Top News:
Jon Passantino / Status:
Sources: before the layoffs, a group of wealthy DC locals asked Will Lewis whether WaPo would sell them its local and sports sections, but never got an answer — Last month, just ahead of the devastating layoffs at The Washington Post, a group of wealthy D.C. locals approached Post publisher …
Discussion:
This Hard Land, Mediaite, The Present Age, MS NOW, The Rebooting, Washingtonian, HotAir, The Cross Section and Axios
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Financial Times:
Sources: WaPo is losing about $100M per year but aiming to break even by the end of 2026, which could unlock fresh funding from Jeff Bezos — Billionaire hopes that culling hundreds of journalists will stem heavy losses and refocus the struggling newspaper
Discussion:
@realbobwoodward, American Thinker, The Wrap, @gregjaffe, @bencjacobs, @michaelscherer, @jeremymbarr, @hshaban, The Guardian, @dogmomager, @moorehn, @rachelbianca, @wapotechguild, @davidclinchnews, Axios, @francescaebel, @sarahellison, Newsbusters, @jayrosen.bsky.social, Democracy Now, Daily Caller News Foundation, @meredithfailson.bsky.social, Diane Ravitch's blog, Los Angeles Times, BIG by Matt Stoller, The Bulwark, Vanity Fair, The Atlantic and Drezner's World
Drew Lerner / Awful Announcing:
WaPo Publisher Will Lewis appeared at NFL Honors in San Francisco Thursday, after failing to show for a Zoom call in which WaPo announced historic layoffs — Will Lewis likes sports. He just doesn't like paying sports journalists. — The Washington Post publisher who presided over the axing …
Aban Usmani / Newslaundry:
WaPo terminated the contract of its Delhi bureau chief Pranshu Verma; a source says “there is no clarity if the paper will continue with its bureau in Delhi”
Discussion:
@pranshuverma_, @supriyakmr, @lisagartner, spiked, @pavnimittal, The Verge and The Kyiv Independent
Hadas Gold / CNN:
Anthropic is running Super Bowl ads criticizing ads in chatbots, prompting a public response from OpenAI CEO Sam Altman defending plans for ads in ChatGPT — A long-simmering rivalry between two of the world's biggest AI companies was on public display this week as Anthropic and OpenAI took swings at one another online.
Discussion:
@sama, Anthropic, Wall Street Journal, The Guardian, The Next Web, Fast Company, Reuters, The Economic Times, Gabriel Nicholas on LinkedIn, Ruben Schreurs on LinkedIn, Kaitlyn McCann on LinkedIn, Nicolas Young on LinkedIn, Suzanne Vranica on LinkedIn, PC Gamer, @hadas_gold, @nikitabier, BBC, @johncodes, @paulroetzer, @neo_antiquarian, @bcmerchant, PitchBook, Wired, @cameron.stream, CNBC, Mediaweek, Android Headlines, SFist, Adweek, The Verge, @tomwarren.co.uk, TVREV, MediaPost, Notebookcheck, Computerworld, MediaBrief, Observer, ZDNET, Variety, Techstrong.ai, PCWorld, WinBuzzer, Sherwood News, Futurism, Entrepreneur, Digital Trends, Just Jared, The Indian Express, Communicate Online, Phandroid, Blockonomi, Inc, Moneycontrol, GameRevolution, The Decoder and Business Standard
Wall Street Journal:
A civil subpoena shows the US DOJ is investigating Netflix for potential anticompetitive tactics as DOJ probes the company's proposed acquisition of WBD — As it probes bids for Warner, the department is asking if the streamer has engaged in conduct that could make it a monopoly
Discussion:
Livemint, Bloomberg, MLive.com, @karlbode.com, Dow Jones Newswires, Financial Times, New York Post, Newsmax, Sherwood News, Benzinga, O'Dwyers PR and Cartoon Brew, more at Techmeme »
C.J. Robinson / Columbia Journalism Review:
A look at the FOIA system, as right-wing media networks flood it with robo-requests, the number of FOIA agents stays flat, and states opt for higher fees — FOIA's systemic problems meet partisan robo-requests. — The Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) was designed to help keep …
Discussion:
Courthouse News Service, Columbia Journalism Review and Pixel Envy
Todd Spangler / Variety:
Filing: Amazon's spending on content, including music, sports rights, and licensed and produced TV and film, rose 10% YoY to $22.4B — The figure was disclosed Friday in the ecommerce giant's 10-K annual filing with the SEC, a day after Amazon reported fourth quarter 2025 results.
Discussion:
Media Play News
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Todd Spangler / Variety:
Amazon reports Q4 ad revenue up 23% YoY to $21.32B, slightly above expectations, and subscription services revenue up 14% to $13.12B
Amazon reports Q4 ad revenue up 23% YoY to $21.32B, slightly above expectations, and subscription services revenue up 14% to $13.12B
Discussion:
Miami Herald, Music Ally, BMI, Communicate Online, Adweek, GeekWire, Modern Retail, Media Play News, The Wrap, Financial Times, Amazon and CNBC
Gene Maddaus / Variety:
Netflix settles a 2022 defamation lawsuit brought by con artist Anna Sorokin's former friend, who claims she was falsely portrayed in its series Inventing Anna — Netflix has settled a defamation lawsuit brought a Vanity Fair staffer who claimed that she was falsely portrayed in the Shonda Rhimes series “Inventing Anna.”
Discussion:
The Wrap
The Guardian:
The UK raises the TV license fee, the BBC's main funding source, from £174.50 to £180 a year from April 1, saying it gives the BBC a “stable financial footing” — Inflation-linked increase comes as ministers continue to review options for BBC's future funding
Discussion:
Advanced Television, The Sun, Mirror, GB News, Broadband TV News and Telecompaper
Neel Dhanesha / Nieman Lab:
How journalism co-ops Defector, Hell Gate, Aftermath, Coyote, Sequencer, and Range practice horizontal governance, structure their newsrooms, manage ads, more — “If I was less self-directed, I'd probably be freaking out.” — Defector almost didn't exist.
Democracy for Sale:
Docs: a Labour thinktank run by a current UK minister hired a PR firm in 2023 to investigate journalists from the Guardian and other outlets to ID their sources — Labour Together put private investigators onto journalists writing about its funding. Starmer's right-hand man knew. — Peter Geoghegan
Discussion:
Telegraph, Breitbart, Lucas Amin on LinkedIn, The Guardian, @kathyodonnell.bsky.social, @pressgazette.co.uk, @indexoncensorship.org, @richardhull54.bsky.social, @andymcdonaldmp.bsky.social, @gerryhassan.bsky.social, @fkamiah17@syzito.xyz, @eddwilson.bsky.social, @glynmoody@mastodon.social, @andrewpurcell.bsky.social, @petergeoghegan.bsky.social, @pickardje.bsky.social, @natacha.bsky.social, @robinince.bsky.social, @declassifieduk.org, @kimjohnsonmp.bsky.social, Canary and National Union of Journalists …
Will Oremus / Washington Post:
NewsGuard sues the FTC, alleging censorship after the FTC barred Omnicom from working with NewsGuard as a condition of the ad agency's Interpublic acquisition — NewsGuard files lawsuit alleging censorship after Trump's FTC barred a major ad agency from using its ratings
