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Evan DeSimone

@mediaevan.bsky.social

3.8K followers 9.2K following 9.8K posts

Media Writer/Complainer Previously: Digiday, IntegralAds, Tubefilter, DCNorg Currently: https://mediahappyhour.substack.com/

mediahappyhour.substack.com

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Evan DeSimone @mediaevan.bsky.social · Nov 26

I regret to inform you that I have relaunched my newsletter (ugh). It is called Media Happy Hour and, because I am broken in very specific ways, it would please me if you subscribed. https://mediahappyhour.substack.com/p/title-tk-is-now-media-happy-hour

Title TK is now Media Happy Hour

New name, same lack of commitment to posting on time.

mediahappyhour.substack.com

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Evan DeSimone @mediaevan.bsky.social · Sep 6

To be faie, I might

Evan DeSimone @mediaevan.bsky.social · Sep 5

“The settlement amounts to about $3,000 per book and is believed to be the largest ever recovery in a U.S. copyright case” variety.com/2025/digital...

Anthropic to Pay $1.5 Billion to Settle Book Piracy Class Action Lawsuit

Anthropic has agreed to pay $1.5 billion to settle claims that it illegally downloaded a massive trove of pirated books to train its language models.

variety.com

Evan DeSimone @mediaevan.bsky.social · Sep 3

Also very interested in the various ways public media is experimenting with tactics to survive these lean times. www.niemanlab.org/2025/09/with...

With public media under siege, High Plains Public Radio builds a blueprint to cover more rural news with fewer resources

To expand regional coverage while keeping costs down, HPPR aims to build out a “contributors network” of part-time and volunteer community members coordinated by a lean central editorial team.

www.niemanlab.org

Evan DeSimone @mediaevan.bsky.social · Sep 3

FeedMe is staffing up. I'm very interested in how these essentially solo media ventures are going to scale their teams in the next few years. www.status.news/p/john-malon...

Evan DeSimone @mediaevan.bsky.social · Sep 3

Interesting partnership. I'd have to assume most Economist readers are also Times readers, not sure that cuts equally in the other direction... www.semafor.com/article/09/0...

New York Times teams up with Economist in play for worldwide readers

The US paper quietly rolled out the bundled subscription with the UK-based finance and business-focused publication earlier this year.

www.semafor.com

Evan DeSimone @mediaevan.bsky.social · Sep 3

It's genuinely fascinating how long this has gone on. www.businessinsider.com/group-black-...

www.businessinsider.com

Evan DeSimone @mediaevan.bsky.social · Sep 2

To designate Google as a monopoly, but impose no actual remedies, makes this whole trial seem like a huge waste of time and taxpayer money. www.cnbc.com/2025/09/02/g...

Google stock jumps 8% after search giant avoids worst-case penalties in antitrust case

The ruling comes nearly a year after a U.S. judge ruled that Google holds an illegal monopoly in its core market of internet search.

www.cnbc.com

Evan DeSimone @mediaevan.bsky.social · Sep 2

Like the new Vaniry Fair the vision here seems to be smaller. Less print, more direct, and Anna still steering the ship at a high level. www.nytimes.com/2025/09/02/b...

Vogue Names Chloe Malle as Its New Editor

www.nytimes.com

Evan DeSimone @mediaevan.bsky.social · Aug 31

After losing an appeal against CNN, Alan Dershowitz plans to ask the Supreme Court to overturn New York Times v. Sullivan, the 1964 case that protects journalists and others from weaponized lawsuits.
www.cnn.com/2025/08/29/b...

Lawyer Alan Dershowitz loses appeal in CNN defamation case | CNN Business

Retired Harvard Law professor Alan Dershowitz lost his bid on Friday to overturn a ruling that dismissed his defamation lawsuit against CNN over the news channel’s coverage of remarks he made during P...

www.cnn.com

Evan DeSimone @mediaevan.bsky.social · Aug 31

Many such cases. www.thecut.com/article/aaro...

Reposted by Evan DeSimone

The Washington Post @washingtonpost.com · Aug 30

Kari Lake, the Trump administration official tasked with dismantling the Voice of America, sent termination notices to more than 500 employees at the broadcaster and its parent agency Friday night.

Kari Lake lays off more than 500 staff at Voice of America parent agency

Amid a contentious court battle, the Trump administration official sent long-awaited termination notices to staffers who have been waiting on administrative leave for months.

www.washingtonpost.com

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Reposted by Evan DeSimone

David Folkenflik @davidfolkenflik.bsky.social · Aug 30

Nick Davies - who broke UK tabloid hacking scandal wide open - puts Wash Post's Will Lewis once more under a spotlight

He asks: was Lewis involved in cover up for Murdoch & executives rather than cleaning up? via Air Mail

airmail.news/issues/2025-...

A New Twist in the U.K. Phone-Hacking Scandal

Was Will Lewis—now publisher of The Washington Post—complicit in covering up the crimes that brought down an infamous British tabloid?

airmail.news

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Evan DeSimone @mediaevan.bsky.social · Aug 28

It's a long list, but using OAN to create leverage in a carriage fight with Fox might be the most cynically irresponsible thing YouTube has ever done. variety.com/2025/tv/news...

YouTube TV Inks Deal With Pro-Trump Outlet OAN as Contract for Fox News Is Set to Expire

YouTube inked a deal to launch Herring Networks' One America News (OAN) on YouTube TV in the fourth quarter of 2025. The news comes just hours before YouTube TV's current agreement with Fox Corp. to c...

variety.com

Evan DeSimone @mediaevan.bsky.social · Aug 28

"Customers will be able to access subscriptions to NBCUniversal’s Peacock on the Prime Video and Fire TV, while Prime Video content will be available on Xfinity X1 devices" www.wsj.com/business/med...

Comcast, Amazon Expand Streaming Distribution Agreements

The companies said that customers will be able to access subscriptions to NBCUniversal’s Peacock streaming app on the Prime Video platform and Fire TV, while Prime Video content will be available on N...

www.wsj.com

Evan DeSimone @mediaevan.bsky.social · Aug 28

Limiting access from foreign journalists is the next logical step once you've brought the domestic media to heel. www.reuters.com/business/med...

Trump administration moves to tighten duration of visas for students and media

The Trump administration aims to tighten the duration of visas for students, cultural exchange visitors and members of the media, according to a proposed government regulation issued on Wednesday, part of a broader crackdown on legal immigration.

www.reuters.com

Evan DeSimone @mediaevan.bsky.social · Aug 28

I’m less concerned that some dark money Dems are paying influencers (about time) than I am about the fact that I’ve never heard of most of these people.

WIRED @wired.com · Aug 27

An initiative aimed at boosting Democrats online offers influencers up to $8,000 a month to push the party line. All they have to do is keep it secret—and agree to restrictions on their content. www.wired.com/story/dark-m...

A Dark Money Group Is Secretly Funding High-Profile Democratic Influencers

An initiative aimed at boosting Democrats online offers influencers up to $8,000 a month to push the party line. All they have to do is keep it secret—and agree to restrictions on their content.

www.wired.com

Reposted by Evan DeSimone

Press Gazette @pressgazette.co.uk · Aug 28

The Atlanta Journal-Constitution has announced it will stop publishing a print newspaper at the end of the year, and divert all of its resources into its digital news operation. The company has published in print since 1868

Atlanta Journal-Constitution to Quit Print Cold Turkey

The publication says the time is right to pour all of its resources into its online news operation and get its journalism “in front of the most people.”

www.nytimes.com

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Evan DeSimone @mediaevan.bsky.social · Aug 28

There’s no way this HK kangaroo court will free Jimmy Lai, but other governments should apply pressure. www.nytimes.com/2025/08/27/w...

Jimmy Lai’s Freedom May Now Hinge on Beijing and Trump

www.nytimes.com

Evan DeSimone @mediaevan.bsky.social · Aug 27

"As senators gathered at the Capitol last month to debate legislation to allow President Trump to zero out funding for public broadcasting, a siren and public service message rang out more than 4,000 miles away in this small town in the Aleutian Islands." www.nytimes.com/2025/08/26/u...

Public Broadcast Cuts Hit Rural Areas, Revealing a Political Shift

www.nytimes.com

Evan DeSimone @mediaevan.bsky.social · Aug 27

None of these AI pay schemes really point toward longterm sustainability for publishers. www.wsj.com/business/med...

Perplexity Is Launching a New Revenue-Share Model for Publishers

Media companies will get paid out of a $42.5 million pool when their articles are used by Perplexity’s web browser.

www.wsj.com

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Evan DeSimone @mediaevan.bsky.social · Aug 27

Recession indicator. www.businessinsider.com/mrbeast-beas...

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Evan DeSimone @mediaevan.bsky.social · Aug 27

"Noisy Creek appears to have helped stabilize its acquired publications. The Stranger and the Mercury both resumed publishing print editions this past April, five years after they’d halted issues due to pandemic-induced advertising revenue loss." www.niemanlab.org/2025/08/nois...

Noisy Creek, owner of alt-weeklies in Seattle and Portland, acquires the Chicago Reader

After years of financial struggles and narrowly avoiding closure at the start of 2025, the Chicago Reader is getting another lifeline. On Tuesday, the nonprofit alt-weekly known for covering arts and...

www.niemanlab.org

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Evan DeSimone @mediaevan.bsky.social · Aug 27

"Peter will assume editorial leadership of a news team of more than 60." www.themarshallproject.org/2025/08/26/j...

The Marshall Project Names Jennifer Peter New Editor-in-Chief

Peter, of The Boston Globe, will lead the national criminal justice outlet’s news operations.

www.themarshallproject.org

Reposted by Evan DeSimone

Mediagazer @mediagazer.com · Aug 27

Time promotes Alex Altman, previously deputy Washington bureau chief and executive features editor, to executive editor (Ray Schultz/MediaPost)

Main Link | Mediagazer Permalink

Evan DeSimone @mediaevan.bsky.social · Aug 21

“This offer was necessarily contingent on the FCC approving the deal and does not appear to present any legitimate value to the public, only to President Trump” thehill.com/homenews/med...

thehill.com