The Atlantic / McKay Coppins
A look inside the war within the Murdoch family over who will control Fox News →“Rupert believed that he had no choice but to take aggressive action. He was 92 years old, and was certain that James was plotting with his sisters to seize control of the family’s companies as soon as he died, after which they would defang his conservative media empire and destroy his life’s work…James had come to see Fox News as a blight on his family’s name and a menace to American democracy.”
Deutsche Welle / Tommy Walker
Cambodia’s government is making reporting more dangerous →“In one of the most recent incidents, U.K. journalist Gerald Flynn was denied reentry into Cambodia at Siem Reap International Airport last month…Flynn, a staff writer at Mongabay, a U.S.-based conservation news website, had recently contributed to a documentary from a French media outlet about Cambodia’s environmental challenges — findings that the Cambodian government labeled as ‘fake news.'”
BleepingComputer / Sergiu Gatlan
The Wall Street Journal / Josh Beckerman
The Verge / Jess Weatherbed
That “free speech” social platform is now blocking links to Signal →“Signal is notably used by journalists to receive confidential information from sources, reassured by the knowledge that messages are end-to-end encrypted and stored on-device. The messaging service has become especially relevant in recent weeks as a tool for federal whistleblowers to report DOGE activity to the press.”
Press Gazette / Dominic Ponsford
The Wall Street Journal / Joshua Chaffin and Meridith McGraw
The 27-year-old press secretary who “speaks Trump fluently” →“Her first two weeks behind the lectern have showcased both her precocious skills and a tendency to amplify her boss’s exaggerations. Trump is said to adore [Karoline] Leavitt, proclaiming a “star is born” at a recent White House event. But there is no guarantee it will last with a president who cycled through four press secretaries in his first administration.”
The New York Times / Jim Zarroli
The Hill / Alexander Bolton
The New York Times / Katie Robertson
These are the winners of this year’s Polk Awards →Among the winners: The New York Times (with 3), The New Yorker (with 2), the Baltimore Banner, the San Antonio Express-News, Stat, ProPublica, the San Francisco Chronicle, Bloomberg Businessweek, NBC News, PBS NewsHour, and Audible.
The Washington Post / Will Oremus and Drew Harwell
Elon Musk accused Reuters of “social deception.” The deception was his. →“However endemic federal misspending is, Musk has repeatedly misrepresented facts on X to bolster unfounded claims of wrongdoing. Like the U.S. Agency for International Development, Politico and others before it, Reuters has been cast as a villain in a narrative spun by Musk in which nefarious left-wing schemes lurk behind programs he targets for cuts — and those who stand in the way.”
Press Gazette / Dominic Ponsford
The Guardian has signed a licensing deal with OpenAI →“The deal will ensure The Guardian receives compensation for the use of its journalism on ChatGPT and gets properly credited on the platform. Under the deal The Guardian will also be able to use OpenAI technology in-house.”
Ars Technica / Scharon Harding
Reddit will soon put some subreddits behind a paywall, according to its CEO →“A critical aspect of any potential plan to make Reddit users pay to access subreddit content is determining how related Reddit users will be compensated. Reddit may have a harder time getting volunteer moderators to wrangle discussions on paid-for subreddits — if it uses volunteer mods at all. Balancing paid and free content would also be necessary to avoid polarizing much of Reddit’s current user base.”
The Globe and Mail / Joe Castaldo
The Toronto Star’s owner is suing Meta for breach of contract →“Torstar Corp. claims…that Meta agreed in September, 2021, to pay US$6.75 million over three years to distribute the publisher’s digital-news content on its platforms, which include Facebook and Instagram. In June, 2023, Meta allegedly told the company that it would be terminating the agreement, just days after the Online News Act received royal assent in Canada.”
Press Gazette / Bron Maher