Top News:
Ginia Bellafante / New York Times:
Vanity Fair is reviewing its ties to Olivia Nuzzi, hired in September, after being “taken by surprise” by an essay that raised new questions about her ethics — The magazine, which recently hired the journalist, said it had been “taken by surprise” by new claims in an essay by her former fiancé, Ryan Lizza.
Discussion:
New York Times, The Wrap, Mediaite, Media Nation, Breitbart, DNYUZ, HuffPost, New York Post, Page Six, The Independent, @beyerstein.bsky.social, @refrmdemocracy, @daviddarmofal.bsky.social, @andizeisler.bsky.social, @hunterw.bsky.social, @rebeccasolnit.bsky.social, @tinymysteries.bsky.social, @tinymysteries.bsky.social, @kennysmith.bsky.social, @fizzvstheworld.bsky.social, @bluevirginia.bsky.social, @ajaxsinger.bsky.social, @kearseymorton.bsky.social, @erinnm.bsky.social, @kvarnsen.bsky.social, @slukemorgan.bsky.social, @recordedvoice.bsky.social, @itsthebrandi.bsky.social, @outpaigeous.bsky.social, @realturkana.bsky.social, @jaredlholt.bsky.social, @mattdpearce.com and RADAR
Mark Sweney / The Guardian:
Daily Mail owner DMGT strikes a £500M deal with RedBird IMI to buy Telegraph titles, in a deal likely to trigger an in-depth investigation by Ofcom and the CMA — Acquisition likely to trigger in-depth investigation by regulator after agreement between DMGT and Redbird IMI
Discussion:
Reuters, The Times, The Times of Israel, Financial Times, Deadline, Euro Weekly News, @danielthomasldn, Türkiye Today, Yahoo Finance, Irish Independent, New York Times, RTÉ, @carolecadwalla.bsky.social, @lyndagood.bsky.social, @katie0martin.ft.com, @arashmassoudi, Associated Press, @matthew-wright.bsky.social, @edwinhayward.com, @inequalitynews.bsky.social, @davidyelland, @tompearce49@mastodon.scot, GB News, @mediareformuk.bsky.social and Bloomberg
Andy Larsen / Salt Lake Tribune:
The nonprofit Salt Lake Tribune plans to remove its paywall in Q1 2026 and projects 2025 net revenue of about $1M on gross revenue of $13.57M — Andy Larsen breaks down what's happened in 2025 — and what's to come next year — in The Tribune's business — Welcome to The Salt Lake Tribune's 2025 annual report!
Discussion:
Salt Lake Tribune and The Moderate Voice
Sara Guaglione / Digiday:
A look at The Atlantic's AI bot blocking strategy, which involves a scorecard to determine which scrapers generate traffic and subsequent conversions — A series talking to C-suite executives about the strategies guiding their bottom lines. More from the series →
Discussion:
Jessica Davies on LinkedIn and Simon Owens's Media Newsletter
Aisha Down / The Guardian:
Researchers say Russia-aligned Pravda network is engaging in “LLM grooming”, flooding the internet with disinformation to influence chatbots like ChatGPT — Thinktank says internet flooded with disinformation by Russia-aligned Pravda network, which many websites treat as credible
Matt Craig / Forbes:
Streaming provides some movie stars like Mark Wahlberg with guaranteed paydays they wouldn't be able to command in the turbulent theatrical marketplace — As theatrical releases decline, the 54-year-old actor has become the most bankable star on Netflix, Amazon and Apple …
Discussion:
Matt Craig on LinkedIn and Associated Press
Anita Komuves / Reuters:
RFE/RL Hungarian service Szabad Európa, which was restarted in 2020, shuts down after USAGM's Kari Lake claimed it harmed Trump's foreign policy in a key ally — - RFE/RL to end Hungarian service after relaunch — Service restarted in 2020 after ‘decline’ in media voices
Discussion:
Radio Free Europe/Radio …, Telewizja Polska S.A, Associated Press and UPI
Matthew Keys / TheDesk.net:
Fubo pulls NBCUniversal channels from its service, including local NBC stations, regional sports networks, CNBC, and MS Now, following a distribution dispute — Subscribers of sports-centric streaming service Fubo are no longer able to watch channels from Comcast's NBC Universal on that platform …
Michael Savage / The Guardian:
BBC board member Shumeet Banerji resigns, saying he was cut out of discussions that led to the resignation of the BBC's director general, Tim Davie — Shumeet Banerji was away during crucial discussions that led to resignation of director general and BBC News chief
Discussion:
HuffPost, Al Jazeera, Financial Times, Mirror, Deadline, The Times, Telegraph, The Independent and @mrjamesob.bsky.social
David McCabe / New York Times:
A US judge is expected to rule next year on breaking up Google's ad tech monopoly, after the DOJ and Google delivered closing arguments in a remedies hearing — Judge Leonie M. Brinkema is on the clock. — The federal judge, who sits on the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia …
Discussion:
Engadget, @balancecrafting, Moneycontrol, BSS, @hedgeyetechlaw, @balancecrafting, @aripap, @balancecrafting, @megangra, @balancecrafting, @balancecrafting, WebProNews, The Verge, Financial Times, Bloomberg, Channel NewsAsia, Los Angeles Times, BMI, Reuters, Outlook India and Associated Press, more at Techmeme »
Corbin Bolies / @corbinbolies:
Memo: WSJ's Emma Tucker hires Axios EIC Aja Whitaker-Moore as co-deputy EIC, promotes David Crow to the same role, and hires Dan Colarusso to lead biz/finance — NEW: WSJ editor Emma Tucker sent a memo to staff saying she hired Axios EIC Aja Whitaker-Moore as a deputy EIC and Dan Colarusso as “coverage chief for Business, Finance and Economics” [image]
Discussion:
@xpangler and @dylanbyers
Al Tompkins / Poynter:
Nexstar's FCC filing in its $6.2B proposed merger with Tegna asks for urgent approval, which would require changing rules that limit station ownership — The broadcaster is pressing the FCC to fast-track a $6.2B deal that would expand its reach to more than half of US households
