Top News:
Kate Knibbs / Wired:
The Freedom of the Press Foundation, a shareholder in Paramount, is threatening legal action against the company if it settles with President Trump — As Paramount considers settling a lawsuit with Donald Trump, the Freedom of the Press Foundation warns that it will sue over a deal that allegedly “could amount to a bribe.”
Discussion:
@johncusack, @trevortimm, @pamspaulding.bsky.social and Freedom of the Press …
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Charlotte Tobitt / Press Gazette:
Redbird Capital Partners buys the Telegraph at a £500M valuation, ending nearly two years of ownership limbo; IMI will take a minority investment — US-based private investment firm Redbird Capital Partners has bought the Telegraph ending nearly two years in ownership limbo for the newsbrand.
Discussion:
The Media Leader, The Guardian, Variety, Deadline, CNN, The Times, Wall Street Journal, @frasernelson, New York Post, Agence France-Presse, The Wrap, UPI, Sky News, @jonathan_hinder, @ascendedyield, BusinessCloud, @aaronbastani, New York Times, Business Wire, @williamcb.bsky.social, @jim.londoncentric.media, Telegraph, The Independent, Reuters, Associated Press, @ianfraser.bsky.social, City A.M., The Hollywood Reporter, RTÉ and Fortune
Liam Scott / Poynter:
Some VOA employees discuss the bare-bones return to work: out of 1,300 staff, only 30 remain, and the outlet is only publishing in four languages, instead of 49 — The bare-bones return has been marked by low morale, confusion and uncertainty, VOA sources say
Discussion:
NPR, The Newsguy, The Independent and @liamjscott
Charlotte Tobitt / Press Gazette:
A UK court approves Media Concierge's acquisition of National World, owner of The Scotsman, Yorkshire Post, and others, effective May 27 — The new boss of National World has told staff they will be given the space to carry on “business as usual” after its takeover by Media Concierge next week.
Discussion:
Media Concierge, BusinessCloud, HoldtheFrontPage and thenational.scot
Daniel Engber / The Atlantic:
PBS cut 90 seconds from a documentary on Art Spiegelman in which he criticized Trump; the edit was made a few days after the “Anti-American Airwaves” hearing — A worrying pattern has taken hold in public television. — American Masters, an award-winning documentary series …
Lucas Shaw / Bloomberg:
Filing: Disney sues YouTube, claiming breach of contract after YouTube hired longtime Disney executive Justin Connolly as its global head of media and sports — Disney responds with a complaint in California court claiming breach of contract — YouTube hired long-time Walt Disney Co …
Discussion:
Barrett Media, Variety, Media Play News, Los Angeles Times, C21Media, Tubefilter, The Information, Sports Media Watch, The Hollywood Reporter, @lucas_shaw, @tim_bays, @joshuaogundu, @lucas_shaw, Front Office Sports, Sportico, Reuters, Awful Announcing, Deadline, The Verge, The Wrap, New York Times, Cord Cutters News, Benzinga and Sports Business Journal
Variety:
A24 is shutting down its documentary filmmaking department, laying off five staffers, as sources say the market is too challenging to support an entire division — A24 is shutting down its documentary filmmaking department with five people departing from that division, Variety has confirmed.
Sara Ashley O'Brien / Wall Street Journal:
A profile of Gen Z influencer Alix Earle, who has 7.5M TikTok followers and has moved beyond sponsorship deals by getting equity in some brands she promotes — How a University of Miami student became Gen Z's savviest pitchwoman … Alix Earle is in Los Angeles ready to “activate.”
Discussion:
@jtes, @simonowens.bsky.social, Simon Owens's Media Newsletter, People, Us Weekly, The Hollywood Gossip and E! Online
BBC:
BBC World Service is launching a Polish-language news website, BBC News Polska, the first new language offer produced with the help of AI translation — BBC News Polska will deliver independent and impartial news in text and video for Polish-speaking audiences
New York Times:
Sources: the US FTC is investigating whether Media Matters illegally colluded with advertisers; Elon Musk sued the advocacy group in 2023 — Elon Musk previously sued the advocacy group over critical research on his social media platform X over claims it drove away advertisers.
Discussion:
Washington Post, CNN, MSNBC, Axios, Forbes, The Contrarian, The Independent, Techdirt, Reclaim The Net, Benzinga, @thefarce.org, Reuters, @matthewstoller, @joelpollak, @josephpolitano, The Wrap, @teddyschleifer.bsky.social, The Gateway Pundit, The Hill, Breitbart, Jewish Telegraphic Agency, The Daily Caller, The Daily Wire, New Republic, The Post Millennial, Mediaite, Deadline, Fox News, @mcnamarawdet.bsky.social, @kenvogel.bsky.social and TVNewsCheck
Adrià Calatayud / Wall Street Journal:
Publicis acquires Captiv8, a marketing platform that connects influencers and brands; a source says the acquisition is valued at $150M — Acquisition is said to be valued at $150 million — Publicis Groupe said it is buying Captiv8, a platform that connects influencers and brands …
Discussion:
@michaelmiraflor, @aerocles, @daveg, @tazpatel, @jcbackus, @publicisgroupe, Raymond Bordogna on LinkedIn, PRWeek, afaqs!, AdNews News, Ad Age, Publicis Groupe, Inside Radio, CampaignUK, MediaBrief, Adweek, The Drum and Marketing Dive
Todd Spangler / Variety:
Melania Trump releases an audiobook of her memoir with her “official AI voice” created by ElevenLabs, available exclusively on the ElevenReader app — First Lady Melania Trump released her recently published memoir “Melania” as an audiobook that will be available in multiple languages …
Discussion:
@melaniatrump, Mashable, @matistanis, The Daily Beast, Washington Times, @sifill.bsky.social, @ronfilipkowski.bsky.social, Daily Kos, Daily Mail, San Francisco Chronicle, New Jersey Online, Gizmodo, New York Post, The Daily Caller, The Hill, People, ABC News, Fox News, IJR and NewsMax.com, more at Techmeme »
