 Jason Miller |
Gizmodo Media Group is being sued for $100 million by former White House communications director and CNN commentator Jason Miller. The suit claims that Splinter, one of GMG’s news sites, colluded with Miller’s ex-lover to plant a false story that he slipped an abortion pill into the smoothie of a pregnant stripper. It goes on to say that “the false accusations ended Miller’s relationship with CNN and put his entire career in serious jeopardy.” Miller claims that the allegation was in a filing that had been sealed by the court, though The Daily Beast said in a report that couldn't be confirmed. The site also reports that a source with direct knowledge said that Miller is being represented in the suit by Ken Turkel and Shane Vogt. Turker and Vogt were on the legal team that represented Hulk Hogan in his successful lawsuit against Gawker over its publishing a sex tape featuring Hogan. That team was led by Charles Harder, who is now an attorney for president Trump. Following that decision, parts of Gawker Media were spun off to become Gizmodo Media Group.
 Mohammed bin Salman |
Talent agency Endeavor is attempting to call off a deal under which the Saudi government would have invested $400 million in the company. Earlier this year, Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman visited Los Angeles, meeting with a series of Hollywood executives that included Endeavor CEO, Ari Emanuel. For Endeavor, Saudi Arabia represented a new market for its clients, as well as for the agency’s growing stream of content, such as mixed-martial-arts organization UFC. The country had also recently lifted a ban on movie theaters, and production houses were allegedly considering the Saudi desert for shooting locations. In addition to Endeavor, such Hollywood heavyweights as AMC and Imax have financial dealings with the Saudis. According to The Hollywood Reporter, most of those companies have either refused to comment or say they are monitoring the situation.
 |
Facebook inflated ad viewing time averages it reported by as much as 900 percent and then lied about doing so, according to a lawsuit filed on Oct. 16. The inflated numbers were due to what the company says was a calculating error. Facebook says it did not discover the error until August 2016 and fixed it by the time the company made a public statement about the issue the following month. However, the lawsuit claims that Facebook knew about the miscalculated metrics in January 2015, keeping the problem secret for well over a year. Facebook’s optimistic numbers about online video viewership are widely credited as one cause behind the “pivot to video” that resulted in the major shift of resources away from traditional journalism and toward video production made by many media organizations. "Suggestions that we in any way tried to hide this issue from our partners are false," Facebook told CNBC. "We told our customers about the error when we discovered it — and updated our help center to explain the issue."
Michael Kaminer, who was responsible for the Observer’s “Power List” for the past 13 years, has cut ties with the publication... The New York Times Company continues the march toward its goal of 15 million subscribers by the end of 2027... The John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation is providing more than $6 million in funding to eight organizations working to address the challenges local news and information environments face along the U.S.-Mexico border.
Conservative outlets Fox News, Newsmax and the Daily Caller are holding back from signing Pete Hegseth’s edict restricting press access in the Pentagon... CBS News sees the first executive departure of the Bari Weiss era as head of standards and practices Claudia Milne exits... Indiana University shuts down the print version of The Indiana Daily Student.
Rothschild family plans to unload 26.7 percent stake in The Economist... STAT, a digital media company that focuses the life sciences, brings back Damian Garde, who anchored its biotech newsletter and podcast from 2016 to 2024... High Times officially resumes print publication (following its 2024 shutdown) with the release of a limited-edition, collectible 50th anniversary issue. 
CBS News is set to hand over its reins to The Free Press co-founder Bari Weiss as Paramount acquires her site for $155M... C-SPAN comes on board as an official media partner of the U.S. Semiquincentennial Commission, which is charged by Congress to lead the celebration of the 250th anniversary of the signing of the Declaration of Independence... A new Gallup survey says that the level of trust that US audiences have in the media has hit a new low.
Paramount Skydance CEO David Ellison has named Kenneth Weinstein, former head of the conservative Hudson Institute, as ombudsman for CBS News.
