Top News:
Winston Cho / The Hollywood Reporter:
WBD files a copyright suit against Midjourney, accusing the startup of using its content to train AI and letting users generate images of characters like Batman — The lawsuit against Midjourney was filed as a growing contingent of Hollywood steps into the fight over generative artificial intelligence.
Nellie Andreeva / Deadline:
Memo: Paramount announces a full return-to-office policy starting in January 2026 and offers a “severance opt-in program” for New York and Los Angeles workers — The latest is a return to office policy that requires all employees to be in the office five days a week.
Benjamin Mullin / New York Times:
PBS is cutting 100 positions, or about 15% of its staff, including 34 immediate layoffs, after Congress stripped $500M in annual funding from public media — Congress voted this year to strip $500 million in annual funding from public broadcasters, including PBS stations.
Discussion:
The Wrap, TheDesk.net, NBC News, Deadline and @willmckinley.bsky.social
Dylan Byers / Puck:
Sources: David Ellison tentatively agreed on a deal to acquire The Free Press for between $100M-$200M, with Bari Weiss taking an editorial position at CBS News — With Paramount securely in his pocket, David Ellison is on the verge of acquiring Bari Weiss's The Free Press and tossing her the keys to CBS News.
Discussion:
Status, Media Nation, The Nation, The Wrap, The Wrap, Fox News, New York Post, @jamellebouie.net, Townhall, National Review, Salon, New York Sun, twitchy.com, @michaelmagras@mstdn.social, Ace of Spades HQ, @simonowens.bsky.social, Los Angeles Times, PJ Media, @levinejonathan, @onepeoplesproject.bsky.social, Newsbusters, IJR, HuffPost, New York Post, The Rebooting, HotAir, @paulthedogman.bsky.social, Simon Owens on LinkedIn, Gil Ozir on LinkedIn, @timurkuran, @jeremiahdjohns, @micsolana, @jbenmenachem.com, The A.V. Club, @timkarr.bsky.social, @pburdzy, @blueboxdave, @ewerickson, @parkerthayer, @lthomasnews, @katmckinley, @maxblumenthal, @aaronjmate, @dropsitenews, @samhaselby, @aghamilton29, @mikebeauvais, @benfowlkesmma, @hemantmehta, @adamjohnsonchi, @joseiswriting, @adamjohnsonchi, @ggreenwald, @ggreenwald, @ggreenwald, @tycarver, NewsMax.com, Mediaite, TVNewsCheck, @kimkelly.bsky.social, @johnmone.bsky.social, @jayrosen.bsky.social, @maxberger.bsky.social, @ryanlcooper.com, @justinbaragona.bsky.social, @simonowens.bsky.social, @joshsternberg.com, @golikehellmachine.com, @jonathanfriedman.com and @jmrivera.bsky.social
Mark Stenberg / Adweek:
The New York Times is shuttering its NYT Audio app, launched in May 2023, and integrating podcast archives and audio journalism into its News app — The standalone product will shutter in October as the publisher increases audio and video in its flagship News app
Discussion:
Mark Stenberg on LinkedIn
Charlotte Tobitt / Press Gazette:
Manchester-based Mill Media names ex-WaPo Managing Editor Cameron Barr as investigations editor; Mill Media has 21 staff and 11K+ paying subs across six titles — Former Washington Post managing editor Cameron Barr hopes to help “restore and revive investigative accountability” with a new role at Manchester-based Mill Media.
Discussion:
Cameron Barr on LinkedIn, @glasgowbell.bsky.social and @joshiherrmann.bsky.social
Jay Peters / The Verge:
Meta rolls out a tool that lets users attach up to 10,000 characters of text to Threads posts, building upon Threads' 500-character text limit for posts — Blogging is back. … Meta is adding a new feature to let you add a bunch of extra text to Threads posts — no screenshots of text blocks required.
Matt Donnelly / Variety:
Fandango partners with TikTok to let users buy movie tickets from within TikTok, starting with Disney's Tron: Ares, in theaters October 10 — Fandango will parnter with TikTok on a new venture that will let users purchase movie tickets directly in-app. — The first-of-its-kind deal …
Discussion:
Social Media Today, Tubefilter, Media Play News, CNET and LAmag
Alice Brooker / Press Gazette:
An interview with Newsquest CEO Henry Faure Walker on the regional publisher's focus on local news; paid digital subs have risen 35% YoY to 135K — Paid digital subscriptions at UK regional publishing giant Newsquest have risen from 100,000 to 135,000 in the past year.
Charlotte Tobitt / Press Gazette:
The Daily Mail names Greta Lawn to the newly created position of president for North America to lead revenue growth — The Daily Mail has created the role of president for North America to lead its revenue growth in the world's largest media market. — The brand has appointed Greta Lawn …
Alice Brooker / Press Gazette:
A look at newsletter-first publisher The European Correspondent, which launched in 2022, got a €2.1M grant from the EU in June, and has almost 70K subscribers — A European news publisher is aiming to become self-funding through reader donations after securing a €2.1m grant from the European Commission in June.
Discussion:
@pressgazette.co.uk
Rogue:
Former Polygon employees launch worker-owned video game website Rogue; Valnet laid off Polygon staff in May after buying the outlet from Vox — A detailed FAQ to answer your biggest questions about Rogue — Hi, we're the writers behind Rogue, a new website about video games.
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