Top News:
CNN:
Haberman-Swan book: Trump wanted to make Fox News “beg” for a presidential interview, he almost settled for $3M with ABC instead of $16M, and more — President Trump wanted even Fox News to “beg” for him. — That's one of the many media-industry takeaways from Maggie Haberman …
Discussion:
@2xaught7.ing, @newsjennifer.bsky.social, @brianstelter.bsky.social, sports.yahoo.com and @wired.com
RELATED:
Hugo Lowell / Wired:
New book: Bezos told Trump that WaPo had been one of his worst investments and “the people there are terrible”; Trump told associates Bezos was “kissing my ass” — “You would not believe the texts I got from these tech guys,” NYT reporters Maggie Haberman …
Discussion:
Status, CNN, Marin Independent Journal, Nicholas Thompson on LinkedIn, Gizmodo, Spyglass, @radleybalko.bsky.social, The Guardian, The Next Web, @davidrlurie.com, @rauchway.bsky.social, Inc.com, New York Times, @jswatz.bsky.social, Townhall, Implicator.ai, Newser, @happysnarkygal.bsky.social, @jamiegangel, @plaintanjane.bsky.social, @ericjgeller.com, @eliasisquith.blog, New York Magazine, Mediaite, @wajali.bsky.social, Breitbart, Legal Insurrection, @galacticstone@mastodon.social, @adamserwer.bsky.social, Raw Story, @katie-drummond.bsky.social, @wired.com, @researchbuzz@researchbuzz …, @hugolowell.bsky.social, The Post Millennial, @rbreich.bsky.social, @timmarchman.bsky.social, The Daily Caller, New York Post, The Gateway Pundit, RADAR, Gizmodo and Fox News
Andrew Cohen / InvestmentNews:
Robinhood plans to shutter the Sherwood News site in favor of newsletters and the Robinhood app; at least three reporters were cut in company layoffs this week — The fintech giant shifts its media strategy despite reporting record trading volumes this month amid its 10% staff reduction.
Discussion:
@simonowens, @dollydeighton, Simon Owens's Media Newsletter, @ranimolla, citybiz, Wall Street Journal and Talking Biz News
Ella Creamer / The Guardian:
Granta says it will stop publishing short story contest winners or join publishing partnerships it doesn't control after AI use allegations against a winner — Literary magazine will no longer engage in ‘external publishing partnerships’ after Commonwealth prize furore
Christopher Wiggins / Advocate:
A profile of Don Lemon, whose independent company Lemon Media Network has surpassed 10M followers across platforms, with more than 50% growth in the past year — Lemon has already lived several public lives. — There was the ambitious young reporter from Louisiana with the relentless local news hustle …
Discussion:
@cwnewser.bsky.social and Us Weekly
Jessica Davies / Digiday:
Le Monde is considering ways to grant access to AI agents of paying readers while maintaining its block on crawler bots and other unlicensed non-human traffic — Le Monde blocks almost every bot that tries to hit its site. Now it's starting to think about what happens when its paying readers show …
Discussion:
@claeshs.bsky.social and MediaNama
Financial Times:
Sources: the UK government is expected to consult as early as this month on rules to make public service news more prominent on social media and video platforms — Move expected in British government green paper would set stage for fresh battle with Big Tech over online misinformation
Discussion:
City A.M., more at Techmeme »
Matthew Keys / TheDesk.net:
Both sides in the antitrust lawsuit over Nexstar's Tegna acquisition have asked a federal judge to schedule the case for a jury trial in July 2027 — Both sides involved in an ongoing antitrust lawsuit over Nexstar Media Group's $6.2 billion acquisition of TEGNA have asked a federal judge …
Discussion:
TheDesk.net
Erik Hayden / The Hollywood Reporter:
A report by LA officials estimates that the Paramount-WBD deal places about 2.5K jobs in LA and 6K jobs globally at risk due to duplicative roles — A new estimate by local officials who are in the process of assessing the impact of David Ellison's $111 billion merger places 2,500 jobs …
Discussion:
Deadline, New York Post, The Wrap, Media Play News and r/MediaMergers
Variety:
Amazon MGM Studios drops Luca Guadagnino's mostly finished movie on Sam Altman; Amazon struck a major deal with OpenAI in February, including a $50B investment — The film, starring Andrew Garfield as the controversial OpenAI CEO, will be shopped to other studios.
Discussion:
The Guardian, The Movie Blog, Puck, PCMag, The Economic Times, @stokel.bsky.social, World of Reel, Deadline, New York Times, The Wrap, IGN, @maxpotter.bsky.social, The Next Web, @edroso.bsky.social, Digital Trends, Screen, Queerty, crypto.news, The Independent, CoinGape, Newser, TMZ.com, The Decoder, Puck, Washington Times, @alexpagliuca.bsky.social, @iainpj.bsky.social, Gizmodo, Comic Book, Decrypt, The Verge, The Information, Business Insider, ScreenRant, @karlbode.com, Rolling Stone, Kotaku, @mattgoldberg.bsky.social, Just Jared, Consequence and The Hollywood Reporter
Jazz Tangcay / Variety:
How Netflix cultivated the KPop Demon Hunters fandom with brand tie-ins across gaming, fast-food, and more to keep the film a blockbuster for an entire year — June 20 marks the one-year anniversary of Netflix's “KPop Demon Hunters” release. — Since then, the animated feature …
Discussion:
Collider, How-To Geek, ScreenRant, E! Online, Decider, World of Reel, Washington Times, Gizmodo, Forbes, The Hollywood Reporter, Bizcommunity, Deadline, UPI, Animation Magazine and Cartoon Brew
Laura Hazard Owen / Nieman Lab:
Local Journalist Index 2026: US states with a lower concentration of local journalists have higher rates of loneliness, even after considering rural populations — The 2026 Local Journalist Index, this week by Muck Rack and the Rebuild Local News Coalition, contains a fair bit of bad news …
Discussion:
@researchbuzz.bsky.social and @tongli.bsky.social
