Top News:
Jana Winter / Reuters:
FBI Director Kash Patel sues The Atlantic and reporter Sarah Fitzpatrick for defamation, seeking $250M, over an article that claimed he had a drinking problem — FBI Director Kash Patel filed a defamation lawsuit against the Atlantic and its reporter Sarah Fitzpatrick following the publication …
Discussion:
The Hill, @_ericaknight, New York Post, Politico, Deadline, @fbidirectorkash, Associated Press, Variety, CNN, Salon, Wall Street Journal, Washington Times, The Guardian, @theatlanticpr, Fox News, RedState, @timkarr.bsky.social, The Hollywood Gossip, American Greatness, Lawyers, Guns & Money, Agence France-Presse, The Indian Express, @jbinnall, Raw Story, Mediaite, NBC News, @sschwinghamer.bsky.social, The Wrap, New York Sun, Le·gal In·sur·rec·tion, @grza.bsky.social, @acyn, Bloomberg, Axios, TMZ.com, Washington Post, Washington Examiner, UPI, The Stranger, Advocate, New York Times, Daily Mail, Forbes, CBS News, New Republic, CNBC, @artcandee, The Independent, @brianstelter, @tedlieu, @paleofuture.bsky.social, @dylanbyers, @scottnover, MS NOW, Straight Arrow News, @asfleischman, ZeroHedge News, France 24, twitchy.com, @murderedbybluesky.bsky.social, Poynter, @jeremymbarr, @atrupar, Wonkette, The Gateway Pundit, @davejorgenson.bsky.social, Just Jared, Sandra Rose, @jeremymbarr, @ninaburleigh, @adamsteinbaugh, Law and Chaos, Newser, @annabower, @jimmycarson43.bsky.social, @andrewjweinstein.com, @eoinhiggins.bsky.social, @nycjim, Newsweek, The Daily Wire, Suggest, IJR, Celebrity Insider, Washingtonian, Black America Web, HuffPost, SpyTalk, NewsMax.com, Breitbart, Townhall, Joe.My.God. and American Thinker
a16z:
A new media company called MTS launches for “monitoring the situation” across tech, business, politics, and culture, with backing from a16z and others — Thrilled to announce our investment in a new media company called MTS — Thrilled to announce our investment …
New York Times:
Filing: The Onion proposes a new deal for Infowars, licensing Infowars.com for $81,000 per month for six months initially; the deal requires a judge's approval — When Infowars, the website founded by the right-wing conspiracist Alex Jones, came up for sale two years ago, an unlikely suitor stepped up.
Matthew Gault / 404 Media:
A Forbes story about a Louisiana man killing 8 children contained a ForbesPredict box asking readers to predict whether Congress would pass new gun safety laws — In another sign that the depravity economy has no bottom, Forbes published a story about a Louisiana man that killed 8 children …
Discussion:
Futurism, Deseret News, @mjgault.bsky.social, @alishagrauso.bsky.social and @mharrisondupre.bsky.social
Aisha Malik / TechCrunch:
Deezer says AI-generated tracks now account for 44% of daily uploads, totaling ~75K tracks per day and 2M+ per month, but account for just 1-3% of consumption — Deezer announced on Monday that AI-generated tracks now represent 44% of all new music uploaded to its platform.
Michael M. Grynbaum / New York Times:
More than 250 ex-broadcast journalists urge WHCA dinner organizers “to forcefully demonstrate opposition” to Trump's “efforts to trample freedom of the press” — The prospect of President Trump delivering a speech at this Saturday's White House Correspondents …
Discussion:
New York Post, The Wrap, UPI, Mediaite, Deadline, Variety, @macfarlanenews, The Post Millennial, Showbiz411, @jeffjarvis@mastodon.social, @mlcalderone, NewsMax.com and The Hill
RELATED:
Bloomberg:
A look at Chinese streamer iQiyi's overhaul effort to be the industry's biggest AI adopter, as it aims to release a successful GenAI film as soon as summer 2026 — IQiyi Inc. expects AI to create a big chunk of its films and shows virtually from scratch someday soon, a monumental industry shift …
Discussion:
Gizmodo, The Economic Times, Tech in Asia, The Wrap, Media Play News, Digital Trends, Yahoo Finance and NextBigWhat
Lucas Shaw / Bloomberg:
Sources: Bill Ackman proposes merging UMG with his SPAC and naming Michael Ovitz as chair, an offer UMG is likely to reject; UMG stock is down 20% since 2021 — Bill Ackman has offered to buy Universal Music Group. What he really wants is for the stock to go up.
Discussion:
@lucas_shaw and Fortune
Nick Vivarelli / Variety:
The European film industry opposes the EU's plans to change its Creative Europe funding program by combining culture and media under the AgoraEU initiative — European trade organizations representing the full film industry sector spectrum are up in arms against the EU Commission's plans …
Matthew Keys / TheDesk.net:
A district court judge in California issues a preliminary injunction blocking Nexstar's acquisition of Tegna while an antitrust lawsuit proceeds — A federal judge in California has issued a preliminary injunction that prevents Nexstar Media Group from moving forward with its integration …
Discussion:
eMarketer, @mrsdeborahlynn.bsky.social, @gottalaff.bsky.social, @digiphile.bsky.social, @notaaroncraig.bsky.social, The Verge, Associated Press, Telecompaper, CNN, New York Sun, @philforcolorado, Barron's Online, @matthewkeyslive, @agrobbonta, @agomezfcc, @agomezfcc, @agomezfcc, @agomezfcc, @matthewkeyslive, Business Insider, Washington Post, Wall Street Journal, TV Tech, Variety, @andria.bsky.social, Radio & Television …, Los Angeles Times, The Wrap, @philweiser.bsky.social, Deadline and State of California
Winston Cho / The Hollywood Reporter:
How the new Avatar: The Last Airbender animated film leaked months before its Paramount+ premiere; sources: Paramount ruled out a vulnerability in its systems — The movie leaked months ahead of its premiere on Paramount+. An anonymous X account claimed that a Nickelodeon employee emailed …
Discussion:
@asherelbein.bsky.social, The Tab and IGN
Amanda Meade / The Guardian:
Sources: the Daily Mail broke an embargo on Prince Harry and Meghan's Australia trip; the outlet later took the article down after the royals' team complained — Exclusive: Publication broke embargo on confidential briefing note about the royal couple's movements five days before they arrived in Melbourne for their Australia visit
Discussion:
Sky News Australia, SheKnows, HELLO! and Wonderwall
