Fact-checkers decry Meta policy change | Trump wages lawfare on US media
And Getty and Shutterstock agree a $3.7bn merger
Good morning and welcome to your daily Press Gazette media briefing on Wednesday 8 January, 2025, brought to you today in association with PA Media.
Download PA Media's Year in Content 2024 report to see the top stories that journalists engaged with from the PA news agency's coverage.
Mark Zuckerberg seems increasingly keen to ape Elon Musk and turn his platform into a dystopian hell.
Yesterday he revealed plans to have less fact-checking on Meta’s platforms, because checking things is somehow seen as a bit lefty and out of favour post-5 November. Separately Facebook has announced plans to allow AI characters to create and post on the platform. And for some time it has been downgrading news content from professional organisations in favour of hearsay shared by randoms.
It matters of course because Facebook is the internet for many people.
The question for publishers is whether they join Musk and Zuckerberg in an AI-fuelled race to the bottom or stick to their guns and focus on creating the trusted content which creates a point of difference with the tech platforms. I'm hoping they opt for the latter!
While Zuckerberg may have bent the knee to Trump, the incoming president still faces opposition in the legacy media (thank goodness) despite his best attempts to silence critics through use of lawfare. We've provided a handy round-up here of Trump's current legal attacks on the press. We will keep this page updated over the next four years and I'm sorry to say I suspect it will become a busy corner of the site.
And finally we report on a mega-merger in the world of photo agencies, with Getty and Shutterstock set to join forces in a $3.7bn deal.
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The report also provides a look at the year ahead, with editorial experts from the PA news agency sharing what they see as the big stories of 2025, plus a spotlight on key PA services in 2024.
On Press Gazette
Left: Meta chief executive Mark Zuckerberg (picture: Frederic Legrand - COMEO/Shutterstock). Right: Full Fact chief executive Chris Morris (picture: Full Fact)
Meta fact-checking partner calls end of scheme ‘a backwards step’
“We absolutely refute Meta’s charge of bias – we are strictly impartial, fact check claims from all political stripes with equal rigour, and hold those in power to account through our commitment to truth.”
Getty and Shutterstock agree $3.7bn merger
Their combined revenue is around $2bn, with 46% coming from subscriptions.
Donald Trump versus the press: His ‘campaign of legal intimidation’ tracked
“Trump doesn’t need to win in court for his vindictive lawfare campaign to work. These lawsuits tie up an outlet’s resources that are much needed elsewhere, especially for smaller news outlets without the means to withstand well-financed legal attacks or coordinated political attacks from Trump and his allies.”
News in brief
We begin our tracker of journalism industry job cuts throughout 2025 with the news that around 4% of staff are being laid off at The Washington Post, although not from the newsroom. Six people in the Post's PR department are among the layoffs as the paper will "stop the dedicated practice of publicity for our journalism across broadcast and traditional media outlets" and promote its talent instead. (Press Gazette)
Huffpost also plans to cut more than 30 editorial roles “due to ongoing and growing challenges to our business”, editor-in-chief Danielle Belton has told staff. (Press Gazette)
The CMA says it plans to launch two strategic market status investigations in relation to two areas of digital activity this month. The News Media Association called for probes into Google Search and ad tech, Facebook and Google and Apple’s mobile ecosystems. (Competition and Markets Authority)
Google has revealed its new TV operating system which can use its Gemini AI assistant to scrape the news from websites and Youtube and summarise the biggest stories of the day. It aims to release this capability by the end of 2025. (Tech Crunch)
Apple News is reportedly looking at increasing its local news coverage in the UK and adding a puzzles section, currently only available in the US and Canada. (Financial Times)
The Henley Standard has been sold by its owner Higgs Group to Baylis Media, which also publishes the Maidenhead Advertiser and the Slough and Windsor Express. (Henley Standard)
Byline Times and Hacked Off are jointly crowdfunding to send reporters to Prince Harry and Tom Watson's upcoming trial against Sun publisher News Group Newspapers alleging unlawful information gathering. (Byline Times)
Barbara Maxwell, the BBC producer and editor who launched Question Time in 1979, has died, the corporation says. (BBC Question Time on X)
Also on Press Gazette:
Computer Weekly editor to national media: Pay more attention to specialist titles
50 biggest UK news websites: The Independent top commercial title by reach
City AM ends Monday print edition with ‘renewed focus’ on video and audio
DC Thomson reports falling revenue for 2023/24 but investments boost profit
BBC local radio station showed ‘systemic failure’ on night of disorder
MP wins complaint against Birmingham Live over UK’s ‘grimmest village’ article
Byline Times seeks £200,000 for marketing by selling shares to readers
Tortoise reports falling turnover but reduced losses after 2023 cutbacks
How publishers can avoid affiliate marketing pitfalls and find new revenue (sponsored)
Trust, quality and data: Key ad revenue themes for publishers in 2024 (sponsored)
Latest podcast
Podcast 80: What we learned in 2024 about the business of news
The Press Gazette team look back on the big themes of 2024 for news publishers and reveal what they have learned. They also share their predictions for 2025 which include: more paywalls in the national media, an economic upturn all around and big changes in the tech platforms which readers use to discover their news.