I love you, Paramount, please buy us and go into even more debt

Last night, Netflix officially withdrew their bid for Warner Bros Discovery. This was probably the right decision, financially, for the streamer. But it is, without question, a disaster for the country. Not that Netflix would have been a much better owner for WBD, seeing as how they still want to kill movie theaters. At the very least, though, they wouldn't be directly in the pocket of the Trump administration.

WBD’s likely new owner, Paramount Skydance, owned by David Ellison, failson of Oracle Chief Technology Officer Larry Ellison, has made no qualms about his allegiance to Trump World. To say nothing of the Ellisons’ connections to the Epstein network. Oh, also, the elder Ellison now controls the US version of TikTok. In the words of one CBS News staffer quoted by The Guardian this morning, “Fuck, fuck, fuck.”

It’s not just the news that’s under attack, but the entire American media industry. And the only way we can really fight back is with our attention — or lack of it. Last night, on Bluesky, The Onion’s Ben Collins asked folks what indie media they were supporting these days. I asked my team the same question. Here is, in no particular order, some great newsletters, websites, podcasts, and video teams we’re all following that you should check out. It’s not exhaustive — we’d love to hear about your favorites — but it’s a good starting point for anyone who wants to get out from under the thumb of the new state media machine.

Aftermath — An excellent worker-owned gaming site founded by former Kotaku writers.

Today In Tabs — Newsletter long-hauler (and National Magazine Award nominee) Rusty Foster's unmissable daily round up of, well, various tabs on his computer.

Platformer — You all probably already read it, but it’s an essential tech newsletter founded by The Verge's Casey Newton.

Citation Needed — A deeply skeptical and analytical newsletter from Molly White covering the murky world of cryptocurrency.

Hell Gate — A fantastic worker-owned local New York City newsroom.

Link In Bio — A terrific newsletter from Rachel Karten covering the world of social media marketing and digital advertising.

User Mag — Taylor Lorenz's newsletter and podcast, which has recently started a great series on the death of Section 230.

Status — Unmissable media reporting from CNN reporter Oliver Darcy.

Deez Links — The newsletter that, in many ways, started all of this. Delightful and incisive link roundups from Vanity Fair correspondent Delia Cai.

404 Media — The best tech newsroom in the world right now. We are jealous of everything they do lol.

Search Engine — Podcaster PJ Vogt’s super fun followup to Reply All.

Read Max — Gawker's Max Read. Read Max Read.

Never Post — A terrific independent podcast (and production company) specializing in all things extremely online.

1-900-HOTDOG — For anyone who still misses Cracked (it’s OK, you can admit it).

More Perfect Union — Emmy-winning, nonprofit newsroom focusing on labor that goes for the jugular in every video.

Howtown — Truly delightful science journalism from former Vox and NPR journalists.

The Handbasket — Marisa Kabas has broken too many stories about Trump administration skullduggery to list here.

65,000 — A mix of serious and completely silly news about niche online creative communities, from one of Adam's old Know Your Meme colleagues.

Ken Klippenstein — Ken is one of the few independents with the cred and connections to regularly get scoops about what governments are doing behind the scenes.

Defector — The flagship of our weird little flotilla. Amazing writing about sports and more, with genuine community among both the writers and readers (you have to pay to comment).

Drop Site News — Journalist Ryan Grim’s new nonprofit investigative outlet that has run circles around the big boys digging into the Epstein files.

Cool Zone Media — Podcast network founded by Behind The Bastards’ Robert Evans, including shows from Jamie Loftus, Bridget Todd, and more.

Some More News — Comedian and former Cracked contributor Cody Johnston's delivers very funny and very insightful tear downs of the week’s news.

Tech Dirt — Maybe the longest-serving Big Tech watchdog. News about the politics and policies surrounding new technology from people who understand how it works.

The Present Age — Insightful analysis on news and politics from Parker Molloy.

Spitfire News — Former NBC News reporter Kat Tenbarge has gone independent, continuing her incredible coverage of the post-Me Too era.

Local News International — A newsletter and video series from The Washington Post’s former video guy, Dave Jorgenson. (And most of his team from WaPo, as well!)

Dropout — This subscriber-based comedy streaming platform started by former College Humor alums is one of the only bright spots in the world of entertainment right now.

Nebula — What started as a platform for YouTubers to paywall content has recently expanded into original titles like their excellent series Abolish Everything! and, like Dropout, could very well be the studio system of the future.