Top News:
Ben Dummett / Wall Street Journal:
Axel Springer agrees to buy the Telegraph for £575M, ending the proposed acquisition by the DMGT, and plans to “turbocharge” the Telegraph's presence in the US — The German publisher outbid an existing offer from the Daily Mail for the British newspaper
Discussion:
Press Gazette, Press Gazette Future …, The Irish Times, The Daily Sceptic, Pulse 2.0, The National Pulse, New York Times, Axios, The New World, The Wrap, The Independent, The Guardian, Reuters, The Times, Telegraph, Times of India, Courthouse News Service, Associated Press, Variety, BBC, @jeffjarvis.bsky.social, GB News, Bloomberg and Politico
Richard Tofel / Nieman Lab:
Q&A with Elizabeth Hansen Shapiro on her new report, to be published next week, which argues local news funders should pick winners, scale up, and force mergers — “I don't think we're in a stage, any longer, of innovation. It really is a challenge of what are the scaling solutions."
Discussion:
Jake Shapiro on LinkedIn, @niemanlab.org, Editor and Publisher, Second Rough Draft and RJI
Wall Street Journal:
Sources: a coalition of states including California, Colorado, and New York prepares to sue on antitrust grounds if the Nexstar-Tegna deal gets FCC approval — A group of states plans to sue over Nexstar's $6.2 billion acquisition of Tegna combination if it gets FCC approval
Discussion:
TheDesk.net, Seeking Alpha and Radio & Television …
Alex Weprin / The Hollywood Reporter:
SEC filing: Byron Allen buys a 10.7% stake in Starz for $25M from investment fund Liberty 77, led by former Treasury Secretary Steve Mnuchin — Allen's family office acquired the 10.7 percent stake from Mnuchin's Liberty 77 Fund. — Byron Allen is back in the media M&A business.
Discussion:
Canada NewsWire Group, Bloomberg, The Wrap, Variety, Deadline, Radio & Television … and Media Play News
Mark Mwachiro / Adweek:
Fox News, MS Now, and CNN all recorded double-digit growth in total viewers and among viewers in the 25-54 demo after US and Israeli attacks on Iran on Feb. 28 — All three networks had over a million total viewers during primetime — This is TVNewser's basic cable network ranker and cable news report for the week of Feb. 23, 2026.
Discussion:
@hshaban, @jeffstorobinsky, TV Insider, @chriscillizza, @benmullin and LateNighter
Sam Neumann / Awful Announcing:
Apple unveils Formula 1 coverage plans ahead of the season's first race, the Australian Grand Prix, and details new distribution deals with Tubi and others — Apple spent Thursday walking media through its Formula 1 coverage plans, showing off a viewing experience that's everything, everywhere, all at once.
Discussion:
Financial Times, Sports Business Journal, iDrop News, Yahoo Finance, TelevisaUnivision, Sports Business Journal, Apple, CNET, Observer, racer.com, Puck, iClarified, Cult of Mac, Engadget and MacTech.com
Nilay Patel / The Verge:
Podcast transcript with Nilay Patel and Liz Lopatto, on why prediction market players want to be seen not as gambling but as news, incentivizing insider trading — Today on Decoder, let's talk about prediction markets, which continue to insert themselves into the news cycle and the news itself …
Discussion:
Robert Kelchen on LinkedIn, Dave Michaels on LinkedIn, Wall Street Journal, NextDraft, @dansinker.com, @kylascan, @kevintdugan, Route Fifty, France 24, @jessefelder.bsky.social, Event Horizon, Yahoo Finance, The Guardian, Responsible Statecraft, @theverge.com, Semafor and New York Magazine, more at Techmeme »
Mikeie Honda Reiland / Nashville Banner:
A reporter for Nashville Noticias, Estefany Rodríguez, has been detained and is being sent to an ICE center in Louisiana; she had reported on ICE previously — A reporter who faced death threats in her home country could now be sent back by Immigration and Customs Enforcement.
Discussion:
Reuters, Raw Story, Associated Press, New Republic, Columbia Journalism Review, @globalfreemedia.bsky.social, Freedom of the Press …, Migrant Insider, Committee to Protect …, The Independent, San Diego Union-Tribune, Talking Points Memo, @desia.bsky.social, @kentuckylantern.com, Investigative Reporters …, @thetnholler, The Tennessean, WSMV-TV, @iamstevenhale.bsky.social, Mediaite, @rebeccaaguilar.bsky.social, @radleybalko.bsky.social, WZTV, @anitawadhwani.bsky.social, @evansd.bsky.social, @jhollymc.bsky.social, @nashvillebanner.bsky.social and @tennesseelookout.com
Charlotte Tobitt / Press Gazette:
In an interview, EIC Jeffrey Goldberg says the Atlantic added 50 journalists in 2025, for a total of 200+, and has ~1.5M paying subscribers, up from 1M in 2024 — The Atlantic is now in a “virtue cycle” of making a product people will pay for and putting the profit back into the business, according to editor-in-chief Jeffrey Goldberg.
Discussion:
@edouardmachery.bsky.social and @pressgazette.co.uk
Bron Maher / A Media Operator:
USA Today's US digital-only paid subscriptions in Q4 fell 30% YoY but digital revenue in 2025 was flat at $1.1B; CEO Mike Reed expects more AI deals in 2026 — USA Today Co.'s push to get readers paying higher prices for journalism is working and despite a nearly one-third drop in its paid subscriptions …
Edna Tarigan / Associated Press:
Indonesia says it will ban “high-risk” platforms, including YouTube, TikTok, Facebook, Instagram, Threads, X, and Roblox, for children under 16 from March 28 — Indonesia will ban social media for children under 16, Communication and Digital Affairs Minister Meutya Hafid said Friday.
Ashley Carman / Bloomberg:
Some podcasters exclusive to Netflix see their YouTube channel growth slow; sources: Netflix limits how many clips podcasters can share on third-party platforms — Podcasters exclusive to Netflix are seeing their channel growth slow by as much as 50% compared to the year prior — Welcome back to Soundbite.
Discussion:
The Korea Times, Thurrott, Tubefilter, Podnews, NextBigWhat and TechSpot
Liz Skalka / Columbia Journalism Review:
Patch's AI-generated newsletters, which carry local and national ads and rely on aggregation and event calendars, have ~1M subscribers across 14K US communities — Patch built a newsletter system to be not hard-nosed journalism but a community-building tool.
Discussion:
Simon Owens on LinkedIn, American Press Institute and @columjournreview.bsky.social
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