Top News:
Jennifer Maas / Variety:
Sources: WBD will lay off ~1,000 employees across sectors including finance, business affairs, and production; source: fewer than 10 Max staffers are affected — Sources tell Variety that nearly 1,000 employees will be laid off across a few sectors in a new cost-cutting move at WBD …
Discussion:
Deadline, The Information, @minotimusic, @tvgrimreaper, The Desk, Jon Malone on LinkedIn, Cord Cutters News, Quartz, IndieWire, The Hollywood Reporter and The Wrap
Tim Reynolds / Associated Press:
The NBA's Board of Governors approves the league's next media rights deals with Disney, NBC, and Amazon Prime Video; WBD could still match one of the deals — The NBA's Board of Governors approved the league's next media rights deals with Disney, NBC and Amazon Prime Video at its meeting Tuesday …
Discussion:
Sportico, Puck, NBA.com, The Desk, @sherman4949, New York Times, @mikevorkunov, Awful Announcing and The Streamable
Jack Queen / Reuters:
A jury convicts Ozy Media and its founder Carlos Watson of fraud, in a case accusing them of lying to investors about the startup's finances and sham deals — Ozy Media and founder Carlos Watson were convicted of fraud by a Brooklyn federal jury on Tuesday, in a case accusing them of lying …
Discussion:
New York Times, Courthouse News Service, @ednynews, Deadline, The Information, Breitbart, Associated Press, The Verge, TheGrio, Variety, Axios, Mediaite, The Wrap and Bloomberg
Sara Fischer / Axios:
Taboola CEO Adam Singolda says the company has struck a deal with Apple to power native advertising in the Apple News and Apple Stocks apps; TBLA jumps ~5% — - Taboola's effort to build trust with Apple across its various teams and stakeholders was “a multiyear process,'” Singolda said.
Discussion:
On my Om, One Man & His Blog, @nsharp17, @10yetis, @shaneoleary1, @carnage4life, @adamsingolda, @taboola, @alexguichet, @reidjjackson, @eric_seufert, @eric_seufert, @charliehsilver, @om, @sarafischer, Media Voices, The Overspill, Simon Owens's Media Newsletter, Jay Friedman on LinkedIn, The Drum, @counternotions@mastodon …, @thomholwerda@exquisite.social, The Verge, MediaPost, 9to5Mac, @simondowens@threads.net, @benedictevans@threads.net, @crumbler@threads.net and @joesteel@duck.haus, more at Techmeme »
Hong Kong Free Press:
Hong Kong-based reporter Selina Cheng says she was fired by The Wall Street Journal for taking up the position of chair of the Hong Kong Journalist Association — American newspaper The Wall Street Journal has fired Hong Kong-based reporter Selina Cheng weeks she was elected chair …
Discussion:
Washington Post, Reuters, Associated Press, Talking Biz News, @jonamorem, @jfsteinfeld, @missanabeem, @maryhui, @lewispants, @semaforben, @selina_cheng, @lilahass, @usa_baozilover, @selina_cheng, @tomgrundy, @compliancememe, @mike_hixenbaugh, @dancow, @tulikabose_, @moorehn, @nate_dicamillo, @debbychan_hk, @feliciasonmez, @sharp_writing, @johnsimpsonnews, @_karenhao and @wesleylowery
Aisha Malik / TechCrunch:
Deezer debuts Playlist with AI in beta, where users can create playlists from text prompts, powered by Google's Gemini 1.5, following rivals' similar offerings — Deezer is the latest music streaming app to introduce an AI playlist feature. The company announced on Monday that a select number …
Discussion:
Deezer Newsroom, Digital Music News, Music Ally and Music Business Worldwide
Andrew Deck / Nieman Lab:
The editorial union at Ziff Davis' Mashable, Lifehacker, and PC Mag agrees to a tentative contract prohibiting layoffs or salary cuts due to generative AI — Ziff Davis can't lay off workers or decrease their salary due to generative AI, according to the tentative contract.
Natalie Korach / The Wrap:
MSNBC insiders accuse Cesar Conde and Rashida Jones of pulling Morning Joe to “coddle” Trump and prevent tensions with a potential Trump administration — Tension skyrocketed at MSNBC this week as network news insiders accused NBCU News Group Chairman Cesar Conde …
Discussion:
@ecosexuality, CNN, @jeffjarvis@mastodon.social, Raw Story, Mediaite and Fox News
Annie Gilbertson / Proof:
Investigation: Apple, Nvidia, Anthropic, and others trained their AI on a dataset that contained YouTube video transcripts, including from the WSJ, NPR, and BBC — AI companies are generally secretive about their sources of training data, but an investigation by Proof News found …
Discussion:
The Verge, Engadget, @alshafei@mastodon.social, Peter Csathy on LinkedIn, SWAMY WORLD, The Register, Beyond Search, @DAIR@dair-community.social, Ezra Cooperstein on LinkedIn, @benlovejoy, @neilturkewitz, @mkbhd, @juliaangwin, @juliaangwin, @mkbhd, Ars Technica, Quartz, Digital Trends, Craig Newmark on LinkedIn, @carnage4life@mas.to, Dexerto, Nieman Lab and 9to5Mac
Inti Landauro / Reuters:
Spain proposes tighter media rules to tackle fake news in line with the European Media Freedom Act; conservative opposition say the rules censor critical media — Spain announced measures on Wednesday designed to curb the spread of fake news, an initiative blasted by the country's conservative opposition …
Samuel Stolton / Bloomberg:
The EU's General Court says TikTok is large enough to fall under the DMA, rejecting ByteDance's challenge; ByteDance can appeal to the European Court of Justice — - TikTok attempt to avoid EU's Digital Markets Act is dismissed — Chinese-owned social media giant also risks ban in the US
Discussion:
Engadget, Euractiv, Reuters, The Register, @eucourtpress, @lewis_crofts, @beuc, 9to5Mac, @samuelstolton and Semafor, more at Techmeme »
Wall Street Journal:
Sources: Disney is working on features to increase the hours viewers spend on streaming, including pop-up live channels and more-tailored recommendations — Entertainment giant makes technical improvements meant to retain subscribers and encourage longer viewing sessions
Discussion:
Comic Book, @tvgrimreaper, @wsjbusiness, Cord Cutters News, IndieWire, @gabrielmalor.bsky.social, Ars Technica and Quartz, more at Techmeme »