Journalism

People Inc. CEO Neil Vogel accused Google of abusing its market power by using the same crawler for both search and AI. While some publishers want to block crawlers to protect their content from getting swept up by AI models, search traffic remains a key metric for advertising and affiliate revenue. "We can't actually block Google, because Google uses the same crawler for search as they do for AI, which is like an incredible abuse of market power," Vogel said.

ABC is taking its fight with the government to its own airwaves. The Disney-owned broadcast network launched an on-air campaign urging viewers to weigh in against the Federal Communications Commission’s early review of its broadcast licenses and a separate investigation of its daily talk show “The View.” The FCC has said the license review is tied to an investigation into Disney’s diversity, equity and inclusion initiatives, while its probe into “The View” centers on whether the show violated so-called equal-time rules for politicians.

Few AI use cases elicit more outrage than writing. So here's the nitty-gritty of how I use AI for writing:

Three key themes emerge in our report this year around structural access, formats for consuming the news, and trust levels amongst audiences. The first central theme is the intensifying ‘platformisation’ of news consumption. Social media and video networks are now the most widely used sources of news globally, ahead of both TV news and news organisations’ own online properties in terms of the proportion of people using them weekly. The second theme is born of the first.

Vox Media has agreed to sell its podcast business and some publishing assets to James Murdoch's investment firm Lupa Systems. The publishing giant has been eyeing opportunities for months to sell its business in pieces, with the hope of reaping greater shareholder value than trying to sell it as a whole. Lupa has agreed to acquire New York Magazine, the Vox Media Podcast Network and the news site Vox from the digital media group Vox Media. Those properties will operate as a subsidiary of Lupa Systems called Vox Media.

We are reaping the fruit of the industry’s cowardice. For more than a year, most major media companies have stood by or aggressively acquiesced as President Trump and Federal Communications Commission Chair Brendan Carr pressured them through lawsuits and baseless investigations. Radio coverage of ICE raids? Investigated. A comedian’s joke? Investigated. Fair hiring for people of color? Reframed as racist. CBS installed a monitor. ABC paid out a settlement to the President. Nexstar and Sinclair pulled Jimmy Kimmel off the air on their local stations.

Top Energy and Commerce Committee Democrats wrote to Federal Communications Commission Chairman Brendan Carr condemning his ongoing attempts to chill speech and weaponize the agency against any criticism of President Trump—including Chairman Carr’s recent, unprecedented order requiring that Disney and its eight broadcast stations file to renew their licenses early, years ahead of their original schedule.

Reporters Without Borders has released its 25th World Press Freedom Index at a time when political pressure on the press is intensifying, authoritarian tendencies are growing and the media market is heavily weakened. In 2026, the Index’s analysis highlights an alarming deterioration in the conditions for journalism in many parts of the world, despite some isolated improvements, as 100 out of 180 countries and territories have seen their press freedom score decline. 

One of Silicon Valley's most powerful venture firms helped launch a 24/7 livestream on X, joining a wav