Court docs: Julian Assange plans to plead guilty as part of a plea deal with the US, allowing him to go free after spending five years in a British prison (NBC News)

Mediagazer: Court docs: Julian Assange plans to plead guilty as part of a plea deal with the US, allowing him to go free after spending five years in a British prison (NBC News)

Top News:

NBC News:

Court docs: Julian Assange plans to plead guilty as part of a plea deal with the US, allowing him to go free after spending five years in a British prison— The WikiLeaks founder has been held in a prison outside London for the last five years and fought extradition to the United States.
Discussion: Reuters, CNN, The Wrap, Mumbrella, New York Times, Fox News, Deadline, Gizmodo, Axios, New York Post, New York Times, BBC, Politico, Associated Press, Bloomberg, Wall Street Journal, The Daily Beast, Reclaim The Net, Washington Post, CBS News, @robertkennedyjr, @stella_assange, @jeffjarvis, @wikileaks, @mbrauchli@threads.net, @lemonslayer.bsky.social, @martinsfp@threads.net, ABC7, @joeo10@mastodon.sdf.org, @jamesrbuk, The Register, @jamesrbuk, @lemonslayer.bsky.social, @benburgis, @autismcapital, @zcohencnn, @sgurman and Washington Examiner

Discussion:
CNN: Julian Assange agrees to plea deal with Biden administration that would allow him to avoid imprisonment in US

Sharon Knolle /
The Wrap: Julian Assange Takes US Justice Department Deal, Avoids Additional Jail Time

Nathan Jolly /
Mumbrella: Julian Assange expected to walk free this week

Charlie Savage /
New York Times: A Timeline of Julian Assange's Legal Saga

Melanie Goodfellow /
Deadline: U.S. Authorities Drop Julian Assange Extradition Demand & Strike Plea Deal; Outcome Hailed As “Historic Victory” For Press Freedom

Natalie Daher /
Axios: Julian Assange strikes plea deal with U.S.

Allie Griffin /
New York Post: Julian Assange expected to be freed after 5 years in UK prison under US plea deal

Bernd Debusmann Jr /
BBC: Julian Assange to plead guilty in deal with US Associated Press: Wikileaks founder Julian Assange will plead guilty in deal with US and return to Australia

AJ McDougall /
The Daily Beast: Julian Assange Won't Be Dragged Back to the U.S. After Striking Plea Deal

Dan Frieth /
Reclaim The Net: Julian Assange Strikes Deal with US Authorities, Walks Free With No Further Prison Time for WikiLeaks Founder

Robert F. Kennedy Jr /
@robertkennedyjr: Julian Assange struck a plea deal and will go free! I am overjoyed. He's a generational hero. The bad news is that he had to plea guilty to conspiracy to obtain and disclose national defense info. Which means the US security state succeeded in criminalizing journalism and @stella_assange: Julian is free!!!! Words cannot express our immense gratitude to YOU- yes YOU, who have all mobilised for years and years to make this come true. THANK YOU. tHANK YOU. THANK YOU. Follow @WikiLeaks for more info soon... [video] @jeffjarvis: A proper outcome involving a difficult case and person, I think: Julian Assange expected to plead guilty to US charge in deal that could end his imprisonment - court filing https://www.theguardian.com/ ... @wikileaks: JULIAN ASSANGE IS FREE Julian Assange is free. He left Belmarsh maximum security prison on the morning of 24 June, after having spent 1901 days there. He was granted bail by the High Court in London and was released at Stansted airport during the afternoon, where he boarded a

Marcus Brauchli /
@mbrauchli@threads.net: Assange has many odious qualities . But the U.S. government's attempt to prosecute a foreign national for persuading a U.S. citizen to give up classified documents that never should have been in a low-level soldier's hands was plainly a failure of U.S. secrets handling more than a case of spying. … @lemonslayer.bsky.social: Seems that after the proceedings are complete Assange will then immediately fly to Australia. Guessing all of this was part of the deal. 👇 — storage.courtlistener.com/recap/ gov.us... [image] @martinsfp@threads.net: Wow. “In return for pleading guilty to Conspiracy to Obtain and Disclose National Defence Information, Assange will be sentenced to time served, 62 months - the time he has already spent in a British prison. ” He will then be free to return to Australia, the country of his birth.

Alexander Mallin /
ABC7: Julian Assange expected to plead guilty, avoid further prison time as part of deal with US

Joe Ortiz /
@joeo10@mastodon.sdf.org: I'm totally shocked that this is going to be all over soon. What the US did to #Assange (like him or hate him) is so cruel and vile not to mention that this was a major attack on human rights and press freedom. And he's going to walk free after all of the hell he's been through over the past decade (if you include his embassy stay). …

James Ball /
@jamesrbuk: The practical choice Assange faced after years in jail and years in the embassy before it was to take a ‘bad’ deal or face trial and detention in the USA. For the US, this was a chance to save face given Assange's sentence would likely be shorter than time served.

James Ball /
@jamesrbuk: Many journalists - myself included - and many who are no fans of Assange said the prosecution was a risk to press freedom. A plea deal doesn't change that, and is something Assange would only agree through sheer necessity.

Simon Sharwood /
The Register: Julian Assange freed in UK after agreeing to plead guilty to US charges

James Ball /
@jamesrbuk: Absolutely *huge* development in the Assange case that could see him free from prison in the near future: he's on the cusp of a plea deal with US authorities. https://www.bbc.com/...

@lemonslayer.bsky.social:
Here is the court document. 👇 — storage.courtlistener.com/recap/ gov.us...

Ben Burgis /
@benburgis: Thank God. What's been done to this man is truly vile—an assault on press freedom certainly, but also just an obscenity in basic human terms. @autismcapital: 🚨 BREAKING: Julian Assange strikes a plea deal with the US which sentences him to the time he already served in British prison. He is now free to return to Australia, where he was born. [image]

Zachary Cohen /
@zcohencnn: News: WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange has agreed to plead guilty to a felony charge related to his alleged role in one of the largest US government breaches of classified material. Deal w/ DOJ will allow him to avoid imprisonment in US, per court docs. https://www.cnn.com/...

Sadie Gurman /
@sgurman: NEW: Julian Assange is set to plead guilty in his espionage case, in an agreement that will allow the WikiLeaks founder to walk free after spending more than a decade holed up and imprisoned in London, largely to avoid being sent to the U.S. w/@aviswanatha https://www.wsj.com/...

The Verge:

The RIAA files two copyright-infringement cases against the AI music services Suno and Udio; Udio was used to create the viral song BBL Drizzy— A group of record labels including the big three — Universal Music Group (UMG), Sony Music Entertainment, and Warner Records …

Discussion:
Engadget, MediaPost, Bloomberg, The Register, Quartz, @carnage4life, Reuters, @abelowrob, The Wrap, @robertfreundlaw, @riaa, @tb_num, @mitch_glazier, @reckless1280@threads.net, @komaniecki_r, @jason_koebler, @future_of_music, @kerrymuzzey, @GossiTheDog@cyberplace.social, @maximumadhd, @jess_miers, Music Business Worldwide, @riaa, Digital Music News, @rachelmetz, Wired, Consequence, Rolling Stone, Billboard, @rahll, @rachelmetz, Drew Thurlow on LinkedIn, Variety, Music Ally, @emilylazar_sm, Ars Technica, @ednewtonrex, @lucas_shaw, @human_artistry, 404 Media, CMU, @dada_drummer, @patrickmoorhead, @human_artistry, @mattbelloni, @riaa, @justinebateman, CNN, @andybaio@xoxo.zone, Music Technology Policy, @johnpstrohm, @miasato.2@threads.net, @dada_drummer, @rachelmetz, @riaa, @carnage4life and Fast Company, more at Techmeme »

Discussion:

Will Shanklin /
Engadget: Record labels sue AI music generators for ‘massive infringement of recorded music’

Matthew Connatser /
The Register: Record labels gang up to sue AI music generator duo into utter oblivion

Britney Nguyen /
Quartz: Record labels are suing AI music companies for ‘en masse’ copyright infringement

Dare Obasanjo /
@carnage4life: AI training data on copyrighted works then competing with those same workers is becoming a theme. We're already seeing in it happen with content marketers but it won't stop there. https://www.theverge.com/...

Rob Abelow /
@abelowrob: BREAKING: All 3 major labels are suing AI music generators Suno & Udio. The RIAA is coordinating the lawsuits on behalf of Sony, Warner & UMG. Hammer, dropped. Here's the details: Today, two federal copyright infringement lawsuits were filed: 1. against Suno in the District

Natalie Korach /
The Wrap: Recording Industry Association Sues AI Companies for Copyright Infringement

Rob Freund /
@robertfreundlaw: Good news! Major record labels sued Suno and Udio today. The labels accuse both Plagiarism Machines of training their services on “copyrighted sound recording en masse.” Both services refused to disclose their training source materials, citing “trade secrets” and “public data” [image] @riaa: “Unlicensed services like Suno and Udio that claim it's ‘fair’ to copy an artist's life's work and exploit it for their own profit without consent or pay set back the promise of genuinely innovative AI for us all.” RIAA Chairman and CEO @mitch_glazier

Tommy Beringer /
@tb_num: The music industry is actually fine with AI believe it or not but they aren't fine with stealing. Before the dust settles new legal revenue streams will emerge from this AND/OR in a plot twist we might even see the record labels acquire Udio and Suno. I hear people compare

Mitch Glazier /
@mitch_glazier: (1/8) Today, a group of music companies filed important new lawsuits against two AI music companies, Suno and Udio. I explained why this case matters so much in Billboard today. https://www.billboard.com/...

Nilay Patel /
@reckless1280@threads.net: The entire AI industry rests on a copyright house of cards, part 204349 https://www.theverge.com/...

Robert Komaniecki /
@komaniecki_r: This is good but “Major record labels” are not exactly the people we should be looking towards to define intellectual property, historically speaking

Jason Koebler /
@jason_koebler: Pretty amazing stuff from the Udio/Suno lawsuits. Record labels were able to basically recreate versions of very famous songs with highly specific prompts, then linked to them in the lawsuits. I made a short compilation here: https://www.404media.co/... [video] @future_of_music: As expected, the major labels have sued two AI music companies, Suno and Udio, allleging copyright infringement with intent to “saturate the market with machine-generated content that will directly compete with, cheapen and ultimately drown out the genuine sound recordings.”

Kerry Muzzey /
@kerrymuzzey: Are we placing bets that the labels just want part ownership, Suno & Udio go public, labels sell their shares and make billions? I don't think labels are suing to stop it, I think labels are suing to get in on the action. Too cynical?

Kevin Beaumont /
@GossiTheDog@cyberplace.social: lol, not a surprise Suno are being sued. I used Suno via Microsoft Copilot (it's baked in) to make the Snowflake happy little cyber incident song - but while doing so realised they appear to have trained it on big songs, as it generates banger after banger. — https://www.404media.co/... @maximumadhd: Good, Generative AI usage needs to be dragged through the mud so it becomes too much of a liability to pursue these kinds of ventures. We need to focus on using AI technology for what it should be used for: as a tool to help accelerate dull monotonous work rather than completely

Jess Miers /
@jess_miers: Copyright infringement claim for making too much music and creating too much competition [image]

Daniel Tencer /
Music Business Worldwide: MAJOR RECORD COMPANIES SUE AI MUSIC GENERATORS SUNO, UDIO FOR ‘MASS INFRINGEMENT’ OF COPYRIGHT

@riaa:
Name that tune 🎶! Sound familiar? That's because @suno_ai_ is training AI on copyrighted works... 🎧: https://suno.com/... 🎧: https://suno.com/... 🎧: https://suno.com/... Learn more about our legal action against Suno: https://www.riaa.com/... [image]

Paul Resnikoff /
Digital Music News: UMG, WMG, Sony Music File Litigation Against AI Music Services Suno and Udio for Massive Copyright Infringement

Rachel Metz /
@rachelmetz: A hot one at the intersection of music and AI from me and @ashleyrcarman: record labels including Sony, Warner, and UMG are suing music-generating startups Suno and Udio for training their AI models on the labels' songs. Gift link! https://www.bloomberg.com/...

Kate Knibbs /
Wired: US Record Labels Sue AI Music Generators Suno and Udio for Copyright Infringement

Ethan Millman /
Rolling Stone: AI's Most Ambitious Music Generators Accused of ‘Massive’ Infringement In New Lawsuit

Kristin Robinson /
Billboard: Major Labels Sue AI Firms Suno and Udio for Alleged Copyright Infringement

Reid Southen /
@rahll: That was fast. Still waiting for the film studios to catch up. https://www.wired.com/... [image]

Rachel Metz /
@rachelmetz: The labels are asking for damages of as much as $150k per work infringed; considering how large datasets must be to train this kind of AI system, that could, potentially, mean the startups owe a LOT of money if a judge finds their practices don't amount to fair use.

Drew Thurlow /
Drew Thurlow on LinkedIn: In a surprise to no one, Suno & Udio are being sued by the Recording Industry Association of America® (RIAA) for copyright infringement. …

Stuart Dredge /
Music Ally: Labels body RIAA sues AI music firms Suno and Udio for copyright infringement @emilylazar_sm: Hey big tech.... Love ya but please stop f*cking over the creatives. All 3 major labels are suing AI music generators Suno & Udio. The RIAA is coordinating the lawsuits on behalf of Sony, Warner & UMG claiming the generators trained their AI on copyrighted music. Music isn't

Ed Newton-Rex /
@ednewtonrex: The 3 major record labels are suing AI music companies Suno and Udio. Here are the two lawsuits in full. - They accuse Suno & Udio of “willful copyright infringement on an almost unimaginable scale” - They provide evidence that both companies trained on their music, including

Lucas Shaw /
@lucas_shaw: 🚨 Record labels are suing two of the biggest music AI startups for violating their copyrights. @ashleyrcarman / @rachelmetz https://www.bloomberg.com/... @human_artistry: Statement from HAC Senior Advisor, Dr. Moiya McTier, on the @RIAA lawsuit against AI giants Suno & Udio, which alleges widespread copyright infringement with damning evidence: [image]

Chris Cooke /
CMU: Suno and Udio's “lawless” behaviour cheapens human creativity with sound-a-likes and knock-offs says watershed RIAA lawsuit

Damon K /
@dada_drummer: Here we go... will they cut us a better deal than Napster-to-Apple-to-Spotify...?

Patrick Moorhead /
@patrickmoorhead: @rachelmetz @ashleyrcarman Amazing how closely this trend follows the early search days. (I worked at AltaVista, the losing search engine.)

@human_artistry:
🚨Huge news: @RIAA has filed suit against two AI giants for “mass infringement” of copyright, outlining damning evidence of widespread copying. This is a major step forward in the fight for responsible AI in creative spaces 👏

Matthew Belloni /
@mattbelloni: Your move, Hollywood...

@riaa:
“These are straightforward cases of copyright infringement involving unlicensed copying of sound recordings on a massive scale,” RIAA chief legal officer Ken Doroshow

Justine Bateman /
@justinebateman: Ironically, these are arms of two of the biggest film studios (one formerly and the other currently): Universal Music Group and Sony Music. The film studios, on the other hand, are desperate to use #AI, so they do nothing to stop their own copyright infringement.

Samantha Murphy Kelly /
CNN: Viral ‘BBL Drizzy’ AI Drake diss track company gets sued

Andy Baio /
@andybaio@xoxo.zone: A coalition of major record labels, including UMG, Capitol, Atlantic, Rhino, and Warner, is suing the two biggest AI music startups, Suno and Udio, for mass copyright infringement. This is the most well-funded defendant so far to try to stop commercial services from training AI models on their work, and looking to set a precedent that it isn't fair use. https://www.theverge.com/...

Chris Castle /
Music Technology Policy: The Fire Next Time: Labels Bring the Heat against Suno and Udio for Responsible AI

John P. Strohm /
@johnpstrohm: This is great news. I'm skeptical that anyone in this space wants a federal appeals court ruling on Fair Use for AI training. But any platform that trains on music without permission to roll the dice on Fair Use is in bad faith and should not be in the music space at all.

Mia Sato /
@miasato.2@threads.net: New: The biggest music labels are suing two AI companies — Udio, the tool behind the viral BBL Drizzy song, and Suno, which has a Microsoft partnership https://www.theverge.com/...

Damon K /
@dada_drummer: What's crucial to me is for all of us to ask the major labels: are you acting here to protect artists? Or are you acting to protect your copyrights? Cause the history of major labels and streaming technology has proven that these two interests are not always the same...

Rachel Metz /
@rachelmetz: UPDATE: Suno cofounder/ceo Mikey Shulman told us in a statement that Suno's technology is “transformative,” and “designed to generate completely new outputs, not to memorize and regurgitate pre-existing content” (he also noted that it doesn't let people prompt w/ artist names.)⤵️ [image]

@riaa:
We stand behind artists and their invaluable creations. The RIAA has filed two major copyright infringement lawsuits against @suno_ai_ and @udiomusic for using copyrighted sound recordings without permission.

@riaa:
Tell me you use copyrighted recordings without telling me you use copyrighted recordings... 🎵 Listen to these AI samples from @udiomusic... Oh wait, they took them down. But check out the prompts used to create the recordings. Find out more: https://www.riaa.com/... [image]

Dare Obasanjo /
@carnage4life: The major record labels are suing two AI music companies for training their LLMs on copyrighted music. The companies responded by saying the music they trained their AIs on are “confidential business information”. 🙃 [image]

Jessica Bursztynsky /
Fast Company: Record labels sue AI companies Suno and Uncharted Labs

Axios:

Filing: Vivek Ramaswamy's BuzzFeed stake grew to 8.9%; sources: Ramaswamy recently met Jonah Peretti and wants Patrick Bet-David and two others on the board— - Ramaswamy has continued to increase his stake, this morning disclosing that it's risen to 8.9%.

Discussion:
New York Post, Fox Business, @theclubmember04, Business Insider, @danprimack and @claytravis

Discussion:

Ariel Zilber /
New York Post: Vivek Ramaswamy pushes conservatives for BuzzFeed board — including Clay Travis — raises stake in site: report @theclubmember04: It will be interesting to see what @VivekGRamaswamy does with his Activist stake in $BZFD @BuzzFeed Why such interest in a media company? https://www.axios.com/...

Peter Kafka /
Business Insider: BuzzFeed really needs a ‘Hot Ones’ deal

Dan Primack /
@danprimack: Scoop: @VivekGRamaswamy last week met w/ BuzzFeed CEO @peretti, and today increased his BuzzFeed stake to 8.9%. Also, Ramswamy wants @ClayTravis, @patrickbetdavid, and @cbalfe on the BuzzFeed board. https://www.axios.com/...

Clay Travis /
@claytravis: Impressed with @VivekGRamaswamy's ideas on BuzzFeed. We need more of a marketplace of ideas in media. Appreciate him putting forward @patrickbetdavid @cbalfe & me as board nominees. PBD and Chris are both super successful media guys and great dudes too: https://www.axios.com/...

RELATED:
Bloomberg:

Sources: BuzzFeed is struggling to sell Hot Ones owner First We Feast, which is profitable and has ~$30M revenue per year; interested parties balk at $70M price— - Several parties are interested but balk at $70 million price — Proceeds of about $50 million would help company pay off debt

Discussion:

Kristin /
@kristineberth: buzzfeed is trying to unload Hot Ones, which does ~$30M/yr sounds like it could easily be many multiples of that tho [image]

Sean O'Kane /
@sokane1: the Hot Ones team is mad they aren't getting the resources to invest in a hit video show, meaning they are now truly BuzzFeed employees https://www.bloomberg.com/... [image]

Rosey /
@thechosenberg: Buzzfeed is delusional lol Hot Ones is not worth $70 million people are already bored of it, the most press this guy's gotten recently was for dating a porn star for like two days [image]

Simon Owens /
@simondowens@threads.net: It's a testament to how bad things are for BuzzFeed that it's in such a hurry to sell a successful media property like Hot Ones. https://www.bloomberg.com/...

Ernie Smith /
@ernie.tedium.co: Complex purchase, complex sale [embedded post]

Lucas Shaw /
@lucas_shaw: Trouble behind the scenes at Hot Ones, the internet's favorite talk show. https://www.bloomberg.com/...

Tom Gara /
@tomgara: Vivek can reboot Hot Ones as a debate show and each time the sauce gets spicier the guests have to change his mind about an increasingly conservative opinion @webbarr: seems like a no brainer... what am I missing here? Netflix / Beast (expand demos) / a24 / Fox (Tubi) / hmmm

Tony /
@drinksthethings.bsky.social: amazing that a website that gets $30 million in revenue per year can't be sold for a little over 2x that price. great media landscape we have here [embedded post]

Kevin D. Grüssing /
@kevdgrussing: So Buzzfeed might actually kill Hot Ones just as it gets popular by either killing it off because it asked for too much or to sell it to someone who'll replace Sean Evans which thus will kill the brand.

Peter Kafka /
@pkafka: Hot Ones is a hit for BuzzFeed. But BuzzFeed needs $120 million by December, so make an offer. Next q: Where does BuzzFeed get the rest of the cash it needs? https://www.businessinsider.com/ ...

New York Times:

Sources: UK police saw Will Lewis as an impediment to their phone hacking investigation; plaintiffs say Lewis gave the “green light” to delete News Corp. emails— Will Lewis, now the publisher of the Washington Post, was in full crisis mode in 2011.

Discussion:
@chrchristensen, @bgrueskin, @jswatz_tx@threads.net, @harrymccracken@mastodon …, @lizzieohreally, @edmundlee and @jo_becker

Discussion:

Christian Christensen /
@chrchristensen: As the #Assange/#Wikileaks case appears to reach a conclusion with Assange's single guilty plea, this has been a circus from the start. Toxic mix of abuse of state power, attacks on journalism, legal inaction, disinformation, disrespect for potential victims & virulent misogyny.

Bill Grueskin /
@bgrueskin: Yet one more devastating piece about Will Lewis and his role, as a Murdoch henchman, in dealing with Scotland Yard over the tens of millions of deleted emails. Gift link https://www.nytimes.com/...

John Schwartz /
@jswatz_tx@threads.net: “The new allegations brought forward in court suggest that executives who claimed they were doing the cleanup may have instead been engaged in a cover-up.” this story has more shoes to drop than Imelda Marcos's closet. https://www.nytimes.com/...

Harry McCracken /
@harrymccracken@mastodon.social: This guy's steadfast policy of refusing to answer questions about his past is really paying off. https://www.nytimes.com/...

Lizzie O'Leary /
@lizzieohreally: Great story but also “operation weeting” and “Barney Ratcliffe” are comically British

Edmund Lee /
@edmundlee: Stellar reporting from @Jo_Becker and @ScheckNYTimes: “...during the crucial early period of the investigation,” Rupert Murdoch's UK company “was deleting data from its servers...” this is regarding the hacking investigation handled by Will Lewis: https://www.nytimes.com/...

Jo Becker /
@jo_becker: My latest, with @schecknyt, on Washington Post publisher Will Lewis and the British phone hacking scandal. Our reporting builds on a decade- plus of coverage by @bynickdavies, who first broke the phone hacking scandal and has been out in front since. https://www.nytimes.com/...

RELATED:
Washington Post: WaPo and The News Movement, in which Will Lewis holds a stake, agreed in recent months to pursue brand partnerships; TNM made two major pitches involving WaPo

Discussion:
The Atlantic, Politico, @obrien_kat@mastodon.world, @dangillmor@mastodon.social, @davidbeard@threads.net, @farhip, @ianshapira, @dastonerl, @davidrlurie, @zackstanton, Diane Ravitch's blog, Financial Times, @noahshachtman@threads.net, @yonetteajoseph@threads.net, The Daily Beast, The Atlantic, @lpolgreen@threads.net and Media Nation

Discussion:

Anne Applebaum /
The Atlantic: Readers Don't Trust Dirty Tricks

Jack Shafer /
Politico: For Post's Lewis, Credibility Dies in Silence @obrien_kat@mastodon.world: The tabloidization of everything is terrible for society, and the Washington Post shouldn't go down that path. — By @anneapplebaum — https://www.theatlantic.com/ ... #journalism #democracy #washingtonpost — [image]

Dan Gillmor /
@dangillmor@mastodon.social: Bezos is ultimately (justly, since he's the owner) responsible for the ongoing mess at the Washington Post. — But it would be smart for some news organization to look deeply into the role of former Microsoft (and Gates foundation) senior executive Patty Stonesifer. …

Dave Beard /
@davidbeard@threads.net: “Whenever Lewis attempts to ignore the fire burning under him by stiffing the press, it only pours nitromethane on the story and encourages reporters to widen their search for answers. You don't have to be a PR executive to figure this out.” - Jack Shafer, @politico

Paul Farhi /
@farhip: And once again, the @washingtonpost's publisher is MIA when his own reporters come knocking: “Lewis declined to respond directly to a list of questions about his business interests and how he has managed potential conflicts.”

Paul Farhi /
@farhip: How many ways can @WashingtonPost publisher William Lewis challenge the paper's traditional ethics and standards? Well, here's a new one: an investment in a company that has done business with the Post, creating a potential conflict with his Post role: https://www.washingtonpost.com/ ...

Ian Shapira /
@ianshapira: https://www.washingtonpost.com/ ... “Lewis declined to respond directly to a list of questions about his business interests and how he has managed potential conflicts.” @dastonerl: @ianshapira Will Lewis the networker “Dear Friend,” he wrote in his Jan. 27 newsletter, “I feel immensely privileged to have had two parties thrown in my honour this week. ... It was a pleasure to meet so many pillars of Washington's political and media communities.” https://www.washingtonpost.com/ ... @davidrlurie: Lewis, and it appears, the Washington Post, are in business with the Qataris, the leading mass propagandists for Hamas, and owners of Al Jazeera. Washington Post publisher retains ties to past business ventures https://www.washingtonpost.com/ ...

Zack Stanton /
@zackstanton: Hmm. https://www.washingtonpost.com/ ... [image] Financial Times: Washington Post publisher Will Lewis retains links to PR firm that bears his initials

Noah Shachtman /
@noahshachtman@threads.net: Does this seem kosher to you? https://www.washingtonpost.com/ ...

Yonette Joseph /
@yonetteajoseph@threads.net: Nice to see Wapo going hard on this line of reporting. A digital start-up launched by Washington Post publisher William Lewis entered into a deal with The Post that allows the two companies to pursue deals together. Lewis still holds a financial stake in the firm, the News Movement, which he co-founded in 2020. …

Norman Pearlstine /
The Daily Beast: Why Jeff Bezos Is Failing The Washington Post

Stephanie McCrummen /
The Atlantic: Scrutiny of Will Lewis' past is essential because WaPo's credibility has been built upon readers' trust that its reporters don't engage in deceptive practices

Lydia Polgreen /
@lpolgreen@threads.net: A sort of “savvy” take has emerged that American journalists take themselves too seriously and a bit of British cheek would help shake them out of their torpor. This is a helpful antidote to that lazy POV: https://www.theatlantic.com/ ...

Variety:

Prices of ad-free Paramount+ With Showtime plan will rise by $1 to $12.99/month, and of Paramount+ Essential plan with ads by $2 to $7.99, starting August 20— As Paramount Global looks to push its streaming business into the black, it's hiking the prices for most Paramount+ plans later this summer.

Discussion:
The Verge, Los Angeles Times, The Desk, Gizmodo, Comic Book, Fox Business, Bloomberg, IndieWire, The Wrap, CNBC, Cord Cutters News, TVLine, ComingSoon.net, Deadline, BGR, Adweek, Engadget, The Streamable and Quartz

Discussion:

Charles Pulliam-Moore /
The Verge: Paramount Plus is getting yet another price hike

Ryan Faughnder /
Los Angeles Times: ‘Inside Out 2’ is a blockbuster. It doesn't solve the animation business' biggest problem

Matthew Keys /
The Desk: Paramount to increase price of Paramount Plus this summer

Lucas Ropek /
Gizmodo: Paramount+ Is Hiking Subscription Prices Again

Russ Burlingame /
Comic Book: Paramount+ Price Increase Coming This Summer

Tony Maglio /
IndieWire: Paramount+ Is Raising Prices

Lucas Manfredi /
The Wrap: Paramount+ Joins Max, Peacock in Raising Prices

Lillian Rizzo /
CNBC: Paramount+ to increase prices for its streaming plans

Luke Bouma /
Cord Cutters News: Paramount+ is Raising Its Price

Ryan Schwartz /
TVLine: Paramount+ Announces Price Hikes — Here's How Much It'll Cost You to Stream Without Ads

Brandon Schreur /
ComingSoon.net: Paramount+ Price Increase Set for Ad and Showtime Tiers

Jill Goldsmith /
Deadline: Paramount+ Prices To Rise For Most Tiers Starting In August

Jacob Siegal /
BGR: Paramount+ will increase the price of most plans in August

Bill Bradley /
Adweek: Paramount+ Price Increase Continues Streaming Trend of Pushing Subscribers to Ad Tier

Lawrence Bonk /
Engadget: Paramount+ is raising prices again for all of the Tulsa King fans out there

Miranda Neubauer /
Quartz: Paramount+ is getting on the streaming price hike bandwagon

Associated Press:

A US bankruptcy court trustee discloses plans to shut down Infowars and liquidate its assets to help pay the $1.5B in lawsuit judgments that Alex Jones owes— A U.S. bankruptcy court trustee is planning to shut down conspiracy theorist Alex Jones' Infowars media platform and liquidate …

Discussion:
CNN, The Guardian, Mediaite, The Daily Beast, New Republic and @rpsagainsttrump

Discussion:

Hadas Gold /
CNN: Alex Jones' court trustee plans to shut down his notorious conspiracy outlet Infowars

Kari Paul /
The Guardian: Alex Jones's bankruptcy trustee plans to liquidate far-right platform Infowars

Alex Griffing /
Mediaite: Alex Jones's Conspiracy Theory Empire to Be Liquidated to Pay Sandy Hook Victims He Defamed

Ellie Quinlan Houghtaling /
New Republic: Alex Jones's Conspiracy Kingdom Just Got Closer to Crumbling

Deadline:

Sony Pictures Networks India names Disney+ Hotstar content chief Gaurav Banerjee as its new Managing Director and CEO— Sony Pictures Networks India has named Disney+ Hotstar content chief Gaurav Banerjee as its new Managing Director and CEO. — He'll replace N.P. Singh …

Discussion:
Variety and WORLD SCREEN

Variety:

MTV appears to have fully pulled down MTV News website, scrubbing two decades' worth of content from its archives; Paramount Global shut down MTV News in 2023— Some two decades' worth of content published on MTVNews.com is no longer available after MTV appears to have fully pulled down the site.

Discussion:
@patrickhosken, The A.V. Club, @martinsfp@threads.net, @kalihays1@threads.net, @stephentotilo, @kashana.bsky.social, @annetdonahue, @lakewitchhouse.bsky.social, @crystalbell, @greene.haus, @sam_piroton, @lymoula, @mirrorman.bsky.social, @jemaswad, @meelztv, @tirhakahlove, @jaytingle.bsky.social, @hiattb, @brendonkleen14, @jhoffman, @film_girl, @smi.bsky.social and @kevdgrussing

Discussion:

Patrick Hosken /
@patrickhosken: So, https://mtvnews.com/ no longer exists. Eight years of my life are gone without a trace. All because it didn't fit some executives' bottom lines. Infuriating is too small a word

Matt Schimkowitz /
The A.V. Club: MTV News website becomes the latest casualty of our Digital Dark Age

@martinsfp@threads.net:
I hope the FT never does this the 1000+ posts I published on TNW years ago. Yes, I know, I should scrape them....

Kali Hays /
@kalihays1@threads.net: remember when all those cool grantland (rip) writers landed there when mtvnews tried a little relaunch and then they got the chance to do basically nothing before that ended, too.

Stephen Totilo /
@stephentotilo: Found some of my articles on the Wayback Machine, but this really sucks. My four years of games coverage—a who's who of interview subjects—more or less gone. And that's just my little gaming corner of a larger output of great coverage of music, movies, politics and more @kashana.bsky.social: Thank goodness everybody's destroying information to keep us safe from the danger of knowing anything. [embedded post]

Anne T Donahue /
@annetdonahue: shameful. and relatedly: mtv news never did get around to formally letting me go alongside everybody in 2017, so i still consider myself milton from office space, stuck somewhere in the basement. @lakewitchhouse.bsky.social: gen x tuning into mtv to hear from kurt loder that kurt cobain died was our walter cronkite announcing the assassination of JFK moment. Walter Cronkurt [embedded post]

Crystal Bell /
@crystalbell: sickening (derogatory) to see the entire @mtvnews archive wiped from the internet. decades of music history gone...including some very early k-pop stories.

Greg Greene /
@greene.haus: Was Paramount running out of room on the web, or something? Did it need to spare a server for ‘NCIS’ streams on Paramount+? Sheesh. [embedded post] @lymoula: there was archived stuff on mtv news that was the only way i was able to verify certain key pieces of information throughout the nearly 5 years of doing @RapRankings. this is a massive loss. https://x.com/...

Jess /
@mirrorman.bsky.social: Gotta make room for nineteen seasons of “Real Douchebags of Summerhouse Beach”.

Jem Aswad /
@jemaswad: This is a travesty: Decades of https://mtvnews.com/ have disappeared from the internet, just like that. My heart goes out to my colleagues, especially @teamshaheem, whose years of Mixtape Mondays and beyond are such an important part of hip-hop history. @meelztv: We did an episode of Retro Diaries to talk about JAY-Z's 2002 and the primary resource for it was MTV News. The archived articles by Shaheem Reid and others were great first hand resources on how it all went down. They might as well pack MTV up as a whole at this point. @tirhakahlove: mtvnews was my first longish term gig. first place i had a consistent check and the first sign that i could do this for the long term. damn near everyone i worked with there is making big waves in media/art against all the odds. this shit stinks.

Jay Schiavone /
@jaytingle.bsky.social: Thank goodness they destroyed all that information. That's going to be a huge saving.

Brian Hiatt /
@hiattb: This is disgraceful. They've completely wiped the MTV News archive. Decades of pop culture history research material gone, and why? https://x.com/...

Brendon Kleen /
@brendonkleen14: The post-Grantland crew that went to MTV News did insane, awesome work and deserved way more time to build Paramount keeps taking Ls

Jordan Hoffman /
@jhoffman: Everything published at MTV News (or Film dot com) has been eliminated. My oral history of GALAXY QUEST lives only at the Wayback Machine archive now. https://web.archive.org/...

Christina Warren /
@film_girl: This whole trend of nuking archives or even delisting stuff from Google for SEO reasons that aren't even accurate is so bad for so many reasons. MTV News in the 2010s did some exceptional work and losing it all is so pointlessly dumb.

Stacy-Marie Ishmael /
@smi.bsky.social: every time this happens i am angry on behalf of everyone this has happened to, me included [embedded post]

New York Times:

CNN is in charge of every aspect of Thursday's Biden-Trump debate, a major shift from previous years; rival channels will leave CNN's on-air watermark untouched— One network is in charge of every aspect of the Biden-Trump debate, a major shift from previous years. Tens of millions of viewers are expected to be watching.

Discussion:
Politico, @protecttruth@mastodon.online, @scarylawyerguy, Poynter, @farhip, @katierogers, Gizmodo, @nminow@c.im, @matthewkeyslive, New York Post, @markjacob16, @bristei, The Hill, @fcchambers, @jeremymbarr, @kairyssdal, @ronfilipkowski, Washington Examiner, Mediaite and Los Angeles Times

Discussion:

Isabella Ramírez /
Politico: What to know about the first 2024 presidential debate — Unlike previous debates, there will be no studio audience.

Eric Blair /
@protecttruth@mastodon.online: In sum: — CNN has been pushed to the right by its board members and executives. — And so it's really bad that CNN gets to control this extremely consequential debate. — /end — here's the NYT piece: — https://www.nytimes.com/... @scarylawyerguy: CNN could have fact checkers in Tapper's ear to do real time corrections or run a crawl at the bottom of the screen throughout the debate. Instead, they're fine letting Trump lie in real time knowing few people will stick around for the post-debate corrections. 🙃

Paul Farhi /
@farhip: Dunno which is the better rule in the @CNN presidential debate: the lack of a studio audience or the moderators' ability to cut off the microphone of whichever candidate doesn't have the floor.

Katie Rogers /
@katierogers: Scenes from Biden debate prep: A movie theater and a hangar at Camp David are morphing into mock debate stages. Brian Deese is returning for econ help. Some of prep will focus on avoiding incumbency traps. “The rust factor is real” says Axelrod. Etc. https://www.nytimes.com/...

Matt Novak /
Gizmodo: How to Watch the Presidential Debate Between Donald Trump and Joe Biden This Week

NellMinow /
@nminow@c.im: The writer Nell Minow, a daughter of Newton N. Minow, who devised the first televised events in 1960, noted in an interview that TV networks are ultimately commercial enterprises. “Let's face it: they have shareholders, and they operate as a business,” she said. …

Matthew Keys /
@matthewkeyslive: NEW: Fox News says it will air a simulcast of CNN's Presidential Debate on Thursday, June 27. The network will produce its own pre-debate and post-debate coverage.

Emily Crane /
New York Post: CNN abruptly takes Trump campaign spokeswoman off the air mid-interview as network is set to host first presidential debate

Mark Jacob /
@markjacob16: CNN will fact-check the debate when it's over and everyone has switched to another channel.

Brian Steinberg /
@bristei: CNN's requirements to simulcast its 6/27 presidential debate are really onerous, says report in newspaper that declines to note it's controlled by the same family that owns Fox News.... https://nypost.com/... @fcchambers: @kairyssdal Sports commentators can pull up facts like “The last left-handed batter to score a double at home in the bottom of the third when down five runs against the Mets after a rain delay was Dave Lipschitz in 1972” in REAL TIME. And CNN can't fact-check in real time?

Jeremy Barr /
@jeremymbarr: Fox News announces it will be carrying CNN's presidential debate next Thursday, joining ABC News The official name for the presentation will be “FOX News Democracy 2024: CNN Presidential Debate,” which is kind of a mouthful.

Kai Ryssdal /
@kairyssdal: And herein lies the problem “David Chalian, CNN's political director, said that Thursday's live debate “is not the ideal arena for live fact-checking.” Instead, Ms. Bash and Mr. Tapper would focus on “facilitating the debate between these candidates, not being a participant in

Ron Filipkowski /
@ronfilipkowski: Trump agrees to a CNN debate and then his surrogates constantly whine that CNN is hosting the debate.

Ross O'Keefe /
Washington Examiner: RFK Jr. team promises alternate programming to counter ‘CNN fake debate’

David Gilmour /
Mediaite: Ex-Clinton Advisor: If ‘Really Old’ Candidates Are A Problem ‘Everyone Is Out of Luck’ No Matter Who Wins Election

Jackie Calmes /
Los Angeles Times: The Biden-Trump debate — ‘senile old man’ vs. ‘obnoxious jerk’? Please, no

RELATED:

Wired:

Some TikTok creators are hosting their own town halls with third-party candidates like RFK Jr., bypassing mainstream media and often platforming conspiracies— TikTok creators are hosting their own town halls with third-party candidates, bypassing mainstream media and platforming conspiracies.

Discussion:
@kellymakena

New York Times:

Interviews with ~12 media executives, such as Brian Roberts, John Malone, Barry Diller, and Ted Sarandos, about the future of streaming, bundling, ads, and more— Who will survive? Die? Thrive? And how? We talked to nearly a dozen top media executives and asked them to predict what lies ahead.

Discussion:

Sabrina Quagliozzi /
The Media Leader: Streaming war shifts gears: profitability takes center stage (NYT)

Elizabeth Newman /
Elizabeth Newman on LinkedIn: As the media landscape evolves, it's important to remember that there is no substitute for a great story, well told. It all starts on the page! …

David Vogler /
David Vogler on LinkedIn: Churn, Baby, Churn. — I've spent the better part of my career either building SVODs or making content to stream on SVODs. …

William /
William on LinkedIn: The New York Times has become the Streaming Wars historian recently. Focused on lost leadership, fruitless competition, expensive tech distractions and lessons ripping it apart. …

Robbie Kellman Baxter /
Robbie Kellman Baxter on LinkedIn: I'll admit it. — I subscribe to Netflix, Amazon, Disney, Hulu, Apple, Peacock, Max, and Paramount+. — But the average American subscribes to 4 streaming services at an average of $61/month. …

David Satin /
The Streamable: Would ‘Spotify for Hollywood’ Satisfy the Demand for Aggregated Streaming?

Stuart Coxe /
Stuart Coxe on LinkedIn: This is a buzzy article about the titans who lead the streaming companies. By the way, they are all white men, which is sort of odd in 2024. …

Dave Mark /