Top News:
Politico:
The White House removes the WSJ from the pool of reporters covering Trump's trip to Scotland, saying it is due to the WSJ's “fake and defamatory conduct” — But the White House, which earlier this year took over control of pool rotations from the White House Correspondents' Association …
Discussion:
CNN, Axios, The Guardian, Deadline, Washington Post, @eddieperez.bsky.social, @gregdoucette.bsky.social, New York Times, @kylegriffin1.bsky.social, @asfleischman, New Republic, @ericmgarcia.bsky.social, @peterbakernyt, @cbarbermd@med-mastodon.com, @adammacqueen.bsky.social, @paulbernal.bsky.social, Washington Examiner, @chucktodd, Daily Kos, @mxscottkernest.bsky.social, NOTUS, The Wrap, The Indian Express, @justinbaragona.bsky.social, Bloomberg, CBS News, @GottaLaff@mstdn.social, Al Jazeera, @johnmbennett, Raw Story, @fig8wife, @rayminehane.bsky.social, @vanhollen.senate.gov, The Independent, @bgrueskin.bsky.social, @elistokols, @hadas_gold, NewsMax.com, Mediaite, @amysiskind.com, The Left Hook with Wajahat Ali, @michaelsavage.bsky.social, @mattgertz, Newser, @pamspaulding.bsky.social, @seancolarossi, RTÉ, The Post Millennial, New York Daily News, Business Insider and Talking Biz News
Bloomberg:
Sources: Oracle is in talks with Skydance for a $100M per year deal for Paramount to use Oracle's cloud software if the Skydance-Paramount merger goes through — Oracle Corp. is in discussions with Skydance Media LLC for a major software deal once the media company's acquisition of Paramount Global is complete.
Discussion:
Axios, @pkafka, @richlightshed, New York Sun, naked capitalism, The Hollywood Reporter, Daring Fireball and The Movie Blog
RELATED:
Meg James / Los Angeles Times:
Sources: Paramount will pay $300M a year for five years to bring global streaming rights for South Park to Paramount+, including US rights for the first time — The creators of Comedy Central's “South Park” reached a breakthrough Monday in the tense negotiations over the streaming rights of the long-running satirical cartoon.
Discussion:
The Wrap, Variety, TheDesk.net, @twinklebutt.bsky.social, @thefienprint.bsky.social, Reuters, @latimes.com and Media Play News
Lautaro Grinspan / Atlanta Journal-Constitution:
An interview with Mario Guevara, who faces deportation to El Salvador and says ICE detained him as direct retaliation for his coverage of the agency's raids — In an exclusive interview from an ICE detention facility, Mario Guevara talks about his month behind bars and his once positive feelings toward Donald Trump.
Discussion:
The Guardian, The Hill, The Parnas Perspective, Los Angeles Times, The Atlantic, Al Jazeera and Wall Street Journal
Sean Burch / The Wrap:
WaPo opinion columnist Jonathan Capehart takes a buyout, weeks after Will Lewis called on writers who do not “feel aligned” with WaPo's “reinvention” to resign — The veteran opinion writer is leaving the paper after CEO Will Lewis said those who do not “feel aligned” …
Discussion:
@sarafischer, The Independent, Media Nation, New York Post, Instapundit and Fox News
Zach Vallese / CNBC:
Google removed 20 YouTube channels, 4 Ads accounts, and 1 Blogger blog linked to RT in May, and thousands more channels tied to state propaganda campaigns in Q2 — Google announced Monday the removal of nearly 11,000 YouTube channels and other accounts tied to state-linked propaganda campaigns from China …
Discussion:
Financial Express, Ukrainska Pravda, Cryptopolitan, Digit, Tubefilter, The Keyword and Fox Business
Max Tani / @maxwelltani:
Memo to staff: Fortune cut 10% of staff, citing a traffic decline and rise of audio/video, says its new strategy is to cultivate “premium franchise communities” — In an email to employees, Fortune says it has cut 10% of staff, the result of a decline in traffic, and rise of audio/video. The company says its new strategy is “to cultivate our premium franchise communities and deliver premium editorial content to them.”
Discussion:
Talking Biz News, @katie_robertson, The Wrap, @azuregilman and MediaPost
Financial Times:
X says France's criminal probe over algorithmic “manipulation” and “fraudulent” data extraction is “distorting French law in order to serve a political agenda” — Authorities also accused social media company of ‘fraudulent’ data extraction
Discussion:
Politico, @globalaffairs, The Register, Benzinga, @robertscotthorton.bsky.social, @justinhendrix.bsky.social, Reclaim The Net, UPI, Engadget, @willguyatt, Associated Press, Le Monde, TechSpot, Reuters, Moneycontrol, Ars Technica, Euractiv, Social Media Today, Variety, Türkiye Today, Capital Brief, Cryptopolitan, CNBC, @anneapplebaum.bsky.social and Mercury News, more at Techmeme »
Saleah Blancaflor / Adweek:
Fox officially closes its upfront discussions; a source says Fox exceeded $2B for core sports properties, excluding the World Cup, for the first time — Fox closed its upfront talks with double-digit volume growth across its portfolio — Fox has reached the finish line of the 2025-26 upfront cycle.
Discussion:
Sports Business Journal, TheDesk.net, @genetics56, The Wrap, Variety and MediaPost
Rob Waugh / Press Gazette:
Lithuania-based PR agency Wellstone PR launches Synapse, an AI tool that automatically drafts expert comment email responses to journalist queries — A PR agency is selling an AI tool that automatically answers pitches from journalists on services such as ResponseSource, HARO and Qwoted.
Discussion:
Vince Nero on LinkedIn, @josiah.writes.news and Rob Waugh on LinkedIn
Michael Savage / The Guardian:
BBC Studios aims to build a lifestyle brand for all ages around its hit cartoon character Bluey, which drove a record $3.6B in global BBC retail sales in 2024 — Corporation aims to build ‘lifestyle brand’ for all ages around smash-hit cartoon character — Each episode may only last seven minutes …
Mark Sweney / The Guardian:
Ofcom says public service TV is becoming an “endangered species” after finding that streamers offered by PSBs only account for 9% of all viewing in the UK — Regulator calls for legislation to make news and UK-focused shows easier to find on online video-sharing platforms
Discussion:
@michaelsavage.bsky.social, ofcom and @michaelsavage
RELATED:
Anthony Hughes / Bloomberg:
Amsterdam-listed firm Universal Music Group files confidentially for a US listing, which would fulfill the terms of a deal with Bill Ackman's Pershing Square — Universal Music Group NV has filed confidentially for a US listing, which would fulfill the terms of a deal with billionaire Bill Ackman's hedge fund Pershing Square.
Discussion:
Wall Street Journal, Euronews, Benzinga, New York Times, Universal Music Group N.V., Reuters, Billboard and Reuters
