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, Roll Call, The Guardian, @econklin44.bsky.social, Newser, Global News, TheJournal.ie, The Hill, Daily Mail, @hofrench.bsky.social, @villgecrazylady, @espiers.bsky.social, Reason, @moved2italy.bsky.social, @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, @jonfavs, @shannonrwatts, @four4thefire.bsky.social, @silvermanjacob, @benryanwriter, @ronfilipkowski, @nprinskeep, @jkhomestead, @dieworkwear, @kstrucks, @socialmedialab.ca, @repjackkimble, @kristiankiehling.bsky.social, kottke.org, People, IJR, @fingolas@journa.host, @fraying.bsky.social, @juliannemcshane.bsky.social, @cwarzel.bsky.social, @inaeoh.bsky.social, Mediaite, The Independent, Raw Story, 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, TVNewsCheck, @jesseltaylor.bsky.social, @nitishpahwa.com, @3titter.bsky.social, @jeffjarvis.bsky.social, @rvbdrm.com, @bgrueskin.bsky.social, @swizzard.pizza, @dodgerfanla.bsky.social, @robertscotthorton.bsky.social, @sarahkelly.bsky.social, @lawrencehurley.bsky.social, @dceiver.bsky.social, Deadline, @callyson.bsky.social, @jamellebouie.net, @jesspish.bsky.social, @bristei.bsky.social, @gonebabygone.bsky.social, @philclark.bsky.social, Los Angeles Times, @kristoncapps.bsky.social, @muwxguy.bsky.social, @838carlisle.bsky.social, @grynbaum, @joshsternberg.com, @timmarchman.bsky.social, @electriceden92.bsky.social, CBS News, TV Insider, @newsjennifer.bsky.social, @maxread.info, @bubblestud.bsky.social, @bigmemath.bsky.social, @giromide.online and @celebrityhottub.bsky.social
RELATED:
Natalie Korach / Status:
Sources: Bari Weiss moved a planned internal CBS town hall, set to lay out her broader vision, from this month to 2026, after the Erika Kirk town hall flopped
Sources: Bari Weiss moved a planned internal CBS town hall, set to lay out her broader vision, from this month to 2026, after the Erika Kirk town hall flopped
Discussion:
New Republic, Raw Story, The Wrap, Showbiz411, The Independent, Forbes, Sports Business Journal and @nataliekorach.bsky.social
Financial Times:
Trump Media agrees to merge with Google-backed fusion energy company TAE in a $6B deal and build the “world's first utility-scale fusion power plant” in 2026 — Deal represents bet on nuclear energy powering artificial intelligence boom — The Trump family media group has agreed …
Discussion:
Bloomberg, The Guardian, Wall Street Journal, GlobeNewswire News Room, Mediaite, Breitbart, Politico, Crunchbase News, masslive.com, Yahoo Finance, NFTgators, Latitude Media, @shanumathew93, The Federalist, Inc.com, Straight Arrow News, Sherwood News, The National Pulse, Engadget, E&E News, New York Sun, Associated Press, New York Post, Blockchain.News, Benzinga, Reuters, Forbes, Newser, The Verge, The Independent, UPI, NDTV Profit, New York Times, CNBC, Blockonomi, Media Play News, TechCrunch, ZeroHedge News, Variety, Channel NewsAsia, Fortune, Quartz, Washington Post, @robertscotthorton.bsky.social, Dow Jones Newswires, NucNet, Forbes Middle East, NewsMax.com, CBS News, Crypto Briefing and BelfastTelegraph.co.uk, more at Techmeme »
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.
Anna Betts / The Guardian:
David Brooks, who wrote a NYT column last month decrying popular fixation on the Epstein story, appears in newly released photos of a 2011 event with Epstein — Images, undated and uncaptioned, include Vladimir Nabokov lines written on women and show Bill Gates and Noam Chomsky
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:
The Streamable, Alison Levin on LinkedIn, Deadline, TVNewsCheck, Tom's Guide, StreamTV Insider and The Verge
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:
Pocket-lint, Daniel Granger on LinkedIn, Bloomberg, Podnews, Digiday, Tubefilter, Journalism.co.uk, The Athletic, TVNewsCheck and Inside Higher Ed
Will Sattelberg / 9to5Google:
Google returns as a partner service for Movies Anywhere, after leaving the service during a feud with Disney in October and November — Movies Anywhere was one of the unintended casualties faced during Google and Disney's brief feud throughout October and November, but as promised …
Discussion:
How-To Geek
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, Will Page on LinkedIn, Music Ally and Music Business Worldwide
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
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 …
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:
@kennysmith.bsky.social, Unite.AI and The Decoder
