Top News:
Washington Post:
More than 500 Voice of America contractors are expected to lose their jobs by June 30; Kari Lake says 584 total employees were terminated across USAGM — More than 500 of the news service's contractors could be out of a job on June 30. — More than 500 Voice of America contractors …
Discussion:
New York Times, The Hill, Media Matters for America, UPI, Politico, Forbes, The Guardian, Washington Times, @matthewkeyslive, @savevoanow, @w7voa, @herbscribner, @fatimatlis, @davidfolkenflik, @sarahellison, @scottnover, Washington Examiner, TVNewsCheck, Michael Abramowitz on LinkedIn, The Desk, Raw Story, Bloomberg and @w7voa@journa.host
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Jordyn Holman / New York Times:
Q&A with PBS' Paula Kerger on why it's hard for PBS to plug budgetary gaps created by the loss of federal funding, its importance as a creative incubator, more — Paula Kerger, the chief executive of PBS, is used to fights over the public broadcaster's funding.
Discussion:
@freedomofpress@social …, @freedom.press, Amy Wigler on LinkedIn, @hofrench.bsky.social, Inside Radio and NPR
Reuters:
Charter says it will acquire Cox Communications for $21.9B, valuing Cox at $34.5B including debt and uniting two of the biggest US cable and broadband operators — Broadband and cable TV provider Charter (CHTR.O) is in advanced talks to combine with Cox Communications in a deal that values Cox …
Discussion:
CNN, StreamTV Insider, Awful Announcing, Adweek, Bloomberg, MediaPost, TV Tech, NBC News, Seamless Connectivity, @pkafka, @tvgrimreaper, UPI, Fast Company, Barron's Online, The Information, al.com, Associated Press, Sports Business Journal, TVNewsCheck, New York Times, Deadline, Benzinga, Fortune, CNBC, Cord Cutters News, Media Play News, The Hollywood Reporter, Axios, Wall Street Journal, Dylan Jones on LinkedIn, Bloomberg, Reuters, @claireatki, ZeroHedge News, The Verge and Yahoo Finance, more at Techmeme »
Amanda Silberling / TechCrunch:
Spotify adjusts its “plays” metric for podcasts to only appear on episodes with at least 50K plays, updating at specific milestones, like 100K or 1M plays — Spotify announced last week that it would roll out public play counts on all podcasts as a way of “helping attract new fans.”
Discussion:
Spotify for Creators, The Verge and Podnews
Michael M. Grynbaum / New York Times:
C-SPAN plans to debut Ceasefire, its first new weekly show in 20 years in the fall, envisioned as conversations between lawmakers on opposite sides of the aisle — “Ceasefire” will be the low-key public affairs channel's first new weekly show in two decades. The question is whether Republicans and Democrats will show up.
Discussion:
@samstein, @mollyereynolds, @bryancurtis, Mock Paper Scissors, TVNewsCheck, C-SPAN.org, Deadline and The Hollywood Reporter
Michael Savage / The Guardian:
Sources: the UAE met with Downing Street and discussed the UK's media ownership law weeks before a law change paved the way for the UAE's 15% Telegraph stake — Exclusive: delegates met officials weeks before UK set out higher-than-expected cap on foreign state ownership of newspapers
Discussion:
@profbillmcguire.bsky.social, @michaelsavage.bsky.social and Telegraph
Johan Ahlander / Reuters:
Sweden's PM says Swedish journalist Joakim Medin, who was jailed in March in Turkey on charges of terrorism and insulting Turkey's president, has been released — Swedish journalist Joakim Medin, who was jailed in March in Turkey on terrorism and insult charges, is on his way home, Sweden's Prime Minister said on Friday.
Variety:
A look at the pay packages of some top media and entertainment executives in 2024; seven of the 10 examined executives got raises despite lackluster earnings — Top execs kept raking in the bucks last year, even as many of the companies they led struggled to stay aloft
Discussion:
TVNewsCheck
Advanced Television:
Dailymotion acquires Archery, the company that develops Mojo, an AI-assisted video creation and editing app, which has been downloaded 50M+ times — Dailymotion, the video platform owned by Canal+, has acquired Archery, the company responsible for developing Mojo, the AI-assisted video creation …
Discussion:
CANAL+ Group, Bichoï Bastha on LinkedIn, Bruno Latapie on LinkedIn and @jean_patry
Wall Street Journal:
Facebook and Instagram face “an epidemic of scams” driven by crime networks; internal docs from 2022 say 70% of newly active Meta advertisers promote scams — Fake puppies and phony offers of mouthwatering bargains are often seeded by overseas crime networks …
Discussion:
Erin West on LinkedIn and @parismarx.com, more at Techmeme »
Mike Scarcella / Reuters:
Filing: advertisers ask a US judge to dismiss X's lawsuit accusing them of boycotting the company, arguing X failed to show that they acted with any common plan — Major companies that curtailed advertising on Elon Musk's social media platform X over concerns about its ability …
Discussion:
Marketing Charts, BMI, Futurism and Business Insider
Roberto Ferdman / Columbia Journalism Review:
A look at Maine-base Civic Sunlight, which sends newsletters with AI-generated summaries of city council meetings and has partnered with local legacy news orgs — Twists and turns for a surprisingly well-received experiment in Maine. — When Tom Cochran and David Mortlock started kicking around ideas …
