Analysis: Media Giants Should Seek Future as ‘Dumb Pipes’
Financial Times-Lex: “Legacy media known for high quality and high costs seem to become less relevant every year. Staying out of the content wars and remaining a profitable if dull toll-collector could be the wisest move. The winner among legacy media titans could be...
Report: Pay TV in Paradigm Shift as Online Video Explodes
World Screen: "The explosion of online viewing options and video consumption came at the same time many shelter-in-place orders were enacted. Households are relying more and more on OTT services for a top-quality entertainment...
Fox Corp Office Misconduct ‘Open Secret’ at News Channel
Daily Beast: When Fox News fired Ed Henry last month for alleged sexual misconduct, the network claimed it took "swift action." But according to Fox News staffers, Henry's reputation for such workplace misconduct was long an open secret inside the...
Nexstar to Offer Opinion-Free News on WGN’s ‘NewsNation’
Los Angeles Times: On Tuesday, Nexstar Media will launch "NewsNation," a nightly three-hour national prime time newscast (8 p.m. Eastern and 5 p.m. Pacific) that promises a neutral, opinion-free presentation of the day's events, on WGN...
Survey: Americans Regard Skepticism of News as Healthy
Pew Research Center: Many Americans remain skeptical toward the news media, questioning not only the quality of journalists' work but their intentions behind it. For instance, no more than half of U.S. adults have confidence in journalists to act in the best interests...
Axel Springer Loses Business Insider Staffer to Podcasting
Talking Biz News: David Plotz, editor at large at Business Insider, where he writes the Insider Today newsletter with CEO Henry Blodget, is leaving the company to start his own podcast company. Plotz also hosts the Slate Political Gabfest, a popular weekly...
McClatchy Exiting CEO Writes About Future of Local News
Sacramento Bee: "McClatchy's transformation shows that by focusing on fearless journalism, relentless customer engagement, standout products and a sensible focus on sustainable operating cash flow, publishers can accelerate digital success and build a sustainable...
Gannett Newspaper Becomes Insert in Arkansas Sale Deal
Northwest Arkansas Democrat-Gazette: Gannett is selling the Pine Bluff Commercial to the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette and its parent company, WEHCO Newspapers. "Going forward, there will be four pages of the Pine Bluff Commercial in the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette every...
Hearst to Relocate Three Magazines to Rural Pennsylvania
Express-Times: A building under construction in Easton, Pa. is slated to host the reporting staffs of Bicycling, Runner's World and Popular Mechanics when completed in October. The building became a shuttered construction site for two and a half months when Covid-19...
Conde Nast Veteran Bashes First Lady in ‘Melania and Me’
Associated Press: Stephanie Winston Wolkoff first met Melania Trump in 2003 in the hallways of Vogue magazine, where Wolkoff worked. "I wish I had never met her," Wolkoff now says about the subject of her new book, "Melania and Me: The Rise and Fall of My Friendship...
Penske Media Strengthens Fairchild with Exec Promotions
WWD: Fairchild Media is announcing the promotion of two senior leaders, Michael Atmore and Edward Hertzman. Atmore is being named chief brand officer of Fairchild Media. Hertzman is being promoted to EVP of Fairchild Media, founder and president of Sourcing...
New York Times ‘Vows’ Feature Reveals Groom’s Infidelity
New York Post: The New York Times published a "Vows" feature on the courtship and wedding of locals named Robert and Lauren. It read like a perfect love story. But not to Robert's ex-wife, who learned through it why her own marriage had...
Study Hall Website Sees Itself as Happy Hour for Journos
Nieman Lab: The gossipy media website Study Hall aspires to a niche that no Ivy League-backed nonprofit or VC-funded startup could ever hope to appease. The company wants to speak to journalists in the same way that they schmooze at happy...
Disney, AT&T New Releases Provide First Test of Theaters
Associated Press: The first wave of big new movies released since the beginning of the pandemic, including Christopher Nolan's mind-bending thriller "Tenet" and the long-delayed "X-Men" spinoff "The New Mutants," arrived in theaters over the weekend, testing the...
AT&T Again Seeks a Deal for Streaming-Wounded DirecTV
MarketWatch: AT&T is taking a fresh look at its DirecTV business, exploring a deal for a service wounded by cord-cutting. The telecom and media giant and its advisers at Goldman Sachs Group have been in talks with private-equity suitors about the satellite TV...
Fox Corp Touts ‘Historic’ News Channel Ratings for Trump
Fox News: A whopping 9.2 million people tuned in to Fox News from 10 p.m. to 11:45 p.m. ET Thursday to watch President Trump accept his party's renomination for president to close the Republican National Convention. By contrast, no other network garnered more than 2.6...
News Corp, Liberty Alums at Work on ‘Fox News for Britain’
Guardian: Rival efforts are underway to launch a Fox News-style opinionated current affairs TV station in Britain to counter the BBC. One project is being devised in the headquarters of Rupert Murdoch's British media empire by the former Fox News executive David...
Charter Faces Another Staffer Harassment Lawsuit at NY1
New York Post: A former senior producer at NY1 says her boss regularly made rude comments about "old" female employees, including saying that "cancer has really aged" anchor Roma Torre, a new sex harassment lawsuit against the station says. Karin Garfin "was forced...
Report: Media Falling Short on Diversity, Inclusion Pledges
Digiday: Was it all just lip service? That's the question employees inside media companies are starting to ask about their employers' diversity and inclusion pledges. More than two months after many media companies issued statements supporting Black Lives Matter, some...
Disney’s ABC Airs Special Tribute to ‘Black Panther’ Actor
Associated Press: ABC aired "Black Panther" commercial-free Sunday as a prime-time tribute to Chadwick Boseman. The film was followed by an ABC News Special, "Chadwick Boseman: A Tribute for a King." Boseman died Friday after a four-year battle with colon cancer. He...
ViacomCBS Pre-Records Most of ‘Live’ MTV Music Awards
New York Post: The 2020 MTV Video Music Awards aired "live" from New York on Sunday night, but most of the performances, award presentations and red carpet interviews were already pre-recorded days in advance. Due to the coronavirus pandemic, MTV took additional...
Facebook Admits ‘Mistake’ in Failure to Remove Militia Post
Associated Press: Facebook made a mistake in not removing a militia group's page earlier last week that called for armed civilians to enter Kenosha, Wisconsin, amid violent protests after police shot Jacob Blake, CEO Mark Zuckerberg says. "It was largely an...
Pinterest Cancels New Offices Citing Shift to Work at Home
San Francisco Chronicle: Pinterest is terminating a massive 490,000-square-foot lease at San Francisco's unbuilt 88 Bluxome project, citing a shift toward more remote work amid the coronavirus pandemic. The company will instead continue leasing four existing San...
Craigslist Faces New Rivalry from Facebook’s Marketplace
CNBC: Unlike other wannabe Craigslist killers, Facebook Marketplace is enduring and improving. Facebook Marketplace has several advantages that make it easier, faster and more trustworthy than Craigslist. Marketplace’s most notable advantage over Craigslist is...
Facebook Eyes Password Fatigue with Test of Links to News
Adweek: Facebook is testing a new feature that allows users to link their news subscriptions to their accounts so they don't have to repeatedly log in while reading articles on the social network. The test includes publishers such as the Athletic and the Atlanta...
New York Times to Face Defamation Charge by Sarah Palin
Reuters: A federal judge rejected the New York Times’s bid to dismiss Sarah Palin's defamation lawsuit over an editorial she said wrongly linked her to a 2011 mass shooting. There is "sufficient evidence to allow a rational finder of fact to find actual malice by...
Conde Nast Publishes 100 Different Covers for Vogue Italy
WWD: In times when digital is becoming the preferred medium of communication, Vogue Italia has bet big on print, releasing 100 different covers for its September issue. For the unprecedented project, the glossy magazine tapped personalities of different ages,...
Globo-Conde Nast is ‘Toxic’ Claim Staffers at Vogue Brazil
BuzzFeed News: Former employees of Globo Conde Nast publications in Brazil describe a pervasive culture of mistreatment, bullying and exploitation dating back more than a dozen years. Although many asked not to be identified for fear of repercussions, five agreed to...
New York Times Ends Publishing TV Listings in Newspaper
New York Times: After 81 years, the New York Times has stopped publishing the daily television listings in its print editions. The majority of subscribers won’t even notice the removal of the TV grid. For years now, the Times has published the grid only in its New...
Conde Nast, G/O Media Veterans Join Newsletter Economy
New York: Print media veterans like Graydon Carter and Jonah Goldberg are styling their new publications as newsletters. And some Substack users are beginning to join forces, bundling their subscriptions as a discount, to offer their readers something that resembles a...