Michael Savage

🤦🏻‍♂️

The inside story of the Murdoch editor taking on Donald Trump Since her arrival at the Wall Street Journal, British editor-in-chief Emma Tucker has shaken up not only her own newsroom but also the White House

NEW: She’s the Murdoch editor who has taken on Trump, defied Boris Johnson.

Murdoch handed her his prized possession - but she’s unlike others to prosper in Murdochland.

My Saturday read on the Wall Street Journal’s Emma Tucker:

www.theguardian.com/news/ng-inte...

MasterChef contestant edited out after asking for new series not to be broadcast Exclusive: Sarah Shafi said series featuring Gregg Wallace and John Torode sends wrong message about treatment of women

SCOOP: A MasterChef contestant has been edited out after disagreeing with decision to air the new series.

Sarah Shafi disagreed with the broadcast on principle, and initially rejected being removed.

She agreed once the BBC announced the show was going ahead.

www.theguardian.com/tv-and-radio...

MasterChef contestant edited out after asking for new series not to be broadcast Exclusive: Sarah Shafi said series featuring Gregg Wallace and John Torode sends wrong message about treatment of women

SCOOP: A MasterChef contestant has been edited out after disagreeing with decision to air the new series.

Sarah Shafi disagreed with the broadcast on principle, and initially rejected being removed.

She agreed once the BBC announced the show was going ahead.

www.theguardian.com/tv-and-radio...

Exclusive | Amazon to Pay New York Times at Least $20 Million a Year in AI Deal The multiyear deal lets Amazon use content from the Times’s news and cooking sections and the Athletic.

Interesting move by the NYT, seen as the biggest player in the AI/media fight.

It is still suing OpenAI/Microsoft alleging copyright infringement for using its articles to train AI models.

www.wsj.com/business/med...

YouTube most popular first TV destination for children, Ofcom finds One in five young viewers go to platform first when they turn on TV, as older people also watch more of its content

NEW: YouTube’s TV takeover continues…

YouTube the most popular first TV destination for generation Alpha.

YouTube viewing almost doubles among over 54s.

The platform is a media monster. Should broadcasters feed the beast with their own content?

www.theguardian.com/technology/2...

NEW: The BBC has hired a senior Meta exec to oversee its AI plans.

Anjali Kapoor was most recently Director for Media Partnerships in the Asia-Pacific region for Meta.

Big tech comes to the beeb.

Press shift: how the rightwing media are pivoting to Reform It remains to be seen whether any paper will back Farage at next election, but damage may already be done for Tories

NEW: The last week has seen Mail, Telegraph, Sun give big coverage to Farage/Reform.

It follows a breakthrough spring - & meetings earlier this year.

Driven by polls, but some blame Tory inactivity - & a radicalisation of the traditionally Tory press:

Story:

www.theguardian.com/politics/202...

Jane Martinson joins the Scott Trust board The Scott Trust, the sole shareholder of Guardian Media Group, is pleased to announce the appointment of former Guardian journalist Jane Martinson to its board

The Guardian’s independence and commitment to the very best journalism is more important than ever in a world undergoing such momentous change. I’m enormously proud to become a director of the Scott Trust, its ultimate owner, and can’t wait to get started.
www.theguardian.com/gnm-press-of...

BBC, AFP and other news outlets warn journalists in Gaza at risk of starvation Reuters and AP among those urging Israeli authorities to allow reporters in and out of war-ravaged strip

NEW: BBC, AFP & other news outlets warn journalists in Gaza at risk of starvation.

Some of the biggest agencies warn journalists are “increasingly unable to feed themselves and their families”.

With international reporters barred, reporters in Gaza are crucial:

www.theguardian.com/world/2025/j...

AI summaries causing ‘devastating’ drop in online news audiences, study finds Exclusive: Analysis found that sites previously ranked first can lose up to 79% of traffic if results are displayed below a Google AI Overview

SCOOP: Evidence growing of “devastating impact” for publishers from "AI summaries".

Two studies show big falls in clickthrough - one suggesting falls of up to 80%.

Google says the studies are flawed, but publishers say the company refuses to provide solid data.

www.theguardian.com/technology/2...

So something's happened to Sacha Baron Cohen... 🤯

Kemi Badenoch's former performance coach on her PMQs appearances: She “doesn’t do the process, doesn’t do the practice and doesn’t like it”.

In the New Statesman piece today.

The Telegraph finally heading to new ownership.

Lords reject an attempt to block a new law effectively clearing the way for the titles to be owned by a group that includes a UAE state fund.

Still many figures worried about an increase in state ownership - but the purgatory almost over for the Tel.

Dear Jeff Bezos …

Lisa Nandy trying to bully BBC over its Gaza coverage, says Wolf Hall director Exclusive: Peter Kosminsky accuses government of acting like ‘tinpot dictatorshop’ in pressuring director general

SCOOP: Many raised eyebrows at how Lisa Nandy has gone after Tim Davie recently.

Now Peter Kosminsky - writer/director of BBC show Wolf Hall, accuses her & Labour of acting like a “tinpot dictatorship” in pressuring him.

The Nandy/Davie relationship's not good:

www.theguardian.com/media/2025/j...

The escalation keeps coming

UK public service TV ‘endangered’ in YouTube era, says Ofcom Regulator calls for legislation to make news and UK-focused shows easier to find on online video-sharing platforms

The UK's communications watchdog appears to have woken up to the power of YouTube...

Says govt should look at forcing it to give prominence to the Public Service Broadcasters - BBC, ITV, C4, 5.

YouTube's clout now means regulators taking a bigger interest:

www.theguardian.com/media/2025/j...

Lots of votes for Cricket

Fair

The Spanish language Bluey YouTube channel is massive…

Original I believe

My favourite episode:

There’s a good argument Sleepytime is the best self-contained 7mins of telly ever made.

Special mention for Escape.

But I’m a Rug Island man…

It’s entirely reliant of course on having incredible IP like Bluey - a show it doesn’t produce & only co-commissioned.

BBC Studios holds global distribution/merchandising rights- perhaps the best deal it ever did.

Someone at ABC in Australia must be kicking a bin or two...

The Bluey story is part of one you don’t hear much - the extra income the BBC has got since about 2018 is basically coming from its commercial wing.

Commercial income has doubled - slowly catching up with licence fee income as the latter falls…

A BBC success story…

BBC may be trad media - but Bluey is *massive* in the creator economy. 20m+ subscribers on YouTube. c.5m TikTok followers.

@eshap.bsky.social says trad media now has to think like creatives‬: “I don't think there's a professional media company on earth that's doing that better than BBC Studios.”

First off - Bluey is a juggernaut.

The most watched show in the US across all genres in 2024, with 55.6bn viewing mins. Still top this year. It's also passed 1bn lifetime audio streams.

The BBC’s commercial wing revealed record revenues last week, driven by “licensing of the Bluey brand”.

BBC targets adults in the latest adventure for its top dog Bluey Corporation aims to build ‘lifestyle brand’ for all ages around smash-hit cartoon character

Here’s a 🧵 about the amazing Bluey, which tells a different story about the BBC than the one we usually hear…

It’s how the BBC’s commercial arm has understood the new media world, piled into digital platforms - & is now reaping the benefits.

Story & details:

www.theguardian.com/tv-and-radio...

Fair to say we have the meme moment of 2025… stay for the mascots…

Film from Fox’s Jason Martinez.

Murdoch-Trump rift opens over Epstein – but don’t expect a decisive break The president has threatened to sue the 94-year-old media mogul over a Wall Street Journal story but their relationship has survived previous tensions

Make no mistake - Murdoch is a different beast to Bezos or Soon-Shiong. This isn’t his first rodeo.

Ultimately, RM is about business - which is why you have to see the WSJ & Fox as all part of a strategic empire:

My analysis of the Murdoch/Trump relationship: www.theguardian.com/media/2025/j...