Top News:
Michael M. Grynbaum / New York Times:
CBS News declines to renew the contract of 60 Minutes correspondent Sharyn Alfonsi, six months after her segment on a Salvadoran prison was pulled by Bari Weiss — Sharyn Alfonsi, whose segment on a brutal Salvadoran prison was pulled abruptly in December, said that CBS News and its top editor, Bari Weiss, had let her contract expire.
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Sarah Perez / TechCrunch:
Meta rolls out Plus plans for Instagram, Facebook, and WhatsApp globally, will test $7.99/mo. and $19.99/mo. Meta AI plans, a $49.99/mo. creator plan, and more — Meta is doubling down on its subscription offerings. On Wednesday, the social networking giant announced it's now rolling …
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Katie Kilkenny / The Hollywood Reporter:
Condé Nast and the NewsGuild of New York reach a settlement regarding the 2025 termination of four staffers after a confrontation with the Chief People Officer — The publishing giant is allowing workers to resign as active employees and paying a financial settlement.
Todd Spangler / Variety:
Amazon MGM Studios announces the GenAI Creators' Fund, greenlights three AI animated series for Prime Video, and launches an AI production platform with AWS — Amazon MGM Studios is touting the power of AI to help create “cinematic” entertainment in a big new initiative …
Todd Spangler / Variety:
YouTube makes its AI content labels more prominent on desktop and mobile, and will apply them automatically if it detects “significant photorealistic AI use” — Is that YouTube video clip you're watching real or was it made with AI? — YouTube wants to make it easier for viewers …
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Patrick Maks / The Associated Press:
The AP agrees to provide OpenAI with AP's vote count data for use in ChatGPT and other services through the 2028 general election — The Associated Press today announced that it will provide its U.S. election results to OpenAI, reinforcing AP's vote count as the undisputed standard …
Discussion:
Crypto Briefing, CyberScoop, @maxwelltani, Associated Press, Variety, Election Law Blog and OpenAI, more at Techmeme »
Bloomberg:
Bolloré, UMG's largest shareholder, says Bill Ackman's UMG offer undervalues UMG and it should reject the bid; the deal needs two-thirds shareholder approval — Bolloré SE's chief executive officer said billionaire Bill Ackman's offer for Universal Music Group NV undervalues the record label.
David Folkenflik / NPR:
Sources: NPR lays off 10 journalists, including some veteran reporters, and gives buyouts to at least 18 news staffers to save $8M amid federal funding cuts — NPR has laid off 10 journalists, including some veteran reporters, in an attempt to save money and reorganize the newsroom.
Discussion:
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Andrew Deck / Nieman Lab:
The Economist launches The Economist - Graphs, the first native ChatGPT app from a major news outlet, to visualize data from its Trump approval rating tracker — The app retrieves and visualizes polling data from The Economist's Trump approval rating tracker.
Discussion:
Seoul Economic Daily, Talking Biz News and @pressgazette.co.uk
Ashley Carman / Bloomberg:
Jay Shetty signs a deal, sources say worth as much as $100M over multiple years, to bring video episodes of his podcast exclusively to Spotify and Netflix — The agreement is worth as much as $100 million over multiple years. — Jay Shetty, a popular self-help podcaster …
Alex Weprin / The Hollywood Reporter:
Roku launches its first major homescreen overhaul in over a decade, including a large “marquee” ad spot to tout apps or shows, in a bid to drive more engagement — Don't worry, Roku City isn't going anywhere. In fact, it's going interactive. But there will be more personalization, and a more prominent ad unit too.
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Liz Hoffman / Semafor:
Sources: US DOJ antitrust regulators appear ready to approve Paramount's $110B WBD takeover after a two-hour meeting Tuesday; DOJ staff grilled David Ellison — The Scoop — US antitrust regulators appear ready to approve Paramount's $110 billion takeover of Warner Bros. Discovery …
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Davide Barbuscia / Bloomberg:
Filing: David Ellison made a verbal commitment to ratings agencies to provide a capital backstop to manage Paramount's $50B debt after the merger with WBD
Discussion:
@carlquintanilla.bsky.social and @mvlakai.bsky.social
Oliver Darcy / Status:
Nearly 200 journalists, academics, and advocates sign a letter against the Paramount-WBD merger, saying it would enable political meddling in editorial choices
Nearly 200 journalists, academics, and advocates sign a letter against the Paramount-WBD merger, saying it would enable political meddling in editorial choices
Discussion:
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Mariella Moon / Engadget:
Last.fm announces it is an independent company again, 19 years after being acquired by CBS; it plans to keep its current team and continue the service as normal — Don't worry: It will keep your profiles and scrobbles. — Last.fm is an independent company again, it has announced on its forum …
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Last.fm Support Community and Pixel Envy
