Mediagazer: A US judge rebukes a DOJ prosecutor for not mentioning a 1980 law protecting journalists when seeking a warrant to search WaPo reporter Hannah Natanson's home (New York Times)

10:20 PM ET, February 20, 2026

Top News:

FCC Chair Brendan Carr announces a voluntary campaign for broadcasters to celebrate the United States' 250th birthday by airing patriotic content — FCC chairman Brendan Carr's Pledge America campaign suggests that TV and radio stations air PSAs or begin their days with the Pledge of Allegiance .

Brian Moritz / Sports Media Guy:

Substack's deal with Polymarket makes ethical sports journalism on Substack impossible, giving favored status to Polymarket, enabling insider trading, and more — It strikes at the heart of the production of ethical sports journalism. — I'm going off schedule this week because of some breaking news.

Discussion: @dangillmor@mastodon.social, @bmoritz99.bsky.social and @jeremylittau.com

Elizabeth Lopatto / The Verge:

By partnering with betting markets, news organizations undercut themselves by effectively endorsing competitors and opening audiences up to ripoffs by insiders — Additionally, Polymarket will effectively pay “a cohort of creators,” including Matt Yglesias, to use its data though the newsletter platform's pilot sponsorships program.

Discussion: @hanaatameez.bsky.social, @lopatto.bsky.social, The Forward and Event Horizon

Hanaa' Tameez / Nieman Lab:
Substack announces new tools to help writers use Polymarket data and adds Polymarket to its sponsorship pilot, prompting questions from some journalists

New York Times:

A US judge rebukes a DOJ prosecutor for not mentioning a 1980 law protecting journalists when seeking a warrant to search WaPo reporter Hannah Natanson's home — A prosecutor apologized for failing to alert the magistrate to a 1980 law that restricts searches for reporting materials.

Discussion: CNN, @bweller@mstdn.social, Reuters, @bubbaprog.xyz, The Guardian, @chrisdornan.bsky.social, @orinkerr.bsky.social, @charliesavage.bsky.social, @kgosztola.bsky.social, @rcfp.org, @freedom.press, Associated Press, @munin@infosec.exchange, Washington Post and @davidgreene.bsky.social

John Williams / The Atlantic:

Newspaper executives' emphasis on reader data doesn't serve subscribers who look to editorial staff to guide them to potential new areas of interest — The editor of the recently scrapped Book World believes in serving subscribers, not data. — What does it mean to subscribe to something?

Discussion: Poynter, @parul_sehgal, @jonathanslaght.com and SPLICETODAY.com

Adam Liptak / New York Times:

How Alan Dershowitz's petition to seek review of his CNN libel suit threatens NYT v. Sullivan, which Dershowitz argues should only apply to government officials — Alan Dershowitz was present at the creation of New York Times v. Sullivan. Now he is asking the Supreme Court to revise or destroy it.

Discussion: SCOTUSblog and Townhall

Bloomberg:

In a letter to Sen. Mike Lee, Ted Sarandos defends Netflix's WBD bid against James Cameron's criticism and reiterates his pledge for a 45-day theatrical window — Netflix Inc. co-Chief Executive Officer Ted Sarandos is defending his company's plans for movies if its acquisition …

Discussion: Fox Business, The A.V. Club, The Wrap, World of Reel, @senmikelee, Deadline, Puck and New York Post

CNBC:
James Cameron blasts Netflix's proposed acquisition of WBD, in a letter to Senator Mike Lee, calling it “disastrous for the theatrical motion picture business”

Bloomberg:
Ted Sarandos says a winning Netflix bid for WBD would lead to more films in theaters because Netflix would distribute its films via WBD's distribution system

Discussion: The Hollywood Reporter, The Streamable, Cord Cutters News, @business, Forbes, The Wrap, Bloomberg, Bloomberg, Observer, Business Insider, What's on Netflix, Benzinga and World of Reel

Gene Maddaus / Variety:

The MPA has sent a cease-and-desist letter to ByteDance, demanding it add safeguards against infringement on Seedance 2.0 and stop AI training on studios' IP — The Motion Picture Association urged ByteDance on Friday to stop copyright infringement on its Seedance 2.0 AI platform …

Discussion: The Hollywood Reporter and Axios

Charlotte Klein / New York Magazine:

How Will Lewis grew isolated from the WaPo newsroom, business side, and Jeff Bezos as he outlined big ideas without clear strategies for their implementation — When Will Lewis arrived at the Washington Post in January 2024, he was received as a potential redeemer.

Discussion: @ryuspaeth.bsky.social, @bananapeele, @gbrockell.bsky.social and @sarahscire

Ted Johnson / Deadline:

California AG Rob Bonta says his office will give Netflix and Paramount bids for WBD a full and robust review; Netflix says 13-14 state AGs are probing the deal — Bonta's statement on Friday underscored another element in the regulatory road for the merger: state attorneys general …

Discussion: State of California, The Wrap, Media Play News, The A.V. Club and MediaPost

Marina Adami / Nieman Lab:

Editors and freelance journalists say AI has brought more productivity, increased expectations of speed, a need for more vetting, and sometimes job-loss fears — One freelancer said he's been offering editors access to his Google Docs version histories as evidence that he does the writing himself.

Discussion: Simon Owens's Media Newsletter, Simon Owens on LinkedIn and Kaitlyn Arford on LinkedIn

Ashley Belanger / Ars Technica:

After backlash, Microsoft deleted a blog post written in November 2024 that critics said encouraged developers to pirate Harry Potter books to train AI models — Following backlash in a Hacker News thread, Microsoft deleted a blog post that critics said encouraged developers …

Discussion: Semafor, @drasticactions.dev, PCWorld, @levesque-chris.bsky.social and PC Gamer

Archived Page Info:

This is a snapshot of Mediagazer at 10:20 PM ET, February 20, 2026.

View the current page or another snapshot:

Who's Hiring in Media?

Correspondent - Russia, Berlin — NYT

Desk Editor, Mexico City — Reuters

Digital Managing Editor, Mumbai — Bloomberg

Breaking News Editor, TX — Dallas Morning News

Money Writer - Underscored, NY — CNN

Sports Reporter, SD — Capital Journal

Copy Editor, IL — Lamwork

Staff Writer - Immigration — Marshall Project

Editor, SC — Island Packet

Reporter, WI — BizTimes Milwaukee

Reporter - Private Equity, NY — PitchBook

Community News Reporter, FL — TB Times

Senior Editor, Johannesburg — LexisNexis

Content Editor - Consulting, London — WIRED

Foodie Beat Reporter, WA — Tri-City Herald

Staff Writer/Reporter — Fierce Healthcare

USC Sports/LIfestyle Influencer, SC — The State

Retail & Consumer Reporter, MA — Boston Globe

Managing Editor, FL — Observer Media

Executive Editor - Forbes Wine, NJ — Forbes

Audience Writer, Remote US — ProPublica

Editor in Chief - Yahoo News UK — Yahoo

Price Transition Reporter, TX — S&P Global

Deputy Social Media Editor, DC — The Bulwark

Reporter - Beauty & Wellness, NY — Daily Beast

Community Reporter, NC — County Beacon

Night Editor, CA — SF Chronicle

Sr. Political Reporter, ME — Bangor Daily News

Reporter - Politics, CA/NY/DC — The Information

Tech Reporter - AI — Business Insider

Night & Weekend News Writer, Remote — AlterNet

US Justice Correspondent, DC — FT

Writer - Mobile, NY or Remote — PCMag

Add your company here

See Also:

Mediagazer: site main

Mediagazer River: reverse chronological Mediagazer

Mediagazer Mobile: for phones

Mediagazer Leaderboard: Mediagazer's top sources

Subscribe:

Mediagazer RSS feed

Mediagazer on X

Mediagazer on Mastodon

More News:

Dominic Ponsford / Press Gazette:
Only 11 out of 131 ABC-audited UK magazines grew their actively purchased print sales in 2025, including Harper's Bazaar, The Spectator, and The Week Junior

Daniel Thomas / Financial Times:
Source: Axel Springer joins a group led by Dovid Efune that is making a ~£500M fully funded bid for the Telegraph, should DMGT's deal fail regulatory hurdles

Discussion: The Guardian, Telegraph, The Wrap and The Times

Maxwell Zeff / Wired:
Perplexity's retreat from ads signals a strategic shift as it recognizes its product is not for a mass audience and expects growth to come from enterprise sales

Discussion: The State, Futurism, AdExchanger, NextBigWhat, Android Headlines, @wired.com, Profectio, The Indian Express, Semafor, Benzinga, KVIA-TV and SammyGuru

Charlotte Tobitt / Press Gazette:
A look at The Sun's video strategy, which includes a shift to longform news and sponsored lifestyle content; it has 6.4M YouTube subscribers on its main channel

Discussion: NERDBOT, Helen Philpot on LinkedIn, Jon Lloyd on LinkedIn and News UK

James Hibberd / The Hollywood Reporter:
After a backlash, AMC opts out of screening an AI short film during its pre-show, programmed by ad company Screenvision, before feature films

Discussion: Variety, Fast Company, @peterdicicco.bsky.social, Decrypt, Andrew Joustra on LinkedIn, @nelson545alex, @saveyourcinema, Animation Magazine, Blaze Media, @gwaynee.blacksky.app, @riodylan.bsky.social, @hypercubexl.bsky.social, @laurbits.bsky.social, @stevensantos.bsky.social, The A.V. Club and @thetoonkeeper.bsky.social

Earlier Picks:

Charlotte Tobitt / Press Gazette:
The UK CMA says Getty and Shutterstock's $3.7B merger could lead to a “substantial lessening of competition” in the UK editorial market for news events

Discussion: Seattle Business Journal, GOV.UK and Reuters

Anhata Rooprai / Reuters:
Apple TV has signed a distribution deal with EverPass Media to bring live sports content to US businesses such as bars, restaurants, hotels, and gyms

Discussion: The Wrap, Advanced Television, Apple, iClarified, StreamTV Insider, MacRumors, AppleInsider, Apple Must, Cult of Mac, Business Wire, The Mac Observer, 9to5Mac, MacTech.com, Cord Cutters News and MacDailyNews

Aisha Malik / TechCrunch:
Reddit is testing an AI search feature that takes community recommendations and shows matching products from its advertisers in the results

Discussion: Communicate Online, Vinay Sridhar on LinkedIn, Business Standard, NextBigWhat, MediaPost, Search Engine Land, @TechCrunch@mstdn.social and Reddit Upvoted

Selome Hailu / Variety:
Matthew McConaughey and Timothée Chalamet discuss AI's potential to replace actors and win awards; McConaughey said AI actors will “infiltrate” the Oscars

Discussion: The Wrap, CinemaBlend, Breitbart, Blaze Media, CNN, Dexerto, Reality Tea, Los Angeles Times, World of Reel, Fortune, Entertainment Weekly and @everyfilmnow.bsky.social

From Techmeme:

Jordan Novet / CNBC:
Phil Spencer will retire after 38 years at Microsoft; Asha Sharma, the president of product in Microsoft's Core AI business, will become the CEO of gaming

Ryan Vlastelica / Bloomberg:
Anthropic launches Claude Code Security, which “scans codebases for security vulnerabilities and suggests targeted software patches”; cybersecurity stocks fall

Georgia Wells / Wall Street Journal:
Sources: OpenAI staff raised concerns about a Canadian mass shooting suspect months ago; OpenAI says her activity didn't meet the bar for reporting to police

Sister Sites:

Techmeme
Top news and commentary for technology's leaders, from all around the web

memeorandum
What US political commentators are discussing online right now

WeSmirch
The top celebrity news from all around the web on a single page