Mediagazer: Sources: USAGM told employees of VOA's Persian-language service who were placed on administrative leave to return to their roles amid the Iran-Israel conflict (Ben Johansen/Politico)

7:00 PM ET, June 14, 2025

Top News:

Ben Johansen / Politico:

Sources: USAGM told employees of VOA's Persian-language service who were placed on administrative leave to return to their roles amid the Iran-Israel conflict — President Donald Trump ordered the service to shut down in March. — Employees of Voice of America's Persian-language service …

Matthew Keys / The Desk:

Arabic news channel Alhurra has replaced its programming with an image accusing the USAGM of illegally withholding Congress-approved funding for its parent MBN — The Arabic-language news channel Alhurra is using its air waves to draw attention to the U.S. Agency for Global Media's (USAGM) …

Discussion: @kaedotcom.bsky.social and @newsguy.bsky.social

Michael Savage / The Guardian:

Hamish McKenzie says WaPo approached Substack about hosting its writers, and there has been a “change in mindset” of traditional media about the platform — Newspaper could join legacy media brands in embracing newsletter platform — The Washington Post has held talks …

Discussion: @maryhilt.bsky.social, @daisandconfused and @chriscillizza

Jonathan Stempel / Reuters:

Byron Allen settles with McDonald's over his $10B 2021 lawsuit accusing the fast food chain of racial stereotyping in its ads budget; terms were not disclosed — McDonald's (MCD.N) has settled a $10 billion lawsuit by the media entrepreneur Byron Allen accusing the fast-food chain of …

Discussion: The A.V. Club, Deadline, @fly_sistah, Restaurant Business, TVNewsCheck, Variety, The Wrap and The Desk

CNBC:

The WNBA and E.W. Scripps renew their media rights deal, ensuring Friday night WNBA matchups will continue on Ion, along with a new weekly studio show — The WNBA and E.W. Scripps announced on Friday a new, multi-year media rights agreement to carry Friday night WNBA matchups on Ion.

Discussion: @matthewkeyslive, Brian Lawlor on LinkedIn, Sports Media Watch, Front Office Sports, Cord Cutters News, Sportico, New York Times, Awful Announcing, The Desk, Adam Symson on LinkedIn, Sports Business Journal, The E.W. Scripps Company, Barrett Media, TV Tech, Radio & Television … and Multicast News

Alex Weprin / The Hollywood Reporter:

Take-Two, NBA, and National Basketball Players Association expand their partnership to launch NBA Take-Two Media, producing original content, live events, more — The video game publisher of the NBA 2K franchise will partner with the league on original content and competitive gaming via its new banner …

Discussion: Charlie Hyun on LinkedIn, The Wrap, TVNewsCheck, Jonathan Rosen on LinkedIn, Sports Business Journal, NBA.com and Variety

Graham Kates / CBS News:

A US appeals court denies Trump's request for a rehearing in writer E. Jean Carroll's case, in which he was found liable in 2023 for sexual abuse and defamation — President Trump on Friday lost his latest effort to get a retrial in the case in which a jury found him liable for sexual abuse …

Emma Roth / The Verge:

Betting platform Kalshi aired a fully AI-generated 30-second ad during the NBA Finals, reportedly made in 2-3 days with 300-400 generations using Google's Veo 3 — It apparently took just days to make using Google's new text-to-video generator, Veo 3.

Discussion: Mashable, @pjaccetturo, @levie, @jeffdean, @pjaccetturo, @pjaccetturo, @pjaccetturo, @kalshi, Ben Colman on LinkedIn, Gizmodo, Business Insider, Shelly Palmer, The Rundown AI, PetaPixel and Dror Poleg, more at Techmeme »

Peter White / Deadline:

The Outstanding Talk Series Emmy category will have only three nominations in 2025, down from five in 2023, due to getting just 13 submissions — The likes of Jon Stewart, Stephen Colbert, Jimmy Kimmel, Seth Meyers, Sean Evans and John Mulaney will be battling it out for one of only three Emmy nominations.

Discussion: Screen Rant, Decider, The Wrap, The Santa Barbara Independent, LateNighter, GoldDerby and Variety

Kaitlin Washburn / Chicago Sun Times:

The Chicago Tribune is offering buyouts to the newsroom's 75 union members; the newsroom last went through buyouts in 2021, when nearly 40 people left — The newsroom's union, which ratified its first contract just seven months ago, said in a statement cutting staff as a “short-term profit boost” is unsustainable.

Discussion: @mediaevan, @ctguild, Crain's Chicago Business and MediaPost

Todd Spangler / Variety:

Vox Media Union says it has reached a tentative three-year agreement with Vox Media, averting a strike — The Vox Media Union covers editorial staff at Vox.com, The Verge, Eater, SB Nation, Pop Sugar, Thrillist, Vox Media Podcast Network and The Dodo. — An overwhelming 90% of the members …

Discussion: The Wrap, @voxmediaunion.bsky.social, @benmullin, Deadline, @joshgondelman.bsky.social, @wgaeast.bsky.social and The A.V. Club

Luke Bouma / Cord Cutters News:

WBD plans to shut down its linear multiplex channels HBO Family, ThrillerMax, MovieMax, and OuterMax on August 15, 2025; HBO Family launched in December 1996 — In a significant shakeup for the television industry, HBO, a subsidiary of Warner Bros. Discovery, has confirmed plans to shut …

Discussion: The Wrap, The A.V. Club, Deadline, Variety, Bleeding Cool News and Multicast News

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