Top News:
Max Tani / Semafor:
AP Senior Product Manager for AI Aimee Rinehart told staff that many editors preferred an AI-written article to a human one, and resistance to AI is “futile” — The Scoop — One of The Associated Press' leaders on AI had a blunt message for the publication's staff: Resistance to AI is “futile.”
Todd Spangler / Variety:
SEC filing: David Zaslav is selling ~4M shares of WBD stock, with an aggregate market value of just over $114M; Zaslav's 2024 pay rose 4.4% YoY to $51.9M — His sale of the shares comes less than a week after WBD clinched a deal to sell itself to Paramount Skydance for $31 per share …
Discussion:
Deadline, Awful Announcing, The Hollywood Reporter, @alexweprin, @mattbelloni, The Wrap, World of Reel, Screen and The A.V. Club
Michael Savage / The Guardian:
A survey of 80 UK journalists: minority ethnic TV journalists feel excluded from influential posts and face a backlash after being seen as “diversity hires” — Exclusive: Survey suggests journalists from minority ethnic backgrounds feel excluded from influential posts and seen as ‘diversity hires’
Discussion:
Journalism.co.uk
Alexandra Bruell / Wall Street Journal:
Sources: Meta has signed a multiyear AI licensing deal with News Corp for UK and US content, worth up to $50M per year and running for at least three years — The multiyear pact gives Meta access to content for training and to retrieve information for users of its AI tools
Committee to Protect Journalists:
Myanmar releases at least four journalists as part of an amnesty of 7,300+ prisoners convicted of terrorism after the military's 2021 coup — The Committee to Protect Journalists welcomes the release in recent days of at least four journalists in Myanmar as part of an amnesty …
Discussion:
DVB and JURISTnews
Charlotte Tobitt / Press Gazette:
An interview with Reach CEO Piers North about traffic from Google Discover falling ~50% in H2 2025, potential deals with AI companies, and more — Reach still ‘significant players’ in Discover despite 50% drop in second half of 2025. — Reach has not been overly reliant on Google Discover but took …
Discussion:
Simon Owens's Media Newsletter, A Media Operator and @jim.londoncentric.media
Liam Scott / Columbia Journalism Review:
The University of Missouri starts a program allowing students to live in DC and report on Missouri politicians for publications affiliated with the school — Last Tuesday evening, Tyler Kirwan put on his blue suit and knotted his red tie. He was heading to the US Capitol Building …
Yuval Halevi / Growtika:
Analysis: 10 major tech publications lost 58% of their Google traffic since early 2024, falling to a combined 65M monthly visits in January 2026; some lost 90%+ — We tracked the organic search traffic of CNET, Wired, The Verge, TechRadar, and six others from early 2024 to today.
Discussion:
@noahpinion, @dgisserious, @tomfgoodwin, @tati_wm, @johnloeber, @alexeheath, @apzonerunner.com, @teroterotero, @dannycrichton, @angustpaterson, @jhweissmann, @yashalevine, @mattsheffield, @neilcybart, @docmjp, @bradonmessage, @firstadopter, @nicktsergas.ca, @frankritter.bsky.social, @mattrosoff.bsky.social and Hacker News
Lucas Shaw / Bloomberg:
Sinclair's Tennis Channel is selling its streaming service on the Prime Video Channels store, as part of a streaming push that will include other distributors — The Tennis Channel is looking to take a bigger swing at the online TV market. — The company, owned by broadcaster Sinclair Inc. …
Bloomberg:
Netflix tests Japan's entrenched baseball viewing habits, long dominated by domestic and free-to-air broadcasters, by locking up World Baseball Classic rights — Mototsugu Kashiwada has watched baseball for free on TV almost his whole life from his hometown of Hanamaki in northern Japan …
Discussion:
Forbes, Fox News, The Japan Times, New York Post and Mashable
Ben Koo / Awful Announcing:
Major wire services are boycotting college basketball games put on by The Gazelle Group, which is conditioning credentials on irrevocable photo licenses — On paper, it was the best college basketball game of the year. A top-3 matchup with ESPN's College Gameday in attendance.
Discussion:
PetaPixel, @bkoo and Front Office Sports
Joseph Cox / 404 Media:
An internal DHS document shows CBP used location data sourced from the online ad industry to track phone locations; ICE has bought access to similar tools — An internal DHS document obtained by 404 Media shows for the first time CBP used location data sourced from the online advertising industry to track phone locations.
