Top News:
Wall Street Journal:
Sources: Paramount has offered $15M to settle with Trump; Trump's team wants more than $25M, is seeking an apology from CBS News, and threatened another lawsuit — President's team threatened another lawsuit amid settlement talks — A month into negotiations between Paramount Global …
Ben Johansen / Politico:
Sources: all 800 full-time VOA staff are expected to receive reduction-in-force notices this week, after ~600 VOA contractors were dismissed earlier in May — The move would add to the grueling battle between the network and Trump administration. — All remaining staff at Voice of America …
Brian Steinberg / Variety:
Memo: David Leavy, who became CNN's COO in 2023, is leaving; sources say the longtime key lieutenant of David Zaslav is returning to Warner Bros. Discovery — “David arrived at CNN in tumultuous times and did a brilliant job stabilizing the company at a difficult moment.
Discussion:
Status, @bristei.bsky.social, @dylanbyers, Puck, @bristei, The Wrap, TVNewsCheck, Barrett Media, Deadline and The Hollywood Reporter
Anupriya Datta / Euractiv:
EU Tech Commissioner Henna Virkkunen says that far more online content is being removed in the EU under the T&Cs of US platforms than as a result of the DSA — “Often in the US, platforms have more strict rules with content,” Virkkunen said. — Based on facts, either observed …
Brian Steinberg / Variety:
WPP rebrands GroupM as WPP Media after reportedly laying off dozens of staffers in recent weeks — TV's annual “upfront” negotiations, when networks try to sell as many TV commercials as possible, is a tough, high-pressure moment. But here's some relief for NBCUniversal, Disney and Paramount …
Discussion:
Mediaweek, BMI, MediaBrief, The Drum, MediaNews4U, wpp.com, afaqs!, MediaPost and campaignlive.co.uk
Wall Street Journal:
Making a short AI film with tools from Google, Runway, Elevenlabs, and Midjourney shows the tech has improved but takes tedious work to attain scene consistency — We tried to direct an AI film with Veo and Runway. The tools are magic. The process is madness. — Welcome to the premiere of “My Robot & Me.”
Discussion:
PetaPixel
Lachlan Cartwright / Breaker:
Email: a senior business reporter at The New York Post says an editor spiked a story about Terry Cole, Trump's pick to lead the DEA, slated to run on March 22 — MSNBC anchor in talks to leave; Post Trump story spiked; Telegraph owner's US Play — In partnership with
Discussion:
The Daily Beast, TV Insider, Barrett Media, Daily Kos, @lachcartwright, HuffPost, Talking Biz News and Mediaite
Charlotte Tobitt / Press Gazette:
Immediate Media's BBC History Magazine launches a Substack and a weekly podcast, and says it has 745,000 paying online subscribers, but print remains important — Substack newsletter and podcast are latest additions to the brand. — Immediate Media's BBC History has proved again …
Discussion:
Press Gazette
Lucas Shaw / Bloomberg:
A look at YouTube's changes to become viewers' preferred TV service and to appeal more to advertisers, and at creators' push into sitcoms, like Alan's Universe — Creators are making longer shows to meet viewers where they are: increasingly, in front of their TVs.
Discussion:
@business, Lucas Shaw on LinkedIn, AJ Vargas on LinkedIn, @lucas_shaw, Android Police, MediaPost, Social Media Today and TVREV
INN News:
Survey: local news outlets make up 51% of INN's 500 members, digital-first outlets employ ~3,200 journalists, foundation funding is 49% of revenue, and more — For the first time, local news outlets make up the largest segment of the Institute for Nonprofit News' member network …
Discussion:
Nieman Lab, @inn, @inn, Poynter and @inn.org
Mark Stenberg / Adweek:
Food52 co-founder Amanda Hesser is stepping down after 16 years; she launched a Substack newsletter in March that has 705K+ subscribers — The influential lifestyle publisher has struggled following its pandemic heyday. — The co-founder and executive chair of Food52, Amanda Hesser …
Discussion:
Food52, Feed Me, Mark Stenberg on LinkedIn, Homeward and @gastropoda.bsky.social
Charlotte Tobitt / Press Gazette:
Tamar Riley, global managing director at Refinery29 since July 2022, is set to join The Standard, formerly The Evening Standard, as CEO on July 14 — The new chief executive of The Standard will join from women's lifestyle brand Refinery29 in July. — Tamar Riley has been global managing director …
Discussion:
Tamar Riley on LinkedIn
