TGIT. Condé Nast is shutting down Self magazine. Tech execs are promoting an 'AI tribunal' for critical stories. Netflix is about to report Q1 earnings. Let's get to it... |
State AGs get a big antitrust win |
"You made antitrust history today. You fought the good fight, you finished the race, and you kept the faith."
That's what Gail Slater said to the state attorneys general who convinced a New York jury that Live Nation and Ticketmaster operated as a monopoly, hurting the entertainment industry and driving up fees for fans.
It was a striking message since Slater was the head of the Justice Department's antitrust division and was working with the states to break up Live Nation until she was forced out in February.
President Trump got personally involved and "intervened" in the Live Nation case, "urging aides to reach a settlement," according to the WSJ.
With Slater gone, the DOJ just did that, striking a secret settlement during the second week of the trial. But the states pressed on and prevailed at trial.
There are "multiple implications of this decision," antimonopolist writer Matt Stoller wrote last night. "First, juries do not like big business, and are willing to rule against them... Second, state attorneys general matter now on antitrust law in a way they never have. The states are on their way to blocking the Nexstar-TEGNA merger, they just won this case, and they are likely to file a case against Paramount-Warner."
The Live Nation verdict certainly puts some wind in the sails of the Democratic state AGs that are reviewing the Paramount deal.
"In the face of dwindling antitrust enforcement by the Trump administration, this verdict shows just how far states can go to protect our residents from big corporations that are using their power to illegally raise prices and rip off Americans,” California AG Rob Bonta said in a statement yesterday.
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How Trump put his thumb on the Ticketmaster scale |
CNN's Kara Scannell, who was in court yesterday, wrote that Judge Arun Subramanian will now hold a second trial "to decide what remedies are warranted, including whether to grant the states’ request to break up the company or make other structural changes such as ordering the sale of businesses."
The judge will also review the DOJ settlement, and he may opt not to approve it. He was certainly perturbed to find out about it mid-trial.
The Trump angle to all this has been undercovered. As I mentioned on CNN when the verdict broke, Live Nation lobbied the Trump administration hard to blunt the impact of a case that originated in the Biden years. (Remember when the company put Trump ally Ric Grenell on its board?)
The WSJ has had the best reporting about what happened behind the scenes with "MAGA's top antitrust fixer" Mike Davis and other Trumpworld insiders. "Trump heard about the Live Nation case from friends," including Ari Emanuel, and "after the trial began in March, Trump began calling around to ask why it hadn’t been settled. What’s the holdup? he wanted to know, according to people familiar with the matter."
"It was an extraordinary role for a president to play in a routine antitrust investigation," Dana Mattioli, Rebecca Ballhaus and Josh Dawsey wrote. They reported that the DOJ settlement deal that let Live Nation off the hook was hashed out at the White House.
Earlier this week, six Democratic senators wrote to Judge Subramanian, saying the deal was apparently made "in response to political pressure rather than the public interest."
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State AG says 'we're on our own' |
The Live Nation case highlights a divide between the feds and the states about enforcing antitrust law (and ultimately what it means to protect consumers). Keep in mind that some Republican state AGs brought resources to bear against Live Nation; it wasn't just a blue state effort.
Earlier this week, Colorado's AG Phil Weiser told Bloomberg that the state attorneys general looking into the Paramount deal assume that "we're on our own," unable to "rely on" the federal government's resources.
"We are at a scary moment for antitrust where the Department of Justice has lost its credibility," Weiser said.
As for the Paramount-WBD deal, he said, "The states are reviewing this deal together, and we are on notice that the federal government's actions are no longer ones we can expect to be based on the merits."
>> Bonta's office said earlier this week that the "robust review" of Paramount is "ongoing." Any action by the states would likely take place this summer.
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👀 on the 'block the merger' list |
The list of signees keeps growing: The organizers say more than 3,000 entertainment pros have now signed onto that open letter in Hollywood protesting the Paramount deal.
Variety's Todd Spangler recapped yesterday's "shadow hearing" on Capitol Hill here. And there's this from THR's Erik Hayden and Alex Weprin: "Would Hollywood protest a Warner Bros. sale as much if Netflix had won?"
>> A counterpoint: "I actually believe that what David Ellison has been saying is both his intention and will turn out to be reality as time goes on," AMC Theaters CEO Adam Aron told Jeremy Fuster at CinemaCon. "I'm a big believer." (TheWrap)
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Hegseth goes biblical on the media |
Andrew Kirell writes: This morning, Pete Hegseth unloaded on the press again, this time invoking the Bible and likening journalists to the Pharisees, the New Testament figures who opposed Jesus.
Hegseth accused the press of constant negativity despite Trump's "historic and important success" in Iran. "Sometimes it's hard to figure out what side some of you are actually on," he added.
He then launched into a lengthy biblical analogy, describing the Pharisees (and thus journalists) as "self-appointed elites of their time" who "witnessed a literal miracle" yet sought to "explain away the goodness in pursuit of their agenda." The "legacy, Trump-hating press," like the Pharisees, he said, is "calibrated only to impugn."
The sermon-like rant stood out, given the recent dust-up over Trump sharing an AI-generated image of himself as Jesus — a post he later deleted and claimed was meant to depict a "doctor." The White House may have backed away from the religious comparison, but Hegseth's comments only seem to resurrect it. "So...they are doubling down on Trump being Jesus?" The Bulwark's Tim Miller wrote.
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This sentence from Hegseth was the tell: "I just can't help but notice the endless stream of garbage, the relentlessly negative coverage, you cannot resist pedaling." He just can't help himself.
The "holy war" type talk, insinuating that doubting Trump is like doubting Christ, was both deeply offensive and surprisingly insecure.
Gretchen Carlson put it perfectly on X: "As a Christian, how dare you use religion to shame those who simply ask questions."
As a practical matter, a defense secretary who thinks the press is ignoring US military victories (the press has not done that, but I digress) would provide greater access to service members and share videos from the war zone. There are lots of ways to do that. But Hegseth has been pushing the press out. He's not even giving fulsome access to MAGA media outlets.
>> Bottom line: Hegseth's media-bashing hasn't worked. The polling hasn't budged. Trump and Hegseth's messaging is not moving public opinion, which remains broadly opposed to the war.
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Mamdani meets Bari's broadcasters |
Andrew Kirell writes: Zohran Mamdani joined "CBS Mornings" this morning for a chat with Gayle King and Vladimir Duthiers, a month after Aidan McLaughlin reported that the mayor backed out of a CBS interview over Bari Weiss' public comments about him. The interview was tough but fair, and quite cordial. The hosts asked Mamdani about his first 100 days, whether democratic socialism can translate to a national stage, his relationship with Trump and a recent video of alleged NYPD abuse. Watch the full interview here...
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Netflix earnings after the bell |
Reuters reporters Harshita Mary Varghese and Kritika Lamba have a curtain raiser to Netflix earnings, which the streaming giant will report after the bell this afternoon. "Investors will look for Netflix to emphasize content spending and ad business growth as key drivers when it reports quarterly earnings," the pair wrote...
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Breakup of Vox Media looks likely |
"In the coming weeks," Puck's Dylan Byers reports, Vox Media CEO Jim Bankoff "is likely to agree to multiple deals to sell various assets of his company, including the Vox Media Podcast Network, New York magazine, and the portfolio of digital brands that includes The Verge, Eater, and SB Nation—a tidy but somewhat anticlimactic end to one of the great media roll-ups of the 2010s."
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Today's front page of The Guardian carries this headline: "BBC to lose 10% of staff as it cuts costs by £500m."
The cuts were previewed "at an all-staff meeting on Wednesday afternoon," Mark Sweney and Geraldine McKelvie wrote. Nothing seems imminent except for a quasi-hiring freeze and some other cost controls; more specific plans will be shared in September. But "we wanted to be open about the challenge," interim director general Rhodri Talfan Davies said.
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'Can the traditional British tabloid survive in the digital age?' |
That's what Daniel Thomas asks in this piece for the FT. Thomas writes that, “while tabloids have successfully launched websites that attract millions of people every month, executives say the problem has been turning that into money.” Part of that can be attributed to digital advertising, which has come under pressure as “readers expect much of the content provided by the tabloids to be free online,” per Thomas.
But, as media analyst Claire Enders pointed out, “the audience who wants to hear about celebrities can now hear it from them directly.” A former tabloid exec told Thomas that tabloids at one point were the “internet before the internet,” catering a “diet of everything from punchy opinion to world-class sports and news.” “Almost all of that is now available on your social media feed for free,” the former exec said.
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>> New this morning: Condé Nast is shutting down Self magazine and folding its health and wellness content into other brands, Emily Sundberg scoops. (X)
>> "Also, Sam Barry, the editor-in-chief of Glamour, is leaving, per a note she sent to her staff," Lauren Sherman reports. (X)
>> NBC News Now "will soon expand its live coverage to 14 hours every weekday, while adding another two-hour show in the process," JD Knapp writes. Those new hours will be anchored by CNN alum Christine Romans. (TheWrap)
>> Speaking of NBC News Now, it will take over Studio 3A at 30 Rock, the former home of MSNBC. (Newscast Studio)
>> Longtime NPR host Ari Shapiro is joining CNN as a contributor, where he'll reunite with Audie Cornish on a podcast. (Deadline)
>> The WSJ and Dow Jones "are launching a new sports vertical that will debut alongside an exclusive, invitation-only sports economy event in New York City this summer," Sara Fischer reports. (Axios)
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MS NOW commissioned this mural: |
MS NOW says this public art in DC is meant to "celebrate the free press and the role that journalists play in a thriving democracy."
Multidisciplinary artist Jay Coleman created the piece inside the Dupont Underground, a former trolley car station turned public arts and culture hub in Dupont Circle. MS NOW will be holding its post-WHCD party there next week.
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Peter Thiel backs an AI 'tribunal' for journalism |
Hadas Gold writes: The people who helped bring down Gawker are back with a new anti-media crusade: a platform called Objection that claims it will hold digital "tribunals" to judge the truth of a piece of reporting. For a price, users can hire a team of "independent investigators," which the company says includes former intelligence agents.
"All that data is presented to an AI jury to analyze and figure out if the original claims made by the journalists were true or not," founder Aron D'Souza told TBPN. The venture is partially backed by Palantir co-founder Peter Thiel, who funded the lawsuits that killed Gawker.
Journalists can also participate by submitting their "evidence" and arguing their case, D'Souza told TechCrunch. But the model clashes with a key tenet of reporting: protecting anonymous sources. D'Souza said such sourcing would lower a story's "trust score," and reporters can submit their source's identity via a "cryptographic hash" for the AI to assess credibility. That's a non-starter for most journalists.
The real question for the platform's success is whether anyone will actually care. If Objection's rulings gain traction — like a Michelin Guide for truth — it could chill whistleblowers. TechCrunch’s
Rebecca Bellan pointed this out to D'Souza during their chat, the full transcript of which you can read here...
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More of today's tech talk |
>> It's a done deal: "Three major ad companies settled with the FTC on Wednesday over claims that they colluded on policies to combat misinformation that denied ad revenue to conservative publishers," David McCabe reports. (NYT)
>> "The EU's age verification app for online platforms is ready and will soon be available to use," Gianluca Lo Nostro reports. (Reuters)
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Kimmel: 'Don't tell me what my job is' |
Jimmy Kimmel has some words for critics trying to tell him how to do his job. "To say that, well, your job is this, it makes me — I bristle at that," Kimmel said on Michelle Obama’s "IMO" podcast. “Because, first of all, don’t tell me what my job is. I don’t tell you what your job is. My job is whatever I decide my job is, whatever my employer allows me to do. That’s what my job is."
The late-night host also said it’s sometimes "unavoidable" to focus on Trump and politics: "I just can't imagine on those nights talking about anything other than what we are talking about… I think it would be embarrassing if we didn’t talk about this. It would be shameful." Mediaite's Zachary Leeman has more on that here…
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A few more Hollywood headlines |
>> The latest on 007: "Please know that we're taking the time to do this with care and deep respect," Courtenay Valenti, head of film at Amazon MGM Studios, said of the James Bond franchise during CinemaCon. (Variety)
>> AMC Theatres "is again raising the price of Stubs A-List, citing the rising costs of operating its venues." (Variety)
>> This will be fun: Season four of HBO's "The White Lotus" will be set during the Cannes Film Festival." (THR)
>> A teaser trailer for "As Deep As The Grave" shows the late Val Kilmer resurrected using AI. (YouTube)
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