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:
The Guardian, @wikileaks, CNN, Associated Press, BBC, Fox News, Al Jazeera, Reason, @stella_assange, CBS News, Wired, @naughtfollowers@threads.net, @naughtfollowers@threads.net, Bloomberg, Reporters Without Borders, 9to5Mac, CAIR, ScheerPost.com, New York Times, @martinsfp@threads.net, Deadline, Bloomberg, @benburgis, The i Paper, @jimwaterson, @joeo10@mastodon.sdf.org, Mediaite, Deadline, The Wrap, @robertkennedyjr, NewsNation, The Daily Beast, Freedom of the Press …, Rolling Stone, The Register, @stella_assange, @wikileaks, Politico, Axios, BBC, @lemonslayer.bsky.social, @markcurtis30, @mbrauchli@threads.net, @jamesrbuk, Washington Examiner, @mikebutcher, @jameeljaffer, Financial Times, Press Association, @lemonslayer.bsky.social, @jack, @jamesrbuk, Gizmodo, New York Post, @jamesrbuk, ABC7, @sgurman, Engadget, Metro.co.uk, Washington Post, @jeffjarvis, @jeremyscahill, @autismcapital, The Intercept, @zcohencnn, @craigmokhiber, Wall Street Journal, The Verge, Mumbrella, TechCrunch and Committee to Protect …
Sara Fischer / Axios:
The Associated Press is launching The AP Fund for Journalism, an independent 501(c)3 charitable organization to raise $100M+ to expand state and local news — - “It will help to sustain what we do, grow what we do, and add new and incremental journalism services for the industry," Veerasingham told Axios in an interview.
Discussion:
The Wrap, @matthewfoldi, @repmikecollins, @ckrewson, @paulroetzer, Columbia Journalism Review and @sarafischer
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, The Ankler, @alannabennett, Consequence, TVNewsCheck, @annetdonahue, @lakewitchhouse.bsky.social, @martinsfp@threads.net, @crystalbell, Angela Matusik on LinkedIn, @stephentotilo, @greene.haus, @sam_piroton, The Wrap, @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
Raphael Minder / Financial Times:
Polish state energy group Orlen plans to sell its media company Polska Press, acquired under the former right-wing government, to show political independence — Orlen's acquisition of newspaper business under former rightwing government has drawn criticism
Discussion:
@raphaelminder, @j_jaraczewski, @cookcommunicat1, @bdstanley, Telewizja Polska S.A and @staunovo
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:
Business Insider, Next TV, New York Times and Variety, more at Techmeme »
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, Fox Business, @claytravis, @danprimack, New York Post and Business Insider
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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:
The Guardian, CNN, HuffPost, Axios, @rpsagainsttrump, The Daily Beast, Washington Examiner, The Hill, New Republic and Mediaite
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.
Discussion:
@lizzieohreally, @jbenton, @chrchristensen, @karaswisher, @jeffjarvis, @harrymccracken@mastodon …, @bgrueskin, @jswatz_tx@threads.net, @arusbridger, @edmundlee, @davidfolkenflik, @ericuman, @jo_becker, @obrien_kat@mastodon.world, @dangillmor@mastodon.social, @davidbeard@threads.net, @noahshachtman@threads.net, Washington Post and @yonetteajoseph@threads.net
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:
Engadget, CMU, Bloomberg, @carnage4life, @abelowrob, @robertfreundlaw, The Overspill, @riaa, @tb_num, @mitch_glazier, @komaniecki_r, @jason_koebler, ABC7, @future_of_music, @kerrymuzzey, @maximumadhd, @jess_miers, @riaa, MediaPost, @rachelmetz, @rahll, @rachelmetz, @emilylazar_sm, @ednewtonrex, @lucas_shaw, @human_artistry, @dada_drummer, Inside Radio, @patrickmoorhead, @human_artistry, @mattbelloni, @riaa, @justinebateman, @johnpstrohm, @dada_drummer, The Register, @rachelmetz, @riaa, @riaa, @carnage4life, Music Technology Policy, Ars Technica, Quartz, Consequence, @GossiTheDog@cyberplace.social, @miasato.2@threads.net, @reckless1280@threads.net, 404 Media, Drew Thurlow on LinkedIn, Wall Street Journal, Digital Music News, CNN, @andybaio@xoxo.zone, Fast Company, Reuters, Rolling Stone, Music Ally, Music Business Worldwide, Wired, Billboard and Variety, 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 Streamable, The Verge, Comic Book, Los Angeles Times, Reuters, Bloomberg, Fox Business, Engadget, BGR, CNBC, ComingSoon.net, Adweek, TVLine, The Wrap, IndieWire, Deadline 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.
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.
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, Adweek, @scarylawyerguy, @farhip, @katierogers, @matthewkeyslive, @markjacob16, @bristei, @fcchambers, @jeremymbarr, @kairyssdal, @ronfilipkowski, TVNewsCheck, @protecttruth@mastodon.online, Politico, Washington Examiner, Gizmodo, @nminow@c.im, New York Post, Poynter, Mediaite and Los Angeles Times
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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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