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:
Australian Financial Review, Vox Media, Telegraph, The Hill, Los Angeles Times, Inc.com, Wall Street Journal, The Guardian, Washington …, New York Post, Daily Caller News Foundation, Reuters, CNN, Forbes, Sydney Morning Herald, Washington Post, @benmullin, @ncrabbithole.com, Showbiz411, @sherman4949, Newser, @sarafischer, @tcarmody.bsky.social, Axios, Aftermath, The Wrap, @jtes, Business Insider, @jeremymbarr, @pkafka, @seanokane.bsky.social, Adweek, Front Office Sports, The Daily Wire, @benmullin, @newsguyusa@flipboard.social, The Information, NewsMax.com, Press Gazette, Mediaite, Gothamist, Politico, Bloomberg, The Hollywood Reporter and r/Journalism
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Todd Spangler / Variety:
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.
Discussion:
Al Jazeera, Vox Media, TVNewsCheck, CNN, Forbes and @lpjr.bsky.social
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, TechCrunch, The Wrap, Breitbart, Staff Stories, @joshuaholland.bsky.social, @reedgalen, @blowryontv, @jackjenkins.me, @pitdesi, @atrupar, @richarddeitsch, @grantstern, @primarycinema, @nick_field90, @greg_travis, @extremearturo, @marquardta, @gillianbrockell.com, @maxwelltani, @stevemistler, Mediaite, @jeremymbarr, @douthatnyt, @kainazamaria, @gillianbrockell.com, @lawprofblawg, @bgrueskin.bsky.social, @nick_field90, @douglasmack.bsky.social, @bgrueskin.bsky.social, @briannaatucker, twitchy.com, @genebensinger.bsky.social, @childpleez007, TheGrio and Diane Ravitch's blog
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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, The A.V. Club, The Guardian, Deadline, @JohnSullivan@mastodonapp.uk, Reality Tea, New York Magazine, @storyslug.bsky.social, @justinbaragona.bsky.social, U.S. Home, @luckyadams.bsky.social, @fangsbites.bsky.social, New Republic, The Hill, The Hollywood Reporter, Consequence and Mediaite
Oliver Darcy / Status:
Sources: Paramount hopes to close its acquisition of WBD by July 15, a far more ambitious timeline than Paramount has publicly telegraphed — Paramount is hoping to close its deal to acquire Warner Bros. Discovery much sooner than the company has publicly stated, Status has learned.
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,
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, @melaniedusseau.bsky.social, Granta, Newser, Futurism, @max_spero_, Boing Boing, @drmtown, The Bookseller, @albatrossalex, Fran Mulhern on LinkedIn, @kanegraves.bsky.social, The Free Press, @thestalwart, @curtis_yarvin, Literary Hub, @nabeelqu, @justinnisly, @yokaihainen, @delicious_tacos, @la_leere, Lawyers, Guns & Money, @thelincoln, @ednewtonrex, @mcmansionhell, @nabeelqu, @bobo_circus, Wired, @brunellaism, @allgarbled, @nabeelqu, @atabarrok, @cwfcreatives, @afinetheorem, @dioscuri, @tszzl, ThePrint, @serialsevens, UnHerd, @amhcrane87, Vulture, @peterrenshaw@ioc.exchange, @krishnanrohit, @krishnanrohit, @mushtaqbilalphd, @krishnanrohit, @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 »
Nate Silver / Silver Bulletin:
A look at Disney's 10-year mismanagement of FiveThirtyEight as Nate Silver says Disney is refusing to negotiate with him about restoring the site's archive — Nothing on the internet lasts forever. But Disney's 10-year mismanagement of FiveThirtyEight is its own story.
Discussion:
Simon Owens on LinkedIn, @natesilver538, Ben Welsh on LinkedIn, Awful Announcing, Mediaite and FlowingData
Jake Kanter / Deadline:
Audio from an all-hands: BBC's new DG Matt Brittin said he wants to use data to build a “sat nav around bias” and iPlayer is not doing a “good enough job” — In his first address to staff on his second day in office, former Google executive Matt Brittin said that he wanted …
Discussion:
Telegraph
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:
Reuters, @dylanbyers, The Wrap and @corbinbolies
Ivan Mehta / TechCrunch:
Stability AI releases a new family of audio models called Stable Audio 3.0 that is trained on licensed data; the top model can generate six-minute songs — Stability AI, the company behind Stable Diffusion, is releasing a new family of audio models, called Stability Audio 3.0.
Discussion:
Billboard, eWeek, Stability AI and Crypto Briefing, more at Techmeme »
Axios:
A look at the sale prices of digital media companies: BuzzFeed sold ~86% below its peak valuation; Vice, Mic, and Food52 all sold over 90% below their highs — Digital media companies that waited too long to sell all or parts of their businesses saw their final sale prices plummet from their peak valuations.
Discussion:
Business of TV and UnHerd
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