Lost In raised a $4M seed and acquired a Berlin-based travel guidebook publisher to build a travel media brand focused on the "premium economy traveler" (Kerry Flynn/Axios)

Mediagazer: Lost In raised a $4M seed and acquired a Berlin-based travel guidebook publisher to build a travel media brand focused on the “premium economy traveler” (Kerry Flynn/Axios)

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: @evacide, ScheerPost.com, @fbajak, Newser, Associated Press, Slate, Reuters, CBS News, Fox News, @rchusid@med-mastodon.com, The i Paper, Bloomberg, Al Jazeera, Electronic Frontier Foundation, CNN, 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 @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 CNN: Julian Assange agrees to plea deal with Biden administration that would allow him to avoid imprisonment in US 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, Mediaite, The Guardian, Reuters, US District Court for the Northern Mariana Islands, ABC7, @stella_assange, Washington Post, BBC, @thomasreporting, Engadget, The Register, Irish Examiner, Dr. John Bruni on LinkedIn, @thomasreporting, New York Times, Fox News, New York Times, Fox News, Associated Press, @jimwaterson, @robertkennedyjr, @jamesrbuk, @jack, @jamesrbuk, @jeffjarvis, @jeremyscahill, ABC News, Semafor, CBS News, The Hill, Vanity Fair, Bloomberg.com, Committee to Protect …, The Atlantic, Ars Technica, ScheerPost.com, The Reporters Committee …, @mbrauchli@threads.net, @naughtfollowers@threads.net, The Intercept, The i Paper, 9to5Mac, Al Jazeera, Financial Times, The Wrap, Deadline, The Daily Beast, Washington Examiner, Gizmodo, 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

David Gilmour /
Mediaite: WATCH: Wikileaks' Julian Assange Reunited With Wife On Arrival In Australia After Accepting Plea Deal

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

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... ”

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

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.”

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.”

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

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

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. @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.

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

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

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

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

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

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

Wall Street Journal:

Wall Street Journal reporter Evan Gershkovich appears in a Russian Court for the start of his closed-door trial on espionage charges, which he denies— Proceedings lack due process, at a time of heightened tensions between Washington and Moscow — Wall Street Journal reporter Evan Gershkovich appeared …

Discussion:

Francesca Ebel /
Washington Post: Closed-door espionage trial of U.S. journalist kicks off in Russia

Isaac Schorr /
Mediaite: Trump Observes Start of Evan Gershovich Trial in Russia By Preemptively Boasting That He Will Free the WSJ Reporter: ‘Fear Not, Evan’

Chris Roush /
Talking Biz News: Closed-door trial of WSJ's Gershkovich begins

Associated Press:
A US journalist goes on trial in Russia on espionage charges that he and his employer deny

Kate Seamons /
Newser: The Secret Trial of Evan Gershkovich Has Begun

Max Seddon /
@maxseddon: Evan Gershkovich's trial has begun in secret in Ekaterinburg, the city where Russia's FSB arrested him last year. Beyond surreal to see Evan, a superb journalist, in the defendant's glass cage on these ludicrous charges, for which Russia has not provided any evidence. [video] Committee to Protect Journalists: US journalist Evan Gershkovich faces 20-year sentence as trial begins in Russia Financial Times: Live news: Russia-held journalist Evan Gershkovich appears in court on espionage charges

Virginia Pietromarchi /
Al Jazeera: Russia starts US journalist Evan Gershkovich's trial: What's next for him?

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:

David Gilmour /
Mediaite: Three High-Profile Reporters Leave Politico In Shake Up Following Editorial Overhaul

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

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/...

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

Bill Grueskin /
@bgrueskin: Someone needs to cobble together a list of @jackshafer's 10 best analogy quips.

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

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/...

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/... @vruz@mastodon.social: @Mediagazer — It was always a centrist outlet, of course they'd go further to the right during a year of election.

Max Tani /
TVNewsCheck: Top Reporters Leave Politico

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, Mumbrella and Sydney Morning Herald

Discussion:

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

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

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

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, @paulconstant.com, @balsam.bsky.social and TVNewsCheck

Discussion:

Paul Constant /
@paulconstant.com: If those podcasts won't be available through Overcast, they're dead to me. [embedded post] @balsam.bsky.social: I guess they gotta do something to make up for giving away all the paywalled news in gift articles

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:
MEDIANAMA, 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:

Lost In raised a $4M seed and acquired a Berlin-based travel guidebook publisher to build a travel media brand focused on the “premium economy traveler”— Exit Content Preview … - The Los Angeles-based company has nine staffers, including the three co-founders …

Financial Times:

Sources: YouTube is in talks with Sony, Warner, and Universal to license their songs for AI music generation tools coming in 2024 that mimic artists' music— Licensing negotiations come as music industry wrestles with legal and creative impact of artificial intelligence

Discussion:
@annaknicolaou, Wall Street Journal and CNN, more at Techmeme »

Discussion:

Anna Nicolaou /
@annaknicolaou: scoop: Youtube is offering music labels lump sums of cash to get more artists to allow their songs to train AI. currently, only a handful of artists have signed on to an earlier test phase, including Charli XCX. Youtube wants to expand this to dozens of artists. more here: [image]

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

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:
LINE Yahoo Co., Ltd.

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, The Wrap, Variety, The Information, The Hollywood Reporter and Deadline

Discussion:

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

Lucas Manfredi /
The Wrap: A24 Raises New Funding Led by Josh Kushner's Thrive Capital

Jennifer Maas /
Variety: A24 Raises Funding Round Led by Josh Kushner's Thrive Capital, Valuing Studio at $3.5 Billion

Deadline:

IATSE and AMPTP reach a tentative agreement, a month before the current contract expires, covering some 50,000 mostly LA-based film and TV crew members— EXCLUSIVE: (Updated with joint statement) With over a month to go before IATSE's current contracts expires, the union and the studios …

Discussion:
The Wrap, IATSE, TVNewsCheck, The Hollywood Reporter, IndieWire, Los Angeles Times, @deadline and Variety

Discussion:
IATSE: IATSE, AMPTP Jointly Announce Tentative Agreement for Hollywood Basic Agreement and Videotape Agreement

Mark K. Miller /
TVNewsCheck: Hollywood Crews, Studios Reach Tentative Contract Deal, Making Another Big Strike Unlikely

Katie Kilkenny /
The Hollywood Reporter: IATSE Reaches Tentative Agreement With Studios and Streamers @deadline: As fears of another Hot Labor Summer had Hollywood anxious, this successful negotiation comes a mere two days into the resumption of talks between the parties this week https://deadline.com/...

Carolyn Giardina /