Mediagazer: Similarweb: Threads had 141.5M DAUs on iOS and Android as of January 7, driven by Instagram promotions, while X had 125M DAUs; X continues to lead on the web (Sarah Perez/TechCrunch)

9:15 AM ET, January 19, 2026

Top News:

CBS airs 60 Minutes' CECOT segment, which Bari Weiss shelved in December as it lacked an on-camera interview with a Trump official, without such an interview — After accusations of “corporate censorship,” CBS aired a postponed “60 Minutes” segment about the CECOT prison that was largely unchanged.

Discussion: CNN, Deadline, Too Much TV Newsletter, TV Insider, Mediaite, Forbes, Newsbusters, Bleeding Cool News, Variety, @scottnover, The Wrap, The Guardian, Bloomberg, Newser, Filmogaz.com, New York Times, Yahoo Finance, Raw Story, Bloomberg Law and The Independent

New York Times:

White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt told CBS News that President Trump would sue the network if it didn't air his interview with Tony Dokoupil unedited — In previously unreported remarks, the White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt told CBS News that Mr. Trump would “sue” …

Isabella Simonetti / Wall Street Journal:

CBS News airs the delayed 60 Minutes CECOT segment with new introductory and closing remarks; the core of the piece was untouched — CBS News Editor in Chief Bari Weiss's decision to hold the segment in December ignited a firestorm within the network — A “60 Minutes” segment that was held …

Clare Malone / New Yorker:

A profile of Bari Weiss and an in-depth look at her hostile takeover of CBS News; a source says Weiss has said she is pursuing a “de-Baathification of CBS” — The network's new editor-in-chief has championed a press free from élite bias, while aligning herself …

Discussion: @claremalone.bsky.social, @jaec.bsky.social, @brianstelter, @brianstelter, @brianstelter and The Independent

Parker Molloy / The Present Age:
CBS News' credibility, built over decades, is being used now to launder political narratives that wouldn't survive scrutiny if they came from right-wing media

Jeremy Fuster / The Wrap:

With a $1.7B global box office, Disney's Zootopia 2 becomes the highest grossing animated film from a Hollywood studio, behind the Chinese hit Ne Zha 2 — The Disney sequel has passed Pixar's “Inside Out 2” after eight weekends in theaters — After eight weekends, Disney's “Zootopia 2” …

Discussion: Variety, Dexerto, Screen Rant, Associated Press, Shane Glick on LinkedIn, Los Angeles Times, Gizmodo, The Movie Blog, Collider, Deadline and Just Jared

Financial Times:

Prince Harry and celebrities including Elton John prepare for a roughly 10-week trial against Daily Mail publisher Associated Newspapers for “unlawful activity” — Celebrities set to give evidence over claims that unlawful activity at the media group was ‘habitual and widespread’

Discussion: The Guardian, Variety, The Guardian, New York Times, The Hollywood Reporter, Euro Weekly News, Deadline, NBC News, People, HELLO!, The Sun, GB News and New York Sun

Matthew Keys / TheDesk.net:

Study: local broadcast TV supported 1.5M+ US jobs in 2025 and had a $748B annual GDP impact, with advertising accounting for the largest share at $628B — The local television broadcast industry saw another year of strong contributions to the American economy, with more than 1.5 million jobs supported …

Discussion: Radio World, Woods & Poole Economics, TV Tech and Barrett Media

Benjamin Mullin / New York Times:

Sources: Jan Philipp Burgard, Welt EIC and a top Axel Springer editor, was ousted after an investigation into inappropriate behavior toward female employees — Jan Philipp Burgard was one of Axel Springer's most prominent editors, overseeing its influential German broadsheet Welt.

Discussion: Semafor

Wall Street Journal:

A profile of Gerry Cardinale, head of RedBird, Paramount's second-largest shareholder, as he lobbies regulators and shareholders to accept Paramount's WBD bid — RedBird's Gerry Cardinale will tell anyone who will listen why the hostile $77.9 billion bid is superior

Discussion: The Movie Blog and The Hollywood Reporter

Alex Weprin / The Hollywood Reporter:
A look at David Ellison's potential proxy fight for WBD, which could be Hollywood's most explosive battle in terms of cost and public scrutiny

Discussion: @laurenmeidasa.bsky.social, IJR, @mmeadway.bsky.social and The Wrap

Sarah Perez / TechCrunch:

Similarweb: Threads had 141.5M DAUs on iOS and Android as of January 7, driven by Instagram promotions, while X had 125M DAUs; X continues to lead on the web — A report from market intelligence firm Similarweb suggests that Meta's Threads is now seeing more daily usage than Elon Musk's X on mobile devices.

Jack Dunn / Variety:

On Joe Rogan's JRE, Matt Damon and Ben Affleck discuss Hollywood and AI; Damon says Netflix wants movies to restate the plot because viewers are on their phones — Matt Damon and Ben Affleck recently appeared on the “Joe Rogan Experience” to promote their new Netflix film “The Rip,” …

Peter Kafka / Business Insider:

An interview with Semafor's Justin Smith on growing its events business around tentpoles and how DC-focused media benefits from the corporate affairs market — - Semafor, the high-profile news startup founded in 2022, says it's now profitable — a rarity for a new media company.

Discussion: @pkafka.bsky.social

Katie Robertson / New York Times:

Chris LaCivita, a Trump campaign manager in 2024, settles his libel lawsuit against The Daily Beast, filed in March 2025; The Beast says he received no payment — As part of the settlement, The Daily Beast was not required to apologize or issue any payment to Chris LaCivita, who sued the outlet last year.

Discussion: Raw Story, The Daily Beast, The Wrap, Axios and The Guardian

Joshua Benton / Nieman Lab:

A look at lessons from Wikipedia for journalism, including setting a clear set of standards and practices, preventing link rot, and using detailed documentation — It's not a news site. But there's a lot to learn from how Wikipedia constructs shared knowledge about what's happening in the world.

Discussion: @niemanlab.org, WebProNews, ZeroHedge News and The Guardian

Darren Loucaides / Financial Times:
A profile of Wikipedia as it faces challenges, including attacks from Elon Musk and the far right, reduced traffic due to AI, and legal challenges in India

Discussion: Links I Would Gchat …, @cyrilpedia.bsky.social and Block Club Chicago

Maxwell Zeff / Wired:

OpenAI will match ads to conversation topics using some personalization data, but says it will not sell user data or expose user conversations to advertisers — OpenAI says ads will not influence ChatGPT's responses, and that it won't sell user data to advertisers.

Discussion: Mediaweek, The Indian Express, The Drum, SmartCompany, The Algorithmic Bridge, Maxwell Zeff on LinkedIn, Mashable, BMI, The Deep View, Mumbrella, AppleInsider, Trak.in, The American Bazaar, Digit, @abraham.bsky.social, @dmandl.bsky.social, Windows Central, Android Central, WinBuzzer, OpenAI, The Hans India, Neowin, Fox Business, Communicate Online, 9to5Google, TestingCatalog, Reuters, BleepingComputer, Gizmodo, San Francisco Chronicle, The Information, Forbes, Nairametrics, Search Engine Journal, Variety, New York Times, @the_blackwell_ninja …, Vogue, CNN, Axios, WebProNews, CBS News, TechCrunch, PCMag, Engadget, Associated Press, MediaPost, Sherwood News, Implicator.ai, The Economic Times, Analytics India Magazine, Capital Brief, BBC, Türkiye Today, NewsMax.com, Telegraph, @alextecplayz@techhub.social, @whoa-magic.lol, 9to5Mac, CNBC, @hypervisible.blacksky.app, The Verge and @wired.com

Financial Times:
OpenAI plans to test ads below ChatGPT replies for users of free and Go tiers in the US; source: OpenAI expects to make “low billions” from ads in 2026