Nieman Lab
The Daily Digest: June 16, 2025

For the first time, social media overtakes TV as Americans’ top news source

Plus: The pivot to video is really happening, digital subscriptions may have peaked, and other findings from RISJ’s 2025 Digital News Report. By Nieman Lab Staff.
What we’re reading
Atlanta Journal-Constitution / Lautaro Grinspan
ICE moves to deport Atlanta-based reporter Mario Guevara, who covered immigration raids →

“My lawyers are asking me to tone it down, to not be so aggressive,” Guevara told the Atlanta Journal-Constitution in an interview about his work earlier this spring. “I’m acting as if I were a citizen…but I’m not scared.”

NPR / David Folkenflik
Press group sues L.A., alleging police abuse of reporters at immigration protests →

“The LAPD — and often the L.A. Sheriff’s Department as well — arrest and attack journalists. They will arrest them. They will detain them. And they will cause serious injury as well with these ‘less-lethal’ munitions.”

Detroit Free Press / Neal Rubin
Detroit Free Press, Detroit News to end joint operating agreement at end of 2025 →

“Of 28 JOAs approved since the passage of the Newspaper Preservation Act by Congress in 1970, only the one in Las Vegas will remain as of the new year. There, the Las Vegas Sun appears as an insert in the daily Las Vegas Review-Journal.”

The New York Times / Joon Lee
How the NBA and MLB shattered America’s sports culture →

“As access shatters, rituals vanish, as do the moments that make sports communal — a bar full of strangers cheering for the same team, the generational ties passed down through the seasons. Those experiences fade under a system that dictates that the more you can pay, the more you can see — until the game disappears behind another paywall.”

Proceso / Aarón Ibarra
Mexico’s state of Sinaloa approves the creation of a deputy prosecutor’s office to investigate crimes against journalists →

Since last September — when the conflict between the opposing factions of the Sinaloa cartel escalated — attacks against the press in Sinaloa have increased. Between September 2024 and April 2025, 65 attacks were documented, an average of 5.5 attacks per day.

Axios / Barak Ravid and Dave Lawler
Israel bombs Iranian state TV during live broadcast →

“Iranian state television was broadcasting live on Monday when a massive explosion rocked the studio, with the anchor fleeing her desk amid smoke and rubble. The broadcast then went dark. Israel’s strike on the IRIB state media building signaled a broadening of its bombing campaign in Iran.”

The Wall Street Journal / Dustin Volz, Isabella Simonetti, and Robert McMillan
A cyberattack on The Washington Post strikes journalists’ email accounts →

“Staffers were told the intrusions compromised journalists’ Microsoft accounts and could have granted the intruder access to work emails they sent and received, some of the people said. The reporters targeted include those on the national-security and economic-policy teams, including some who write about China, the people said.”

Politico / Ben Johansen
The U.S. Agency for Global Media scrambles to bring back Voice of America’s Persian service amid Iran-Israel conflict →

USAGM “told employees placed on administrative leave to immediately return to their roles providing counter-programming to Iranian state media as the conflict between the two nations escalated Friday, according to an email seen by Politico and three people familiar with the situation.”

The Hollywood Reporter / Kimberly Nordyke
Trump and Paramount Global are in “active settlement discussions” over 60 Minutes lawsuit →

“Trump alleges in the lawsuit that CBS News aired a ‘heavily tampered interview’ with Harris to help her in the election by editing certain answers in a way that misled viewers.”

The Guardian / Michael Savage
BBC is exploring U.S. consumers as a new revenue stream for its journalism →

“Executives believe the perceived polarization of the U.S. media, especially during Donald Trump’s second term, may have created an opportunity for the BBC’s brand of impartial coverage.”

Freedom of the Press Foundation / Liam Scott
The reporter documenting 10 years of Trump’s anti-media posts →

“One primary difference between Trump’s first and second term, Sugars added, is that this time around, Trump is increasingly framing ‘the media’ as an opposition party of sorts or as partners of the Democratic Party. Sugars said she has also noticed an uptick in posts that demonize leakers and pledge that the administration will crack down on whistleblowers.”

The New York Times / Jessica Testa and Michael M. Grynbaum
Fired ABC News correspondent Terry Moran doesn’t regret tweeting his criticisms of Stephen Miller →

“Mr. Moran wrote that Mr. Miller ‘eats his hate’ as ‘spiritual nourishment’ and assigned the term ‘world-class hater’ to both Mr. Miller and President Trump, whom the correspondent had interviewed in the Oval Office weeks earlier.”

TechCrunch / Amanda Silberling
Patreon will increase the cut it takes from new creators →

“Currently, Patreon takes an 8% cut or a 12% cut from creators, depending on their selected tier — though the 8% plan is far more popular. The new pricing plan instead offers one universal tier, which keeps 10% of creator earnings.”

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