Top News:
Brian Steinberg / Variety:
Major brands were replaced by direct-response advertisers during commercial breaks of CBS News' December 13 town hall with Erika Kirk, moderated by Bari Weiss — During a Saturday-night town hall led by Bari Weiss, the recently named editor in chief of CBS News, most of Madison Avenue sought an off-ramp.
Discussion:
Status, TVNewsCheck, @matthewkeyslive, Salon, @bettycrackerfl.bsky.social, The Guardian, @mford.bsky.social, @newsjennifer.bsky.social, @jbflint, @bristei, Raw Story, @kennysmith.bsky.social, RedState, @5-2blue.bsky.social, CBS News, @dannygroner.bsky.social, The Free Press, @chadloder.bsky.social, CBS News on YouTube, CBS News, The Gateway Pundit, @joshtpm.bsky.social, @bgrueskin.bsky.social, @joshuaerlich.bsky.social, The Hill, New York Post, @brandonfriedman.bsky.social, @swin24.bsky.social, Althouse, Deseret News, The Wrap and NewsMax.com
Kanis Leung / Associated Press:
Apple Daily founder Jimmy Lai is found guilty of colluding with foreign forces and conspiring to publish seditious articles, and faces a possible life sentence — Jimmy Lai, the former Hong Kong media mogul and outspoken critic of Beijing, was convicted in a landmark national security trial …
Discussion:
BBC, Hong Kong Free Press HKFP, Semafor, Reuters, Columbia Journalism Review, The Daily Register, Metro.co.uk, Kyodo News, New York Times, Associated Press, Financial Times, @liamjscott, Al Jazeera, Bloomberg, UPI, Committee to Protect …, NPR, Australian Financial Review, Reporters Without Borders, Sky News, CNBC, @joshrogin, @lorak.bsky.social, @klustout@threads.com, NBC News, Wall Street Journal, @tomgrundy, The Japan Times, Reuters, @frances_hui, France 24, Washington Post, The Independent, CBC News, Nikkei Asia, The Guardian, @cpjasia, Globe and Mail, @hkdc_us and NewsMax.com
Rose Henderson / Bloomberg:
Memo: Greg Peters and Ted Sarandos lay out Netflix's WBD case, moving to quell concerns about job losses and the end of theater releases, after Paramount's bid — The two chief executive officers of Netflix Inc. laid out the company's case for acquiring Warner Bros Discovery Inc. …
Discussion:
The Wrap, Variety, Business Insider, Reuters and @mgsiegler, more at Techmeme »
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Scott Fitzgerald / Wall Street Journal:
Rep. Scott Fitzgerald, chairman of the House Judiciary Subcommittee on antitrust, argues consumers stand to benefit from Netflix's acquisition of WBD — Consumers stand to benefit from Netflix's acquisition of Warner. — In a crossover event fit for Hollywood, Netflix is acquiring Warner Bros …
Mike Masnick / Techdirt:
How media coverage of Trump's AI EO overstated federal authority over states and overlooked how the order's interstate commerce argument could backfire — The mainstream media just failed a basic civics test so badly that you'd think their brains have been pickled by the kinds of folks who spend all their time on X (oh, wait...).
Discussion:
Implicator.ai, Washington Post, The American Spectator, @BrideOfLinux@mastodon …, @haroldfeld.bsky.social, @rpardee@hachyderm.io, @jmiers230.bsky.social, @maxkennerly.bsky.social, @techdirt.com, naked capitalism, MS NOW, Above the Law, American Banker, Ars Technica, StateScoop, The White House, The Information and PCMag, more at Techmeme »
Chris Morris / Variety:
Acclaimed actor and director Rob Reiner, 78, and his wife Michele Singer were found dead in their home; LAPD is investigating the deaths as a homicide — Rob Reiner, who segued from starring in “All in the Family” to directing movies including “This Is Spinal Tap,” “A Few Good Men” and …
Discussion:
TMZ.com, People, Los Angeles Times, New York Times, Screen Rant, TVLine, @mayorofla, ABC7, TVNewsCheck, New York Post, Daily Mail, E! Online, Page Six, ZeroHedge News, Wall Street Journal, Sandra Rose, New York Sun, SheKnows, Us Weekly, TODAY.com, @jbenton, The Hill, Suggest, NewsMax.com, NPR, FemaleFirst, Chicago Tribune, Townhall, Daily Star, Washington Post, GamesRadar, WPXI-TV, Dexerto, InStyle, Empire, France 24, Fox News, NBC News, Nicki Swift, El País, @erikdavis, Rolling Stone, Le Monde, The Scottish Sun, Forbes, The Hollywood Reporter, @letterboxd, Breitbart, @da__dealer, RADAR, World of Reel, @nickterrymgr, @angus.bsky.social, Mirror, @reallorispencer, Deadline, The Indian Express, The Japan Times, USA Today, The Forward, The Wrap, Looper, Vogue, NDTV Profit, @lonsj.bsky.social, Comic Book, @trumanswhack, @fightingliberal.bsky.social, @tjandcasper, Pasadena Star News, Lawyer Monthly, RedState, @phillewis.bsky.social, Entertainment Weekly, Raw Story, @vronskies, @yashar, Extra, @spongebobsloth, @ceo_branding, @variety, @michaeljstern.bsky.social, @collinrugg, WWL-TV, The Post Millennial, NBC Bay Area, Benzinga, @theflickpick, @richarderoeper, /Film, The Guardian, UPI, Gizmodo, @antonia2024bsky.bsky.social, Vanity Fair, Advocate, @madgreek2024.bsky.social, TV Insider, Business Insider, @variety, @sherripizza, Consequence, @danielsilvabook, David Earl Williams III on LinkedIn, CBS News, HELLO!, IndieWire, Channel2 NOW, @elex_michaelson, @stylesgala, @unhealthytruth, New York Daily News, Oh No They Didn't!, Press Telegram, CNBC, Just Jared, IJR and Washington Examiner
Sara Fischer / Axios:
WSJ launches Free Expression, a newsletter-focused opinion brand that will be available via its own channels and Substack, initially offering free content — The Wall Street Journal on Monday launched “Free Expression,” a newsletter-focused opinion brand that will be available via its own channels and Substack.
Discussion:
Talking Biz News, Wall Street Journal and @sarafischer
Freddy Mayhew / Press Gazette:
PA Media, the UK's largest press agency, says it has adopted a “video-first” strategy to meet increased demand for live and vertical social media content — PA has adopted a “video-first” approach to its content offering in response to increased demand for live and vertical video content …
Reuters:
Internal documents: Meta earned $18B+ in annual ad sales from China in 2024, making up 10%+ of its global revenue, with $3B+ linked to fraudulent ads like scams — A Reuters investigation reveals the owner of Facebook, Instagram and Whatsapp decided to accept high levels of fraudulent advertisements from China.
Discussion:
New York Post, more at Techmeme »
Will McCurdy / PCMag:
Amazon rolls out Ask This Book to the Kindle iOS app, letting readers ask questions about plot or characters; authors can't opt out — Whether you're reading dense, challenging 19th-century classics or the latest thriller, sometimes even the best readers lose track of what's actually going on …
Discussion:
Engadget, Writer Beware, 9to5Mac, The Verge, @carnage4life.bsky.social, @hypervisible.blacksky.app and Reactor
Elias Leight / Wall Street Journal:
Christmas music is more popular than ever, with listeners embracing it earlier in the year; by December 10, 20 of Spotify's top 25 tracks were Christmas-themed — One music manager described a holiday hit as a ‘little ATM machine’ — The group Pentatonix are known for their a capella renditions of Christmas classics.
Discussion:
Barrett Media and Raw Story
Ashley Carman / Bloomberg:
A look at financial advice YouTuber Caleb Hammer, who has over 2M subscribers and 60K to 70K subscribers paying $9.99/month for exclusive content — Caleb Hammer, the host of Financial Audit, a top podcast on YouTube, is one of the online upstarts filling the void left by the decline of combative daytime TV
Discussion:
@dannygroner.bsky.social

