Top News:
New York Times:
Memos: Will Lewis steps down as WaPo publisher and CEO; former Tumblr CEO Jeff D'Onofrio, who joined WaPo in June 2025 as CFO, is now acting publisher and CEO — His departure came days after the company cut 30 percent of the staff. He will be replaced in the interim by Jeff D'Onofrio, the chief financial officer, the company said.
Discussion:
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Jon Passantino / Status:
Sources: before WaPo 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 …
Paul Farhi / @farhip:
Washington Post Guild Steward Sarah Kaplan says the reported 300 layoffs figure doesn't account for non-Guild cuts, making the actual total “well over” 300
Washington Post Guild Steward Sarah Kaplan says the reported 300 layoffs figure doesn't account for non-Guild cuts, making the actual total “well over” 300
Discussion:
Townhall, @devlinbarrett, @deggans and Deadline
Max Tani / Semafor:
WaPo squandered two precious years under Will Lewis' leadership, and his short resignation note and the lack of a succession plan suggest his exit was unplanned
Financial Times:
A WaPo newsroom source says senior management was livid that Will Lewis attended Super Bowl festivities as news of layoffs broke, adding, “Bezos lost patience”
A WaPo newsroom source says senior management was livid that Will Lewis attended Super Bowl festivities as news of layoffs broke, adding, “Bezos lost patience”
Discussion:
The Wrap, Status, The Spectator, Mediaweek, Press Gazette, Politico, @samadams.bsky.social, NewsMax.com, @ianfraser.bsky.social, @newsjennifer.bsky.social, @karenho.bsky.social, France 24, @semaforben, Al Jazeera, Oman Observer, The Indian Express, Times of India, Townhall, WLT Report, Australian Financial Review, Associated Press, ZeroHedge News, NBC Bay Area, The Gateway Pundit, Wall Street Journal, Le Monde, NBC News, Bloomberg, New York Post, The Japan Times, Business Insider, Fox News, Mediaite, Axios, Newslaundry, Financial Times, @nataliekorach, The Daily Beast and Daily Caller News Foundation
Lauren Forristal / TechCrunch:
A look at the 2026 Super Bowl ads from Anthropic, Meta, Amazon, Google, and others, as AI continued to take center stage in ad creation and AI product promotion — Following last year's trend of showcasing AI in multimillion-dollar ad spots, the 2026 Super Bowl advertisements took …
Discussion:
@realDonaldTrump …, Mediaite, /Film, Inc.com, Interesting Engineering, Fast Company, Fortune, @scaling01, @light_2610, @litcapital, @introspecktive, Adweek, @electionsjoe, @brian_armstrong, @albertcamslut, @problemsthots, @kath_krueger, @wayansjr, @chasedownleads, @pissvortex and @812filmreviews, more at Techmeme »
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Jordy Fee-Platt / The Athletic:
Turning Point USA's All-American Halftime Show during the Super Bowl peaked at 6.1M concurrent YouTube viewers; the show wasn't on X due to licensing issues — Share full article — Streamed opposite Bad Bunny's Super Bowl halftime performance, Turning Point USA's “All-American Halftime Show” …
Discussion:
Fox News, CBS News, National Enquirer, NewsMax.com, @mrserikakirk, New Jersey Online, Salon, Consequence, WXIA-TV, @peakingtruth, ZeroHedge News, @artwithinpod, Front Office Sports, The Wrap, @blueatlgeorgia, Daily Mail, Deseret News, @jamiebonkiewicz, The Gateway Pundit, The Hollywood Reporter, Screen Rant, The Sun, @themainewonk, Variety, The Daily Wire, @uwebollocks, @secwar, @kid_riles, IJR, Washington Examiner, Suggest, BizPac Review and Us Weekly
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
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
Discussion:
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Laya Neelakandan / CNBC:
In a reversal, Trump endorses Nexstar's $6.2B acquisition of Tegna, saying “We need more competition against THE ENEMY, the Fake News National TV Networks” — President Donald Trump on Saturday endorsed Nexstar Media's proposed $6.2 billion acquisition of Tegna, just months after criticizing the deal.
Discussion:
@realDonaldTrump …, Radio & Television …, The Hollywood Reporter, @claireatki, Cord Cutters News and The Wrap
Reuters:
A Hong Kong court sentences the 78-year-old Apple Daily founder Jimmy Lai to 20 years in prison over national security charges, ending a five-year legal saga — Hong Kong's most vocal China critic, media tycoon Jimmy Lai, was sentenced on Monday to 20 years in jail, ending …
Discussion:
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Miranda Green / Columbia Journalism Review:
A Tow Center probe found that GOP-aligned Metric Media filed 9K+ FOIA requests across the US in the past year, often about culture-war issues like banned books — Metric Media filed more than nine thousand public records requests last year. It used the data to target Democratic politicians and private citizens.
Discussion:
@columjournreview.bsky.social and @briankrebs@infosec.exchange
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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
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
Discussion:
@columjournreview.bsky.social, @freedom.press, @cdarwin@c.im and @pamspaulding.bsky.social
K.J. Yossman / Variety:
HBO Max is set to launch in the UK and Ireland on March 26, with ad-supported tiers costing £4.99 or £5.99 per month and ad-free at £9.99 or £14.99 per month — HBO Max has finally set the launch date for the rollout of its standalone streaming service in the U.K. and Ireland.
Lucas Shaw / Bloomberg:
Q&A with YouTube VP of Subscription Products Christian Oestlien on YouTube TV's future, the NFL and Oscars deals, its friendly rivalry with Netflix, and more — YouTube is going to start selling cheaper TV bundles for sports fans, news junkies — Happy Super Bowl Sunday …
Max Tani / Semafor:
Source: WaPo planned a marketing campaign with a new slogan, We The People, but dropped it after MS Now launched a $20M brand campaign with the same slogan — THE SCOOP — Late last year, before The Washington Post slashed its staff and ousted its CEO, the paper was looking to rehabilitate its public image.
Discussion:
Fox News, @semaforben and @maxwelltani
Pamela McClintock / The Hollywood Reporter:
Amazon's Melania documentary fell 67% in its second week box office with $2.4M; Amazon MGM Studios says it is sparking “interest” among Prime Video subscribers — The first lady's documentary fell off a steep 67 percent in its second weekend, prompting Amazon MGM to go on the offensive …
Discussion:
PoliticusUSA, Mumbrella, TechCrunch, Entertainment Weekly and Mediaite
Sara Guaglione / Digiday:
The Athletic is investing in live blogs and video to combat AI scraping; Similarweb says The Athletic had 16.9M unique visitors in January 2026, up 59% YoY — As the Super Bowl and the Winter Olympics collide this week, The New York Times-owned publication The Athletic is playing up coverage …
Abner Li / 9to5Google:
YouTube launches a Premium paywall for song lyrics on YouTube Music, after testing it in recent months; users get five free lyrics before they have to subscribe — After testing in recent months, YouTube Music looks to be widely rolling out a Premium paywall for lyrics.
