In this debut column, Stuart N. Brotman examines a troubling rise in censorship, retaliation and print bans targeting student newspapers at public universities, where First Amendment protections should be strongest. Drawing on recent cases from Indiana to Oklahoma, he details how administrative pressure is being used to silence rigorous campus reporting. Brotman argues that these actions undermine journalism education and weaken democratic norms at a critical moment. He concludes that stronger state-level protections are needed to ensure student journalists can report freely without fear of reprisal. more

Hearst ABC affiliate KMBC Kansas City has appointed Eric Graves its new weekend morning anchor for KMBC 9 FirstNews Weekend. more

Paramount has confirmed Don McGregor as its global licensing chief, in a restructure that also incorporates the international networks divisions. more

Paramount has enhanced its hostile offer to acquire all of Warner Bros. Discovery, including agreeing to pay the $2.8 billion termination fee Warner would owe its chosen suitor, Netflix, should that deal collapse. more

Alden Global Capital, the private equity fund that owns the Chicago Tribune and more than 160 other newspapers across the United States, wants to add the Daily Herald to its portfolio. more

In local news deserts in the U.S., residents rely heavily on social media and other non-journalistic sources to stay informed, according to a comprehensive survey by the Medill Local News Initiative at Northwestern University. more

Candle Media, the media rollup company backed by Blackstone, has sold a majority stake in digital media company ATTN: back to its co-founders Matthew Segal and Jarrett Moreno, Axios has learned. more

“When the FCC first imposed national and local television ownership limits, Franklin Roosevelt was president. Now, nine decades later, those same rules still prevent broadcasters — and broadcasters alone — from owning more than two stations in any local market, and from reaching more than 39% of American TV households. These outdated regulations distort today’s video and advertising marketplace.” — NAB President and CEO Curtis LeGeyt more

“If our nation is struggling to persuade people that journalism is independent, accurate, objective, impartial and not an instrument of power, why would we take one of the country’s most symbolically important newsrooms, an outlet serving people in uniform, and wrap it more tightly inside the very institution it is entrusted to cover?” — Rufus Friday, executive director of the Center for Integrity in News Reporting more

The current climate in the U.S. is a heads-up to all journalism leaders to assemble the information and resources you’ll need if equipment is seized, your reporters are arrested, or they’re in the field covering violence or unrest. more

The E.W. Scripps Company (NASDAQ: SSP) has reached an agreement to sell its Court TV network to Law&Crime — the multiplatform true crime and legal content studio created and led by ABC News Chief Legal Analyst Dan Abrams and now owned by media creator holding company Jellysmack. more

Audacy and Sonos have announced a strategic partnership that includes Audacy serving as the exclusive U.S. sales and distribution representative for Sonos Radio’s streaming inventory.  more

Civic Information Needs Census launches partner program to catalyze local information needs measurement in communities around the country. more

“The Times was fast and direct in how its story was reported and displayed. Reporters Erica Green, Isabella Kwai and Zolan Kanno-Youngs wrote a strong story and the Times put it at the top of their website and mobile app.” — Margaret Sullivan, American Crisis more

How are commissioning editors navigating an environment where anybody can generate an AI alter ego and produce articles at the push of a prompt? On the other hand, how is the ease with which text and images can be created affecting freelancers themselves? more

As the federal government’s immigration siege in Minneapolis continues, Mother Jones’ video content about the violence set a monthly record for the news organization. In January, its videos rang up more than 25 million views, a figure that is almost 40 percent of the video views for the entirety of 2025, which was itself a record. more

As audiences drift away from print and traditional web traffic continues to erode, local news organizations are being forced to rethink how — and where — journalism shows up. In this month’s feature, E&P’s Bob Sillick examines why vertical video has emerged as one of the most effective ways for newsrooms to reconnect with audiences who now consume news through social platforms and mobile screens. Drawing on real-world examples from local and national outlets, he explores how publishers are experimenting with short-form video to boost engagement without sacrificing journalistic standards. The result is a clear-eyed look at what vertical video can — and can’t — do for local news trying to stay relevant in a rapidly shifting media landscape. more

Jenn Harris has ranked grocery chain fried chicken, shown us everything we need to know about dumplings, and communed with strangers at a naked dinner party in the Valley — and that’s just the last few years. And now, she has joined Bill Addison as restaurant critic at the Los Angeles Times. more

One key conservative media company is signaling its strong opposition to the idea. more