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1:40 PM ET, March 12, 2026

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 Top News: 
Brooks Barnes / New York Times:
Universal says it is shifting to five weekends of exclusive theatrical runs, up from three, and will move to a minimum of seven weekends in January 2027  —  Theaters will get a minimum of five weekends of exclusive play and then, starting next year, seven.  A pandemic-era policy was guaranteeing only three.
Kayla Cobb / The Wrap:
Disney+ is rolling out Verts, its new short-form video feed, to US users on its mobile app, featuring clips from movies and TV shows on Disney+  —  Users will be able to swipe through a stream of scenes from movies and shows on Disney+  —  Disney's experiment with vertical video begins this week.
Lucas Shaw / Bloomberg:
Sources: Netflix will pay as much as $600M for InterPositive, Ben Affleck's AI moviemaking company, including bonuses for meeting certain performance targets  —  Netflix Inc. will pay as much as $600 million for InterPositive, the AI moviemaking company founded by Ben Affleck …
Payton Turkeltaub / Variety:
Google's video production unit, 100 Zeros, and Range Media Partners are launching a slate of vertical microdramas with dozens of scripted and non-scripted shows  —  Range Media Partners and Google's production initiative, 100 Zeros, is adding a range of microdramas to its roster.
Ted Johnson / Deadline:
CNN plans to debut a six-episode series called Kara Swisher Wants To Live Forever about longevity science, with interviews of Sam Altman and others, on April 11  —  CNN will debut a new original series, Kara Swisher Wants To Live Forever, at 9 p.m. ET/PT on April 11.
Discussion: CNN
Kendra Barnett / Adweek:
NewsGuard launches an AI content farm detection tool in partnership with Pangram Labs, which says it's seeing 300 to 500 of these sites emerge each month  —  Plus, a plug-in with The Trade Desk may help advertisers avoid showing up next to AI-generated news content
Nicole Meir / The Associated Press:
The AP Fund for Journalism doubles the size of its local news program to 100 members, who can now share some of their content via the AP's distribution network  —  AP Fund for Journalism (APFJ) today announced 50 additional news organizations are joining its landmark local news program …
Astrid Suárez / Associated Press:
Inter American Press Association: press freedom in the Americas suffered a “dramatic deterioration” in 2025; the US has “restrictions” on freedom of speech  —  Press freedom in the Americas suffered a “dramatic deterioration” in 2025, a regional watchdog said Tuesday …
Discussion: Al Jazeera
Lucas Manfredi / The Wrap:
PitchBook: VC dealmaking in the media sector fell 69% YoY to $165M across 47 deals in the first two months of 2026, as investors take an “AI-first” approach  —  The Funding File: AI-focused super PAC Leading the Future, Justin and Ben Smith's Semafor and former Paramount co-CEO …
Scott Nover / Washington Post:
Sources: the DOD barred press photographers from briefings on the Iran conflict after they published photos of Pete Hegseth that his staff deemed “unflattering”  —  Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth's staff took issue with images taken in a rare briefing last week and decided to shut …
 
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 More News: 
David Gilbert / Wired:
Q&A: Louis Theroux, director of Netflix documentary Inside the Manosphere, on interviewing those on the extreme edges of the media as they film you, and more
Laura Cress / BBC:
The UK ICO and Ofcom asked social media platforms to implement “highly effective age checks” to bar under-13 accounts, similar to tools required for adult sites
Alexandra S. Levine / Bloomberg:
Google's AI Futures Fund invests $1M into Animaj, an AI animation studio focused on making high-quality videos for children on YouTube
Discussion: Dexerto and Gizmodo
 Earlier Picks: 
Stevie Bonifield / The Verge:
Superhuman says it has disabled Grammarly's Expert Review feature, which gave editing suggestions “inspired by” real writers without permission, after backlash
Martha Bellisle / Associated Press:
A federal judge declines to issue a restraining order that would force Washington state's legislature to give press passes to three conservative media figures
Perry Stein / Washington Post:
The US DOJ appeals an order blocking the search of a WaPo reporter's devices, claiming journalists the government fears may have sensitive data aren't shielded
Corbin Bolies / The Wrap:
NYT defends a March 9 photo showing a massive crowd in Tehran celebrating Mojtaba Khamenei's appointment as Iran's leader, after allegations of AI manipulation
 

 
From Techmeme:

John Jumper / @johnjumpersci:
John Jumper, who won the Nobel Prize “for protein structure prediction”, says he is leaving Google DeepMind after nearly nine years to join Anthropic

Maria Curi / Axios:
Trump says he saw Anthropic last week as a national security threat, but signals relations have since improved because Dario Amodei was “nice” and “smart” at G7

Terje Solsvik / Reuters:
Norway imposes a near ban on gen AI use by elementary school children and restricts its use in older kids' education, to prevent a negative impact on learning
 
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