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9:00 AM ET, August 16, 2025

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 Top News: 
Bloomberg:
A US district court judge temporarily blocks an FTC probe into Media Matters, part of an antitrust investigation into ad boycotts, calling the probe retaliatory  —  Nonprofit Media Matters for America won a court order blocking a Federal Trade Commission information demand for documents …
Matthew Belloni / @mattbelloni:
Sources: Stranger Things creators the Duffer brothers are leaving Netflix for Paramount; the deciding factor was Paramount's support for theatrical releases  —  News: Duffers made their choice: They're leaving Netflix for Paramount. The theatrical film component was the dealbreaker, per sources.
Free Press:
A coalition of press freedom groups urges Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem to release Atlanta journalist Mario Guevara, detained by ICE for two months  —  In a powerful letter to Noem, groups including the Committee to Protect Journalists, Free Press, PEN America and Reporters Without Borders mark …
Benjamin Mullin / New York Times:
Memo: PBS is cutting its current budget by 21% and reducing dues paid by local stations by $35M to deal with Congress' decision to eliminate ~$500M in funding  —  The nonprofit will receive less revenue from its members, which are under pressure to make up for shortfalls of their own.
Stephen Battaglio / Los Angeles Times:
Fox CEO of DTC Pete Distad says Fox will consider bundling Fox One with other streamers and adding podcasts, and that profit projections are “aggressive”  —  Rupert Murdoch's Fox Corp. has largely stayed on the sidelines of the streaming wars.  —  That ends next week.
Charlotte Tobitt / Press Gazette:
Digital Content Next survey: 19 US online publishers, including major newsrooms, saw a median 10% YoY decline in Google referral traffic in the May-June period  —  Leading US online publishers reported an average fall in referral traffic from Google search of 10% in May and June compared to a year earlier.
Raquel ‘Rocky’ Harris / The Wrap:
The LA Times Guild plans to hold its first-ever strike authorization vote as contract talks near their third year; the union lost about 200 members since 2022  —  Since negotiations began in September 2022, the guild has seen layoffs impact approximately 200 Times staffers
Bobby Allyn / NPR:
A look at anti-Trump podcast MeidasTouch, one of the few left-leaning video podcasts that at times dethrones Joe Rogan's top position on YouTube rankings  —  Ben Meiselas is pacing in front of his home in the foothills of the Verdugo Mountains in Los Angeles, talking on the phone with one hand, a Starbucks coffee cup in the other.
Sarah Scire / Nieman Lab:
Q&A with independent journalist Molly White, who writes the tech and crypto newsletter Citation Needed, which has ~29K subscribers, including ~2,400 paid  —  The cryptocurrency and tech newsletter Citation Needed is pay-what-you-want.  White currently has about 29,000 subscribers including …
Matthew Keys / TheDesk.net:
Gannett is launching a morning newscast, Connecting America, on its USA Today streaming channel and on YouTube, on August 18; it will air weekdays 7am-9am ET  —  Gannett Company is launching a new morning newscast on its USA Today-branded free, ad-supported streaming television (FAST) channel, the company announced on Thursday.
Discussion: NCS | NewscastStudio
 
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 More News: 
Charlotte Tobitt / Press Gazette:
IPSO says The Telegraph's calculation in a January article that claimed “one in 12 in London” is an illegal migrant was inaccurate and showed a “lack of care”
Discussion: IPSO
Jennifer Maas / Variety:
Starz, which split from Lionsgate in May, reports Q2 revenue down 8% YoY to $319.7M, a net loss of $42.5M, and US streaming subscribers down 120K QoQ to 12.2M
Jason Koebler / 404 Media:
Media advocates criticize a US Department of Energy plan to throw out FOIA requests sent before October 1, 2024, unless the request is formally renewed
 Earlier Picks: 
Gabriel V Rindborg / The Guardian:
Monitoring firm MUSO says piracy hit a low in 2020 with 130B website visits and grew by 2024 to 216B; in Sweden, 25% of those surveyed reported pirating in 2024
Mike Scarcella / Reuters:
A US district court judge dismisses Rumble's lawsuit accusing WPP, WFA, and Diageo of an ad boycott, saying a Texas court is not the proper forum for the case
Discussion: JURISTnews and MediaPost
Jessica Testa / New York Times:
Taylor Swift's podcast debut on New Heights, co-hosted by Travis Kelce, shows the format is an appealing option for stars instead of late-night TV and magazines
 

 
From Techmeme:

Kurt Wagner / Bloomberg:
Sources: Meta is considering deep budget cuts to its metaverse efforts in 2026, potentially as high as 30% and most likely including layoffs as early as January

Kif Leswing / CNBC:
Apple says general counsel Kate Adams and policy chief Lisa Jackson will retire, and Jennifer Newstead, Meta's former chief legal officer, will replace Adams

Will Oremus / Washington Post:
Two studies suggest AI chatbots can shift political views more effectively than TV campaign ads, especially by presenting many claims, regardless of accuracy
 
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