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Gene Maddaus / Variety: A coalition of 12 states led by California files an antitrust lawsuit to block Paramount's WBD merger, alleging it lessens competition in three markets -
Rohan Goswami / Semafor: Sources: David Ellison's advisers are urging him to move Paramount's HQ and much of its spending out of California if AG Rob Bonta sues to block the WBD merger -
Dade Hayes / Deadline: Paramount says states' lawsuit “reflects a fundamentally flawed application of the antitrust laws” and the delay “will only harm entertainment workers” -
Lucas Manfredi / The Wrap: Oregon's AG withdraws a motion to delay the Paramount-WBD merger while he sought company documents; EU agencies and some state AGs are still examining the deal -
New York Times: Sources: the White House directed FBI Director Kash Patel to personally oversee the probe into NYT reporting about Air Force One, before subpoenas were issued -
Michael M. Grynbaum / New York Times: The Trump administration issued subpoenas to several NYT reporters after the outlet reported on security concerns involving the new Qatari-donated Air Force One -
Natalie Korach / Status: Memo: NYT CEO Meredith Kopit Levien says the five reporters subpoenaed by the DOJ, and the whole newsroom, have the “full weight of The Times” behind them -
Anna Betts / The Guardian: Pete Hegseth announces that the DOD and DOJ have created a joint taskforce to identify and prosecute “unauthorized disclosure” of information to the press -
The Guardian: Christopher Nolan says there's a “disdain” for AI, the idea that it “replaces” human creativity is “nonsense”, and he expects it to be useful in “imaging tools” -
Brooks Barnes / New York Times: Lionsgate's Michael crosses $1B at the global box office, its first film to reach the milestone, per Rentrak, reviving Hollywood's last major independent studio -
Scott Nover / Washington Post: Four ex-VOA employees and contractors discuss their new careers in real estate, communications, interpreting, and at Trader Joe's since they lost their VOA jobs -
Gautam Malkani / The Guardian: The Guardian's tech team share their shoe-leather experiences covering AI data centers, as field investigation becomes increasingly important in tech coverage -
Max Goldbart / Deadline: The UK's culture secretary Lisa Nandy says she backs an expansion of the BBC license fee to include subscribers to streamers, though many ideas remain in play -
Joe Mandese / MediaPost: The Media Rating Council's quarterly accreditation status updates show VideoAmp and Nielsen One have pulled out of the accreditation process -
Brooks Barnes / New York Times: Disney says its live-action Moana was set to collect ~$43M at the Box Office over the weekend, below its $60M goal, and just ~$95M worldwide; Moana cost ~$250M