Top News:
Washington Post:
A look at the Trump administration's strategy to transform its traditional press shop into a rapid-response influencer operation via memes, TikTok, and podcasts — The Trump administration has transformed its traditional press shop into a rapid-response influencer operation, and “they're all offense, all the time.”
Discussion:
New York Magazine, The Gateway Pundit, @drewharwell.com, The Information, TVNewsCheck, The Hill, Daily Mail, @davidenrich.bsky.social, @davidnakamura.bsky.social, @mehdirhasan.bsky.social, @drewharwell@threads.net, @janemayer.bsky.social, @jeisinger.bsky.social, Melanie Sill on LinkedIn, @chikitty.bsky.social, @astroboy58.bsky.social and PR Daily
Nate Silver / Silver Bulletin:
Disney was never particularly interested in running FiveThirtyEight as a business; the data-driven approach to political coverage still has a bright future — Silver Bulletin will begin publishing some new features soon — including Trump approval ratings. But the media just lost an extremely valuable resource.
Charlotte Tobitt / Press Gazette:
Financial Times CEO John Ridding plans to step down on July 1 after 19 years, and will take an honorary FT chair title; the FT will now find a replacement — Financial Times CEO John Ridding is stepping down in June after leading the newspaper group for almost 20 years.
S.V. Date / HuffPost:
FEC filings: Brian Glenn, a new favored White House reporter, was Right Side Broadcasting Network's main voice when it was paid $92K by Trump political groups — Brian Glenn was the one who asked Zelenskyy why he wasn't wearing a suit. RSBN, the “news” outlet he helped build, has taken $192,000 from Trump.
Bill Grueskin / Columbia Journalism Review:
Prosecutors say they won't pursue charges against Stanford student journalist Dilan Gohill, arrested while covering a pro-Palestinian protest nine months ago — Dilan Gohill was arrested while covering protests on campus last summer. — Prosecutors in California said Thursday …
Andrew Marchand / New York Times:
Sources: ESPN and Stephen A. Smith agree to a five-year $100M contract that has Smith continuing on his daily First Take show and scaling back other commitments — Stephen A. Smith has agreed to a new contract with ESPN worth at least $100 million for five years, an agreement that will result …
Discussion:
Variety, Awful Announcing, New York Post, Fox News, Front Office Sports, Deadline, @thechief.bsky.social, @cofitzgerald.bsky.social, @richarddeitsch.bsky.social, @kevbo9.bsky.social, @jc1986.bsky.social, @peej.hahabean.maison, @richarddeitsch.bsky.social, Barrett Media, @sheehannewsletter.bsky.social, The US Sun, @natathescribe.bsky.social and @andrewmarchand.bsky.social
Michael Savage / The Guardian:
Memo: BBC News CEO Deborah Turness announces a new department that will use AI to give people more personalized content and focus on reaching under-25-year-olds — Boss says BBC News's reach is ‘defying gravity’ and it must use AI to ‘support and accelerate our growth’
Sean Burch / The Wrap:
Paramount files two motions in Trump's lawsuit against CBS News, one seeking dismissal on First Amendment grounds and the second saying Texas is the wrong venue — Paramount says President Trump's lawsuit over a “60 Minutes” interview with Kamala Harris is “an affront to the First Amendment”
Discussion:
Mediaite, Variety, @bejust.bsky.social, Cord Cutters News, Axios, Deadline, The Hollywood Reporter and Georgetown Law
Katie Kilkenny / The Hollywood Reporter:
Production managers, supervisors, and coordinators at Walt Disney Animation Studios ratify their first union contract, which raises minimum wage rates and more — Production managers, production supervisors and production coordinators at the ‘Wish’ studio negotiated for health and pension benefits as well as higher minimum wage rates.
NewsGuard's Reality Check:
A NewsGuard audit finds that 10 leading AI chatbots repeated false claims and propaganda from a pro-Kremlin network of 150 websites 33% of the time — An audit found that the 10 leading generative AI tools advanced Moscow's disinformation goals by repeating false claims from the pro-Kremlin Pravda network 33 percent of the time
Jeremy Barr / Washington Post:
Memo: MSNBC hires WABC-TV VP and News Director Scott Matthews to serve as head of newsgathering, and plans to hire 100 journalists as part of its news operation — The network, which recently overhauled its programming lineup, is bringing on Scott Matthews as head of newsgathering. — Just now
Discussion:
Variety, Jesse Rodriguez on LinkedIn, The Desk, The Wrap, The Hollywood Reporter, @jeremymbarr, Deadline and Barrett Media
Wayne Friedman / MediaPost:
BIA estimates core US local ad spend to grow 6.1% YoY to $171B in 2025, with digital media having a 52.4% share and traditional media having 47.6% — Core, non-political U.S. local advertising is estimated to grow 6.1% in 2025 to $171 billion from a year ago, according to BIA Advisory Services.
Discussion:
Inside Radio, TV Tech, RADIO ONLINE, Barrett Media, Radio & Television … and TVNewsCheck
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