Mediagazer

1:00 PM ET, December 15, 2025

Top News:

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.

Kanis Leung / Associated Press:

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

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...).

Aidan Ryan / The Boston Globe:

The Boston Globe says Brian McGrory will return as editor, after Nancy Barnes' departure at the end of 2025; McGrory previously was editor from 2012 to 2023 — Brian McGrory is returning to The Boston Globe as editor, the company's co-owner and chief executive Linda Henry announced to staff Monday.

Discussion: New York Times, Media Nation, WBUR, @davidfolkenflik and Boston Business Journal

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, People, @realDonaldTrump …, Los Angeles Times, Associated Press, New York Times, ABC7, Page Six, NPR, Rolling Stone, HuffPost, New York Post, @mayorofla, TVLine, @rapidresponse47, ABC News, Le Monde, E! Online, The Sun, Us Weekly, Celebrity News & …, InStyle, National Enquirer, TV Insider, al.com, NDTV Profit, The Tab, The Guardian, Forbes, Entertainment Weekly, Vanity Fair, Washington Examiner, No More Mister Nice Blog, The Hollywood Reporter, New York Daily News, Straight Arrow News, Cord Cutters News, NewsMax.com, @samstein, @therickwilson, Newsweek, @kathrynw5, masslive.com, TODAY.com, New Jersey Online, Daily Mail, Wall Street Journal, New York Sun, OMG.BLOG, The Hill, WPXI-TV, FemaleFirst, GamesRadar, @jbenton, Fox News, NBC News, Nicki Swift, El País, ZeroHedge News, @erikdavis, SheKnows, The Scottish Sun, @letterboxd, Breitbart, @da__dealer, RADAR, World of Reel, @nickterrymgr, @angus.bsky.social, Mirror, @reallorispencer, Deadline, The Indian Express, Suggest, The Japan Times, USA Today, The Forward, Dexerto, The Wrap, Looper, Vogue, @lonsj.bsky.social, Townhall, Comic Book, @trumanswhack, Empire, @fightingliberal.bsky.social, @tjandcasper, Pasadena Star News, Lawyer Monthly, RedState, Daily Star, @phillewis.bsky.social, Washington Post, Raw Story, @vronskies, Sandra Rose, @yashar, Extra, @spongebobsloth, @ceo_branding, @variety, @michaeljstern.bsky.social, @collinrugg, WWL-TV, The Post Millennial, NBC Bay Area, Benzinga, @theflickpick, @richarderoeper, /Film, UPI, Gizmodo, @antonia2024bsky.bsky.social, Advocate, @madgreek2024.bsky.social, France 24, Business Insider, @variety, @sherripizza, Consequence, @danielsilvabook, David Earl Williams III on LinkedIn, CBS News, HELLO!, IndieWire, Channel2 NOW, @elex_michaelson, @stylesgala, @unhealthytruth, IJR, Oh No They Didn't!, Press Telegram, CNBC, Mock Paper Scissors and Just Jared

Max Tani / Semafor:

Internal tests show WaPo launched its AI podcast feature despite 68%+ of generated scripts failed its standards, saying it would “iterate through” the issues — The Scoop — The Washington Post began putting out AI-generated podcasts even after internal tests found …

Discussion: Futurism, @KimPerales@toad.social, @dceiver.bsky.social, @kennysmith.bsky.social, @status.news, @stevemullis.net, @oliverdarcy.bsky.social, @maxwelltani, NPR, The Wrap and Instapundit

Freddy Mayhew / Press Gazette:

PA Media, the UK's largest press agency, says it has adopted a “video-first” strategy to meet increased demand for live and vertical social media content — PA has adopted a “video-first” approach to its content offering in response to increased demand for live and vertical video content …

Sara Fischer / Axios:

WSJ launches Free Expression, a newsletter-focused opinion brand that will be available via its own channels and Substack, initially offering free content — The Wall Street Journal on Monday launched “Free Expression,” a newsletter-focused opinion brand that will be available via its own channels and Substack.

Discussion: Talking Biz News, Wall Street Journal and @sarafischer

Alice Brooker / Press Gazette:10 minutes ago

The Associated Press launches AP Verify, an AI-powered tool, including chatbot and geolocation, to help journalists authenticate text, photos, and videos — AP Verify helped find eyewitness videos from Charlie Kirk assassination. — Associated Press has launched an AI-powered tool …

Discussion: Associated Press

Elias Leight / Wall Street Journal:

Christmas music is more popular than ever, with listeners embracing it earlier in the year; by December 10, 20 of Spotify's top 25 tracks were Christmas-themed — One music manager described a holiday hit as a ‘little ATM machine’ — The group Pentatonix are known for their a capella renditions of Christmas classics.

Discussion: NPR, Barrett Media and Raw Story

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 …

Discussion: Elisheba Rachel tell …

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, MakeUseOf, MacRumors, The Verge, 9to5Mac, @carnage4life.bsky.social, @hypervisible.blacksky.app and Reactor

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More News:

Reuters:
Internal documents: Meta earned $18B+ in annual ad sales from China in 2024, making up 10%+ of its global revenue, with $3B+ linked to fraudulent ads like scams

Discussion: Mediaite, @ryanlcooper.com, Entrepreneur, Georg Zoeller on LinkedIn, Sherwood News, New York Post, @christianthiels.bsky.social, @robcyran.bsky.social and @jeffhorwitz.bsky.social, more at Techmeme »

Anna Heim / TechCrunch:
Berlin-based Mirelo, whose AI models can interpret video content to add matching sound effects, raised a $41M seed led by Index and a16z, after a $3M pre-seed

Discussion: Andreessen Horowitz, EU-Startups, Tech.eu, Index Ventures, Florian Wenzel on LinkedIn, Tech Funding News and Mirelo AI, more at Techmeme »

Rose Henderson / Bloomberg:
Memo: Greg Peters and Ted Sarandos lay out Netflix's WBD offer, moving to quell concerns about job losses and the end of theater releases, after Paramount's bid

Discussion: New York Post, TechCrunch, Variety, The Wrap, Business Insider, Livemint, CBS News, Deadline, El País, Media Play News, Mobile World Live, Reuters and @mgsiegler, more at Techmeme »

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

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”

Discussion: MediaNama, @businessinsider.com, BMI, Breitbart, Gizmodo, iPhone in Canada, Engadget, Telegraph and TechCrunch, 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

Discussion: @dannygroner.bsky.social

Earlier Picks:

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

From Techmeme:

Bloomberg:
iRobot files for Chapter 11 bankruptcy and reaches a restructuring agreement to hand over control to its secured lender and main Chinese supplier Shenzhen Picea

Emilia David / VentureBeat:
Nvidia launches Nemotron 3, a family of AI models using a hybrid mixture-of-experts architecture and the Mamba-Transformer design, in 30B, 100B, and ~500B sizes

Arsheeya Bajwa / Reuters:
Nvidia announces it has acquired SchedMD, the developer of Slurm, an open-source workload management system for HPC and AI

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