Gannett Newspaper Top Editor Becomes ‘Homeless’ Blogger
New York Times: Rich Jackson, a 54-year-old journalist who worked as the top editor of the Herald-Times in Bloomington, Ind., lost his job along with the apartment that went with it. He moved to a Motel 6 and started a...
Drudge Report Founder is a Media Genius, Biography Says
Washington Examiner: Journalist and author Matthew Lysiak interviewed friends, family, co-workers and even aides to President Trump for his new biography of media "genius" Matt Drudge, "The Drudge Revoluation," due out in...
Comcast’s NBC News Chief to Depart in Corporate Revamp
Mediaite: NBC News and MSNBC chairman Andrew Lack is stepping down from his position. NBCUniversal announced that Lack would “transition out of the company” at the end of May as part of an organizational...
Big Media CEO Salaries Hard to Justify in Covid-19 Economy
Deadline: Big media companies have showcased habitually hefty paydays even as millions of Americans lose their jobs each week and the business sees huge pandemic-related losses. But in 2020 nothing is routine, certainly not...
Comcast Weighs Layoffs Across Properties at NBCUniversal
Wall Street Journal: NBCUniversal has reviewed operations across its portfolio of media and entertainment properties as part of a cost-cutting effort that could result in a significant reduction of staff. Discussions began this past week on cost-cutting...
ViacomCBS ‘Super Rumor’ of Takeover Spread by YouTuber
The Mix: A new rumor has suggested that ViacomCBS could be up for sale, with Netflix being a potential buyer. The rumor comes from YouTuber Grace Randolph. “Super rumor stage, but that’s what’s being sipped in Hollywood right now...
CBS Former Longtime PR Chief, Magazine Writer, Dies at 68
Los Angeles Times: Gil Schwartz, the former longtime CBS corporate communications maven who moonlighted as a humor columnist and author, died Saturday at his home in Santa Monica. He was 68. The cause of death was a heart...
AT&T Expands HBO Max Delivery with Disney Streamer Hulu
Fierce Video: HBO Max has added Hulu to the list of distribution partners for its new streaming service due May 27. Existing Hulu subscribers who currently have HBO on Hulu as an add-on and are billed directly by Hulu will have access to HBO Max when it...
Quibi Faces Big New Foe in Legal Battle with Tech Firm Eko
Wall Street Journal: Hedge fund Elliott Management has agreed to finance a high-stakes patent lawsuit against Quibi, the new streaming service founded by Jeffrey Katzenberg, putting power players of Wall Street and Hollywood on a collision...
Facebook, Google, Snap See Ad Success in Direct Response
CNBC: As pandemic-related impacts started to cut advertiser budgets with big tech companies, one area of spending appeared to stay strong: Direct response. Facebook, Google and Snap said direct response was a bright spot in their ads...
Amazon’s Affiliate-Program Rate Cut Jolts Online Publishers
CNBC: Amazon’s affiliate program has been important for BuzzFeed, the New York Times and Vox Media that publish buying guides that drive people to make purchases on Amazon. But last month, Amazon rolled out steep rate cuts. ...
Altice USA’s Cheddar Accepts Resignation of Editor in Chief
TalkingBizNews: Jim Roberts announced that he is leaving Cheddar. “It has been a privilege to lead a newsroom of so many creative and energetic young journalists, as we worked to make a very different kind of television news,” he wrote on...
CBS ’60 Minutes’ Correspondent Talks Battle with Covid-19
Associated Press: Lesley Stahl said that she’s finally feeling well after a battle with Covd-19 that left her hospitalized for a week. The CBS News “60 Minutes” correspondent said she was “really scared” after fighting pneumonia caused by the coronavirus....
News Corp Taps Fox News Veteran for Video Push in Britain
New York Times: David Rhodes, a former Fox News executive who also led CBS News, has quietly begun consulting for Rupert Murdoch’s media empire. Rhodes has been working on projects connected to News Corp. in the United...
Oprah Calls for Cutting Back Media Usage During Lockdown
Hollywood Reporter: Oprah Winfrey said she keeps updated with the coronavirus news, but has often focused her attention more on the positive "acts of valor" while being on lockdown. “I have a small diet and managed how I took in the...
Hearst, Conde Nast Prep Rethink of Magazine Print Editions
WWD: Magazine executives have been forced to rethink their summer issues, as the coronavirus weighs heavily on advertising. At Hearst, Elle, Harper’s Bazaar and Marie Claire will each publish just one issue this...
Conde Nast’s Vogue Hosts Virtual Event in Place of Met Gala
Variety: This year’s annual Met Gala was supposed to be May 4. Since that has been postponed indefinitely because of the coronavirus epidemic, Condé Nast’s Vogue will host a virtual livestream event in its place: “A Moment With the...
News Corp Boosts Size of Paperback Books from Harlequin
Publishers Weekly: Harlequin has quietly introduced a new size for its mass market paperbacks, the Mass Market Paperback Max. All Max titles will have a larger trim size (4.75 inches x 7 inches) than standard formats, and will be priced at...
New York Times Launches Campaign to Support Local News
MediaPost: The New York Times has launched a digital and print campaign to encourage readers to support local news organizations in honor of UNESCO's World Press Freedom Day. The day is dedicated to raising awareness of the importance of an independent...
Financial Times Loses Media Reporter After Flap Over Zoom
Guardian: Mark Di Stefano, a Financial Times reporter accused by the Independent of listening in on sensitive Zoom meetings held about salary cuts and furloughs, has resigned. Di Stefano joined the FT from BuzzFeed in...
Los Angeles Times Guild Accepts 20 Percent Pay Reduction
Los Angeles Times: Los Angeles Times’ newsroom guild has agreed to accept a 20 percent reduction in pay and hours for its members amid a devastating decline in advertising because of the coronavirus crisis....
TheSkimm Lays Off About 25 Staffers Amid Virus Slowdown
Wall Street Journal: TheSkimm, a news-curation company known primarily for its current-events newsletter, is laying off about 20% of its staff of about 130 employees. TheSkimm was founded in 2012 by two former NBC News...
AP Stylebook Reduces Publication Schedule of Print Edition
ACES: The Society for Editing: The Associated Press Stylebook team has announced several changes. One big change is a reduction in the print publication schedule. The 2020 AP Stylebook coming out this year will be sold through...
Casa Magazines at Risk of Closing Beloved NYC Newsstand
Daily Front Row: Casa Magazines, the much-loved West Village magazine store, said it is in desperate need of financial help in order to keep its doors open and has created a GoFundMe fundraiser with a $20,000...
AT&T’s New WarnerMedia CEO Arrives Amid Ad Unit Move
Reuters: AT&T will bring its advertising unit Xandr under its WarnerMedia group, which is set to launch its streaming service HBO Max in May. Also: Former Hulu head Jason Kilar becomes CEO of WarnerMedia effective May...
Comcast Chief Says Digital Movie Releases Are Inevitable
Los Angeles Times: NBCUniversal CEO Jeff Shell reaffirmed his stance that more digital film releases from Universal Pictures are inevitable, doing little to assuage theater owners who have seen their businesses devastated by the coronavirus...
Disney to Face Shortage in Streaming Thanks to Shutdown
Wall Street Journal: The shutdown of Hollywood is disrupting the Disney+ pipeline. Several of the biggest releases headed to the platform have had production halted amid the coronavirus outbreak. Disney has moved some releases up ahead of schedule....
Netflix ‘Tiger King’ Gets Scratched by ESPN’s ‘Last Dance’
Bloomberg: ESPN’s Michael Jordan documentary, “The Last Dance,” has overtaken Netflix’s “Tiger King” as the most in-demand documentary in the world, a boost for the cable giant at a time when the coronavirus pandemic has shut down live...
Quibi Places Free Episodes on YouTube in Effort to Grow
Los Angeles Times: Quibi has begun making some of its shows available for free on YouTube. The move comes as the Hollywood start-up is trying to grow its audience while people are sheltering in place at...
Report: TV Audiences in Lockdown Show Signs of Fatigue
New York Times: Throughout April, Americans have grown less reliant on Netflix and cable news. The amount of TV time has declined slightly in each of the last four weeks. “There’s only so much content people can consume,” a Nielsen executive...