Mediamorphis

this is really good and comprehensive and ~teachable~

The US govt under Trump is run by clowns. They are a menace to a free press and free societies. Hoekstra & his ilk should be given no quarter. And ya, the US men's hockey team chewing burgers with Trump is offensive. I'm glad that some team members declined to go. The US women's team showed the way.

U.S. ambassador to Canada requests apology for Globe and Mail column In a letter to The Globe and Mail, Pete Hoekstra said he was ‘disappointed and outraged’ over Cathal Kelly’s column on U.S. men’s hockey team

The Globe & Mail's stern rebuke of US ambassador to Canada, Peter Hoekstra's, request for an apology about an article he did not like is good. Asking the pugnacious Hoekstra to remind us when a US ambassador last asked for such a thing was is great. www.theglobeandmail.com/sports/artic...

The Iranians (nay, Pahlavi's Persians) will embrace their American liberators with open arms. Hmm, imagine that 🤔

All I can think about is Jeff Bezos saying that he slashed jobs at the Washington Post — including those of foreign correspondents in the Middle East — based on "the data," and a few weeks later a whole war breaks out in the Middle East that these laid off folks would have covered as true experts.

I gotta make a list of all the movies about wires

Minister leaves door open to tabling new police search powers bill after 1st attempt faced backlash | CBC News Public Safety Minister Gary Anandasangaree is adamant Canada's police and intelligence agencies are getting additional search powers, leaving the door open to introducing a new lawful access bill afte...

Not mentioned—the fact that the Supreme Court of Canada has *TWICE* ruled that lawful access is unconstitutional. Kind of an important point to make.
cc @privacylawyer.ca

See you all tomorrow @podcamptoronto.bsky.social for our podcasting panel at 3pm hosted by the amazing Sarah Burke!! #podcasts #podcamp #warriorlifepodcast #warriorkidspodcast

Blunder and bluster from the Trump regime and Hegseth's so-called Department of War. Rule of law? Fuck it, it's optional when unbridled power seeks to clear the field of obstacles to its megalomaniac ambitions.

Wouldn't it be interesting if all the complicity between Ellison and Trump, and a compliant US DoJ and FCC, fail to carry the day because Ellison the Elder Patriarch didn't have the $ to fulfil the family's commitments. Who knew the cost of being a quisling was so high? 😀😆

I think on the table has to be, at minimum, that none are eligible for govt contracts without a change in controlling personnel.

Who should probably all be in jail for corruption anyway.

Given MS, Nvidia & Oracle's controlling ownership stakes in OpenAI (& Amazon, MS, Nvidia & Google's similar stakes in Anthropic), Trump & Hegsweth have either picked a fight w/ the tech oligarchs (as authoriarian-autocratic regimes do) or are cashing in on their alliance w/ our tech overlords.

Wow. And sure, like Altman says, the world's a complicated, dangerous and messy place. But this looks like OpenAI capitulated to the Trump regime, and now seeks to make its quisling like behaviour that of the AI industry as a whole. Lord help us.

Power, politics, and people : the collected essays of C. Wright Mills : Mills, C. Wright (Charles Wright), 1916-1962 : Free Download, Borrow, and Streaming : Internet Archive 657 pages : 22 cm

Is this a pt of tech oligarchs doing the bidding of the Trump regime & forcing Anthropic to capitulate or one of elite dissensus? If the latter, interesting, b/c in moments of elite conflict/dissensus, the opportunity for radical reform is greatest. C.W. Mills, Gramsci. archive.org/details/powe...

By picking a fight with Anthropic, Trump and Hegsweth have picked a fight not just with it but with Amazon, Microsoft, Nvidia, and Google, all of which have major ownership and investment stakes in Anthropic.

Statement from Dario Amodei on our discussions with the Department of War A statement from our CEO on national security uses of AI

Anthropic's statement is brave and principled, regardless of our general views of the company. www.anthropic.com/news/stateme...

. @matthewstoller.bsky.social account raises the alarm: "the Trump administration likely put political pressure on Netflix . . . . Netflix co-CEO Ted Sarandos visit[ed] the White House yesterday.[then announced it] would stop trying to acquire Warner. www.thebignewsletter.com/p/can-the-pa...

Paramount bid to acquire Warner Brothers Discovery is going ahead after Netflix withdraws its offer. A few thoughts from yours truly, and drawing on the GMICP to make the case. bsky.app/profile/medi...

A terrific group of scholars have taken over the reins for the US research for the GMICP in the last year: @ppopiel.bsky.social @sydneyforde.bsky.social @theine.bsky.social @christopherali.bsky.social.

Data underpinning this thread is from the @sshrc-crsh.canada.ca supported Global Media & Internet Concentration Project. Using our new dashboard, you can assess the impact of Paramount's bid for WBD on specific media sectors or various combinations in the US & internationally. gmicp.org/dashboard/

California Attorney General Warns Paramount That Warner Bros. Discovery Acquisition is ‘Not a Done Deal’ Rob Bonta, California's attorney general, is promising to conduct a 'vigorous' review of Paramount Skydance's acquisition of Warner Bros. Discovery.

While the DoJ, is unlikely to do anything, California's AG Bonta observes: "the Paramount/WBD is not a done deal. These two Hollywood titans have not cleared regulatory scrutiny-the California DoJ has an open investigation, and we intend to be vigorous in our review". variety.com/2026/tv/news... 7/

The Ellison family's 3 decades of friendship & fealty to Trump makes this transaction worse by openly fusing media power with oligarchy and autocracy. The Trump govt has done more to create a regime friendly media system in one year than autocrats like Orban have been able to do in a decade. 6/

Post-merger Paramount WBD will rival Disney and Comcast’s NBC Universal in size & scope. Its vertical integration with the Oracle cloud empire & US TIktok by way of the Ellison family's ownership & financing role in each creates an unprecedented cloud, social and legacy media juggernaut. 5/

The # of Hollywood studios will fall from 5 to 4, while Paramount-WBD will control ~1/3 of the film production market. Meanwhile, CBS & CNN and two of the world's most popular streaming services--HBO & Paramount+--will be under common ownership control. 4/

A Paramount–Warner Bros. Discovery merger could give Trump even more influence over US media – shaping the news and culture Americans watch and stream The proposed Paramount Skydance and Warner Bros. Discovery merger would concentrate oversight of two prominent newsrooms – CNN and CBS – under one owner with strong ties to Donald Trump.

Post-takeover Paramount WBD will galvanize a growing phalanx of Trump loyal media: Fox (News) Corp, Amazon, Nexstar, Tegna, Sinclair. Altogether, Trump loyalist media will control ~2/5 of tv, streaming & film market in the US--nearly 2X what it was pre-merger. 3/ theconversation.com/a-paramount-...

Post-takeover Paramount-WBD's share of the $223B US tv, streaming & film industries will soar from ~10% to over 25%. It will control ~1/2 of the cable tv market. The takeover will nearly double Paramount’s share of the video streaming market, uniting HBO Max, Paramount+ and Discovery. 2/

Paramount's take over of Warner Bros. Discovery is bad news for several reasons. It runs roughshod over the DOJ/FTC Merger Guidelines with respect to streaming, film and pay tv markets (reposting because of a broken link). 1/ www.bbc.com/news/article...

Netflix drops Warner Bros bid, clearing way for Paramount takeover Netflix's decision to back down from the bidding war clears the path for Paramount to win the takeover battle.

Paramount's take over of Warner Bros. Discovery is bad news for several reasons. It runs roughshod over the DOJ/FTC Merger Guidelines with respect to streaming, film and pay tv markets. 1/ www.bbc.com/news/article...

California Attorney General Warns Paramount That Warner Bros. Discovery Acquisition is ‘Not a Done Deal’ Rob Bonta, California's attorney general, is promising to conduct a 'vigorous' review of Paramount Skydance's acquisition of Warner Bros. Discovery.

That said, as California's AG Bonta observes, "the Paramount/Warner Bros is not a done deal. These two Hollywood titans have not cleared regulatory scrutiny — the California Department of Justice has an open investigation, and we intend to be vigorous in our review". variety.com/2026/tv/news... 8/8

The Trump administration has more effectively created a regime friendly media system in one year than autocrats like Orban have been able to do in a decade. 7/