Mediagazer

2:05 PM ET, July 12, 2026

Top News:

Sources: the White House directed FBI director Kash Patel to personally oversee the probe into NYT reporting about Air Force One, before subpoenas were issued — The F.B.I. director spent about eight hours at the White House Friday focused on the effort, which led to the subpoenaing …

Discussion: @royermattw, @2xaught7.ing, @kimmasters.bsky.social, @markharris.bsky.social, Los Angeles Times, International Business Times, @tomsclark.bsky.social, Daily Mail, Military.com, @harrymccracken@mastodon …, @ndhapple.bsky.social, @amyalexca.bsky.social, twitchy.com, @bizazzle.bsky.social, HuffPost, @portlandken.bsky.social, @schooley.bsky.social, The Independent, @dianaresists.bsky.social, @jeffjarvis.bsky.social, @doctoralex.bsky.social, Letters from an American, @simko-bednarski.bsky.social, @michael-feinberg.bsky.social, @samlitzinger.bsky.social, @jeffsharlet.bsky.social, The Intellectualist, Associated Press, The Wrap, @monaburns.bsky.social, @newsjennifer.bsky.social, New York Sun, Reuters, Raw Story, Crooks and Liars, The Indian Express, The Gateway Pundit, Washington Examiner, Mediaite, NewsMax.com, ZeroHedge News and Clash Report

Michael M. Grynbaum / New York Times:

The Trump administration issued subpoenas to several NYT reporters after the outlet reported on security concerns involving the new Qatari-donated Air Force One — The Justice Department is seeking to compel testimony from reporters who wrote about the new Air Force One. The Times called the move a “brazen act.”

Discussion: Associated Press, CNN, The Hill, Committee to Protect …, The Reporters Committee …, National Press Club, @kenbazinet.bsky.social, @jamiedupree, @alexberenson, The Asia Business Daily, @jeremymbarr, Politico, Ben Werdmuller, @kenvogel, @pandanook.bsky.social, HuffPost, The Independent, @brianstelter, @gavinnewsom, @marcelias.bsky.social, RedState, @jeremymbarr, Daniel Drepper on LinkedIn, @balint.house.gov, The Last Refuge, @bymikebaker, @maxwelltani, emptywheel, @amy_siskind, @aclu.org, @davidfolkenflik, The Warning with Steve Schmidt, Stephen Adler on LinkedIn, Sky News, Al Jazeera, Salon, @niallstanage, Bloomberg, Wall Street Journal, TMZ.com, The Wrap, Straight Arrow, @kenroth, Breitbart, @thebluenami.bsky.social, Lawyers, Guns & Money, One America News Network, NPR, The Post Millennial, Raw Story, Baller Alert, NBC News, @trumpstaxes.com, NewsGuild of New York, Mock Paper Scissors, Newser, Santa Rosa Press-Democrat, @briankrebs@infosec.exchange, Mother Jones, Fox News, Benzinga, The Guardian, @christopherjm, To the Contrary, @beyerstein.bsky.social, New York Daily News, New York Post, @freedomofpress, @timmarchman.bsky.social, NOTUS, @portiamcgonagal.bsky.social, Mediaite, @farhip, @rpsagainsttrump, Washington Examiner, @nytimes, @dangillmor@mastodon.social, Deadline, @grynbaum, @katiephang.bsky.social, @rgoodlaw.bsky.social, CNBC, @bgrueskin.bsky.social, CBS News, @spignal.bsky.social, Townhall, @clarajeffery.bsky.social, @harrylitman.bsky.social, @rmac.bsky.social and Clash Report

Corbin Bolies / Variety:

Meta says it will discontinue a feature that allowed users to generate images in Meta AI using public Instagram accounts, following days of criticism — Meta said on Friday it would discontinue an AI feature that allowed users to generate images using public Instagram accounts following days …

Ina Fried / Axios:
Privacy advocates, CAA, and SAG-AFTRA slam Meta's Muse Image, which lets users create AI images using the likenesses of people with public Instagram accounts

Jake Kanter / Deadline:

BBC Director General Matt Brittin says he will review BBC's foreign content acquisition strategy amid criticism over outbidding rivals for shows like Scooby-Doo — Matt Brittin said he wished to examine whether the BBC is getting the “balance right” with buying in content …

Discussion: @rwmead.bsky.social and @eddierobson.bsky.social

Todd Spangler / Variety:

Report: Letterboxd's owners have held early talks with potential buyers, including Netflix, Sony Pictures, Paramount, and PE giant TPG — Sony Pictures Entertainment, Paramount and Alexis Ohanian also supposedly eyeing movie social platform — Could Letterboxd, the popular film-review social network …

Scott Roxborough / The Hollywood Reporter:

Q&A: Banijay CEO Marco Bassetti on the All3Media merger, plans to expand beyond TV into live events and sports, preserving flexible company culture, and more — The Banijay chief discusses the opportunities created by the new $8.5 billion super indie, expanding beyond TV and whether ITV Studios is on his radar.

Discussion: Deadline, Variety, The National, The Wrap and Financial Times

James Faris / Business Insider:

Sources: Disney is discussing a potential free tier for Disney+; product and tech chief Adam Smith discussed the initiative at a town hall but gave no timeline — Disney is exploring making some of its streaming content available at an unbeatable price: free.

Todd Spangler / Variety:
Alisa Bowen, president of Disney+ since late 2022, is leaving to become CEO of Disney-controlled Fubo, succeeding David Gandler, who led Fubo for over a decade

Discussion: Cord Cutters News, Radio & Television …, The Streamable, Barrett Media, The Wrap, Sports Business Journal, Benzinga, Telecompaper, Deadline, TheDesk.net, Jessica Casano-Antonellis on LinkedIn, ir.fubo.tv, Wall Street Journal, Reuters and The Hollywood Reporter

Ben Fritz / Wall Street Journal:

As Hollywood looks for its next Obsession-type hit, 11 studios bid on YouTube series The Mandela Catalogue and sources say WBD paid $1M for rights to Siren Head — Creator of monster called Siren Head scores rich deal as studios hunt for next ‘Backrooms’-style hit

Discussion: The A.V. Club

Winston Cho / The Hollywood Reporter:

NYT countersues the US EEOC, accusing it of retaliation for NYT's coverage of the agency by suing NYT for passing over a white man for a top editorial role — The publication accuses the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission of filing a lawsuit in retaliation for its reporting.

Discussion: The Gateway Pundit, Wall Street Journal, Associated Press, CNN, New York Times, Deadline, Reuters, Reuters and Benzinga

Brent Lang / Variety:

Department M is acquiring a significant stake in indie studio Neon; founder Tom Quinn remains Neon CEO, and The Friedkin Group remains a significant shareholder — Department M has closed a transaction to acquire a significant stake in Neon, the Oscar-winning indie studio behind “Parasite” and “Anora.”

Discussion: Deadline, @timxai.ai, Screen, IndieWire, The Hollywood Reporter and The Wrap

Lucas Manfredi / The Wrap:

Oregon's AG withdraws a motion to delay the Paramount-WBD merger while he sought company documents; EU agencies and some state AGs are still examining the deal — An ODOJ spokesperson tells TheWrap that the David Ellison-led media giant thinks they're “above the law” after refusing to comply …

Discussion: Deadline, Media Play News, The Verge, @brianstelter, @brianstelter, Reuters, Variety, Benzinga and Gadget Review

Matthew Keys / TheDesk.net:

Sources: over 50 Scripps-owned local TV stations returned to DirecTV's satellite and streaming platforms after a distribution dispute ended on Friday — The new deal brings more than 50 Scripps-owned local stations back to DIRECTV's platforms, but the broadcaster is staring …

Discussion: USA Today, Deadline, The Wrap, Cord Cutters News, Bloomberg and Radio & Television …

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Malia Mendez / New York Times:
PEN America's president resigns, citing the group's publication of an article that opposed cultural boycotts and detailed challenges Jewish writers face now

Discussion: The Atlantic, PEN America, New York Sun and r/TrueLit

Ellyn Briggs / Front Office Sports:
Sports is garnering new attention from media outlets, like Politico and VF, as it offers content that readers actively seek out rather than stumble upon

Discussion: Jodie Davis on LinkedIn, @readdanwrite and @wolfereports.bsky.social

Anna Wise / The Independent:
New Ofcom proposals would fine social media platforms and search engines up to £18M or 10% of global revenue for failing to take action to stamp out scam ads

Discussion: The Guardian, BBC, Advanced Television, Ofcom and Telecompaper

Katherine Sayre / Wall Street Journal:
An RIAA-led coalition representing labels and artists proposes two tags for AI content: one for entirely AI-generated songs and another for “AI-assisted” tracks

Discussion: Breitbart, Digital Trends, Variety, Rolling Stone, The Economic Times, Newser, Gizmodo, The Hollywood Reporter, Deadline, Billboard and Music Business Worldwide

Alice Brooker / Press Gazette:
The UK's YouTube-based TLDR News is supplementing digital ad revenue by selling a print magazine and merchandise, earning a profit in its latest fiscal year

Earlier Picks:

C.J. Robinson / Columbia Journalism Review:
A look at Restoration News, a three-year-old news site funded by the right-wing nonprofit Restoration of America, with ties to Metric Media's network of sites

Discussion: @emilybell.bsky.social

Ashley Carman / Bloomberg:
Some longtime podcast hosts are ending or leaving their shows as video becomes dominant; increasingly, YouTube-first or video-first programs lead podcast charts

Discussion: Digital Music News

Samantha Cole / 404 Media:
Patreon CEO Jack Conte announces a partnership with Cloudflare to block AI training crawlers at the network level for all posts published on Patreon

Discussion: @alexpagliuca.bsky.social, @glassbottommeg.bsky.social, MediaPost, Gadget Review, naked capitalism, Joe.My.God. and Tech Times

Wall Street Journal:
Sources: Netflix executives are increasingly worried about declining engagement and are exploring adding live TV and bundling streaming services like Peacock

Discussion: Benzinga, Puck, The Oldham Times, mxdwn Television, Collider, ZeroHedge News, iDrop News, @mattbelloni.bsky.social, Breitbart, The Bulwark, Android Police, Tech Brew, @matthewkeyslive, @pabastien.bsky.social, @johnrogers.bsky.social, How-To Geek, Gadget Review, Android Authority, Barrett Media, Media Play News, Newsmax, TechCrunch, Streaming Better, Thurrott, @bakerdphd.bsky.social, PCMag, Barron's Online, The Streamable, @claireatki, @djniconv, TechRadar, Cord Cutters News, The Mac Observer, Advanced Television, Blockonomi, T3, Radio Times, Digital Trends, The A.V. Club, @carnage4life@mas.to, Ben Fritz on LinkedIn, 9to5Mac, @blackazizanansi.blacksky.app, @michaelsderby.bsky.social, @zugernat.bsky.social, Awful Announcing, @whoa-magic.lol, @scout6.bsky.social, @andonthedrums.bsky.social, @bryanmurphy.bsky.social, @brianstorms@mastodon.social, @stevemking.bsky.social, @firerock31@threads.com, @jakevk.bsky.social and @benfritz.bsky.social

Sarah Perez / TechCrunch:
Google says it will automatically add a disclosure to ads that are made with its AI advertising tools, expanding the disclosure beyond election ads to all ads

Discussion: PPC, Trak.in, MediaPost, Barrett Media, Watcher Guru, Search Engine Roundtable, CNET, Digital Trends, Android Authority, Social Media Today, RuntimeWire, Engadget, The Verge, Google and Search Engine Land

From Techmeme:

Sam Learner / Financial Times:
Users of AI coding tools are flooding open-source projects with low-quality contributions, overwhelming maintainers and potentially eroding community engagement

Mark Gurman / Bloomberg:
Apple's OpenAI lawsuit follows months of simmering tensions and highlights OpenAI's hardware chief Tang Tan's strained relationship with former boss John Ternus

Mark Gurman / Bloomberg:
Sources: Apple is already taping out M7 with major NPU upgrades, and plans M7 Ultra with 1.5TB RAM, and M8, for 2028; new Pencils are coming with a new iPad Pro

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