Top News:
Sara Fischer / Axios:
PBS and one of its local affiliates sue the Trump administration, saying his executive order to cut federal funding violated PBS' First Amendment rights — The nonprofit Public Broadcasting Service (PBS) and one of its local affiliates on Friday said they sued the Trump administration …
Discussion:
New York Times, Washington Post, Politico, Fox News, Variety, Reuters, Wall Street Journal, The Wrap, CNN, The Hill, Twitchy, The Business Times, Cord Cutters News, ABC News, AV Club, BroadwayWorld, CBS News, NBC News, The Independent, Business Insider, Newsbusters, Deadline, The Hollywood Reporter, CNBC, Los Angeles Times, Ace of Spades HQ, NPR, NewsMax.com and United States District Court District of Columbia
Max Tani / Semafor:
The California State Senate launches an inquiry into whether Paramount's proposed $15M settlement with Trump violated bribery and unfair competition laws — The Scoop — The California State senate has invited two former top CBS figures to testify in a new inquiry into whether …
Rory Carroll / The Guardian:
Former Sinn Féin leader Gerry Adams wins a defamation case against the BBC over a documentary that claimed that Adams had sanctioned an MI5 informant's murder — Former Sinn Féin leader sued broadcaster over allegation in documentary that he sanctioned murder of MI5 informant
Discussion:
Sky News, Canadian Press, BBC, NPR, UPI, Associated Press, @jim.londoncentric.media, WTOP News, Press Association, The Guardian, thenational.scot, Deadline, Press Gazette, Financial Times, Al Jazeera, Politico, GB News and Daily Mail
Chris Willman / Variety:
Taylor Swift acquires the rights to her first six albums from Shamrock Capital; sources say the deal was in the mid-$300M range — The deal with Shamrock Holdings was a triumph for Swift after six years of turmoil in which her catalog had been sold and resold. The final price tag came at what she considered a reasonable price.
Discussion:
The Official Website …, New York Times, Billboard, Rolling Stone, Time, Associated Press, Deseret News, Fast Company, PitchBook, TODAY.com, The Hollywood Reporter, InStyle, Forbes, Financial Times, CNBC, Us Weekly, Vanity Fair, GoldDerby, TMZ.com, Quartz, New York Post, Wall Street Journal, @stevekovach.bsky.social, @yvettenicolebrown@threads.com, Los Angeles Times, Screen Rant, Socialite Life, Mediaite, Entertainment Weekly, Page Six, The Cut, @nathanchubbard@threads.com, Richard Stumpf on LinkedIn, Washington Post, People, Plain Dealer, @jenrara, Digital Music News, @taylorswift13, The Guardian, NBC Bay Area, @lucas_shaw, @danprimack, @mattbelloni.bsky.social, Consequence, @brianstelter.bsky.social, ZeroHedge News, StyleCaster, @mollyknight.bsky.social, KSDK-TV, The Verge, Bustle, @lucas_shaw, The Wrap, Reuters, Marie Claire, Music Business Worldwide, Vogue, Entrepreneur, Just Jared, UNILAD, Above the Law, Extra, Cosmopolitan, Elle, WPXI-TV and Oh No They Didn't!
The Bookseller:
Boundless, which bought crowdfunding publisher Unbound in March, tells authors that royalties accrued before March won't be paid until Boundless is cash stable — Authors published by the crowdfunding publisher Unbound will not receive historic royalty payments for sales of their books …
Matthew Keys / The Desk:
Nexstar has deleted references to DEI and data on its workforce composition from its site; it is interested in acquisitions that are subject to FCC approval — The broadcaster removed references to its diversity, equity and inclusiveness programs from its website and social media profiles.
Discussion:
The Hill, CNN, TVNewsCheck and Wired
Alex Weprin / The Hollywood Reporter:
Former MSNBC host Joy Reid plans to launch The Joy Reid Show, a new video podcast, on June 9, streaming on YouTube and other major podcast platforms — The former MSNBC host will launch ‘The Joy Reid Show’ next month, with plans to expand to five days per week later this year.
Discussion:
Adweek, Variety, TVNewsCheck, New York Sun, Baller Alert, The Wrap, NewscastStudio, TV Insider, Barrett Media and Los Angeles Times
Todd Spangler / Variety:
Starz reports Q4 revenue down 6.2% YoY to $330.6M, an operating loss of $136.3M, up from $30.8M, and 13.04M streaming subscribers, up 470K from Q3 — Starz, fresh off its separation from former parent company Lionsgate, reported results for the first three months of the year.
Mark Stenberg / Adweek:
The Arena Group settled its lawsuit against Authentic Brands in April over Sports Illustrated licensing fees, said the size of the settlement is “not material” — The media company was locked in a $249 million standoff with Authentic Brands Group over unpaid licensing fees
Discussion:
Awful Announcing and The Arena Group
Pew Research Center:
Share of news influencers on Bluesky has doubled after the 2024 US election to 43%, but X remains popular, with 82% of news influencers maintaining an account — The Pew-Knight Initiative supports new research on how Americans absorb civic information, form beliefs and identities, and engage in their communities.
Mia Sato / The Verge:
Two rival Amazon influencers seek to dismiss their 2024 copyright case, where one accused the other of posting similar promotional content for the same products — A high-profile lawsuit between two rival lifestyle and shopping influencers would have rewritten copyright law and changed the creator industry.
David Weigel / Semafor:
AI-generated political fanfiction videos that feature political stars and look like breaking news are proliferating in places like Mr. Noah's Stories on YouTube — The Scene — Rep. Jasmine Crockett, D-Texas, kept herself busy on Tuesday. She confronted Elon Musk in a closed-door meeting …
Discussion:
@weedyfunk.bsky.social, @marklittle.bsky.social and @semaforben.bsky.social
