Top News:
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, Axios, Reclaim The Net, Reuters, Benzinga, The Forward, The Wrap, @josephpolitano, @teddyschleifer.bsky.social, @matthewstoller, @joelpollak, The Gateway Pundit, @thefarce.org, CNN, Breitbart, The Hill, The Daily Caller, The Daily Wire, New Republic, The Post Millennial, Mediaite, Deadline, Fox News, @mcnamarawdet.bsky.social, @kenvogel.bsky.social and TVNewsCheck, more at Techmeme »
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:
Variety, The Information, Front Office Sports, Sportico, @tim_bays, @joshuaogundu, @lucas_shaw, @lucas_shaw, Reuters, The Hollywood Reporter, Awful Announcing, Deadline, The Verge, TVNewsCheck, The Wrap, New York Times, Cord Cutters News, Benzinga and Sports Business Journal, more at Techmeme »
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 — Malcolm Denmark says business will not be based on chasing “short-term” results. — The new boss of National World has told staff they will be given …
Discussion:
Media Concierge, HoldtheFrontPage and thenational.scot
Wendy Lee / Los Angeles Times:
A look at AI on Screen, a Google initiative funding short films to counter AI's negative image in partnership with production company Range Media Partners — - Google is funding short films about AI that portray the technology in a less nightmarish light than in many Hollywood science fiction depictions.
Discussion:
Research & Development World and The Keyword, more at Techmeme »
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 …
Sara Guaglione / Digiday:
Similarweb: ChatGPT sent 243.8M visits to 250 news and media websites in April, up 98% from January; 83% of OpenAI's referral traffic went to news sites — This article was provided as an exclusive preview for Digiday+ members, who were able to access it early.
Discussion:
@juwanthecurator.bsky.social
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.
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 — Abu Dhabi-backed IMI to retain minority stake of up to 15% in Telegraph. — US-based private investment firm Redbird Capital Partners …
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
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.
Discussion:
TVNewsCheck and The Hill
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:
TVNewsCheck, The Hollywood Reporter, Lionsgate, Variety, Media Play News and The Wrap
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, more at Techmeme »
