Kalshi, the prediction market platform where players can place bets on world events — such as the number of deportations this year — was sued last week by the state of Washington, one of such 20 lawsuits the company now faces, WNYC Studios reports. In addition, the Arizona attorney general filed criminal charges against the company. The  prediction field is growing, generating $64 billion in trading volume last year, up 400% from 2024, and Kalshi users spent $54 million on “Ali Khamenei out as Supreme Leader?” during the first week of the Iran war.

Hallmark Media has named Darren Abbott as president, The Hollywood Reporter writes. He replaces John Matts less than a year after Matts assumed that title. Abbott will be tasked with “shaping, operationalizing, and driving the ever-evolving business into the future, while continuing to oversee the ways in which consumers interact with Hallmark’s widely beloved content, products, and experiences,” according to Hallmark.

A federal judge has ruled that the president’s executive order barring funding for NPR and PBS violated the First Amendment, NPR reports. U.S. District Court Judge Randolph D. Moss said the government cannot use funding to suppress a new organization based on its coverage. 

The advertising industry’s fixation with tying media value to short-term outcomes using programmatic ad technology is causing it to overlook differences in media quality, according to a paper by the Coalition for Innovative Media Measurement (CIMM), AdExchanger reports. “Quality has been a buzzword for a while in this industry, and no one’s really defined it, except, for the most part, in self-serving ways,” said Erez Levin, founder of ad tech consultancy Emet Advisory and a co-author of the paper, during the CIMM East event in New York City on Tuesday.  

Colorado has passed a bipartisan bill that would force social media companies to quickly comply with search warrants, Post Independent reports. Senate Bill 11 was signed into law on Monday by Governor Jared Polis. Polis said the measure will ensure a prompt response with requests from law enforcement on whether it is “helping to track down stolen bikes and cars to helping protect the lives of Coloradans from dangerous drugs.” 

Media capture is a political strategy that authoritarian governments often use to co-opt independent news organizations and spread propaganda, Psychology Today writes. Many experts believe this is already happening in the United States. One strategy is censorship through “noise” that leads to cognitive overload. 

Brands like ScottsMiracle-Gro and Clinique are using Agentic AI to serve consumers and provide educational resources wherever they are, Fast Company reports. “We’re using a lot of agentic AI to help people in any given market,” said John Sass, senior vice president and chief creative officer at ScottsMiracle-Gro, speaking at the Fast Company Grill at SXSW. “We have 158 years of experience; we can help you learn how to grow, whether you’re in Miami or Austin or Columbus, Ohio.”

The Federal Trade Commission has toughened its regulation of car dealerships, including fines of more than $50,000 for misleading pricing practices, including ads that exclude mandatory fees,  Car Scoops reports. The FTC is also targeting listings for vehicles that aren’t actually available.

Nonprofit news sites drew 72.1 million visits in January, up from 6.46 million in December, Nieman Lab reports. The biggest gainers included  The top news sites included theconversation.com, propublica.org, sltrib.com, motherjones.com and texastribune.org. 

Two Colorado public media broadcasters are exploring a merger, Inside Radio reports. Community Radio for Northern Colorado and Rocky Mountain Public Media have been in discussions since last year, the report adds, sourcing BizWest. Staff members have been told new no jobs will be lost, but operations will most likely be shifted to Denver.