Top News:
Ben Johansen / Politico:
Sources: USAGM told employees of VOA's Persian-language service who were placed on administrative leave to return to their roles amid the Iran-Israel conflict — President Donald Trump ordered the service to shut down in March. — Employees of Voice of America's Persian-language service …
Discussion:
New York Times, Washington Post, Daily Mail, Pravda Trump, CNN, Al Jazeera, @farhip, Mirror, @alexthenewsbee, New York Post, CBS News, The Hill, @amanbatheja.bsky.social, @scottnover.bsky.social, @newsguy.bsky.social, @eddwilson.bsky.social, One America News Network, @bluedotin.bsky.social, TVNewsCheck, @derekmyoung.bsky.social, @cmcknichols.bsky.social, @ianbassin.bsky.social, Fox News, Raw Story, @raymondnorman.bsky.social, The Wrap, FITSNews, NewsMax.com, The Indian Express and CNBC
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Matthew Keys / The Desk:
Arabic news channel Alhurra has replaced its programming with an image accusing the USAGM of illegally withholding Congress-approved funding for its parent MBN — The Arabic-language news channel Alhurra is using its air waves to draw attention to the U.S. Agency for Global Media's (USAGM) …
Discussion:
@kaedotcom.bsky.social and @newsguy.bsky.social
Michael Savage / The Guardian:
Hamish McKenzie says WaPo approached Substack about hosting its writers, and there has been a “change in mindset” of traditional media about the platform — Newspaper could join legacy media brands in embracing newsletter platform — The Washington Post has held talks …
Discussion:
@daisandconfused, @chriscillizza and @maryhilt.bsky.social
Liam Scott / Freedom of the Press Foundation:
An interview with US Press Freedom Tracker Senior Reporter Stephanie Sugars on documenting nearly 62,000 anti-press social posts by Trump over the past 10 years — 61,989. — That's how many social media posts by President Donald Trump over the past decade that journalist Stephanie Sugars has single-handedly reviewed.
Discussion:
@pressfreedomtracker.us, @pressfreedomtracker.us, @pressfreedomtracker.us, @pressfreedomtracker.us, @pressfreedomtracker.us, @pressfreedomtracker.us, @pressfreedomtracker.us, @pressfreedomtracker.us, @pressfreedomtracker.us, @pressfreedomtracker.us, @pressfreedomtracker.us, U.S. Press Freedom Tracker and So What
Charlotte Tobitt / Press Gazette:
Mediahuis Ireland, which owns the Belfast Telegraph, Irish Independent, and others, says it has 100K+ digital subscribers after launching paywalls in 2020 — Mediahuis Ireland has crossed the 100,000 digital subscriber mark, just over five years after first launching its paywalls.
Discussion:
Peter Vandermeersch on LinkedIn and BelfastTelegraph.co.uk
Jonathan Stempel / Reuters:
Byron Allen settles with McDonald's over his $10B 2021 lawsuit accusing the fast food chain of racial stereotyping in its ads budget; terms were not disclosed — McDonald's (MCD.N) has settled a $10 billion lawsuit by the media entrepreneur Byron Allen accusing the fast-food chain of …
Discussion:
Baller Alert, Deadline, The A.V. Club, @fly_sistah, Restaurant Business, TVNewsCheck, Variety, The Wrap, The Desk and MarketWatch
CNBC:
The WNBA and E.W. Scripps renew their media rights deal, ensuring Friday night WNBA matchups will continue on Ion, along with a new weekly studio show — The WNBA and E.W. Scripps announced on Friday a new, multi-year media rights agreement to carry Friday night WNBA matchups on Ion.
Discussion:
@matthewkeyslive, Brian Lawlor on LinkedIn, Sports Media Watch, Front Office Sports, Cord Cutters News, Sportico, New York Times, Awful Announcing, The Desk, Adam Symson on LinkedIn, Sports Business Journal, The E.W. Scripps Company, Barrett Media, TV Tech, Radio & Television … and Multicast News
Alex Weprin / The Hollywood Reporter:
Take-Two, NBA, and National Basketball Players Association expand their partnership to launch NBA Take-Two Media, producing original content, live events, more — The video game publisher of the NBA 2K franchise will partner with the league on original content and competitive gaming via its new banner …
Discussion:
Charlie Hyun on LinkedIn, The Wrap, TVNewsCheck, Jonathan Rosen on LinkedIn, Sports Business Journal, NBA.com and Variety
Graham Kates / CBS News:
A US appeals court denies Trump's request for a rehearing in writer E. Jean Carroll's case, in which he was found liable in 2023 for sexual abuse and defamation — President Trump on Friday lost his latest effort to get a retrial in the case in which a jury found him liable for sexual abuse …
Todd Spangler / Variety:
Vox Media Union says it has reached a tentative three-year agreement with Vox Media, averting a strike — The Vox Media Union covers editorial staff at Vox.com, The Verge, Eater, SB Nation, Pop Sugar, Thrillist, Vox Media Podcast Network and The Dodo. — An overwhelming 90% of the members …
Emma Roth / The Verge:
Betting platform Kalshi aired a fully AI-generated 30-second ad during the NBA Finals, reportedly made in 2-3 days with 300-400 generations using Google's Veo 3 — It apparently took just days to make using Google's new text-to-video generator, Veo 3.
Peter White / Deadline:
The Outstanding Talk Series Emmy category will have only three nominations in 2025, down from five in 2023, due to getting just 13 submissions — The likes of Jon Stewart, Stephen Colbert, Jimmy Kimmel, Seth Meyers, Sean Evans and John Mulaney will be battling it out for one of only three Emmy nominations.
Discussion:
Screen Rant, Decider, The Wrap, LateNighter, GoldDerby and Variety
