Top News:


Source: Trump plans to announce a company called TikTok America, with a 50% stake for US investors and 19.9% for ByteDance, which would license the algorithm — President Donald Trump plans to announce later on Wednesday his plan for a new company called TikTok America …


Tortoise Media names Times journalist Rachel Sylvester as The Observer's political editor; a source says 50%+ of Observer staff have decided to leave — Tortoise Media has announced the recruitment of Times journalist Rachel Sylvester as political editor of The Observer as it gears up to take over the title later this month.


After leaving Meet the Press, Chuck Todd is embarking on a career as a media entrepreneur, and plans to hire other hosts for a podcast and video network — After leaving NBC News in January, the former “Meet the Press” moderator is starting a new chapter as a media entrepreneur.


Newsquest's editorial development director says it now employs 36 “AI-assisted” reporters, freeing up the rest of the newsroom to “be out pounding the beat” — Regional publishing giant Newsquest now employs 36 “AI-assisted” reporters across its titles, its editorial development director has said.


News Corp finalizes the sale of Australian pay-TV operator Foxtel Group to DAZN in a $2.2B deal after regulatory approval, and will take a 6% stake in DAZN — Billboard Women in Music 2025 — News Corp said Wednesday it has finalized the sale of Australian pay-TV operator Foxtel Group to global sports streaming provider DAZN.
Discussion:
Advanced Television, Reuters, The Wrap, News Corporation and The Hollywood Reporter


A look at Direkt36, a member-supported Hungarian investigative news site that recently released a documentary about the wealth in Viktor Orbán's inner circle — “In a bizarre way, the government propaganda also helped create some buzz around the film.”
Discussion:
TVNewsCheck and @amlwhere.bsky.social


An NPR document from February 2011 estimated defunding could cut up to $240M from the public radio system and close up to 18% of roughly 1,000 member stations — Republicans say there is no reason for the government to fund the public broadcasters. — There is no reason, Republicans say, for the government to fund NPR and PBS.
Discussion:
Fox News, The Washington Free Beacon, @mattgertz, @benmullin, Media Nation and Nieman Lab


The Telegraph removes a March 22 article claiming campaign group Stop Funding Hate had amplified anti-Semitic social media posts and will pay legal costs — The Telegraph has removed an article claiming campaign group Stop Funding Hate had amplified anti-Semitic social media posts.
Discussion:
@josiah.writes.news


QVC launches a 24/7 live shopping stream on TikTok by integrating with TikTok Shop; the stream will include original content just for TikTok — The commerce channel has been on TikTok Shop since August 2024
Discussion:
TVNewsCheck, WWD and CNBC


Patreon signs podcasting deals with Sony Music and Wondery, and says it now has 6.7M paid podcast subscriptions, generating $472M+ in 2024 revenue, up 35% YoY — Podcasters made more than $472 million on the platform last year — Patreon Inc., a subscription platform for online creators …
Discussion:
Emily Rasekh on LinkedIn, TechCrunch and Tom Werring on LinkedIn


CNBC strikes distribution deals with Apple and Roku for its $14.99 per month subscription service CNBC+ — Billboard Women in Music 2025 — The future of CNBC may not entirely take place on CNBC. — As of Wednesday afternoon, both Apple TV and Roku will distribute CNBC+ to users …


In a new paper, Tim O'Reilly and other researchers say OpenAI likely trained GPT-4o on paywalled books from O'Reilly Media without a licensing agreement — OpenAI has been accused by many parties of training its AI on copyrighted content sans permission. Now a new paper by an AI watchdog …
Discussion:
Fast Company, AI Disclosures Project, Beyond Search, @burningbird.net and Asimov's Addendum, more at Techmeme »