Mediagazer

4:50 AM ET, December 15, 2025

Top News:

Chris Morris / Variety:

Acclaimed actor and director Rob Reiner, 78, and his wife Michele Singer were found dead in their home; LAPD is investigating the deaths as a homicide — Rob Reiner, who segued from starring in “All in the Family” to directing movies including “This Is Spinal Tap,” “A Few Good Men” and …

Discussion: TMZ.com, NBC Los Angeles, Los Angeles Times, New York Times, People, ABC7, @mayorofla, Billboard, New York Post, Empire, France 24, Daily Mail, El País, The Wrap, Mirror, The Sun, Le Monde, Us Weekly, Benzinga, Euro Weekly News, Forbes, CNBC, NBC Bay Area, NBC News, Raw Story, Fox News, E! Online, The Hollywood Reporter, Entertainment Weekly, Advocate, Business Insider, CBS News, WWL-TV, San Francisco Chronicle, Deadline, RADAR, USA Today, UPI, RedState, Associated Press, Vogue, The Forward, Townhall, Extra, HELLO!, Breitbart, Gizmodo, Vanity Fair, Page Six, @erikdavis, Rolling Stone, Bangor Daily News, @letterboxd, @da__dealer, World of Reel, @nickterrymgr, @angus.bsky.social, @reallorispencer, The Indian Express, The Japan Times, The Scottish Sun, Looper, TVLine, NDTV Profit, IJR, @lonsj.bsky.social, Comic Book, @trumanswhack, @fightingliberal.bsky.social, @tjandcasper, Pasadena Star News, @phillewis.bsky.social, @vronskies, @yashar, @spongebobsloth, @ceo_branding, @variety, @michaeljstern.bsky.social, @collinrugg, The Post Millennial, @theflickpick, @richarderoeper, /Film, @antonia2024bsky.bsky.social, @madgreek2024.bsky.social, TV Insider, @variety, The Gateway Pundit, @sherripizza, Consequence, @danielsilvabook, David Earl Williams III on LinkedIn, IndieWire, Channel2 NOW, @elex_michaelson, @stylesgala, @unhealthytruth, New York Daily News, Mediaite, Oh No They Didn't!, NewsMax.com, Press Telegram, Just Jared, NewsNation, Washington Examiner and Governor of California

Mike Masnick / Techdirt:

How media coverage of Trump's AI EO overstated federal authority over states and overlooked how the order's interstate commerce argument could backfire — The mainstream media just failed a basic civics test so badly that you'd think their brains have been pickled by the kinds of folks who spend all their time on X (oh, wait...).

Discussion: @haroldfeld.bsky.social, @jmiers230.bsky.social, @maxkennerly.bsky.social, @rpardee@hachyderm.io, The American Spectator, @BrideOfLinux@mastodon …, @techdirt.com, The Decoder, naked capitalism, The White House, MS NOW, Above the Law, American Banker, Ars Technica, The Information, PCMag and Axios, more at Techmeme »

Brian Steinberg / Variety:

Major brands were replaced by direct-response advertisers during commercial breaks of CBS News' December 13 town hall with Erika Kirk, moderated by Bari Weiss — During a Saturday-night town hall led by Bari Weiss, the recently named editor in chief of CBS News, most of Madison Avenue sought an off-ramp.

Scott Fitzgerald / Wall Street Journal:

Rep. Scott Fitzgerald, chairman of the House Judiciary Subcommittee on antitrust, argues consumers stand to benefit from Netflix's acquisition of WBD — Consumers stand to benefit from Netflix's acquisition of Warner. — In a crossover event fit for Hollywood, Netflix is acquiring Warner Bros …

Lauren Hirsch / New York Times:

Sources: WBD chose Netflix partly fearing limited recourse if Paramount's bid failed, since Larry Ellison has not provided a personal guarantee — Larry Ellison is backstopping Paramount's bid for Warner Brothers, but Warner Brothers is concerned that the billionaire has not provided a personal guarantee to pay.

Discussion: Wall Street Journal, CBC News, Livemint, Front Office Sports, Fortune, Mobile World Live and Financial Times

Rohan Goswami / Semafor:
In a letter to the Trump administration, the GOP Senatorial Committee Chair Sen. Tim Scott said the Netflix-WBD deal raises “significant antitrust problems”

Discussion: Chris Heatherly on LinkedIn, U.S. Senator Tim Scott …, Gizmodo and The Wrap

Will McCurdy / PCMag:

Amazon rolls out Ask This Book to the Kindle iOS app, letting readers ask questions about plot or characters; authors can't opt out — Whether you're reading dense, challenging 19th-century classics or the latest thriller, sometimes even the best readers lose track of what's actually going on …

Discussion: Engadget, Writer Beware, @carnage4life.bsky.social, @hypervisible.blacksky.app and Reactor, more at Techmeme »

Ashley Carman / Bloomberg:

A look at financial advice YouTuber Caleb Hammer, who has over 2M subscribers and 60K to 70K subscribers paying $9.99/month for exclusive content — Caleb Hammer, the host of Financial Audit, a top podcast on YouTube, is one of the online upstarts filling the void left by the decline of combative daytime TV

Discussion: @dannygroner.bsky.social

Paul Sonne / New York Times:

A profile of Ivan Urgant, a popular Russian late-night TV host who became a pariah after his suspension in February 2022 for opposing the invasion of Ukraine — Ivan Urgant was an unstoppable Russian megastar. Then he expressed opposition to President Vladimir V. Putin's invasion of Ukraine.

Discussion: @michaeljstern.bsky.social

Lauren Edmonds / Business Insider:

Filing: Reddit says in its lawsuit against Australia's social media ban that it's “a collection of public fora” and social interaction isn't its “sole purpose” — - Australia is now barring children under 16 from creating or maintaining social media accounts.

Discussion: @businessinsider.com, BMI, Breitbart, Gizmodo, iPhone in Canada, Engadget, Wall Street Journal, Telegraph, TechCrunch, Biometric Update, Benzinga, RTÉ, Semafor and The Indian Express

Kanis Leung / Associated Press:

Apple Daily founder Jimmy Lai is found guilty of colluding with foreign forces to endanger national security and conspiring to publish seditious articles — Jimmy Lai, the former Hong Kong media mogul and outspoken critic of Beijing, was convicted in a landmark national security trial …

Pamela McClintock / The Hollywood Reporter:

Disney's Zootopia 2 surpasses $1B at the global box office, the fastest PG-rated film to do so after just 17 days in release — Disney's year-end holiday tentpole achieved the feat faster than any Holllwood animated film in history, as well as any PG-rated film.

Discussion: Variety, @disneyanimation, @discussingfilm, @drewdisneydude, The A.V. Club, Vulture, LAmag, Reuters, People, The Walt Disney Company, Forbes, Screen, Deadline, The Movie Blog, Deadline, CNBC, The Wrap, Variety and Comic Book

Sarah Holder / Bloomberg:

A look at Netflix House in Philadelphia, a new 100K sq. ft. location for in-person experiences, which resembles a Disneyland attraction and a Dave & Buster's — The entertainment company's new “Netflix House” experience is bringing the brand's shows into former department stores.

Discussion: Esquire, Visit Philadelphia, The Hollywood Reporter and Sarah Holder on LinkedIn

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More News:

Trip Gabriel / New York Times:
R. Bruce Dold, a Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist at the Chicago Tribune, where he became editor-in-chief and publisher, is dead at 70

Discussion: @raylong, Tony Hunter on LinkedIn, Colin McMahon on LinkedIn, Notre Dame Magazine, Chicago Tribune and Chicago Tribune

Gene Maddaus / Variety:
Google has removed dozens of AI videos from YouTube that depicted Disney characters, after Disney sent a cease-and-desist letter flagging the links

Discussion: Tech Times, Breitbart, Alejandro Franceschi on LinkedIn, TheStreet, WinBuzzer, Engadget, @carnage4life.bsky.social, Gizmodo, Mashable, Far Out Magazine, Deadline, Android Headlines, Digital Music News and Analytics India Magazine

Aidan Ryan / The Boston Globe:
Boston Globe editor Nancy Barnes steps down from her role but will remain on staff as editor-at-large; she joined the paper as the first female editor in 2023

Discussion: WPRI.com, WBUR, Boston Business Journal and Media Nation

Financial Times:
OpenAI hopes the Disney deal boosts Sora, which has high costs and limited traction; Sensor Tower: users average 13 minutes per day on Sora vs. 90 on TikTok

Discussion: Nikkei Asia and MediaNama

Sam Roberts / New York Times:
Arthur L. Carter, who started a Connecticut newspaper in 1981, bought and sold The Nation, and founded the New York Observer in 1987, has died at 93

Earlier Picks:

Ann Gehan / The Information:
Source: livestream shopping app Whatnot nears ~$1B in revenue for 2025; Whatnot says it has passed $6B in gross sales this year, more than doubling 2024's sales

Carmen Arroyo / Bloomberg:
Sources: X reported $752M in Q3 revenue, up 17% YoY, a net loss of $577.4M, and EBITDA of ~$454M, up 16%; revenue for the first nine months of 2025 was $2B+

Discussion: Social Media Today, Tech in Asia and The Information

Daniel Thomas / Financial Times:
Sources: DMGT has locked down funding for its £500M acquisition of the Telegraph, in a funding package expected to comprise equity and debt

Discussion: The Guardian and The Times

Emma Roth / The Verge:
Amazon Prime Video pulls its AI recaps, which it began testing in November, for Fallout, Bosch, and other shows after users noticed errors in the Fallout recaps

Benjamin Mullin / New York Times:
Arkansas PBS severs ties with the PBS network, the first state public TV system to do so since Congress cut CPB funds, citing the annual $2M+ membership cost

Discussion: Breitbart, Cord Cutters News, Fox Business, Associated Press, The Hill, Denise Garner on LinkedIn, semipublic.co, Fast Company, TheDesk.net, TV Tech, @kennysmith.bsky.social, Washington Examiner, Steve Bass on LinkedIn, Current, Radio & Television … and TVNewsCheck

From Techmeme:

Bloomberg:
iRobot files for Chapter 11 bankruptcy after reaching a restructuring agreement to hand control to secured lender and key Chinese supplier Shenzhen Picea

Brian Merchant / Blood in the Machine:
Interviews with copywriters on generative AI's impact: job losses to AI, work used for training, falling wages and rates, freelancers losing clients, and more

Washington Post:
How David Sacks and AI adviser Sriram Krishnan overcame the opposition to Trump's AI EO, reaching out to lawmakers and finally modifying the text of the order

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