Mediagazer: Euractiv's parent company Mediahuis sues X over scam ads designed to look like news articles and that allegedly infringe copyright and create reputational risk (Anupriya Datta/Euractiv)

8:55 AM ET, February 19, 2025

Top News:

Sources: the Trump administration fired multiple staffers who handle FOIA requests, limiting reporters' access to security clearance records for Musk and DOGE — The Trump administration has quietly fired multiple members of the “privacy team” and other officials from the office that oversees …

Anupriya Datta / Euractiv:

Euractiv's parent company Mediahuis sues X over scam ads designed to look like news articles and that allegedly infringe copyright and create reputational risk — Mediahuis Ireland stated that it was “forced to initiate proceedings” against X. — Languages: Spanish 2025

Discussion: RTÉ

Alex Weprin / The Hollywood Reporter:

Letter: Hearst CEO Steve Swartz told staff Hearst brought in a record $13B in revenue in 2024, and a tough ad market and cord-cutting is impacting A+E Networks — Steve Swartz says that Hearst had $13 billion in revenue in 2024 thanks to political advertising, but adds that a tough ad market …

Discussion: The Desk, @matthewkeys.net, @matthewkeys.net, TVNewsCheck and The Wrap

Sara Fischer / Axios:

Sources: the Pentagon's chief spokesperson invites conservative radio hosts Clay Travis and Buck Sexton to broadcast their show from the Pentagon — - The Defense Department informed NPR, the New York Times, NBC News and Politico that they had to move out of their workspaces at the Correspondents' Corridor in the Pentagon last month.

Discussion: Poynter and @sarafischer

Evan Drellich / New York Times:

SportsNet New York will launch a paid streaming service to watch the Mets' games without paying for a TV bundle; 22 MLB teams can be watched without a TV bundle — SportsNet New York, the Mets' local television partner, will launch a subscription streaming service on Tuesday …

Discussion: SportsPro, New York Post, @tvgrimreaper, Cord Cutters News, The Streamable, @evandrellich, @williamnyy23, TVNewsCheck, The TV Answer Man!, Awful Announcing, @robpegoraro.com and r/baseball

Sara Fischer / Axios:

The Knight Foundation will invest $25M in the American Journalism Project, to expand AJP's work supporting local newsrooms from 50 to 60 over three years — - Over the past few years, more philanthropists have stepped up to fill that void, investing in community-based nonprofit newsrooms …

Discussion: Associated Press, TVNewsCheck, American Press Institute, @sarafischer, Patty Pina Slutsky on LinkedIn and @theajp.bsky.social

Ben Mullin / @benmullin:

Memo: Politico announces a reorganization, naming six key leaders reporting to Global EIC John Harris, with two also reporting to CEO Goli Sheikholeslami — babe wake up the new Politico leadership structure just dropped [image]

Discussion: @bsdtectr.bsky.social and @dylanbyers

Alissa Quart / Columbia Journalism Review:

The US needs a working-class media covering wage stagnation, medical debt, housing from renters' perspectives, people living paycheck to paycheck, and more — Catering to rich audiences is not serving us. — In the seven years Kaia Sand edited Street Roots, a publication that serves unhoused people …

Discussion: @columjournreview.bsky.social, Talking Biz News, @joe.germuska.com, @civicDetroitDan@a2mi.social and r/Journalism

Aisha Malik / TechCrunch:

Starting on February 19, Meta will store Facebook Live broadcasts for 30 days instead of storing them indefinitely and will remove videos older than 30 days — Facebook announced on Tuesday that live videos will now only be stored on the social network for 30 days, after which they will be deleted.

Discussion: Meta, Mirror, The Sun, @markeortega, @arictoler, @mediaevan, The Verge and @chronotope.aramzs.xyz, more at Techmeme »

Kavitha Iyer / Article 14:

At least three nonprofit Indian investigative outlets, including The File, have been hamstrung since H2 2024 by tax authorities revoking their nonprofit status — Mumbai: It had clocked an impressive 9.6 million views for its 1,500-plus videos, but in December 2024, Kannada news website The File's YouTube channel went silent.

Discussion: @article14live, @samar11, @article14live, @article14live, @betwasharma and @article-14.com

Dominic Ponsford / Press Gazette:

RELX, formerly known as Reed Elsevier, says AI and face-to-face events helped grow 2024 revenue by 7% YoY to £9.4B and adjusted operating profit by 10% to £3.2B — Artificial intelligence and face-to-face events helped the UK's largest media company RELX deliver record financial results in 2014.

Discussion: Investing.com, Yahoo Finance, The Times, Substack, Reuters, Law360 and RELX

Daniel Thomas / Financial Times:

An interview with Sky News Chair David Rhodes, a US cable news veteran who says the channel has never turned a profit in 36 years, as he works to overhaul Sky — Pivoting to premium, big-name content demands an organisational overhaul for the 24/7 broadcaster

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Nika Schoonover / Courthouse News Service:
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Sarah Perez / TechCrunch:
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Rebecca Stewart / Adweek:
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The Wrap:
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Discussion: Sharon Waxman on LinkedIn, Talking Biz News and Talking Biz News

Shahana Yasmin / The Independent:
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Earlier Picks:

Sergiu Gatlan / BleepingComputer:
Filing: Lee Enterprises confirms that a ransomware attack is behind ongoing disruptions impacting the group's operations for over two weeks

Discussion: TechCrunch, The Register, The Record, US Securities … and MediaPost

Naman Ramachandran / Variety:
MPA: South Koreans streamed 131B minutes of premium VOD in 2024, up 18% YoY, as sector revenue reached $2B; Netflix held 35% viewership share, as Tving hit 34%

Discussion: WORLD SCREEN

Tommy Walker / Deutsche Welle:
Journalists raise concerns over press freedom in Cambodia after reports of a crackdown against local and foreign journalists reporting on sensitive issues

Discussion: @neiloughlin, @tommywalkerco and @nathanpsouthern

Jim Zarroli / New York Times:
As local cinemas close around the US, residents in some small towns are forming nonprofits to buy and operate them; 250+ cinemas across the US are nonprofits

Rick Porter / The Hollywood Reporter:
HBO restores next-day YouTube posts for Last Week Tonight clips after imposing a few days delay in February 2024; sources say Max viewership saw little increase

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Advanced Television:
Ampere Analysis forecasts streamers' spending on sports rights to reach $12.5B in 2025, accounting for a fifth of global sports rights spend, led by DAZN

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From Techmeme:

CNBC:
OpenAI closes a $40B round, the most raised by a private tech company, at a $300B post-money valuation; SoftBank led with $30B; source: ~$18B is for Stargate

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Google rolls out a new Gmail encryption model for enterprises in beta that doesn't require senders or recipients to use custom software or exchange certificates

Wall Street Journal:
Sources: in recent weeks, Meta executives including Mark Zuckerberg have pressed US trade officials to oppose an impending EU fine and cease-and-desist order

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