Meredith Offices Won’t Look the Same After Lockdowns
What's New in Publishing: Meredith's office buildings "won't look the same when we next walk into them," said strategy chief Daphne Kwon. "Changes that employees will see include heightened awareness around distancing, sanitation and disinfection, and visual clues...
Conde Nast Alum Blasted for Racism at Paper Magazine
WWD: Paper Magazine staffers have criticized owner Tom Florio for the way he responded to a recently departed staffer. They said they will slow their publishing schedule until Florio, the former longtime publisher of Vogue, addresses the "systemic racism" behind the...
Penske Places Variety Editor on Leave After Twitter Tiff
Los Angeles Times: Variety editor in chief Claudia Eller was placed on administrative leave late Thursday, less than 24 hours after a heated Twitter exchange over the lack of newsroom diversity. The dust-up came late Wednesday after Variety published an opinion column...
Uzabase’s Quartz CEO Sees a Need to Improve Diversity
Talking Biz News: Quartz CEO Zach Seward sent a statement to the financial news site's staff on Thursday: "My strong feeling is that, in addition to supporting Black Lives Matter and other anti-racist movements worldwide, we need to take this moment to improve as a...
BuzzFeed: We’re Still Scrappy, Ready for Future of Media
The Drum: "Scrappy, quick-moving" BuzzFeed is still "well-positioned" for the digital future, despite recent staff furloughs, said James Lamon, head of content for Europe. Like many titles, BuzzFeed has hit record audiences during the coronavirus...
Disney Moves Up Into Top 5 US Streamers with Disney+
World Screen: Just six months since its launch, Disney+ has made it into the top five SVOD services in the US, according to Parks Associates. Disney sits behind Netflix, Amazon Prime and Hulu, with another new entrant, Apple TV+, rounding out the top...
AT&T’s New Streamer HBO Max Faces Brand Confusion
Adweek: HBO Max "is not the prestigious brand voice of HBO,” said WarnerMedia Entertainment CMO Chris Spadaccini. "It's completely original, designed to be expansive and additive to HBO, focusing on some key growth...
AMC Warns Movie-Theater Chain May Not Survive Covid
USA Today: The world's largest movie theater chain has warned that it may not survive the fallout from the coronavirus pandemic. AMC said that that crisis has significantly undermined its finances and introduced profound uncertainty about its...
Comcast Rejects Calls for Sex-Harassment Probe at NBC
Los Angeles Times: Comcast shareholders rejected three proposals from investors, including a demand for an outside investigation into sexual harassment at NBC News. The company held its annual meeting via webcast...
Fox Corp News Channel Star, Wife Divorce After 20 Years
New York Post: Fox News host Sean Hannity and his wife, Jill Rhodes, have divorced after more than 20 years of marriage. Friends of the former couple say they have been legally divorced for more than a year, but kept it under...
iHeartMedia Fires Radio Hosts for On-Air Racist Remarks
USA Today: Two popular Rochester, New York, radio show hosts were fired after making racist comments during a live broadcast. "We made the decision to terminate Kimberly and Beck as soon as we learned of their...
Spotify’s The Ringer Faces Staff Backlash Over Diversity
New York Post: Founder and CEO Bill Simmons faced backlash from his employees at The Ringer over the sports-media company's diversity and hiring process. "Diversity in the newsroom is essential. The Ringer has a lot of work to...
AT&T’s Bleacher Report, The Athletic Eye Online Betting
The Information: The Athletic and AT&T’s Bleacher Report are looking at doing deals around online sports betting. Online betting is taking off as a growing number of states legalize it. That offers an opportunity for sports media...
Quibi CEO to Join Video Firm’s Execs in Taking Pay Cut
Wall Street Journal: Quibi has asked senior executives to take a 10 percent salary cut as the short-form streaming video service explores ways to rein in costs after a disappointing debut. CEO Meg Whitman is taking a 10 percent cut to her...
Snap No Longer Promotes Trump on Snapchat Discover
Axios: Snapchat said it will no longer promote President Trump's account on its Discover page of curated content, after Trump tweeted comments that some suggested glorified violence amid racial justice...
Reddit Ex-CEO Says Social-News Site Increases Racism
CNET: Ellen Pao, the former CEO of Reddit, harshly criticized the tech company after it published an open letter condemning racism, with Pao saying the social network knowingly makes money off hate. "I am obligated to call you out," Pao...
New York Times Writers in Revolt After ‘Troops’ Op-Ed
Fox News: The New York Times was hit with a backlash, some of it from the paper's own reporters, after publishing an op-ed in which Sen. Tom Cotton, R-Ark., called on the US government to send in the military to quell uprisings over George Floyd's...
Gannett, New York Times Report Covid Subscriber Gains
Press Gazette: Ten of the biggest newspaper groups in the US and UK have collectively gained more than 1 million new digital subscriptions amid the Covid-19 crisis. The New York Times alone attracted more than half a million paid online...
News Corp Signs Top Journalists for Digital Radio Outlet
Press Gazette: Times Radio in the UK has secured a number of high-profile journalists to present on the new digital radio station, which launches on June 29. It is hoped the station will boost subscriber numbers to the UK Times and Sunday...
Axel Springer’s Business Insider Flip Flops on Donations
Daily Beast: Business Insider, following an employee outcry, quickly clarified its position on staff donating to groups helping pay bail for protesters arrested during the Black Lives Matter protests. BI's top editor had said the company frowned upon such...
Conde Nast’s Wintour Touts Role as Supporter of LGBTQ
Hollywood Reporter: "Conde Nast stands for respect to all," said Anna Wintour. "All of our titles, not just Vogue, need to reflect the world that we live in and everything that that means. We need in our workforce an inclusive as a society as we possibly...
American Media Inc Mum on Report of Tie-Up with Trump
Daily Beast: President Trump urged his pals at the National Enquirer in 2017 to push the debunked conspiracy theory that MSNBC host Joe Scarborough murdered a female congressional aide. Jared Kusher asked the Enquirer to pursue the...
G/O Media CEO Sees a ‘Light on the Horizon,’ Mulls M&A
Digiday: G/O Media has begun projecting an image of stability, with Deadspin under a new editor and the hiring of a chief revenue officer. CEO Jim Spanfeller said he is focused on potential mergers and acquisitions. "We're keeping an eye on the...
Apple, ViacomCBS Pause Content for Blackout Protests
Reuters: The hashtag #BlackOutTuesday became the top trending item on Twitter as hundreds of thousands of businesses and individuals, including TV channels and celebrities, posted black screen shots to signal support for racial...
Facebook Finds Instagram Swarming with Blackout Posts
CNBC: Instagram users have flooded the platform with black squares in support of black victims of police violence as part of a Blackout Tuesday protest. Searches for “blackout tuesday image” and “blackout image” surged 400% Tuesday...
AT&T’s WarnerMedia Offers Racial Injustice Film for Free
Associated Press: The 2019 film "Just Mercy," which chronicles courtroom struggles against racial injustice and mass incarceration, will be made free on digital platforms throughout June in the wake of George Floyd’s death, Warner Bros....
ViacomCBS Gets Gripes for Silent Protest at Nickelodeon
Orange County Register: Nickelodeon, the cable TV channel devoted to children’s programming, briefly suspended programming to air a message expressing solidarity with the Black Lives Matter movement — a strategy that drew both praise and...
Disney Eyes Big Sports Future at ESPN Complex in Florida
New York Times: ESPN Wide World of Sports, a sprawling 220-acre complex at the Disney mega-resort in Florida, is poised to become the capital of basketball. The NBA has been in talks with Disney to restart its season by holding games and practices at the...
Nexstar Aims to Take On CNN, Fox News at WGN America
Los Angeles Times: Cable network WGN America's new national newscast "News Nation," set to debut Sept. 1, aims to be a down-the-middle alternative to the opinion-driven shows airing on cable news. "We let you come to your own...
Facebook CEO: No ‘Dog Whistle’ in Trump’s ‘Shooting’ Post
Recode: In an internal video call with Facebook employees, CEO Mark Zuckerberg doubled down on his controversial decision to take no action on a post last week from President Trump. "The right action for where we are right now is to leave this...