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2:45 PM ET, August 19, 2025

Mediagazer

 Top News: 
Reuters:
Nexstar agrees to acquire Tegna for $3.54B in a deal valued at $6.2B including debt, expected to close by H2 2026; Nexstar plans to pay $22 per share  —  Nexstar Media has agreed to buy smaller rival Tegna for $3.54 billion, creating a local-TV powerhouse that seeks to compete better …
James B. Stewart / New York Times:
Interviews with Shari Redstone and others detail her decision to sell her family's empire, Paramount's settlement with President Trump, her reputation, and more  —  The media mogul spoke at length for the first time about selling her family's empire, Paramount's settlement with President Trump …
Benjamin Mullin / New York Times:
The Knight Foundation, the Ford Foundation, and others unveil the Public Media Bridge Fund, providing $26.5M+ to help CPB radio and TV stations avoid closure  —  Maribel Pérez Wadsworth, the president and chief executive of the Knight Foundation.Moriah Ratner for The New York Times
Brian Steinberg / Variety:
Memo: Mark Lazarus, who will run NBCUniversal spinoff Versant as its founding CEO, says MSNBC will become MS Now, or My Source for News Opinion and the World  —  In the media business, at least, breaking up can still be hard to do.  —  MSNBC will have to take a new name in months to come …
RELATED:
Alex Sherman / CNBC:
NBCUniversal changed MSNBC's name “to accelerate the distinction between MSNBC and NBC News”; MSNBC has been undergoing aggressive hiring for ~100 new positions
CNN:
Filing: Newsmax agreed to pay Dominion Voting Systems $67M to settle a defamation lawsuit over false claims about the 2020 election, with $27M due this month  —  Egregious lies about the 2020 presidential election are going to cost Newsmax $67 million.  —  To avert a high-stakes trial …
RELATED:
Newsmax:
Newsmax says its 2020 election coverage was “fair” but it settled with Dominion as the Delaware court where the trial was to happen wouldn't allow a fair trial
Charlotte Tobitt / Press Gazette:
GB News plans to launch a DC bureau with live programming starting in September, including “The Late Show Live from DC”, and aims to hire a US political editor  —  GB News says it marks “huge moment” with US expansion.  —  Update 19 August: GB News has announced its presenter Ben Leo …
Discussion: GB News and @josiah.writes.news
Mandy Dalugdug / Music Business Worldwide:
TikTok launches Music On Stage 2025, a global contest for artists from 23 regions on TikTok Live; it will promote winners on its distribution platform SoundOn  —  TikTok has launched a new global music competition targeting emerging artists and music creators on TikTok LIVE.
Discussion: Music Ally, Music Week and TikTok
Jonathan Stempel / Reuters:
Google will pay $30M to settle a class action lawsuit alleging it violated kids' privacy on YouTube by collecting data without parental consent for targeted ads  —  Google (GOOGL.O) will pay $30 million to settle a lawsuit claiming it violated the privacy of children using YouTube by collecting …
Alice Brooker / Press Gazette:
City Matters, a free monthly newspaper serving the City of London since 2016, enters voluntary liquidation, citing rising print costs and declining ad revenue  —  Free monthly newspaper City Matters has entered voluntary liquidation and put its assets up for sale, citing rising costs of …
Discussion: @josiah.writes.news
CNN:
The Q&A with Trump and Zelensky on Monday showed how the White House has remade the press pool to evade tough questions and set up Trump's talking points  —  The Trump White House has sought to reshape the press corps in its favor this year, and Monday showcased how well the effort has succeeded.
 
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 More News: 
Hilke Schellmann / Columbia Journalism Review:
Testing AI tools for journalism work: LLMs worked well for short summaries but poorly for long ones, and scientific research tools lacked depth and consistency
Reuters:
ESPN and Spike Lee say ESPN will no longer air Spike Lee's docuseries about former NFL quarterback Colin Kaepernick, citing “creative differences”
Katelyn Chedraoui / CNET:
Google says users created 100M videos using its AI filmmaking tool Flow since its May launch; Flow leverages Veo 3 and focuses on maintaining visual consistency
Bart Barnes / Washington Post:
Jules Witcover, the journalist known for his long-running syndicated column Politics Today co-written with his Baltimore Sun colleague Jack Germond, died at 98
 Earlier Picks: 
Patrick Coffee / Wall Street Journal:
Some brands, like Bilt and Alexis Bittar, are producing scripted social media series that are also marketing campaigns whose focus is brand engagement
Discussion: Marketing Brew and PR Daily
Max Tani / Semafor:
A group of left-leaning writers led by Jerusalem Demsas launch The Argument, an outlet to counter the populist right and boost liberal ideas, with $4M backing
Ben Fritz / Wall Street Journal:
After tax incentives boosted growth, Georgia's film industry is declining due to rising costs; source: Marvel is making most of its upcoming content in the UK
Nikkei Asia:
Chinese streaming giants iQiyi and Tencent are gaining on Netflix in Southeast Asia via original productions, free services with ads, and low-fee subscriptions
 

 
From Techmeme:

Kurt Wagner / Bloomberg:
Sources: Meta is considering deep budget cuts to its metaverse efforts in 2026, potentially as high as 30% and most likely including layoffs as early as January

Kif Leswing / CNBC:
Apple says general counsel Kate Adams and policy chief Lisa Jackson will retire, and Jennifer Newstead, Meta's former chief legal officer, will replace Adams

Will Oremus / Washington Post:
Two studies suggest AI chatbots can shift political views more effectively than TV campaign ads, especially by presenting many claims, regardless of accuracy
 
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