Top News:
Michael M. Grynbaum / New York Times:
In a memo, 60 Minutes EP Bill Owens says he is resigning because he had lost his journalistic independence; the show is under pressure from Trump and Paramount — The news program has faced mounting pressure from both President Trump and its corporate ownership at Paramount, the parent company of CBS News.
Discussion:
Reuters, Associated Press, The Hollywood Reporter, CNN, Los Angeles Times, Adweek, The Guardian, Mediaite, Fox News, The Hill, The Wrap, New York Post, Deadline, NBC News, Politico, Axios, @simonowens.bsky.social, The Left Hook with Wajahat Ali, Newser, Business Insider, @jayrosen.bsky.social, The Daily Beast, New York Daily News, @wajali.bsky.social, @nitishpahwa.com, @grynbaum, @grynbaum, @nickkristof.bsky.social, @guillermofesser.bsky.social, @joshuabenton.com, Bloomberg, @jonathancohn.bsky.social, @pkafka, The Gateway Pundit and Barrett Media
Todd Spangler / Variety:
The Washington Post partners with OpenAI to make its content “more accessible” in ChatGPT, which will display summaries, quotes, and links to WaPo's reporting — The Washington Post, owned by Amazon founder Jeff Bezos, has gone into business with artificial-intelligence powerhouse OpenAI.
Kaare Eriksen / Variety:
GamesBeat spins out from VentureBeat into a separate, independent entity, with ex-VentureBeat CSO Gina Joseph as CEO and Dean Takahashi as editorial director — Gina Joseph and veteran journalist Dean Takahashi will remain with and lead the new GamesBeat. — Video game publication GamesBeat …
Discussion:
Talking Biz News, @rachelkaser.bsky.social, VentureBeat, Game Developer, @timsweeneyepic, @deantak, VentureBeat, @chris_dring and @tolkoto.com
Financial Times:
Bertelsmann CEO Thomas Rabe says he wants to revive the aborted merger between French networks M6 and TF1, hoping EU regulation will soften within 2-3 years — Thomas Rabe hopes that softening EU regulation will allow him to revisit a tie-up between broadcasters M6 and TF1
Discussion:
Advanced Television, Broadband TV News, Baha News, MarketScreener, Reuters and Deadline
Scott Feinberg / The Hollywood Reporter:
The Academy releases new rules for the 98th Oscars in 2026, including making it tougher to vote in a category without watching all the nominees in the category — Additionally, the organization's board of governors has left the door open to again replacing its Oscar Nominees Luncheon with an Oscar Nominees Dinner or some other event.
RELATED:
Brooks Johnson / Minneapolis Star Tribune:
The Minnesota Star Tribune names Kathleen Hennessey as its top editor, starting May 12; she was deputy politics editor at the NYT for the last three years — The Midwest's largest newsroom to be led by the St. Paul native whose career was spent at some of America's most storied news outlets.
Discussion:
Editor and Publisher, Chris Iles on LinkedIn and Twin Cities
Sarah Scire / Nieman Lab:
The National Science Foundation canceled misinformation and disinformation research grants on Friday because they weren't “aligned with NSF priorities” — Hundreds of grants, fellowships, and awards were terminated because they are no longer “aligned with NSF priorities.”
Discussion:
Bloomberg, @tipazorg, @nsf, Advanced Television, @cfiesler.bsky.social, @carlbergstrom.com, Mother Jones, @carlbergstrom.com, @mkfeeney.bsky.social, @ryanjgallag.com, @marklittle.bsky.social, Nextgov/FCW, @claesdevreese.bsky.social, @caulfieldtim.bsky.social, @maddyjalbert.bsky.social, @scott-delaney.bsky.social, @guygrossman.bsky.social, Scientific American, Inside Higher Ed, NSF, The Register and The Daily Caller
Sarah Scire / Nieman Lab:
The National Trust for Local News names The Buffalo News publisher Tom Wiley as its CEO, succeeding Elizabeth Hansen Shapiro, who stepped down in January 2025 — Tom Wiley will join the nonprofit as CEO on May 12. He'll start with a road trip visiting the Trust's local newsrooms in Maine, Colorado, and Georgia.
Steven McIntosh / BBC:
Match of the Day presenter Gary Lineker says “perhaps” the BBC wanted him to leave the soccer highlights show, ahead of his departure in May after over 25 years — Gary Lineker has said he believes the BBC wanted him to leave Match of the Day as he was negotiating a new contract last year.
Discussion:
The Guardian, The Sun, GB News, Mirror, @saulstaniforth, @haggis_uk, @mendelpol, Deadline, @narindertweets, RTÉ, Radio Times, City A.M. and The Independent
Pew Research Center:
A survey of US teens and parents: 48% of teens say social media harms people their age, up from 32% in 2022, and girls' experiences skew more negative at times — Most teens credit social media with feeling more connected to friends. Still, roughly 1 in 5 say social media sites hurt their mental health …
Discussion:
CNN, NextDraft, Michelle Faverio on LinkedIn, Engadget and TechCrunch, more at Techmeme »
Dominic Preston / The Verge:
Instagram launches Edits, a “video creation app designed for creators” intended to rival ByteDance's CapCut app, for free on iOS and Android — The standalone video editing app supports green screen and cutout features, just like ByteDance's CapCut app.
Discussion:
Adweek, TechCrunch, Thurrott, Passionfruit, 9to5Mac, Bloomberg, TechRadar, 9to5Google, Engadget, Meta, BGR and CNBC, more at Techmeme »
Ronan Shields / Digiday:
In a reversal, Google says it won't roll out a new standalone third-party Chrome cookie prompt, meaning adtech companies can keep using related targeting tools — Google's latest Chrome update leaves third-party cookie phase-out as unclear as ever Read More
Nilay Patel / The Verge:
Q&A with Verizon Consumer CEO Sowmyanarayan Sampath on why net neutrality “has gone literally nowhere”, owning Yahoo, the FCC's probes over DEI, and more — Today, I'm talking with Verizon consumer CEO Sowmyanarayan Sampath, who goes by “Sampath.”
Discussion:
Techdirt, @sportshotchris.bsky.social, @reckless.bsky.social and 9to5Mac, more at Techmeme »
