Mediagazer

7:40 PM ET, April 21, 2026

Top News:

Todd Spangler / Variety:

Trump Media & Technology Group names Kevin McGurn as interim CEO effective immediately; McGurn previously worked as an executive at Hulu, Vevo, and T-Mobile — Trump Media & Technology Group, the parent company of social-media platform Truth Social and other businesses whose mission is …

Discussion: The Wrap, Reuters, Dow Jones Newswires, Deadline, Just The News, @margoinwnc, Trump Media & … and @jsolomonreports

Oliver Darcy / Status:

FCC Chair Brendan Carr says he will attend the WHCA dinner, source says as Paramount's guest; CBS News invited Pete Hegseth and Stephen Miller as guests — When throngs of journalists and politicos descend on the Washington Hilton's 30,000-square-foot ballroom this Saturday to celebrate …

Discussion: The Wrap, Pressing Issues, @harrowedsparrow.bsky.social, @timkarr.bsky.social, Raw Story, @jeffjarvis.bsky.social, @pamspaulding.bsky.social, @karlbode.com, @svecrumba.bsky.social, @atlelainesong.bsky.social, Mediaite, @jenrubin.bsky.social, @bgrueskin.bsky.social, @oliverdarcy.bsky.social and Fox News

Michael M. Grynbaum / New York Times:
More than 250 ex-broadcast journalists urge WHCA dinner organizers “to forcefully demonstrate opposition” to Trump's “efforts to trample freedom of the press”

Alex Weprin / The Hollywood Reporter:

YouTube makes its deepfake detection tool available to anyone at high risk of having their likeness abused, expanding it from public officials and politicians — The tool, which requires a celebrity to upload a digital replica, will flag potentially infringing content — like, say …

Discussion: YouTube Official Blog, Social Media Today, Jason Cosgrove on LinkedIn, Android Police, Android Authority, MediaPost, Tubefilter, CNET, The Verge, TechCrunch, Breitbart, The Wrap, Digital Trends and Dane Glasgow on LinkedIn, more at Techmeme »

Roger Vincent / Los Angeles Times:10 minutes ago

Sources: Netflix is in talks to buy the historic Radford Studio Center lot in Studio City for between $330M and $400M, after Goldman Sachs repossessed it — - 2 min Click here to listen to this article — Streaming entertainment giant Netflix is in negotiations to buy the historic Radford Studio Center movie lot in Studio City.

Discussion: Bloomberg and The Hollywood Reporter

Corbin Bolies / The Wrap:

Miami Herald, Sacramento Bee, and Kansas City Star unions filed grievances with McClatchy, saying it didn't give enough notice for “major technological change” — Miami Herald, Sacramento Bee and Kansas City Star unions have filed grievances against the company as TheWrap obtains …

Discussion: @corbinbolies, @arianelange.bsky.social, @christiancaple, @corbinbolies, @corbinbolies, @corbinbolies, @landonhall, @willbredderman and @max_spero_

Daniel Tilles / Notes From Poland:

Newsmax launches a Polish version, starting as a news site and planning to add a TV channel; its ties to a Serbian state-owned company have drawn criticism — A local version of Newsmax, the right-wing US broadcaster, has launched in Poland, initially as a news website but soon to be followed by a TV channel.

Discussion: @notesfrompoland

Brice Laemle / Le Monde:

Since December 2025, print media companies in France have cut nearly 1,000 jobs; Trendeo: since 2009, 10.5K jobs have disappeared from the sector in France — Since December 2025, magazine and regional press companies have announced nearly 1,000 job cuts, putting the viability of countless newsrooms at risk.

Todd Spangler / Variety:

Creator talent agency Fixated buys creator media company Studio71, which also has a podcast network, from ProSieben; together, the two represent 1K+ creators — L.A.-based start-up Fixated has acquired creator media company Studio71, combining their respective talent representation …

Discussion: Tubefilter, Forbes, Adam Boorstin on LinkedIn, Reuters, Broadband TV News, Jason Wilhelm on LinkedIn, Tim Mulligan on LinkedIn, Deadline, Joseph Marchese on LinkedIn, Matt Crowley on LinkedIn, Aaron Simonoff on LinkedIn and Advanced Television

Alice Brooker / Press Gazette:

Caper, a food news brand by two Puck founders and VF's Dana Brown, launches with a $2.5M seed, offering staff salary plus revenue-linked bonuses and equity — A media company covering the business of food, restaurants and hospitality in New York “and beyond” has launched with eight full …

Dade Hayes / Deadline:

Roku and NBCU sign an agreement to make Peacock's ad-free Premium Plus tier available on Roku Premium Subscriptions — Along with being ad-free (outside of live sports) the highest plan of Peacock allows users to download programming for offline viewing and also provides geo-targeted local TV stations.

Discussion: The Wrap and TheDesk.net

Kimberly Nordyke / The Hollywood Reporter:

Barack Obama says Higher Ground, his production company with Michelle Obama, will become an independent operation after its Netflix deal, signed in 2018, ends — The couple are “in the process now of transitioning to a more independent [company] where we can work with a bunch of different studios,” Barack Obama said.

Isaac Anyaogu / Reuters:

Nigeria's broadcast regulator threatens sanctions for radio and TV presenters who intimidate guests, or air personal opinions or divisive political content — Nigeria's broadcast regulator has barred radio and television presenters from airing personal opinions, intimidating guests …

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Wendy Davis / MediaPost:
The FTC seeks to dismiss its appeal of an order blocking its demand for Media Matters info, since it withdrew the demand; Media Matters wants the case to go on

Discussion: Bloomberg, Cato Institute and Washington Times

Maddy Varner / Wired:
The nonprofit Consumer Federation of America sues Meta, accusing it of misleading consumers about its efforts to combat scam ads on Facebook and Instagram

Discussion: Reuters, Social Media Today, MediaPost, CBS News, Engadget and @benwinters.bsky.social, more at Techmeme »

Digiday:
OpenAI enables cost-per-click ads inside ChatGPT, setting bids at between $3 and $5 per click, in addition to CPMs

Discussion: Search Engine Journal, The Information, PYMNTS.com and Adweek, more at Techmeme »

Ashley Carman / Bloomberg:
Sources: Alex Cooper's Unwell Network faces staff turnover, struggling shows, and hostile work environment allegations under co-CEO Matt Kaplan, amid expansion

Discussion: RADAR, Cosmopolitan, Yahoo Finance, Page Six, Fortune, Inc.com, The Hollywood Reporter, Hollywood Life, Podnews, TMZ.com, New York Post, The US Sun, Breitbart, Us Weekly, The Blast and graziadaily.co.uk

Charlotte Tobitt / Press Gazette:
Forbes plans its “first foray” into e-commerce with Forbes Wine, a fully owned-and-operated wine section and shop, set to launch later this year

Earlier Picks:

Charles Pulliam-Moore / The Verge:
A Japanese court sentences a website administrator to prison for posting spoiler-heavy movie summaries, ruling such spoilers constitute copyright infringement

Discussion: GovTech, Gizmodo, Dexerto, @AnnaAnthro@mastodon.social, Plagiarism Today, @crampell.bsky.social and Tom's Hardware

Nick Vivarelli / Variety:
The European film industry opposes the EU's plans to change its Creative Europe funding program by combining culture and media under the AgoraEU initiative

Discussion: WWD

New York Times:
Filing: The Onion proposes a new deal for Infowars, licensing Infowars.com for $81,000 per month for six months initially; the deal requires a judge's approval

Discussion: The Onion, New York Post, CNN, The Gateway Pundit, Consequence, The Wrap, Salon, The Hollywood Reporter, New York Daily News, Bloomberg, Lawyers, Guns & Money, Military and Veteran …, The Post Millennial, IndieWire, New York Sun, WTTG-TV, The Hill, Mediaite, Associated Press, The Week, @agoldmund, @canteverdie, @agoldmund, @pablotorre, NBC News, Business Insider, Mother Jones, Mediaweek, them., The Present Age, Daily Kos, Newser, Block Club Chicago, NPR, Hollywood Life, HuffPost, Houston Public Media, Rolling Stone, Washington Examiner, Law and Chaos, Deadline, The Guardian, Courthouse News Service, @mattsheffield@mastodon.social, @digiphile.bsky.social, Variety, Newsweek, Raw Story, @rwmead.bsky.social, Joe.My.God., @christiannightmare …, @benmullin.bsky.social, Politico and The A.V. Club, more at Techmeme »

Jana Winter / Reuters:
FBI Director Kash Patel sues The Atlantic and reporter Sarah Fitzpatrick for defamation, seeking $250M, over an article that claimed he had a drinking problem

Discussion: Mediaite, The Hill, @_ericaknight, Techdirt, Joe.My.God., The Independent, New York Sun, @theatlanticpr, Black America Web, Newsweek, @swin24.bsky.social, Crypto Briefing, @timkarr.bsky.social, Poynter, @hissgoescobra, twitchy.com, Townhall, @poynter, Fred Vogelstein on LinkedIn, Popular Information, Benzinga, @fbidirectorkash, Newsbusters, @asfleischman, Politico, @jbinnall, @tedlieu, @jeremymbarr, @scottnover, @brianstelter, @nycjim, @annabower, @jeremymbarr, @adamsteinbaugh, @dylanbyers, @ninaburleigh, The Guardian, JURISTnews, 9News, CBS News, Deadline, @acyn, Mediaweek, Reason, CNN, One America News Network, The American Bazaar, RedState, crypto.news, The Week, MS NOW, @artcandee, @atrupar, Raw Story, Deseret News, International Business Times, HotAir, Courthouse News Service, Above the Law, New York Magazine, NextDraft, IJR, The Hill, Salon, The Hollywood Gossip, American Greatness, Lawyers, Guns & Money, The Indian Express, HuffPost, Washington Times, @sschwinghamer.bsky.social, Agence France-Presse, The Gateway Pundit, Le·gal In·sur·rec·tion, @grza.bsky.social, NBC News, New York Post, The Stranger, UPI, TMZ.com, Axios, @davejorgenson.bsky.social, Associated Press, ZeroHedge News, Newser, Washington Post, PBS NewsHour, @andrewjweinstein.com, Bloomberg, Variety, Advocate, Washington Examiner, Straight Arrow News, Suggest, New York Times, Daily Mail, Wall Street Journal, Forbes, The Daily Wire, @eoinhiggins.bsky.social, Just Jared, New Republic, @jimmycarson43.bsky.social, @paleofuture.bsky.social, @murderedbybluesky.bsky.social, Fox News, The Wrap, Crooks and Liars, CNBC, Washingtonian, Wonkette, Sandra Rose, The A.V. Club and Law and Chaos

From Techmeme:

New York Times:
SpaceX says it's working with Cursor to build “the world's most useful models” and it has the right to acquire Cursor for $60B or pay $10B for the partnership

Emma Roth / The Verge:
OpenAI releases ChatGPT Images 2.0 with new “thinking capabilities”, allowing it to search the web to help it create multiple images from a single prompt

Mark Gurman / Bloomberg:
Longtime colleagues say John Ternus will bring back Jobs-era decisiveness, shifting from Cook's era when decisions were made collectively by top executives

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