38 – Breaking News & Latest Updates 2026
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Mia Sato

Mia Sato

Features Writer, The Verge

Features Writer, The Verge

    More From Mia Sato

    Mia Sato
    Mia Sato
    News outlets have two (not great) options.

    Opting out of Google’s generative AI overviews means you become invisible in search — a no-go for most publishers. But keeping content in search means it can be scraped for AI Overviews. As one publisher puts it:

    You drop out and you die immediately, or you partner with them and you probably just die slowly, because eventually they’re not going to need you either.”

    Mia Sato
    Mia Sato
    Is Reddit the new pivot to video?

    Publishers like Rolling Stone and The New York Times are sizing up Reddit as a potential source of significant traffic, according to Adweek.

    Reddit’s visibility in Google Search has skyrocketed this year, making the platform an attractive place for marketers and the SEO industry. But media of all industries should know that relying on outside platforms historically hasn’t gone well.

    Mia Sato
    Mia Sato
    “Kurt Cobain un-alived himself at 27.”

    A placard at Seattle’s Museum of Pop Culture used the internet-speak term “un-alive” to describe Cobain’s suicide, according to Billboard. The museum elsewhere reportedly said it used it as a “gesture of respect.”

    People use terms like “un-alive” online to try to get around moderation algorithms that they believe may suppress or remove their content. MoPOP didn’t immediately respond to The Verge’s request for comment.

    Mia Sato
    Mia Sato
    Oliver Darcy is leaving CNN.

    The CNN media reporter announced today that he’s starting his own news outlet called Status — a nightly briefing covering the media industry, Hollywood, and Silicon Valley.

    Darcy is the latest journalist to move from a big outlet to an independent enterprise. Status will be subscription-based, and will launch with an initial (as of yet unnamed) sponsor.

    Mia Sato
    Mia Sato
    A fancam to announce Harris’ VP pick.

    Vice President Kamala Harris’ campaign announced its running mate pick Tim Walz mostly in a typical press flurry — except on TikTok, where the Kamala HQ account shared a purposely glitchy montage of Walz’s public appearances. It’s another example of the Harris campaign very deliberately tapping into trends, memes, and formats on the platform.

    Mia Sato
    Mia Sato
    Let’s play a game.

    Scroll through the pictures below and try to match each desk chair with the platform it’s for sale on: Amazon, AliExpress, or Shein.

    The correct answer doesn’t really matter — as John Herrman writes, this is the state of online shopping, where products that look the same are for sale everywhere, often at different prices or by different sellers. Everywhere you look, products are cheap, fast, and anonymous.

    A beige armless desk chair in a non-descript interior space.
    Another beige armless desk chair in a nondescript interior space.
    Another beige armless desk chair in a slightly different nondescript interior space.
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