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4:40 PM ET, October 20, 2025

Mediagazer

 Top News: 
Isabella Simonetti / Wall Street Journal:
Antenna: Disney+ customer cancellation rates doubled from 4% in August to 8% in September after Jimmy Kimmel's suspension, and Hulu's doubled from 5% to 10%  —  The rate of customer defections for Disney+ doubled to 8% from 4% in August, while those for Hulu doubled to 10% from 5% …
New York Times:
Sources: Bari Weiss has taken a hands-on approach in her first days at CBS, helping book big guests and urging executives to find leakers in the newsroom  —  Ms. Weiss, an unusual leader for a broadcast news division, has floated ideas for live events and asked journalists why they are seen as biased.
Todd Spangler / Variety:
Sources: Paramount Skydance plans to begin mass layoffs the week of October 27, cutting around 2,000 US jobs as part of its $2B cost-cutting initiative  —  Paramount Skydance employees are facing a broad across-the-board culling under David Ellison's new management regime the week of Oct. 27, Variety has confirmed.
Jaures Yip / CNBC:
OpenAI says it will work with SAG-AFTRA, CAA, UTA, and others to crack down on Sora 2 deepfakes, following concerns from actor Bryan Cranston and SAG-AFTRA  —  OpenAI announced on Monday in a joint statement that it will be working with Bryan Cranston, SAG-AFTRA, and other actor unions …
Michael Paulson / New York Times:
Ariel Emanuel's new company MARI acquires NYC- and London-based theater ticketing app TodayTix from PE firm Great Hill; TodayTix sells ~10M tickets per year  —  The ticketing company is already a significant player in the two big theater markets of New York and London.
S.V. Date / HuffPost:
When a HuffPost reporter asked White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt who chose Budapest for the next Trump-Putin meeting, she replied “Your mom did”  —  The press secretary still didn't answer the question we asked her, either.  —  WASHINGTON — White House press secretary …
Max Tani / Semafor:
MeidasTouch says it has grown to 5.5M+ YouTube subscribers without outside investment; sources say Soros Fund is in talks to invest in the anti-Trump outlet  —  The foundation started by George Soros is looking to expand its reach even further into media, despite a looming federal probe into Soros' philanthropic arm.
Cheyenne MacDonald / Engadget:
X is testing a new way of opening links without fully covering an X post, allowing users to see the Like, Repost, and other buttons, starting on iOS  —  It comes in response to creators' complaints about the reach of posts containing links.  —  Links have proven to be a tricky thing when it comes to social media engagement.
Richard Gingras / On the Evolution of Media:
Protecting press freedom is a responsibility journalists must shoulder themselves, as history shows courts, philanthropy, and policy won't save journalism  —  The following introductory remarks were given at the recent Newsgeist Unconference hosted by the Center for News, Technology, and Innovation.
 
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 More News: 
Brian Rosenzweig / The Herald-Times:
Purdue University's student newspaper The Exponent took 3,000 “solidarity” issues to Indiana University, after IU cut the Indiana Daily Student's print edition
Lauren Hilgers / The Guardian:
A profile of Wang Jian, a journalist who moved to the US in 2018 due to increasing press restrictions in Hong Kong and has built a news operation on YouTube
 Earlier Picks: 
Kendra Barnett / Adweek:
Google is phasing out its Privacy Sandbox technologies; the initiative was launched in 2019 to develop privacy-protecting tech to replace third-party cookies
Yusra Farzan / LAist:
The LAPD files an emergency motion asking a judge to lift an injunction restricting the use of force against the press as it creates “impracticable standards”
Alex Sherman / CNBC:
Apple and Formula One announce a five-year US media rights deal for all races, starting in 2026; sources: Apple is paying ~$140M/year, up from ESPN's ~$85M/year
 

 
From Techmeme:

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

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

A.J. Vicens / Reuters:
US and Canadian authorities warn that Chinese hackers are using the Brickstorm malware to install backdoor access within unnamed government and IT entities
 
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