Mediagazer: Email: Jeff Bezos says WaPo opinion pages going forward will largely focus on personal liberties and free markets, and opinion editor David Shipley is leaving (Max Tani/@maxwelltani)

9:45 AM ET, February 26, 2025

Top News:

Hadas Gold / CNN:

WHCA President Eugene Daniels said the White House move to take over the press pool “tears at the independence of a free press”; longtime reporters share alarm — The White House is stripping the White House Correspondents' Association of its role in managing the White House Press Pool …

Discussion: The Hill, Mediaite, @jacquiheinrich, NPR, PJ Media, Poynter, IJR, @presssec, @aclufl, @timothy_bellman, @milligansusan, @farhip, @toddgillman, @farhip, @billgertz, @patrickdehahn, @bpopetv, Twitchy, @pamelafessler, @taylorpopielarz, @glennthrush, @jenicearmstrong, @ahaywa, @tbonier, @clumsyandshy, @sueannhowell, Townhall, @patricialopez_4, @arifleischer, @tvreporter, @farhip, Al Jazeera, @jacquiheinrich, @jamesrbuk, Newsbusters, Breitbart, RedState, Lawyers, Guns & Money, Daily Mail, PBS NewsHour, The Independent, American Greatness, Deseret News, The Washington Free Beacon, The Wrap, Raw Story, CBS News, ZeroHedge News, New Republic, The Daily Caller, Semafor, New York Times, Washington Times, Adweek, New York Post, Blaze Media, Washington Examiner, Politico, The Desk, The Gateway Pundit, Bloomberg and The Daily Wire

Ted Johnson / Deadline:
White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt says the White House, not the WHCA, will now decide which outlets will be in the pool covering presidential events

Discussion: Washington Post, New York Times, White House Correspondents …, The Hill, The Hill, New York Daily News, @cernovich, @jacquiheinrich, Townhall, @dlboardman, @kodiakmoments.net, @grynbaum, Breitbart, @nycsouthpaw.bsky.social, RedState, Law & Crime, @nytimespr.bsky.social, @ianjames.bsky.social, The Daily Caller, @dfriedman.bsky.social, Financial Times, Mediaite, @pressfreedomtracker.us, WFAA-TV, Newser, Rolling Stone, @justinbaragona.bsky.social, @markjacob.bsky.social, @viktorshtrum.bsky.social, @sonofathomp.bsky.social, @kylehaynes.bsky.social, USA Today, @davidrlurie.bsky.social, @sodrock.bsky.social, @mehdirhasan.bsky.social, Fox News, @marisakabas.bsky.social, @realtuckfrumper.bsky.social, The Wrap, @greatscottusa.bsky.social, Townhall, @mariopro.bsky.social, Axios, @peterbakernyt.bsky.social, @peterbakernyt.bsky.social, Daily Mail, The National Pulse and Washington Times

Kerry Flynn / Axios:

DoubleVerify acquires media measurement startup Rockerbox in an all-cash deal valued at $85M; LUMA says deal volume in ad tech grew 73% in 2024 — - The startup was “relatively bootstrapped,” Rockerbox CEO Ron Jacobson says. … - Rockerbox has about 50 employees who will join DoubleVerify's 1,000-person team.

Discussion: @kerrymflynn and Adweek

Jason Schreier / Bloomberg:

WBD closes three game studios and cancels a highly anticipated Wonder Woman title in a bid to boost the profitability of its interactive entertainment business — - Company halts work on highly anticipated Wonder Woman title — Closures follow several disappointing releases last year

Sarah Downs / Variety:
WBD says its Max streaming service will launch in Australia on March 31; subscribers to Foxtel will get access to the Basic with Ads tier at no extra cost

Discussion: The Desk, Advanced Television, C21Media, Australian Financial Review, The Hollywood Reporter, Vital Thrills, Capital Brief, Press Start, Media Play News and WORLD SCREEN

Todd Spangler / Variety:

YouTube says it now has 1B+ monthly viewers for podcast content worldwide; users watched 400M+ hours of podcasts monthly on living room devices in 2024 — Podcasts started as an audio-only phenomenon. … According to the Google-owned video giant, YouTube now has more than 1 billion monthly viewers for podcast content worldwide.

Discussion: Bloomberg, The Wrap, Semafor, Deadline, The Verge, @woollypigs@sudomakecake.com, @rawveggies.bsky.social and The Hollywood Reporter, more at Techmeme »

The Guardian:

Sources: UK lawmakers plan to offer key concessions to plans to make it easier for AI companies to use copyrighted work, after intense lobbying by top artists — Exclusive: partial climbdown over use of work protected by copyright considered after intense lobbying by top artists

Discussion: Music Ally, The Times, New York Times and The Week

Jess Weatherbed / The Verge:
Major UK newspapers blanket their front covers to protest government proposals to let AI companies train models on copyright-protected work without permission

Discussion: Press Gazette, The Media Leader, The Drum, Al Jazeera, The Bookseller, Financial Times, TechCrunch and The Guardian

Dan Milmo / The Guardian:
Kate Bush and 1,000+ other musicians “co-write” a “silent” album to protest the UK's proposal to let AI train on their copyrighted work if they don't opt out

Alex Ritman / Variety:

ITV Studios signs a deal with Vice Studios to become its exclusive global distribution partner, adding ~2,000 hours of Vice content to its 90,000-hour catalogue — ITV Studios has signed a deal with Vice Studios to become its exclusive global distribution partner.

Discussion: TVNewsCheck, C21Media, The Hollywood Reporter and Deadline

Max Tani / @maxwelltani:

Email: Jeff Bezos says WaPo opinion pages going forward will largely focus on personal liberties and free markets, and opinion editor David Shipley is leaving — New: Jeff Bezos emails staff at the Washington Post announcing that the Post opinion pages going forward are largely going to focus on personal liberties and free markets. Current opinion section editor David Shipley is out. [image]

Discussion: @hadas_gold, @jeffbezos, @benmullin and @nkulw

Katie Robertson / New York Times:

Email: New York Public Radio, which operates WNYC, the Gothamist, and more, plans to lay off about 7% of its staff as it struggles with a financial shortfall — The elimination of 21 full-time roles is the latest in a series of reductions at the organization.

Discussion: Radio Ink, @kevinleecaster.bsky.social, @evayaaasantewaa.bsky.social, @jasonisaacdrums@heads.social, @micahloewinger.bsky.social and @micahloewinger.bsky.social

Reuters:

Sources and documents: the Reliance-Disney venture is holding seminars in seven Indian cities to woo SMBs to become IPL advertisers, offering $17K ad packages — After striking an $8.5-billion media merger with Walt Disney, Indian billionaire Mukesh Ambani is targeting small businesses …

Julia Alexander / Posting Nexus:

Patreon's 2025 creator economy report shows the future may be direct-to-fan instead of direct-to-consumer, but the hurdles in place are more seismic than ever — The future may be direct-to-fan instead of direct-to-consumer, but the hurdles in place are more seismic than ever — Beware all studies.

Discussion: Julia Alexander on LinkedIn, @loudmouthjulia.bsky.social and The Information, more at Techmeme »

Sara Fischer / Axios:

Vox Media CEO Jim Bankoff says “we're not [looking]” for investors, buyers, or acquisition partners; Vox raised $100M in 2023, helping survive the ad market — Vox Media isn't looking for an exit, CEO Jim Bankoff told me on stage in an interview this morning.

Discussion: @mediaevan.bsky.social

Jacklyn Wille / Bloomberg Law:

A US federal judge dismisses a lawsuit against TikTok and YouTube over “choking challenge” videos, saying the case failed on its merits and citing Section 230 — Mothers who sued TikTok and YouTube over “choking challenge” videos that allegedly led to their children's deaths failed …

Discussion: MediaPost, more at Techmeme »

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Q&A with Kobalt executives about Kosign, its new platform with an 80/20 royalty split for the growing ranks of mid-tier, DIY songwriters

Discussion: Music Business Worldwide and Fast Company

Katie Kilkenny / The Hollywood Reporter:
The Writers Guild unit at MSNBC says 99 members are slated for layoffs and criticizes what it says are network plans to lay off and then rehire some workers

Discussion: The Wrap, @bsdtectr.bsky.social, Adweek, Variety and Deadline

Jonathan Stempel / Reuters:
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Bron Maher / Press Gazette:
AAM: the combined average daily circulation of the 25 largest newspapers in the US fell 12.7% in the year to the end of September 2024; LAT saw the biggest drop

Discussion: @margotsusca.bsky.social, @defeatthefascists.bsky.social and @pressgazette.co.uk

Katie Campione / Deadline:
NBCUniversal extends its partnership with Macy's via a 10-year rights deal that includes the Thanksgiving Day Parade, 4th of July Fireworks, and a new program

Discussion: Variety, Adweek, The Wrap, WWD, StockTitan, Vital Thrills, Macy's, The Hollywood Reporter and TVNewsCheck

Earlier Picks:

Annika Pham / Variety:
Norway's Schibsted agrees to buy telco Telia's TV and media business, including TV4 in Sweden and MTV in Finland, for ~$615.3M in a deal set to close in Q3 2025

Discussion: Advanced Television, Broadband TV News, Mobile World Live, TelecomLead, Reuters, IMDb, SportBusiness, Schibsted, C21Media, Cision, Deadline and WORLD SCREEN

Sara Fischer / Axios:
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Discussion: Talking Biz News

Peter Kafka / Business Insider:
HuffPost names long time staffer Whitney Synder as its new EIC; Q&A with Snyder on Trump burnout, getting Pentagon office space without asking for it, and more

Discussion: @pkafka and The Wrap

Gene Maddaus / Variety:
A judge lets the Michael Crichton estate pursue a lawsuit against Warner Bros. over The Pitt, a show on Max that the estate says is an unauthorized reboot of ER

Discussion: TVNewsCheck, Rolling Stone, The Hollywood Reporter, Deadline and The Wrap

Wes Davis / The Verge:
YouTube will show fewer mid-roll ads that interrupt sentences or action sequences, and more ads at “natural break points” like transitions, starting May 12

Discussion: MEDIANAMA, TVNewsCheck, Business Insider, MediaPost, TechCrunch, @jakenelson.bsky.social, @sunoppositemoon.bsky.social, Cord Cutters News and @wagatwe.com, more at Techmeme »

From Techmeme:

Kif Leswing / CNBC:
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New York Times:
Sources: Amazon has put in a bid to acquire all of TikTok, but various parties involved do not appear to be taking it seriously, ahead of the April 5 deadline

Jay Peters / The Verge:
Nintendo shares Switch 2 details: a 7.9", 120fps, 1080p display, 4K at 60fps when docked, a custom Nvidia processor, 256GB of storage, and a new Pro Controller

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