Busy morning of media news! Here's the latest on New York mag, Jeff Bezos, Google, Oliver Darcy, Zohran Mamdani, Thomas Massie, "Rick & Morty," and much more... |
James Murdoch just made a big investment in the American news media.
"Lupa Systems, James Murdoch's media and technology holding company, has agreed to acquire New York Magazine, the Vox Media Podcast Network, and Vox from the digital media group Vox Media," Lupa and Vox announced moments ago.
The parties are not commenting on the price tag, but I reported earlier this month that the sale price would be $300 million or more.
Titles like Eater, Popsugar, SB Nation, The Dodo, and The Verge "are not included in the transaction," the press release noted, raising immediate questions about whether other buyers will swoop them up.
But Vox CEO Jim Bankoff is heading to Lupa and celebrating Murdoch as a "long-term steward" of the brands...
|
Here's what James is saying: |
James, who publicly and painfully split from father Rupert and son Lachlan's right-wing media empire years ago, said in an interview with the NYT's Ben Mullin and Jessica Testa that he valued a chance to acquire an asset known for "longer-form, thoughtful journalism that can really speak to the culture."
The Times asked: "Is he trying to do something deliberately different from his father this time around? 'No,' said Mr. Murdoch... I'm just trying to build a great business.'"
There are some insightful quotes at the end of the story: "In a landscape inundated with A.I. 'slop' and 'packaged media,' he believes that audiences find podcasts more 'authentic.' 'It's fun, it's differentiated, and it has scarcity value,' Mr. Murdoch said, describing the kind of company he's building."
|
👏 Speaking of New York mag... |
Murdoch's new property won the National Magazine Award for general excellence at last night's gala hosted by the American Society of Magazine Editors. New York also picked up the photography prize.
Bloomberg News also won two awards, for video and for newsletters. The Atavist, The Atlantic, Food & Wine, Harper's, The New Yorker, ProPublica, Rolling Stone, T, and Texas Monthly were also among the awardees. And there were several first-time winners: Wirecutter, The Believer, The Bitter Southerner, New York Review of Architecture, and the podcast "Pablo Torre Finds Out." Here's the full list.
|
Jeff Bezos typically weathers controversies silently – so his interview on CNBC this morning marked his first time addressing January's politically tainted "Melania" movie release at Amazon MGM Studios and February's mass layoffs at the Washington Post.
About the Post cuts, Bezos said "the Post needs to be a profitable enterprise that stands on its own two feet."
Interviewer Andrew Ross Sorkin interjected, "But does it? I mean, that's the question. Some people say it should be a trust."
It needs to be profitable, Bezos said, "because it's a measure of its relevance. If people won't pay for our product, we're not doing – it's not a good enough product."
It's got to be something that people will pay for, because that's a signal, it's a signal that we're providing a relevant service. Your paper, The New York Times, you guys make a ton of money. You're doing very well financially. And you're providing a service that people are willing to pay for. We can do that too."
Bezos said he didn't direct specific layoffs at the Post; he told Matt Murray and co. to "follow the data," with one exception, investigative reporting, because that's "the heart of the Post." He pointed out that the current newsroom "is still larger than when we did Watergate and the Pentagon Papers."
|
Sorkin also raised the (widespread) criticism that the "Melania" movie (and other Amazon moves) were meant to "placate the president."
"The Melania thing is a falsehood that will not die," Bezos responded. "I see it reported all the time that somehow I was involved in this... I had nothing to do with that. By the way, it appears it was a good business decision. It did very well in theaters. It's done very well on streaming. People are very curious about Melania. So even though I had nothing to do with it, it appears that the Amazon team made a very wise business decision."
Movie industry experts will likely look askance at that claim since the documentary didn't even come close to recouping its costs at the box office.
But Bezos argued that it's "just not correct" to say "Melania" was "a way of buying influence."
>> He made a lot of other news in the CNBC interview – asserting that Trump "is a more mature, more disciplined version of himself than he was in his first term," and saying the bottom half of earners should pay zero in income taxes...
|
The end of search as we know it? |
"To get ahead in the new internet age, Google wants to help you google less," CNN's Lisa Eadicicco writes.
The AI-powered changes Google announced yesterday at Google I/O, including "its biggest change to the search bar in years," will reshape the way we all navigate the world – and will make search-reliant publishing businesses even more imperiled.
"The era of the 'ten blue links' is officially over," TechCrunch's Sarah Perez wrote. As the Google search bar becomes more like a chatbot, and less of a website finder, "links will become an afterthought."
And "these changes will likely further decimate Google referrals to publishers, which have already been suffering from declining referrals due to AI Overviews," Perez wrote. "This has put some ad-dependent media operations out of business, and now things will likely get worse."
Savvy publishers have been planning for the "Google Zero" doomsday for a while now. Still, the ongoing disruption is profound. "Last year, I told our teams: assume there's no search. You have to have your businesses planned as if search is zero," Condé Nast CEO Roger Lynch said on TBPN last week.
Publishers today "need to be really nailing a specific niche where you have a loyal audience that's willing to pay," he added...
|
>> The Verge rounded up the "13 biggest announcements" from the developer conference here.
>> Sundar Pichai "revealed that YouTube now has more than three billion users worldwide, in line with products like Google search, Gmail, Android and Chrome, underscoring YouTube’s vast reach and dominance in the video space," THR's Alex Weprin wrote.
>> Brian X. Chen said "Google is starting to win the AI race:" Despite early stumbles, "Google’s Gemini has leapfrogged ChatGPT in relevance and usefulness. Soon, it will be ubiquitous."
>> The NYT's Mike Isaac observed on X that the conference was "an interesting case study in how media works today: The number of influencers live streaming selfie videos literally everywhere around me outnumber 'mainstream media' like 20 to 1."
|
Political media notes and quotes |
>> After "vendetta spring," Trump "has finally delivered on his promise a decade ago: He has made Republicans 'so sick and tired of winning,'" Politico says.
>> "Here's the problem for Republicans," David Axelrod said during CNN's primary coverage last night: "They can't live in the Republican Party without Donald Trump, and they can't live outside of the Republican Party with Donald Trump because he's an epically unpopular president."
>> As Thomas Massie conceded last night, he re-upped his criticism of Fox News for not booking him on air, saying "their slop is selling, so they'll keep selling it."
>> CNN's most-read story this morning: "New settlement term bars IRS from investigating Trump, his family for past tax issues."
>> The WSJ editorial board says Trump's $1.776 billion "anti-weaponization fund" is "rotten" and "the worst kind of Washington political payoff."
|
Mayor Zohran Mamdani "is conceding the way City Hall doles out press passes is 'not' good policy – after a trio of Luigi Mangione admirers celebrated the alleged murder of a health care CEO while flaunting newly minted press passes," Politico's Jason Beeferman reports.
>> David Cruz, president of the New York Press Club, put it well: "Press credentialing has become a pendulum in New York City. Years ago, the police controlled the credentials and we ran into issues regarding freedom of the press. Now that pendulum has swung too far in the opposite direction."
|
Righting a First Amendment wrong |
Also breaking this morning: Larry Bushart, the "retired Tennessee law enforcement officer who was held in jail for more than a month after police arrested him over a Facebook post of a meme" related to the assassination of Charlie Kirk, "has settled a 'unlawful incarceration' lawsuit for $835,000," CNN's Devan Cole reports.
As part of the deal, Bushart agreed to drop the case, saying, "I am pleased my First Amendment rights have been vindicated." Cole has more on that here…
|
'Book on truth in the age of AI contains quotes made up by AI' |
That's the headline on Ben Mullin's latest scoop for the NYT. He discovered at least half a dozen "misattributed or fake quotes" in Steven Rosenbaum's latest book "The Future of Truth."
If this episode "serves as a warning about the risks of A.I.-assisted research and verification, that is why I wrote the book," Rosenbaum said in a statement. This next line spurred lots of snark on social media: "These A.I. errors do not, in fact, diminish the larger questions that the book raises about truth, trust and A.I. and its impact on society, democracy and editorial."
|
A tip of the newsletter cap |
This year Syracuse University's Mirror Awards, which recognize excellence in media industry reporting, added a Best Media Newsletter category, and the finalists were Reliable Sources, The Poynter Report, CJR's Laurels and Darts, and Oliver Darcy's Status. Well, last night the awards were handed out, and I've never been so happy to lose something 😂
Status won the Mirror, and Darcy said it was especially meaningful for the startup, at just 18 months old, to be honored. It was a proud moment for all of us who have worked with Darcy over the years. Congrats, Status! And here's the complete winners list.
|
>> Speaking of Darcy... Last night he reported that Paramount is "hoping to close its deal" for CNN's parent WBD on July 15, "much sooner than the company has publicly stated." (Status)
>> New BBC boss Matt Brittin is talking about using data "to improve impartiality." He also said, in his first all-hands meeting yesterday, that the streaming iPlayer is not "doing a good enough job for the content that we're all making," signaling product investment plans down the line. (Deadline)
>> "As Apple TV begins airing Formula One races in the U.S., Liberty Media CEO Derek Chang says he believes there could be a broader partnership." (THR)
>> Last night, Jon Stewart gifted Stephen Colbert a recliner — and talked about the complex reality of late-night TV. "You said something so wise to me once, which was, 'Get yourself in trouble,' and it's an ethos about [challenging] yourself creatively," Stewart told Colbert during their chat. (TheWrap)
|
|
|
The Piano Man pushes back |
>> "John Ottman is set to direct 'Billy & Me,' a feature film chronicling the formative years of superstar singer-pianist Billy Joel," Variety's Jazz Tangcay scooped yesterday.
But a spokesperson for Joel denounced the project, calling it "legally and professionally misguided" and saying the filmmakers "will not be able to secure the music rights required..."
|
A few more Hollywood headlines |
>> Disney is pulling Hulu "even tighter into Disney+" – but the company says "there are no current plans to sunset the Hulu app." Personally I think Hulu is already perfect just the way it is! (Variety)
>> Brilliant: Lionsgate "is turning 'The Housemaid,' the best-seller turned box-office hit, into a play," Rebecca Rubin reports. (Variety)
>> The Broadway play "Giant" "is now officially a hit," having "recouped its $5.6 million in capitalization costs," Michael Paulson writes. (NYT)
>> "Rick and Morty" director Jacob Hair is "in talks to helm an animated feature version for Warner Bros," Ryan Gajewski reports. (THR)
>> And last but not least: "South Park" will return this September. (TheWrap)
|
There's more to enjoy with CNN All Access |
Unlock deeper analysis and exclusive videos on the stories you care about. Subscribe here.
|
|
|
|
® © 2026 Cable News Network. A Warner Bros. Discovery Company. All Rights Reserved.
1050 Techwood Drive NW, Atlanta, GA 30318 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
