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.
Discussion:
The Hill, Adweek, Wall Street Journal, HuffPost, Bloomberg, Washington Times, New York Post, Staff Stories, @sammyroth.bsky.social, NBC News, @abbeyarletto.bsky.social, The Hollywood Reporter, @juliannemcshane.bsky.social, National Enquirer, Mediaite, Benjamin Mullin on LinkedIn, Jeff Jarvis on LinkedIn, The Wrap, New Republic, Deadline, Washington Post, Mirror US, The Daily Beast, Newser, @kylegriffin1, @froomkin.bsky.social, @newsguyusa@flipboard.social, @susanrinkunas.com, @hfgarcia.bsky.social, @carlquintanilla.bsky.social, The Present Age, @dave1agar.bsky.social, @cultexpert.freedomofmind.com, @scottnover, @ohgodwhatnow.bsky.social, Raw Story, @grynbaum, @benmullin, U.S. Home, Variety and TVNewsCheck
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Jeremy Barr / The Guardian:
Sharyn Alfonsi says her 60 Minutes contract expiration “was a deliberate choice to penalize a journalist for refusing to sanitize factually accurate reporting” — Sharyn Alfonsi confirms contract expiration after decrying network over ‘the spread of corporate meddling’ last month
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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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:
Variety, Associated Press, CyberScoop, Crypto Briefing, @maxwelltani, Election Law Blog and OpenAI, more at Techmeme »
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 …
Discussion:
Agence France-Presse, Forbes, Dexerto, Android Authority, Thurrott, Business Insider, Engadget, Wall Street Journal, The Verge, CNBC, @warringtonruncorn.com, Barron's Online, Spyglass, Nairametrics, MacRumors, Firstpost, The Tech Portal, @schwindter.bsky.social, Notebookcheck, PYMNTS, 9to5Mac, @papergreat.bsky.social and Sherwood News, more at Techmeme »
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 …
Discussion:
Animation Magazine, TV Tech, The Wrap, CNET, Amazon Web Services, The Information, @kevinbankston, Deadline and Crypto Briefing, more at Techmeme »
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 …
Discussion:
YouTube Official Blog, TechCrunch, CBS News, Tubefilter, CNET, The Independent, Ars Technica, Digital Music News, Mashable, The American Bazaar, Moneycontrol, Engadget, The Decoder, KING-TV, PC Gamer, The Economic Times, Dexerto, PCMag, The Hollywood Reporter, The Verge, MobileSyrup, MakeUseOf, IGN, Crypto Briefing, Digital Trends, Decrypt, Search Engine Journal, Music Business Worldwide, @andrewcurran_, 9to5Google, WeRSM, Android Authority, Thurrott, @updatesfromyt, Digit, @kevinbankston, Lifehacker, How-To Geek, Cord Cutters News, The Wrap, The Next Web, Deadline, GMA News Online and Barrett Media, more at Techmeme »
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.
Mia Sato / The Verge:
The New York Times Tech Guild, representing ~700 employees, files grievances over NYT's use of AI-powered performance tools to track and discipline staff — Unionized tech employees at the Times say the company is violating their contract by using AI tools to monitor employee performance.
Discussion:
New York Post, @nytguildtech.bsky.social, @miarsato and NewsGuild of New York
Ivan Mehta / TechCrunch:
ElevenLabs launches Music v2, which can switch genres mid-track and handle complex vocal compositions, built on licensed data and cleared for commercial use — Voice AI company ElevenLabs launched a new version of its music-generation model, called Music v2, that can switch genres mid-track.
Discussion:
The Week, Decrypt, ElevenLabs, @elevencreative, @elevenlabs, @elevenlabs, @almost_digital, @elevenlabs, @louisjoejordan, @matt_elevenlabs, @lukeharries, Jane Friedman and The Verge
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:
Talking Biz News and @pressgazette.co.uk
Patience Haggin / Wall Street Journal:
Trade Desk's market cap fell ~70% from a December 2024 peak as it contends with frustrated agency partners, competition from Google, and a new entrant, Amazon — The company lost about 70% of its value as Amazon gained ground and relationships with top ad agencies soured
