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:
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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.
Discussion:
The Onion, CNN, NBC News, Mother Jones, Washington Examiner, them., @pablotorre, Bloomberg, Chicago Sun Times, Hollywood Life, The Present Age, Rolling Stone, Newser, @agoldmund, Deadline, Houston Public Media, Daily Kos, @digiphile.bsky.social, Business Insider, NPR, Courthouse News Service, The Wrap, @rwmead.bsky.social, @benmullin.bsky.social, @mattsheffield@mastodon.social, @agoldmund, @canteverdie, The Guardian, The Hollywood Reporter, Variety, Block Club Chicago, Newsweek, Raw Story, The A.V. Club, @christiannightmare …, Mediaweek, Consequence, Mediaite, Politico and Joe.My.God.
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 …
Discussion:
@mtslive, @thebryanjun, @eriktorenberg, @nikitabier, @tylermcbrien, The Information, @knowerofmarkets, @nickheer@c.im, @thattallguy, @a16z, @sporadica, @netcapgirl, @devahaz, @pmarca, @willmanidis, @jbillinson, @taylorlorenz, @mtslive, @jacqmelinek, @dwr, @balajis, @taylorlorenz, @gavinpurcell, @taylorlorenz, Gazetteer SF, @semaforben, @matt_slotnick, @davelee.me and @taylorlorenz, more at Techmeme »
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 …
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 …
RELATED:
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.
Kimberly Nordyke / The Hollywood Reporter:
Barack Obama says Higher Ground, his production company with Michelle Obama, will become an independent operation after its Netflix deal, signed in 2018, ends — The couple are “in the process now of transitioning to a more independent [company] where we can work with a bunch of different studios,” Barack Obama said.
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:
The Wrap, Gizmodo, Media Play News, Digital Trends, Yahoo Finance, The Economic Times, Tech in Asia, NextBigWhat and The Japan Times
Charlotte Tobitt / Press Gazette:
Forbes plans its “first foray” into e-commerce with Forbes Wine, a fully owned-and-operated wine section and shop, set to launch later this year — Wine seen as opportunity to build community in move away from scale. — Forbes is making its “first foray” …
Discussion:
InPublishing
Ashley Carman / Bloomberg:
Sources: Alex Cooper's Unwell Network faces staff turnover, struggling shows, and hostile work environment allegations under co-CEO Matt Kaplan, amid expansion — The Unwell Network's head of brand marketing, head of the network and chief growth officer have departed in the past year amid staff turnover and a sputtering slate of shows
Discussion:
Us Weekly
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 …
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
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