Mediagazer: Google's pivot to AI Overviews cut Stereogum's ad revenue by 70%, founder Scott Lapatine says, so the site is shifting toward a subscription-focused model (Terrence O'Brien/The Verge)

9:25 PM ET, November 18, 2025

Top News:

In a meeting with Mohammed bin Salman, Trump says “a lot of people didn't like” Jamal Khashoggi, adding, “things happen, but [MBS] knew nothing about it” — The de facto Saudi ruler was branded an outcast after the 2018 killing of Washington Post columnist Jamal Khashoggi.

Discussion: Associated Press, New York Times, HuffPost, The Hill, Semafor, Financial Times, Perez Hilton, CNN, Bloomberg, @jeffcolgan.bsky.social, The Daily Beast, KGTV-TV, PolitiFact, The Present Age, Chicago Tribune, The Guardian, Le Monde, Telegraph, UPI, Breitbart, The Japan Times, New Republic, @thehighsign.bsky.social, @scottnover, @davelevitan.bsky.social, One America News Network, @therecount, NewsMax.com, @johnmoe.bsky.social, New York Daily News, @atrupar, Washington Times, Responsible Statecraft, @kaitlancollins, @senmarkey, @senseidai.bsky.social, @washingtonpost.com, @suerussellwrites.bsky.social, Straight Arrow News, @acyn, RTÉ, @dandrezner.bsky.social, @drjudystone.bsky.social, @briankrebs@infosec.exchange, @robertscotthorton.bsky.social, @heathenqueen.blacksky.app, @joshrogin, @audacityofdespair.bsky.social, MS NOW, @karenattiah.bsky.social, @muellershewrote.com, Los Angeles Times, Raw Story, @viacristiano.bsky.social, @kairyssdal.bsky.social, @torrleonard.bsky.social, @lunaluvgood2020.bsky.social, Sky News, @tiffmc1013.bsky.social, @ericschmeltzer.com, @willoremus.com, CBS News and Bloomberg

Ted Johnson / Deadline:

Trump calls for ABC to lose its broadcast license and says Brendan Carr “should look at that” after an ABC reporter asked questions about Khashoggi and Epstein — Donald Trump called for ABC to lose its broadcast license after he grew irate at correspondent Mary Bruce …

Ted Johnson / Deadline:

During an Air Force One gaggle, President Trump said “Quiet, quiet, piggy” to a female Bloomberg reporter when she asked him about the Jeffrey Epstein emails — That came on Friday, when one female reporter attempted to ask the president about the release of the Jeffrey Epstein files.

Max Tani / @maxwelltani:
WHCA reporters raise concerns about Saudi's Al Arabiya being the sole foreign outlet at Trump's MBS meeting and no mention of Khashoggi in background info

Variety:

Sources: Paramount Skydance formed a consortium with Saudi Arabia, Qatar, and Abu Dhabi sovereign wealth funds to bid $71B for WBD; Paramount denies the claim — UPDATED: Paramount Skydance has denied a Variety report that the company was forming an investment consortium with the sovereign wealth funds …

Discussion: Financial Times, The Wrap, The Washington Free Beacon, Puck, @homeofdcu, New York Post, World of Reel, Capital Brief, @keepitweird.bsky.social, Reuters, @carlquintanilla.bsky.social, @ryanhiggins.bsky.social, TVNewsCheck, @danielmcfee.bsky.social, r/MediaMergers and r/boxoffice

Brian Stelter / @brianstelter:
Source: Paramount CEO David Ellison was set to attend a White House dinner Tuesday evening with President Trump and Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman

Discussion: The Hill, @jakelahut, @davidclinchnews, Mediaite and Associated Press

New York Times:
Sources: Netflix, Comcast, and Paramount are preparing bids to buy all or part of WBD; any deal would require President Trump's and US regulators' approval

Discussion: Deadline, Tampa Free Press, Al Jazeera, Axios, Variety and TVNewsCheck

Ryan Lizza / Telos News:

Ryan Lizza discusses his relationship with Olivia Nuzzi, reveals her affair with politician Mark Sanford, and details her earlier ties to Keith Olbermann — Olivia had just returned from a reporting trip—at least that's what she told me it was—and her Herschel backpack …

Discussion: The Handbasket, Vanity Fair, Mediaite, Fox News, Cele|bitchy, @marisakabas.bsky.social, @mattherdman, @rbmd1982, TV Insider, @magi_jay, @seamas.bsky.social, The Spectator World, @brandyljensen, @cameroncorduroy, @magills_, @adamjohnsonchi, @j_fassler, @lukeisamazing, @stephengutowski, @alexyablon, @jimgeraghty, @birdyword, @ryanlizza, @jasonkoebler.bsky.social, @ryanlcooper.com, @bettathanchedda, Megyn Kelly, @mattherdman, @cerzej, National Enquirer, @willsommer, @thestefansmith, @eoinhiggins_, @maxwelltani, @ninastarner, Blocked and Reported, @jessesingal, @nick_field90, @magills_, @jbillinson, @monkey_reg, @petermeijer, @bruce_arthur, New Statesman, @admcrlsn, @narrenhut, @vanityfair, @laurakbarr, The Independent, @chriscillizza, HuffPost, @roxanegay.bsky.social, @roxanegay.bsky.social, @keitholbermann, @joshtpm.bsky.social, @olbermann.bsky.social, @olbermann.bsky.social, The Daily Beast, @volts.wtf, New York Post, @mtsw.bsky.social, @dankennedy.net, @timothypmurphy.bsky.social, @mugrimm.bsky.social, @donmoyn.bsky.social, @edsbs.bsky.social, Mediaite and r/Journalism

Bloomberg Law:

A US judge rules that Meta's Instagram and WhatsApp acquisitions don't violate antitrust law as the FTC failed to prove the deals let Meta monopolize the market — Meta Platforms Inc. won a key court ruling that the company's acquisitions of the photo-sharing app Instagram and messaging service WhatsApp …

Kim Chandler / Associated Press:

An Alabama state board votes to keep its contract with PBS for now, rejecting an effort to become the first state to cut ties following federal budget cuts — Facing a public backlash, the commission that oversees Alabama Public Television on Tuesday voted to continue paying its contract with PBS …

Discussion: The Hollywood Reporter, WSFA-TV, @dtgeek@mastodon.social, al.com, Current and al.com

Alice Brooker / Press Gazette:

The Financial Times launches its free newsletter FT Alphaville on Substack to reach younger readers, joining Reach, the Daily Mail, and other publishers — The publisher joins titles including Daily Mail in joining newsletter platform. — The Financial Times has launched free newsletter FT Alphaville …

Sara Fischer / Axios:

Fox News hires Palantir to build tools that help journalists produce stories across Fox platforms and social media; Fox won't use AI to generate editorial copy — Fox News Media has been working with Palantir for the past year to build a suite of custom AI newsroom tools alongside its journalists …

Discussion: TVNewsCheck and Ali Mahmood on LinkedIn

Terrence O'Brien / The Verge:

Google's pivot to AI Overviews cut Stereogum's ad revenue by 70%, founder Scott Lapatine says, so the site is shifting toward a subscription-focused model — Founder Scott Lapatine on the importance of independent media in the age of AI slop and algorithms.

Sarah Perez / TechCrunch:

Mastodon founder and CEO Eugen Rochko steps down from the decentralized social network as part of its transition to a nonprofit structure governed by a board — Mastodon's creator, Eugen Rochko, is stepping down as CEO of the open source, decentralized social network and X rival …

Jessica Davies / Digiday:

Forbes launched an AI-powered dynamic paywall on November 14 to help drive subscriptions; print and digital subscriptions make up 9% of its commercial revenue — Forbes has launched an AI-powered dynamic paywall as it looks to make subscriptions a larger slice of its revenue pie.

Discussion: @whoa-magic.lol, Sherry Phillips on LinkedIn, Emily Jackson on LinkedIn and Lauren Soni on LinkedIn

Jake Kanter / Deadline:

Sources and an internal memo: the BBC puts 80+ employees at risk of redundancy across the product teams that build its online services, including iPlayer — The British broadcaster is planning to make delivery managers redundant in its “production group” as it embraces a model that managers said mirrors processes in Silicon Valley.

Discussion: TVNewsCheck, Cord Cutters News and @katiefenn.bsky.social

Jem Bartholomew / Columbia Journalism Review:
How right-wing forces struck a coordinated blow to the BBC using a single incautious Panorama edit, after years of attacks by UK conservatives on the BBC

Discussion: International Business Times, @flyingrodent.bsky.social, @emilybell.bsky.social and @jayrosen.bsky.social

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More News:

Joe Flint / Wall Street Journal:
A look at Nexstar's $6.2B proposed merger with Tegna, which would result in Nexstar reaching 60% of US homes; CEO Perry Sook is confident about FCC approval

Discussion: TV Tech, TheDesk.net, Variety, Radio & Television …, The Wrap, Nexstar Media Group, Inc., The Hollywood Reporter, Joe.My.God., Free Press Action Fund Feed and Cord Cutters News

Tess Patton / The Wrap:
A look at Inception Point AI, whose podcast network makes 3,000 AI-made podcasts per week and has 400K subs; an episode needs only 20 listeners to turn a profit

Discussion: Sounds Debatable, @devonheinen.bsky.social and LateNighter

Alice Brooker / Press Gazette:
Two freelance journalists say the UK's Daily Express stole their articles, rewriting one seemingly using AI, and offered £100 only once they reached out

Discussion: @pressgazette.co.uk

Al Tompkins / Poynter:
Memo: after Sinclair bought an 8% stake, Scripps says it's exploring stations sales with “many” broadcasters but talks with Sinclair didn't lead to an agreement

Discussion: TVNewsCheck, The Streamable and Wall Street Journal

Ted Johnson / Deadline:
A federal appeals court upholds a lower court's 2023 dismissal of Trump's defamation suit against CNN for calling his 2020 stolen election claims the “Big Lie”

Discussion: Reason, ZeroHedge News, UPI, Raw Story, MS NOW, The Hill and Politico

Earlier Picks:

Riddhi Setty / Columbia Journalism Review:
The three-year strike at the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette ends after a Third Circuit court panel ruled the paper had acted in bad faith; the paper plans to appeal

Discussion: Riddhi Setty on LinkedIn and The NewsGuild

Ivan Mehta / TechCrunch:
Agentio, which uses AI to help brands automate and scale campaigns with YouTube creators, raised a $40M Series B led by Forerunner at a $340M valuation

Discussion: Christopher Walsh on LinkedIn, Marshall Porter on LinkedIn, Alex Pattis on LinkedIn, Tubefilter, Agentio, Pulse 2.0, Axios and Adweek

Patrick Brzeski / The Hollywood Reporter:
Disney+ and CJ ENM's Tving partner to offer bundles that combine access to Disney+, Tving, and South Korean streamer Wavve at discounted rates in South Korea

Discussion: The Korea Times, TVREV and Variety

Martin Arnold / Financial Times:
The UK CMA opens probes into StubHub, Viagogo, and others over allegedly deceptive online pricing practices; the UK plans to ban above face value ticket resales

Discussion: Reuters, CNBC, Gamereactor UK, The Standard, Benzinga, Digital Music News, Mirror, CMU, GOV.UK, BBC, GOV.UK and The Guardian

Megumi Fujikawa / Wall Street Journal:
A Japanese minister pledges to improve working conditions for creators, blaming low wages and grueling working conditions on “passion exploitation” of creators

From Techmeme:

Jordan Novet / CNBC:
Phil Spencer will retire after 38 years at Microsoft; Asha Sharma, the president of product in Microsoft's Core AI business, will become the CEO of gaming

Georgia Wells / Wall Street Journal:
Sources: OpenAI staff raised concerns about a Canadian mass shooting suspect months ago; OpenAI says her activity didn't meet the bar for reporting to police

Ryan Vlastelica / Bloomberg:
Anthropic launches Claude Code Security, which “scans codebases for security vulnerabilities and suggests targeted software patches”; cybersecurity stocks fall

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