Mediagazer: Users complain that three well-known sites that help avoid paywalls, including archive.is, redirected them to Russia's RT for at least five days as of Tuesday (Brendan Ruberry/Semafor)

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 …

Discussion: New York Times, Wall Street Journal, Financial Times, The Verge, Capital Brief, 9to5Mac, @philthepill.online, @saintnick98.bsky.social, CNBC, @rrrvvvwww.bsky.social, Paola Marzario on LinkedIn, @sophienadeau.bsky.social, @tomjanmeeus.bsky.social, USA Today and New York Post, more at Techmeme »

Dominic Ponsford / Press Gazette:

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.

Discussion: @jackcarterbenjamin …, @jeffjarvis@mastodon.social, @carolecadwalla.bsky.social, @jamiesusskind, @tortoise, @plutotlabarbie, @josiah.writes.news, @rsylvestertimes, @catneilan, @mypalfootfoot7 and @michaelsavage

Benjamin Mullin / New York Times:

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.

Discussion: @benmullin.bsky.social, @kantrowitz, @chriscillizza, @jeffjarvis.bsky.social, @djtweets, @tvgrimreaper, @benmullin, @michaelkruse, @owillis.bsky.social and TVNewsCheck

Bron Maher / Press Gazette:

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.

Naman Ramachandran / Variety:

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, The Hollywood Reporter and News Corporation

Brendan Ruberry / Semafor:

Users complain that three well-known sites that help avoid paywalls, including archive.is, redirected them to Russia's RT for at least five days as of Tuesday — The Scoop — Three well-known sites that help users avoid paywalls mysteriously redirected users to Russian state-controlled …

Sarah Scire / Nieman Lab:

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

Benjamin Mullin / New York Times:

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

Charlotte Tobitt / Press Gazette:

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

Brian Steinberg / Variety:

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 …

Discussion: TV Tech, TVNewsCheck, The Streamable, Deadline, Financial Times, @bristei.bsky.social, Cord Cutters News, CNBC Press Releases, Streaming Better and Talking Biz News

Mark Mwachiro / Adweek:

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

Ashley Carman / Bloomberg:

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