Top News:
Brian Steinberg / Variety:
Major brands were replaced by direct-response advertisers during commercial breaks of CBS News' December 13 town hall with Erika Kirk, moderated by Bari Weiss — During a Saturday-night town hall led by Bari Weiss, the recently named editor in chief of CBS News, most of Madison Avenue sought an off-ramp.
Discussion:
Status, New York Sun, Sandra Rose, @matthewkeyslive, @newsjennifer.bsky.social, Salon, @mford.bsky.social, TVNewsCheck, @jbflint, @bristei, @bettycrackerfl.bsky.social, Raw Story, CBS News, @kennysmith.bsky.social, RedState, @5-2blue.bsky.social, @dannygroner.bsky.social, The Free Press, @chadloder.bsky.social, CBS News on YouTube, CBS News, The Gateway Pundit, @joshtpm.bsky.social, @bgrueskin.bsky.social, @joshuaerlich.bsky.social, The Hill, New York Post, @brandonfriedman.bsky.social, @swin24.bsky.social, Althouse, Deseret News, The Wrap and NewsMax.com
Kanis Leung / Associated Press:
Apple Daily founder Jimmy Lai is found guilty of colluding with foreign forces and conspiring to publish seditious articles, and faces a possible life sentence — Jimmy Lai, the former Hong Kong media mogul and outspoken critic of Beijing, was convicted in a landmark national security trial …
Discussion:
BBC, Reuters, Hong Kong Free Press HKFP, Human Events, Breitbart, The Daily Wire, Taipei Times, Washington Examiner, Catholic League, Courthouse News Service, Semafor, Kagi News, Metro.co.uk, New York Times, Associated Press, Financial Times, @liamjscott, Al Jazeera, Bloomberg, Columbia Journalism Review, UPI, Committee to Protect …, NPR, Australian Financial Review, Kyodo News, Reporters Without Borders, Sky News, CNBC, @joshrogin, @lorak.bsky.social, @klustout@threads.com, The Daily Register, NBC News, Wall Street Journal, @tomgrundy, The Japan Times, Reuters, @frances_hui, France 24, Washington Post, The Independent, CBC News, Nikkei Asia, The Guardian, @cpjasia, Globe and Mail, @hkdc_us, Al Jazeera, NewsMax.com and WAN-IFRA
Mike Masnick / Techdirt:
How media coverage of Trump's AI EO overstated federal authority over states and overlooked how the order's interstate commerce argument could backfire — The mainstream media just failed a basic civics test so badly that you'd think their brains have been pickled by the kinds of folks who spend all their time on X (oh, wait...).
Discussion:
Implicator.ai, Washington Post, The American Spectator, @BrideOfLinux@mastodon …, @haroldfeld.bsky.social, @rpardee@hachyderm.io, @jmiers230.bsky.social, @maxkennerly.bsky.social, @techdirt.com, The Decoder, naked capitalism, MS NOW, Above the Law, The White House, American Banker, Ars Technica, StateScoop, The Information, Nextgov/FCW and PCMag, more at Techmeme »
Aidan Ryan / The Boston Globe:
The Boston Globe says Brian McGrory will return as editor, after Nancy Barnes' departure at the end of 2025; McGrory previously was editor from 2012 to 2023 — Brian McGrory is returning to The Boston Globe as editor, the company's co-owner and chief executive Linda Henry announced to staff Monday.
Discussion:
New York Times, Media Nation, WBUR, @davidfolkenflik and Boston Business Journal
Max Tani / Semafor:
Internal tests show WaPo launched its AI podcast feature despite 68%+ of generated scripts failed its standards, saying it would “iterate through” the issues — The Scoop — The Washington Post began putting out AI-generated podcasts even after internal tests found …
Chris Morris / Variety:
Acclaimed actor and director Rob Reiner, 78, and his wife Michele Singer were found dead in their home; LAPD is investigating the deaths as a homicide — Rob Reiner, who segued from starring in “All in the Family” to directing movies including “This Is Spinal Tap,” “A Few Good Men” and …
Discussion:
@realDonaldTrump …, People, Los Angeles Times, New York Times, Associated Press, Zeteo, ABC7, The Wrap, HuffPost, Rolling Stone, People, New York Post, TMZ.com, @mayorofla, TVLine, Us Weekly, ABC News, Le Monde, E! Online, The Sun, @rapidresponse47, Celebrity News & …, InStyle, National Enquirer, TV Insider, NDTV Profit, The Tab, al.com, The Guardian, No More Mister Nice Blog, Entertainment Weekly, Vanity Fair, Washington Examiner, Forbes, Straight Arrow News, NewsMax.com, The Hollywood Reporter, Cord Cutters News, masslive.com, @samstein, @therickwilson, Newsweek, NPR, Daily Mail, New York Daily News, @kathrynw5, New Jersey Online, Wall Street Journal, New York Sun, OMG.BLOG, The Hill, @jbenton, Fox News, NBC News, Page Six, Nicki Swift, El País, ZeroHedge News, @erikdavis, SheKnows, The Scottish Sun, FemaleFirst, @letterboxd, Breitbart, @da__dealer, RADAR, World of Reel, @nickterrymgr, @angus.bsky.social, Mirror, @reallorispencer, Deadline, The Indian Express, Suggest, The Japan Times, USA Today, The Forward, Dexerto, TODAY.com, Looper, Vogue, @lonsj.bsky.social, Townhall, Comic Book, @trumanswhack, Empire, @fightingliberal.bsky.social, @tjandcasper, Pasadena Star News, Lawyer Monthly, RedState, Daily Star, @phillewis.bsky.social, Washington Post, Raw Story, @vronskies, Sandra Rose, @yashar, Extra, @spongebobsloth, @ceo_branding, @variety, @michaeljstern.bsky.social, @collinrugg, WWL-TV, The Post Millennial, NBC Bay Area, Benzinga, @theflickpick, @richarderoeper, /Film, UPI, Gizmodo, @antonia2024bsky.bsky.social, Advocate, @madgreek2024.bsky.social, France 24, Business Insider, @variety, GamesRadar, @sherripizza, Consequence, @danielsilvabook, David Earl Williams III on LinkedIn, CBS News, HELLO!, IndieWire, Channel2 NOW, @elex_michaelson, @stylesgala, @unhealthytruth, WPXI-TV, IJR, Oh No They Didn't!, Press Telegram, CNBC, Just Jared, Mock Paper Scissors and Twin Cities
Freddy Mayhew / Press Gazette:
PA Media, the UK's largest press agency, says it has adopted a “video-first” strategy to meet increased demand for live and vertical social media content — PA has adopted a “video-first” approach to its content offering in response to increased demand for live and vertical video content …
Sara Fischer / Axios:
WSJ launches Free Expression, a newsletter-focused opinion brand that will be available via its own channels and Substack, initially offering free content — The Wall Street Journal on Monday launched “Free Expression,” a newsletter-focused opinion brand that will be available via its own channels and Substack.
Discussion:
Talking Biz News, Wall Street Journal and @sarafischer
Alice Brooker / Press Gazette:
The Associated Press launches AP Verify, an AI-powered tool, including chatbot and geolocation, to help journalists authenticate text, photos, and videos — AP Verify helped find eyewitness videos from Charlie Kirk assassination. — Associated Press has launched an AI-powered tool …
Discussion:
Associated Press
Elias Leight / Wall Street Journal:
Christmas music is more popular than ever, with listeners embracing it earlier in the year; by December 10, 20 of Spotify's top 25 tracks were Christmas-themed — One music manager described a holiday hit as a ‘little ATM machine’ — The group Pentatonix are known for their a capella renditions of Christmas classics.
Discussion:
NPR, Barrett Media and Raw Story
Scott Fitzgerald / Wall Street Journal:
Rep. Scott Fitzgerald, chairman of the House Judiciary Subcommittee on antitrust, argues consumers stand to benefit from Netflix's acquisition of WBD — Consumers stand to benefit from Netflix's acquisition of Warner. — In a crossover event fit for Hollywood, Netflix is acquiring Warner Bros …
Discussion:
Elisheba Rachel tell …
Will McCurdy / PCMag:
Amazon rolls out Ask This Book to the Kindle iOS app, letting readers ask questions about plot or characters; authors can't opt out — Whether you're reading dense, challenging 19th-century classics or the latest thriller, sometimes even the best readers lose track of what's actually going on …
Discussion:
Engadget, Writer Beware, MakeUseOf, The Verge, MacRumors, 9to5Mac, @carnage4life.bsky.social, @hypervisible.blacksky.app and Reactor
