Top News:
Michael M. Grynbaum / New York Times:
Sources: AG Todd Blanche, WHCA President Weijia Jiang, CBS News President Tom Cibrowski, and Bari Weiss attended Paramount's dinner at the US Institute of Peace — The president spoke for nearly an hour at a Paramount-hosted event that raised questions about journalistic and regulatory conflicts of interest.
Discussion:
The Wrap, Reuters, @hamiltonnolan.bsky.social, The Independent, @tchambers@indieweb.social, The Hollywood Reporter, NBC News, @dylanbyers, The Hill, @glegum.bsky.social, Variety, Raw Story, @justinbaragona.bsky.social, Joe.My.God., Mediaite, @hunterw.bsky.social, @gartmartin9.bsky.social and @bgrueskin.bsky.social
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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
Discussion:
America, America, Seoul Economic Daily, The Wrap, Breitbart, @ppopiel.bsky.social, @garygrumbach, @ourrevolution, @jdubs-v2.bsky.social, @grynbaum, @gtconway3d, @gtconway3d, Jewish Insider, The Wrap, People, Deadline, @jayapal.house.gov, @davidcorn.bsky.social, NPR, MediaPost and r/MediaMergers
Bloomberg:
Sources: iHeartMedia is in preliminary talks about a possible merger with SiriusXM; the combined company would have more than $12B in sales; IHRT closes up ~35% — IHeartMedia Inc. is holding talks about a possible combination with Sirius XM Holdings Inc., according to people familiar with the discussions.
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, @ausarchosaur.bsky.social, New York Post, @mikeisaac, TheGamer, The Verge, Engadget, The Wrap, Deadline, Kotaku, Gizmodo, IGN, Comic Book, Dexerto, Polygon.com and ScreenRant
Todd Spangler / Variety:
Filing: Paramount CEO David Ellison's 2025 compensation was $63.2M, CLO Makan Delrahim's package was $63.6M, and ex-president Jeff Shell's package was $60.7M — Paramount Skydance chairman and CEO David Ellison, who is in the midst of trying close a massive deal to buy Warner Bros. Discovery …
Discussion:
Deadline and The Hollywood Reporter
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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, Breitbart, The Wrap, Network of Independent …, Techdirt, @tedstew, @tedstew, @tedstew, Cele|bitchy, @nycmayor, @ewarren, @brianstelter, @jbflint, The Wrap, Forbes, Mediaweek, Deadline, New Republic, @rbreich.bsky.social, New York Times, NBC News, The Guardian, @wgaeast.bsky.social, Capital Brief, The Hollywood Reporter, Deutsche Welle, Awful Announcing, Türkiye Today, Wrestling Inc., Business Insider, Broadband TV News, HuffPost, Instapundit, Front Office Sports, The American Bazaar, Financial Times, Common Dreams, Yahoo Finance, 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, Wall Street Journal, Axios, CNN, The Hill, @froomkin.bsky.social, @karlbode.com, Washington Examiner, Deadline, Mediaite, Media Play News, @mayor.nyc.gov, WPXI-TV, The A.V. Club and CNBC
Gretel Kahn / Reuters Institute:
Union representatives for media in the US, Philippines, and Greece share how their groups are trying to protect members from job changes due to AI — Insights from union leaders in the US, Greece and the Philippines on how they are grappling with the dilemmas posed by an ever-evolving technology
@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, @andymasley, @_ueaj, @max_spero_ and Model Republic, more at Techmeme »
Eric Rynston-Lobel / Local News Initiative:
A look at the future of local TV news amid consolidation: three industry veterans consider digital options, collaborations, and new business models — For months, there was uncertainty. Then on March 31, there was shock. — Employees at WRTV, the ABC affiliate local TV station in Indianapolis …
Discussion:
Wall Street Journal
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 …
Todd Spangler / Variety:
Filing: Comcast CEO Brian Roberts' 2025 compensation rose 4% YoY to $35.15M, and new co-CEO Mike Cavanagh had a pay package of $71.76M, about 2.5x his 2024 pay — Comcast gave Brian Roberts a pay raise last year — but not nearly as much as his recently promoted co-CEO, Mike Cavanagh.
Marina Temkin / TechCrunch:
ComfyUI, which gives creators granular control over image, video, and audio outputs from diffusion models, raised $30M at a $500M valuation — ComfyUI, a startup that helps creators control image, video, and audio outputs from diffusion models with a node-based workflow …
Discussion:
Russell Yue on LinkedIn, Tech in Asia and ComfyUI Blog, more at Techmeme »
Brian Welk / IndieWire:
WGA members ratified a new four-year contract with the AMPTP, which will next negotiate with SAG-AFTRA and the DGA — The term of the latest minimum basic agreement (MBA) will run from May 2, 2026 to May 1, 2030. — Post — Google Preferred — Writers Guild of America members …
Discussion:
Associated Press, Status, Wall Street Journal, Los Angeles Times, Deadline, The Wrap, Variety, MyNewsLA.com and Inside Radio
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
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