Mediagazer: Source: more than 75,000 Washington Post digital subscribers have cancelled their subscriptions following Jeff Bezos' overhaul of the paper's opinion section (David Folkenflik/NPR)

10:50 PM ET, February 28, 2025

Top News:

David Folkenflik / NPR:

Source: more than 75,000 Washington Post digital subscribers have cancelled their subscriptions following Jeff Bezos' overhaul of the paper's opinion section — More than 75,000 digital subscribers to The Washington Post have cancelled since its owner, billionaire Amazon founder Jeff Bezos …

Jaden Amos / Axios:

Trump says he had dinner with Jeff Bezos on February 26, the day Bezos announced that WaPo's opinion pages would focus on personal liberties and free markets — - “I never even understood it,” Trump said. … - In July 2024, Bezos privately urged Trump to choose Doug Burgum as his vice president …

Discussion: @shelleybwoke.bsky.social, The Wrap, @cemck.bsky.social, The Independent, @screw-reality.bsky.social, @mehdirhasan.bsky.social, @wagatwe.com, @rewhan.bsky.social, American Prospect, Daily Mail, Columbia Journalism Review and @maxwelltani

Joshua Benton / Nieman Lab:

Jeff Bezos' opinion section changes contradict his October 2024 edict that WaPo won't endorse a presidential candidate because it can't be seen as taking a side — Months after insisting he would never allow his personal interests to influence the Post's content, one of the world's richest …

Gene Weingarten / The Gene Pool:
Source: The Washington Post's media critic Erik Wemple wrote about the changes at its opinion section, but the piece was killed

Discussion: HuffPost, The Post Millennial, New York Post, @joshgerstein, @jpodhoretz, @jonathanchait, Eric Anderson on LinkedIn, @muwxguy.bsky.social, @jongorey@threads.net, @froomkin.bsky.social, CNN and Deseret News

CNN:

A TASS journalist gained access to Trump's meeting with Zelensky, even as AP and Reuters were barred; the White House says he was unauthorized and escorted out — A member of Russia's state-owned news agency gained access to the Oval Office on Friday to cover President Trump's sit …

New York Times:

Sources: VOA's parent opened probes into VOA journalists for reporting on criticism of Trump or for comments seen as critical; Steve Herman was placed on leave — The broadcaster placed a longtime journalist on leave amid growing concerns about its editorial independence.

Discussion: @tomaskenn, @lizzieohreally.bsky.social, @noupside.bsky.social, @noupside.bsky.social, @pattyshea.bsky.social, @kaedotcom, @taniel.bsky.social, @mattmihaly.com, @davidenrich.bsky.social, Voice of America, @leahmcelrath.bsky.social and The Daily Signal

Oliver Darcy / Status:

Sources: in a tense meeting with journalists, Pentagon Press Secretary Sean Parnell said he'll end the travel pool and implied reporters “trash the warfighter” — Inside a tense off-the-record meeting, the Pentagon's new press chief confronted reporters and indicated they will do away …

Discussion: Mediaite, Townhall, @sashotodorov.bsky.social, Newsbusters, @cthomasjamh.bsky.social, @dodresponse, TVNewsCheck, @oliverdarcy.bsky.social, @oliverdarcy.bsky.social, @ohiorob.bsky.social, @moivtx.bsky.social, @timtrautmann.com and @status.news

S.V. Date / HuffPost:
The US political press has not dealt with autocrats working this hard to seize power; trading soft coverage for access could fail media audiences and democracy

Discussion: MSNBC, The Atlantic, @joeperticone, @fritschner, @dwass, @andrewfeinberg, @svdate, @brianstelter, @lizskalka, @arifleischer, @afrakroon.bsky.social, @blueangie.bsky.social, Daily Kos, Politico, @ruralindependent.bsky.social and Raw Story

Erik Hayden / The Hollywood Reporter:

Golden Globes President Helen Hoehne tells about 50 paid voting members that they will no longer get salaries; they'll be offered severance of $102,500 — President Helen Hoehne informed an estimated 50 members that they'd receive severance for their deal as the awards show brand aims …

Discussion: The Wrap, Variety, Los Angeles Times, Deadline and @mattbelloni

Greg Bensinger / Reuters:

Amazon says it has cut “a small number” of jobs at its Wondery podcast unit; Wondery closed its operations in Brazil and Mexico earlier in February — Amazon.com (AMZN.O) cut “a small number” of jobs at its Wondery podcast unit, known for “Dr. Death” and “Business Wars,” …

Brian Steinberg / Variety:

NBCU Chair Cesar Conde says the company will launch a “mobile-first” news outlet in Q4 2025, featuring short- and long-form videos from NBC News talent and more — NBCUniversal is working on what its top news executive called a “mobile-first” news outlet that it expects to launch in the fourth quarter of this year.

Discussion: Broadband TV News, Semafor, NewscastStudio, Adweek and Deadline

Ted Johnson / Deadline:

FCC Chair Brendan Carr says the Skydance-Paramount merger review is far from finished and defends his solicitation of comments on a complaint about 60 Minutes — FCC Chairman Brendan Carr said that the agency's review of the proposed Skydance-Paramount Global merger is far from finished …

Discussion: TVNewsCheck, @tvgrimreaper, C-SPAN.org, @punkonbuslives.bsky.social, Free Press, @bsdtectr.bsky.social, New York Post, New York Times, TVNewsCheck, The Hill, Variety, Semafor, Reuters and Adweek

Jake Kanter / Deadline:

GB News wins a landmark broadcasting code case as a UK judge overturns an Ofcom ruling that said GB News broke impartiality rules with Jacob Rees-Mogg's show — In a High Court ruling, a judge found that Ofcom was unlawful in determining that GB News breached broadcasting rules …

Discussion: Telegraph, Press Gazette, TVNewsCheck, Variety, @nigel_farage, Financial Times, @bubbaprog.lol, @gbnews, GB News, GB News and Mirror

Dade Hayes / Deadline:

Disney sells out ad inventory for Oscars 2025, which will stream on Hulu for the first time; source: 30-second spots went for $1.7M to $2.3M, in line with 2024 — Advertising inventory for Sunday's Oscar telecast is sold out, Disney has confirmed, with pricing said to be holding steady with 2024 levels.

Discussion: Marketing Brew, Variety, MediaPost, The Wrap, Adweek and Rolling Stone

Etan Vlessing / The Hollywood Reporter:

Fubo reports Q4 North America revenue up 8% to $433.8M, a net loss of $40.9M, down from $71M in Q4 2023, and 1.67M paid subscribers; FUBO drops 21%+ — The sports-focused streamer earlier unveiled a deal to merge with Walt Disney's Hulu+ live TV business. — Fubo TV ended the fourth quarter …

Discussion: Advanced Television, Engadget, StreamTV Insider, Deadline, Benzinga, Cord Cutters News, Yahoo Finance, Motley Fool, Streaming Better, The Streamable and ir.fubo.tv

Sewell Chan / Columbia Journalism Review:

The last remaining member of the Los Angeles Times editorial board, Carla Hall, says she is taking a buyout, ending her 32-year tenure at the paper — After owner Patrick Soon-Shiong spiked the paper's Kamala Harris endorsement, a staff exodus resulted. — Carla Hall, the last remaining member …

Discussion: @brittny_mejia, @mikebonin, @geholland, @abbeyr28.bsky.social, @hannahcwiley.bsky.social, @nicosan1.bsky.social and @mattkrasnowski.bsky.social

Sharon Knolle / The Wrap:
Source: over 40 newsroom employees at the Los Angeles Times have taken buyout offers from owner Patrick Soon-Shiong, including roughly 17 reporters

Discussion: @jen_rice_, @gerrickkennedy, @davidfolkenflik, @joelrubin, @benmullin and @mediaevan.bsky.social

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Kathleen Kingsbury / The New York Times Company:
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Discussion: BBC, The Guardian, The Sun, Canary, GB News, Algemeiner.com, Reuters, Twitchy, Declassified Media Ltd, The Independent, BBC, @baldybane.bsky.social, Deadline, GB News, The Wrap, Variety and The European Conservative

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