Top News:
NBC News:
Julian Assange pleads guilty to a conspiracy charge as part of a deal with the US, letting him go free after spending five years in a British prison — The WikiLeaks founder has been held in a prison outside London for the last five years and fought extradition to the United States.
Discussion:
@wikileaks, Mediaite, The Guardian, CNN, BBC, Press Gazette, CAIR, ScheerPost.com, Al Jazeera, The Hollywood Reporter, @stella_assange, CBS News, Associated Press, National Union of Journalists …, @wikileaks, Metro.co.uk, @martinsfp@threads.net, Deadline, Bloomberg, @benburgis, The i Paper, @jimwaterson, @joeo10@mastodon.sdf.org, Fox News, Deadline, The Wrap, @robertkennedyjr, The Daily Beast, Freedom of the Press …, Rolling Stone, The Register, Politico, Axios, BBC, @lemonslayer.bsky.social, @mbrauchli@threads.net, @jamesrbuk, Washington Examiner, @mikebutcher, New York Times, @jameeljaffer, Financial Times, @lemonslayer.bsky.social, @jamesrbuk, Gizmodo, New York Post, @jamesrbuk, ABC7, @sgurman, Engadget, Washington Post, @jeffjarvis, @jeremyscahill, @autismcapital, The Intercept, @zcohencnn, Wall Street Journal, The Verge, Mumbrella, TechCrunch and Committee to Protect …
Dan Primack / Axios:
Filing: Vivek Ramaswamy's BuzzFeed stake grew to 8.9%; sources: Ramaswamy recently met Jonah Peretti and wants Patrick Bet-David and two others on the board — - Ramaswamy has continued to increase his stake, this morning disclosing that it's risen to 8.9%.
Discussion:
@theclubmember04, New York Post, Business Insider, @danprimack, Fox Business and @claytravis
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Lucas Shaw / Bloomberg:
Sources: BuzzFeed is struggling to sell Hot Ones owner First We Feast, which is profitable and has ~$30M revenue per year; interested parties balk at $70M price — - Several parties are interested but balk at $70 million price — Proceeds of about $50 million would help company pay off debt
Dave Collins / Associated Press:
A US bankruptcy court trustee discloses plans to shut down Infowars and liquidate its assets to help pay the $1.5B in lawsuit judgments that Alex Jones owes — A U.S. bankruptcy court trustee is planning to shut down conspiracy theorist Alex Jones' Infowars media platform and liquidate …
Discussion:
CNN, HuffPost, Mediaite, The Guardian, Axios, @rpsagainsttrump, The Daily Beast, Washington Examiner, The Hill and New Republic
New York Times:
Sources: UK police saw Will Lewis as an impediment to their phone hacking investigation; plaintiffs say Lewis gave the “green light” to delete News Corp. emails — Will Lewis, now the publisher of the Washington Post, was in full crisis mode in 2011.
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Washington Post:
WaPo and The News Movement, in which Will Lewis holds a stake, agreed in recent months to pursue brand partnerships; TNM made two major pitches involving WaPo
Discussion:
The Atlantic, Politico, @obrien_kat@mastodon.world, @dangillmor@mastodon.social, @davidbeard@threads.net, @farhip, @farhip, @ianshapira, @dastonerl, @davidrlurie, @zackstanton, Diane Ravitch's blog, @noahshachtman@threads.net, Financial Times, @yonetteajoseph@threads.net and The Daily Beast
Todd Spangler / Variety:
MTV appears to have fully pulled down MTV News website, scrubbing two decades' worth of content from its archives; Paramount Global shut down MTV News in 2023 — Some two decades' worth of content published on MTVNews.com is no longer available after MTV appears to have fully pulled down the site.
Discussion:
@patrickhosken, @alannabennett, The Wrap, @annetdonahue, @lakewitchhouse.bsky.social, @martinsfp@threads.net, @crystalbell, @stephentotilo, @greene.haus, @sam_piroton, @lymoula, @mirrorman.bsky.social, @kalihays1@threads.net, @jemaswad, @meelztv, @tirhakahlove, @jaytingle.bsky.social, @kashana.bsky.social, @dangillmor@mastodon.social, @hiattb, The A.V. Club, @brendonkleen14, @jhoffman, @film_girl, @smi.bsky.social and @kevdgrussing
Nilay Patel / The Verge:
Q&A with Netflix co-CEO Greg Peters on updating the company's famous culture memo, its advertising ambitions, bundling, game streaming, AI, and more — The co-CEO who replaced co-founder Reed Hastings details the company's new culture memo, its ad ambitions, and what's next for Netflix.
Discussion:
Next TV, Business Insider, Variety and New York Times, more at Techmeme »
Mia Sato / The Verge:
The RIAA files two copyright-infringement cases against the AI music services Suno and Udio; Udio was used to create the viral song BBL Drizzy — A group of record labels including the big three — Universal Music Group (UMG), Sony Music Entertainment, and Warner Records …
Discussion:
Inside Radio, Engadget, Music Business Worldwide, Associated Press, Bloomberg, @carnage4life, @abelowrob, @robertfreundlaw, @riaa, @tb_num, @mitch_glazier, @reckless1280@threads.net, @komaniecki_r, @jason_koebler, @future_of_music, @kerrymuzzey, @GossiTheDog@cyberplace.social, @maximumadhd, @jess_miers, @riaa, MediaPost, Wall Street Journal, Digital Music News, @rachelmetz, Consequence, @rahll, @rachelmetz, Drew Thurlow on LinkedIn, @emilylazar_sm, Ars Technica, @ednewtonrex, @lucas_shaw, @human_artistry, 404 Media, @dada_drummer, @patrickmoorhead, @human_artistry, @mattbelloni, @riaa, @justinebateman, CNN, @andybaio@xoxo.zone, Music Technology Policy, @johnpstrohm, @miasato.2@threads.net, @dada_drummer, The Register, @rachelmetz, @riaa, @riaa, Quartz, @carnage4life, The Wrap, CMU, Reuters, Rolling Stone, Music Ally, Wired, Billboard, Variety and Fast Company, more at Techmeme »
Todd Spangler / Variety:
Prices of ad-free Paramount+ With Showtime plan will rise by $1 to $12.99/month, and of Paramount+ Essential plan with ads by $2 to $7.99, starting August 20 — As Paramount Global looks to push its streaming business into the black, it's hiking the prices for most Paramount+ plans later this summer.
Discussion:
The Verge, IndieWire, The Wrap, The Desk, Reuters, Comic Book, CNBC, Cord Cutters News, Gizmodo, TVLine, ComingSoon.net, Bloomberg, Los Angeles Times, Deadline, BGR, Adweek, Engadget, The Streamable, Fox Business and Quartz
Charlotte Tobitt / Press Gazette:
Fact checkers at UK news agency PA Media and Full Fact say AI content has proved less problematic than expected so far during the country's general election — Fact checkers spending more time on verifying claims made by politicians than on fake AI-generated content.
Michael M. Grynbaum / New York Times:
CNN is in charge of every aspect of Thursday's Biden-Trump debate, a major shift from previous years; rival channels will leave CNN's on-air watermark untouched — One network is in charge of every aspect of the Biden-Trump debate, a major shift from previous years. Tens of millions of viewers are expected to be watching.
Discussion:
The Hill, TVNewsCheck, @protecttruth@mastodon.online, Adweek, @scarylawyerguy, Politico, @farhip, @katierogers, Gizmodo, @nminow@c.im, @matthewkeyslive, @markjacob16, @bristei, @fcchambers, @jeremymbarr, @kairyssdal, @ronfilipkowski, Washington Examiner, New York Post, Poynter, Mediaite and Los Angeles Times
RELATED:
New York Times:
Interviews with ~12 media executives, such as Brian Roberts, John Malone, Barry Diller, and Ted Sarandos, about the future of streaming, bundling, ads, and more — Who will survive? Die? Thrive? And how? We talked to nearly a dozen top media executives and asked them to predict what lies ahead.
Jesse Whittock / Deadline:
Sony Pictures Networks India names Disney+ Hotstar content chief Gaurav Banerjee as its new Managing Director and CEO — Sony Pictures Networks India has named Disney+ Hotstar content chief Gaurav Banerjee as its new Managing Director and CEO. — He'll replace N.P. Singh …
Discussion:
WORLD SCREEN and Variety
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