Mediagazer: Hollywood insiders report widespread off-the-books AI experimentation in studios, often hidden to avoid backlash, despite union contracts limiting AI use (Lila Shapiro/Vulture)

A Trump administration letter to Congress outlines a plan to restructure VOA that would shrink the agency to 18 employees, down from roughly 1,400 in March — A proposed restructuring would leave only 18 employees at the federally funded news agency, which was founded in 1942 to combat Nazi propaganda.

Discussion: Washington Post, Reporters Without Borders, @scottnover, @digiphile.bsky.social, @rsf.org, The Daily Caller, Associated Press and The Independent

Lila Shapiro / Vulture:

Hollywood insiders report widespread off-the-books AI experimentation in studios, often hidden to avoid backlash, despite union contracts limiting AI use — “We can say, ‘Do it in anime, make it PG-13.’ Three hours later, I'll have the movie." — One recent evening on the Eastside of Los Angeles …

Discussion: Forbes, @kelatonin.bsky.social, @darren_mooney, @simonowens, @crelyea12, The Hollywood Gossip, TechSpot, @hypervisible.bsky.social, @drewharwell.com, @thelincoln.bsky.social, @darrenmooney.bsky.social, AV Club, Newcomer, Variety, Dexerto and Longreads, more at Techmeme »

Emine Saner / The Guardian:

Some creatives and academics are rejecting generative AI at work and at home on environmental and ethical grounds, but realize they may end up using it anyway — Is artificial intelligence coming for everyone's jobs? Not if this lot have anything to do with it

Discussion: Morten Rand-Hendriksen on LinkedIn, @ginnybraun.bsky.social, @joelhs.bsky.social, @michaelmhughes.bsky.social and @emilymbender@dair …, more at Techmeme »

Peter White / Deadline:

Sources: WBD initiates a round of layoffs in its cable TV divisions, affecting well under 100 employees and largely impacting the Discovery side of the company — Deadline understands the company is set to lay off employees on the cable television side of its business.

Discussion: Breitbart, Variety, Adweek, C21Media, NewscastStudio, The Desk, AV Club, Los Angeles Times, The Wrap, The Hollywood Reporter, TVNewsCheck, Cord Cutters News and Washington Times

Max Tani / Semafor:

UnitedHealthcare sues The Guardian for defamation over a May 21 story about nursing home cost-cutting, accusing the outlet of capitalizing on its CEO's killing — The Scoop — UnitedHealthcare is suing The Guardian for defamation over a story the publication ran related to its billing for nursing home residents.

Discussion: New York Post, KRDO, Alternet.org, Talking Biz News, @maxtani.bsky.social and Becker's Hospital Review

Feras Kilani / BBC:

A BBC journalist describes being detained and held at gunpoint with five other journalists and a cameraman by the Israel Defense Forces in Syria on May 9 — On the morning of 9 May, I was part of a BBC Arabic team which left the Syrian capital, Damascus, for the southern province of Deraa.

Discussion: Deadline, The Wrap, @jamesstout.bsky.social, ABC, National Union of Journalists …, Al Jazeera, BusinessLIVE, NewsMax.com and WTOP News

Daniel Thomas / Financial Times:

The New European rebrands as The New World, expands its coverage, and moves to a magazine format; the title made £2.6M in 2024 revenue and had 35K subscribers — Title formed after 2016 UK vote is relaunching as The New World to reflect coverage of global politics and culture

Discussion: Press Gazette, The Times, The Independent and The New World

Dominic Ponsford / Press Gazette:

The Sun appoints Jack Elsom as political editor, replacing Harry Cole, who is relocating to the US to become editor at large, and drops its business page — Jack Elsom has been named as political editor of The Sun taking over from Harry Cole. — This follows news that Cole is moving across …

Discussion: @jackelsom, @kateferguson4, InPublishing and @mrharrycole

Rhi Storer / Press Gazette:

Some YouTube channels are using AI to turn paywalled articles into videos without the consent of publishers, often adding inaccuracies — Youtube channels are using AI to steal words and photographs from paywalled news content and reproduce articles wholesale without the consent of publishers.

Mark Stenberg / Adweek:

Newsweek acquires adtech firm Adprime, a demand-side platform focused on healthcare marketers, to strengthen its health vertical and grow B2B revenue — The tie-up is part of a broader bid from the publisher to diversify its advertising — The 93-year-old publisher Newsweek has acquired …

Discussion: Danielle Varvaro on LinkedIn, Roy K Lee on LinkedIn, Mark Stenberg on LinkedIn and MediaPost

Karishma Mehrotra / Washington Post:

Major Indian newsrooms aired misinformation during the conflict with Pakistan in May, saying Pakistani cities had been destroyed and airing unrelated visuals — Journalists from some of India's largest news networks spoke to The Post about why falsehoods filled the airwaves during a crucial and dangerous moment.

Discussion: @leadergrev, @tnfalpha.bsky.social, @airbagmoments.bsky.social, @roopalisriv, Rabia Akhtar, Ph.D. on LinkedIn and @shashj.bsky.social

Tom Warren / The Verge:

In May, Microsoft launched Signal, a 120-page print magazine focused on its tech and distributed to business leaders every few months, to counter digital noise — Signal is Microsoft's response to a world of noise and ephemeral content. … Of all the many ways Microsoft could mark its 50th anniversary …

Discussion: @harrymccracken.com, more at Techmeme »