Top News:
Benjamin Lindsay / The Wrap:
Memo: WaPo won't send sports staffers to cover the Winter Olympics in Italy, as it assesses financial priorities for 2026, following reports of expected layoffs — Managing Editor Kimi Yoshino says the decision to not send reporters to the Milano Cortina 2026 Games comes after assessing financial priorities for the year
Discussion:
New York Times, @maxwelltani, @sturgissports, @robpegoraro.com, @bgrueskin.bsky.social, @bypatforde, @kallesorbo, @cbrennansports, @seungminkim, @waywardwinifred, @mccartneywp, @richarddeitsch, @stephstradley, @sportingtrib, @brendandarr, @mpjones1, @theaoster, @kevinmdraper, @benmullin, Awful Announcing and @bgrueskin.bsky.social
Siladitya Ray / Forbes:
Late-night TV hosts Jimmy Kimmel and Stephen Colbert criticized FCC Chair Brendan Carr for the FCC's new guidance on “equal time” rules for political candidates — Topline — Late-night hosts Jimmy Kimmel and Stephen Colbert on Thursday night responded to the Federal …
Discussion:
Federal Communications Commission, @cherieanne.bsky.social, LateNighter, TV Insider, Mediaite, Hollywood in Toto, @SteveThompson@mastodon.social, Raw Story, The Hollywood Reporter, Reality Tea, Entertainment Weekly, New York Post, Wall Street Journal, Deadline, People, Newsbusters, Reason, Fox News, The Hollywood Reporter, Fox News, Freedom of the Press …, Townhall, Mashable, Los Angeles Times, The Wrap and The A.V. Club
New York Times:
ByteDance strikes a deal with a group of non-Chinese investors to create a new TikTok US entity and avoid a federal ban, concluding a six-year legal saga — TikTok said on Thursday that its Chinese owner, ByteDance, had struck a deal with a group of non-Chinese investors to create a new U.S. TikTok …
Discussion:
Wired, @realDonaldTrump …, TikTok, @cjsprigman.bsky.social, Egypt Independent, AllHipHop, @robertlandrumjr.bsky.social, Engadget, CNN, @axiomveritas.bsky.social, RedState, Bloomberg, @andrewlevesque.bsky.social, South China Morning Post, Washington Examiner, Washington Post, Michael Tsai, Sharecafe, KEYE, KCRG-TV, Deseret News, Tech Brew, New York Post, Digital Music News, Salon, Ars Technica, Washington Times, Benzinga, Barchart.com, iDrop News, TheDesk.net, Search Engine Land, Business Insider, TechCrunch, @kateruane.bsky.social, WinBuzzer, Los Angeles Times, Media Play News, Memeburn, Entrepreneur, Technical.ly, National Review, Al Jazeera, Android Headlines, Thurrott, PetaPixel, Music Ally, MacRumors, TechRadar, Poynter, Newsmax, CNBC, The Straits Times, Wall Street Journal, Proactive, Daniel Ahiakpor on LinkedIn, Sherwood News, The Guardian, Sharecast, @kakape@mas.to, Silicon Republic, @jwildeboer@social …, Fortune, The US Sun, The Mainichi, Reuters, Mobile World Live, Moneycontrol, RNZ, Korea Joongang Daily, BBC, Forbes Australia, Ukrainian National News, Times Now, Screen Rant, DigiTimes, Financial Times, Rest of World, ANI News, CNBC, CBC News, The Pendragon Cycle, HotAir, @davidakaye.bsky.social, The Hill, @abbeyarletto.bsky.social, Gizmodo, Livemint, Chicago Tribune, The Wrap, @evacide@hachyderm.io, Just The News, @normative.bsky.social, @esqueer.net, The Verge, @solfleet.bsky.social, @bft.wtf, Business Insider, Politico, KARE-TV, Axios, WATN, ABC News, NBC News, Slate, CBS News, The A.V. Club, LEX 18 News, The Independent, @philplait.bsky.social, @alanrozenshtein.com, Semafor, Fox Business, Investing.com and Crypto Briefing, more at Techmeme »
RELATED:
Dan Whateley / Business Insider:
Memo: TikTok CEO Shou Chew hailed the establishment of the TikTok USDS JV as “great news”, and said the app is used by 200M US users and 7.5M US businesses — - TikTok has finalized a deal to keep its business operating in the US. — The deal, a US joint venture …
Laura Kelly / The Hill:
Sources: Ali Javanmardi, VOA's Persian-language service advisor, is accused of censoring coverage of Iran's exiled crown prince due to a personal political bias — Editor's note: An earlier version of this article mischaracterized Crown Prince Reza Pahlavi's most recent call for anti-government protests.
Manish Singh / India Dispatch:
HSBC: JioHotstar had 300M paying subscribers in India in 2025, compared with 65M for Amazon Prime Video and 20M for Netflix; ~24% of OTT users pay for content — And more than $900 million in annual revenue in India. — Amazon Prime Video has more than three times the subscribers as Netflix in India, according to HSBC.
Discussion:
Times Now
Politico:
The 8th Circuit rejects a DOJ bid to revive rejected warrants for Don Lemon and four others whom the DOJ claims illegally entered a St. Paul church last weekend — Micko did authorize arrest warrants for three people whom prosecutors described as leaders of the intrusion into the church …
Matthew Belloni / Puck:
Source: Amazon plans to spend $35M+ on marketing Brett Ratner's Melania Trump documentary, which it paid $40M for, huge sums for the medium — On top of the $40 million Amazon ponied up for Brett Ratner's docu-hagiography, the studio is spending another $35 million to open it in 27 countries …
Zach Montague / New York Times:
Unsealed court documents show the Trump administration revoked Tufts student Rumeysa Ozturk's visa based on her op-ed in the Tufts Daily student paper — Documents unsealed by a federal judge on Thursday include dossiers that investigators prepared on pro-Palestinian student activists before they were targeted for deportation.
Discussion:
The Intercept, @pauleric70.bsky.social, @pkafka, @reichlinmelnick, @prem_thakker, @adamsteinbaugh, Drezner's World, Raw Story, @pebonilla, @jstreetdotorg.bsky.social, Freedom of the Press …, FIRE, @splc.org, Washington Post, The Independent, ABC News, @hannahgais.bsky.social, @hannahgais.bsky.social, Mediaite, @brizzyc.bsky.social, New Republic and The Boston Globe
Jason Gutierrez / New York Times:
A Philippine court sentenced journalist Frenchie Mae Cumpio to 12 to 18 years in jail on charges that media advocates call fabricated; she is expected to appeal — Frenchie Mae Cumpio and her former roommate were convicted of financing terrorism and sentenced to up to 18 years in prison.
Robin Pogrebin / New York Times:
Anonymous Content, the production company whose lead investor is Emerson Collective, names Ford Foundation ex-president Darren Walker as president and CEO — Anonymous Content, a production company whose top investor is Laurene Powell Jobs's Emerson Collective, has named Darren Walker as president and chief executive.
Discussion:
Variety, The San Francisco Standard, The Wrap, Deadline and The Hollywood Reporter
George Winslow / TV Tech:
Media advocacy group Free Press analyzed 35 top corporate media and tech companies for their DEI goals and says 26 retreated from those goals in 2025 — In a detailed analysis of the 35 most dominant U.S. media companies, the Free Press report reveals a disturbing reversal on prior civil-rights commitments
Discussion:
MediaPost, @freepress.bsky.social, Free Press, @freepress.bsky.social and Free Press Action Fund Feed
