Hearst Former Editor Gets Salute at National Magazine Awards
New York Post: The American Society of Magazine Editors inducted former Esquire editor-in-chief David Granger into the Magazine Hall of Fame after handing out over two dozen National Magazine Awards virtually for the first time in its...
Playboy Lays Off About 25 Staffers After Closing Print Magazine
WWD: Playboy is laying off a sizable portion of its editorial staff less than three months after it closed its iconic print magazine. Playboy Enterprises chief Ben Kohn referred to the move as part of a broader reorganization of the business "to address challenges...
Time Out Cuts Salaries, Furloughs Staffers in Strategy Rethink
Folio: The Time Out Group, which serves 328 cities in 58 countries, is not immune to the impacts of the Covid-19 pandemic. The company temporally halted its print in its cities that still offered it. Further, it also made some salary cuts and furloughed a number of...
Thomson Reuters Joins Investors in Video-News Startup Stringr
TechCrunch: Stringr, a video-focused startup that says it can help news organizations adapt to the challenges of Covid-19, says it has raised $5.75 million in new funding. The new funding is from Thomson Reuters, as well as previous investors G5 Capital and Advection...
New York Times Absorbs Wirecutter Into NYTimes.com Website
Talking Biz News: Tech gadget site Wirecutter, acquired by the New York Times in 2016, has become part of the newspaper’s main website. "By moving to nytimes.com, we'll be able to reach and help even more readers. You can look forward to future...
Facebook, Twitter to Face Fire in Executive Order from Trump
Washington Post: President Trump is preparing to sign an executive order Thursday that could open the door for federal officials to try to penalize Facebook, Google and Twitter for the way they moderate content on their sites, opening a major rift between Washington...
Fox Corp Defeats Lawsuit Over News Channel Virus Coverage
Bloomberg: Fox News persuaded a Washington state judge to toss a lawsuit accusing the network of misinforming the public by downplaying the dangers of the coronavirus. A nonprofit had alleged Fox violated the state’s Consumer Protection Act through the “deceptive”...
ViacomCBS Slashes Up to 400 Jobs Due to Merger, Pandemic
Los Angeles Times: CBS is making significant personnel cuts across all of its divisions as it faces financial pressure from the coronavirus pandemic and ongoing consolidation with parent company ViacomCBS. Between 300 and 400 employees at ViacomCBS will be affected by...
Disney Targets Mid-July Phased Reopening of Parks in Florida
Orlando Sentinel: Walt Disney World plans to reopen its four theme parks in two phases in July, officials said on Wednesday. If approved by Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, the Magic Kingdom and Animal Kingdom would open on July 11, followed by Epcot and Hollywood Studios...
Discovery, Disney Leaders Top New List of Highest-Paid CEOs
Associated Press: The Associated Press and Equilar, an executive data firm, calculated the highest paid male and female CEOs in the S&P 500 index for 2019. Discovery's David Zaslav ranked as the top-paid male CEO, at $45.8 million. Disney's Bob Iger was a close...
AT&T in Last-Minute Deal with Comcast to Distribute HBO Max
Bloomberg: WarnerMedia struck a last-minute deal to distribute its new streaming service, HBO Max, to Comcast customers just hours after it launched. As part of the deal, Comcast customers who already subscribe to HBO or HBO Now can now stream HBO Max at no added...
Comcast Sees CNBC Hosts ‘Squawk’ Over Trump, Coronavirus
Mediaite: A CNBC debate over the stock market exploded early Wednesday, with "Squawk Box" hosts Joe Kernen and Andrew Ross Sorkin throwing down in a vicious debate which saw one accusing the other of being in the tank for President...
Apple Bests Netflix to Nab Scorsese Film with DiCaprio, DeNiro
Wall Street Journal: Apple has nabbed director Martin Scorsese’s next film, “Killers of the Flower Moon,” starring Leonardo DiCaprio and Robert De Niro. The project will be Apple’s biggest foray into film yet as it beat out other interested companies, including...
Netflix Raises Eyebrows with Exit of LGBTQ Content Executive
New York Post: Netflix has let go of Fran Tirado — the streaming giant's "brand and editorial strategy lead for LGBTQ content" — after 10 months, raising eyebrows at the timing of the move. Tirado announced he was leaving a week after the New York Times published a...
Quibi to Revamp Programming After Tepid Audience Response
Bloomberg: Quibi, the video startup founded by Hollywood mogul Jeffrey Katzenberg, is revamping its programming slate and keeping a close eye on costs after a tepid initial reception to its service. Quibi has decided not to renew several shows from its first wave of...
Facebook to Help Instagram Stars Rake In Money from Videos
Bloomberg: Instagram will let creators profit directly from their videos, helping popular users generate more revenue during the Covid-19 crisis, while moving into more direct competition with YouTube. Starting next week, Instagram will show ads before clips that run...
McClatchy Launches Local News Site in Colorado with Google
MediaPost: McClatchy has launched another local news site, in Longmont, Colorado, as part of its Compass Experiment. The site is funded by Google News Initiative’s Local Experiments Project, which supports McClatchy’s Compass Experiment, aimed at exploring business...
New York Times CEO Touts Digital Media Focus, Plans to Hire
Financial Times: CEO Mark Thompson expects New York Times ad revenues to drop more than 50 percent in the second quarter, but the newsroom will be spared from layoffs. "Our thesis is you have to invest in the product to have a chance in the digital media...
News Corp Slashes Staff, Shutters 100 Newspapers in Australia
Sydney Morning Herald: News Corp Australia has confirmed it will axe hundreds of jobs and stop the print editions of more than 100 suburban and regional mastheads as part of a major restructure aimed at cutting costs and consolidating its editorial and commercial...
Conde Nast, Hearst Mum on Publishing Frequency of Magazines
Adweek: It's not clear whether fashion magazines Vogue, Elle or Harper's Bazaar will publish on the same schedule as they did in previous years. Spokespersons for these companies declined to comment. InStyle is sticking to its production schedule of 12 issues per...
Hearst Offers Free Ads to Leading Brands in ‘Together’ Initiative
WWD: It's no secret that advertising has been hit hard by the coronavirus, but Hearst Magazines is keeping key brand partners sweet in the meantime with the offer of free PSA ads in Harper’s Bazaar, Elle and Marie Claire’s summer...
Drudge Report Plugs Armenian Site Plagiarizing US Publishers
BuzzFeed News: The Drudge Report, the venerable website run by Matt Drudge, has been sending visitors to copy-pasted version of stories on dnyuz.com, an obscure site filled with content plagiarized from publishers, including the New York Times, the Atlantic and...
Media, Tech Workers Stung by Job Openings That Aren’t Real
The Information: Freshly unemployed workers in tech and media are flocking to online job listings with a new sense of urgency amid recent layoffs and furloughs. That is leading to a frustrating realization: Many employers aren’t actually hiring for the open positions...
AT&T Hopes to Crush ‘Enemy’ Netflix with Launch of HBO Max
New York Times: AT&T's new streaming platform goes live on Wednesday. At $15 a month, it's more expensive than its rivals and comes at a time when household income is dropping. AT&T boss John Stankey once reportedly described Netflix as the enemy: "We're going...
ViacomCBS: Redstone Turns 97 as Daughter Solidifies Control
Fox Business: Sumner Redstone turns 97 years old on Wednesday. The billionaire is best known as the chairman emeritus of media giant ViacomCBS, which was created by a merger late last year. Today, Redstone's daughter Shari is the chairwoman of...
Disney, CBS Face Lawsuit Over ‘Rampant’ Sexual Misconduct
Associated Press: The state of California filed a lawsuit against CBS, Disney and producers of the long-running series “Criminal Minds,” alleging that the show’s cinematographer engaged in rampant sexual misconduct against crew members for...
Warner Music Moves Forward with IPO Amid Streaming Surge
Los Angeles Times: Warner Music Group announced that it is moving forward with its IPO. The IPO price range values the L.A.-based company at as much as $13.3 billion, showing optimism in the music industry, which has transformed itself by embracing the streaming...
ViacomCBS to Offer Face Masks from ‘SpongeBob,’ ‘Star Trek’
Deadline: ViacomCBS has begun selling protective face coverings featuring characters from shows including "SpongeBob SquarePants," "Star Trek: Picard," MTV programs and more. Proceeds will go to charity, ViacomCBS says. The face wear is available online and at retail...
AT&T’s WarnerMedia Staffers to Work at Home Until Year-End
@maxwelltani: WarnerMedia's chief human resources officer emailed staff on Tuesday afternoon saying "most of us should plan to continue to work from home most likely through the end of 2020. We wish we could provide a definitive date, but that's not our reality right...
Google to Give Staffers Working at Home $1,000 for Supplies
CNBC: Google will reimburse employees up to $1,000 to pay for equipment to help them work from home, CEO Sundar Pichai wrote to employees. He also detailed how the company will slowly reopen its offices, starting by rotating employees through offices at 10% capacity...