Top News:
Alyssa Ray / The Wrap:
A CBS News producer quits, saying stories may now be evaluated “on whether they conform to a shifting set of ideological expectations”, causing self-censorship — “The very excellence we seek to sustain is hindered by fear and uncertainty,” the news producer writes
Michael Savage / The Guardian:
Trump's lawsuit against the BBC is set for trial in Feb. 2027; discovery must proceed though the judge has not ruled whether the Florida court has jurisdiction — Job losses and programming cancellations expected after Tim Davie tells staff broadcaster is not a ‘protected species’
Charlie Savage / New York Times:
The Virginia State Bar rejects a disciplinary complaint from a press freedom group against a DOJ lawyer over the raid of WaPo reporter Hannah Natanson's home — A press freedom group accused a prosecutor of violating an ethics rule by not telling a judge about a law limiting searches for journalistic work product.
Discussion:
@charliesavage.bsky.social, @freedom.press and @bselena.bsky.social
Axios:
US DOJ antitrust chief Gail Slater leaves, in a move seen as a win for big business over some of MAGA's populist voices; she was overseeing a Live Nation case — Gail Slater on Thursday said she is leaving the Justice Department, where she led the antitrust division.
Discussion:
Politico, Variety, American Prospect, Fox Business, The Irish Times, Breitbart, The Guardian, New York Post, CBS News, PitchBook, The Hollywood Reporter, The Gateway Pundit, Sportico, Associated Press, The Hill, The Daily Caller, @paulsteidler, Bloomberg, @stacyfmitchell, @jbsdc, @laurenshirsch, @verge, @douglaslfarrar, @chrispavlovski, Financial Times, UPI, @karlbode.com, NewsMax.com, The Daily Caller, @gigibsohn, @chuckgrassley, @sportsfanorg, @maxmmillerat, New York Times, Wall Street Journal, KVIA-TV, Raw Story, @ddayen, Washington Post, The Verge, NBC News, @gailaslater, The Information, The Wrap, @adamwren, Washington Examiner, The A.V. Club, CNBC, Deadline, Semafor and Global Competition Review, more at Techmeme »
Lucas Manfredi / The Wrap:
Roku reports Q4 revenue up 16% YoY to $1.39B, vs. $1.35B est., and an $80.5M net income, vs. a $35.5M loss in Q4 2024; ROKU jumps 9%+ after hours — The streaming hardware maker forecasts 16% revenue growth in 2026 — Shares of Roku climbed as much as 13% in after-hours trading on Thursday …
Discussion:
Deadline, TheDesk.net, Variety, Investor's Business Daily, Media Play News, Benzinga, Roku Inc. and Associated Press, more at Techmeme »
Brian Stelter / CNN:
Sources: Paramount CEO David Ellison met with Trump last week for two conversations; Trump has said he will stay out of Netflix-Paramount competition for WBD — Donald Trump Media Corporate news Tech news … Paramount CEO David Ellison returned to the White House last week to meet privately …
Samuel Stolton / Bloomberg:
Letter: the EU launched a new probe into Google for potentially “artificially increasing the clearing price” of ad auctions “to the detriment of advertisers” — Google, the target for billions of euros in European Union antitrust fines, has been hit by a fresh EU probe …
Discussion:
Washington Examiner, Channel NewsAsia, Financial Post, Reuters and Engadget, more at Techmeme »
Alice Brooker / Press Gazette:
An interview with Lachlan Cartwright on the one-year anniversary of Breaker, his profitable newsletter-first outlet, which has 40K+ paid and unpaid subscribers — A New York-based news site and twice-weekly newsletter has become profitable within a year, driven by subscriber revenue and a direct relationship with “superfans”.
Ernesto Van der Sar / TorrentFreak:
Anna's Archive has quietly begun releasing millions of music files from its scrape of Spotify, despite an injunction against distribution of copyrighted works — Despite being sued by Spotify and several record labels, Anna's Archive has silently begun releasing the actual music files from its massive Spotify scrape.
Discussion:
@matthewkeys.net, CMU, Music Ally, @researchbuzz@researchbuzz … and Cybernews.com
Michael Savage / The Guardian:
UK Culture Secretary Lisa Nandy refers DMGT's proposed acquisition of the Telegraph to Ofcom and CMA over concerns about consolidation of rightwing papers — CMA and Ofcom to examine DMGT takeover amid fears merger could curb ‘diverging editorial stances’ in press
Discussion:
The Times, Telegraph, Press Gazette, Sky News, The Independent, Courthouse News Service, RTÉ and Bloomberg
Gene Weingarten / The Gene Pool:
An H-1B visa filing list indicates Will Lewis' base salary as WaPo CEO was $3M per year in 2025, or enough to pay ~27 of the 300+ reporters who were laid off — So. — The image above was given to us by Deb Milbrath, a freelance cartoonist in Atlanta. I love it. — Here's something I don't love:
Discussion:
@bgrueskin.bsky.social, @coreypein.bsky.social, @hshaban and @adamkeiper.com
RELATED:
Todd Spangler / Variety:
E.W. Scripps is expected to make layoffs in the near future as it seeks to grow adjusted earnings by up to $150M over three years; in 2024, it had 5K staff — This week at its headquarters in Cincinnati, Scripps said, it gathered a team of 200 managers “charged with carrying out the transformation.”
Discussion:
Cord Cutters News, Inside Radio, Cincinnati Business Journal, NCS | NewscastStudio and TVNewsCheck
Agnieszka Flak / Reuters:
Universal Music Group signs a licensing deal with rights platform ClicknClear, easing the licensing process for athletes using music in choreographed sports — Universal Music Group and rights-tech platform ClicknClear have signed a global licensing deal enabling athletes to license music …
Discussion:
Plagiarism Today, Digital Music News, Music Ally, Sports Business Journal and Music Business Worldwide
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