Good morning! While everyone is still watching the markets, I want to try some counter-programming today. Here's the latest on Paramount, "Finding Your Roots," Stephen A. Smith, Amber Ruffin, "The White Lotus," the Duchess of Sussex, and more... |
Last year The Associated Press announced a sister organization called the AP Fund for Journalism (APFJ) to raise philanthropic funds for local news reporting.
Later today the new entity is announcing its first project – a pilot program to supply nearly 50 nonprofit news organizations with editorial tools, training, and wire service content. Big nonprofits like Honolulu Civil Beat and VTDigger, along with dozens of smaller newsrooms, are participating.
APFJ is also announcing its board of directors today: Kathleen Carroll, Mary W. Graham, Julie Pace, Daisy Veerasingham, Lauren Williams, and chair Charles Sennott. They are charged with raising at least $100 million from foundations and other groups. (The Google News Initiative is supporting the pilot program.)
"Local newsrooms are on the frontlines telling the stories that matter most to their audiences, yet often they lack the resources to do so effectively," APFJ's CEO Rachel White says. "This pilot program is a critical first step in our mission to close that gap..."
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Latest big-$$ celeb podcast pact |
Elizabeth Wagmeister scoops: "Bachelor" star turned podcaster Nick Viall has inked an eight-figure deal that will bring his wildly popular podcast, "The Viall Files," to the podcasting company Libsyn. The deal will last between three and four years and is in the $20 to 30 million dollar range, a source familiar with the matter said, making this the latest multi-million-dollar celeb podcast pact.
"The Viall Files" — a relationship, pop culture and reality TV podcast — has garnered over 250 million downloads since it began in 2019. Libsyn will also become home to Viall's media company, Envy Media, which has other pop culture and relationship podcasts under its umbrella, including some hosted by fan favorites from "Vanderpump Rules" and "The Real Housewives" franchise.
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💭 The Atlantic's new puzzle |
Plenty of publishers want to have their own Wordle – an addictive game that keeps users coming back day after day. The Atlantic may have just solved the proverbial puzzle. Today it is launching Bracket City, a daily game that was created earlier this year by game designer Ben Gross and quickly gained fans. The Atlantic has licensed the game from Gross, and he will remain involved.
"Players solve nested layers of clues to uncover a fact about the given day in history," the publication says. "Each solved bracket reveals a part of the next, creating a chain reaction that eventually resolves the whole puzzle into a single sentence." Try it for yourself here.
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Market roller coaster continues |
Battered stocks are getting some relief this morning; market futures are up 2 to 3 percent as the market roller coaster ride continues. "Investors are looking for any excuse to catch their breath," CNN's team says.
President Trump isn't wavering about his tariffs so far. The Atlantic's Jonathan Lemire says Trump is "ignoring the usual pressure points" – "he has tuned out the wall-to-wall coverage, at least on some cable networks, about the self-inflicted wounds he has dealt the United States economy."
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Today's new nonfiction releases |
Douglas Murray's "On Democracies and Death Cults: Israel and the Future of Civilization" is out today, and it's already in the top 5 on Amazon's new releases list. Also selling briskly: "Uncharted," about the 2024 election, by Chris Whipple, and "No More Tears: The Dark Secrets of Johnson & Johnson," a feat of investigative journalism 21 years in the making, by Gardiner Harris.
>> Also new in bookstores today: "Heaven Help Us," about faith communities, by John Kasich; "John & Paul: A Love Story in Songs," about the two Beatles, by
Ian Leslie; and "Fahrenheit-182," a memoir by Mark Hoppus of Blink-182.
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"For 11 seasons, Henry Louis Gates Jr. has sat across from his guests on the popular PBS series 'Finding Your Roots' and led them through secrets in their family tree." Today, "it's his turn," The AP's Mark Kennedy writes. Gates "learns a long-buried puzzle about his great-great grandmother..."
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Photo Illustration by Jason Lancaster/CNN/Getty Images |
>> New great new reads from CNN Business this morning: Matt Egan explains "the extremely flawed logic behind Trump's chaotic trade war" and Bryan Mena says "Trump is trying to reinvent 1950 with his tariffs" while "he should be planning for 2050."
>> Cecilia Kang pithily summarizes the state of Trump and tech: "Tech CEOs Spent Millions Courting Trump. It Has Yet to Pay Off." (NYT)
>> Barstool Sports founder Dave Portnoy continues to speak out about the tariffs, including by pointing out that media companies will suffer from sharply reduced ad budgets. (Awful Announcing)
>> Nintendo says it is "actively assessing" what the tariffs mean for its recently announced Switch 2, Megan Farokhmanesh reports. (WIRED)
>> BookTok content creators "have expressed dismay at the possibility of book prices increasing," Caroline Radnofsky reports. (NBC News)
>> "Wikipedia editors, who are arguably writing one of the first drafts of history, have already called it the '2025 stock market crash,'" Emanuel Maiberg notes. (404 Media)
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Anonymous X accounts shake markets |
Lest anyone doubt the enduring power of X, errant posts appeared to shake the stock markets yesterday morning. We were all once again reminded how influential — and unreliable — Elon Musk's social network can be. (And that there is no accountability when anonymous accounts spread apparent lies.) Hadas Gold and I pieced it together here...
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Paramount settlement watch |
Paramount Global and Skydance Media had hoped their deal would be done by now. But it's still tied up at the FCC, so the deal window "has been automatically extended to July 6," TheWrap's Lucas Manfredi reports.
Now the key question, as Puck's Matthew Belloni writes, is this: "Can Shari Redstone and Larry Ellison finally ram this $8 billion transaction past their buddy Donald Trump?" The NYT's Lauren Hirsch and Ben Mullin scooped yesterday that Trump and Paramount have agreed on a mediator in Trump's frivolous lawsuit against "60 Minutes." A settlement will look like a payoff to Trump in exchange for deal approval, but some at Paramount think its "broader corporate interests are not served by fighting a protracted legal battle" with a vengeful president...
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Evaluating #HandsOff coverage |
Reliable reader Fred Silverman wrote in yesterday and said "maybe I missed it but you too seem to be in denial or fear about the huge Hands Off rallies around the country, and the mainstream media's failure to cover it. It was buried well below the fold or deep inside most dailies and the network coverage was spotty at best."
I was impressed by the coverage I saw on Saturday, but Silverman's view is shared by others (including some of the protesters). Media critic Parker Molloy argued yesterday that "establishment media downplays collective action challenging power."
In Massachusetts, The Boston Globe published a page full of letters to the editor saying coverage was "paper-thin." One reader told the Globe that thorough protest coverage is a way to "reach thousands of potential new readers, a great many of whom probably looked to social media to see their experience reflected."
In Texas, a Dallas Morning News editor said the paper didn't cover the local Hands Off gathering because "we didn't realize the protest was going on." The editor called it a "big miss" and said "we've talked about how to ensure this doesn't happen again." Kudos for admitting this to readers, I suppose...
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Stephen A. Smith says maybe |
Speaking at the NAB Show yesterday, Stephen A. Smith said he is getting "more serious" about the notion of running for president. While he perceives politicians as "professional beggars" and can't see himself doing that, Smith said elected officials have been "seriously" asking him about the possibility. "I have no desire to be a politician, but I’ve decided that I'm no longer going to close that door," he said. "I'm gonna keep my options open. I'm going to entertain the possibility." Barrett Media has more here...
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>> Dueling Hollywood projects: Tensions are high at WSJ as Evan Gershkovich opts to pursue his own film and book, Tatiana Siegel reports. (Variety)
>> Amber Ruffin will host PEN America's gala fundraiser on May 15. (AP)
>> Kipp Jones says Michelle Obama's podcast "has struggled to get off the ground a month after its launch." (Mediaite)
>> SpinCo has set its PR team, naming Lauren Skowronski to run comms for CNBC and Richard Hudock to run comms at MSNBC. (THR)
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>> Inside TikTok, "a string of recent US executive departures and team restructurings has given Chinese leaders a greater grip on its American business," Dan Whateley reports. (Business Insider)
>> Hundreds of publishers "are running an ad campaign this week urging the government to protect content from AI," Emma Roth reports. (The Verge)
>> "Google's AI Mode now lets users ask complex questions about images." (TechCrunch)
>> X says it is "bringing in stricter rules around parody accounts." (BBC)
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'White Lotus' ends on a very high note |
"The White Lotus" season three finale scored 6.2 million same-night viewers, which is "the best same-day audience ever for the HBO series," Deadline's Katie Campione writes. "In fact, the episode surpassed last week's previous record viewership by an impressive 30%."
>> HBO and Max will have more to celebrate later this week: "The Pitt" wraps on Thursday, "Hacks" returns on the same day, and early reviews of "The Last of Us" season two (coming Sunday) are overwhelmingly positive...
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Entertainment odds and ends |
>> As Broadway enjoys a hot streak fueled by A-listers, New York mag sat down with some of the biggest stage stars — including Barbra Streisand, Liza Minnelli, and Dick Van Dyke — to discuss their favorite roles and shows. It's a must-read cover package. (NYMag)
>> Today Meghan, Duchess of Sussex, "continued the rollout of her revamped lifestyle brand, As Ever, with a podcast, 'Confessions of a Female Founder.'" (NYT)
>> Kendrick Lamar and SZA's "Luther" has maintained the top spot on the Billboard Hot 100 for a seventh consecutive week. (Billboard)
>> Guaranteed to get your heart rate up: Paramount dropped the official trailer for "Mission: Impossible – The Final Reckoning." (YouTube)
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