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| Boris Johnson |
Former British prime minister Boris Johnson, just a week after resigning from Parliament, has a new job: columnist for the Daily Mail. His new gig, which kicks off with a piece set to appear June 16, will provide the paper’s “erudite new columnist” with a platform he can use to inform readers of “exactly what I think about the world.” But the Advisory Committee on Business Appointments, an independent public body set up to vet outside appointments in the two years after a politician leaves high office, says that Johnson didn’t inform them of his new position until half an hour before the Daily Mail posted its announcement—a “clear breach" of the rules, according to a spokeswoman. “We have written to Mr. Johnson for an explanation and will publish correspondence in due course, in line with our policy of transparency," she said. ACOBA does not have the power to force Johnson to turn down the new position.
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The Guardian is putting a stop to gambling advertising on all its platforms. “Our new policy will apply to all online advertisements on the Guardian’s website, app, audio, video and newsletters, as well as print advertisements in the Guardian and Observer and Guardian Weekly,” according to a June 15 op-ed from Guardian chief executive Anna Bateson. Lottery advertising, Bateson says, will not be included in the ban. “By taking a stand against gambling advertising, we believe we can offer a place for sport fans all over the world to enjoy world-class sports journalism free from advertising pushing betting, wagering or online casinos.”
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Twitter faces a lawsuit from the National Music Publishers’ Association on behalf of 17 music publishers that charge the platform of copyright infringement involving about 1,700 songs. The price tag on the suit could run as high as $250 million. The majority of the alleged infringement Twitter has been notified about is due to music videos, videos of live music performances, or other videos synchronized to copyrighted music. Twitter is accused of using the videos to increase the amount of time people spend on its site. The NMPA claims that Twitter has failed to remove infringing content even after being notified and has "continued to assist known repeat infringers with their infringement" without risk of them losing their accounts. While licensing deals between Twitter owner Elon Musk and several music companies stalled after his takeover of the platform, the problem stems from before the takeover.
Underscore Media, a new creator-led media venture dedicated to New York sports, is built around three established New York sports personalities, Sal Licata, Jimmy Traina, and John Jastremski.
McClatchy, which owns 29 daily papers across 14 states (including The Miami Herald, Sacramento Bee and Kansas City Star), launches a wave of layoffs that extends to at least 13 of those papers... The Toledo Blade, which was founded in 1835, is set to shut down on Dec. 31, unless owner Block Communications manages to find a buyer for it... A bill awaiting approval by California governor Gavin Newsom would give local newsrooms a boost. 
Fox News Media issued a pretty sparse release to announce the departure of one of its stars. “Effective today, Maria Bartiromo is no longer with FOX News Media,” it reads.
Brunswick Group partner John Simons has joined CNN as senior director of business & media. He held top jobs at Time and the Wall Street Journal.
WNET, the nation’s largest public media company, names Edward O’Keefe its next president and CEO, effective September 21. O’Keefe succeeds Neal Shapiro, who becomes president emeritus and will retire at the end of the year... The Stealth Bot Prohibition Act, which would empower news publishers and other content providers to defend themselves by mandating transparency for all bots crawling their sites, in introduced in the House by Rep. Laurel Lee (R-FL) and Rep. Valerie Foushee (D-NC)... Google gets socked by European Union regulators with a $1 billion fine for using the platform’s dominance as a search engine to illegally undercut competition.
