Mediagazer

11:45 AM ET, July 21, 2025

Top News:

Dan Mangan / CNBC:

Trump files a $10B defamation suit against Rupert Murdoch, Dow Jones, and others after WSJ wrote an article saying Trump sent Jeffrey Epstein a “bawdy” letter — President Donald Trump on Friday followed through on his threat to sue media mogul Rupert Murdoch …

Discussion: emptywheel, CNN, The Independent, New Republic, Daily Mail, The Free Press, Mediaite, @watchdogdiva.bsky.social, @emptywheel.bsky.social, Newsweek, @juliezebrak.bsky.social, Wall Street Journal, ZeroHedge News, PJ Media, Vanity Fair, @brianmannadk.bsky.social, Mother Jones, @farhip, USA Today, @brianstelter, @porter_anderson, @kenbensinger, @kellzevan.bsky.social, New York Post, Truthout, @eriqgardner, @katie_robertson, The Hill, Fortune, @bruno_j_navarro …, America, America, @mstarace@mastodon.social, Reuters, Paul Shoffner on LinkedIn, @scottnover, Axios, The A.V. Club, @bencoates1.bsky.social, Baller Alert, The Hollywood Reporter, Mary Ionescu on LinkedIn, GB News, @dangillmor@mastodon.social, Sky News, @kaiserjonny.bsky.social, CBS News, @carlbergstrom.com, @realDonaldTrump …, @realDonaldTrump …, @timkarr.bsky.social, @BrianJopek@mastodon.world, The Guardian, Cele|bitchy, Breitbart, Benzinga, RedState, New York Times, @bgrueskin.bsky.social, @jondeeoz.bsky.social, @nancylevinestearns …, Washington Examiner, @courtneymilan.com, @emptywheel.bsky.social, @joshuajfriedman.com, Le·gal In·sur·rec·tion, @walshfreedom.bsky.social, Raw Story, New York Sun, Scripps News, The Post Millennial, Alternet.org, The Independent, Variety, Bloomberg, Financial Times, The Wrap, @joshsternberg.com, @timprice.bsky.social, @chrisottolnp.bsky.social, @paleofuture.bsky.social, MSNBC, NBC News, Al Jazeera and JURISTnews

Wall Street Journal:
Dow Jones responds to Trump lawsuit, saying “we have full confidence in the rigor and accuracy of our reporting, and will vigorously defend against any lawsuit”

Jonathan Stempel / Reuters:
A US federal judge dismisses Trump's ~$50M 2023 lawsuit against Bob Woodward for publishing tapes from interviews for his 2020 book Rage as an audiobook

Discussion: MSNBC, @steve@s.yelvington.com, @1gregtodd.bsky.social, Washington Examiner, Washington Post, Law & Crime, Lawyers, Guns & Money, @brianstelter, Reuters, CNN, The Independent, NewsMax.com and Bloomberg

Mark Sweney / The Guardian:

Ofcom says public service TV is becoming an “endangered species” after finding that streamers offered by PSBs only account for 9% of all viewing in the UK — Regulator calls for legislation to make news and UK-focused shows easier to find on online video-sharing platforms

Discussion: Advanced Television and @michaelsavage.bsky.social

Max Goldbart / Deadline:

Ofcom's Future of Public Service Media report urges the UK government to change laws to make UK public broadcaster content easier to find on YouTube — The government should intervene to make UK public broadcaster (PSB) content easier to find on YouTube, the regulator has urged …

Discussion: Advanced Television, Telegraph, The Independent, Financial Times, Ofcom, Broadband TV News and ISPreview UK

Joseph Bernstein / New York Times:

A look at the video podcasting surge; a study shows ~75% of podcast consumers play video episodes and ~30% play video episodes minimized or in background mode — An audio-only medium spawned a giant industry that is now largely focused on video. — The following are the runtimes …

Discussion: The Barbed Wire, Telegraph, Podnews, @bernstein.bsky.social, The Wrap, @jeradwalker.bsky.social, @bobcesca.bsky.social, @brianstelter.bsky.social, Geoffrey Colon on LinkedIn, @brianstelter and Althouse

Jessica Testa / New York Times:

A profile of Brett Cooper, a conservative YouTuber who uses celebrity news to argue against feminism and abortion rights, as she becomes a Fox News contributor — The YouTuber set out to reach young conservatives who felt alienated by mainstream culture. Now she is the newest face at Fox News, though dreaming of her own Goop.

Discussion: @digiphile.bsky.social

Max Tani / Semafor:

A pitch deck from Palantir CTO and another Palantir exec has been circulated for Founders Films, a “patriotic” content production company aiming to raise money — The Scoop — As a conservative political backlash sweeps across US media, some are reaching for the ultimate prize: Hollywood.

Discussion: @maxwelltani and @wandabarquin.bsky.social

Adam Minter / Bloomberg:

F1, whose US viewership on ESPN grew to 1.3M in 2025, risks losing casual viewers by moving to Apple TV+ but may attract younger, affluent fans in the long term — Formula One might lose viewers if it leaves ESPN for the tech company, but moving is more likely to deliver long-term gains.

Discussion: Jalopnik, Screen Rant and Marketing Brew

Sean Burch / The Wrap:10 minutes ago

WaPo opinion columnist Jonathan Capehart takes a buyout, weeks after Will Lewis called on writers who do not “feel aligned” with WaPo's “reinvention” to resign — The veteran opinion writer is leaving the paper after CEO Will Lewis said those who do not “feel aligned” …

Discussion: @sarafischer

Stuart A. Thompson / New York Times:

A look at the Dor Brothers, a video production studio that has gained over 100M views across platforms by creating viral subversive videos using only AI tools — President Trump leans forward in a limousine, takes a long puff from a cigarette and flashes a wide grin.

Michael Savage / The Guardian:

BBC Studios aims to build a lifestyle brand for all ages around its hit cartoon character Bluey, which drove a record $3.6B in global BBC retail sales in 2024 — Corporation aims to build ‘lifestyle brand’ for all ages around smash-hit cartoon character — Each episode may only last seven minutes …

Discussion: @michaelsavage.bsky.social, @anthonypainter.bsky.social and WORLD SCREEN

Peter White / Deadline:

The WGA says The Late Show's cancellation is a “bribe” as Paramount seeks merger approval and calls for NY State AG Letitia James to launch an investigation — The Writers Guild of America has slammed Paramount's decision to cancel The Late Show with Stephen Colbert.

Matthew Belloni / Puck:
Canceling The Late Show With Stephen Colbert makes sense from a business perspective as the show costs $100M+ per year to produce while losing $40M+ per year

Alan Sepinwall / Rolling Stone:
The Late Show's cancellation is both a quid pro quo to get FCC approval for the Skydance merger and the beginning of the end for the late night format

Financial Times:

X says France's criminal probe over algorithmic “manipulation” and “fraudulent” data extraction is “distorting French law in order to serve a political agenda” — Authorities also accused social media company of ‘fraudulent’ data extraction

Sohee Kim / Bloomberg:

How Toho, the Japanese media company behind Godzilla, aims to increase its international presence and revenue via acquisitions, anime, video games, and more — Tokyo's biggest filmmaker, Toho, is looking to expand its prehistoric “atomic-breathing” creature into games and attractions around the world.

Discussion: Gizmodo, The Big Picture, Comic Book, Screen Rant, Sohee Kim on LinkedIn and Bloody Disgusting!

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More News:

Ben Fritz / Wall Street Journal:
How YouTube became the most-watched video provider on TVs in the US, with creator content tailored for family and group viewing and app features enhanced for TV

Discussion: TVNewsCheck, THE MEASURE, Mirror, @carnage4life@mas.to, Cautious Optimism, The Drive, New York Times, Livemint and Tubefilter

Charlotte Tobitt / Press Gazette:
Ad-Shield: 976M people globally use ad blockers that block on-site analytics, whitelisted ads, registration walls, and more, up from 590M in 2019

Discussion: @leighelse@mastodon.nz and @damon.kiesow.net

Sophie Culpepper / Nieman Lab:
Why The Houston Landing failed, including the lack of a clear identity, leadership lacking fundraising and nonprofit experience, and trouble generating revenue

Discussion: @tylerjfisher.com, @speppered.bsky.social, @dankennedy.net and American Press Institute

Andreas Wiseman / Deadline:
X sets its first UK Original, a docuseries about Premier League club Burnley's 2025/26 season, featuring 20 episodes of 10-12 minutes each released fortnightly

Discussion: BusinessCloud, Mitchell Lawrence Smith on LinkedIn, Cord Cutters News, Televisual, C21Media, Sport Industry Group, SportsPro, The A.V. Club, New York Times and TVNewsCheck

Earlier Picks:

Ted Johnson / Deadline:
Filing: Skydance CEO David Ellison and FCC Chair Brendan Carr met on July 15 to discuss the Paramount merger and “Skydance's commitment to unbiased journalism”

Discussion: Washington Post, The Nation, The Washington Free Beacon, The Hollywood Reporter, The Movie Blog, Polygon, Advocate, Variety, The Hollywood Reporter, NBC News, Puck, Axios, Mediaite, The Wrap and Bloomberg

Pippa Norman / Globe and Mail:
Google says it has stopped charging Canadian advertisers a 2.5% surcharge after Canada rescinded the DST following President Trump's threats

Discussion: Carl Irvine on LinkedIn, Canadian Press and @mgeist.bsky.social

Zac Bowden / Windows Central:
Microsoft shuts down the Movies & TV storefront on the Microsoft Store on Windows and Xbox; users will continue to be able to access their past purchases

Jim Rutenberg / New York Times:
A look at GOP efforts to cut NPR and PBS funding, dating back to Nixon; the cuts succeeded now due to Trump's grip on the GOP and the increase in media sources

From Techmeme:

Bloomberg:
Microsoft releases a patch for a SharePoint 0-day RCE flaw exploited globally on thousands of on-prem servers and says SharePoint 2016 updates are in the works

Financial Times:
Sources: the UK may backtrack on its January order for Apple to create a backdoor for iCloud encrypted data after pressure from US officials, including JD Vance

Anton Shilov / Tom's Hardware:
At the 2025 RISC-V Summit in China, Nvidia says CUDA will now be compatible with RISC-V's instruction set architecture, making RISC-V a viable x86 and Arm rival

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