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Dylan Byers & Julia Alexander
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Monday, Wednesday, and Friday (Wednesday is an Inner Circle exclusive)
Ace media reporter Dylan Byers brings readers into the C-suite as he chronicles the biggest stories in the industry: the future of cable news in the streaming era, the transformation of legacy publishers, the tech giants remaking the market, and all the egos involved. Also featuring a weekly dispatch from Puck’s crack streaming/media analyst, Julia Alexander.
THE LATEST ARTICLES
Dylan Byers
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June 25, 2025
I Now Pronounce You Donald & Larry
While the media world’s eyes are trained on the CBS–Trump settlement negotiations, and its impact on the Ellison family’s tortured acquisition of Paramount, Larry himself has his eyes on a bigger prize at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue: TikTok and Stargate.
Dylan Byers
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June 20, 2025
Substacks to Grind
Editorial salaries have been on a grim, steady slide since Graydon Carter gave up the reins—and the generous coffers—at Vanity Fair. But this week, news of The Atlantic’s hiring spree and the elusive promise of Substack riches has reporters following the money.
Dylan Byers
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June 18, 2025
Don’t Substack In Anger
Leaked details about Substack’s new fundraise conjure deeper questions about the tech platform cum writing tool. For starters, is it a media company or a tech play?
Dylan Byers
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June 13, 2025
The Low Post
What’s changed at The Washington Post amid this endless and ostensible period of transformation and renewal? Almost nothing, which is either part of a master plan to turn the Post into the Amazon Marketplace of news, or just more inertia and mismanagement at America’s allegedly third-most-important newspaper.
Dylan Byers
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June 11, 2025
CNN Prepares for the Afterlife
With the industry in inexorable decline, ratings at a nadir, and younger audiences turning to YouTube and TikTok, Gunnar Wiedenfels will inevitably look at CNN and decide he can maintain relatively similar profits at a mere fraction of the cost. This is the beginning of the end.
Dylan Byers
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June 6, 2025
Karine Toward a Cliff
K.J.P. is politically homeless after an ill-timed defection from the Democratic Party—yet another misstep for a White House press secretary who could never read the room. Worse, she appears to be positioning herself for a second act on television at the very moment that the industry is melting away.
Dylan Byers
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June 4, 2025
Jeff’s Post Snub
After rebuffing A.I. publicly—including suing OpenAI and Microsoft for copyright infringement—the Times finally announced a content deal with… the company run by the owner of its rival.
Dylan Byers
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May 30, 2025
There Will Be Blodget
News and notes on the bloodletting at Business Insider, Henry Blodget’s Web 2.0 darling, which may finally close the chapter on one of the more vexing eras in media history—right in time for the next one.
Dylan Byers
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May 28, 2025
When the Leavy Breaks
Once a member of Zaz’s WBD brain trust, David Leavy was dispatched to right the mid-Licht ship at CNN, staying on as C.O.O. for nearly two years. Now, he’s taking on an unspecified role that almost certainly doesn’t exist.
Dylan Byers
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May 21, 2025
McMahon Overboard
With the high-wire tensions between Paramount and the tormentor-in-chief at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue, it’s easy to view the exit of CBS News C.E.O. Wendy McMahon as fourth-estate martyrdom. But maybe she just wasn’t very good at her job.