August 2020 and January 2023 — Summary — In a joint investigation with Access Now, we found that seven Russian and Belarusian-speaking independent journalists …
Discussion:
The Guardian and Committee to Protect …
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Researchers: an ex-Florida deputy sheriff who received asylum in Russia is behind a growing network of 160+ fake news sites mimicking US, UK, and French outlets — In 2016, Russia used an army of trolls to interfere in the U.S. presidential election. This year, an American given asylum …
Discussion:
Media Nation, @davidcorndc, Florida Politics, @ecgreaves, The Overspill, @spaceyg, @authorpmbarrett, @recordedfuture, @ai6yr@m.ai6yr.org, Sarah Brandt on LinkedIn, Daniel Volker on LinkedIn, Recorded Future on LinkedIn, @WarnerCrocker@mastodon.social, @briankrebs@infosec.exchange and NewsGuard, more at Techmeme »
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Reality TV is facing a slowdown as jobs become scarce, budgets get crunched, and executives take fewer risks, coming as a surprise to some industry insiders — Development and production have been sluggish since the strikes, leaving desperate workers in the lurch: “All of a sudden the faucet just turned off.”
Discussion:
Becca Gross on LinkedIn and Steve Katz on LinkedIn
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A survey of 2,008 US adults who identified themselves as “sports viewers”: 42% are likely to subscribe to Venu Sports, assuming a price point of $35-$40/month — Are legions of youthful consumers ready to sign up for the sports streaming joint venture, regardless of what its price ends up being?
Discussion:
Horowitz Research, Horowitz Research, The Streamable, Media Play News and The Desk
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Q&A with Kira Lerner, democracy editor at the Guardian US, on trying to avoid stories that play on people's fears, focusing on service journalism, and more — As the 2024 presidential election approaches, Poynter spoke with The Guardian US's democracy editor about the beat
Discussion:
Poynter Institute on LinkedIn and @kira_lerner
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Illinois legislators included in their budget new tax credits for newsrooms that hire or retain local reporters, allocating $25M over five years, and more — The State Legislature's budget provisions support local news through employment tax credits, a 120-day delay on selling local newspapers …
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A look at the future of TNT's Inside the NBA, which started in 1989 and hired Charles Barkley in 2000, after WBD did not secure NBA rights beyond next season — Next season could be the last for TNT's influential and beloved studio show, and Charles Barkley, for one, will not be going quietly.
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Sources: writers at iHeart's 100-member podcast unit prepare to strike if a contract deal isn't reached by the end of May; they unionized 2+ years ago — EXCLUSIVE: More than two years after unionizing through the WGA East, the writers at iHeartPodcasts still don't have their first deal with the network.
Discussion:
@iheartpodunion and @iheartpodunion
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Sources: Netflix is developing new music-competition shows similar to The Voice, to expand the breadth of its programming with brand-safe, family-friendly TV — Netflix is ready to jam. The streaming giant is developing new music-competition shows in the image of long-running broadcast hits like …
Discussion:
@asharma, @jtoonkel and @theonlyjdb.bsky.social
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Sources: Sony is working with another investor to buy Queen's music catalog, including merchandising and other businesses, in a deal potentially worth ~$1B — - The talks are ongoing and may not result in a deal for songs — Sony Music in talks with another investor about the purchase