The Knight Foundation debuts Knight Election Hub, offering election tools and services to newsrooms that are not for profit or have revenue less than $5M/year (Barbara Allen/Poynter)

Mediagazer: The Knight Foundation debuts Knight Election Hub, offering election tools and services to newsrooms that are not for profit or have revenue less than $5M/year (Barbara Allen/Poynter)

Top News:

Politico:

The allegations facing Will Lewis and Rob Winnett are not remotely in line with either UK or US journalism ethics; blaming British media culture is wrong— The allegations of journalistic misconduct facing publisher Will Lewis aren't condoned in the U.K. either.
Discussion:

Tom McTague /
The Atlantic: Revenge of the Brits — British editors are suddenly leading several U.S. publications. Can it last?

Anna Morales /
@tallulahb2012: @jamesrbuk @POLITICOMag Why do you think the phone hacking and invasion of privacy intrusions cases continue to taint British media culture?

Justin Ling /
@justinling.bsky.social: you people love a phone hacking! stop trying to pretend like you don't [embedded post]

Jeff Jarvis /
Jeff Jarvis on LinkedIn: Excellent by James Ball: Don't blame differing culture for shock at the Lewis gang's past. Yes. Blame the ethical and journalistic lapses of them and their companies: both News Corp and Telegraph. …

David Clinch /
@davidclinchnews: @jamesrbuk ... I agree.

Oliver Darcy /
CNN: Pulitzer Prize-winning Washington Post journalists call for leadership change amid publisher scrutiny

Rob Crilly /
@robcrilly: @jamesrbuk @POLITICOMag Great piece

James Ball /
@jamesrbuk: @TallulahB2012 @POLITICOMag As I say opening the piece, I think it's because it's what first comes to mind when most Americans think of British journalism

Jeff Jarvis /
@jeffjarvis@mastodon.social: Excellent by @jamesrbuk: Don't blame differing culture for shock at the Lewis gang's past. Yes. Blame the ethical and journalistic lapses of them and their companies: both News Corp and Telegraph. — Opinion | The Wrong Culprit in the Controversy at the Washington Post https://politi.co/3VMsfFs

John Robinson /
John Robinson on LinkedIn: A failure of leadership: — You might think a decisive leader who founded Amazon would take decisive action to clean up his mess at the Washington Post. …

Kelsey Vlamis /
Business Insider: Jeff Bezos weighs in on the chaos gripping his newspaper

Dominick Mastrangelo /
The Hill: Bezos backs new Washington Post editor in wake of staff backlash

RELATED:
The Guardian:

Sources: WaPo's Will Lewis advised Boris Johnson and others to “clean up” their phones during UK's COVID-era Partygate scandal in December 2021 and January 2022— Sources' claim suggests advice by Will Lewis, an informal adviser to then prime minister, contradicted instructions to staff

Discussion:
@gtconway3@threads.net, @jasonpedlow, @peterjukes, @dabeard, Newser, @will_bunch, Wake Up To Politics, @djrothkopf, @karaswisher, @jackshafer, @clarajeffery, The Daily Beast, Media Nation, Poynter, The Hill, @adambienkov, @7im, @dougiec3@libretooth.gr, @jeffjarvis@mastodon.social and Politico

Discussion:

George Conway /
@gtconway3@threads.net: Is it really, really, really, really, really, really bad that the publisher of the @washingtonpost allegedly counseled British government officials to destroy evidence in an official investigation? Or is it just really, really, really bad?

Jason Pedlow /
@jasonpedlow: Corruption at the highest levels of government. Deleting evidence. And, judging by the number of times @RishiSunak & @BorisJohnson said they “couldn't recall” while they gave evidence to the Covid enquiry, they deleted their memories too. https://www.theguardian.com/ ...

Peter Jukes /
@peterjukes: Lewis was a member of a so-called “brain trust” of Johnson's close political allies who were leading an effort - codenamed Operation Save Big Dog. Lewis was awarded a knighthood in 2023 for his political service to the conservative prime minister https://www.theguardian.com/ ...

David Beard /
@dabeard: In terrible news for the battered ⁦@washingtonpost⁩, now we know the justice-obstructing “service” its new publisher performed for the UK's disgraced conservative prime minister. And why he got a knighthood. https://www.theguardian.com/ ...

Jenn Gidman /
Newser: New WaPo Publisher Was Part of ‘Operation Save Big Dog’

Will Bunch /
@will_bunch: Just like the time Ben Bradlee advised Richard Nixon to burn the White House tapes

Gabe Fleisher /
Wake Up To Politics: Trump, Biden prep for high-stakes debate

David Rothkopf /
@djrothkopf: They need to fire this guy and rescind the offer to his colleague asap. The longer this goes on, the longer Bezos appears indifferent to it, the deeper and more lasting the damage to the Post.

Kara Swisher /
@karaswisher: The hits keep on coming: Washington Post publisher alleged to have advised Boris Johnson to ‘clean up’ phone during Partygate Covid scandal | Will Lewis | The Guardian https://www.theguardian.com/ ...

Jack Shafer /
@jackshafer: “Washington Post publisher alleged to have advised Boris Johnson to ‘clean up’ phone during Partygate Covid scandal” https://www.theguardian.com/ ...

Clara Jeffery /
@clarajeffery: This should be the final nail in the coffin... should be https://www.theguardian.com/ ...

Dan Ladden-Hall /
The Daily Beast: Washington Post CEO Advised Boris Johnson to ‘Clean Up’ Phone in COVID Party Scandal: Report

Dan Kennedy /
Media Nation: Drip, drip, drip — Three new data points in the ongoing implosion of Washington Post publisher Will Lewis:

Adam Bienkov /
@adambienkov: A reminder that there were 5,000 WhatsApp messages missing from Boris Johnson's phone when he gave it to the Covid Inquiry. Deliberately destroying evidence demanded by a public inquiry is a serious criminal offence punishable by up to a year in prison https://www.theguardian.com/ ... [image]

Tim Dickinson /
@7im: Democracy is Deleted in Darkness @dougiec3@libretooth.gr: Three sources say Will Lewis told Tories to delete evidence from their phones to cover up Partygate. — https://www.theguardian.com/ ... #Partgate #BorisJohnson #Tories #England #COVID #Lockdown

Jeff Jarvis /
@jeffjarvis@mastodon.social: Call him Sir Won't Lewis. You won't be publishing incriminating news about me, now will you? You won't read emails from New Corp's hacking scandal; they're gone. You won't have Boris Johnson's Covid party texts; they gone. He won't soon be CEO of the Post. Or Will he? …

Isabella Ramírez /
Politico: Jeff Bezos weighs in on Washington Post leadership saga

Variety:

Sources: Sony is acquiring Queen's music catalog, excluding live performances, for £1B; Disney retains recorded music rights in the US and Canada— The Queen music catalog, along with a number of other rights, is in the process of being acquired by Sony Music for £1 billion …

Discussion:
Hits Daily Double!: QUEEN OF DIAMONDS — THEY ARE THE CHAMPIONS: Word has it that Sony Music has prevailed …

Dylan Smith /
Digital Music News: Queen Catalog Sale Inches Towards Reality — Sony Music Reportedly Set to Pay a Staggering $1.27 Billion

Marcus Wratten /
PinkNews: Queen's Brian May says calling Freddie Mercury ‘queer’ would've ‘upset’ him

Jeff Walker /
Jeff Walker on LinkedIn: Just when you thought the value of music couldn't get any higher... Today's announcement of this $1B+ deal for Queen's catalog is the largest to date …

Megan Armstrong /
UPROXX: Is Queen's Catalog Sale For $1.2 Billion The Biggest Deal Of Its Kind Ever?

Laura Harman /
Metro.co.uk: Legendary 70s rock band's catalogue of hits being sold for $1,270,000,000

Saleah Blancaflor /
New Jersey Online: Legendary classic rock band sells recordings for $1.27 billion, largest sale ever @TheBreadmonkey@beige.party: This sort of thing makes me feel very uneasy - mega corporations legally owning someone's art. I know others have done it (Phil Collins etc) and the idea is to generate wealth in the short term for them and their families. But it still feels wrong somehow. — Queen Catalog to Be Acquired by Sony Music for £1 Billion …

Mandy Dalugdug /
Music Business Worldwide: Queen catalog to be acquired by Sony Music in $1.27bn deal (report)

Simon Kent /
Breitbart: Sony Buys Queen Music Catalog for $1 Billion

Surej Singh /
NME: Queen sell music catalogue to Sony Music for over $1billion

Washington Post:

Internal memo: ABC News Executive Editor Stacia Deshishku is leaving the network and her 35-year career in journalism— Deshishku has served as executive editor since 2022, overseeing shows and editorial strategy. — ABC News executive editor Stacia Deshishku has decided to leave …

Discussion:

Brian Steinberg /
Variety: ABC News Executive Editor Stacia Deshishku Exits

Axios:

At Cannes, X CEO Linda Yaccarino says the platform is in conversations with sports leagues about producing more docuseries, like the NWSL series The Offseason— - About 70% of the conversation ahead of the Paris Olympics this summer is about women's teams, she added.

Discussion:
@xnews, @axios, The Hollywood Reporter, Awful Announcing, @warriorrabbit.bsky.social and The Information

Discussion:
@axios: X is in conversations with sports leagues about producing more docuseries on the platform, CEO Linda Yaccarino tells Axios at Women's Sports House in Cannes. https://www.axios.com/...

RELATED:
Bloomberg: Elon Musk tried to repair his often strained relationship with the ad industry through an appearance at the Cannes Lions, after Twitter skipped 2023's event

Discussion:
Axios, Breitbart, Adweek, @pkafka, Business Insider, Electrek, Fast Company, The Daily Beast, CNN, PRWeek, Quartz, Financial Times, @kerrymflynn, @benatipsos, @dimazeniuk, @megancgraham, @joeatlarge@mastodon.world, Ad Age, The Media Leader, @jonlax@threads.net, Arlo Brady on LinkedIn, New York Post, Wall Street Journal, The Drum, MediaPost and Deadline

Discussion:

Jameson Fleming /
Adweek: Mark Read and Mark Penn Defend Meeting With Elon Musk at Cannes

Peter Kafka /
@pkafka: Saw folks describing Elon's Cannes ad pitch as a walkback/retreat etc. And, true: This time he didn't tell advertisers to go fuck themselves. But ad buyers' biggest problem with Twitter is the guy who owns it, and what he says on it. And that's not going to change. [image]

Peter Kafka /
Business Insider: Elon Musk really wants advertisers' money. But he also wants to keep tweeting. He can't have both.

Jeff Beer /
Fast Company: Elon Musk burned a bridge with advertisers. His new pitch isn't enough to rebuild it

Laura Bradley /
The Daily Beast: Elon Musk Tries to Make Nice With Advertisers at Cannes

Lucy Shelley /
PRWeek: Elon Musk on artistic ads, ‘foolish’ posts and telling advertisers to go fuck themselves

Kerry Flynn /
@kerrymflynn: My dispatch from @elonmusk's appearance at @Cannes_Lions “What is not cool is insisting that there can be no content they disagree with on the platform,” Elon Musk told advertisers at Cannes https://www.axios.com/...

Ben Page /
@benatipsos: Elon here in Cannes “I do shoot myself in the foot from time to time but at least you knownit is genuine, not from the pr dept” #musk @elonmusk [image]

Dima Zeniuk /
@dimazeniuk: WPP CEO Mark Read at Cannes Lions conference: “In November, you told us to go f*ck ourselves.... Why did you say that, and what did you mean?” “It wasn't to advertisers as a whole; it was with respect to freedom of speech.” - Elon Musk [image]

Meg Graham /
@megancgraham: At @Cannes_Lions, WPP's Mark Read asks Elon Musk: “In November, you told us to go fuck ourselves.... Why did you say that and what did you mean?” Musk: “it wasn't to advertisers as a whole, it was with respect to freedom of speech...” [image] @joeatlarge@mastodon.world: Can't wait for X/Twitter/whatever to finally die already and take its owner with it. — https://www.axios.com/... #Twitter #twittermigration #x

E.J. Schultz /
Ad Age: Cannes Today—Musk meets marketers, Marcel explains 'WoMen's Football'—plus the Grand Prix winners

Arif Durrani /
The Media Leader: How Elon Musk tried to woo back brands at Cannes

Jon Lax /
@jonlax@threads.net: Elon trying to convince advertisers to spend money on X while running ads telling users to pay for premium because ads are a waste of their time is really something.

Arlo Brady /
Arlo Brady on LinkedIn: Elon Musk's Cannes Lions International Festival of Creativity interview with WPP's Mark Read today was fascinating on many levels. Four things that stuck me: …

Ariel Zilber /
New York Post: Elon Musk clarifies ‘go f-k yourself’ comment as he tries to woo advertisers at Cannes Lions

Megan Graham /
Wall Street Journal: Elon Musk Pitches Advertisers on a Return to X, Months After Telling Some to ‘F’ Themselves

Kendra Barnett /
The Drum: Elon Musk on why he told advertisers to ‘go fuck yourself’ - and why he wants them back

Inside Radio:

The National Association of Broadcasters joins 54 other media organizations asking the US Senate to pass the PRESS Act to protect journalists' sources and data— Five months after the House of Representatives passed a bill that would prevent the government from compelling reporters …

Discussion:
News/Media Alliance and US Congress

Poynter:

The Knight Foundation debuts Knight Election Hub, offering election tools and services to newsrooms that are not for profit or have revenue less than $5M/year— The Knight Foundation rolled out its election hub Thursday and expects to add more resources in the coming months.

Discussion:
Jon Greenberg on LinkedIn, @poynter, Knight Election Hub and Scott Klein on LinkedIn

Discussion:

Jon Greenberg /
Jon Greenberg on LinkedIn: Smaller newsrooms struggle to cover the 2024 election, especially locally. The Knight Election Hub, just unveiled by the @knightfoundation, offers a raft of services to help them up their game. … @poynter: The @knightfdn has rolled out a comprehensive marketplace of tools — provided at low or no cost — to help underresourced newsrooms cover the election. https://www.poynter.org/...

Nieman Lab:

Reuters Institute: across 20 countries, 41% of online news subscribers say they pay less than full price; 54% in Canada and 46% in the US say they pay less— Is increasing subscriber numbers by offering people rock-bottom trial prices sustainable? — It's no secret that news publishers …

Discussion:
Poynter, Press Gazette, WAN-IFRA, Reuters Institute and Media Voices

Discussion:

Charlotte Tobitt /
Press Gazette: Online news subscriptions stagnate amid jump in numbers saying they would never pay

Teemu Henriksson /
WAN-IFRA: Digital News Report 2024: Business challenges mount as subscription growth slows

Dr Craig T. Robertson /
Reuters Institute: How much do people pay for online news? And what might encourage more people to pay?

Variety:

Sources: Disney is lowering ad CPM rates for Disney+ in a bid to win overall commitments during the upfront market; rivals fret about matching Disney's rates— In a bid to win overall commitments, Disney has been striking deals that call for significant “rollbacks” in the rates it charges …

Discussion:
Dcn. Charlie Echeverry on LinkedIn, @bristei,

Discussion:

Dcn. Charlie Echeverry /
Dcn. Charlie Echeverry on LinkedIn: “But some of Disney's rate capitulation has angered rivals, who had hoped not to roll back their numbers to such a degree...” …

Brian Steinberg /
@bristei: Disney cuts streaming ad rates in bid to win ad dollars in tough upfront market, and rivals have been forced to match. Those who resist — Warner, Amazon, Netflix — have been left to haggle https://variety.com/... via @variety

Brian Steinberg /
@bristei: ALSO: Disney, NBCU and Fox seem to be writing the most ad deals in current upfront market, per execs familiar with negotiations. WBD, trying to get big money for Max, is having some issues.... https://variety.com/...

American Prospect:

An interview with TPM's Josh Marshall, on the site's history, various revenue models, and how political journalism's economics can lead to “both-sides” framing— The book I'm working on now is about how the last 25 years of American politics brought our democratic republic to the brink of collapse.

Discussion:
@lolgop, @bjkeefe, @joshtpm, @texmexelsa, @theprospect, @joshtpm and @jalefkowit@vmst.io

Discussion:
@lolgop: “If you rev the economy that hard, the people who benefit the most are not going to let you win the elections that let you fix everything after the fact.” https://prospect.org/...

Josh Marshall /
@joshtpm: Perhaps the most flattering part is I suspect there's so little imagery of me from the news services they were reduced to using a photo of me that's probably 20 years old if not older. Not that I have held up okay but still. @texmexelsa: @joshtpm Us old folks remember. TPM and many other great online places for citizen journalism to bloom. Daily Kos, and a few other sites where regular folks could write about what was happening locally. So when something happened anywhere, some one there could add to the information. @theprospect: In this week's installment of The Infernal Triangle, @rickperlstein details how political journalism can meet the moment, using @joshtpm's independent success as a case study. https://prospect.org/...

Josh Marshall /
@joshtpm: Here's a kind of fun, interesting piece on the origins of TPM, running a tabloid for smart people, the origins of bothsides journalism and more. Much more interesting I think then the original interview it's based on since Ric brings so much smarts to it. https://prospect.org/...

Jason Lefkowitz /
@jalefkowit@vmst.io: “What the Internet did is create a new D.C.-based political journalism space—the Politicos, the Axioses. All of that is funded by a subset of the national corporate lobbying budget. You advertise in Politico, you sponsor Politico's events, because ‘I need to be talking to the staffers who write the legislation.’ So your publication can't be left, or even right. …

Lowpass:

A look at an early development version of a smart TV app for Venu Sports, offering DVR functionality, a multiview feature, a large library, and more— Unannounced features include DVR recordings, multi-view video. … Venu Sports, the upcoming sports streaming service jointly run by Fox …

Discussion:
@bristei, Awful Announcing and Variety

Discussion:

Brian Steinberg /
@bristei: Entrepreneurial @jank0 got a sneak peak at the Venu sports streaming service https://www.lowpass.cc/...

Bloomberg:

A French journalist says India refused to renew his journalism permit and forced him to leave this week, making him the third journalist to leave India in 2024— India has allegedly refused to renew a French correspondent's permit, making him the third journalist to leave India this year …

Discussion:
@sebfarcis and Committee to Protect …

Discussion:

Sébastien Farcis /
@sebfarcis: After 13 years working as a correspondent in India, the authorities have denied me a permit to work as a journalist. I have thus been forced to leave the country. Here is my statement. [image]

TechCrunch:

Spotify now lets all podcasters upload videos, rather than only creators who signed up to Spotify for Podcasters hosting; Spotify has 250K+ video podcasts— Spotify is now letting non-hosted podcasters upload videos to the platform. The company quietly rolled out the new feature last week …

Discussion:
Neowin

Discussion:

Aditya Tiwari /