Top News:
New York Times:
James Murdoch's Lupa Systems acquires around 50% of Vox Media, including its podcast network, New York magazine, and Vox.com, sources say for $300M+ — James Murdoch is acquiring roughly half of Vox Media, a dramatic expansion in American media for the younger son of the media mogul Rupert Murdoch.
Discussion:
Vox Media, Sydney Morning Herald, Wall Street Journal, Mumbrella, @benmullin, @sherman4949, @sarafischer, Washington …, Australian Financial Review, Los Angeles Times, Telegraph, Capital Brief, Associated Press, The Hill, @jtes, @jeremymbarr, @pkafka, The Information, Awful Announcing, @benmullin, Inside Radio, Inc.com, UPI, CNN, The Daily Wire, Front Office Sports, Forbes, NewsMax.com, Aftermath, The Guardian, Showbiz411, Mediaweek, Washington Post, @ncrabbithole.com, Axios, Newser, Business Insider, Press Gazette, Mediaite, @tcarmody.bsky.social, The Wrap, @newsguyusa@flipboard.social, @seanokane.bsky.social, The Business of Fashion, The A.V. Club, Politico, Gothamist, Bloomberg, The Hollywood Reporter, r/Journalism and r/Journalism
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Todd Spangler / Variety:
Media properties not included in the Lupa-Vox deal, including The Verge and Eater, will operate under a new independent company led by Vox president Ryan Pauley — Murdoch's company has agreed to acquire New York Magazine, the Vox Media Podcast Network and Vox.com. Terms of the deal weren't disclosed.
Mark Stenberg / Adweek:
Sources: Penske Media is likely to acquire one or more unsold Vox Media brands, internally called Remain Co., which include The Verge, SB Nation, and Eater — As the portfolio is parceled up, a key revenue leader plots his exit … Following the Wednesday sale of New York Magazine …
Discussion:
@adweek and The Streamable
Peter Kafka / Business Insider:
Q&A with Vox CEO Jim Bankoff on the sale of Vox Media's podcast network, why buyers were interested in that network, and how remaining sites are in “good shape”
Discussion:
Reuters, Al Jazeera, Puck, Fast Company, @pkafka, New York Post, CNN, The Information, Adweek and Times of India
Fox News:
Jeff Bezos defends WaPo layoffs, saying the outlet needs to be a profitable enterprise as “a measure of its relevance”, and noted it won a Pulitzer in 2026 — Billionaire Washington Post owner Jeff Bezos on Wednesday responded to criticism of the brutal round of layoffs …
Discussion:
CNBC, CNBC, New York Times, Mediaite, @reedgalen, @blowryontv, @pitdesi, @atrupar, @richarddeitsch, @grantstern, @primarycinema, Staff Stories, @nick_field90, @greg_travis, @extremearturo, @marquardta, @maxwelltani, @stevemistler, @jeremymbarr, @douthatnyt, @kainazamaria, NewsMax.com, @lawprofblawg, Breitbart, @nick_field90, @briannaatucker, @childpleez007, @joshuaholland.bsky.social, TechCrunch, twitchy.com, @jackjenkins.me, The Wrap, @gillianbrockell.com, @genebensinger.bsky.social, @douglasmack.bsky.social, @gillianbrockell.com, @bgrueskin.bsky.social, @bgrueskin.bsky.social, Cele|bitchy, Diane Ravitch's blog and TheGrio
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Todd Spangler / Variety:
Jeff Bezos says Amazon MGM Studios' decision to acquire and release Melania “was a good business decision”, denying that it was “a way of buying influence” — Jeff Bezos insists that Amazon MGM Studios' decision to acquire and release “Melania,” a documentary about the First Lady …
Discussion:
CNBC, Fast Company, RADAR, @JohnSullivan@mastodonapp.uk, Deadline, Blaze Media, The A.V. Club, New York Magazine, U.S. Home, @fangsbites.bsky.social, The Guardian, Consequence, @storyslug.bsky.social, @luckyadams.bsky.social, New Republic, HuffPost, The Hill, @justinbaragona.bsky.social, Reality Tea, The Hollywood Reporter and Mediaite
The Guardian:
Granta and the Commonwealth Foundation say they can't determine yet if AI was used to write a prize-winning short story after critics pointed to signs of AI use — Granta publisher says ‘perhaps we never will know’ true authorship of work that won Commonwealth prize
Discussion:
Granta, Commonwealth Foundation, Gizmodo, Newser, Futurism, @tszzl, Granta, @melaniedusseau.bsky.social, @alicefromqueens, Melanie Dusseau on LinkedIn, New York Times, @drmtown, @albatrossalex, @justinnisly, @mcmansionhell, @bobo_circus, @brunellaism, @amhcrane87, @max_spero_, @thestalwart, @curtis_yarvin, @yokaihainen, @delicious_tacos, @la_leere, @thelincoln, @ednewtonrex, @atabarrok, @dioscuri, @tszzl, @serialsevens, @nabeelqu, @nabeelqu, @allgarbled, @nabeelqu, @cwfcreatives, @afinetheorem, @kanegraves.bsky.social, Fran Mulhern on LinkedIn, Lawyers, Guns & Money, @youarespring.bsky.social, Boing Boing, The Bookseller, The Free Press, Literary Hub, Wired, ThePrint, UnHerd, Vulture, @krishnanrohit, @krishnanrohit, @mushtaqbilalphd, @krishnanrohit, @peterrenshaw@ioc.exchange, @krishnanrohit, @kirstenbakis.com, Telegraph, @vajra.me, @vajra.me, @vajra.me, @vajra.me, @kjcharleswriter.com, @john-self.bsky.social, @kjcharleswriter.com, The Hindu and r/RSbookclub, more at Techmeme »
Todd Spangler / Variety:
S&P Global says it plans to cut Paramount Skydance's credit rating from BB+ to BB after the WBD merger, indicating company debt securities are speculative grade — S&P Global Ratings already has placed Paramount Skydance's credit rating in junk-status territory — indicating …
Discussion:
Bloomberg, Bloomberg, @ericfinalfantasy.bsky.social, The Wrap and New York Post
RELATED:
Barbara Peng / Business Insider:
Business Insider CEO Barbara Peng says she is leaving the company on June 30; Christian Baesler will become interim lead of the outlet — Today I am announcing that I will be leaving Business Insider. — This was not an easy decision for me. I love Business Insider.
Discussion:
@dylanbyers, Reuters, @corbinbolies, The Wrap and Status
Anu Adegbola / Search Engine Land:
Google says it is testing new ad formats in search results and AI Mode, including Conversational Discovery ads, Highlighted Answers, and AI-powered Shopping ads — Table of Contents — Google is rolling out Gemini-powered conversational ad formats across AI Mode and Search as it looks to make ads more contextual,
Kendra Barnett / Adweek:
Filings: Omnicom CEO John Wren received compensation of $69.9M in 2025, nearly 2x greater than the combined CEO compensation at six other ad holding companies — The 73 year-old exec notched nearly $70 million last year, while Publicis' Arthur Sadoun made $9.4 million
Nieman Lab:
Analysis: 382 news sites, including 342 local outlets, are blocking Internet Archive's crawlers amid AI concerns, an increase from 241 sites in January 2026 — McClatchy, Advance Local, Tribune Publishing and other major newspaper chains are restricting the nonprofit's archiving bots.
Discussion:
@josemurilo@mato.social and @annaleen.bsky.social
Mark Stenberg / Adweek:
Ad tech company Viant partners with Ad Fontes Media to help advertisers target connected-TV news inventory based on scoring of political bias and reliability — The integration scores news programs on reliability and bias, giving buyers a more granular way to activate against inventory
Discussion:
TV Tech, Business Wire and TVNewsCheck
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