Top News:
Shane O'Neill / Washington Post:
Q&A with Christopher Anderson, who photographed Trump's inner circle for VF: “My job is to ... draw on my experience as a journalist and photograph what I see” — Every line, spot, blemish and blood vessel was captured by Christopher Anderson's lens. What was he thinking?
Discussion:
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Alex Weprin / The Hollywood Reporter:
CBS News and The Free Press announce Things That Matter, a series of town halls and debates, starting in early 2026, with Sam Altman, J.D. Vance, and others — The news division is also planning a town hall with Maryland Gov. Wes Moore in the ‘Things That Matter’ series, with Bank of America lined up as a sponsor.
Discussion:
Variety, @giromide.online, Los Angeles Times, @newsjennifer.bsky.social, @jesspish.bsky.social, @838carlisle.bsky.social, @kristoncapps.bsky.social, @maxread.info, @jamellebouie.net, @sarahkelly.bsky.social, @bgrueskin.bsky.social, @lawrencehurley.bsky.social, @electriceden92.bsky.social, @robertscotthorton.bsky.social, @philclark.bsky.social, @bigmemath.bsky.social, @celebrityhottub.bsky.social, Deadline, CBS News, TV Insider, @3titter.bsky.social, @nitishpahwa.com, @swizzard.pizza, @bristei.bsky.social, @gonebabygone.bsky.social, @muwxguy.bsky.social, @grynbaum, @joshsternberg.com and @timmarchman.bsky.social
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Natalie Korach / Status:
Sources: Bari Weiss moved a planned internal CBS town hall, set to lay out her broader vision, from this month to 2026, after the Erika Kirk town hall flopped — In the days leading up to the holidays, Bari Weiss had planned to address CBS News staffers with a broader vision of where she sees …
Discussion:
The Wrap, Showbiz411, The Independent, Forbes, Sports Business Journal and @nataliekorach.bsky.social
John Rogers / Associated Press:
Peter Arnett, a Pulitzer Prize-winning correspondent who covered the Vietnam War for the AP and the first Gulf War for CNN, has died at 91 — Peter Arnett, the Pulitzer Prize-winning reporter who spent decades dodging bullets and bombs to bring the world eyewitness accounts of war …
Katie Deighton / Wall Street Journal:
A study of 1,000+ marketing campaigns: host-read podcast ads on YouTube are up to 25% less effective at driving purchases than in audio-only podcasts — Ads that appear in video podcasts are alluring for visually-minded marketers but may perform worse on the whole than audio-only, according to a new study
Discussion:
Bloomberg, Podnews, Digiday, Tubefilter, Journalism.co.uk, The Athletic, TVNewsCheck, Inside Higher Ed and Oxford Road
Axios:
FCC Chairman Brendan Carr tells a Senate committee the FCC “is not an independent agency”; the agency removed “independent agency” from its site as he testified — FCC Chairman Brendan Carr said in his Wednesday Senate testimony that the agency he governs “is not an independent agency, formally speaking.”
Discussion:
The Guardian, Washington Post, Poynter, Salon, @acyn, Inside Radio, @samstein, @bulwarkonline, @atrupar, @cspan, @sarafischer, @lutherlowe, NPR, The A.V. Club, CNBC, Newser, Reuters, FedScoop, New York Times, New Republic, Fox News, Forbes, @kim.senate.gov, Wall Street Journal, @carlquintanilla.bsky.social, Free Press Action Fund Feed, @willoremus.com, NOTUS, Raw Story, @kim.senate.gov, The Guardian, New Republic, NBC News, Mediaite, The Hill, The Independent, Barrett Media, The Wrap, @patriotprogressive …, @laurenmeidasa.bsky.social, San Diego Union-Tribune, Pasadena Star News, @justinbaragona.bsky.social, @justinbaragona.bsky.social, @justinbaragona.bsky.social, Alternet.org, Associated Press, @sarafischer and Washington Examiner, more at Techmeme »
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Steven Portnoy / ABC News:
Democratic Senate Commerce Committee members accused FCC Chairman Brendan Carr of making “mafia threats” and encroaching on broadcasters' First Amendment rights
Discussion:
Fox News, The Daily Caller, TheDesk.net, COURIER, @progresschamber, @cspan, @senbrianschatz, @leftcoastbabe, @amyklobuchar, Los Angeles Times, Radio Ink, Politico, Variety, The Verge, UPI, The Present Age, Ars Technica, The Hill, NewsMax.com, Radio & Television …, NBC News, Reuters, Associated Press and Breitbart
Cynthia Littleton / Variety:
NBCU plans to add Arrival Ads, live ads that play when users turn on Peacock, and use AI to search live sports events for the optimal moment to place ads — Forget the pause that refreshes — Peacock users will soon be greeted by a live commercial as soon as they sign on to the streamer.
Discussion:
Deadline, TVNewsCheck, Tom's Guide, StreamTV Insider and The Verge
Financial Times:
Sources: Standard General hedge fund founder Soo Kim has been in talks with a major WBD shareholder over potentially buying or investing in the WBD TV networks — Standard General's Soo Kim in talks over purchasing or investing in WBD's television networks
Discussion:
The Wrap, Deadline, Reuters and TVNewsCheck
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Will Page / Pivotal Economics:
Analysis: music copyright's global value rose 5.2% YoY to a record $47.2B in 2024; the revenue split favored labels and artists at 62%, above songwriters' 38% — 11-MINUTE READ — TL;DR — Music copyright was valued at $47.2bn in 2024, nearly doubling in a decade
Discussion:
Billboard, Music Ally and Music Business Worldwide
OpenAI:
OpenAI launches the OpenAI Academy for News Organizations, which offers journalists AI training, open-source projects, and practical use cases — Working with the American Journalism Project and The Lenfest Institute to launch a new learning hub for journalists and publishers using AI.
Discussion:
The Decoder
Lanre Bakare / The Guardian:
Members of UK performing arts union Equity vote overwhelmingly in favor of refusing to be scanned while on set to prevent their likeness being used by AI — Equity says vote signals strong opposition to AI use and readiness to disrupt productions unless protections are secured
Discussion:
Variety, Radio Times, Reuters, The Independent, LBC and Deadline
Mark Stenberg / Adweek:
Dow Jones hires ex-Bloomberg Media CEO M. Scott Havens as its first chief growth officer, overseeing subscription growth and other consumer revenue streams — Dow Jones has hired M. Scott Havens as its first chief growth officer and global head of consumer, a newly created role that underscores …
Discussion:
Talking Biz News
Chance Miller / 9to5Mac:
Apple says it will roll out more App Store ads in 2026 “to increase opportunity in search results”; Apple's website says 800M+ users visit the App Store weekly — Apple is expanding the number of ads that appear in App Store search results. In an update on its Apple Ads website today …
Discussion:
MediaPost, MobileSyrup, Cult of Mac, Search Engine Land, Tech Times, iPhone in Canada, Apple Ads, MacRumors, AppleInsider and MacTech.com
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