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Similarweb: Google's AI tools are significantly cutting organic search traffic to news publishers; traffic to BI, HuffPost, and WaPo is down ~50% in three years — Chatbots are replacing Google's traditional search, devastating traffic for some publishers — The AI armageddon is here for online news publishers.
Discussion:
Adweek, The Rebooting, implicator.ai, Barron's Online, TipRanks Financial, @ianb@mastodon.well.com, Melissa Korn on LinkedIn, Richard Tofel on LinkedIn, New York Post, Quartz, Beyond Search, One Man & His Blog, @wavesblog.bsky.social, @dylanbyers, TechCrunch, @jtoonkel, @bgurley, @lonseidman, @sjvn@mastodon.social, @mcwm@threads.com, @carlquintanilla.bsky.social, Newsbusters, @rustybrick, TVNewsCheck, @carnage4life@mas.to, @lisadrewradio, @gzuckerman, @thespaceshipper.com, @simonowens and PhoneArena, more at Techmeme »

Internal memo: Paramount Global is cutting its US-based staff by 3.5% and may also reduce its workforce outside of the US over time — Paramount Global is cutting its U.S.-based staff by 3.5%, the latest round of layoffs at the media company as it contends with the decline of the traditional pay-TV bundle and macroeconomic headwinds.

SmartLess podcast hosts create SmartLess Mobile, a phone company that will run on T-Mobile's network and target customers who can save money by taking less data — Samsung's Galaxy S25 Edge Shows the Limits of Impressively Thin Phones … Explainers

Pew tracker: Democrats use and trust a wider range of news sources, and Joe Rogan was the most-cited news source for Republicans that wasn't a broadcast network — Republicans and Democrats live in “nearly inverse news media environments,” a Pew Research Center report found five years ago.
Discussion:
Pew Research Center, Associated Press, WNYW-TV, Poynter and Pew Research Center

WPP Media expects ad revenue from user-generated content and platforms like YouTube and TikTok to surpass that from traditional media for the first time in 2025 — User-generated material to surpass advertising income from professional media amid change in viewing habits

Vanity Fair names Vogue creative editorial director Mark Guiducci as its global editorial director, replacing Radhika Jones and starting at the end of June — Mark Guiducci will be the first “global editorial director” at Vanity Fair.Amir Hamja for The New York Times — Vanity Fair has found its next editor.

CPJ says police have assaulted “more than 20” journalists, including by less-lethal projectiles, since LA protests began on June 6, echoing the 2020 US protests — Reporters say they were struck with less-lethal rounds fired by law enforcement. Advocates worry it will inhibit vital journalism.
Discussion:
Columbia Journalism Review, CNN, New York Times, BBC, First Amendment Coalition, New York Post, The Hill, @jeremymbarr, The Guardian, The Guardian, @ecksearoh.bsky.social, The Intercept, USA Today, WWL-TV, Wired, Los Angeles Times, Detroit Free Press, Deadline, KFF Health News, National Press Club, The National Interest, Media Nation, TVNewsCheck, Reporters Without Borders, Committee to Protect …, @rsf.org, @mekkaokereke@hachyderm.io, CBS News, @tracyjan.bsky.social, MediaPost, @hbwhbwhbw.bsky.social, @yousefbaig.bsky.social, @scottnover.bsky.social, @scottnover.bsky.social, Committee to Protect …, NBC News, Grabien, PetaPixel, MyNewsLA.com, Irish News, The Guardian and r/Journalism

MLB acquires a minority stake in Jomboy Media and partners with the baseball-centered media company to collaborate on content activations, IP growth, and more — Jimmy “Jomboy” O'Brien has made it to the big leagues. — O'Brien's Jomboy Media has inked a strategic pact with Major League Baseball …
Discussion:
TV Tech, MLB.com, Sports Business Journal, Tubefilter, MLB.com, More Jomboy on YouTube, TVNewsCheck, @sportsrapport, Barrett Media, @maxmannis, @jomboymedia, @jomboymedia, Deadline, @mazznyc, The Hollywood Reporter, Sports Business Journal, @brownsonjacob2, Sportico, Awful Announcing, @brappy55, @kennysmith.bsky.social, @simmy_cohen, Front Office Sports and Associated Press

CPB CEO Patricia Harrison says three board members that President Trump tried to fire in April remain directors, after a US judge recognizes CPB's independence — Correction: A previous version of this article gave incorrect names of the fired CPB board members. They are Laura Ross, Diane Kaplan and Thomas Rothman.
Discussion:
Current, CPB, Inside Radio, TV Tech, Reuters, Radio Ink, Deadline, Radio & Television …, Diane Ravitch's blog and RADIO ONLINE

The Orlando Sentinel got a cease-and-desist from Florida's DCF that claims its reporter coerced families for a story on a foundation tied to Gov. DeSantis' wife — Florida's child welfare agency sent a letter to a Florida newspaper telling it to “cease and desist” its reporting on foster families …
Discussion:
Naples Daily News, Orlando Sentinel, Orlando Sentinel, @raymondnorman.bsky.social, @bgrueskin.bsky.social, @jonzoidberg.xyz, @tyleraking.com, @bgrueskin.bsky.social, @zuma888.bsky.social, @nytpitchbot.bsky.social, OutsideTheBeltway, @joekrulder.bsky.social, @dangillmor@mastodon.social, Florida Politics, @michaelsderby.bsky.social, @willbunch.bsky.social, @jestastrophy.bsky.social, @skippyoz.bsky.social, @anthonylfisher.bsky.social, @SteveThompson@mastodon.social, @mmasnick.bsky.social, Mediaite, Alternet.org and Raw Story

Tencent Music agrees to buy podcasting startup Ximalaya for $1.3B in cash, plus some stock, in a bid to become China's Spotify; Ximalaya had 303M MAUs in 2023 — The company, a unit of WeChat-operator Tencent Holdings Ltd., will issue shares to its founders and other backers to help fund the acquisition, it said in a statement.
Discussion:
Yahoo Finance, Reuters, Benzinga, Billboard, Digital Music News, Music Business Worldwide and South China Morning Post

SAG-AFTRA reaches a tentative deal with Activision, EA, Epic, Take-Two, and other game companies on the Interactive Media Contract, after months of strikes — The video game actors' strike may soon come to an end. — The Screen Actors Guild-American Federation of Television and Radio Artists …
Discussion:
The Wrap, The Verge, TheGamer, Game Informer, Push Square, PocketGamer.biz, Kotaku, Rock, Paper, Shotgun, TVNewsCheck, Aftermath, The Decoder, GamesIndustry.biz, Polygon, Los Angeles Times, Reuters, Deadline, VentureBeat, PC Gamer, The Hollywood Reporter, PC Games Insider and Blue's News, more at Techmeme »