Top News:
David Roeder / Chicago Sun Times:
Around 20% of Chicago Sun-Times staff, or 30 employees, took buyouts and have resigned, including most of the editorial board; 5 WBEZ workers also took buyouts — Columnists, editorial writers and many more head for the exits as the paper's nonprofit owner, Chicago Public Media, deals with fiscal hardship.
Discussion:
Crain's Chicago Business, @leebey1.bsky.social, Awful Announcing and @ellery.bsky.social
Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty:
RFE/RL sues USAGM and its officials Kari Lake and Victor Morales, arguing they acted unlawfully and unconstitutionally in blocking funds allocated by Congress — The grant cancellation would violate the Constitution and federal laws, according to the case filed by RFE/RL in the US District Court for DC
Discussion:
Forbes, The Desk, Reuters and @passantino.bsky.social
Reuters:
Sources: CCI officials raided the Indian offices of global ad giants, including GroupM, Publicis, Dentsu, and Interpublic Group, over alleged price collusion — The Indian antitrust body has raided the offices of many global advertising giants, including GroupM, Publicis, Dentsu and Interpublic Group …
Discussion:
MEDIANAMA, @reuters, Aditya Kalra on LinkedIn, @reuters and Press Trust of India
Liam Scott / Columbia Journalism Review:
A press freedom reporter at VOA recalls its last days, as dozens of staffers on J-1 visas may have to return to countries with a record of jailing critics — Covering the press freedom beat at VOA, I got a front-row seat to its demise. — On Saturday, about thirteen hundred Voice of America staffers …
Lucy Knight / The Guardian:
Crowdfunding publisher Unbound goes into administration and has been acquired by newly-formed Boundless; some authors say they haven't been paid for months — The company, launched in 2011, has been acquired by new company Boundless, after writers have been left unpaid for months
Discussion:
Substack, @lemnsissay, @katharineq, @sdebar and The Bookseller
Lindsey Bahr / Associated Press:
The National Association of Theatre Owners changes name to Cinema United, saying it is “complicated having the same name as a multinational military alliance” — In hindsight, NATO was an unnecessarily confusing acronym for a trade organization representing movie theater owners.
Discussion:
The Hollywood Reporter, @royaltenenbaum69.bsky.social, IndieWire, Variety and Deadline
Danielle Kaye / New York Times:
The US DOJ charges film director Carl Erik Rinsch for allegedly defrauding a “streaming platform” for $11M; an arbitrator ruled in May that he owed Netflix ~$9M — Prosecutors say Carl Erik Rinsch used funds for a science-fiction series for personal investments.
Discussion:
TVNewsCheck, @mbkplus.bsky.social, al.com, The Wrap, The Verge, DNyuz, Rolling Stone, Deadline and The Hollywood Reporter
Bloomberg.com:
Community Notes, first on X and rolling out on Meta's platforms, fall well short of stopping misinformation, and eliminating the rewards would go much further — The crowdsourced fact-checking system, which Meta adopted from X, is falling well short of stopping the spread of misinformation.
Discussion:
Bloomberg, more at Techmeme »
Hannah Miller / Bloomberg:
How NYT Cooking changed in the TikTok era, with an app, website, YouTube channel, and newsletter, focused on home chefs with fewer skills in the kitchen — After launching 10 years ago, NYT Cooking has succeeded in a crowded field with its blend of sleek videos, massive recipe catalog and an active community of home chefs.
Discussion:
Jordan Cohen on LinkedIn and Lucas Shaw on LinkedIn
Freedom of the Press Foundation:
Wired says it plans to drop paywalls for articles that are primarily based on public records obtained through the Freedom of Information Act — The news business isn't just any business — it serves a vital role in our democracy, recognized by the First Amendment. But media outlets can't serve that role if they're bankrupt.
Discussion:
Nieman Lab, @stevenlevy, @johncusack.bsky.social, Stephanie Smith on LinkedIn, CNN, @wired, MediaPost, @seth-stern.bsky.social, @eloquence@social.coop, @gregwilliams718.bsky.social, @angusmaccaull.bsky.social, @jonahblank.bsky.social, @josephcox@infosec.exchange, Talking Biz News, @werd.io, @dbeecher.bsky.social, @leahfeiger.bsky.social, @dsilverman@mastodon.social, @warnercrocker.bsky.social, @timmarchman.bsky.social, @evystadium.bsky.social and @katie-drummond.bsky.social
Hanaa' Tameez / Nieman Lab:
European news publishers say offering complimentary access to The New York Times as part of their premium subscription packages led to a subscription boost — “There's no reason to think this shouldn't work in most markets where subscription-based payment is already well advanced.”
Ted Johnson / Deadline:
Democratic FCC Commissioner Geoffrey Starks plans to step down in spring 2025; President Biden had renominated Starks in 2023 for a new term that ends in 2027 — Geoffrey Starks, one of two Democrats on the Federal Communications Commission, said that he will step down this spring.
Discussion:
TV Tech, @brianstelter, The Register, @brendancarrfcc, @viacristiano, @viacristiano, @geoffreystarks, MediaPost, Ars Technica, @kaplanikids.bsky.social, The Verge, Inside Radio, The Desk, RADIO ONLINE, Radio Ink, Bloomberg, Federal Communications Commission, Cord Cutters News, TVNewsCheck, Radio & Television … and Barrett Media, more at Techmeme »
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