Mediagazer: A group of Republican lawmakers led by senators Tom Cotton and Mitch McConnell ask for a probe into “systematic” leaks from the FTC and DOJ to Bloomberg News (Punchbowl News)

Max Tani / Semafor:

Two more members of the Los Angeles Times editorial board have resigned over the paper's decision not to endorse a candidate in the 2024 presidential election — The Scoop — Two more members of the Los Angeles Times editorial board resigned on Thursday over the paper's decision …

David Folkenflik / NPR:

Recent moves at the Los Angeles Times and NBC News, and the lack of a Washington Post presidential endorsement, raise concerns that owners are appeasing Trump — Recent episodes involving major U.S. news organizations have stoked fears that outlets are preemptively self-censoring coverage …

Maxwell Zeff / TechCrunch:

In a post, Perplexity criticizes media companies that have sued over AI, saying they wish AI tools didn't exist and prefer that corporations own reported facts — Perplexity shot back at media companies skeptical of AI's benefits in a blog post Thursday responding to News Corp's lawsuit filed against the startup earlier this week.

Discussion: Adweek, The Verge, @carnage4life@mas.to, The Hollywood Reporter, Pocket-lint, Digital Trends and TVNewsCheck, more at Techmeme »

Rolfe Winkler / Wall Street Journal:
At a conference, Perplexity CEO Aravind Srinivas says he'd like the company to reach ad revenue sharing agreements with publishers, rather than licensing deals

Discussion: Reuters, San Francisco Business Times, MediaPost, Digiday, Adweek and Business Insider

BBC:

Three journalists have been killed in Lebanon by an Israeli airstrike on a building known to be housing reporters, whose courtyard had cars marked “press” — Three journalists have been killed in an Israeli airstrike on a building known to be housing reporters in south-eastern Lebanon, witnesses have told the BBC.

Discussion: Washington Post, Le Monde.fr, NBC Bay Area, Deadline, Irish Examiner, Financial Times, New York Times, Al Jazeera, TheJournal.ie, Arab News, Associated Press and Reuters

James Powel / USA Today:

A poll of 1,000 likely US voters finds 72% had not seen Kamala Harris on a podcast and 77.5% had not seen a Trump podcast appearance — An exclusive USA TODAY/Suffolk University poll asked respondents whether they caught campaign appearances by Harris and Trump on podcasts.

Discussion: Inside Radio, @brianstelter, @danielstrauss4, Poynter, The Texas Tribune, Austin American-Statesman, Al Jazeera, Fox News, The Hollywood Reporter, Blaze Media and Michigan Advance

Mandy Dalugdug / Music Business Worldwide:

TikTok strikes a licensing deal with indie music distributor UnitedMasters, a member of Merlin; the current TikTok/Merlin licensing deal ends October 31 — TikTok has announced that it has struck a multi-year direct deal with prominent indie artist services and distribution platform UnitedMasters.

Discussion: Music Ally, TikTok, Social Media Today, Billboard and Digital Music News

Sara Fischer / Axios:

Sources: Meta strikes a multi-year deal with Reuters to use its news content to provide real-time answers to user queries in Meta AI chatbot, a first for Meta — - Meta has backed away from news content in its platforms' main feeds amid regulatory scrutiny, but news content may prove harder …

Discussion: @sarafischer, more at Techmeme »

Andrea Navarro / Bloomberg:

Filing: Grupo Televisa SAB Executive Chairman Emilio Azcarraga steps down amid a US DOJ probe into the Mexican conglomerate's dealings in international soccer — - Grandson of broadcaster's founder stepping down immediately — Investigation ongoing, company says it's cooperating

Discussion: Reuters, Financial Times and The Desk

Sophie Vershbow / Esquire:

How the uncertainty of elections affects the US book publishing industry, as publishers try to schedule relevant nonfiction books in the fall in hopes for a hit — Every election season, American readers cling to buzzy political books. But how do publishers make plans despite an uncertain outcome …

Discussion: @svershbow, Jane Friedman, @adriennemwest and Simon Owens's Media Newsletter

Daniel Tilles / Notes From Poland:

A state-owned Polish radio station relaunches with AI “presenters” after firing its journalists; station head says layoffs were due to a lack of listeners — A Polish radio station has stirred controversy after relaunching one of its channels in a new version run almost completely …

Discussion: The Register, Marcos Bravo C. on LinkedIn and Associated Press

Punchbowl News:

A group of Republican lawmakers led by senators Tom Cotton and Mitch McConnell ask for a probe into “systematic” leaks from the FTC and DOJ to Bloomberg News — In a letter dated Wednesday, the senators point to twelve instances since 2023 when Bloomberg broke stories …

Discussion: Washington Times and Election Law Blog

Jody Godoy / Reuters:

IAB, cable trade group NCTA, and the Electronic Security Association sue to block the US FTC's “click to cancel” rule, alleging it oversteps the FTC's authority — An industry group representing cable and internet providers sued along with two others on Wednesday to block …

Discussion: @fight@mastodon …, Politico, MediaPost, Variety, Engadget, The Verge, USA Today, Cord Cutters News, Policyband and AV Club