Mediagazer: ABC: print circulation of the UK's Daily Mirror fell 16.4% YoY in February 2025 to 196,150, dropping below 200,000 for the first time since the Edwardian era (Charlotte Tobitt/Press Gazette)

Around 20% of Chicago Sun-Times staff, or 30 employees, took buyouts and have resigned, including most of the editorial board; 5 WBEZ workers also took buyouts — Columnists, editorial writers and many more head for the exits as the paper's nonprofit owner, Chicago Public Media, deals with fiscal hardship.

Discussion: @pressgazette, @leebey1.bsky.social, Awful Announcing, Crain's Chicago Business and @ellery.bsky.social

Charlotte Tobitt / Press Gazette:

ABC: print circulation of the UK's Daily Mirror fell 16.4% YoY in February 2025 to 196,150, dropping below 200,000 for the first time since the Edwardian era — Press Gazette's monthly analysis of ABC national newspaper circulation figures. — The print circulation of the Daily Mirror …

Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty:

RFE/RL sues USAGM and its officials Kari Lake and Victor Morales, arguing they acted unlawfully and unconstitutionally in blocking funds allocated by Congress — The grant cancellation would violate the Constitution and federal laws, according to the case filed by RFE/RL in the US District Court for DC

Discussion: Forbes, The Desk, Reuters and @passantino.bsky.social

Liam Scott / Columbia Journalism Review:

A press freedom reporter at VOA recalls its last days, as dozens of staffers on J-1 visas may have to return to countries with a record of jailing critics — Covering the press freedom beat at VOA, I got a front-row seat to its demise. — On Saturday, about thirteen hundred Voice of America staffers …

Discussion: Vox, @sulliview.bsky.social, @jamestgriffiths.com, @rimaanabtawi.bsky.social, The Hill, ABC News and New York Daily News

Reuters:

Sources: CCI officials raided the Indian offices of global ad giants, including GroupM, Publicis, Dentsu, and Interpublic Group, over alleged price collusion — The Indian antitrust body has raided the offices of many global advertising giants, including GroupM, Publicis, Dentsu and Interpublic Group …

Discussion: MEDIANAMA, @reuters, Aditya Kalra on LinkedIn, @reuters and Press Trust of India

Lucy Knight / The Guardian:

Crowdfunding publisher Unbound goes into administration and has been acquired by newly-formed Boundless; some authors say they haven't been paid for months — The company, launched in 2011, has been acquired by new company Boundless, after writers have been left unpaid for months

Discussion: Substack, @lemnsissay, @katharineq, @sdebar, @scribblerrob.bsky.social, @katbrownwrites.com, @isobelstarling.bsky.social, @matpringle.bsky.social, @russincheshire.bsky.social, @mcragg.bsky.social, @shaunusher.bsky.social, @victoriastrauss.bsky.social, The Bookseller, @dj-acid-reflux.bsky.social, @adashofseaglass.bsky.social and @danrhodes.bsky.social

Lindsey Bahr / Associated Press:

The National Association of Theatre Owners changes name to Cinema United, saying it is “complicated having the same name as a multinational military alliance” — In hindsight, NATO was an unnecessarily confusing acronym for a trade organization representing movie theater owners.

Discussion: The Hollywood Reporter, @royaltenenbaum69.bsky.social, IndieWire, Variety and Deadline

Danielle Kaye / New York Times:

The US DOJ charges film director Carl Erik Rinsch for allegedly defrauding a “streaming platform” for $11M; an arbitrator ruled in May that he owed Netflix ~$9M — Prosecutors say Carl Erik Rinsch used funds for a science-fiction series for personal investments.

Discussion: TVNewsCheck, @mbkplus.bsky.social, al.com, The Wrap, The Verge, DNyuz, Rolling Stone, Deadline and The Hollywood Reporter

Bloomberg.com:

Community Notes, first on X and rolling out on Meta's platforms, fall well short of stopping misinformation, and eliminating the rewards would go much further — The crowdsourced fact-checking system, which Meta adopted from X, is falling well short of stopping the spread of misinformation.

Discussion: Bloomberg, more at Techmeme »

Hannah Miller / Bloomberg:

How NYT Cooking changed in the TikTok era, with an app, website, YouTube channel, and newsletter, focused on home chefs with fewer skills in the kitchen — After launching 10 years ago, NYT Cooking has succeeded in a crowded field with its blend of sleek videos, massive recipe catalog and an active community of home chefs.

Discussion: Jordan Cohen on LinkedIn and Lucas Shaw on LinkedIn

Hanaa' Tameez / Nieman Lab:

European news publishers say offering complimentary access to The New York Times as part of their premium subscription packages led to a subscription boost — “There's no reason to think this shouldn't work in most markets where subscription-based payment is already well advanced.”

Discussion: Alexander Smith on LinkedIn, Aoife O' Connor on LinkedIn, @hanaatameez.bsky.social and Tomorrow's Publisher

Alex Weprin / The Hollywood Reporter:

At a town hall, ABC News President Almin Karamehmedovic sought to reassure staffers after layoffs and said there is a strategy to grow the ABC News brand — ABC News president Almin Karamehmedovic led an employee town hall at Disney's new New York office Tuesday.

Discussion: TVNewsCheck, The Wrap, Deadline and New York Post