Mediagazer

6:55 PM ET, July 13, 2026

Top News:

Gene Maddaus / Variety:

A coalition of 12 states led by California files an antitrust lawsuit to block Paramount's WBD merger, alleging it lessens competition in three markets — A coalition of 12 states filed an antitrust lawsuit on Monday to block the merger of Paramount Skydance and Warner Bros. …

Discussion: The Hollywood Reporter, The Wrap, State of California, Deadline, Los Angeles Business Journal, Gizmodo, Al Jazeera, The Hollywood Reporter, One America News Network, Salon, Wall Street Journal, How-To Geek, PCMag, Paramount Skydance Corporation, The Verge, Deadline, UPI, New Republic, CNET, TechCrunch, Quartz, Financial Times, @rogoswami, @pweiser, @matthewstoller, @markruffalo, NBC Los Angeles, @johnmarknewman, @agrobbonta, @jbflint, @eriqgardner, The Wrap, @eriqgardner, @choprausa, @bedoyausa, Consequence, @profpaulnary, @gigibsohn, @laurenshirsch, @bedoyausa, @eriqgardner, @ddayen, @richardrushfield, CNN, @garyheff, @tedstew, @keithellison, @brianstelter, @sharonwaxman, Bloomberg, @maxwelltani, @moondogrick.bsky.social, @tdogmedia.bsky.social, @jbflint, @jeremymbarr, New York Times, @profpaulnary, Graphic Policy, @alexweprin, @tedstew, The Guardian, Politico, @newyorkstateag, @danielnmiller, @nycmayor, @kimmasters.bsky.social, @brianstelter, KRON4, New York Post and Annotated DC, more at Techmeme »

Rohan Goswami / Semafor:

Sources: David Ellison's advisers are urging him to move Paramount's HQ and much of its spending out of California if AG Rob Bonta sues to block the WBD merger — The Scoop — As California tries to derail Paramount's $110 billion takeover of Warner Bros. Discovery …

Dade Hayes / Deadline:
Paramount says states' lawsuit “reflects a fundamentally flawed application of the antitrust laws” and the delay “will only harm entertainment workers”

Lucas Manfredi / The Wrap:
Oregon's AG withdraws a motion to delay the Paramount-WBD merger while he sought company documents; EU agencies and some state AGs are still examining the deal

Discussion: Deadline, StreamTV Insider, CBS News, NewsMax.com, Seoul Economic Daily, Lawyer Monthly, Axios, Media Play News, @brianstelter, @brianstelter and The Verge

New York Times:

Sources: the White House directed FBI Director Kash Patel to personally oversee the probe into NYT reporting about Air Force One, before subpoenas were issued — The F.B.I. director spent about eight hours at the White House Friday focused on the effort, which led to the subpoenaing …

Michael M. Grynbaum / New York Times:

The Trump administration issued subpoenas to several NYT reporters after the outlet reported on security concerns involving the new Qatari-donated Air Force One — The Justice Department is seeking to compel testimony from reporters who wrote about the new Air Force One. The Times called the move a “brazen act.”

Discussion: Stop the Presses, Columbia Journalism Review, Associated Press, The Atlantic, Staff Stories, Politico, Poynter, Talking Points Memo, CNN, The Daily Wire, Washington Examiner, American Greatness, Techdirt, The Free Press, @grandmasweb.bsky.social, Reason, America, America, @sbg1, American Thinker, The Guardian, The Indian Express, @benjalvarez1, Raw Story, ZeroHedge News, New York Magazine, Bloomberg, Ben Werdmuller, The Hill, @balint.house.gov, Committee to Protect …, The Warning with Steve Schmidt, The Reporters Committee …, HuffPost, Sky News, @maxwelltani, @jeremymbarr, @jeremymbarr, @gavinnewsom, @bymikebaker, @davidfolkenflik, @brianstelter, The Asia Business Daily, @alexberenson, National Press Club, @amy_siskind, Investigative Reporters …, Benzinga, @kenvogel, @jamiedupree, @pandanook.bsky.social, @niallstanage, @kenroth, The Last Refuge, Stephen Adler on LinkedIn, Daniel Drepper on LinkedIn, @marcelias.bsky.social, @kenbazinet.bsky.social, @aclu.org, RedState, @christopherjm, Los Angeles Times, @freedomofpress, emptywheel, Washington Post, The Independent, @farhip, @rpsagainsttrump, @nytimes, Al Jazeera, @grynbaum, Salon, Wall Street Journal, TMZ.com, The Wrap, Straight Arrow, Breitbart, @thebluenami.bsky.social, Lawyers, Guns & Money, One America News Network, NPR, The Post Millennial, Baller Alert, NewsGuild of New York, @trumpstaxes.com, Mock Paper Scissors, Fox News, Newser, NOTUS, Santa Rosa Press-Democrat, @briankrebs@infosec.exchange, Mother Jones, To the Contrary, @beyerstein.bsky.social, New York Daily News, New York Post, Mediaite, @timmarchman.bsky.social, @portiamcgonagal.bsky.social, @dangillmor@mastodon.social, Deadline, @katiephang.bsky.social, @rgoodlaw.bsky.social, CNBC, @bgrueskin.bsky.social, CBS News, Clash Report, @spignal.bsky.social, Townhall, @clarajeffery.bsky.social, @harrylitman.bsky.social and @rmac.bsky.social

Natalie Korach / Status:

Memo: NYT CEO Meredith Kopit Levien says the five reporters subpoenaed by the DOJ, and the whole newsroom, have the “full weight of The Times” behind them — Over the last few days, as The New York Times braces for a potential precedent-setting legal showdown with the Trump administration …

Discussion: @protecttruth.bsky.social, @jayrosen.bsky.social, CNN, Mediaite and The Independent

Anna Betts / The Guardian:
Pete Hegseth announces that the DOD and DOJ have created a joint taskforce to identify and prosecute “unauthorized disclosure” of information to the press

Discussion: Washington Times, UPI, NewsMax.com, The Hill, Washington Post, The Daily Beast, @farhip, @freedomofpress, Reuters, The Daily Wire, @secwar and Raw Story

The Guardian:

Christopher Nolan says there's a “disdain” for AI, the idea that it “replaces” human creativity is “nonsense”, and he expects it to be useful in “imaging tools” — Odyssey director addresses industry fears over artificial intelligence …

Discussion: Variety, @subtoconnorpls, Dexerto, @brookstweetz, @detectivespade_, @wyattyhalpert, Radio Times, Gadget Review, @shadowknightdk, @filmupdates, @r0sylns, Kotaku and Telegraph

Brooks Barnes / New York Times:

Lionsgate's Michael crosses $1B at the global box office, its first film to reach the milestone, per Rentrak, reviving Hollywood's last major independent studio — Shunned by bigger studios as too risky, “Michael” and other hits have revived Hollywood's last major independent studio. But is it enough?

Discussion: Variety, The Wrap, UPI, Gamereactor UK, Media Play News and Deadline

Scott Nover / Washington Post:

Four ex-VOA employees and contractors discuss their new careers in real estate, communications, interpreting, and at Trader Joe's since they lost their VOA jobs — At Trader Joe's, a coffee shop, a military hospital and a real estate firm, top international broadcasters are embracing second acts they never asked for.

Discussion: The Newsguy at the Newslab

Max Goldbart / Deadline:

The UK's culture secretary Lisa Nandy says she backs an expansion of the BBC license fee to include subscribers to streamers, though many ideas remain in play — The UK's Culture Secretary has publicly signaled that she backs an expansion of the BBC license fee to include subscribers to streamers like Netflix, Disney+ and Prime Video.

Joe Mandese / MediaPost:

The Media Rating Council's quarterly accreditation status updates show VideoAmp and Nielsen One have pulled out of the accreditation process — In moves that have implications for both the “alternative” ad currency marketplace, as well as cross-media measurement, VideoAmp and Nielsen …

Brooks Barnes / New York Times:

Disney says its live-action Moana was set to collect ~$43M at the Box Office over the weekend, below its $60M goal, and just ~$95M worldwide; Moana cost ~$250M — The live-action remake took in roughly $43 million over the weekend in North America, about 30 percent less than Disney had expected.

Discussion: IndieWire, ScreenRant, Business Insider, The Ankler, Comic Book, The Wrap, TechRadar, GamesRadar, UPI, Forbes, Oh No They Didn't!, CinemaBlend, Bloomberg and Media Play News

Gautam Malkani / The Guardian:

The Guardian's tech team share their shoe-leather experiences covering AI data centers, as field investigation becomes increasingly important in tech coverage — The Guardian's global tech reporting team are investigating the impact of the vast datacentres being built to power the AI revolution.