Paramount Buys The Free Press, Pentagon Enacts New Press Rules, Media Trust Hits a New Low—Media News Recap, October 2025

Welcome to Media Insider, PR Newswire’s roundup of the biggest media stories from the past month.

Paramount Skydance acquires The Free Press for $150M

Paramount Skydance acquired digital media outlet The Free Press in a stock and cash deal that values the outlet at roughly $150 million. As part of the deal, Free Press founder Bari Weiss has been named editor-in-chief at CBS News. She will also remain CEO and editor-in-chief of The Free Press, which will remain independent.

“This is an important initiative for our company and Bari will report directly to me — leading the work of The Free Press and collaborating with our CBS News team in the pursuit of making it the most trusted name in news,” said Paramount Skydance chair and CEO David Ellison.

Weiss, who considers herself a centrist, left the New York Times in 2020, arguing she had become a victim of “a ‘new McCarthyism’ that has taken root at the paper of record.” Her appointment to the top job at CBS News has caused wide speculation among media insiders about what it could mean for the direction of the broadcaster’s news coverage. (Axios)

Here’s more from the Free Press acquisition and Weiss’s new position:

• Weiss’s first few days at CBS News included tense exchanges with “60 Minutes” staffers, discussions of future live events and booking some high-profile guests. (New York Times)
• CBS News’ chief of standards and practices, Claudia Milne, announced her departure. (Variety)
• “CBS Evening News” co-anchor John Dickerson announced that he will leave the show at the end of the year. (Variety)
• Weiss asked staff for a memo to “understand how you spend your working hours,” which triggered concerns and pushback from the newsroom’s union. (Deadline)
• Weiss is rumored to be talking to several potential candidates about joining the CBS News team, including Fox News’ Brett Baier. (The Daily Beast)

Other deal-making headlines from October include:

• After turning down an initial takeover offer from Paramount Skydance, Warner Bros. Discovery announced it’s open to a sale. (PR Newswire)
• Ashley Allison, a Democratic political strategist and CNN commentator, is acquiring The Root, returning it to Black ownership for the first time in years. (CNN)
• Netflix and Spotify announced a deal that will see 16 video podcasts come to Netflix early next year. (New York Times)
• People acquired Feedfeed, a food publisher and creator network. (Axios)
• Rolling Stone is merging with Vibe, a music magazine centering on rap and R&B coverage. (Pitchfork)

US news outlets refuse to sign new Pentagon rules to report only official information

The majority of leading U.S. news organizations with Pentagon press access refused to agree to a new Defense Department policy that requires them to pledge they will not obtain unauthorized material and restricts access to certain areas unless accompanied by an official. The deadline for agreeing to the new policy was Oct. 14.

Outlets including The Washington Post, The New York Times, CNN, The Atlantic, The Guardian, Reuters, the Associated Press, NPR, HuffPost and more did not sign on to the agreement. The news organizations argue that the policy goes against constitutional guarantees of freedom of the press.

National Public Radio’s editor-in-chief, Thomas Evans, said: “We will not sign the administration’s restrictive policy that asks reporters to undermine their commitment of providing trustworthy, independent journalism to the American public.” (The Guardian)

In related news:

• Among the journalists and outlets that did agree to the new policy: One America News Network, The Epoch Times and LindellTV. (New York Times)
• After receiving a $16 million settlement from CBS, President Donald Trump is in talks with 60 Minutes about conducting an upcoming interview. (Semafor)
• A $200,000 grant from the Knight Foundation will support the International Women’s Media Foundation’s Newsroom Safety Across America initiative. (PR Newswire)

OpenAI launches Atlas browser to compete with Google Chrome

OpenAI introduced its own web browser, Atlas, putting the company in direct competition with Google by making its popular AI chatbot a gateway to online searches. Not only could the browser allow the startup to pull in more internet traffic and the revenue made from digital ads, but it could also “further cut off the lifeblood of online publishers” if the summaries it provides result in fewer clicks to traditional web links.

Atlas launched on Apple laptops and will later come to Windows, iOS and Android. It faces an uphill battle against Chrome, which has about 3 billion worldwide users and has been adding some AI features from Google’s Gemini technology.

OpenAI CEO Sam Altman called it a “rare, once-a-decade opportunity to rethink what a browser can be about and how to use one.”

The launch comes as publishers navigate the challenges of AI search, its impact on web traffic and copyright concerns. One recent study found that about 60% of Americans use AI to find information at least some of the time, but another analysis of four top AI assistants showed nearly half of their responses were flawed and fell short of the standards of “high-quality” journalism. (AP)

In other AI news from October:

• Reddit filed a lawsuit against four companies for allegedly stealing its data by scraping Google search results containing Reddit content. (New York Times)
• New research finds the gap between AI-generated and human-written content online has roughly evened out. (Axios)
• A new field guide from the American Journalism Project helps local newsrooms vet AI vendors. (NiemanLab)
• The Washington Post, Le Monde and Conde Nast are among publishers that have signed up for Perplexity’s AI subscription revenue-share program. (Press Gazette)
• Business Insider is planning to offer stories under the Business AI byline that are “created by AI and edited by human editors.” (MediaPost)

Trust in Media at New Low of 28% in U.S.

According to Gallup’s latest media trust report, just 28% of Americans have a “great deal” or “fair amount” of trust in newspapers, television and radio to report the news fully, accurately and fairly, down from 31% last year. Meanwhile, seven in 10 U.S. adults now say they have “not very much” confidence (36%) or “none at all” (34%).

This year’s confidence rating is the first time the measure has fallen below 30% since Gallup started measuring media trust in the 1970s.

Trust among Republicans and Democrats, though different, is at a low point for both parties. Republicans’ confidence dropped to single digits (8%) for the first time, and only a slim majority (51%) of Democrats express trust in the media. (Gallup)

Here are some other interesting reports released in October:

• Many Americans say the news makes them feel angry, sad, scared and confused. (Pew Research Center)
• A new report found that more than 40% of registered voters are passive news consumers who let information come to them rather than seeking it out. (Semafor)
• In the first quarter of the 21st century, close to 3,500 newspapers closed, leaving a quarter of Americans with limited access to a local print newspaper. (Medill Local News Initiative)
• A new report identifies the countries where news influencers are having the biggest (and smallest) impact. (Reuters Institute for the Study of Journalism)

Paramount Layoffs Begin; CEO David Ellison Says Cuts Are Key To Building “Strong, Future-Focused Company”

As anticipated after the merger of Paramount and Skydance, a new round of layoffs at the company was announced. Two thousand U.S. workers will be let go over two rounds, representing about 10% of Paramount’s employee base.

In a memo to employees, CEO David Ellison said, “In some areas, we are addressing redundancies that have emerged across the organization. In others, we are phasing out roles that are no longer aligned with our evolving priorities and the new structure designed to strengthen our focus on growth.”

Before the merger, Paramount had already reduced its U.S. workforce by about 15% through several rounds of layoffs at the end of 2024. In addition to headcount, the new company is also looking to trim its real estate portfolio and unload some businesses. (Deadline)

In other layoff news from last month:

• NBC News announced it was cutting 150 positions and encouraging those affected to apply for other open roles. (Los Angeles Times)
• People Inc. laid off over 200 staffers, about 6% of its workforce. (MediaPost)
• At The Washington Post, “the mood is grim” as staffers worry about layoffs ahead of the holiday season. (Status)
• The Wall Street Journal laid off around a dozen reporters and editors from its health, science and education verticals. (TheWrap)
• Despite the news above, data from early October showed that news media job cuts have stabilized and are lower than 2024 numbers. (Axios)

ICYMI

• Four editors, a creative director and a visual artist put together a list of the 25 most influential magazine covers of all time. (New York Times)
• The popular New York Times game Wordle is getting its own game show. (Hollywood Reporter)
• “The Graham Norton Show” has been renewed for three more seasons and will reach its 20th anniversary on the BBC. (Deadline)
• CNN launched its new All Access subscription tier, which includes access to its live news channel, FAST channel, international coverage, original long-form content and more. (NewscastStudio)
• Gannett launched USA Today Play, a digital hub for gaming, puzzles, comics and horoscopes. (MediaPost)
• “The Athletic Show,” a new weekly 30-minute video series, launched with early access on Fire TV and other Amazon devices. (New York Times Company)

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