Top News:
Michael Savage / The Guardian:
Trump's lawsuit against the BBC is set for trial in Feb. 2027; discovery must proceed though the judge has not ruled whether the Florida court has jurisdiction — Job losses and programming cancellations expected after Tim Davie tells staff broadcaster is not a ‘protected species’
Alice Brooker / Press Gazette:
An interview with Lachlan Cartwright on the one-year anniversary of Breaker, his profitable newsletter-first outlet, which has 40K+ paid and unpaid subscribers — A New York-based news site and twice-weekly newsletter has become profitable within a year, driven by subscriber revenue and a direct relationship with “superfans”.
Charlie Savage / New York Times:
The Virginia State Bar rejects a disciplinary complaint from a press freedom group against a DOJ lawyer over the raid of WaPo reporter Hannah Natanson's home — A press freedom group accused a prosecutor of violating an ethics rule by not telling a judge about a law limiting searches for journalistic work product.
Discussion:
@charliesavage.bsky.social, @freedom.press and @bselena.bsky.social
Alyssa Ray / The Wrap:
A CBS News producer quits, saying stories may now be evaluated “on whether they conform to a shifting set of ideological expectations”, causing self-censorship — “The very excellence we seek to sustain is hindered by fear and uncertainty,” the news producer writes
Axios:
US DOJ antitrust chief Gail Slater says she is leaving, in a departure viewed as a victory for tech giants over some of MAGA's more populist voices — Gail Slater on Thursday said she is leaving the Justice Department, where she led the antitrust division.
Discussion:
Politico, Variety, American Prospect, The Irish Times, Breitbart, The Guardian, New York Post, CBS News, PitchBook, The Gateway Pundit, The Hollywood Reporter, Sportico, @karlbode.com, Associated Press, The Hill, The Daily Caller, @paulsteidler, Bloomberg, Bloomberg Law, @stacyfmitchell, @jbsdc, @laurenshirsch, @verge, @douglaslfarrar, @chrispavlovski, Financial Times, UPI, NewsMax.com, The Daily Caller, @gigibsohn, @chuckgrassley, @sportsfanorg, @maxmmillerat, New York Times, Wall Street Journal, KVIA-TV, Raw Story, @ddayen, Washington Post, The Verge, NBC News, @gailaslater, Washington Times, The Information, The Wrap, @adamwren, The A.V. Club, Washington Examiner, CNBC, Deadline, Semafor and Global Competition Review, more at Techmeme »
Gene Weingarten / The Gene Pool:
An H-1B visa filing list indicates Will Lewis' base salary as WaPo CEO was $3M per year in 2025, or enough to pay ~27 of the 300+ reporters who were laid off — So. — The image above was given to us by Deb Milbrath, a freelance cartoonist in Atlanta. I love it. — Here's something I don't love:
Discussion:
@bgrueskin.bsky.social, @coreypein.bsky.social, @hshaban and @adamkeiper.com
RELATED:
Todd Spangler / Variety:
SAG-AFTRA signs an agreement with Netflix covering The Pete Davidson Show as a podcast, after talks about whether it should be treated as a TV show or a podcast — Netflix has described its recently released “The Pete Davidson Show” as a “video podcast” — and now SAG-AFTRA has signed …
Discussion:
The Wrap, @theatlantic.com, The Atlantic, Vulture and Motley Fool
Brendon Kleen / Awful Announcing:
Memo: The Banner in Maryland plans to expand sports staff to cover Washington, DC, teams, hiring beat reporters to cover the Nationals and Commanders, and more — Credit: Baltimore Banner; Washington Commanders; Washington Nationals — The Baltimore Banner is hoping it can fill …
Discussion:
The Banner
Ali Abunimah / The Electronic Intifada:
Current and ex-CPJ staffers say the nonprofit scrapped its Global Impunity Index in 2025 because Israel would have been ranked near the top or first, for years — Earlier this month, Omar Shakir stepped down from a senior role at Human Rights Watch after the group's suppression …
Discussion:
Committee to Protect … and @intifada.bsky.social
Brian Stelter / CNN:
Sources: Paramount CEO David Ellison met with Trump last week for two conversations; Trump has said he will stay out of Netflix-Paramount competition for WBD — Donald Trump Media Corporate news Tech news … Paramount CEO David Ellison returned to the White House last week to meet privately …
New York Times:
Casey Wasserman will remain chair of the LA Olympics committee after a review of his ties to Epstein and Maxwell; multiple entertainers have left his agency — Casey Wasserman exchanged flirtatious messages over 20 years ago with Ghislaine Maxwell, a longtime companion of Jeffrey Epstein.
Kayla Cobb / The Wrap:
YouTube and the NFL's second annual Creator Flag Football game drew 14M live views around the world, up from 6M in 2025, as the NFL seeks to export the sport — The Team J Balvin vs. Team Druski matchup saw more than double the viewership of last year's game
Discussion:
Tubefilter, Kylie Callura on LinkedIn, Media Play News, @hunterwalk.com, Adweek and YouTube Official Blog
Michael Savage / The Guardian:
UK Culture Secretary Lisa Nandy refers DMGT's proposed acquisition of the Telegraph to Ofcom and CMA over concerns about consolidation of rightwing papers — CMA and Ofcom to examine DMGT takeover amid fears merger could curb ‘diverging editorial stances’ in press
Discussion:
The Times, Telegraph, Press Gazette, The Independent, Sky News, Courthouse News Service, RTÉ and Bloomberg
