Top News:
Adam Jacobson / Radio & Television Business Report:
Salem Media agrees to be acquired by The Christian Community Foundation, doing business as WaterStone, in a deal that will take Salem Media private — Salem Media Inc. has entered into a definitive agreement to be acquired by The Christian Community Foundation, Inc., doing business as WaterStone …
Discussion:
Inside Radio, NewsMax.com, HotAir, Townhall, @larryoconnor, @johnnycast60804, @ounkaonx, Radio Ink, Barrett Media and Radio World
Sarah Fielding / Fast Company:
BuzzFeed's shares jump 90.44% following the deal with Allen Family Digital; BuzzFeed plans to set up BuzzFeed Studios and Tasty as a new independent entity — Allen will become CEO, while founder Jonah Peretti will transition to a new role. BuzzFeed shares had been trading at under a dollar for most of 2026.
Discussion:
New York Times, Washington Times, Barchart.com, International Business Times, Yahoo Finance, Adweek, The American Bazaar, Radio & Television …, The Information, WPXI-TV, Blockonomi, Axios, Newser, BuzzFeed, The Guardian, Pulse 2.0, Los Angeles Times, Mumbrella, Dow Jones Newswires, Reuters, Baller Alert, Wall Street Journal, TheGrio, The Wrap, Just Jared, Deadline, The A.V. Club, Bloomberg, The Hollywood Reporter and Variety
Rohan Goswami / Semafor:
Paramount sent a letter to California AG Rob Bonta last week saying “Paramount and WBD have every intention” to keep filling theaters in the state and worldwide — THE SCOOP — Paramount is racing to reassure Hollywood that its takeover of Warner Bros. Discovery …
Max Goldbart / Deadline:
Ofcom is investigating GB News over a Trump interview from November for “due impartiality and material misleadingness”, after initially declining to investigate — Ofcom will probe GB News over a Donald Trump interview after all. — The UK regulator, which has been in something …
John Koblin / New York Times:
YouTube is shifting its creator monetization strategy by acting as a matchmaker between creators and sponsors, as Netflix and TikTok increasingly woo creators — The company is trying to help streaming influencers, who are increasingly being wooed by competitors like Netflix and TikTok.
Discussion:
Social Media Today, Tubefilter, Wall Street Journal, Financial Post, WeRSM, PCMag, MediaPost and Communicate Online
Tim Starks / CyberScoop:
Google launches Intrusion Logging, a feature developed with Reporters Without Borders and others to log sophisticated attacks, on Android 16 Pixel devices — Intrusion Logging marks the first feature from a major device vendor to aid with forensic detection of sophisticated threats, Amnesty International said.
Discussion:
Amnesty International … and TechCrunch, more at Techmeme »
Sam Schube / Wall Street Journal:
A profile of Kareem Rahma, host of Subway Takes, which has 2M Instagram followers, as he prepares to launch 10-episode YouTube series Keep the Meter Running — Kareem Rahma is making programs for the one screen everyone's watching — | Photography by Tonje Thilesen for WSJ. Magazine
Discussion:
Cultured Mag and Deadline
Wall Street Journal:
Antenna: ad-supported tiers make up ~50% of all US premium subscription VOD sign-ups; ad tiers drove 78% of ~65M net subscriber adds in the past nine quarters — Advertiser spending on streaming is projected to hit $20 billion by 2029, as consumers flock to cheaper ad-supported plans
Discussion:
Jamnews in English
Sara Fischer / Axios:
ProPublica says it is launching a regional reporting hub in California, covering issues including tech and housing plus the state's role in national politics — ProPublica is launching a new regional reporting hub in California as part of a broader effort to grow its investigative footprint across the country.
Discussion:
Tyson Evans on LinkedIn
Mark Sweney / The Guardian:
In a meeting, the BBC announces a pay freeze for executive committee members, the organization's 12 highest-paid bosses, including the director general — Workers told to be realistic about outcome of union talks as corporation aims to make savings with job cuts
Merin Curotto / Observer:
Film critic Rex Reed, who was known for his distinctive prose and wrote for six decades for major publications, including The New York Observer, dies at 87 — I last saw Rex Reed in person exactly four months ago, at NewYork-Presbyterian Hospital, on January 12, 2026.
Discussion:
Extra, Forbes, Los Angeles Times, @squidyuk, AM New York, @theinsneider, Playbill, @timgrierson, Suggest, Originally Reported …, @joe_a_blevins, @adamdigital, New York Daily News, Dr. William Kapfer on LinkedIn, @benjbrantley, TMZ.com, @willsloanesq, @thevallyd, @ericlipton.nytimes.com, @timgrierson, Deadline, World of Reel, The Wrap, The Hollywood Reporter, New York Times, Variety and The A.V. Club
Emma Roth / The Verge:
Nonprofit RSL Media launches the Human Consent Standard, an AI licensing framework for use of people's work or likeness, backed by George Clooney and others — This new standard will allow people to set terms for how AI systems can use their likenesses and creative works.
Discussion:
Variety, The Register and @marcmaxmeister.bsky.social
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