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, Forbes, The Free Press, Sydney Morning Herald, Wall Street Journal, Mumbrella, @benmullin, @sherman4949, @sarafischer, Capital Brief, Associated Press, @jtes, @jeremymbarr, @pkafka, The Information, Awful Announcing, @benmullin, Inside Radio, UPI, Inc.com, Australian Financial Review, Telegraph, The Hill, Los Angeles Times, Washington …, CNN, The Daily Wire, Mediaweek, Front Office Sports, NewsMax.com, Aftermath, The Guardian, Showbiz411, TVNewsCheck, 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, Gothamist, Politico, Bloomberg, The Hollywood Reporter, r/Journalism and r/Journalism, more at Techmeme »
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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, CNN, Al Jazeera, Puck, Fast Company, @pkafka, Forbes, Barrett Media, New York Post, Times of India, The Information and Adweek
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, @richarddeitsch, @primarycinema, @nick_field90, @greg_travis, @extremearturo, @marquardta, @maxwelltani, @stevemistler, @jeremymbarr, @douthatnyt, @kainazamaria, NewsMax.com, @lawprofblawg, @nick_field90, @briannaatucker, @childpleez007, Breitbart, @grantstern, @atrupar, Staff Stories, Status, @joshuaholland.bsky.social, twitchy.com, @jackjenkins.me, The Wrap, @gillianbrockell.com, @genebensinger.bsky.social, @douglasmack.bsky.social, @gillianbrockell.com, @bgrueskin.bsky.social, @bgrueskin.bsky.social, Barrett Media, 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, Reality Tea, Fast Company, RADAR, The A.V. Club, @JohnSullivan@mastodonapp.uk, Deadline, New York Magazine, U.S. Home, @fangsbites.bsky.social, The Guardian, Consequence, @storyslug.bsky.social, @luckyadams.bsky.social, HuffPost, New Republic, The Hill, @justinbaragona.bsky.social, 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, @tszzl, @alicefromqueens, Melanie Dusseau on LinkedIn, New York Times, @melaniedusseau.bsky.social, Granta, Newser, Futurism, @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, @krishnanrohit, @peterrenshaw@ioc.exchange, @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:
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
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, @corbinbolies, Reuters and The Wrap
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
Isabelle Bousquette / Wall Street Journal:
Higgsfield AI premieres Hell Grind, a 95-minute fully AI-generated film, at Cannes and says it took two weeks and cost $500K to make, of which $400K was on AI — ‘Hell Grind,’ a 95-minute fully AI-generated film, premieres this week at Cannes, where questions around the technology's encroachment remain center-stage
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