As the MAGA media ecosystem fractures, conservative women are stepping into a growing influence vacuum.

Why it matters: The MAGA "manosphere" has become increasingly critical of President Trump, creating space for conservative women to expand the movement's reach to new voters.

• The Democratic edge among women has also narrowed over the past few years, creating a wider audience opportunity for women focused on conservative lifestyles.

💥 Driving the news: Infighting within the MAGA media ecosystem is helping new voices break through.

• Candace Owens has had the fastest-growing, right-wing podcast for the past two quarters, per data from Howard Polskin.
• Megyn Kelly's podcast entered the top 20 shows in the U.S. last year, per Edison Research. A spokesperson for Kelly attributed a large part of her success to video, noting that Kelly's YouTube videos alone had 323 million views in the first quarter of 2026.
• Bari Weiss, who is now leading the charge at CBS News, continues to see growth for her media startup, The Free Press, while other sites are floundering, per new figures from Polskin.

📈 State of play: Both Kelly's and Owens' popularity have surged in recent months as they have taken a more oppositional stance against President Trump over the war with Iran and his handling of the Epstein scandal.

The other side: Some women have taken a less oppositional approach to the president and are instead leaning into culture and lifestyle conversations to attract conservative women.

• "If conservatives want to continue to gain ground amongst conservative women, you have to talk to women from a life and lifestyle perspective," said Katie Miller, a loyal former Trump aide who launched a podcast aimed at conservative women last summer.
• Ainsley Earhardt and Dana Perino are helping fuel Fox News' non-cable business growth with successful faith-based books, streaming shows and podcasts.
• Political influencers Brett Cooper, Riley Gaines and Tomi Lahren are contributors for the network. All three women have more than 1 million followers on Instagram.

Between the lines: Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr.'s anti-Big Pharma worldview attracted a slew of women celebrities and influencers who turned to MAGA politics after Kennedy ended his presidential campaign, including fitness personality Jillian Michaels, former ESPN host Sage Steele and former race-car driver Danica Patrick.

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The NFL has yet to receive any formal communication from the Justice Department informing the league it's being investigated, a source told Axios.

Why it matters: Historically, companies being probed would get word of an official investigation before it's leaked to the media.

• While the Trump administration's DOJ has bucked traditional processes, sources inside the NFL believe there's a bigger force at play behind their regulatory pressure — Fox Corp.

🏛️ State of play: The DOJ has begun the process of evaluating whether the NFL should continue to receive broadcast antitrust exemptions as it moves more content behind streaming paywalls, sources told Axios.

• That doesn't necessarily mean a formal investigation has or will be officially launched. If there is a formal investigation happening, the NFL has not been notified directly.
• The Justice Department declined to comment.

Zoom out: Fox Corp. investors have become wary in recent months about the company's vulnerability in NFL rights negotiations.

• The stock has fallen 13% year to date, ending a yearslong bullish run driven by its decision not to compete in the subscription streaming wars.

The big picture: The NFL believes Fox Corp. is behind a broader Washington pressure campaign.

• The FCC said earlier this year it will review the live sports market to understand the impact of streaming on consumer access to free over-the-air news and information, including public safety information.
• Fox Corp. was the only major broadcaster with NFL rights to file comments about the review with the FCC directly. The National Association of Broadcasters, which represents many of the NFL's partners, also submitted comments.

Between the lines: FCC chair Brendan Carr in recent weeks has indicated the NFL and other major sports leagues could risk losing their broadcast antitrust exemptions if they put too much of their content behind streaming paywalls.

• The FCC granted those leagues exemptions decades ago to allow them to pool their local rights and sell national packages.
• Local broadcasters argue linear sports rights are essential to their businesses, and if Big Tech boxes them out of bidding, they won't be able to provide other essential programming, like local news.

Yes, but: For Fox Corp., the risks to its business are more existential than the challenges its local broadcast stations could face.

• Fox divested its entertainment assets to Disney years ago to focus on live news and sports.
• The more sports rights shift from broadcast and into streaming, the faster the cable bundle will fall.
• Fox is heavily reliant on cable revenues, although it's taken steps to diversify its portfolio away from them.

💭 My thought bubble: Rupert Murdoch has proven very savvy at exerting influence in Washington over issues critical to his businesses.

• News Corp., for example, has played a critical role over the years in supporting trade groups that have put pressure on companies like Google and Meta.

AI chatbots are quickly shifting from search engines to universal interfaces that can support most media habits.

Why it matters: Traditional search engines only allow users to discover content. AI platforms can also help them make and consume it.

📺 Driving the news: Tubi last week said it has become the first major streaming platform to build a native app within ChatGPT, making its collection of over 300,000 movies and TV episodes available.

• The move points to where the streaming wars could be headed if studios and entertainment companies can get through some of the broader fair-use challenges and data-sharing concerns they've faced working with AI companies.

Zoom out: Tubi's product is less reliant on lucrative rights deals than some of its Hollywood streaming peers, which makes it easier in some ways for it to explore this type of integration. But other media companies with more functional use cases are quickly making the leap.

• 🎟️ Ticketmaster last week said it has integrated its services within ChatGPT, allowing users to browse concerts and buy tickets.
• 📧 Beehiiv, a newsletter platform for independent creators and publishers, introduced an update this month that allows users to manage and optimize their accounts from the AI platform of their choice.
• 🎧 Spotify and Apple Music have both launched integrations with ChatGPT that make it possible for users to connect their accounts and ask for songs, podcasts or recommendations.

The bottom line: Media companies and services have long had to rely on third-party app stores for distribution. The rise of chatbots will create yet another distribution layer for them to navigate.

Pittsburgh just avoided losing a 239-year-old civic institution — but the future makeup of the Post-Gazette is still uncertain.

Why it matters: The region's largest and oldest paper announced earlier this year that it would shut down in May.

Driving the news: The Post-Gazette announced today it's selling to the Venetoulis Institute for Local Journalism, the nonprofit publisher of the Baltimore Banner.

• Financial terms of the deal were not disclosed.
• The paper's newsroom and local leadership team will continue to operate in Pittsburgh, according to a story published on the Post-Gazette website.
• The sale is effective May 4, the day after the paper was set to shut down.

State of play: Venetoulis Institute plans to maintain the Post-Gazette's two print days, Thursday and Sunday.

• Venetoulis Institute founder Stewart Bainum said the paper's newsroom staff of 100 might shrink.

Catch up quick: In January, the paper's owner, Block Communications Inc., announced the closure and said the Post-Gazette has lost more than $350 million over the past 20 years.

• The realities facing local journalism make "continued cash losses at this scale no longer sustainable," said Block Communications.
• The announced closure followed a newsroom strike that lasted over three years, during which many journalists crossed the picket line.

Context: Venetoulis follows in the footsteps of other nonprofit efforts to preserve local newspapers, like the Philadelphia Inquirer.

• The Baltimore Banner has 79,500 paid subscribers and 4.1 million average monthly page views, and it won a Pulitzer in 2025 for local reporting, according to the Post-Gazette article.
• The Banner has not yet broken even, according to the Post-Gazette.

What's next: "We are excited to hand our treasured paper over to such a committed and creative organization," said Karen Johnese, chair of Block Communications.

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The chorus of voices opposing Paramount Skydance's $110 billion takeover of Warner Bros. Discovery is growing louder.

Why it matters: It will likely be up to state attorneys general and foreign regulators to challenge the merger, and there are indications that both groups are ready to act.

📝 Driving the news: Over 1,000 Hollywood professionals, including more than 75 Academy Award winners and nominees, released an open letter yesterday that said, in part:

• "The integrity, independence, and diversity of our industry would be grievously compromised" if the deal closes.
• Their argument should be well-received by California Attorney General Rob Bonta, whose department already opened an investigation.

The other side: Paramount in a statement yesterday reiterated its commitment to full theatrical releases "ensuring creators have more avenues for their work, not fewer."

🇪🇺 Zoom in: Paramount needs regulatory approval from dozens of countries where it operates, plus big blocks like the European Union.

• U.K. antitrust regulators are set to launch an official probe into the deal after it finishes receiving public comments at month's end.
• The U.S. Justice Department is probing the merger, but antitrust experts don't expect it to object.

The big picture: The DOJ could still sue to block the merger, but it becomes harder to do so now that Paramount has closed the deal.

• Case in point: A U.S. judge ‌ordered a pause on ​the $6 billion+ local broadcast merger between Nexstar and Tegna while he deliberates issuing an injunction in response to a lawsuit from DirecTV and several U.S. states.
• Just two weeks after the deal closed, Nexstar said in response to the order that the merger can't be fully undone.

⏳ The bottom line: Longer approval processes overseas could give the state attorneys general more time to assemble their cases.

The White House Correspondents' Association Dinner weekend is back and busier than ever this year, with new outlets, companies and political powerbrokers looking to make further inroads in Washington.

Why it matters: The dinner hasn't seen this much momentum since the Obama era.

Zoom in: President Trump will attend this year's event for the first time as a sitting commander in chief.

Between the lines: Administration officials are expected to have a much bigger presence at parties and events this year — prompting more corporate interest and sponsorships.

• Companies like Boeing, Amazon and Meta will support various events.

🎉 New to the party scene this year is MS Now, which has officially split from NBCUniversal and NBC News.

• MS Now will host an after-dinner party competing with NBC News on Saturday night at Dupont Underground, an arts venue in a former trolley station.
• MAGA moguls will host a party Friday night at the glitzy Executive Branch club in Georgetown that charges a $500,000 membership fee. Nelly is the featured performing artist.
• Grindr will host a party as well on Friday night, marking its WHCD debut.

🥳 Fun fact: Nine events this year are being hosted by media startups less than 10 years old: Punchbowl News, Axios, Semafor, Beehiiv, Substack, Puck, Status, NOTUS and Crooked Media.

• Their ascent to the Washington political scene shows how the D.C. market has grown more lucrative and competitive over the past decade.

👀 Of note: The Washington Post, which has in the past hosted a cocktail reception before the dinner and last year hosted a lavish brunch reception on Sunday, does not appear to be hosting any events this year.

• A spokesperson did not respond to a request for comment from Axios about its plans.

See the list of events confirmed so far