The Guardian·2026-02-24
Bruni de la Motte obituaryMy wife, Bruni de la Motte, who has died aged 74, freelanced as a journalist, writing for various German language newspapers, reporting on the social and political scene in the UK. Her work included in-depth interviews with Tony Benn and with Harold Pinter for the newspaper Neues Deutschland. She also had articles published in the Guardian and in the New Statesman about her experiences living and working in the former German Democratic Republic (GDR). Born in a small village in Thuringia, in the GDR, Bruni (Brunhild) was the daughter of Eva (formerly De la Motte), a secretary, and Ernst de la Motte, an agricultural engineer. Her parents shared the same surname though having been step-siblings. Bruni went to school in Nordhausen and later studied English at Potsdam University. A bright and
The Guardian·2026-02-24
Nine urges Albanese to force tech companies to compensate media in face of AI threatThe head of Nine Entertainment has called on the prime minister to prioritise a policy to force global platforms to compensate local media as artificial intelligence-fuelled big tech disrupts the revenue models of publishers around the world. Nine’s chief executive officer, Matt Stanton, said while presenting the company’s half year financial results on Tuesday that the government’s long-awaited news bargaining incentive was at risk of further delay. “This policy is not just of great importance to Nine and the journalism we so heavily invest in, it will have long-lasting impacts on the health of our democratic nation, the voices of its communities and the broader economy,” Stanton said. “We encourage the prime minister to give the news media bargaining code a higher priority status on the
The Guardian·2026-02-24
Netflix, Disney+ and Prime Video to come under stricter regulation in UKNetflix, Amazon’s Prime Video and Disney+ are to come under “enhanced regulation” by the UK media regulator, Ofcom, making the streaming giants subject to the same scrutiny as traditional broadcasters such as the BBC and ITV. Under the new regulatory regime, which will also apply to public service broadcaster (PSB) video-on-demand services such as ITVX and Channel 4, the platforms will have to adhere to regulations relating to accurate and impartial news and protecting audiences from harmful and offensive material. Ofcom will have the power to accept and investigate complaints from viewers about content on streaming platforms, and to impose fines of up to £250,000, or 5% of revenue generated in the UK, for each breach. “By bringing the most popular video-on-demand services under enhanced r
The Guardian·2026-02-24
Paramount Skydance sweetens bid for Warner Bros DiscoveryWarner Bros Discovery (WBD) has said it is reviewing a sweetened takeover bid from Paramount Skydance but did not reveal details of what its board had asked to be Paramount’s “best and final offer” to attempt to derail Netflix. Last week, WBD, which has so far stuck to its binding agreement with Netflix, had given Paramount seven days to table its final offer to best the $82.7bn deal with the streaming company. Paramount, which is pursuing a hostile $108.4bn (£76.8bn) takeover directly with WBD shareholders, has now sweetened its previous $30-a-share offer. The offer for the entirety of Warner Bros Discovery includes covering a $2.8bn fee owed to Netflix if WBD pulled out of their agreement; Paramount is also offering to backstop a multibillion-dollar refinancing to eliminate $1.5bn in cos
