Top News:
Deseret News:
Charlie Kirk, the MAGA influencer who founded Turning Point USA, has died after being shot at an event at Utah Valley University — ‘Person of interest’ in custody. Cox called Kirk's killing a ‘political assassination’ … The Deseret News reported from the scene at Utah Valley University.
Discussion:
Mother Jones, @realDonaldTrump …, New York Times, Salt Lake Tribune, Associated Press, Mediaite, The Wrap, Adweek, Inside Radio, TVLine, al.com, Reuters, Breitbart, American Prospect, @thebushcenter, @bulwarkonline, TODAY.com, The Independent, The Daily Caller, @daveweigel, NBC News, @paleofuture.bsky.social, Tampa Free Press, Blaze Media, Semafor, Vanity Fair, Benzinga, Hollywood Life, Washington Post, Entrepreneur, Wall Street Journal, them., @willsommer, @lcv.org, The Federalist, Truthout, WJXX-TV, Forbes, ABC News, Le Monde, WTOL-TV, Ace of Spades HQ, Los Angeles Times, People, Salon, Politico, The Verge, Us Weekly, Al Jazeera, Wired, RedState, Gizmodo, Axios, Deadline, Daily Mail, HotAir, Townhall, TMZ.com, The Sun, The Guardian, Washington Examiner, NBC Bay Area, @ilhanmn.bsky.social, The US Sun, Full Feed, @samshirazi.bsky.social, @jeremymbarr, TheGrio, Newsweek, @scottnover, @benkesslen, The Kyiv Independent, @bobameals, National Enquirer, Cracked, The Portland Press Herald, The Gateway Pundit, MSNBC, NewsMax.com, NOTUS, KRON4, The Hill, WPXI-TV, The Cut, Patterico's Pontifications, Just Jared and New York Daily News
New York Times:
Sources: Paramount is considering giving Bari Weiss the title of editor-in-chief or co-president of CBS News, as part of a broader deal to buy The Free Press — The talks with Ms. Weiss, a founder of The Free Press, are the strongest sign yet that the new owner of CBS News intends to make major changes.
Jill Goldsmith / Deadline:
Warner Bros. Discovery CEO David Zaslav says he expects the planned separation of the company to be completed by April 2026 — It's the most specific executives have been as to a timeline. The split of streaming and studios from global networks was anticipated to fall in the first half of the year.
The Guardian:
Leaked files: WaPo publisher Will Lewis supported Boris Johnson as a secret political adviser when he was UK PM in 2022; Lewis was AP's vice-chair at the time — Extensive meetings in 2022 between Lewis, then vice-chair of AP, and Johnson were not disclosed in transparency records
Discussion:
@tariqpanja.bsky.social, @casmudde.bsky.social, @emptywheel.bsky.social, NewsMax.com, @robertscotthorton.bsky.social, @dankennedy.net, @theonlypeterkay.bsky.social, @justinbaragona.bsky.social, @brizzyc.bsky.social, @3fecta.bsky.social, @lisatozzi.bsky.social, @michaelsavage.bsky.social, @lordbonkers.bsky.social, @kevmag.bsky.social and Eschaton
New York Times:
President Trump signs a memorandum seeking to reinstate a pre-1997 policy that would sharply restrict prescription drug advertising on TV and social media — The administration is proposing a return to a 1990s-era policy that kept most drug ads off TV. That could dent the revenues of drugmakers and major networks.
Discussion:
CNN, MedPage Today, KSTP-TV, Adweek, Deseret News, RealClearPolitics, The Post Millennial, Pharmaceutical Technology, RedState, Benzinga, Newsweek, The Hollywood Reporter, Daily Kos, @mariopro.bsky.social, The Wrap, NewsMax.com, @cdarwin@c.im, @proudlyblue.bsky.social, @andrewmceo.bsky.social, Bloomberg, UPI, Wall Street Journal, Time, Axios, Forbes, The Daily Caller, Reuters, US Food and Drug …, Politico, Associated Press, CNBC, Washington Times, The Hill, The White House and Fox News
Alex Weprin / The Hollywood Reporter:
Paramount hires Meta's Dane Glasgow as chief product officer, reporting directly to CEO David Ellison; Glasgow is Facebook's former VP of product management — Dane Glasgow was most recently a vp at Facebook, overseeing the feed, Reels, Stories, Marketplace and other features. He will report to David Ellison.
Discussion:
TV Tech, Reuters, The Wrap, Dane Glasgow on LinkedIn, Variety, Finimize, Screen, Deadline, Paramount Skydance Corporation and TVNewsCheck
Sarah Perez / TechCrunch:
Bluesky says it will comply with South Dakota and Wyoming age-verification laws, which “currently strikes the right balance”, after exiting Mississippi — After blocking its service in Mississippi over its new age-assurance law, the social networking startup is taking …
Ivan Mehta / TechCrunch:
Reddit launches free tools for publishers as part of Reddit Pro, to track article performance and get suggestions on which communities to share their stories in — Reddit on Wednesday launched a set of free tools for publishers to track their article performance and receive suggestions …
Alex Reisner / The Atlantic:
Analysis: 13+ datasets used by tech companies without permission to train AI models contain 15.8M+ YouTube videos from 2M+ channels, including 1M how-to videos — At least 15 million videos have been snatched by tech companies. — When jon peters uploaded his first video to YouTube in 2010, he had no idea where it would lead.
Discussion:
@cdpositive.bsky.social and The Atlantic, more at Techmeme »
Terrence O'Brien / The Verge:
Spotify plans to roll out lossless audio at 24-bit/44.1 kHz FLAC to Premium users over the next two months in 50 markets, without needing a pricier subscription — Subscribers will be able to enjoy 24-bit / 44.1 kHz FLAC as part of their Premium plan. … It's been a long time coming but Spotify is finally getting lossless audio.
Discussion:
Engadget, OMG! Ubuntu, Spotify, MakeUseOf, Android Central, @lucas_shaw, Android Headlines, @lucas_shaw, CMU, Digital Trends, MobileSyrup, Digital Music News, WeRSM, Windows Report, AppleInsider, The Shortcut, ZDNET, PCMag, How-To Geek, WJXX-TV, NBC Bay Area, @tomwarren, nextpit, Metro.co.uk, CNET, TechRadar, Consequence, The Tab, Forbes, 9to5Mac, Gamereactor UK, 9to5Google, Moneycontrol, Thurrott, GB News, Pocket-lint, Android Police, Mashable, PCWorld, iPhone in Canada, BGR, T3, Trusted Reviews, @tomwarren.co.uk, TheDesk.net, Android Authority, MacRumors, Music Business Worldwide, GSMArena.com, Billboard, Music Ally, The Hollywood Reporter, Variety, TechCrunch and Notebookcheck, more at Techmeme »
Kerry Flynn / Axios:
Musiversal, which enables booking musicians for remote recording sessions for $249 per month, raised a $6M Series A led by Iberis as it plans a US expansion — Musiversal has raised a $6 million Series A as it plans a U.S. expansion, executives exclusively tell Axios.
Discussion:
Neil Cohen on LinkedIn, Xavier Jameson on LinkedIn, @kerrymflynn and Kerry Flynn on LinkedIn
Drew Lerner / Awful Announcing:
ESPN strikes a deal with EverPass to distribute ESPN+ in bars and restaurants, including over 2,200 live events that are exclusive to ESPN+ — With more content than ever finding itself exclusive to the ESPN app, it's important that such streaming-only events find their way into commercial establishments.
Discussion:
TheDesk.net, ESPN Press Room U.S., Sportico, Barrett Media, Streaming Better, Sports Business Journal and CNBC
