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Tuesday, December 2, 2025 |
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Hey there! On this #GivingTuesday, keep nonprofit news outlets in mind. Scroll down for the latest on Sam Altman declaring a "code red," The Atlantic starting a 50-state tour, and Sean Combs trying to stop the new Netflix docuseries about his downfall... |
Mega-bids for media power |
Second-round offers for Warner Bros. Discovery are in. The WBD side is keeping very quiet about the process. But we will likely hear soon about next steps in a possible sale of the media giant.
Netflix's mostly-cash offer attracted attention from beat reporters yesterday. The company is "working on a bridge loan that totals tens of billions of dollars," Bloomberg's Michelle F Davis, Lucas Shaw, and Josh Sisco wrote.
Netflix and Comcast are reportedly only interested in Warner's studio and streaming businesses. Paramount remains the only known bidder that wants all of WBD, including CNN. "Paramount’s offer, while largely backed by the family of Oracle co-founder Larry Ellison, includes debt financing from Apollo Global Management," and "Middle East funds are also contributing," the trio wrote.
"The new bids are considered binding, although parties can still tweak their offers," Deadline's Dade Hayes and Jill Goldsmith reported.
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Paying attention to the 'Trump card' |
Paramount insiders continue to argue that "they have an easier path through Trump's regulators," as Charlie Gasparino put it this morning.
The regulatory approval process is more complicated than any one man, since European countries and other entities are involved. But Trump's wants and whims continue to dominate every media merger conversation. (It's striking how this has been so internalized and accepted as normal, eh?)
"Trump's approach to dealmaking appears to be: If you are my friend/donor, deals are good. If you are not, deals are bad," the aforementioned Lucas Shaw wrote.
The WSJ's Joe Flint, Lauren Thomas and Dave Michaels, following up on some of Gasparino's reporting, wrote last night about "a recent meeting of high-level White House officials in which concerns about a Netflix-Warner Discovery deal were discussed."
The trio also wrote that some Justice Department officials "are concerned that Netflix owning HBO Max would give it too much power in the streaming marketplace."
>> A new Bank of America research report put it this way: "If Netflix acquires Warner Bros., the streaming wars are effectively over. Netflix would become the undisputed global powerhouse of Hollywood beyond even its currently lofty position. In our view, it would have a content moat that no other standalone streamer can cross."
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The Pentagon leaks continue... |
While MAGA media content creators posed for selfies at the Pentagon yesterday, actual Pentagon beat reporters were busy working — outside the building's five walls.
As I wrote for CNN.com here, Pete Hegseth's crackdown on press access to the Pentagon complex has not deterred rigorous reporting about the boat strikes. On the contrary, the reporting has been led by news outlets that handed in press passes back in October.
This morning's lead story in The Washington Post is "Fallout of boat strike mounts." The NYT counters some of the Post's reporting with its own account here: "Officials deny Hegseth order of boat deaths." Seems like different sources are leaking different descriptions of what happened, which makes a congressional probe all the more valuable...
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Hegseth's new propaganda posse |
☝🏻 Let's see if that's a fair phrase. For the moment, it certainly seems to be. Pro-Trump commentators and influencers are flaunting their access to the Pentagon complex while taunting the reporters who'd refused to go along with highly restrictive new rules. Today they're supposed to participate in a press briefing.
In one particularly goofy stunt yesterday, several content creators all claimed to be sitting in WaPo military affairs reporter Dan Lamothe's old seat — even though they were sitting in different spaces. Maybe they were misled by a Pentagon press aide.
>> Veteran Pentagon correspondent Barbara Starr saw the selfies and wrote on X, "You all look glum I must say. Is that because you know the entire Pentagon press corps is busy breaking scoops?"
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Kids Can Press, the publisher of the "Franklin the Turtle" book series, is not happy about Hegseth's trollish posting of a fake "Franklin Targets Narco Terrorists" book cover. In a statement posted across its social media accounts on Monday evening, the publisher responded: "Franklin the Turtle is a beloved Canadian icon who has inspired generations of children and stands for kindness, empathy, and inclusivity. We strongly condemn any denigrating, violent, or unauthorized use of Franklin's name or image, which directly contradicts these values."
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The impact of Trump's 'news silo' |
Trump "inhabits something of a news silo, watching far-right cable channels such as One America News Network and Newsmax along with Fox News," The Atlantic's Jonathan Lemire writes in this piece, titled "The Bubble-Wrapped President." Lemire points out that Trump is even more isolated now than he was in his first term. Another media-centric example: "He now posts solely on Truth Social, which he owns and where he is surrounded by sycophants."
>> Late Monday night, Trump "let loose a barrage of hundreds of posts in about three hours," Klaus Marre of WhoWhatWhy noted...
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The Atlantic announces 50-state tour |
Tonight, The Atlantic is heading to its hometown, Boston, for the first leg in a new national event series, "The Atlantic Across America."
Over three years, the storied magazine will visit all 50 states, holding discussions with Atlantic journalists and at times partnering with local and nonprofit newsrooms to do so. "The 250th anniversary of America's founding represents an excellent moment to visit our readers, and our future readers, across the country," editor-in-chief Jeffrey Goldberg says.
>> Tonight's event, happening in partnership with WBUR, is sold out, but livestream tickets are available here (and are free for Atlantic subscribers).
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On this #GivingTuesday, keep nonprofit news in mind |
A growing number of nonprofit news sites use this day to encourage donations to keep their operations afloat. The New Hampshire Center for Public Interest Journalism tweaks the hashtag and calls it "GivingNewsDay" 😀
Next door in Massachusetts, Tom Bergeron is urging support for WHAV, the station that launched his career. In Wisconsin, the Isthmus is trying to raise enough money "to print one monthly issue." In Arizona, the Luminaria is holding a happy hour to mark the day. Many outlets participate in NewsMatch, which makes your dollars go even further...
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Today's new nonfiction releases |
Normally, I'd say "happy book launch day," but with Olivia Nuzzi, I'm not sure that's the proper tone. But I bet she's feeling a bit of relief now that "American Canto" is finally on bookstore shelves. Her ex Ryan Lizza has dominated media chatter for the past couple of weeks — and in his latest blog post, released last night, he alleged that RFK Jr. manipulated Nuzzi in truly disturbing ways.
"Amid the noise around Nuzzi, 'American Canto' itself drops with a soft, disappointing thud," Alexandra Jacobs writes in this NYT review. "To paraphrase Britney Spears, a pop-culture touchstone for the author and fellow blond millennial: It's not a tell-all, not yet a memoir."
>> Also newly on sale today: "Barbieland: The Unauthorized History" by Tarpley Hitt and "How the Cold War Broke the News: The Surprising Roots of Journalism's Decline" by Barbie Zelizer. Honestly, I'm much more interested in reading those two...
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Special Kornacki live-stream tonight |
Today's special election in Tennessee's 7th Congressional District, "normally a conservative stronghold, is giving Democrats hope that their recently successful message of affordability can help them spring a major upset," CNN's Kathryn Squyres writes.
NBC News is promoting special coverage from Steve Kornacki, to be streamed on its website and other platforms. "I'll be streaming live from the Big Board — no frills, no guests, just results," Kornacki says. "It'll go live at 7:45, 15 minutes before polls close, and I'll stay until we've got a result. Hopefully the start of more nights like this!"
>> CNN's John King will be at the Magic Wall, both for TV and streaming, starting at 7 p.m.
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>> Two big hires by Rolling Stone this morning: Matt Bai is joining as national affairs columnist, and Katherine Eban as national investigative correspondent.
>> The Guardian is facing a trial after Andy Ngo sued the paper for labeling him an "'alt-right' agitator," Charlotte Tobitt reports. (Press Gazette)
>> Richard Lawson is throwing his hat in the beehiiv ring with a newsletter for his "reviews, essays, awards-season postulation," and recapping. (Premiere Party)
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'Code red' moment at OpenAI |
OpenAI CEO Sam Altman told staffers yesterday "that he was declaring a 'code red' as ChatGPT faces growing threats from Google and other AI makers," The Information's Stephanie Palazzolo and Erin Woo scooped last night. Altman "wrote that he’s marshaling more resources to improve model behavior and other features in the chatbot." And he said OpenAI is preparing to ship a new reasoning model next week...
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Politico union's AI dispute |
Liam Reilly writes: An arbitrator has sided with unionized journalists with Politico and E&E News in an AI case, finding that Politico violated the collective bargaining agreement by introducing AI tools that ignored safeguards and undermined journalistic standards. "This ruling is a clear affirmation that AI cannot be deployed as a shortcut around union rights, ethical journalism, or human judgment," Unit Chair Ariel Wittenberg said in a statement.
Following the ruling, NewsGuild-CWA said it is launching a new national campaign, "News, Not Slop," that aims to "raise awareness about AI and its consequences and how unionized journalists are fighting to ensure that journalism for humans is led by humans."
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>> Instagram chief Adam Mosseri "is ordering most US staff in his organization back to the office five days a week starting February 2." (Business Insider)
>> During oral arguments yesterday, the Supreme Court "appeared sympathetic to an internet service provider locked in a copyright battle with the music industry," John Fritze writes. The ISP is Cox Communications, and it's appealing a ruling in favor of major music labels... (CNN)
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'Sean Combs: The Reckoning' is out |
The four-part series produced by his longtime rival, Curtis "50 Cent" Jackson, launched on Netflix this morning. The docuseries includes footage of Combs "visiting a restaurant in Harlem and talking strategy with his lawyers" shortly before his arrest. Combs, according to his rep, was plotting his own documentary project. But the footage ended up in the hands of 50 Cent and director Alexandria Stapleton, prompting Combs' team to send a cease-and-desist letter to the streamer yesterday. Julia Jacobs and Ben Sisario detailed the dispute for the NYT...
>> Photos of Diddy hugging fellow inmates in prison that bear the TMZ watermark are, in fact, the work of AI, per the tabloid. (TMZ)
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>> "One Battle After Another" took home the top prize at the Gotham Awards last night. (AP)
>> Also at the Gothams, "It Was Just an Accident" director Jafar Panahi won for best original screenplay, "just hours after Iran sentenced the dissident filmmaker to a year in prison in absentia." (THR)
>> Taylor Swift's "The Fate of Ophelia" has topped the Billboard Hot 100 "for an eighth week, tying 'Anti-Hero' as her longest-leading hit." (Billboard)
>> A24's Timothée Chalamet-led ping-pong flick "Marty Supreme" from Josh Safdie is raking in praise, currently averaging 96% on Rotten Tomatoes. (Rotten)
>> Speaking of... WSJ Magazine is out with a profile of Simone Cromer, who created the Club Chalamet fan account on social media and "became the story" herself. (WSJ)
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