Mediagazer: With aid from Journalism Funding Partners, a retired Chicago Tribune architecture critic funded his replacement, a biweekly architecture columnist at the outlet (Mark Caro/Local News Initiative)

Alex Isenstadt / Politico:

Source: Trump is planning to record an interview for Joe Rogan's podcast on October 25; Harris has also reportedly been in talks to go on Rogan's podcast — Former President Donald Trump is expected to record an interview with podcasting behemoth Joe Rogan on Friday.

New York Times:

The US charges a general in Iran's Revolutionary Guards in connection with a failed plot to kill Iranian American journalist and activist Masih Alinejad in 2022 — The failed plot to kill Masih Alinejad, a human-rights activist, has already led to murder-for-hire charges against members …

Discussion: Agence France-Presse, UPI, Associated Press, Al Jazeera, New York Post, Axios, US Department of Justice, KDFX-TV, Reuters, Semafor, Voice of America and The Hill

Sara Fischer / Axios:

TollBit, which recently launched a content monetization marketplace for publishers and AI companies, raised a $24M Series A led by Lightspeed Ventures — - “As AI agents become more accessible and proliferate at an exponential rate, publishers and digital content owners need a way to monetize content …

Discussion: FinSMEs, Campbell Brown on LinkedIn, Lightspeed Venture Partners, @f_fatemi21, VC News Daily, @sarafischer, TollBit, @mediaevan and @tollbitofficial

Sara Merican / Deadline:

MPA expects Japan's online video industry to grow at a 7% compound annual rate and to account for 45% of total screen revenue by 2029, up from 35% in 2024 — This will account for 45% of total screen revenue by 2029, including free TV, pay-TV and theatrical, versus 35% in 2024.

Discussion: WORLD SCREEN, Media Partners Asia and Variety

Aroon Deep / The Hindu:

Wikipedia takes down a page about its court case with Asian News International, after a Delhi High Court order; Wikipedia is fighting to keep user IDs private — The takedown follows an order by the Delhi High Court that the Wikipedia page describing criticism of the lawsuit ‘amounts to interference in Court proceedings’

Discussion: Bar and Bench and Scroll.in

Mark Caro / Local News Initiative:

With aid from Journalism Funding Partners, a retired Chicago Tribune architecture critic funded his replacement, a biweekly architecture columnist at the outlet — After the Chicago Tribune didn't replace retiring architecture critic Blair Kamin, he funded his own successor

Erik Wemple / Washington Post:

Q&A with Bryan Curtis, editor at large at the Ringer, on why podcasts are dominating the 2024 US election, covering the podcast sector, and more — Candidates are changing the way they try to reach new audiences. Traditional media need to keep up. … Monopolies and oligopolies don't yield courteously to competition.

Sara Fischer / Axios:

Internal memo: Morning Brew is rebranding its corporate name to Morning Brew Inc., and says its new B2B products and events generated $4.5M in 2024 revenue — - “We decided that we had built too much affinity for the Morning Brew name and brand to start fresh.

Discussion: Siri Cosper on LinkedIn and Talking Biz News

Max Tani / Semafor:

Sources: Dr. Patrick Soon-Shiong decided the Los Angeles Times will not endorse a presidential candidate; it also didn't endorse from the mid-1970s until 2008 — The Scoop — The owner of the Los Angeles Times has blocked the paper from endorsing a candidate for president this year.

Lori Lewis / Inside Radio:

Insignia Capital Group strikes two deals targeting audio and advertising, agreeing to acquire Veritone One, for as much as $104M, and ad agency Oxford Road — Insignia Capital Group, a San Francisco Bay Area private equity firm focused on lower middle-market companies …

Discussion: Veritone, Radio Ink, MediaPost, Barrett Media and Bloomberg

Financial Times:

Documents show Dish creditors pushed DirecTV to increase the amount of Dish's debt DirecTV would take on, but DirecTV has refused, leading to an impasse — New correspondence between DirecTV and Dish creditors shows the two are stuck at an impasse — TPG's bid to form a $23bn US satellite …

Discussion: Bloomberg and Light Reading

Sara Fischer / Axios:

Sources: Spotify is piloting its own supply-side platform, starting with video ad inventory, and began testing its SSP plugin with The Trade Desk last week — - Those improvements will help the Swedish audio giant compete against bigger platforms like Meta and Google for ad dollars.

Discussion: AdExchanger, Jeff Green on LinkedIn, @sarafischer and Bill Roche on LinkedIn