Mediagazer: Cavendish Press head Jon Harris warns freelance court reporters face extinction as UK newsrooms prioritize free police handouts over professional reporting (Dominic Ponsford/Press Gazette)

9:35 AM ET, May 20, 2025

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Alex Sherman / CNBC:

Sources: Paramount Global co-CEO George Cheeks had a discussion with CBS News CEO Wendy McMahon on Saturday and asked for her resignation — CBS News Chief Executive Officer Wendy McMahon announced Monday she is stepping down, the latest twist in a growing battle of wills between …

Michael M. Grynbaum / New York Times:

Memo: CBS News President and CEO Wendy McMahon is stepping down from the network, saying “it's become clear the company and I do not agree on the path forward” — Wendy McMahon, the president of CBS News and Stations, had allied herself with Bill Owens, the “60 Minutes” executive producer who recently resigned.

Discussion: CNN, NPR, Poynter, @maxwelltani, The Guardian, The Free Press, @grynbaum, Civil Discourse …, Digital Journal, @grynbaum, @jbflint, @sensanders, @davidenrich, HuffPost, @lucas_shaw, @lucas_shaw, @pamsaulsby, @bristei, @mehdirhasan, @sarahleah1, @brianstelter, @brianstelter, @brianstelter, @dylanbyers, @maxwelltani, @grynbaum, @sarafischer, The Moderate Voice, USA Today, Sydney Morning Herald, MediaPost, NBC News, The Daily Wire, @davidenrich.bsky.social, @bgrueskin.bsky.social, @benmullin.bsky.social, @marcelias.bsky.social, The Japan Times, @wajali.bsky.social, @hallijayne.bsky.social, Deadline, Instapundit, Newser, Daily Kos, Politico, Hollywood Life, Wall Street Journal, @bunnibytz.bsky.social, Variety, Cord Cutters News, RedState, Mediaite, Business Insider, Townhall, Daily Caller News Foundation, @jeffjarvis@mastodon.social, The Washington Free Beacon, Virg Bernero on LinkedIn, @carolinedegruyter.bsky.social, @sjvn@mastodon.social, @ChrisBoese@newsie.social, Axios, @jameeljaffer.bsky.social, The Independent, New York Post, The Hill, The Wrap, Fox News, The Hollywood Reporter, Bloomberg, Grabien and Vanity Fair

Jake Tapper / @jaketapper:

Source: Paramount could settle with President Trump for as much as $30M to $50M — A source close to negotiations tells me Paramount/CBS could settle with President Trump for as much as $30-50 million

Discussion: New York Times

Matthew Keys / The Desk:
CBS News pulled a 60 Minutes segment on IRS job losses hours before airing, learning the IRS reversed the firings, and plans to broadcast it later with new info

Discussion: @mrplowthatsmyname.bsky.social, American Thinker, Adweek, TVNewsCheck and @thedesk.net

Brian Steinberg / Variety: Sources: CBS News is considering new changes to the Evening News as Wendy McMahon exits and the program falls further behind its rival programs at ABC and NBC

Mark Sweney / The Guardian:

A look at Sky, seven years after Comcast's £31B acquisition, as the US media giant writes down Sky's valuation by 25% amid job cuts and losing exclusive shows — Since Comcast takeover, broadcaster has slashed jobs and is losing the exclusive shows that drew subscribers

Discussion: @mediaevan and Mirror

Samantha Schmidt / Washington Post:

Journalists from El Salvador's top independent investigative news outlet El Faro say they have left the country amid Nayib Bukele's crackdown on dissent — El Salvador's top independent investigative news outlet moved its headquarters to Costa Rica in 2023. More of its journalists left the country this month.

Discussion: The Guardian, @jwashing.bsky.social and @matthewhaybrown.bsky.social

Hannah Miller / Bloomberg:

Chuck Todd plans to launch Sunday Night With Chuck Todd with media startup Noosphere on June 1, featuring interviews at restaurants and bars in Washington, DC — Chuck Todd, the former moderator of NBC's weekly news program Meet the Press, is launching a new app-based show with media startup Noosphere.

Discussion: Noosphere on YouTube

Emma Roth / The Verge:

Spotify says Apple approved an update to let users in the US buy individual audiobooks from its iOS app and see audiobook prices, after the Epic v. Apple ruling — You'll see a ‘Buy’ button alongside an audiobook's price. … It's finally possible to purchase an audiobook from Spotify's iPhone app with just a few taps.

Discussion: 9to5Mac, Engadget, TechCrunch, StartupNews.fyi and 9to5Google, more at Techmeme »

Ashley Carman / Bloomberg:

The Daily Wire names Mike Richards, former Jeopardy! producer, as president; he joined the company in December 2024 and will also serve as chief content officer — Richards, who joined the company in December 2024, will also serve as chief content officer.

Discussion: TV Insider, The Hollywood Reporter and Inside Radio

Ayushi Kar / The Reporters' Collective:

How Indian news agency ANI is using YouTube's copyright policy in India to demand high licensing fees and shut down YouTubers, including those critical of Modi — The news agency is using a chink in YouTube's copyright policy in India to shut down news content producers if they dont cough …

Discussion: @kunalkamra88, @iarpitspeaks, @deb_livnletliv, @harshithamanwan, @bainjal, @ayushikar1998, @reporters_co, @reporters_co, @nit_set and Ayushi Kar on LinkedIn

Todd Spangler / Variety:

SAG-AFTRA files an NLRB unfair labor practice charge against Epic's Llama Productions for using AI to recreate James Earl Jones' Darth Vader voice in Fortnite — SAG-AFTRA said Epic-owned Llama Productions “chose to replace the work of human performers with AI technology” …

Kate Knibbs / Wired:

Inside the US case against a North Carolina man who the government claims made $10M+ in royalties between 2017 and 2024 by using bot armies to stream AI tracks — A chart-topping jazz album! Loads of Spotify and Apple Music plays! Just one problem: The success might not be real. — Play/Pause Button

Discussion: @teacherdude

Dominic Ponsford / Press Gazette:

Cavendish Press head Jon Harris warns freelance court reporters face extinction as UK newsrooms prioritize free police handouts over professional reporting — A news agency boss has warned police forces are “'strangling the freelance court reporter into extinction” with press-release coverage of criminal cases.

Discussion: @sheronboyle1, @totalcrime, @carlevecrime, @owenboswarva, @greghadfield and Charlie Moloney on LinkedIn

Andrew Webster / The Verge:

Netflix says Season 56 of Sesame Street will be available on Netflix “later this year”; Sesame Street had searched for a streamer since Max dropped it in 2024 — It's coming later this year. … Sunny days are on their way to Netflix. The streamer just announced that the next season …

Jennifer Maas / Variety:
Netflix starts streaming new episodes of Peppa Pig in the US along with a “World of Peppa Pig” gaming app, as it focuses on kids and pre-K titles

Discussion: Advanced Television and The Hollywood Reporter

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Katie Hicks / Marketing Brew:
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Discussion: Natalie Edwards on LinkedIn, Jason Roeder on LinkedIn, Leila Brillson on LinkedIn, Howie Kaplan on LinkedIn, @joshsternberg.com, @bencollins.bsky.social, @katiehicks.bsky.social and @leilza.bsky.social

Matthew Keys / The Desk:
Source: about 60 of the 500 VOA workers whose contracts were terminated by the USAGM are likely to be deported within the next month due to losing their jobs

Discussion: RadioInfo Asia

Karissa Bell / Engadget:
Bluesky is allowing some accounts to link their Twitch or YouTube accounts to their profiles, displaying a red indicator and “live” badge when they're streaming

Discussion: MediaPost, @devonheinen.bsky.social, The Verge and TechCrunch

Earlier Picks:

Naman Ramachandran / Variety:
BBC Studios launches a reorganization, with a “Global Production” unit and “Unscripted Productions” division to capitalize on surging unscripted content demand

Discussion: Deadline

Max Tani / Semafor:
Vice renews Shane Smith's podcast for a second season after it got tens of millions of YouTube views, and launches the Vice News Collective for news influencers

Discussion: @maxwelltani and @semaforben

New York Times:
Kara Swisher and Scott Galloway re-sign their Vox Media deal using a novel revenue-sharing contract with no guaranteed payments, potentially earning them ~$70M

Discussion: Podnews, @jtes, @benmullin, Lauren Starke on LinkedIn, Jim Bankoff on LinkedIn, @kylierobison.com, @molly.wiki, PR Daily, @seanokane.bsky.social, @jjvincent.bsky.social, TVNewsCheck and @andrewcarrier.com

From Techmeme:

Joe Rivano Barros / Mission Local:
Waymo says it temporarily suspended its ride-hailing service in San Francisco during a citywide blackout, as downed traffic lights appeared to halt its vehicles

Mitchell Peters / Billboard:
Pirate activist group Anna's Archive says it scraped 86M music files and 256M rows of track metadata from Spotify, and releases them in ~300TB of torrent files

John Sakellariadis / Politico:
Sources: DHS is investigating whether 6 staffers misled CISA's acting director into taking a polygraph that he failed, compounding instability at the agency

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