Media News Daily: Top Stories for 10/23/2025

Pentagon Press Corps Restructured, Major Outlets Ejected

Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth has restructured Pentagon media access, removing journalists from outlets like The New York Times and CNN. A new October 15 memo enforces stricter press rules, requiring reporters to avoid soliciting classified info and adhere to military discipline standards. Many major outlets returned credentials in protest, calling it censorship. The new press list includes far-right outlets like Gateway Pundit, Just the News, and LindellTV, all rated questionable by Media Bias Fact Check. Hegseth calls it a “fresh relationship,” while critics warn it damages transparency. President Trump supports the shift, calling it a push for “honest journalism.” (Read More) (News Facts Network Rating)

Local News Crisis Deepens as Small Outlets Collapse

The U.S. saw 136 newspaper closures this year, mostly from independent owners, per Northwestern’s 2025 State of Local News report. Since 2005, nearly 3,500 newspapers have shut down, cutting over 270,000 jobs and leaving 50 million in “news deserts.” Closures like the Chesterton Tribune in Indiana signal a deeper loss in community trust and access. Rising costs and lack of succession plans fuel the decline. Meanwhile, federal cuts to public broadcasting threaten rural stations. Though 300+ digital startups launched recently, most serve urban areas, leaving rural regions behind. (Read More) (Poynter Rating)

Reddit Sues AI Firms for Scraping User Content

Reddit has sued Perplexity AI and data-scraping firms Oxylabs UAB, AWMProxy, and SerpApi for allegedly bypassing protections to extract copyrighted user content. Reddit claims it tested its theory with a hidden post that quickly appeared in Perplexity’s AI responses. The suit accuses the firms of violating anti-circumvention provisions of the DMCA. Reddit also targets Perplexity for allegedly using the scraped data in its “answer engine.” The company emphasizes that its content is off-limits for AI unless licensed. Perplexity says it has not received the complaint and defends its commitment to public access to information. (Read More) (MediaPost Rating)