Top News:
Lucas Shaw / Bloomberg:
Source: Paramount board's special committee approves Skydance merger; the board is set to approve the deal today, with an announcement coming as soon as Monday — - Transaction expected to be approved Sunday evening by board — David Ellison's Skydance, Paramount have negotiated for months
Discussion:
New York Times, Variety, The Wrap, The Hollywood Reporter, Deadline, The Daily Beast, @mgsiegler, @lucas_shaw, @lucas_shaw, New York Post and The Media Leader
Gillian McGoldrick / The Philadelphia Inquirer:
WURD says Biden's interview, with questions provided by his aides, was conducted without management knowledge and is parting ways with Andrea Lawful-Sanders — The Philadelphia radio host who admitted to using questions prepared by President Joe Biden's campaign in one of his first postdebate interviews …
Discussion:
WURD Radio, The Wrap, CNN, Fox News, Mediaite, New York Post, @brianstelter, @brianstelter and @alexthomp
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Michael D. Shear / New York Times:
Biden aides provided questions for radio interviews on The Source on Philadelphia's WURD, on July 3, and The Earl Ingram Show on Wisconsin's WAUK, on July 4 — The host of “The Source” on WURD in Philadelphia said officials provided her with a list of eight questions to choose from.
Discussion:
ABC News, @justinbaragona, @ethank@threads.net, @jonkarl, @alexthomp, TMZ.com, @ethank@threads.net, @aghamilton29, CNN, @victorblackwell, @jabeale, @charlesarthur, CBS News, Mediaite, Axios, The Wrap and ABC News
Jef Feeley / Bloomberg:
Discovery investors reach a $125M settlement over claims that company insiders reaped improper benefits worth $1B+ in its $43B merger with WarnerMedia — - Settlement involves payment by Advance/Newhouse partnerships — Merger created one of world's largest entertainment companies
Discussion:
Deadline
Ashley Belanger / Ars Technica:
As Glaze, a free tool to help artists prevent AI from copying their style, sees an “explosion in demand”, researchers say its protections can be bypassed — Artists must wait weeks for Glaze defense against AI scraping amid TOS updates. — For many artists, it's a precarious time to post art online.
Bloomberg:
A look at the inaugural Esports World Cup, a multi-genre tournament in Riyadh funded by Saudi Arabia, featuring 1,500+ gamers and a record $60M+ prize pool — - Esports World Cup has record prize pool of $60 million — Crown Prince MBS wants to build esports capital in Riyadh
Discussion:
The Sun, The Sun, BBC, Insider Gaming, DAZN, VSPN Tournaments Limited, USA Today, The UBJ and VentureBeat
RELATED:
Ben Church / CNN:
A look at concerns about Saudi Arabia “sportswashing” as it hosts the Esports World Cup; Saudi Arabia's PIF has bought some of the biggest gaming companies
Discussion:
VG247, BBC, @slasher, @liquid112, @lsxyz9, BBC News on YouTube, @slasher, @liquidnazgul, @lsxyz9, @devrelcallum, @pengu, @bekahboo1290, CBC News, @jacobwolf, @middlecottisme, @thechowderhead, @rlewisreports, @moneyfolder5, @ewc_en, @teadvocated, @jacobwolf, @dszajnuk, @jimohagan, @myra__davis, @mattomattik, @hoffasaurusx, @owcesports, @fishstix, @rlewisreports, ABC News (Australia) on YouTube, @obiexyz, The Esports Advocate, @jimohagan, The Esports Advocate, @daesanghyeokie, @fishstix, @ow_svb, @invert_lol and @cointree_ow
Mario Koran / New York Times:
A reporter describes how college journalism classes helped him go from being in jail to becoming a NYT Local Investigations Fellow and Wisconsin Watch reporter — While serving a sentence for burglary, I enrolled in a college journalism class. When I interviewed my correctional officer, my world broadened.
Discussion:
Marc Lacey on LinkedIn, @ricfouad, @joshrmoore, @jmalewitz, @jordancoll21, @mariokoran and @keribla
John Hanna / Associated Press:
Former Marion County Record reporter Deb Gruver agrees to accept $235,000 to settle part of her lawsuit over a police raid on the Kansas paper in August 2023 — A former reporter for a weekly Kansas newspaper has agreed to accept $235,000 to settle part of her federal lawsuit over a police raid …
Discussion:
Deadline, New York Times, @apjdhanna and @apjdhanna
Cynthia Littleton / Variety:
At the half-year mark, Hollywood media giants have had double-digit stock price declines, except Disney and Fox, and will likely stay underwater in 2024 — Disney and Fox Corp. buck the downtrend for showbiz shares at the midyear mark — As always, the numbers tell the tale.
Scott Roxborough / The Hollywood Reporter:
Germany's government pledges to add a 30% film/TV production tax incentive, effective as early as January 2025; Australia raised its rebate to 30% on July 1 — German studios have been pushing for the incentive, which they say is necessary to remain competitive in attracting international productions.
RELATED:
Li Yuan / New York Times:
How xenophobic content on Chinese social media, directed towards Japan, the US, Jews, and others, became the subject of a debate and spreads despite censorship — Violent attacks on foreigners have prompted a debate about extreme nationalism online in a country that heavily censors information the government bans.
Shubham Sharma / VentureBeat:
ElevenLabs launches Voice Isolator, a freemium AI tool for removing background noise from audio files for film, podcast, and interview post production — ElevenLabs, the AI voice startup known for its voice cloning, text-to-speech and speech-to-speech models, has just added another tool to its product portfolio: an AI Voice Isolator.
Discussion:
@racheltobac, @elevenlabsio, @ammaar, @elevenlabsio, ElevenLabs, Maginative, Cryptopolitan and Hacker News, more at Techmeme »
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