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The top editor of Forbes has left his job after reportedly being fired for accepting $6 million from the founder of a firm that works with the magazine. The New York Times reported this week that the payment came from RJ Shook, whose company, Shook Research, has collaborated with Forbes since 2016. An internal email confirmed that chief content officer Randall Lane no longer worked for the company. Lane, who had been with Forbes for nearly 16 years, admitted he made a mistake by not disclosing the payment. The incident raises questions about ethics and trust in journalism.

A federal appeals court has signaled that it might not allow a lawsuit brought by New England fishing businesses and industry groups against a California aquarium to proceed because of the case’s potential impact on free speech. The plaintiffs sued the Monterey Bay Aquarium for defamation after the aquarium’s Seafood Watch conservation program placed American and Canadian lobster on its do-not-eat list in 2022. The Boston-based 1st U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals is deciding whether the lawsuit can proceed. An appellate judge said during oral arguments late last month that the case doesn’t strike him as a defamation claim.

eBay agreed to pay nearly $50 million to Massachusetts journalists David and Ina Steiner under a newly finalized settlement resolving a lawsuit over a 2019 cyberstalking campaign carried out by former company employees. The agreement follows the collapse of an earlier tentative settlement and also includes $7 million in charitable contributions, including donations supporting First Amendment causes, and no confidentiality provision, allowing the Steiners to speak publicly about the case. As part of the settlement, eBay issued a statement apologizing for the harassment, calling it “wrong, reprehensible and should never have happened” and acknowledging the “unprofessional tone” of communications by several former executives.

An Azerbaijan court has convicted nine journalists and founders of a top independent news outlet on financial crime charges and sentenced them to prison. Monday's verdict was denounced by international media rights groups as a politically driven case to stifle critical voices in the oil-rich Caspian Sea nation. The founders and journalists of the Toplum online TV were accused of illegally receiving Western donor funds as part of an “organized criminal group.” They denied the charges and their lawyer said they'd appeal. Toplum TV was one of the last remaining independent news outlets in the country known for exposing government corruption. Media rights groups say President Ilham Aliyev has cracked down on dissent and freedom of speech