Media News Daily: Top Stories for 07/24/2026

DOJ Withdraws New York Times Reporter Subpoenas

The Justice Department withdrew subpoenas seeking to force New York Times reporters to identify sources for stories about President Trump’s Qatari-gifted Air Force One jet. The move followed criticism from a federal judge, who said journalist subpoenas should be used only as a last resort and faulted the government’s legal work. The Times had accused the government of acting in bad faith, including by seeking records tied to family members of journalists. The reversal follows similar Justice Department withdrawals of subpoenas aimed at reporters for The Washington Post and The Wall Street Journal. (Read More) (AP News Rating)

Judge Dismisses Google Complaint Against SerpApi

A federal judge dismissed Google’s complaint against SerpApi, a Texas-based company accused of bypassing Google’s anti-scraping protections to collect search results. Google alleged SerpApi violated the Digital Millennium Copyright Act by circumventing tools such as SearchGuard and automated CAPTCHA protections. U.S. District Judge Yvonne Gonzalez Rogers ruled that Google could not pursue claims over search-result content in which it did not hold a copyright interest, while allowing the company to amend its complaint regarding licensed material such as high-resolution images used in Knowledge Graph and Knowledge Panels. (Read More) (Mediapost Rating)

Trump Ordered to Provide Financial Information in BBC Lawsuit

A federal judge ruled President Trump must turn over financial information in his $10 billion defamation lawsuit against the BBC. U.S. Magistrate Judge Enjoliqué Lett said Trump’s claims of severe financial and reputational harm placed his finances, brand, properties, and businesses at issue in the case. Trump’s attorneys had sought to narrow the lawsuit to reputational damages, but the judge rejected that effort. The lawsuit centers on a BBC documentary, “Trump: A Second Chance?,” which Trump says was deceptively edited to suggest he incited the Jan. 6 attack. The BBC apologized for the editing of a clip but denies that the documentary defamed him. (Read More) (NOTUS Rating)