Mediagazer: Perplexity begins ads on The Ben Shapiro Show, with Shapiro using the AI search engine to verify claims, as some tech companies embrace right-wing media (Trishla Ostwal/Adweek)

2:50 PM ET, March 7, 2025

Top News:

Sean Burch / The Wrap:

Paramount files two motions in Trump's lawsuit against CBS News, one seeking dismissal on First Amendment grounds and the second saying Texas is the wrong venue — Paramount says President Trump's lawsuit over a “60 Minutes” interview with Kamala Harris is “an affront to the First Amendment”

Discussion: The Hill, The Guardian, Axios, Fox News, New York Post, The Independent, New Jersey Online, Newser, @peterstefanovic.bsky.social, Deadline, Variety, The Hollywood Reporter, Mediaite, @bejust.bsky.social, Cord Cutters News, Deadline and Georgetown Law

Andrew Marchand / New York Times:

Sources: ESPN and Stephen A. Smith agree to a five-year $100M contract that has Smith continuing on his daily First Take show and scaling back other commitments — Stephen A. Smith has agreed to a new contract with ESPN worth at least $100 million for five years, an agreement that will result …

Matthew Keys / The Desk:

Audacy says it “has made workforce reductions” to “stay competitive”; sources say ~100 employees were laid off this week and cuts may exceed 300 by mid-March — Radio broadcaster Audacy issued sweeping layoffs this week that have impacted at least 100 workers in local …

Discussion: Barrett Media, Variety, Boston.com, The Hollywood Reporter, @sportstalkmatt, @mediamelanie, @bennyheis, @lucilleburdge, @thedesk.net, @jakebrownradio, @keepingsanewth4.bsky.social, RadioInsight, RADIO ONLINE, @619sports.bsky.social, Kansas City Business Journal, Awful Announcing and The Boston Globe

Todd Spangler / Variety:

A look at YouTube's origins, growth, and domination as the platform turns 20, including an interview with CEO Neal Mohan, who is nearing 10 years at the company — It's a muggy morning the day before the 2025 Super Bowl in New Orleans, and YouTube CEO Neal Mohan is stuck in parade traffic and not happy about it.

Discussion: Adweek, Rahul Jindal on LinkedIn, @rachelcoyleohio.bsky.social, The Information, Variety and MEDIANAMA

Todd Spangler / Variety:
Neal Mohan says YouTube Originals didn't work because YouTube wasn't “good at picking content” and so the company decided to focus on building creator tools

Discussion: ICYMI

Bloomberg:

Sources: the FCC asked 13 public radio stations, including Boston's WBUR, for details on past sponsorships by March 31, to assess potential guideline violations — - The agency sent similar letters to NPR and PBS in January — Chair Carr investigating whether public stations airing ads

Discussion: @mediaevan, @dkistner1111.bsky.social and @christopherterry.bsky.social

Michael Savage / The Guardian:

Sources: GB News and the Spectator owner Paul Marshall met senior figures in UK's right-leaning media to discuss a plan to fund a new generation of journalists — Multimillionaire Paul Marshall understood to be talking to senior figures in Britain's right-leaning media about the idea

Discussion: GB News, @josiah.writes.news, @joeehanley, @michaelsavage, @pinemikey.bsky.social, @ianfraser.bsky.social, @blooms-ghost.bsky.social and @airbagmoments.bsky.social

Trishla Ostwal / Adweek:

Perplexity begins ads on The Ben Shapiro Show, with Shapiro using the AI search engine to verify claims, as some tech companies embrace right-wing media — The deal signals a cultural shift as Silicon Valley embraces right-wing influences — For years, right-wing political commentator Ben Shapiro …

Discussion: @realdailywire, @trishlaostwal and @trishlaostwal

Blake Brittain / Reuters:

Apple defeats a copyright lawsuit by tech journalist Dan Ackerman, who accused the company of ripping off his book about Tetris for a movie on the same subject — Apple (AAPL.O) convinced a New York federal court on Thursday to dismiss a copyright lawsuit brought by tech journalist Dan Ackerman …

Discussion: AppleInsider

Vikram Dodd / The Guardian:

A review finds UK police correctly investigated Daily Telegraph columnist Allison Pearson over alleged racism after a complaint about a tweet she later deleted — Telegraph columnist was visited by ‘exemplary’ officer after complaint about inaccurate tweet she later deleted

Discussion: spiked, GB News, @stephenfarrow.bsky.social, @hectorthehog.bsky.social and Jersey Evening Post

Zack Whittaker / TechCrunch:

A journalist using the pseudonym Dissent Doe, who runs US-based DataBreaches.net, refuses a UK court order to remove two posts on a cyberattack at HCRG — A U.S.-based independent cybersecurity journalist has declined to comply with a U.K. court-ordered injunction that was sought following …

Discussion: @lorenzofb, @zackwhittaker.bsky.social, @ransomwaresommelier.com and DataBreaches.Net

Nate Silver / Silver Bulletin:

Disney was never particularly interested in running FiveThirtyEight as a business; the data-driven approach to political coverage still has a bright future — Last night, as President Trump delivered his State of the Union address 1, the Wall Street Journal reported that ABC News would lay off …

Discussion: Columbia Journalism Review, Daring Fireball, @adrianbarnard, @brettgwinn, @naphisoc, Townhall, Front Office Sports, Status, @transitive.bsky.social, @robinsonmeyer.bsky.social, Poynter, The Gateway Pundit and The Guardian

Bron Maher / Press Gazette:

AAM: AARP The Magazine was the best selling magazine in the US in H2 2024 with 22.2M copies per issue on average, and The Atlantic was the fastest growing — The Atlantic was the fastest-growing top magazine in the US in the second half of 2024, increasing its overall circulation 15% year-on-year.

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More News:

Reuters:
Vivendi says the net asset value of its investments was €4.83B as of December 31, 2024, following the French publishing group's spinoff of three companies

Katie Kilkenny / The Hollywood Reporter:
Production managers, supervisors, and coordinators at Walt Disney Animation Studios ratify their first union contract, which raises minimum wage rates and more

Discussion: C21Media, Variety and Deadline

Michael Savage / The Guardian:
Memo: BBC News CEO Deborah Turness announces a new department that will use AI to give people more personalized content and focus on reaching under-25-year-olds

Discussion: @peteprodge.com, @lisazed.bsky.social, @lisazed.bsky.social, @brianstorms@mastodon.social, Claes de Vreese on LinkedIn, @mrrobertbob.bsky.social, @Lazarou@mastodon.social, TVNewsCheck and @michaelsavage.bsky.social

NewsGuard's Reality Check:
A NewsGuard audit finds that 10 leading AI chatbots repeated false claims and propaganda from a pro-Kremlin network of 150 websites 33% of the time

Discussion: Gizmodo, TechCrunch, @yanygal.bsky.social, Bloomberg, @ingoboltz, Axios, The Hill, @chrisdornan.bsky.social, @claesdevreese@mastodon.social, @claesdevreese.bsky.social, @benmshultz.bsky.social, @gingeraffe.com, @swiderman.bsky.social and @sirichr.bsky.social, more at Techmeme »

S.V. Date / HuffPost:
FEC filings: Brian Glenn, a new favored White House reporter, was Right Side Broadcasting Network's main voice when it was paid $92K by Trump political groups

Discussion: @5-2blue.bsky.social, @peterfotopoulos.bsky.social, @1gregtodd.bsky.social, New Jersey Online, @the-jaguarr.bsky.social, @jpacek.bsky.social, @svdate.bsky.social, @huffpost.com and Mediaite

Bill Grueskin / Columbia Journalism Review:
Prosecutors say they won't pursue charges against Stanford student journalist Dilan Gohill, arrested while covering a pro-Palestinian protest nine months ago

Discussion: KTVU-TV, The Stanford Daily, @bgrueskin.bsky.social, Palo Alto Online, @freedom.press, @galvinalmanza.bsky.social, San Francisco Chronicle, @bgrueskin.bsky.social, Mercury News, Deseret News and The Stanford Daily

Earlier Picks:

Washington Post:
A look at the Trump administration's strategy to transform its traditional press shop into a rapid-response influencer operation via memes, TikTok, and podcasts

Discussion: The Guardian, New York Magazine, @drewharwell.com, @mehdirhasan.bsky.social, TVNewsCheck, @jeisinger.bsky.social, Melanie Sill on LinkedIn, @chikitty.bsky.social, @astroboy58.bsky.social, @davidnakamura.bsky.social, @davidenrich.bsky.social, @drewharwell@threads.net, @janemayer.bsky.social and PR Daily

Wayne Friedman / MediaPost:
BIA estimates core US local ad spend to grow 6.1% YoY to $171B in 2025, with digital media having a 52.4% share and traditional media having 47.6%

Discussion: RADIO ONLINE, Inside Radio, Barrett Media, TV Tech, Radio & Television … and TVNewsCheck

Lauren Forristal / TechCrunch:
Intangible, which offers an AI tool that allows filmmakers, game designers, and others to create 3D world concepts with text prompts, raised a $4M seed

Discussion: Charles Migos on LinkedIn

Mark Stenberg / Adweek:
Politico unveils an AI tool that lets Politico Pro subscribers generate detailed policy reports using data from Politico's reporting and analysis

Discussion: Caitlin Bugas on LinkedIn, MediaPost, Nieman Lab, Liz on LinkedIn, Shaun Modi on LinkedIn, Rachel Loeffler on LinkedIn, Gabriel Brotman on LinkedIn and Politico

Jeremy Barr / Washington Post:
Memo: MSNBC hires WABC-TV VP and News Director Scott Matthews to serve as head of newsgathering, and plans to hire 100 journalists as part of its news operation

Discussion: Variety, Richard Hudock on LinkedIn, Ryan Teague Beckwith on LinkedIn, Poynter, @jeremymbarr, Jesse Rodriguez on LinkedIn, The Desk, The Hollywood Reporter, The Wrap, Deadline and Barrett Media

From Techmeme:

Bain:
India's e-commerce market grew 10%-12% YoY to ~$60B in GMV in 2024, versus historical rates of over 20%, with 270M+ people shopping online, second only to China

Zac Bowden / Windows Central:
In the latest Windows 11 preview build, Microsoft removed the “bypassnro” command, which let users skip signing into a Microsoft Account when installing Windows

Wall Street Journal:
Sources: OpenAI is finalizing a $40B round led by SoftBank, receiving $10B initially and another $30B by 2025's end if it restructures into a for-profit company

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