Mediagazer: Adalytics finds 9,000+ pirated movies, including summer blockbusters, TV shows, and live sports, on YouTube, amassing a collective 250M+ views from July to May (New York Times)

4:00 AM ET, July 7, 2025

Top News:

Max Tani / Semafor:

Sources: the NYT rushed to publish its story on Zohran Mamdani's Columbia application out of fear of being scooped by other reporters, such as Christopher Rufo — THE SCOOP — The afternoon before a long holiday weekend isn't always the best time to drop a major scoop.

Discussion: @jbenmenachem.com, @maxpotter.bsky.social, @nick_field90, @justinbaragona.bsky.social, @joshsternberg.com, @petersterne.com, @aselrod.bsky.social, @kentremendous.bsky.social, @socialmedialab.ca, @mattdpearce.com, @thetnholler.bsky.social, @semafor.com, @petersterne.com, @bgrueskin.bsky.social, @robertscotthorton.bsky.social, @joelhs.bsky.social and @donmoyn.bsky.social

Patrick Healy / @patrickhealynyt:

[Thread] an NYT standards editor responds to criticism of its recent Zohran Mamdani story, says the “ultimate source” was Columbia data that Mamdani confirmed — As the @nytimes assistant managing editor for Standards and Trust, I've received reader feedback regarding our reporting on Zohran Mamdani's 2009 application to Columbia University. To provide context on how the reporting came together, I wanted to share some information:

Michael Luciano / Mediaite:

NYT publishes article on Zohran Mamdani identifying as African American on his college application, citing hacked docs from an anonymous “race science” advocate — The New York Times published a story that cited hacked documents at Columbia University showing …

Discussion: Can We Still Govern?, New York Times, RedState, @donmoyn.bsky.social, @donmoyn.bsky.social, @benryanwriter, Columbia Journalism Review, Whither news?, The Gateway Pundit, @npfandos, @lpolgreen, @npfandos, @lemieuxlgm, @heavyredaction, @canteverdie, @rick_paulas, @alexandermccoy4, @agoldmund, @lib_crusher, @papapishu, @lib_crusher, @nick_field90, @esjesjesj, @justwinnerss, @palemovieman, @claugasol, @christoaivalis, @questionableway, @muchprofound, @davidsirota, @purrtah, @marklevinshow, @nuritbaytch, @paulxharris, @hellciee, @evlondocooper, @astonish13, @whstancil, @oelayat, @corinna_barnard, @space_b0y_, @guypbenson, @katewillett, @tommymiles, @idothethinking, @marcowenjones, @panasonicdx4500, New York Post, @mehdirhasan.bsky.social, @bgrueskin.bsky.social, @bgrueskin.bsky.social, @clarajeffery.bsky.social, @clarajeffery.bsky.social, Le·gal In·sur·rec·tion, @clarajeffery.bsky.social, RedState, Mediaite, @planetoffinks.bsky.social, New York Post, @bdowney.bsky.social, @wajali.bsky.social, @taniel.bsky.social, @purplechrain.bsky.social, @jbenmenachem.com, The Gateway Pundit, twitchy.com, @capitolhunters.bsky.social, @petersterne.com and @elivalley.bsky.social

The Information:

Sources: TikTok plans to launch a new version of its app in the US on September 5, ahead of the US' September 17 deadline to enforce the divest-or-ban law — TikTok is building a new version of its app for users in the U.S. ahead of a planned sale of the app to a group of investors.

Reuters:

Reuters says its X account was restored a day after being suspended in India over a “legal demand”; Indian government denies issuing any order to restrict it — The Reuters News account on X has been inaccessible to users in India since Saturday, when the social media platform suspended …

Dominic Patten / Deadline:

Trump tells reporters, “We did a deal for about $16M plus $16M, or maybe more than that in advertising” with CBS, which denies PSAs were part of the settlement — Someone's playing fast and loose with the real numbers, and, for once, it may not be Donald Trump …

Discussion: @zacestrada.com, @freedom.press, @jeremymbarr, TV Insider, Mediaite, Variety, @allowat3.bsky.social, New York Sun, The Guardian and The Wrap

New York Times:

Adalytics finds 9,000+ pirated movies, including summer blockbusters, TV shows, and live sports, on YouTube, amassing a collective 250M+ views from July to May — More than a decade after the platform cracked down on copyright infringement, thousands of unlicensed movies, TV shows and live sports are available.

Discussion: XDA Developers and Adalytics, more at Techmeme »

Ian Bogost / The Atlantic:

Velvet Sundown, an AI‑created band with ~850,000 monthly Spotify listeners and two recent albums, shows how some listeners are turning to anodyne AI music — “ Rubber burns, the map fades away / Chasing the ghosts of yesterday.” Sure, fine. — The traffic receded as Chicago withdrew …

Discussion: @ibogost.bsky.social, @zsk, @tvs_music, Stereogum, NME, NDTV Profit and NBC News, more at Techmeme »

Dominic Ponsford / Press Gazette:

Survey: 47% of UK adults and 81% of UK “decision makers” say they use AI “as part of consuming news and staying up to date with current events” — Nearly half of UK adults have used AI tools to stay up to date with news and current affairs, according to new research by communications agency Portland.

Discussion: Dominic Ponsford on LinkedIn and @faduda.bsky.social

Clay Risen / New York Times:

Jim Shooter, who revitalized the comics industry as the EIC of Marvel from 1978 to 1987, died at age 73 — He brought order and profits to Marvel in the 1980s and helped establish the genre as a popular-culture tent pole for decades to come. — Jim Shooter, a hard-driving giant …

Discussion: Comic Book and Kotaku

Catherine Perloff / The Information:

Sources: Google told publishers it is hiring new staff to market its ad tech to big advertisers and ad agencies, signaling a renewed focus on publisher ad tech — Google's relations with publishers have suffered lately, as its shift to AI-powered searches has hurt traffic being sent to publishers' web sites.

Discussion: AdExchanger, Catherine Perloff on LinkedIn and Forbes

Foo Yun Chee / Reuters:

Doc: UK's Independent Publishers Alliance files an antitrust complaint with EU and the UK CMA against Google, alleging misuse of web content for AI Overviews — Alphabet's (GOOGL.O) Google has been hit by an EU antitrust complaint over its AI Overviews from a group of independent publishers …