Top News:
New York Times:
NYT and Amazon agree to a content licensing deal for use in Amazon's AI platforms and to bring the NYT's “content to a variety of Amazon customer experiences” — In 2023, The Times sued OpenAI and Microsoft for copyright infringement. Now its editorial content will appear across Amazon platforms.
Discussion:
Variety, TechCrunch, Editor and Publisher, Engadget, GeekWire, Daily Voice, AV Club, Cryptopolitan, @joemenn.bsky.social, Financial Times, The Information, WinBuzzer, Spyglass, @quinnypig.com, @cameron.pfiffer.org, Deadline, CNBC, Bloomberg, The Verge and @brianstelter, more at Techmeme »
Todd Spangler / Variety:
Memo: Business Insider is cutting staff by 21% to “endure extreme traffic drops outside of our control” and “exiting the majority of our Commerce business” — Business Insider is making significant layoffs — cutting 21% of staffers across the board …
Discussion:
Nieman Lab, Reuters, Talking Biz News, @benmullin, Adweek, The Wrap, The Information, Talking Biz News, @la__cuen, @dgreenbaum, @maxwelltani, Press Gazette, @nyguild, @morqon, Tech in Asia, @jmrivera.bsky.social, @benmullin.bsky.social, @polemicdigital.com, @stevekovach.bsky.social, @katebevan.com, @eduardosuarez.bsky.social and @simonowens.bsky.social
Wall Street Journal:
Sources: Paramount offers $15M to settle with President Trump, whose team wants $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 …
Discussion:
Media Matters for America, The Ankler, Deadline, Variety, The Wrap, Benzinga, Breitbart, The Hill, Daily Kos, @timkarr.bsky.social, @jameeljaffer.bsky.social, @mattzeitlin, Media Play News, New Jersey Online, C21Media, Off Message, American Wire News, MarketWatch, @jeffjarvis.bsky.social, Raw Story, @henrygrabar.bsky.social, Reuters, Mediaite, NewsMax.com, @bgrueskin.bsky.social, TVNewsCheck, Cord Cutters News and New York Sun
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 …
Aisha Malik / TechCrunch:
YouTube plans to roll out Google Lens integration to Shorts in the coming weeks, allowing users to search for elements within Shorts — YouTube announced on Thursday that it's bringing Google Lens to YouTube Shorts in the coming weeks. With this integration, viewers will soon be able …
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 — Immediate Media's BBC History has proved again that it is not living in the past when it comes to current publishing strategies …
Discussion:
Press Gazette
Sarah Scire / Nieman Lab:
Interview with Times Media Group's Steve Strickbine, who employs 60 journalists across 60+ local US papers and says papers are better off diminished than dead — “It's just kind of the way it is. Do we have the watchdog role? Can we do that now in all these areas? No. I think that's obvious."
Discussion:
@sarahscire.com, @laurahazardowen.bsky.social, @jayrosen.bsky.social and @niemanlab.org
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.”
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 …
Discussion:
The Register and @noaasm.bsky.social, more at Techmeme »
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:
Lucas Shaw on LinkedIn, AJ Vargas on LinkedIn, @business, @lucas_shaw, TVNewsCheck, MediaPost, Android Police and Social Media Today
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:
Radio & Television …, Insider Monkey, @bristei, Status, Puck, @dylanbyers, The Hollywood Reporter, Deadline, @bristei.bsky.social, The Wrap, TVNewsCheck and Barrett Media
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:
MediaBrief, TVNewsCheck, BMI, Mediaweek, afaqs!, wpp.com, MediaNews4U, The Drum, MediaPost and campaignlive.co.uk
