Top News:
Shane O'Neill / Washington Post:
Q&A with Christopher Anderson, who photographed Trump's inner circle for VF: “My job is to ... draw on my experience as a journalist and photograph what I see” — Every line, spot, blemish and blood vessel was captured by Christopher Anderson's lens. What was he thinking?
Discussion:
Vanity Fair, @susiewiles, The Hill, @moved2italy.bsky.social, Daily Mail, kottke.org, Reason, @hofrench.bsky.social, @villgecrazylady, @amy_siskind, @lulumeservey, @lepapillonblu2, @shawnmccreesh, @nothoodlum, Cele|bitchy, @richard_harambe, emptywheel, @jaheale, @jonlemire, @jesusrodriguezb, @edwardrow, @vanityfair, Newsweek, @muellershewrote, NOTUS, @repluna, @pkafka, @becketadams, @kbandersen, @acnewsitics, @timodc, @petertwinklage, @vanityfair, @gerardtbaker, @esotericcd, @fingolas@journa.host, @jonfavs, IJR, @shannonrwatts, @four4thefire.bsky.social, @silvermanjacob, @benryanwriter, @ronfilipkowski, @nprinskeep, @jkhomestead, @dieworkwear, @kstrucks, @socialmedialab.ca, @repjackkimble, @kristiankiehling.bsky.social, People, @fraying.bsky.social, @juliannemcshane.bsky.social, @cwarzel.bsky.social, @inaeoh.bsky.social, Mediaite, Raw Story, The Independent, Bloomberg and Just Jared
Alex Weprin / The Hollywood Reporter:
CBS News and The Free Press announce Things That Matter, a series of town halls and debates, starting in early 2026, with Sam Altman, J.D. Vance, and others — The news division is also planning a town hall with Maryland Gov. Wes Moore in the ‘Things That Matter’ series, with Bank of America lined up as a sponsor.
Discussion:
Variety, @bubblestud.bsky.social, @giromide.online, @newsjennifer.bsky.social, @jesspish.bsky.social, @838carlisle.bsky.social, @kristoncapps.bsky.social, Los Angeles Times, @maxread.info, Deadline, CBS News, @jamellebouie.net, @nitishpahwa.com, @3titter.bsky.social, @bgrueskin.bsky.social, @swizzard.pizza, @robertscotthorton.bsky.social, @sarahkelly.bsky.social, @lawrencehurley.bsky.social, @bristei.bsky.social, @gonebabygone.bsky.social, @philclark.bsky.social, @muwxguy.bsky.social, @grynbaum, @joshsternberg.com, @timmarchman.bsky.social, @electriceden92.bsky.social, TV Insider, @bigmemath.bsky.social and @celebrityhottub.bsky.social
RELATED:
John Rogers / Associated Press:
Peter Arnett, a Pulitzer Prize-winning correspondent who covered the Vietnam War for the AP and the first Gulf War for CNN, has died at 91 — Peter Arnett, the Pulitzer Prize-winning reporter who spent decades dodging bullets and bombs to bring the world eyewitness accounts of war …
Financial Times:
Sources: Standard General hedge fund founder Soo Kim has been in talks with a major WBD shareholder over potentially buying or investing in the WBD TV networks — Standard General's Soo Kim in talks over purchasing or investing in WBD's television networks
Discussion:
Awful Announcing, The Wrap, Deadline, Reuters and TVNewsCheck
RELATED:
Katie Deighton / Wall Street Journal:
A study of 1,000+ marketing campaigns: host-read podcast ads on YouTube are up to 25% less effective at driving purchases than in audio-only podcasts — Ads that appear in video podcasts are alluring for visually-minded marketers but may perform worse on the whole than audio-only, according to a new study
Discussion:
Bloomberg, Podnews, Digiday, Tubefilter, Journalism.co.uk, The Athletic, TVNewsCheck, Inside Higher Ed and Oxford Road
Cynthia Littleton / Variety:
NBCU plans to add Arrival Ads, live ads that play when users turn on Peacock, and use AI to search live sports events for the optimal moment to place ads — Forget the pause that refreshes — Peacock users will soon be greeted by a live commercial as soon as they sign on to the streamer.
Discussion:
Deadline, TVNewsCheck, Tom's Guide, StreamTV Insider and The Verge
Will Page / Pivotal Economics:
Analysis: music copyright's global value rose 5.2% YoY to a record $47.2B in 2024; the revenue split favored labels and artists at 62%, above songwriters' 38% — 11-MINUTE READ — TL;DR — Music copyright was valued at $47.2bn in 2024, nearly doubling in a decade
Discussion:
Billboard, Music Ally, Will Page on LinkedIn and Music Business Worldwide
Jake Kanter / Deadline:
YouTube terminates Screen Culture and KH Studio, two large channels that used AI to create fake movie trailers; the platform earlier suspended the channels' ads — The Google-owned video giant has switched off Screen Culture and KH Studio, which together boasted well over 2M subscribers and more than a billion views.
Todd Spangler / Variety:
Netflix hires ESPN anchor Elle Duncan as its first on-air host for live sports and cultural events; she has appeared on SportsCenter, College GameDay, and more — Netflix execs used to dismiss the idea that they would acquire live sports rights. Now the world's biggest premium streamer …
Discussion:
The Wrap, Los Angeles Times, Arizona Republic, The Verge, Deadline, Barrett Media, Media Play News, New York Post, Daily Mail and Awful Announcing
Janko Roettgers / The Verge:
Atlas Obscura plans to launch Obscura Society, a WebXR-based lounge offering users 3D avatars for voice chats, portals to other VR apps, and more, in early 2026 — After building dedicated apps for Meta's Quest and other VR headsets, Atlas Obscura expands to HTC's Viverse platform.
Discussion:
Associated Press and The Hollywood Reporter
OpenAI:
OpenAI launches the OpenAI Academy for News Organizations, which offers journalists AI training, open-source projects, and practical use cases — Working with the American Journalism Project and The Lenfest Institute to launch a new learning hub for journalists and publishers using AI.
Discussion:
The Decoder
Mark Stenberg / Adweek:
Dow Jones hires ex-Bloomberg Media CEO M. Scott Havens as its first chief growth officer, overseeing subscription growth and other consumer revenue streams — Dow Jones has hired M. Scott Havens as its first chief growth officer and global head of consumer, a newly created role that underscores …
Discussion:
Talking Biz News
Axios:
FCC Chairman Brendan Carr tells a Senate committee the FCC “is not an independent agency”; the agency removed “independent agency” from its site as he testified — FCC Chairman Brendan Carr said in his Wednesday Senate testimony that the agency he governs “is not an independent agency, formally speaking.”
Discussion:
The Guardian, Poynter, Washington Post, @freedomofpress@social …, Salon, Inside Radio, @acyn, @samstein, NPR, @bulwarkonline, @atrupar, @cspan, @sarafischer, @lutherlowe, The A.V. Club, Newser, CNBC, Reuters, FedScoop, New York Times, New Republic, Fox News, Forbes, @kim.senate.gov, Wall Street Journal, @carlquintanilla.bsky.social, Free Press Action Fund Feed, @willoremus.com, NOTUS, Raw Story, @kim.senate.gov, The Guardian, New Republic, NBC News, The Hill, Mediaite, The Independent, Barrett Media, The Wrap, @patriotprogressive …, @laurenmeidasa.bsky.social, San Diego Union-Tribune, Pasadena Star News, @justinbaragona.bsky.social, @justinbaragona.bsky.social, @justinbaragona.bsky.social, Alternet.org, Associated Press, Washington Examiner and @sarafischer, more at Techmeme »
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Steven Portnoy / ABC News:
Democratic Senate Commerce Committee members accused FCC Chairman Brendan Carr of making “mafia threats” and encroaching on broadcasters' First Amendment rights
Democratic Senate Commerce Committee members accused FCC Chairman Brendan Carr of making “mafia threats” and encroaching on broadcasters' First Amendment rights
Discussion:
TV Tech, Fox News, The Daily Caller, TheDesk.net, COURIER, @progresschamber, @cspan, @senbrianschatz, @leftcoastbabe, @amyklobuchar, Los Angeles Times, Radio Ink, Politico, Variety, The Verge, UPI, The Present Age, Ars Technica, The Hill, NewsMax.com, Radio & Television …, NBC News, Reuters, Breitbart and Associated Press

