Top News:
Thomas Escritt / Bloomberg:
Viktor Orban's media empire collapses two months after his election defeat; about 400 journalists at Mediaworks outlets have been given notices of termination — Viktor Orban's vast media empire, which played a key role in sustaining the Hungarian nationalist leader in power for the past 16 years …
Discussion:
@eunews.social, The Kyiv Independent and Al Jazeera
Zoe Engels / Mediaite:
Kara Swisher says she'll leave CNN as soon as she can if the Ellisons acquire WBD, the network's parent company; she's under contract until the end of 2026 — CNN's Kara Swisher said she'll depart CNN as soon as she can if the “incompetent” Ellison family successfully acquires the network's parent company, Warner Bros. Discovery.
Discussion:
Barrett Media, HuffPost, The Wrap, RADAR and Democracy Now
RELATED:
Miles Klee / Wired:
Freedom of the Press Foundation says Paramount refused to air an ad criticizing Paramount's merger with WBD during the stream of the UFC White House event — The commercial was submitted by the Freedom of the Press Foundation to run during Donald Trump's UFC event.
Ellise Shafer / Variety:
Memo: the BBC says it will cut 550 jobs including in its news and content divisions by the start of FY 2027-2028 in the first phase of a plan to save $670M — New BBC director general Matt Brittin has outlined the first phase of his savings plan for the broadcaster, which includes cutting jobs …
Discussion:
Telegraph, Reuters, Sky News and The Hollywood Reporter
Ben Fritz / Wall Street Journal:
A profile of Silk White, whose movies and TV shows, which have grossed ~$2M in the year to February, are distributed by Filmhub to online platforms like Tubi — Silk White's D.I.Y. movies and TV shows are profiting from growing audiences on free streaming services like Tubi and Roku
Angelique Chrisafis / The Guardian:
Reporters Without Borders and French journalists unions complain that billionaire Bernard Arnault has bought up almost all the country's business media outlets — Arnault's addition of leading weekly to stable of publications raises concerns about media ownership in France
Matt G. Southern / Search Engine Journal:
Kapwing: in tests, ~60% of the first 500 TikTok For You videos shown to a new account were AI slop, ~3x the slop shown to a new user in the YouTube Shorts feed — In a fresh-account test, Kapwing found 59% of TikTok For You videos were AI slop, roughly three times the rate on YouTube.
Discussion:
Tubefilter, more at Techmeme »
Mitchell Armentrout / Chicago Sun Times:
Illinois Governor JB Pritzker signs a state budget that levies taxes on social media giants, digital advertising, and prediction and crypto markets — The eighth state spending plan of Pritzker's tenure includes additional funding for food assistance in the wake of deep federal funding cuts under President Donald Trump.
Rebuild Local News:
The 2026 Local Journalist Index shows a persistent shortage of local journalists; states with fewer local journalists face higher municipal borrowing costs — MIAMI and BROOKLYN — The 2026 Local Journalist Index, a landmark annual study by Muck Rack, the AI communications platform …
Discussion:
Poynter, Tim Franklin on LinkedIn, Steven Waldman on LinkedIn and Washington Monthly
Mark Sweney / The Guardian:
Analysts: UK social media ban is likely to cause £1.3B in digital ad cuts in 2027, with streaming services poised to benefit as advertisers seek to reach teens — TV streamers and family shows set to benefit as brands cease marketing to teenagers on sites such as YouTube
Discussion:
spiked, @mxthemfatale.bsky.social, City A.M. and Moneycontrol
Lucas Manfredi / The Wrap:
Netflix says it is “not interested” and has no plans to pursue Lionsgate; Lionsgate shares closed up 13.85% on Tuesday before falling ~4% after hours — Shares of the Hollywood studio jumped 13% after Semafor reported the streamer was interested in a potential acquisition
Sarah Perez / TechCrunch:
WordPress survey: 60% of US consumers say “AI” in a brand's messaging is a turnoff, and 86% always or sometimes check the source after receiving an AI summary — Getting cited by AI is easier than earning consumers' trust, according to a new report from WordPress VIP …
