Sources: after Star India and Viacom18's merger, Reliance Industries plans to retain Disney+ Hotstar as the sole streaming platform, absorbing JioCinema (Javed Farooqui/The Economic Times)

Mediagazer: Sources: after Star India and Viacom18's merger, Reliance Industries plans to retain Disney+ Hotstar as the sole streaming platform, absorbing JioCinema (Javed Farooqui/The Economic Times)

Top News:

CNBC:

Disney plans to name CEO Bob Iger's successor in early 2026, and says ex-Morgan Stanley CEO James Gorman will replace Mark Parker as chairman in January 2025— Disney has tapped James Gorman to replace Mark Parker as the company's next chairman, effective in January, as the media giant lays …
Discussion: Variety, CNN, The Wrap, Variety, TVNewsCheck, Deadline, The Verge, Financial Times, The Hollywood Reporter, New York Times, @sherman4949, New York Post and Business Insider

Discussion:

Todd Spangler /
Variety: Disney Taps James Gorman as Chairman; Board Expects to Name CEO Replacement for Bob Iger in Early 2026

David Goldman /
CNN: Major shakeup at Disney: Board chair is out. New CEO is coming soon

Todd Spangler /
Variety: Disney Names James Gorman Chairman

Dade Hayes /
Deadline: Disney Names James Gorman Board Chairman; Will Announce Bob Iger's Successor In Early 2026

Alexandra White /
Financial Times: Disney names James Gorman as chair

Brooks Barnes /
New York Times: Disney Says It Will Hire a New C.E.O. in ‘Early 2026’

Alex Sherman /
@sherman4949: Im told that internal CEO candidates Dana Walden, Alan Bergman, Jimmy Pitaro and Josh D'Amaro have all recently met with the Disney board succession committee and were all notified of the new early 2026 timeline before today.

Alex Sherman /
@sherman4949: I know there has already been a sense among some execs at Disney that the succession process is hovering over the day-to-day operations. It's obviously a stressful process. But they'll have to wait until early 2026.

Alex Sherman /
@sherman4949: Big Disney news this morning: Disney CEO to be named in early 2026; Gorman to become board chair next year Full story here: https://www.cnbc.com/...

Ariel Zilber /
New York Post: Disney names ex-Morgan Stanley CEO James Gorman its next chairman of the board

New York Times:

A look at Costco Connection, a monthly magazine for Costco “executive” members that is the US' third largest by print circulation, as it expands via digital— The cover of Costco Connection has been a magnet for celebrities of all kinds.Ruth Fremson/The New York Times

Discussion:
@bill_shea19, @aaronorendorff, @mattyglesias and @bananapeele

Discussion:

Bill Shea /
@bill_shea19: Then why don't I see a Costco Connection pool reporter at the White House or Pentagon briefings?

Aaron Orendorff /
@aaronorendorff: Damn! Costco is such a unit on every front. And yes, I've learned the hard way from my lovely wife: NEVER throw out *The* Costco Connection. [image]

Matthew Yglesias /
@mattyglesias: “Costco Connection is now the nation's third largest magazine by print circulation, behind AARP: The Magazine and The AARP Bulletin” https://www.nytimes.com/...

New York Magazine:

Jeff Zucker, Hamish McKenzie, Bari Weiss, and 54 of the most powerful people in media discuss the future of media, return of print, Big Tech, and more— On and off the record with: — Imran Amed, founder and editor-in-chief, The Business of Fashion. Willa Bennett, editor-in-chief, Cosmopolitan and Seventeen.

Discussion:
@colbyhall, @anupkaphle, @wagatwe.com, @ssuttell and @rafat

Discussion:

Colby Hall /
@colbyhall: If the media is relying on this sort of useless and bloviated wank then they are doomed. What a waste of energy.

Anup Kaphle /
@anupkaphle: Asked AI to summarize this and the answer was ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ https://nymag.com/...

Scott Suttell /
@ssuttell: “Still, we found a lot of optimism about the media business and its future. Even those who are gloomy about the state of the industry see a lot of good work being done in their own shops and those of their rivals.” https://nymag.com/...

The Economic Times:

Sources: after Star India and Viacom18's merger, Reliance Industries plans to retain Disney+ Hotstar as the sole streaming platform, absorbing JioCinema— Reliance Industries is set to retain Disney+ Hotstar as its primary streaming platform post-merger with Star India and Viacom18 …

Discussion:
MEDIANAMA and Hindustan Times

Semafor:

Q&A with two Trump campaign senior communications advisors on the media strategy, focusing on podcasters, the “toxicity” of traditional press, and more— Q&A — Shelby Talcott: How do you see the media environment? — Brian Hughes: We are seeing an unprecedented bias in the Old Guard …

Discussion:
@iansams, @shelbytalcott, @semaforben, @anatema0 and CBS News

Discussion:

Ian Sams /
@iansams: An actual sentence said aloud by a Trump advisor to @semafor: “We're also not totally ignoring mainstream press. President Trump just did a sitdown with Harris Faulkner.” 😐 https://www.semafor.com/...

Shelby Talcott /
@shelbytalcott: New: Team Trump has focused more on podcasters than broadcasters this cycle, pushing presidential politics well outside the familiar political media ecosystem. An inside look into their media strategy, and the unique audiences they say they're reaching: https://www.semafor.com/...

Ben Smith /
@semaforben: A must-read interview with @ShelbyTalcott , in which top Trump aides discuss how they see this media moment https://www.semafor.com/...

Anna Tema /
@anatema0: “We've actually excelled at it and created just a massive case study in how a political campaign nationally can get beyond the bias of the Old Guard to an entirely new place.” https://www.semafor.com/...

NBC News:

After allegations of poor working conditions on MrBeast's Amazon Studios show Beast Games, industry insiders call for more safety oversight on creator-run sets— YouTube channels are gaining more mainstream attention — but some in the digital entertainment industry think growth should require better oversight.

Discussion:
@nbcbayarea, @nbcwashington and @carnage4life@mas.to, more at Techmeme »

Discussion:
@nbcbayarea: YouTube channels are gaining more mainstream attention — but some in the digital entertainment industry think growth should require better oversight. https://nbcbay.com/uXknCMB @nbcwashington: Allegations of poor working conditions on YouTuber MrBeast's new Amazon Studios show have pushed some people who work with creators to call for more safety oversight on their sets. https://nbc4dc.com/A9plxrn

Dare Obasanjo /
@carnage4life@mas.to: The backlash against Mr. Beast has been fascinating to observd primarily because it's followed a path typically reserved for startups not individual. — Non-stop positive stories about how focused and hardworking he is despite making millions have now given way to tales of how he makes millions from exploiting people. …

Politico:

Q&A with PolitiFact founder Bill Adair on the value of fact-checking amid polarization, journalists holding politicians accountable, free speech, and more— A veteran of the business explains the war over truth, and what it means for 2024. — The Biden administration stole $1 billion from FEMA.

Discussion:
TVNewsCheck, @wuerker, @cchoksy and The Independent

Discussion:

Mark K. Miller /
TVNewsCheck: A Fact Checker's Dispatch From The War On Truth

Matt Wuerker /
@wuerker: Remember just a year or so ago the mainstream media was very hesitant to call lies lies?

Dr. Carol E. B. Choksy /
@cchoksy: Trump's lying technique is called “dazzle” named after the WWI striped paint on ships that makes shooters hesitate because they don't know what to target. Trump's Soviet dazzle method is to tell lie after lie so people don't coalesce around one truth https://www.politico.com/...

Press Gazette:

How the Boston Globe, which nearly went out of business in 2009, has become a thriving regional newspaper, including through a metered paywall and newsletters— Chief commercial officer Kayvan Salmanpour explains how the Boston Globe has made local news pay.

Discussion:
Dominic Ponsford on LinkedIn and @simondowens@threads.net

Discussion:

Dominic Ponsford /
Dominic Ponsford on LinkedIn: Boston Globe chief commercial officer Kayvan Salmanpour revealed how the title has become a rare local news success story. …

Simon Owens /
@simondowens@threads.net: The Boston Globe has about 260,000 digital subscribers paying $360 a year — so about $93 million in annual subscription revenue. It operates two different sites; a free one that consists of general news and lifestyle content and then a paywalled site with more in-depth coverage. …

Financial Times:

UK filing: Sky reports a £224M operating loss in 2023, up from a £111M loss in 2022, and revenue flat at £10.2B, after sports, film, and TV investments— Media and telecoms group betting on sports coverage to give it a competitive edge — Annual losses doubled at Sky …

Discussion:
The Media Leader, The Desk, The Guardian, Sky UK and Telegraph

Discussion:

Jack Benjamin /
The Media Leader: Losses mount at Sky ahead of WBD showdown

Matthew Keys /
The Desk: Comcast's Sky Group reports full-year loss of £224 million

James Titcomb /
Telegraph: Sky losses top £750m as cost of football climbs

Bloomberg:

Berkshire Hathaway now has a stake of ~32.5% in Sirius XM's publicly traded stock, having become the top holder last month; Sirius XM's shares are down ~50% YTD— Berkshire Hathaway now has a stake of about 32.5% in Sirius XM's publicly traded stock, having become the top holder last month.

Discussion:
Motley Fool, Inside Radio, RADIO ONLINE and Barron's Online

Discussion:

Sean Williams /
Motley Fool: Amid Warren Buffett's $132 Billion Warning to Wall Street, He Can't Stop Buying Shares of These 4 Unstoppable Stocks

The Guardian:

A profile of Pablo González, a Spanish reporter arrested by Poland for spying who was among those released to Russia in exchange for Evan Gershkovich and others— As a Spanish reporter, Pablo González charmed his way into Russian opposition circles and covered Putin's wars.

Discussion:
@shaunwalker7, @johnmooneyirl, @conucrania, @leonidragozin, @oliverbullough, @shaunwalker7 and @20committee

Discussion:

Shaun Walker /
@shaunwalker7: With thanks to @christogrozev for his sharing his - as usual, breathtakingly good - digging, as well as my colleagues @ashifa_k and @PjotrSauer who helped a lot with the research.

John Mooney /
@johnmooneyirl: Do read this excellent piece of journalism

Con Ucrania /
@conucrania: @shaunwalker7 We're Ukrainian expats in Spain, we knew him (even met at Yashin ‘showroad’ in Madrid -watched him in action-) and we can say this is solid reporting overall (yet it's weird to see he's mentioned by his alias instead of his real name, Rubtsov) @marta_ter ☝️

Leonid Ragozin /
@leonidragozin: Fascinating read

Oliver Bullough /
@oliverbullough: Great piece this. Is the moral of the story to be suspicious of any journalist with too big an expenses budget? https://x.com/...

Shaun Walker /
@shaunwalker7: Spent a couple of months working on this longread about Pablo González / Pavel Rubtsov, the Spanish journalist accused of being a GRU spy. Hopefully it goes some way to answering a few of the questions around Pablo. https://www.theguardian.com/ ...

John Schindler /
@20committee: Or? Really? Peak Guardian has been unlocked.

Reuters Institute:

Experts discuss Italy's declining press freedom under Giorgia Meloni's government, legal threats to journalists, public broadcaster RAI's independence, and more— As two reports point to political interference, three experts discuss the risks posed by litigation and the future of the country's public broadcaster

Discussion:
Sara Manisera on LinkedIn, @_goncaloalmeid, @mouradteyeb, @piper5078, @lucialessi, @erika_marzano, @lucialessi, @francesdibi

Discussion:

Sara Manisera /
Sara Manisera on LinkedIn: Under a far-right government, journalists fear press freedom in Italy is heading down a slippery slope — La situazione in Italia. — https://lnkd.in/...

Gonçalo Almeida /
@_goncaloalmeid: Antonio Scurati, the author of a documentary novel about Mussolini and the rise of fascism, was preparing to read a TV monologue to mark the anniversary of the end of Nazi occupation in 1945. But at the last minute, it was cancelled. https://reutersinstitute.politics.ox.ac .uk/ ... @mouradteyeb: #Italy #FarRight “The Italian far right has always thought that mainstream #media hold a negative opinion of those who come from neo-fascist groups.” #Meloni #RAI #Populism #Fascism https://reutersinstitute.politics.ox.ac .uk/ ...

Laura Kirkpatrick /
@piper5078: “When clichés about Russia, the pandemic, the economy, and Ukraine are repeatedly echoed by the government, the result is serious.” In Italy, a cautionary tale of a leader who vilifies a free press and is starting to apply types of censorships. https://reutersinstitute.politics.ox.ac .uk/ ...

Lucia Alessi /
@lucialessi: “The Italian press has a limited tradition of fairness and impartiality,” @riotta added. “It operates in a partisan, biassed manner, and social media, both on the right and left, have fuelled this tendency to the point of absurdity.” https://reutersinstitute.politics.ox.ac .uk/ ...

Erika Marzano /
@erika_marzano: “There has never been such unprecedented intrusion into editorial policy,” said Renate Schroeder, Director of the European Federation of Journalists (EFJ). In recent months, concerns about press freedom in Italy have intensified. https://reutersinstitute.politics.ox.ac .uk/ ...

Lucia Alessi /
@lucialessi: “In Italy, we started late with web journalism, data journalism, and now AI. It's not a matter of right or left, but a cultural, anti-tech Luddite flaw. In fact, when it comes to AI, both the right and left are stuck in the past,” @riotta said. https://reutersinstitute.politics.ox.ac .uk/ ...

Lucia Alessi /
@lucialessi: “I don't believe in a hidden plan or agenda, but in the growing weakness of mainstream media, and the spread of online disinformation,” @riotta said. https://reutersinstitute.politics.ox.ac .uk/ ...

Francesca De Benedetti /