Top News:
Calista Wong / The Straits Times:
A Singapore man has been arrested and may face seven years in jail for allegedly leaking The Legend of Aang: The Last Airbender after accessing a media server — SINGAPORE - A 26-year-old man who allegedly leaked the unreleased film The Legend Of Aang: The Last Airbender …
Discussion:
Variety, The Wrap, The Verge, ScreenRant, Engadget, Deadline, Gizmodo, IGN, Polygon.com, Comic Book, Kotaku and Dexerto
Washington Post:
The DOD fires the Stars and Stripes ombudsman after calling the paper “woke”; the ombudsman says she believes she was fired for defending editorial independence — Stars and Stripes ombudsman Jacqueline Smith said the Defense Department dismissed her without giving a reason, according to an email reviewed by The Post.
Discussion:
Stars & Stripes, UPI, Mediaite, NewsMax.com, The Hill, Straight Arrow News, Daily Kos, The Nation, @timlambert-pa.bsky.social, Kevin Baron on LinkedIn, @altnps.bsky.social, @murderedbybluesky.bsky.social, Letters from an American, @sdkstl.bsky.social, @kimmasters.bsky.social, @freedom.press, @gdeweese.bsky.social, @bgrueskin.bsky.social, New York Times, @washingtonpost.com, @rickf@indieweb.social, Newser, Joe.My.God. and @scottnover.bsky.social
Bloomberg:
Sources: iHeartMedia is in preliminary talks about a possible merger with SiriusXM; the combined company would have more than $12B in sales — IHeartMedia Inc. is holding talks about a possible combination with Sirius XM Holdings Inc., according to people familiar with the discussions.
Discussion:
Reuters, The Wrap, @asperasbompar.bsky.social and @ernie.tedium.co
Alexandra Bruell / Wall Street Journal:
Profile of comedian Tim Heidecker, who, as creative director, plans to turn Infowars into a “weird” comedy streaming network if a judge okays The Onion's offer — The Onion said Tim Heidecker will be the new creative director of Alex Jones's Infowars site if a court approves its licensing offer
Discussion:
The A.V. Club, The Verge, Austin American-Statesman, Consequence, @mikeisaac and Media Matters for America
Aroon Deep / The Hindu:
Source: Meta has a system in India to “automatically restrict content, at scale” to meet local law, massively expanding the country's censorship powers — India is now part of a small group of countries where content takedown notices are complied with immediately …
@themidasproj:
The Wire by Acutus, which used AI to interview people and write articles attacking AI critics, seemed to be funded by OpenAI-backed super PAC Leading The Future — The reporters at this news site are AI bots. OpenAI's super PAC appears to be funding it.
Discussion:
@ashleyrgold, @tylerjnstn, @neil_chilson, @leadingfutureai, @_ueaj, @andymasley, @max_spero_ and Model Republic, more at Techmeme »
Dominic Patten / Deadline:
Barack Obama plans to appear May 5 on one of the last episodes of Stephen Colbert's Late Show, for Obama's first interview from the Obama Presidential Center — The Late Show with Stephen Colbert won't quite be over on May 6, and Barack Obama's presidential library won't quite be open …
Discussion:
Entertainment Weekly, TV Insider, The Wrap, TVNewsCheck, The Daily Beast, FemaleFirst and LateNighter
Jeremy Barr / The Guardian:
President Trump attended a private dinner hosted by David Ellison in DC hours after the WBD shareholder vote; Rep. Jamie Raskin and others protested nearby — Paramount Skydance CEO fetes administration as it weighs $110bn merger with CNN parent WarnerBros Discovery
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Todd Spangler / Variety:
WBD shareholders vote to approve Paramount Skydance's deal to acquire the company; in a non-binding vote, they reject compensation packages for David Zaslav
Discussion:
Puck, The Wrap, The Wrap, New York Times, NBC News, Cele|bitchy, Techdirt, @tedstew, @tedstew, @tedstew, New Republic, The Hollywood Reporter, The Guardian, @nycmayor, @ewarren, @brianstelter, Deadline, @jbflint, Forbes, Mediaweek, @rbreich.bsky.social, @wgaeast.bsky.social, Capital Brief, Deutsche Welle, Awful Announcing, Türkiye Today, Wrestling Inc., Broadband TV News, HuffPost, Business Insider, Instapundit, Front Office Sports, The American Bazaar, Financial Times, Common Dreams, Barron's Online, New York Post, StreamTV Insider, @rwmead.bsky.social, Screen, UPI, TV Tech, Al Jazeera, Dow Jones Newswires, @kevdgrussing.bsky.social, @angryalgonquin.bsky.social, Cord Cutters News, Yahoo Finance, Wall Street Journal, Axios, CNN, The Hill, @froomkin.bsky.social, @karlbode.com, Deadline, @mayor.nyc.gov, Media Play News, Mediaite, Washington Examiner, The A.V. Club, CNBC and WPXI-TV
Sean Keeley / Awful Announcing:
After Cleveland.com faced backlash for posting AI-generated videos to promote its podcasts, an editor said “we don't have resources to do it any other way” — On Wednesday, Cleveland.com wanted to highlight its Cleveland Cavaliers podcast, Wine & Gold Talk, as it discusses the team's NBA Playoffs run.
Discussion:
@howthingsworkoh, Poynter, @andrew_osu, @spencersays, Podnews, @clevelanddotcom, @lindseywasson, @genepark, @the_ruhoff, @scenesallard, @scenesallard and @corbinbolies
Reuters:
Argentina blocks journalists' entry to government house Casa Rosada, citing “illegal espionage” after local TV aired footage recorded with smart glasses — The government of Argentina's President Javier Milei blocked the entry of accredited journalists to government house Casa Rosada …
Discussion:
Al Jazeera
Mark Sweney / The Guardian:
Sources: Axel Springer decided to forgo extensive due diligence before its £575M Telegraph takeover, an investment it may struggle to recoup — Sources say German group may struggle to recoup its investment as titles shift to less profitable models — Axel Springer did not complete …
Wall Street Journal:
Former Disney CEO Bob Iger rejoins Joshua Kushner's Thrive Capital in an advisory role; he served as a venture partner at Thrive in 2022 — The former Disney CEO has dabbled in tech and media investing — Bob Iger is returning to venture capital as he charts his next act after running Disney.
Discussion:
@joshuakushner, Benzinga, Forbes, The Wrap, The American Bazaar, The Ankler, New York Times, Bloomberg, TechCrunch, Disney News, Deadline, Reuters, The Hollywood Reporter and Variety
Todd Spangler / Variety:
Front Office Sports plans to launch a syndicated daily TV news show, Front Office Sports Tonight, on September 14, airing on Fox and Nexstar stations and more — Front Office Sports is getting into the daily TV sports news game. — The company, the online outlet known for its aggressive coverage …
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