Independent film company A24 raised $100M led by Josh Kushner's Thrive Entertainment at a $3.5B valuation, up 40% from its first fundraising in 2022 (Christopher Grimes/Financial Times)

Mediagazer: Independent film company A24 raised $100M led by Josh Kushner's Thrive Entertainment at a $3.5B valuation, up 40% from its first fundraising in 2022 (Christopher Grimes/Financial Times)

Top News:

The Guardian:

Assange's plea deal doesn't create an official precedent, but he still had to plead guilty to violating the Espionage Act for a “crime” outlets commit regularly— Instead of just dropping the case, the Biden administration got a guilty plea and set a dangerous tone for reporters everywhere
Discussion: Reuters, @evacide, ScheerPost.com, @fbajak, Newser, Associated Press, Fox News, Slate, CNN, @rchusid@med-mastodon.com, The i Paper, Bloomberg, Al Jazeera, CBS News, Electronic Frontier Foundation, NewsNation, Press Association, The Daily Beast, Engadget, Freedom of the Press …, Washington Post and Washington Examiner

Discussion:

Eva /
@evacide: The Espionage Act continues to be bad and I hope to never have to care about anything Julian Assange is doing again.

Chris Hedges /
ScheerPost.com: You Saved Julian Assange

Frank Bajak /
@fbajak: In pleading guilty to violating the Espionage Act, Assange allows that encouraging sources to obtain classified documents for him may have overstepped First Amendment protections. Julian clearly decided he doesn't want to risk dealing with a Trump DOJ. https://apnews.com/...

Rob Quinn /
Newser: Assange Deal Sets a ‘Chilling Precedent’ Associated Press: WikiLeaks' Assange pleads guilty in deal with US that secures his freedom, ends legal fight CNN: Julian Assange agrees to plea deal with Biden administration that would allow him to avoid imprisonment in US @rchusid@med-mastodon.com: It is great that Assange is out of prison but by demanding a guilty plea, as opposed to dropping the charges, the Biden administration is damaging First Amendment rights and hindering the ability of the press to report on matters such as war crimes. — https://www.theguardian.com/ ...

Michael Day /
The i Paper: Assange release a bold move for Biden after leaks helped Trump win in 2016

Katharine Gemmell /
Bloomberg: How Wikileaks Founder Assange Won Fight to Avoid Prison

Danylo Hawaleshka /
Al Jazeera: Julian Assange is set free

David Greene /
Electronic Frontier Foundation: EFF Statement on Assange Plea Deal NewsNation: WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange stops in Bangkok on his way to a US court and later freedom Freedom of the Press Foundation: Justice Dept. and Julian Assange reach plea deal in case that threatens press freedom

Brady Knox /
Washington Examiner: Julian Assange reaches plea deal with DOJ that would grant him release from prison

RELATED:

Associated Press:

Julian Assange pleads guilty to a conspiracy charge as part of a deal with the US, letting him go free after spending five years in a British prison— A plane believed to be carrying WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange arrived in Bangkok on Tuesday. Assange will plead guilty to a felony charge …

Discussion:
@wikileaks, US District Court for the Northern Mariana Islands, @stella_assange, The Guardian, BBC, Washington Post, The Register, New York Times, Irish Examiner, @thomasreporting, Reuters, Fox News, @jimwaterson, @robertkennedyjr, New York Times, Engadget, CBS News, Dr. John Bruni on LinkedIn, @thomasreporting, @jamesrbuk, @thomasreporting, @jack, @jamesrbuk, @jeffjarvis, @jeremyscahill, Associated Press, Semafor, ABC News, The Hill, Vanity Fair, Committee to Protect …, Bloomberg.com, The Atlantic, ScheerPost.com, Ars Technica, The Reporters Committee …, @mbrauchli@threads.net, @naughtfollowers@threads.net, The Intercept, The i Paper, 9to5Mac, Mediaite, Al Jazeera, Financial Times, The Wrap, Deadline, The Daily Beast, Washington Examiner, Gizmodo, ABC7, Axios, Wall Street Journal and NBC News

Discussion:
@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 US District Court for the Northern Mariana Islands: General Allegations — Conspiracy To Obtain and Disclose National Defense Information ) ) … @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]

Helen Davidson /
The Guardian: Julian Assange walks free after pleading guilty to US espionage charge in Saipan court

Simon Sharwood /
The Register: Julian Assange pleads guilty, leaves courtroom a free man

Minwoo Park /
Irish Examiner: WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange heads to Australia after US guilty plea

Thomas Mangloña II /
@thomasreporting: Judge asked Assange what Assange did to constitute crime charged: “Working as a journalist I encouraged my source to provide information that was said to be classified in order to publish that information. I believe that the First Amendment protected that activity... ”

Jim Waterson /
@jimwaterson: All international news stories eventually become Flight Radar stories. Looks as though news organisations still have a few hours to get someone to the Northern Mariana Islands. https://fr24.com/... [image]

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

Dr. John Bruni /
Dr. John Bruni on LinkedIn: Whatever you think of #JulianAssange, ALL Australian nationals caught doing the wrong thing internationally should be immediately extradited to Australia and tried in Australian courts. …

Thomas Mangloña II /
@thomasreporting: Assange added in Saipan court, “ I believe the First Amendment and the Espionage Act are in contradiction with each other but I accept that it would be difficult to win such a case given all these circumstances.”

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.

Thomas Mangloña II /
@thomasreporting: @kuamnews Assange Atty said, “I think the court is aware that Mr. Assange has already suffered significant consequences including as we discussed his time in Belmarsh..we believe...no further incarceration is warranted and sentence for time served is appropriate.”

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. @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/ ...

Jeremy Scahill /
@jeremyscahill: Julian Assange has finally been freed. Until yesterday, there was a strong possibility he would have died in prison and this deal no doubt will anger some very powerful people. He shouldn't have had to plead to any charges but nonetheless his liberation is a moment to celebrate.

Associated Press:
WikiLeaks's Julian Assange pleads guilty in deal with US that secures his freedom and ends legal fight

Patrick Reevell /
ABC News: Julian Assange to reunite with family that has only known him in prison

Eric Lutz /
Vanity Fair: Julian Assange, Glorified and Vilified Founder of WikiLeaks, to Be Set Free

Diego Ramos /
ScheerPost.com: Julian Assange Is (Nearly) Free: Live Coverage

Jon Brodkin /
Ars Technica: Julian Assange to plead guilty but is going home after long extradition fight

Amelia Kennedy /
The Reporters Committee …: Reporters Committee statement on Julian Assange plea agreement

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. … @naughtfollowers@threads.net: People have super weird blindspots over Assange. Even very smart people who supposedly believe in ethics and morals. Ethics don't mean sh*t if you're willing to jettison them in furtherance of what you think is a higher import. What Assange exposed was important in some instances. …

Kyriakos Petrakos /
The i Paper: ‘Rest, recreation and an autobiography’: Assange's former lawyer on what happens next

Ben Lovejoy /
9to5Mac: Julian Assange freed after plea deal agreed with US DOJ

David Gilmour /
Mediaite: WATCH: Wikileaks Founder Julian Assange Leaves UK After Securing DOJ Plea Deal

Stefania Palma /
Financial Times: WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange expected to be freed in US plea deal

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

Denise Petski /
Deadline: Julian Assange To Plead Guilty In Exchange For Release

Brady Knox /
Washington Examiner: Julian Assange reaches plea deal with DOJ that would grant him release from prison

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

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

Semafor:

In the last month, Sam Stein, Burgess Everett, and now Jack Shafer have decided to leave Politico; sources: Alex Ward and Lara Seligman are leaving for the WSJ— The Scoop — The unfolding internal crisis at the Washington Post has obscured drama playing out across the river in Rosslyn, Virginia.

Discussion:

Max Tani /
TVNewsCheck: Top Reporters Leave Politico

Ben Smith /
@semaforben: End of an era @jackshafer!! And a fitting set of @maxwelltani scoops: https://www.semafor.com/...

Scott Nover /
@scottnover: The end of an era: @jackshafer is the best we have

Dan Kennedy /
@dankennedy_nu@journa.host: People are always trying to leave Politico. Still, it's shocking to see @JackShafer, one of the great voices in media criticism, moving on. I hope he lands in a good place where his voice will continue to be heard. — https://www.semafor.com/...

Chris Roush /
Talking Biz News: WSJ hires Politico reporters Ward, Seligman

Dylan Byers /
@dylanbyers: NEW via @maxwelltani: Several top reporters leaving POLITICO: - Alex Ward (to WSJ) - Lara Seligman (to WSJ) - Jack Shafer (to *tbd) + comes on heels of: - Sam Stein (to Bulwark) - Burgess Everett (to Semafor) https://www.semafor.com/...

Brian Vastag /
@brianvastag@sciencemastodon.com: Politico is a sweatshop where people in DC who have circulated through the place warn young (and not so young) journalists to avoid it. Politico has also greatly contributed to the 24/7 politics-as-sports zeitgeist so I hope everyone bails. — https://www.semafor.com/...

Max Tani /
@maxwelltani: New from me: In the last month, five major journalists have decided to leave Politico. In addition to some of the names already announced publicly, @alexbward and @laraseligman are leaving for the Journal, I'm told. @jackshafer also confirmed he's leaving https://www.semafor.com/...

Alex Heard /
@alexheard: Sad news for fans of legendary columnist @jackshafer: he's leaving Politico. I've been reading Jack's work since he started doing press criticism at the D.C. City Paper in the 80s. I've learned a lot, and I hope he finds a way to keep doing his thing. https://www.semafor.com/...

Leigh Giangreco /
@leighgiangreco: The kicker of this @maxwelltani piece can be summed up by, of course, The Godfather [image]

Vincent Morris /
@vincentmorris: Big loss for @politico again... all strong journos @vruz@mastodon.social: @Mediagazer — It was always a centrist outlet, of course they'd go further to the right during a year of election.

Wall Street Journal:

Sources: The New York Times is working to move its top podcasts behind a paywall, with the goal of eventually tying most, if not all, to a subscription service— Publisher plans to limit access to shows like ‘Serial’ to subscribers, cap number of free episodes of ‘The Daily’

Discussion:
Podnews, TVNewsCheck, @balsam.bsky.social and @paulconstant.com

Discussion:
@balsam.bsky.social: I guess they gotta do something to make up for giving away all the paywalled news in gift articles

Australian Financial Review:

Australia's Seven West axes three top executives amid 150 job cuts at the company, as its commercial deal with Meta, estimated to be worth ~$15M annually, ends— Seven West Media chief executive Jeff Howard has lost some of his most senior lieutenants including the head of sport …

Discussion:
Mumbrella, Mediaweek, Sydney Morning Herald

Discussion:

Lauren McNamara /
Mumbrella: New Mumbrellacast: Scandals, redundancies and leadership shake-ups - where to now for Seven?

Neil Griffiths /
Mumbrella: Senior execs including CMO reportedly axed in Seven redundancies

Tess Connery /
Mediaweek: Seven West Media: New divisions and leadership roles in wake of redundancies

Engadget:

Reddit says it will update its robots.txt “to be as clear as possible” that companies using an automated agent to access Reddit need to abide by its terms— The warning comes after reports that AI companies regularly ignore instructions not to scrape.

Discussion:
Reddit Upvoted, Reuters and TechCrunch, more at Techmeme »

Discussion:

Harshita Mary Varghese /
Reuters: Reddit to update web standard to block automated website scraping

Aisha Malik /
TechCrunch: Reddit's upcoming changes attempt to safeguard the platform against AI crawlers

Axios:

The Associated Press is launching The AP Fund for Journalism, an independent 501(c)3 charitable organization to raise $100M+ to expand state and local news— - “It will help to sustain what we do, grow what we do, and add new and incremental journalism services for the industry," Veerasingham told Axios in an interview.

Discussion:

Joel Simon /
Columbia Journalism Review: The Associated Press finds a new way to combat news deserts

Matthew Foldi /
@matthewfoldi: This is a four alarm fire for Republicans The Associated Press—which shared office space with Palestinian terrorists for years—is going to launch an all out war on the GOP with fake news in your backyard

Rep. Mike Collins /
@repmikecollins: Just in time for the November election! It's just philanthropy!

Chris Krewson /
@ckrewson: The Associated Press wants to raise one-fifth of a Press Forward to fund itself...

Paul Roetzer /
@paulroetzer: The frontier AI model companies (@Google, @OpenAI, @Anthropic, etc) should fund this. Save local journalism, which is necessary to a functioning democracy, and do licensing deals to infuse real-time news into AI systems.

Nancy Watzman /
Nancy Watzman on LinkedIn: Did you know that AP got its start back in 1846 when when newsrooms joined together to share resources for covering the Mexican American war? …

Sara Fischer /
@sarafischer: NEW: @AP launching a nonprofit to raise philanthropy dollars for local news — Looking to raise at least $100M initially — The “AP Fund for Journalism” will be a 501(c)3 charitable organization with a separate board More on @axios https://www.axios.com/...

Julie Pace /
Julie Pace on LinkedIn: So excited about this new initiative at AP - the next step in the commitment we've made to supporting state and local news across the U.S. since our founding nearly 200 years ago. … @mattdpearce@threads.net: I say this with all the respect for AP in the world. It's the most successful American journalism cooperative in existence — but its durability has been its ability to spread costs around (by purchasing journalists' labor and disseminating their work), not from trying draw from the same philanthropic revenue pool as its members. https://www.cjr.org/...

Adam Chitwood /
The Wrap: Associated Press to Launch Nonprofit to Help Fund Local News

Financial Times:

Independent film company A24 raised $100M led by Josh Kushner's Thrive Entertainment at a $3.5B valuation, up 40% from its first fundraising in 2022— The movie house that produced ‘Uncut Gems’, ‘Lady Bird’ and other critical hits is suddenly a favourite with investors too

Discussion:
Los Angeles Times, Deadline and The Hollywood Reporter

Discussion:

Samantha Masunaga /
Los Angeles Times: A24 valuation jumps to $3.5 billion with new funding round

The Verge:

Q&A with Netflix co-CEO Greg Peters on updating the company's famous culture memo, its advertising ambitions, bundling, game streaming, AI use cases, and more— The co-CEO who replaced co-founder Reed Hastings details the company's new culture memo, its ad ambitions, and what's next for Netflix.

Discussion:
Fast Company, Business Insider, Next TV, Variety and New York Times

Discussion:

Lars Schmidt /
Fast Company: Netflix has released a revamped version of its famous 2009 memo on culture

Jaures Yip /
Business Insider: Netflix co-CEO explains why the company keeps increasing prices for ad-free plans

Daniel Frankel /
Next TV: Netflix Releases Version 4.0 of Its ‘Culture Memo’: Shorter New Iteration Provides Some Boundaries to Abject Personal Freedom

Todd Spangler /
Variety: Netflix Updates Its Famous Culture Memo: ‘Netflix Sucks Today Compared to Where We Can Be Tomorrow’

Nicole Sperling /
New York Times: Responsibility Over Freedom: How Netflix's Culture Has Changed

Financial Times:

Polish state energy group Orlen plans to sell its media company Polska Press, acquired under the former right-wing government, to show political independence— Orlen's acquisition of newspaper business under former rightwing government has drawn criticism

Discussion:
@cookcommunicat1, @staunovo, @j_jaraczewski, @bdstanley, @raphaelminder and Telewizja Polska S.A

Discussion:
@cookcommunicat1: Poland's Orlen must be the only oil and gas company in the free world to have owned its own media business...

Giovanni Staunovo /
@staunovo: #Poland: Polish state energy group seeks to show political independence through media sale Orlen's acquisition of newspaper business under former rightwing government has drawn criticism https://www.ft.com/...

Jakub Jaraczewski /
@j_jaraczewski: @BDStanley @pswidlicki I am old enough to remember Obajtek claiming that buying Polska Press will help Orlen leverage big data competences in a mutispectoral environment, or some other nonsense.

Ben Stanley /
@bdstanley: Turns out an energy giant *doesn't* actually have a strictly commercial need for a large printing and distribution network that just so happens to make it possible to print and distribute pro-government propaganda.

Raphael Minder /
@raphaelminder: Orlen, Poland's gas and oil company, will sell its “absolutely unnecessary” media company Polska Press. New CEO also pledges to resign if Tusk government interferes in his strategy. https://www.ft.com/... via @ft

David Kennedy /
Telewizja Polska S.A: Polish energy giant says its media group is for sale

Columbia Journalism Review:

Nonresponses from sources to requests for comment in news stories are rife, and growing rapidly; some PR reps defend the silence, depending on circumstances— As the author of CNN.com's daily newsletter about the news and entertainment industries, Oliver Darcy regularly reports …

Discussion:
@rachelmlenzi, @olympiajoe, @adelacruznyc, @aaronblake, @halijohnmcphee, @jbalderman, @corbinbolies, @rf_journo, @sarahkarlin and @floorcharts

Discussion:
@rachelmlenzi: “Aside from a potential loss of accuracy, there's a more fundamental issue in all the DNRRCs: Can a story really be fair, or at least complete, without a principal subject's perspective and comment?”

Joseph O'Sullivan /
@olympiajoe: A Nexis database search of hundreds of news sources for the term “did not respond to a request for comment” returned 728 mentions in May 2014. The same search for May 2019 produced 1,590 hits. In May of this year, the number had grown to 3,616...

Aries Dela Cruz /
@adelacruznyc: Oh glad they pointed this out at the end: “There are, of course, simple logistical reasons why spokespeople don't return calls to reporters...One is that the sheer volume of requests can overwhelm recipients. Another is that requests sometimes arrive after business hours, or

Aaron Blake /
@aaronblake: Among the many Trump effects. Used to be that not defending yourself was viewed as meaning you *couldn't* defend yourself (at least more so than today). Trump camp routinely wouldn't respond, just shouting “fake news,” and now pols/others try to follow suit.

John McPhee /
@halijohnmcphee: Often followed by a vague statement alleging inaccuracies in the published piece.

Jason Alderman /
@jbalderman: Excellent piece by the always insightful Paul Farhi. BUT he misses the biggest reason I deploy the tactic of not responding in difficult circumstances: it plays better. “Did not respond” is 10x better than “non comment” and 2x better than corporate pablum.

Corbin Bolies /
@corbinbolies: almost wish i could use “DNRRC” in my stories from now on, courtesy of this great piece

Robert Fisher /
@rf_journo: The comment toward the end from the PRSA is telling. “Working together is really important.” This connotes that reporters & companies are in partnership to craft a cohesive message. Very much not the case. Esp where it's a sensitive matter & no reply is received.

Sarah Karlin-Smith /
@sarahkarlin: There needs to be a whole series on this problem but when the non helpful actors are government agencies who in theory have higher level obligation to respond.

The Register:

In a rare admission of ad fraud, Yahoo Japan to waive $189M ad revenue, or ~1.6% of parent company LY Corp's FY 2023 revenue, after detecting fraudulent clicks— Admits it's not sure some clicks from from humans, points to bettter quality as sign not all is rotten

Discussion: