Top News:
Peter White / Deadline:
Sources: WBD initiates a round of layoffs in its cable TV divisions, affecting well under 100 employees and largely impacting the Discovery side of the company — Deadline understands the company is set to lay off employees on the cable television side of its business.
Discussion:
Variety, Adweek, C21Media, The Desk, Los Angeles Times, AV Club, The Wrap, TVNewsCheck, The Hollywood Reporter, Cord Cutters News, Washington Times, Irish News and Newsweek
Thomas Buckley / Bloomberg:
AMC Entertainment reaches an agreement with National CineMedia to run ads right before the start of a film, starting July 1 — Starting July 1, AMC theaters will feature a “platinum spot” that's shown on screens right before the start of a film. The theater chain, which has struggled financially …
Discussion:
Kotaku, The Hollywood Reporter, Deadline, SlashFilm, The Ankler and Media Play News
RELATED:
Max Tani / Semafor:
UnitedHealthcare sues The Guardian for defamation over a May 21 story about nursing home cost-cutting, accusing the outlet of capitalizing on its CEO's killing — The Scoop — UnitedHealthcare is suing The Guardian for defamation over a story the publication ran related to its billing for nursing home residents.
Discussion:
Becker's Hospital Review, @maxtani.bsky.social, Talking Biz News, Alternet.org and InsuranceNewsNet
Kelcee Griffis / Bloomberg:
Two FCC commissioners announce that they'll depart this week, creating three vacancies on the five-member panel amid reviews of the Paramount-Skydance merger — Two members of the Federal Communications Commission announced they'll depart this week, leaving the agency with three vacancies …
Barbara Tasch / BBC:
The BBC rejects a White House claim that it took down a Gaza story, after Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt accused the BBC of taking “the word of Hamas” — The BBC has rejected incorrect White House criticism of its Gaza coverage, describing a claim that it had taken down a story as “completely wrong”.
Discussion:
Deadline, Al Jazeera, NPR, Canadian Press, Townhall, @bbcrosatkins, @adamemedia, @saulstaniforth, @mrneilmorrow, @efischberger, @alhewitt6, @mishtal, @owenjonesjourno, @brianstelter, The Hill, The Daily Caller, KRDO, Le Monde, New York Times, NBC News, TheJournal.ie, NewsMax.com, Mediaite, HuffPost and The Guardian
Mark Stenberg / Adweek:
Newsweek acquires adtech firm Adprime, a demand-side platform focused on healthcare marketers, to strengthen its health vertical and grow B2B revenue — The tie-up is part of a broader bid from the publisher to diversify its advertising — The 93-year-old publisher Newsweek has acquired …
Discussion:
Roy K Lee on LinkedIn, Danielle Varvaro on LinkedIn, Mark Stenberg on LinkedIn and MediaPost
Gene Maddaus / Variety:
Russell Simmons sues HBO and the directors of On the Record for $20M, alleging they defamed him in their documentary on sexual assault allegations against him — Russell Simmons is suing HBO and the filmmakers behind the “On the Record” documentary for $20 million, alleging they defamed …
Discussion:
Deadline, The Guardian, Billboard, The Wrap, The Hollywood Reporter, Rolling Stone, New York Post, AV Club, TMZ.com, TVNewsCheck, New York Daily News, Vibe, Baller Alert and Stereogum
Rhi Storer / Press Gazette:
Some YouTube channels are using AI to turn paywalled articles into videos without the consent of publishers, often adding inaccuracies — Youtube channels are using AI to steal words and photographs from paywalled news content and reproduce articles wholesale without the consent of publishers.
Discussion:
lawsociety.ie and Press Gazette
Tom Levitt / The Guardian:
UK-based BBC Persian journalists say their families in Iran are being terrorised and punished by the Iranian regime, with a sharp escalation in 2025 — BBC says ‘sharp and deeply troubling escalation’ this year of Iran targeting families of UK-based BBC Persian journalists
Discussion:
@jftaveira1993, @lgsentinel, @Wen@mastodon.scot and @ianmoody.bsky.social
Sean Burch / The Wrap:
WGA East threatens a strike by Vox employees without a new contract that includes The Dodo Union staffers along with better pay, AI protections, and more — The strike threat, made by WGA East, says it wants a joint contract that includes The Dodo Union colleagues
Discussion:
@mediaevan and @mediaevan.bsky.social
Attila Mong / Committee to Protect Journalists:
Since November 2024, Serbia had a sharp rise in attacks on journalists amid political unrest, including 23 physical assaults and 128 total attacks and threats — What journalists called a “witch hunt” atmosphere against government critics in Serbia one year ago has since escalated into a rise …
Discussion:
Al Jazeera, BBC and TheJournal.ie
Wall Street Journal:
Sources: Meta has talked with Disney, A24, and other companies about exclusive content for a premium VR device it plans to launch next year for less than $1,000 — Tech company has talked with Disney and A24 about exclusive content for a premium VR device — Meta Platforms is courting Hollywood …
Discussion:
Benzinga, @mikeisaac, UploadVR, MarketWatch, Sherwood News, @frydawolff.bsky.social, @jtoonkel, @peark.es, TVNewsCheck and The Verge, more at Techmeme »
