Top News:
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 …
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:
The Wrap, The Hill, @kenvogel.bsky.social, Reuters, Deadline, Jewish Telegraphic Agency, Mediaite, @josephpolitano, Breitbart, New Republic, @mcnamarawdet.bsky.social, @matthewstoller, The Daily Caller, CNN, @joelpollak, The Daily Wire, The Post Millennial, The Gateway Pundit, Fox News and TVNewsCheck, more at Techmeme »
David Folkenflik / NPR:
The EU says it will give $6.2M in emergency funding to RFE/RL, after Trump withheld its funding; Sweden pledged $2M, but those funds have yet to arrive — The European Union has stepped in to provide Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty an infusion of millions of dollars to keep functioning …
Discussion:
Associated Press, @amuse, @janlipavsky, @davidfolkenflik, Reuters, New York Times, The European Conservative, Reuters, Broadband TV News and Inside Radio
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 …
Jeremy Barr / Washington Post:
Many CBS News staffers say they view Wendy McMahon's abrupt resignation as an indicator that CBS will settle the $20B lawsuit filed by President Trump — Wendy McMahon, who resigned Monday, made clear internally that she did not want the network's parent company to settle President Trump's lawsuit.
Jill Goldsmith / Deadline:
Lionsgate Studios reports Q4 revenue up 22% YoY to $1.1B and a $21.9M net income, vs. a $47M loss a year ago, in its first earnings report since the Starz split — The newly solo Lionsgate Studios swung to a profit last quarter as motion picture revenue surged.
Discussion:
Lionsgate, Media Play News, The Wrap, The Hollywood Reporter and Variety
Corbin Bolies / The Daily Beast:
Sources: Disney CEO Bob Iger and ABC News President Almin Karamehmedovic asked The View hosts to tone down their political rhetoric, particularly about Trump — COOL IT — Multiple sources shared details with the Daily Beast about a meeting in which the ABC News president delivered a message that left the co-hosts unnerved.
Discussion:
The US Sun, RADAR, RedState, Fox News, Raw Story, New Republic, The Independent, The Gateway Pundit, Decider, NewsMax.com, @kjephd.bsky.social, TV Insider, @cyn1422.bsky.social, New York Post, Washington Times, Breitbart, @christopherterry.bsky.social, @jgo4justice.bsky.social, @murshedz.bsky.social, @bgrueskin.bsky.social and @jamescdownie.bsky.social
Gene Maddaus / Variety:
WGA report finds 40.4% of TV writers in the 2023-24 season were BIPOC, up from 32% three years prior, even as the overall number of TV writers contracted — TV writing staffs have continued to get more diverse, even with far fewer jobs available, according to a study released Wednesday by the Writers Guild of America.
Discussion:
TVNewsCheck and Deadline
Harry McCracken / Fast Company:
An interview with Roku founder and CEO Anthony Wood about diversifying Roku's business beyond hardware, its services business, the Roku Channel, ads, and more — The company that set out to make streaming simple has come a long way since 2008. Yet its current business all connects back to the original mission, says CEO Anthony Wood.
Discussion:
Jack Evans on LinkedIn, @harrymccracken.com and @joesteel@duck.haus
Kate Knibbs / Wired:
Politico union members say AI tools used by the outlet, including live news summaries, violate their contract and are taking the dispute to arbitration in July — Politico has rules about AI in the newsroom. Staffers say those rules have been violated—and they're gearing up for a fight.
The Mozilla Blog:
Mozilla plans to shut down Pocket, the read-it-later service it acquired in 2017, on July 8, and Fakespot, which helps identify unreliable reviews, on July 1 — Firefox is the only major browser not backed by a billionaire and our independence shapes everything we build.
Discussion:
TechCrunch, 404 Media, Engadget, Mozilla Support, @jalefkowit@vmst.io, @zak@infosec.exchange, @mike@fosstodon.org, @poisonivy47.bsky.social, 9to5Mac, @modestproposal1, @ericjgeller.com, @harrymccracken@mastodon …, @nateweiner@threads.com, @jjaron.bsky.social, The Desk, AndroidGuys, @singletary@threads.com, @jbruck@threads.com, Ars Technica, MacRumors, @kennysmith.bsky.social, @campuscodi.risky.biz, @vtuss.bsky.social, @martinsfp.bsky.social, @chimeracoder.bsky.social and The Verge, more at Techmeme »
Washington Post:
Kimi Yoshino, who has led The Baltimore Banner for 3.5 years as its first editor-in-chief, is joining The Washington Post as managing editor, starting July 7 — Her appointment follows Pulitzer Prize wins for both The Post and The Banner — The Washington Post today announced the addition …
Discussion:
The Baltimore Banner, @kyoshino, @kyoshino, @kyoshino, @kyoshino, Talking Biz News and MediaPost
