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Thursday, February 26, 2026 |
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Hey, good morning. The Foreign Press Association is urging Israel to "let us in" to Gaza. Netflix is lobbying the White House. Nexstar is laying off local TV veterans. Let's get to it... |
Threatening the 'firewall' |
Kari Lake has been impeded at almost every turn. But she keeps trying to turn the US Agency for Global Media into "Trump TV."
She framed it this way, in a chat with Newsmax this week: "We're no longer putting out anti-American news. We're putting out pro-American news."
Most people who "put out" news for a living, though, don't think the US government should be deciding what counts as "anti-American" or "pro-American."
Lake's latest effort is described in this story by the NYT's Minho Kim: "Trump Officials Seek to Break Editorial 'Firewall' at U.S.-Funded News Agencies."
President Trump tried to shutter those agencies, Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty and Middle East Broadcasting Networks, last spring. When courts blocked those efforts, Lake blasted the judges for "subverting the will of the people." But she begrudgingly restored their funding.
Then, a few weeks ago, Congress approved half a billion dollars more for USAGM than Lake requested. She said she was "disappointed." So now, it seems, she is trying to impose controversial conditions on the funding.
The agencies "received a draft funding agreement" that could give the Trump admin "the power to veto their new hires for editors in chief, chief executives and members of their boards, and could unilaterally shut down parts of their news operations with a two-week notice," Kim reports.
Journalists at these networks have long relied on the "firewall" that ensures editorial independence. They've also expected that the Trump admin would try to demolish the wall. Some say they see it happening: "Voice of America is covering Iran’s protests, but not its best-known dissident," WaPo's Scott Nover wrote yesterday, documenting accusations of censorship.
So the agencies are pushing back on the draft funding contract, but not commenting publicly, citing the ongoing negotiations.
Meanwhile, keeping the networks online continues to be a struggle. Earlier this week Radio Free Europe said it is shutting down its Bulgarian and Romanian services, citing "ongoing budgetary challenges."
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Lake revives layoff threats |
In other USAGM news, Lake used her favorite social network, X, to tout another attempt to "right size" (shrink) the agency. Employees received an email this morning about a "deferred resignation program," i.e., another invitation to resign or retire, paired with a warning that layoffs are on the table.
You may recall that Lake and co. attempted mass layoffs (a reduction-in-force, or RIF) last summer, but had to backtrack when unions and judges intervened. That attempt "is currently suspended due to court order, and the agency still intends to carry out a significant RIF as soon as we are able," today's email said.
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>> "Let us in:" The Foreign Press Association just released a powerful video and petition saying "Israel must allow international media into Gaza." The video features CNN's Clarissa Ward and Jeremy Diamond and many other journalists. (FPA)
>> "Pro-democracy media tycoon Jimmy Lai's fraud conviction and prison sentence were overturned by a Hong Kong court on Thursday, in a surprise legal decision that comes soon after Lai was jailed for 20 years on a separate national security charge." (Reuters)
>> "What Russia Really Thinks About Trump:" Writing for Foreign Policy, Alexey Kovalev says "Russian TV routinely features jokes about how Trump can be manipulated into doing things that clearly damage U.S. interests." (FP)
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"The State of the Union address drew a smaller audience than last year's presidential address to Congress, based on preliminary Nielsen ratings," THR's Rick Porter writes. He calculated about 28 million viewers total across the seven biggest networks, which is a 12% year-over-year decline. Fox News was #1 overall, as expected, but the Fox News #s were down 15% year-over-year among total viewers, while CNN and MS NOW's #s were both up double digits year-over-year. Make of that what you will...
>> Aaron Blake's latest analysis is leading the CNN homepage this morning: "Polls show increasing concerns about Trump’s mental acuity."
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The publishing world has lost a legend: Ann Godoff, "a percipient editor and intuitive publisher" who ran Random House and then Penguin Press, died Tuesday. She was 76. She continued editing while living with bone cancer. Two of her books came out just this week: Gavin Newsom's memoir and Michael Pollan's "A World Appears."
>> Newsom said in an overnight tribute that Godoff "was fierce, brilliant, and deeply thoughtful — she cared about her writers, about compelling narratives, and most importantly, about readers."
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>> This just in: The Athletic is hiring a six sports reporters who were laid off by the Washington Post. (Axios)
>> This morning "the White House Correspondents' Association named mentalist Oz Pearlman as its headliner for its 2026 dinner, its second consecutive year of bucking a traditional comedian after it canceled Amber Ruffin's appearance last year following White House criticism." (TheWrap)
>> SCOTUSblog co-founder Thomas Goldstein was convicted yesterday "of tax evasion and related charges stemming from his secretive lifestyle as an ultra-high-stakes poker player." (AP)
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Sarandos visiting the WH today |
Paramount reported earnings last night, and WBD this morning, and neither company said anything new about the merger tug-of-war.
Meantime, Politico's Yasmin Khorram was first with the news about Netflix co-CEO Ted Sarandos having meetings at the White House today. Khorram said "it wasn't immediately clear whether Sarandos would meet with Trump." (Or whether Susan Rice will come up.) It's worth noting, in that context, that Paramount CEO David Ellison was in the Oval Office with Trump earlier this month...
>> "State attorneys general led by two Republicans are raising concerns about the proposed takeover of the Warner Bros. studios by Netflix, saying it will harm consumers," Bloomberg's Rob Golum wrote yesterday.
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'What does Trump watch on Netflix?' |
The recent Sarandos sit-down on "The Town" podcast hit on something interesting vis-à-vis Trump and Netflix: Trump is not binge-watching "The Night Agent" or "Squid Game." Unlike so many Americans, who can immediately cough up an opinion about this show or that film, Trump is not personally invested in the streamer.
When Matt Belloni said "What does Trump watch on Netflix?" Sarandos started to say "I don't think he watches a lot on" Netflix, then pivoted to say "he watches a lot of news, it seems like," meaning Fox News and other cablers.
"Maybe if you put Sean Hannity on Netflix, he would start watching," Belloni said, winning a laugh from Sarandos. (Though it immediately made me wonder about the composition of Netflix's new video podcast lineup.)
The point: There is little reason to think Trump has any personal affinity for — or animus toward — the streamer. According to Sarandos, Trump's interest is in the business, and in protecting entertainment industry jobs. Though, when I say Trump is "not personally invested" in Netflix, that's not quite right — recall that his portfolio contains some Netflix and WBD bonds...
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Layoffs at key Nexstar stations |
Nexstar laid off well-known anchors and reporters at New York's WPIX, Chicago's WGN, and LA's KTLA this week, leading SAG-AFTRA to denounce the company for "eroding the resources and talent that local communities rely on for trusted news."
In Chicago, "The massive downsizing is casting a pall over the newsroom," Robert Channick reported for the Tribune.
>> ICYMI: Earlier this month OpenSecrets documented how Nexstar and Sinclair are spending millions "lobbying to rewrite TV station ownership rules."
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'Kalshi reveals insider trading case against editor for MrBeast' |
A very 2026 story from NPR's Bobby Allyn: "An editor who works for YouTube's biggest creator, MrBeast, has been suspended from the prediction market platform Kalshi and reported to federal regulators for insider trading." The editor was allegedly "using proximity to the streamer as a way of trying to make quick cash" by betting on the outcome of MrBeast videos.
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MS NOW president opens up |
This LA Times story by Stephen Battaglio is Rebecca Kutler's first sit-down interview since being named MS NOW president about a year ago. He says "the moves at MS NOW show a willingness" by Versant "to invest in growing the business, a situation that did not exist under NBCU, which has been focused on building its Peacock streaming platform."
>> Coming up: "By early fall, MS NOW will launch a direct-to-consumer subscription product aimed at people who don't have a pay-TV package." Kutler describes subscriptions as "memberships" and says "we’re trying to build a product that meets the needs of people who love news, care about democracy and want to come together in a shared space." |
WaPo editor: Bezos is 'totally supportive' |
Washington Post editor Matt Murray appeared yesterday at Semafor's annual Trust in Media Summit in DC and said that Jeff Bezos has been "totally supportive" of the paper's legal defense of reporter Hannah Natanson. "He's wanted us to fight the seizure of her devices strongly, as well as the government's assertions that they should keep the devices," Murray said.
Murray also asserted that Bezos is "committed to a long-term future" for the paper. TheWrap's Corbin Bolies was in the room and has more on Murray's comments here...
>> Meanwhile, the Post "lost more than $100 million last year," even more than the year prior, the WSJ's Alexandra Bruell reported, citing sources.
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Also at the Semafor summit: |
Semafor's event also featured FCC chair Brendan Carr, former BBC News CEO Deborah Turness and Axel Springer boss Mathias Döpfner. Some highlights:
>> Asked whether he anticipates "taking one of the big networks to court," Carr said, "I think it'll happen." When Ben Smith asked which one, Carr replied, "We'll see." Carr also said he thinks CBS is "doing a great job" under Ellison.
>> Turness, in her first interview since leaving the BBC, spoke about the bad edit that led to Trump's lawsuit. "The edit wasn’t up to editorial standards," she said, "but I don't accept the charge that it was a sign of institutional bias."
>> Döpfner lamented predictable coverage of Trump and said "we need to focus on kind of unpredictable, open-ended outcomes of curiosity-based investigation," which I think the journalists at his news outlets think they do focus on...
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Guthrie's neighborhood aims to curb streamers |
As the search for Nancy Guthrie nears the one-month mark, media attention — and especially true-crime influencer attention — remains so high that "parking restrictions are being enacted" in her neighborhood. KVOA reports that the no-parking rule, which takes effect today, is meant to "address safety concerns caused by media and social media streamers" and "restore normalcy to the area."
>> Related, and a must-read about the terrifying impacts of amateur investigating, by the NYT's Nicholas Bogel-Burroughs: "Online Accusations in Guthrie Abduction Leave One Family 'Scared Numb'"
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>> The BBC's complaints unit is fast-tracking an investigation into "the broadcast of a racial slur by a guest with Tourette syndrome during the Bafta Film Awards." (BBC)
>> "The FCC is seeking the public's comment on sports' migration from free, over-the-air broadcasts to streaming services," per Lucas Manfredi. (TheWrap)
>> An Edison Research survey finds that "podcasts have officially overtaken AM/FM talk radio as the more popular medium for spoken-word audio" in the US. (TechCrunch)
>> MS NOW anchor Ali Velshi will now be chief data reporter, too, which means he'll be the channel's new Steve Kornacki. (THR)
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'UK media groups unite to tackle AI 'scraping' of journalism' |
That's the headline on Daniel Thomas' report for the FT. He says five of the UK's top news organizations — the BBC, the FT, Sky News, and the Guardian and Telegraph groups — "have drawn up plans for a coalition aimed at preventing AI tools from exploiting their journalism..."
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A few Hollywood headlines |
IMAX "saw revenue and operating earnings surge" last quarter... "Zootopia 2" has cemented "yet another box office benchmark, surpassing 'A Minecraft Movie' to stand as the highest-grossing domestic release of 2025..." and HBO has renewed "Industry" for a fifth and final season.
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