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The stock market briefly surged Monday after CNBC, Reuters, and others picked up an erroneous X post that Trump was considering a 90-day pause on tariffs — At just after 10 a.m., shouting erupted on the Siebert trading floor in downtown Manhattan. Mark Malek, the firm's chief investment officer …
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CNN, Wall Street Journal, Mediaite, The Hill, Mediaite, New York Times, Financial Times, New Republic, @samstein, @benmullin, @hadas_gold, @hadas_gold, @benmullin, @hadas_gold, @rogoswami, @rickkaempfer.bsky.social, @bencjacobs, @mattzeitlin, @firstadopter, @semaforben, @brianstelter, @jason_kint, @mikeisaac, @jason_kint, @alexbward, @mikeisaac, @philipwegmann, @thestalwart, Reuters, NBC News, Benzinga, Wall Street Journal, 404 Media, Townhall, Washington Examiner, @mattmfm, MeidasTouch News, The Daily Caller and HuffPost, more at Techmeme »


A Minecraft Movie collects $157M at the US box office in its opening weekend, the biggest domestic debut of 2025 and best in history for a video game adaptation — “A Minecraft Movie” leveled up at the box office, collecting a blockbuster $157 million in its opening weekend.
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SlashFilm, Fast Company, @ollie_twt, CNN, Barron's Online, Windows Central, @resonantjustice, Entertainment Weekly, @vinhlegacy, GamesRadar, Kotaku, @jonathanmb32, @thegregorye, New Jersey Online, @iamkooby, Metro.co.uk, @retrora, Spyglass, Forbes, @lucas_shaw@threads.net, The Playlist, @brianstorms@mastodon.social, Steve Siskind on LinkedIn, Boxoffice, Screen Rant, Bloomberg, Associated Press, The Wrap, Oh No They Didn't!, TechCrunch, Know Your Meme and GoldDerby


A majority of 300+ WaPo tech workers sign union cards and plan to formally request recognition, WaPo's first public union drive since Bezos' 2013 acquisition — With global markets again in free-fall, the president appeared to be losing support of business leaders, raising questions about his leverage in his trade fight.
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Washingtonian, Associated Press, MPR News, @azagata.bsky.social, financialpost, Politico and @benmullin, more at Techmeme »


Sources: Evan Gershkovich is not cooperating on WSJ's documentary and book about his imprisonment, and plans his own film and book, sparking tensions — It was a dramatic moment. On Aug. 1, 2024, Wall Street Journal reporter Evan Gershkovich stepped off a plane in Turkey to freedom, after 16 months spent in a Russian prison.
Discussion:
Talking Biz News and @jeffjarvis.bsky.social


RocaNews, a Gen-Z focused outlet that operates via Instagram, a gamified app, newsletters, and YouTube, says it became profitable in October and has 2M readers — An American news start-up says it is proving Gen Z audiences will pay for news if it's done the right way.
Discussion:
Forbes


Publishers say traffic to their sites has plummeted since Google rolled out AI Overviews; sources: Google acknowledged the drop in a meeting with publishers — In March 2024, website owner Morgan McBride was posing for photos in her half-renovated kitchen for a Google ad celebrating the ways …
Discussion:
@byjulialove, ZeroHedge News and @davey.bsky.social


Most books sold in the US are printed domestically, but new tariffs could raise manufacturing costs, squeezing publisher profits and pushing up book prices — Members of BookTok, TikTok's passionate community of readers, have raised concerns over what President Donald Trump's tariffs on imported goods will mean for book publishing.
Discussion:
Publishers Weekly


Filing: Moonvalley, whose AI model Marey generates “HD” clips up to 30 seconds in length, raised $43M and says it's working on licensing arrangements — Los Angeles-based startup Moonvalley, which is developing AI tools for video creation, has raised a fresh $43 million in venture capital, according to an SEC filing.


Spotify's royalty payouts to South African performers grew 54% YoY in 2024 to $21M, while payouts to Nigerian artists more than doubled to $38M — Audio streaming giant Spotify's (SPOT.N) royalty payments to artists from Nigeria and South Africa - its two biggest African markets …
Discussion:
Music Ally, Semafor and RouteNote Blog


Some experts weigh in on how President Trump's trade policy could impact the entertainment industry: ad budgets may shrink, Netflix could be shielded, and more — We asked experts how his trade policy will impact the entertainment business. … The adaptation of the popular video game opened …
Discussion:
Lucas Shaw on LinkedIn, @lucas_shaw, @lucas_shaw and New York Times


Six Russian BBC journalists labeled “foreign agents” by Putin's regime speak on how it has impacted their lives, effectively banishing them from their homeland — Journalists now effectively banished say Kremlin's aim is to make them ‘toxic’ to anyone thinking of speaking to media
Discussion:
@metkere and @michaelsavage


Nexstar ordered its 160+ local TV stations to air segments during local newscasts that encourage viewers to lobby the FCC for broadcast ownership deregulation — Nexstar Media Group has ordered most of its 160-plus local television stations to air segments during local newscasts …
Discussion:
TVNewsCheck, @briank.bsky.social and Radio & Television …


OpenAI and Google reject the UK's proposal to allow training AI on copyrighted work without permission unless rights holders opt out to “reserve their rights” — The U.K. government's AI copyright plans can't seem to please anyone. — LONDON — Leading AI companies OpenAI …
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