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Thursday, September 25, 2025 |
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TGIT! Scroll down for the latest on Larry Ellison, Jimmy Kimmel, Bari Weiss, the NFL, Instagram, Matthew McConaughey, "The Savant," and much more... |
President Trump clearly enjoyed having some special guests in the Oval Office when he signed an executive order back on February 5. "We have two of the most talented people in the world" here, Trump said to the press pool as he gestured over to "the legendary Rupert Murdoch and Larry Ellison."
Trump said out loud that the journalists must've been wondering, "What are they doing here?"
Well, now we know. Murdoch and Ellison were at the White House that day to talk about the long-gestating deal to sell TikTok’s US assets to a consortium of American investors, a source involved in the talks tells me. Ellison's role vis-à-vis TikTok has been well-established since Oracle became a TikTok business partner in 2020, but Murdoch's involvement in the joint venture remained a secret for more than six months, until Trump blurted it out in a Fox News interview last weekend.
Later today, Trump is expected to sign another executive order, this time to "clear the way" for the completion of the deal, CNN's Samantha Waldenberg and Clare Duffy reported this morning. The president, of course, wants to show voters that he is "saving" TikTok, though it's more complicated than that. Check out Waldenberg and Duffy's full story here.
This could be a huge win for all the investors in the joint venture. For Rupert and Lachlan Murdoch, it's a way for Fox Corp to own a little piece of a really big platform. (BTW, remember the last time Murdoch owned a social media site?)
All that said: At the risk of repeating myself, China has the final say in this TikTok matter, so Xi Jinping's signature matters more than Trump's in this case. But the US vision for TikTok is clear: The app would be controlled by Trump-aligned businessmen.
"The arrangement would gift Trump's billionaire allies a degree of control over US media that would be vast and unprecedented," The Guardian's Blake Montgomery wrote earlier this week.
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Newsom: 'The GOP are buying up platforms' |
Concerns about Chinese influence over the TikTok algorithm haven't dissuaded American users. Will concerns about Trump boosters in the US having control cause anyone to think twice?
I raised this point on CNN the other day, and California Gov. Gavin Newsom's main social media account shared the segment on X. Newsom said, "This should not be treated lightly. The GOP are buying up platforms to control the news and information you receive. They are censoring you in real time."
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Get to know Larry Ellison... |
"In a remarkable new chapter, even by the standards of the truly rich," Oracle co-founder Larry Ellison "has suddenly decided to become a media magnate, one whose portfolio and power could exceed those of fabled predecessors like Hearst and Pulitzer," the NYT's David Streitfeld and Teddy Schleifer write in today's paper.
Larry "and his son, David, are Trump favorites," the story observes, and "the family could soon control an empire that includes CBS, Paramount, Warner, CNN and a piece of TikTok." Paramount has yet to formally make a bid for Warner Bros. Discovery, but is heading in that direction. Read on...
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Mario Guevara on verge of deportation |
Advocates for Mario Guevara, a Salvadoran journalist who built a big social media following by documenting immigration raids, say his deportation is imminent. Guevara was arrested during a "No Kings" protest and then transferred to ICE custody back in June.
"Life isn't always fair," he wrote in Spanish in a letter on his website. "If I'm deported, I'll leave with my head held high, because I'm convinced it will be for carrying out my journalistic work, not for committing crimes." The AJC's Lautaro Grinspan has more here...
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Another social media rush to judgment? |
Today's entire Dallas Morning News front page is about Wednesday's shooting at the city's ICE facility. The banner headline: "ICE detainee fatally shot."
The attack "quickly generated a conflicting array of information and opinion," as the NYT's Jesse McKinley wrote here. "Similar to the assassination of Charlie Kirk" two weeks ago, he wrote, a shocking shooting was "followed by a near-instantaneous search for answers as to the motive, with people examining a message written on a bullet in hopes of understanding the situation..."
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Kimmel responds to latest Trump threat |
"You can't believe they gave me my job back? I can't believe we gave you your job back!"
That was one of Jimmy Kimmel's many jokes at Trump's expense last night, on the comedian's second night post-suspension. He deconstructed Trump's Truth Social post against ABC, saying, "Only Donald Trump would try to prove he wasn’t threatening ABC by threatening ABC."
CNN's John Liu recapped the episode here. The monologue already has 3 million views on YouTube, indicating that interest in Kimmel's commentary remains really elevated — and it may also reflect the fact that Kimmel fans in Nexstar and Sinclair markets have to go online to see the show.
>> As you surely read yesterday, Kimmel's return episode scored at least 6.3 million viewers via traditional TV, and his emotional monologue has hit 20 million views on YouTube. All those #s will keep growing...
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Vance visits Nexstar to whack Kimmel |
NewsNation had an exclusive interview with VP JD Vance yesterday, which stood out to me since the cable channel is owned by Nexstar. Vance criticized Kimmel — "he didn't actually say sorry to Charlie Kirk or his family" — and called last week's triggering monologue "straight up disinformation." More on Vance in a moment... |
Yep, they preempted Kimmel again |
Both Nexstar and Sinclair continue to black out Kimmel's show, and it's causing quite a backlash in some of the local markets. This morning's edition of CJR's daily newsletter describes phones "ringing off the hook" at one Sinclair-owned station, with callers complaining about the preemption "every two minutes."
Nexstar said yesterday that it's having "productive discussions" with Disney, while Sinclair referred CNN back to its earlier statement on the matter. Let's just be clear about one thing: The content of Kimmel's show has not changed. He's the same anti-Trump comic he was last year.
What's changed is that FCC chair Brendan Carr, who has the ability to hinder Nexstar and Sinclair's business, has publicly condemned Kimmel and signaled his willingness to punish those who continue to carry his show.
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ABC News vets urge Iger to stand firm |
A group of 100+ former ABC News journalists has penned a letter to Bob Iger urging him to make "a concerted effort to defend free speech and press freedom against political intimidation."
"The First Amendment is not negotiable," the letter states. "ABC’s credibility and Disney's reputation depend on unwavering leadership in its defense." Here's my story with additional quotes, plus a note about how ABC News keeps breaking stories about the Trump admin, despite the political pressure. ABC's latest scoop: "RFK Jr. launches FDA review of abortion pill."
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VP claims Carr was joking |
Yesterday, the VP dishonestly downplayed Brendan Carr's influence on Kimmelgate, claiming the FCC chair merely made "a joke on social media."
"What people will say is, 'Didn't the FCC commissioner put a tweet out that said something bad?'" Vance told a reporter, framing Carr's verbal threats on a podcast as a tweet. "Well, compare... the FCC commissioner making a joke on social media — what is the government action that the Trump administration has engaged in to kick Jimmy Kimmel or anybody else off the air? Zero. What government pressure have we brought to bear and tell people that they're not allowed to speak their mind? Zero. We believe in free speech." He then pivoted to YouTube's claim that the Biden administration pressured it to remove content that didn't violate its platform policies.
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FIRE is pushing back against the Democratic lawmakers who announced a probe into Sinclair and Nexstar, asserting that "broadcasters have a First Amendment right to decide what programming to air." (NBC's Daniel Arkin first reported on the investigation on Tuesday.) FIRE's key point: "If Congress is worried about the federal government shaking down broadcasters, it should investigate the government, not the broadcaster."
Other Democrats are doing just that. Sen. Adam Schiff and eight others have sent a letter to Brendan Carr "questioning the FCC’s authority," TheWrap's JD Knapp reports.
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Hollywood's face of free speech |
CNN's Elizabeth Wagmeister writes: "Last week, Disney was on the verge of a Hollywood boycott... today, Hollywood is rallying around Kimmel with open arms. Hollywood's new crusade is fighting against government censorship... and suddenly, Kimmel is the industry's face of free speech." |
'South Park' roasts the FCC chair |
On this week's episode of "South Park," "Kyle and his mother go to war with prediction market apps while Donald Trump inadvertently terrorizes FCC chair Brendan Carr while trying to kill his butt baby with Satan," Variety's Jack Dunn reports. The episode aired on Comedy Central last night, and the show is promoting its FCC satire on Carr's favorite platform, X; he hasn't replied yet...
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Bari Weiss deal is 'around $150 million' |
"Paramount Skydance CEO David Ellison's courtship of Bari is now coming to its conclusion," Puck's Dylan Byers reports. "The deal is expected to close in about two weeks,"and "the final number is around $150 million, a mix of cash and stock." More here...
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>> As it splits away from NBC News, MSNBC has struck a pact with Sky News for international news. (Variety)
>> New this morning: The Economist is launching The Economist Insider, a "new premium video product" with twice-weekly shows. (TBN)
>> An important WaPo editorial: "Pete Hegseth vs. the press." (WaPo)
>> Matthew McConaughey's "Poems & Prayers" has debuted at #1 on the NYT best seller list. (NYT)
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NFL to TV nets: Let's talk soon |
"The NFL could begin renegotiating its media rights deals as soon as 2026, four years ahead of the current agreement's opt-out clause, Commissioner Roger Goodell told CNBC in an exclusive interview." Alex Sherman is sharing more of the highlights from his Goodell chat in his newsletter today...
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>> So big it boggles the mind: Meta's Instagram has topped 3 billion monthly active users. (CNBC)
>> “Cloudflare has expanded its Project Galileo program to help non-profits and independent media safeguard their content from AI crawlers." (Mediaweek)
>> Have you heard of "workslop?" Jason Koebler says "AI slop is taking over workplaces." (404 Media)
>> YouTube "will finally let you dismiss the pop-ups that fill your screen with recommendations at the end of a video." (The Verge)
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Entertainment notes and quotes |
>> Jessica Chastain has voiced her opposition to Apple TV+ "pausing the planned release of her limited series 'The Savant.'" (CNN)
>> Vince Gilligan has inked a four-year deal with Sony Pictures TV. (TheWrap)
>> Telemundo Studios is trying to get into the budding "vertical short drama" market. (TheWrap)
>> Denis Villeneuve "will embark on the search for an actor to play the world’s most famous fictional spy, James Bond, next year when he completes production on 'Dune: Part Three,'" Baz Bamigboye reports. (Deadline)
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