Top News:
Amanda Meade / The Guardian:
Lenore Taylor, editor of Guardian Australia, is leaving the outlet after 13 years in senior roles and 10 years as editor; David Munk will serve as acting editor — Australia's longest-serving editor credited with transforming a fledgling news organisation into the fourth most-read news website
Selome Hailu / Variety:
Nielsen: Bad Bunny's Super Bowl halftime show averaged 128.2M viewers, above 124.9M for the game overall and down from 133.5M for Kendrick Lamar in 2025 — Measured by Nielsen, that's above the 124.9 million average viewers achieved by this year's Super Bowl overall but down from the 133.5 …
Discussion:
The Hollywood Reporter, Deadline, MediaPost, TV Tech, Forbes, CNN, NBCSports.com, Sportico, The Athletic, Us Weekly, TheDesk.net, Wall Street Journal, Associated Press, The Wrap, Rolling Stone, Awful Announcing, Axios, Digital Music News, @melvisacosta.bsky.social, The Hill, New York Post, Consequence, Front Office Sports, NBC News, TVLine, Los Angeles Times, Reuters, Lawyers, Guns & Money, Mediaite, Media Play News, Just Jared, Oh No They Didn't! and Chicago Tribune
Tina Brown / FRESH HELL Tina Brown's Diary:
The Jeff Bezos who bought WaPo in 2013 is not the same one allowing its destruction now, and he has ended the myth that a tech billionaire could save journalism — The whole debacle of the Washington Post brand hara-kiri last week dispatched the myth that a tech billionaire could save serious journalism.
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John Kelly / @johnkelly:
The Washington Post's February 10 print edition featured two full pages of AP stories in the A section and a total of eight stories from the wire service — An entire page of wire stories in @murraymatt's @washingtonpost today, three of eight AP stories in the A section. [image]
Discussion:
Washingtonian, @kennysmith.org, @adamliptak and @arik.org
Michael Savage / The Guardian:
Tim Davie says the UK Foreign Office's deal with the BBC World Service ends in seven weeks; the office contributed £137M to the service's £400M funding in 2025 — As trust in Russia and China's state broadcasters grows, director general warns of the dangers of cutting back the service
Lauren Thomas / Wall Street Journal:
Sources: activist investor Ancora Holdings has built a roughly $200M stake in WBD and is planning to oppose the Netflix-WBD deal, favoring a deal with Paramount — Ancora builds a roughly $200 million stake in Warner Bros. Discovery and favors a deal with David Ellison's Paramount Skydance
Discussion:
Financial Times, Benzinga, Reuters, New York Post, The Movie Blog, Newsmax, The Wrap, Financial Times and r/MediaMergers
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Lillian Rizzo / CNBC:
Paramount sweetens its WBD bid with a “ticking fee” worth ~$650M/quarter if the deal isn't closed by year-end and offers to fund WBD's $2.8B Netflix breakup fee
Paramount sweetens its WBD bid with a “ticking fee” worth ~$650M/quarter if the deal isn't closed by year-end and offers to fund WBD's $2.8B Netflix breakup fee
Discussion:
Variety, Variety, Deadline, BMI, The Hollywood Reporter, Paramount, Mediaweek, ANI News, MediaNews4U, Washington Examiner, The Times, The Hill, StreamTV Insider, The Wrap, UPI, Associated Press, Reuters, CNN, Barron's Online, Yahoo Finance, Newsmax, Media Play News, Financial Times, Bloomberg, The Wrap, Reuters and Dow Jones Newswires
TMZ.com:
Sources: Britney Spears sold her music catalog and other rights to Primary Wave, in a deal estimated to be “in the ballpark” of $200M — BRITNEY SPEARS I SOLD A PIECE OF ME ... AND THE WHOLE DAMN CATALOG!!! … Britney Spears just signed a massive new music deal …
Jonah E. Bromwich / New York Times:
A judge ruled that the Trump administration cannot deport Rümeysa Öztürk, a student threatened with deportation after co-authoring an op-ed critical of Israel — The student, Rumeysa Ozturk, who is from Turkey, was detained by immigration agents last year after she co-wrote …
Sophie Culpepper / Nieman Lab:
Newspaper publishers relying on the US Postal Service for delivery say widespread and sometimes extreme delays are damaging their businesses — Newspaper delays are just one consequence of cost cuts and changes to a fraying 250-year-old system. — Many publishers first noticed the complaints spike last summer.
New York Times:
Anna Wintour and Vogue's new US head of editorial content, Chloe Malle, hold a joint video interview ahead of the release of Malle's first print issue — In their first joint interview, Ms. Malle spoke about filling the shoes of Ms. Wintour, who urged people to “get over comparisons.”
Discussion:
@grynbaum, @jtes, The Daily Beast, TODAY.com and New York Times
Matthew Keys / TheDesk.net:
At a US Senate hearing on the ownership cap for local TV, Newsmax CEO Chris Ruddy spoke against lifting the cap, and NAB CEO Curtis LeGeyt supported raising it — The Senate Commerce Committee heard expert testimony from the commercial broadcasting industry's main lobbyist and the founder …
Discussion:
@mattfieldwood.bsky.social, Steven Waldman on LinkedIn, Barrett Media, Punchbowl News, Rebuild Local News on LinkedIn, TV Tech, @thedesk.net, The Hill, NCS | NewscastStudio, @jgo4justice.bsky.social, @mattfieldwood.bsky.social, @mattfieldwood.bsky.social, Free Press Action Fund Feed and GV Wire
Alicia Park / Forbes:
Polymarket partners with Singapore-based Kaito AI to launch “attention markets”, letting users bet on “mindshare” and “sentiment” metrics from social media — The prediction market is partnering with an AI engine that tracks social media data to create markets about cultural relevance.
Discussion:
Front Office Sports, @sjdedic, @tyler_did_it, @kaitoai, NFTgators, NullTX, The Block, CoinGape and Benzinga, more at Techmeme »
