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Bill Simmons says he has agreed to a new Spotify contract and will continue his show for at least two years; he'll also serve as Spotify's head of talk strategy — Bill Simmons is sticking around at Spotify. — The podcast host and media executive said in a statement Wednesday …

An arbitrator instructs a former Meta employee to stop promoting and publishing her book alleging company misconduct; publisher Flatiron Books earlier objected — An arbitrator has instructed the book's author and its publishers to stop publishing the book, though it's unclear how much authority the arbitrator has to do so.
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Email accidentally sent to newsroom: NPR dissuaded All Things Considered anchor Ari Shapiro, a prominent gay staffer, from attending a corporate Pride event — The Scoop — National Public Radio dissuaded one of its most visible gay employees from attending a corporate LGBTQ Pride event …

Ruth Marcus explains why she quit WaPo, not wanting to tell readers “what Jeff Bezos thinks I should think”, and publishes her spiked column in The New Yorker — Owner Jeff Bezos wants to transform the Opinions section of the paper, where I worked for forty years.
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Food delivery startup Wonder acquires the media company Tastemade, sources say for around $90M, the latest step in its effort to create a mealtime “super app” — Wonder CEO Marc Lore hopes the company will one day offer AI-powered autonomous food ordering for all three meals of the day
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Variety, TechCrunch, The Desk, Adweek, The Information, @pkafka, @pkafka, Media Play News, Adam Schiff on LinkedIn, Eater, @baincapvc, @joeguszkowski and Restaurant Business

SiriusXM undergoes another round of layoffs after reportedly cutting about 100 jobs in January; source: cuts affect the product and technology group primarily — Layoffs primarily impact the product and technology group within the operations department, sources say.
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Billboard, Cord Cutters News, WTKR-TV, The Desk, Radio Ink, Digital Music News, Inside Radio, The Ankler and Reuters

Sources: Sonos has abandoned plans to release a streaming video player, which was set to be the company's major hardware launch in 2025 — The device, codenamed Pinewood, was set to be the company's major hardware launch in 2025. … Sonos has abandoned plans to release a streaming video player …
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The Desk, Ars Technica, PCWorld, Engadget, 9to5Mac, @welch.bsky.social and Streaming Better, more at Techmeme »

French publishers and authors sue Meta for allegedly training AI models on their books without consent, say they have evidence of “massive” copyright breaches — SNE, the trade association representing major French publishers including Hachette and Editis, along …
Discussion:
Music Ally, Associated Press, TechCrunch, Fortune and The Bookseller, more at Techmeme »

A US judge dismisses former Fox News producer Jennifer Eckhart's 2020 claims that Fox News didn't properly investigate rape allegations against ex-host Ed Henry — A federal judge ruled in favor of Fox News' motion for summary judgment to dismiss Jennifer Eckhart's 2020 claims …
Discussion:
The Wrap, Variety, The Hollywood Reporter and Deadline
Bron Maher / Press Gazette:
The Guardian agrees to pay Spectator Associate Editor Douglas Murray “substantial” damages for a column's claim Murray spoke in favor of far-right summer riots — An Observer writer inaccurately claimed comments made by Murray in 2023 had referred to the 2024 riots.
Discussion:
The Daily Caller, The Post Millennial, The Daily Wire and Mediaite

A profile of fashion magazine i-D, acquired by model Karlie Kloss in 2023; EIC Thom Bettridge aims to restore “the spirit of what it was but for right now” — The art and fashion worlds convened at Rick Owens's austere Left Bank house to celebrate the relaunch of Karlie Kloss's i-D Magazine.

A profile of NPR reporter Anas Baba, who has spent 17 months in Gaza, one of the few journalists working full-time with a US news organization to remain in Gaza — The Palestinian journalist said it's his calling to stay in his native land and report on what happens.