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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 …
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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
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Politico, Adweek, UPI, Forbes, CBS News, Axios, The Desk, @kaedotcom.bsky.social, The Kyiv Independent, Reuters, Fox News and @passantino.bsky.social


A three-judge panel in US appeals court ruled, in a case involving AI generated poetry, that the Copyright Act requires human authorship for registration — A computer scientist who tried to register an artwork that credited an artificial intelligence system as the sole author lost his appeal on Tuesday.
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Reuters, CNBC, ABA Journal, Lawyer Monthly and The Register, more at Techmeme »


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.


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
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The California Film Commission chooses a record 51 films to receive incentives in the state's film and TV tax credit program, including 46 indie films — A record 51 films shooting in the Golden State will receive a government incentive in the latest round of the state's film …
Discussion:
The Wrap, @erik_hayden, Governor of California, WKYC-TV and E&E News


The UK's NUJ urges Reach to reconsider a 2% pay rise offer for staff and compares £600 staff bonuses with the £662,000 in total bonuses paid to CEO Jim Mullen — NUJ asks Reach to “urgently reconsider” 2% pay offer. — Reach staff have received a £600 bonus in recognition of the company's profit growth last year.


ABC: print circulation of the UK's Daily Mirror fell 16.4% YoY in February 2025 to 196,150, dropping below 200,000 for the first time since the Edwardian era — The print circulation of the Daily Mirror dropped below 200,000 in February for the first time since the Edwardian era.


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.
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@pinemikey.bsky.social and Bloomberg, more at Techmeme »


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 …
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MEDIANAMA, The Indian Express, @reuters, @reuters, Aditya Kalra on LinkedIn and Press Trust of India


Agentic Marketing Technologies, whose AI agent Lyra helps influencers book and run marketing campaigns, raised a $3.5M seed led by NFX — Booking an ad campaign with social media influencers is currently not exactly easy. For starters, influencers' approaches to marketing can be unconventional …
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@tdoggyholhol


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.
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Engadget, People, Media Play News, New York Daily News, Fox News, The Wrap, @mbkplus.bsky.social, al.com, The Verge, DNyuz, Associated Press, Rolling Stone, Deadline and The Hollywood Reporter