Top News:
Thomas Germain / BBC:
An Adalytics report shows how ad systems run by Google, Amazon, Microsoft and others inadvertently placed ads on a website that hosts CSAM — Some of the biggest tech companies in the world served ads on a website featuring images of child abuse, helping to fund its operations.
Discussion:
adalytics.io, EsstN, @andil.bsky.social, Nick Swimer on LinkedIn, @jpmarthoz.bsky.social, @thedesk.net, Digiday and Adweek
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James Hercher / AdExchanger:
Senators Blackburn and Blumenthal write to Amazon, Google, and others demanding fixes after a report said the companies facilitated ads on pages with CSAM — On Friday, Sens. Marsha Blackburn (R-Tenn) and Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn) sent co-written letters to Amazon, Google, Integral Ad Science …
Discussion:
Adweek, U.S. Senator Marsha Blackburn …, The Register and DoubleVerify
Kipp Jones / Mediaite:
Memo: the Pentagon adds CNN, WaPo, The Hill, and The War Zone to its eviction list, replaced by Washington Examiner, The Free Press, Daily Caller, and Newsmax — The US Defense Department announced Friday night that it would double the number of news organizations that would be removed …
Discussion:
Breitbart, @michaelssmithii, @brian_henderson, @brianstelter, The Wrap, @ktoropin, @brianstelter, @stevenadamswv, Deadline, CNN and Reuters
Winston Cho / The Hollywood Reporter:
Filing: five New York pension funds have sued Paramount Global, seeking a preliminary block on Paramount's Skydance merger and alleging breach of fiduciary duty — A Delaware court ruled that Paramount must produce records that could lay the groundwork for more lawsuits from investors challenging …
Dato Parulava / Politico:
The Georgian parliament plans to introduce a new bill to “define the standards of media objectivity and ethics” and ban foreign funding for media altogether — Georgian authorities are doubling down on media and civil society groups, putting forward a range of new restrictions apparently inspired …
Carolyn Giardina / Variety:
Sources: the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences is considering changing its Oscar submission requirements to make disclosing films' use of AI mandatory — The use of AI in best picture contender “The Brutalist” recently grabbed headlines and ignited controversy …
Martyn Ziegler / The Times:
Sources: Netflix is expected to bid for the US broadcast rights to Formula 1 starting from the 2026 season; ESPN currently holds the rights under a $90M deal — Streaming platform looking to capitalise on success of Drive to Survive series in America with their first attempt to secure season-long mainstream sports rights
Ted Johnson / Deadline:
President Trump amends his CBS lawsuit, alleging 60 Minutes' Kamala Harris interview unfairly diverted viewers from Truth Social, and ups damages claim to $20B — Donald Trump filed an amended lawsuit against CBS late Friday, adding a series of new claims over the network's edits in a 60 Minutes interview with Kamala Harris.
Anthony D'Alessandro / Deadline:
Sources: Amazon MGM Studios plans to launch an international theatrical distribution arm; its foreign output deal with Warner Bros. stops at the end of 2025 — The studio's current foreign theatrical output deal with Warner Bros. ends at the end of this year.
Discussion:
The Wrap
Jason Schreier / Bloomberg:
WBD took $300M in gaming writedowns in 2024; current and former staff blame a lack of a strong, cohesive vision during former games chief David Haddad's tenure — Last year, Warner Bros. Discovery took $300 million in losses on gaming. The near future is rife with additional challenges.
Discussion:
PC Gamer, @neemoahtoad, @tanner_slavin, @batman_beware, @harleysuniverse, Jeremy M. on LinkedIn, @jmrivera.bsky.social, PlayStation LifeStyle, Jason Schreier on LinkedIn, Metro.co.uk, Neowin, GamesRadar, Comic Book, Wccftech, @branzellan.bsky.social, @bryantfrancis.me, @knoebel.bsky.social and Insider Gaming
Georg Szalai / The Hollywood Reporter:
Memo: ahead of its Skydance merger, Paramount Global pauses some major events in 2025, including MTV EMAs, to “reimagine and optimize” the events slate — “We look to reimagine and optimize our events slate going forward,” reads a staff memo obtained by THR.
Discussion:
Us Weekly, Whiskey Riff, Hollywood Life, Cord Cutters News, Austin American-Statesman, Rolling Stone, Billboard, TVNewsCheck and Just Jared
Andrew Deck / Nieman Lab:
Tests show DeepSeek's chatbot often hallucinates URLs in citations and admits that sharing news articles' content could violate copyright and paywall policies — The DeepSeek hype cycle is in full force, but can the chatbot attribute sources more accurately than its competitors?
Discussion:
@andrewdeck.bsky.social, Publishing Perspectives, The Cyber Express and Bloomberg
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