WaPo launches Climate Answers, an AI-powered chatbot that responds to questions about climate with info from WaPo articles; it aims to expand to other topics (Sara Fischer/Axios)

Mediagazer: WaPo launches Climate Answers, an AI-powered chatbot that responds to questions about climate with info from WaPo articles; it aims to expand to other topics (Sara Fischer/Axios)

Top News:

Business Insider:

David Ellison has repeatedly framed “New Paramount” as partially a tech company, but the company's problem isn't its tech but rather its scale— - David Ellison says the new Paramount will be a “World-Class Media and Technology Enterprise.” — He's Oracle founder Larry Ellison's son …
Discussion: Variety, @edmundlee@threads.net, Rafael Brown on LinkedIn, Bloomberg, Observer, Financial Times, Reuters and Newser

Discussion:

Todd Spangler /
Variety: Paramount-Skydance Merger: 5 Burning Questions About the Deal

Ed Lee /
@edmundlee@threads.net: The narrative on @skydance / @paramountco deal is Hollywood goes big tech, but what Ellison really bought is @CBS — $16B in profit since 2021, while the movie studio only made $360mm (including $119mm loss in 2023). Ellison is a legit movie guy. …

Rafael Brown /
Rafael Brown on LinkedIn: David Ellison, former CEO of Skydance, now chairman and CEO of Paramount, and son of Oracle CEO Larry Ellison appears to be teaming up with his dad …

Alexandra Tremayne-Pengelly /
Observer: David Ellison Has Ambitious Plans for Paramount Following the Skydance Merger

Dawn Chmielewski /
Reuters: Skydance's David Ellison describes Paramount's tech-media hybrid future

Jenn Gidman /
Newser: Say Hello to the ‘New Paramount’ — And goodbye to the reign of the Redstone family, as Paramount plans its merger with Skydance

RELATED:
Axios:

Source: Oracle founder Larry Ellison will invest ~$6B into the Paramount-Skydance deal, with RedBird Capital Partners contributing the remaining $2B— - The Ellisons and RedBird have transactional covenants that require they be consulted on any major business decisions by Paramount in the interim, RedBird's Jeff Shell tells Axios.

Discussion:
The Hill, Bloomberg, @tvgrimreaper, @danprimack, The Wrap, New York Post, Deadline, Los Angeles Times, Business Insider, Slate, Next TV, WORLD SCREEN, Variety and The Hollywood Reporter

Discussion:

Christopher Palmeri /
Bloomberg: Paramount Merger Is Latest Prize for RedBird Dealmaker Cardinale

Dan Primack /
@danprimack: Small scoop on Paramount deal: Larry Ellison and his fam are investing $6 billion of the $8 billion purchase price, w/ RedBird contributing the remainder. KKR not putting in new $$. Earlier reporting on that was wrong. $PARA https://www.axios.com/...

Alexandra Steigrad /
New York Post: Skydance CEO David Ellison — and scandal-scarred media exec Jeff Shell — signal $2B in cost cuts for Paramount

Dade Hayes /
Deadline: Paramount-Skydance Deal: Top Execs On Wooing Talent, Boosting Streaming And The Mantra That Persuaded Shari Redstone: “Don't Take It Private, Break It Up And Kill It”

Samantha Masunaga /
Los Angeles Times: David Ellison is taking control of Paramount. Now the real work begins

Paige Bruton /
Business Insider: Meet David Ellison, Larry Ellison's son who is about to take over at Paramount

Alex Kirshner /
Slate: The Slow-Motion Paramount Saga Is Over. A New Rich Kid Will Take Control of the Iconic Brand.

Jon Lafayette /
Next TV: David Ellison Spells Out Goals for ‘New Paramount’

Mansha Daswani /
WORLD SCREEN: Paramount & Skydance Clinch Merger Deal

Todd Spangler /
Variety: Paramount Global Will Pay Skydance $400 Million Breakup Fee if It Lands a Better Offer Reuters: Paramount Global and Skydance Media announce a merger of the two companies, ending months of chaotic talks; a memo says the deal is expected to close in H1 2025

Discussion:
Paramount, Digital Music News, Deadline, The Hollywood Reporter, Media Play News, TrekMovie.com, Engadget, Los Angeles Times, @pkafka, @aepstein_, @jbflint, @xpangler, @lucas_shaw, @jbflint, @benmullin, Adweek, The Drum, @richlightshed, @mattbelloni, The Desk, @harrisharrisev9, @mattnicholas, @andykleinman, @btmcclure, @xpangler, @benmullin, StreamTV Insider, @loudmouthjulia, SlashFilm, The A.V. Club, The Streamable, @lucas_shaw, The Hollywood Reporter, The Wrap, CNBC, Fast Company, The Information, Broadband TV News, Associated Press, The Verge, @lucas_shaw, The Guardian, The Hollywood Reporter, The Media Leader, New York Times, CNN, Financial Times, B&T, IF Magazine, MediaPost, Mumbrella, Business Insider, @lkimmasters@threads.net, Ad Age, CBS News, Sara Fischer on LinkedIn, IndieWire, Axios, New York Times, Variety, Wall Street Journal, Cord Cutters News, Los Angeles Times, The Information, r/boxoffice, r/wallstreetbets, r/MediaMergers and r/startrek

Discussion:
Paramount: Skydance Media and Paramount Global Sign Definitive Agreement to Advance Paramount as a World-Class Media and Technology Enterprise

Ashley King /
Digital Music News: The Internet Archive Rescues MTV News' Website, Making It Searchable Again

Jill Goldsmith /
Deadline: Ratings Agencies Call Skydance, Paramount Merger Positive But See Risks In Long Lead Time, Linear TV Declines

Erik Gruenwedel /
Media Play News: Wall Street Underwhelmed by Paramount-Skydance Post-Merger Economic Forecasts

Anthony Pascale /
TrekMovie.com: Paramount Global Officially Agrees To Skydance Merger, With Potential Big Impact On Star Trek's Future

Mariella Moon /
Engadget: Paramount and Skydance will merge to create new tech-media giant

Samantha Masunaga /
Los Angeles Times: David Ellison's goal for Paramount: Make it a ‘media and technology’ company

Peter Kafka /
@pkafka: Paramount is going to compete with tech companies by becoming a tech company, says its owner-to-be. Which is what his team was whispering about back in April, when it also didn't really make sense. Drumroll for the link!

Adam Epstein /
@aepstein_: The demise of Paramount+ is the canary in the coal mine for subscale streaming platforms. Most will cease to exist in 2-3 years. There will be a concentration of all streaming TV ad revenue to 5-6 sizeable big tech / big media co's. The winners will be decided by their

Joe Flint /
@jbflint: Paramount Global incoming president Jeff Shell says essentially company will sell content to all vs hoarding for Paramount+.

Todd Spangler /
@xpangler: David Ellison, son of billionaire Oracle founder Larry Ellison, and his investors are blaring the message that the new Paramount will be a “confluence of art, first and foremost, working hand in hand with technology.” https://variety.com/...

Lucas Shaw /
@lucas_shaw: I take reader questions and pose one of my own. Such as: Would you pay $25 a month for Spotify? https://www.bloomberg.com/...

Joe Flint /
@jbflint: Paramount Global co-head Chris McCarthy says the success is all possible because of the people associated with Paramount. ((Ed. Note: Now lets move onto that cost-cutting and layoff agenda))

Ben Mullin /
@benmullin: The Paramount investor call about the Skydance merger is a big Avengers team up. Basically everyone except Shari Redstone is on the call.

Kendra Barnett /
The Drum: Skydance merger will ‘inject new life’ into Paramount as streaming wars heat up, pros say @richlightshed: Most telling paragraph of the @Skydance merger with @paramountco release $PARA Speaks to “why” this deal won for Shari Redstone (beyond the 💰💰💰) “Importantly, the transaction preserves the over 100-year-old legacy of Paramount as one of Hollywood's most iconic production

Matthew Belloni /
@mattbelloni: Money wins! [image]

Evan /
@harrisharrisev9: This is BEST case scenario and I'm so glad the deal got approved. From everything I've heard, yhe people at Skydance respect the legacy and work from Paramount Global and won't drastically change things moving forward.

Matt Nicholas /
@mattnicholas: Skydance officially bought NA & with that, full control of Paramount Global. I hope David Ellison keeps Paramount + and some of their core linear assets, but I know changes will come. Hoping for the best for all of my friends still working there per the upcoming layoffs 🙏🏽🙏🏽🙏🏽.

Andy Kleinman /
@andykleinman: I'm personally excited and intrigued about the Skydance and Paramount merger. The growing, disruptive studio absorbing the large (but shrinking) legacy studio. I like that combination much better than Amazon/MGM or WBD/Discovery. Let's see what they do.

Brandon T. McClure /
@btmcclure: Well... this is honestly the best case scenario for Paramount if they were so determined to sell. At least it wasn't to another giant media company. Small buying big is the better of two evils 🤷 ♂️

Todd Spangler /
@xpangler: Shari Redstone, Paramount Co-CEOs Tell Employees Skydance ‘Has a Clear Strategic Vision for the Future’ https://variety.com/... via @variety

Ben Mullin /
@benmullin: Shari Redstone emails Paramount employees: “My father was governed in all of his decisions by his belief that content was indeed king. That has never been more important than it is today...” [image]

Bevin Fletcher /
StreamTV Insider: Paramount to merge with Skydance Media

Julia Alexander /
@loudmouthjulia: If I'm to understand what just happened between Paramount and Skydance — the selling of one former mogul family's declining media empire to a wealthier new mogul family who got a strong boost from the patriarchal tech lord — then this guy is about to be CEO. [image]

Ryan Scott /
SlashFilm: The Paramount Merger Is Finally Official - And It Could Have Been So Much Worse

Mary Kate Carr /
The A.V. Club: Paramount is finally welcoming their new Skydance overlords

David Satin /
The Streamable: Paramount Global's Deal with Skydance Gets Board Approval, Set to Close by 2025

Lucas Shaw /
@lucas_shaw: Shari Redstone has agreed to sell her company to David Ellison. Paramount's special committee has agreed to merge with Ellison's Skydance. Neither one blessed this deal last month. What changed? https://www.bloomberg.com/...

Etan Vlessing /
The Hollywood Reporter: Movie Theater Owners to “Look Closely” at New Paramount-Skydance Deal Terms

Kayla Cobb /
The Wrap: Paramount Global Will Pay Skydance $400 Million Breakup Fee If It Accepts a Stronger Offer

Lillian Rizzo /
CNBC: Paramount agrees to merge with Skydance, ending monthslong negotiations and Redstone era

Michael Grothaus /
Fast Company: Everything you need to know about the Paramount Skydance merger

Martin Peers /
The Information: Skydance and Paramount Unveil Merger

Julian Clover /
Broadband TV News: Paramount signs agreement with Skydance Media Associated Press: Paramount and Skydance merge, signaling end of a family rein in Hollywood and the rise of new power

Jess Weatherbed /
The Verge: Paramount agrees to sweetened Skydance merger deal

Lucas Shaw /
@lucas_shaw: The deal still needs to be formally signed. Considering everything that has happened in this negotiation... it's official when it's announced.

Lucas Shaw /
@lucas_shaw: News: Paramount's board has approved a merger with Skydance. Link TK. A deal should be announced officially tomorrow.

Ella Sagar /
The Media Leader: Paramount ends merger saga after reaching ‘definitive’ Skydance agreement

Benjamin Mullin /
New York Times: Meet David Ellison, Paramount's Future Boss and Hollywood's Newest Mogul

Arvind Hickman /
B&T: Paramount Global & Skydance Agree To Merge

Sean Slatter /
IF Magazine: Paramount Global to merge with Skydance Media

Wayne Friedman /
MediaPost: Paramount Global, Skydance Media To Merge In $8B Deal

Kim Masters /
@lkimmasters@threads.net: So we're on the cusp of a deal for Skydance to end up with Paramount. The Skydance guys really hung in there. David Ellison gets his dream: running a studio. (Beware what you wish for?) Jeff Shell gets back in the game after that little contretemps at NBC Universal. …

Sara Fischer /
Sara Fischer on LinkedIn: #Breaking: It's a done deal. Paramount's board has approved a deal to merge with Skydance Media. — The deal breathes new life …

Brian Welk /
IndieWire: It's Official: Paramount and Skydance Are Merging

Todd Spangler /
Variety: Memo: Shari Redstone says Skydance “have a clear strategic vision for the future”; Paramount co-CEOs say “it's business as usual” until the deal closes in 2025

Jessica Toonkel /
Wall Street Journal: Paramount Global Agrees to Skydance Deal

Luke Bouma /
Cord Cutters News: The Sale of Paramount+ & Pluto TV to Skydance Gets Several Major Approvals to Move Forward Los Angeles Times: Paramount and Skydance agree to merge, marking a new chapter for the storied media company

Martin Peers /
The Information: Ellison's Skydance Gets Closer to Paramount Deal

Axios:

WaPo launches Climate Answers, an AI-powered chatbot that responds to questions about climate with info from WaPo articles; it aims to expand to other topics— - The Post is working with several AI firms, including OpenAI and Meta's Llama, to power its own large-language model that surfaces answers …

Discussion:

David Savage /
@david_t_savage: will be very interested if the marginal energy consumption / emissions impact of answering a query with an AI here is higher than the theoretical decarbonization benefit of those questions being answered. I'd bet on no.

Sara Fischer /
@sarafischer: New: @washingtonpost has created its own AI chatbot that answers Qs based only on its own journalism —Chatbot will initially answer only Qs on Climate, but WaPo hopes to expand to other topics —WaPo has quietly added AI summaries to ~10% of articles https://www.axios.com/...

Charles Logan /
@charleswlogan.bsky.social: Famously environmentally-friendly AI answering questions about climate. No notes! — www.axios.com/2024/07/09/w... @paintedsky.ca: While this* will likely do absolutely nothing in the larger scheme of things, at least it made me feel maybe 1% better — *I wrote a letter to the editor of the Washington Post [images]

Magdalena Donea /
@maggy.kia.net: This is the closest I could get it to answer any kind of question about its own footprint (I had to word it super generically before it stopped telling me it doesn't know anything about that) and... well: [embedded post]

Neil Stenhouse /
@nstenhouse.bsky.social: Darn it. Was hoping the Climate Answers AI would be able to tell me this [embedded post]

Committee to Protect Journalists:

A Kenyan court rules that Pakistani journalist Arshad Sharif's death at the hands of local police in 2022 was arbitrary and unconstitutional— Kampala, July 8, 2024—The Committee to Protect Journalists welcomes a Kenyan court's Monday ruling that Kenyan authorities violated Pakistani …

Discussion:
Voice of America

Discussion:

Bloomberg:

Switzerland announces an advertising ban on Russian outlets Voice of Europe, RIA Novosti, Izvestia, and Rossiyskaya Gazeta, but lets them continue broadcasting— Switzerland will allow four Russian media outlets to continue broadcasting even after they were banned by the European Union.

The Boston Globe:

UVM's Center for Community News receives $7M to expand partnerships between US universities and local news outlets to give students reporting opportunities— As the number of local journalists employed across the country continues to shrink, dozens of colleges are trying to help fill gaps in reporting.

Discussion:
vermontbiz.com

The Verge:

Dish-owned streamer Sling TV plans to show pause ads, which could contain a video or static content; users can turn off pause ads from the settings menu— Sling TV will now put ads on your screen when you pause live or on-demand content, according to an announcement from its parent company, Dish.

Discussion:
The Desk, The Streamable, Cord Cutters News, About DISH and Next TV

Discussion:

Matthew Keys /
The Desk: Dish Media debuts “pause ads” on Sling TV About DISH: DISH Media Unveils Pause Ads, Bolstering Interactive, Customized Ad Solutions on Sling TV

Jon Lafayette /
Next TV: Dish Media Rolls Out Pause Ads on Sling TV

The Verge:

Spotify adds the ability for users to leave comments on podcasts, expanding on polls and Q&As; comments will be private by default, and creators can opt out— The company already lets Spotify podcasters offer polls and Q&As, so this new feature could give creators new ways to interact with their audiences.

Discussion:
Engadget, Spotify, TechCrunch, Digital Music News, Dataconomy, WinBuzzer and 9to5Mac, more at Techmeme »

Discussion:

Mariella Moon /
Engadget: Spotify is launching a comment section for podcasts

Sarah Perez /
TechCrunch: Chasing YouTube, Spotify adds comments to podcasts

Ashley King /
Digital Music News: Joe Rogan Wanted Podcast Comments on Spotify Years Ago — Now It's Finally Happening

Eray Eliaçık /
Dataconomy: Yes, Crunchyroll comments gone, and here is why

Luke Jones /
WinBuzzer: Spotify Introduces Comment Section for Podcasts

Ryan Christoffel /
9to5Mac: Podcasts now support comments on Spotify; should Apple do the same?

Axios:

Chalkbeat plans to launch Healthbeat, covering public health, this summer; Chalkbeat will be housed under the new Civic News Company with EIC Shani O. Hilton— - Chalkbeat, which launched a decade ago by Green and journalist Philissa Cramer, expanded into coverage of voting in 2020 and made …

Billboard:

Filing: Hipgnosis shareholders vote to sell the fund to Blackstone for $1.58B, ending a roller coaster year for shareholders and the fund's board— Six years after going public on the London Stock exchange, a majority of Hipgnosis Songs Fund shareholders voted on Monday (July 8) …

Discussion:
Music Business Worldwide, Digital Music News, New York Times and CMU

Discussion:

Tim Ingham /
Music Business Worldwide: Done deal: Blackstone is the new owner of Hipgnosis Songs Fund, as investment giant's bid wins shareholder approval

Dylan Smith /
Digital Music News: So Long, Hipgnosis Songs Fund — Investors Overwhelmingly Approve Nearly $1.6 Billion Sale to Blackstone

NPR:

Ex-WSJ reporter Stephanie Armour sues the paper, alleging it sought to shed staffers who incur big health care costs by invoking “trumped up performance issues”— A disability discrimination lawsuit filed Tuesday by a veteran reporter who left the Wall Street Journal …

Discussion:
The Desk, Robert Housman on LinkedIn, @tatecurtis, @bizwriterkristi, @iape1096, @thetrough, @allisonprang and @davidfolkenflik

Discussion:

Robert Housman /
Robert Housman on LinkedIn: NPR's coverage of my client's employment discrimination lawsuit against Dow Jones (Wall Street Journal). — https://lnkd.in/erYzPh4n @tatecurtis: A profoundly disturbing trend: Weaponizing performance reviews to reduce headcount. https://www.npr.org/...

Kristi E. Swartz /
@bizwriterkristi: 'Armour had been allowed to work from home several days a week to help her manage post traumatic stress disorder and anxiety disorder, both of which constitute disabilities under D.C. human rights law. https://www.npr.org/... @iape1096: “Before leaving the paper, Armour was the representative of the Journal's newsroom on the union's board of directors.” https://www.npr.org/...

Ted Mann /
@thetrough: “Among the requirements during her 30-day review period: produce a scoop a week.” To rig the game is bad enough, but to be this obvious about it just makes the bosses look stupid. What a shameful way to treat a great reporter. https://www.npr.org/...

Allison Prang /
@allisonprang: Good story from @NPR on a lawsuit brought against @WSJ for pushing out one of its own longtime, fantastic reporters, @StephArmour1. There are some crazy tidbits in this story including this one: She was required to produce a scoop per week. https://www.npr.org/...

TechCrunch:

DreamFlare, a studio where creators make videos using third-party AI tools and distribute them through a subscription service, emerges from stealth with $1.6M— A startup called DreamFlare AI is emerging from stealth on Tuesday with the goal of helping content creators make and monetize short-form AI-generated content.

The Intercept:

Leaked code: NYT tested using OpenAI tech to generate article headlines and help apply its styleguide; NYT says the “experiment was not taken beyond testing”— In the courtroom, the New York Times has taken a hard line against OpenAI. The newspaper sued the artificial …

Discussion:
@florian4gamers, Media Voices and @mvario1

Discussion:

Florian Mueller /
@florian4gamers: Suing and/or using OpenAI.

Michael Vario /
@mvario1: A.I. couldn't do a worse job than the NY Times editors are currently doing... The New York Times Is Suing OpenAI — and Experimenting With It for Writing Headlines and Copy Editing https://theintercept.com/...

RELATED:

Entrepreneur:
OpenAI last week requested NYT documents, including reporters' notes and interview memos, to show that its articles are original; NYT calls it harassment

Discussion:
@bobbyallyn, @loudmouthjulia, @rahll and Ianka Fleerackers on LinkedIn

Discussion:

Bobby Allyn /
@bobbyallyn: OpenAI's legal team trying to get all “reporter's notes” in discovery in NYT lawsuit. [image]

Julia Alexander /
@loudmouthjulia: Completely missed OpenAI was demanding to see NYT reporters' “notes, interview memos, records of materials cited or other ‘files’” to prove articles are original as it pertains to the copyright suit. And cites the WBD/The Batman copyright case as precedent https://storage.courtlistener.com/ ...

Reid Southen /