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9:40 AM ET, August 23, 2025

Mediagazer

 Top News: 
Sarah Perez / TechCrunch:
Bluesky blocks access to its service in Mississippi, saying it doesn't have the resources to comply with the state's broad new law requiring age verification  —  Social networking startup Bluesky has made the decision to block access to its service in the state of Mississippi, rather than comply with a new age assurance law.
Ben Koo / Awful Announcing:
Sources: ESPN has removed its paywall on most written content, after requiring an ESPN+ subscription for previously free articles on its site starting in 2020  —  As we and many other digital outlets are well aware, producing ad-supported written content is a tough business.
Charlotte Tobitt / Press Gazette:
Four outlets have taken down AI-generated articles by a “journalist”; Wired says the article it took down didn't get a proper fact-check or sufficient editing  —  More editors reveal they had been pitched by ‘Margaux Blanchard’.  —  Wired has revealed that a request …
Sohee Kim / Bloomberg:
Bollywood star Aamir Khan opts to launch his films on YouTube for $1 in India following theatrical runs, instead of on global streamers; he'll get 50%+ of sales  —  Welcome to Tech In Depth, our daily newsletter about the business of tech from Bloomberg's journalists around the world.
Haroon Siddique / The Guardian:
Actor Noel Clarke loses his UK libel case against the Guardian over an investigation in which he was accused of sexual misconduct by more than 20 women  —  High court rejects actor's claim that accusations against him by more than 20 women were false and part of a conspiracy
Julian Wyllie / Current:
South Dakota Public Broadcasting plans to lay off 25% of its staff, affecting public affairs programming; CPB funding made up 20% of its FY24 revenue  —  Screenshot/YouTube … " id="street-iframe-svdc8d6wzow0000000000 " style="max-width: 100%;">  —  “These reductions include the elimination …
Sarah Raza / Associated Press:
After News Media Corporation announced the closure of 31 outlets in five states on August 6, a publishing group bought 8 papers in WY and another bought 4 in SD  —  A dozen recently shuttered newspapers across Wyoming and South Dakota are set to publish again, after buyers stepped up within days …
Esther Zuckerman / New York Times:
Studios are rereleasing old films in theaters, helping them pad out thin slates; Universal has 12 rereleases on its 2025 slate, vs. four in 2024 and two in 2023  —  The multiplex is awash in titles that are 15, 20, even 60 years old.  Nostalgia is a factor but economics play a big part, too.
Alex Sherman / CNBC:
Sources: ESPN is in talks to license MLB.TV and wants midweek national games, giving up Sunday Night regular season games and the Home Run Derby  —  Disney's new ESPN flagship streaming app launches Thursday.  Here's what we know  —  Microsoft and NFL announce multiyear partnership to use AI to enhance game day analysis
RELATED:
Wall Street Journal:
Sources: NBCU is in advanced talks with MLB to carry games on NBC and Peacock for close to $200M/year; Netflix nears a deal for the Home Run Derby at $35M+/year
Andrew Marchand / The Athletic:
Sources: ESPN and MLB have a deal framework giving ESPN exclusive rights to sell out-of-market regular-season games digitally and in-market games for five clubs
Anu Adegbola / Search Engine Land:
Google begins rolling out Asset Studio in beta, letting advertisers generate and edit images, videos, and voiceovers directly in the Google Ads interface  —  Google's long-teased Asset Studio, first announced at Google Marketing Live in May, has now surfaced in accounts.  —  How it works.
 
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 More News: 
Bloomberg:
Sources: The Weeknd is in talks to raise around $1B of financing backed by some of his music rights; he tried to sell a stake two years ago, asking around $1.3B
Charlotte Tobitt / Press Gazette:
Reach plans to “radically reorganize” newsrooms through the creation of a live news network with journalists across its outlets reporting to one leader
Discussion: Telegraph and HoldtheFrontPage
Daniel Thomas / Financial Times:
Filing: OnlyFans gross revenue hit $7.2B in FY ending Nov. 2024, up from $6.6B YoY, and paid $5.8B to creators, up from $5.3B; creator accounts grew 13% to 4.6M
 Earlier Picks: 
Lydia Polgreen / New York Times:
A reflection on Israel's killing of Al Jazeera journalist Anas al-Sharif in an airstrike on a press tent, and Israel's weak claim that he was a Hamas militant
Tony Stubblebine / The Medium Blog:
Medium's CEO explains how the platform's AI policy has evolved as it adopts some AI tools while prioritizing human curation and seeking community feedback
Charlotte Tobitt / Press Gazette:
Analysis: 16 of the UK's top 50 biggest news websites now use a “consent or pay” model to let users opt out of cookies; almost 100% choose to accept cookies
Alexandra Bruell / Wall Street Journal:
The Onion has 53K+ print subscribers and expects $6M in 2025 revenue, signaling a market for print media, also shown by print relaunches of Saveur and others
 

 
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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