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Penske Media, which publishes titles including Variety and Deadline, has acquired a 51 percent stake in Rolling Stone. Singapore-based BandLabs Technologies retains its 49 percent share of the magazine. Jann Wenner, the magazine’s co-founder, is staying on as editorial director, and Gus Wenner will keep the positions of COO and president as well as becoming a member of Penske’s advisory board. While details of the deal have not been officially disclosed, a report from the Financial Times said that it values Rolling Stone at more than $110 million. Penske Media owner Jay Penske said his goal was to make sure that Rolling Stone “continues to ascend for decades across multiple media platforms.”
 Bill DeBlasio |
New York City Mayor Bill DeBlasio says that government-supported media might be one solution to the recent woes hitting journalism, the New York Post reports. “Do I trust the public sector to create fair and responsive media more than a bunch of rich individuals from multinational corporations?,” DeBlasio said in an interview conducted by reporters from the recently shut down websites DNAinfo New York and Gothamist and posted on Medium.com. “Of course.” DeBlasio’s comments follow a piece published last month in the New York Daily News, in which New York City Councilmember Rory Lancman wrote “it’s time for New York City to get back into the business of funding local journalism.” The city was in that business with radio station WNYC until it was sold off in 1995.
 Charlie Rose |
The National Press Club Board of Governors has unanimously voted to rescind the Fourth Estate Lifetime Achievement Award it presented to Charlie Rose in 2014. The award goes to a journalist who “has achieved distinction for a lifetime of contributions to American journalism.” The board concluded the actions described in the charges made against Rose represent neither the values of the National Press Club nor the criteria for the award. In a statement posted on the NPC website, the board reaffirmed its commitment to the right of all journalists to pursue their work free from harassment or discrimination.
Trump Media & Technology Group today reported a $58.2M net loss on $4.1M in 2023 revenues, a disclosure that drove its stock price down 22.6 percent to $47.96.
Barry Pollack, an attorney at Wall Street’s Harris St. Laurent & Wechsler, has registered Julian Assange as a client with the Justice Dept. “out of an abundance of caution.”
Paramount Global to slash 800 jobs in what chief executive Bob Bakish calls part of an effort to “return the company to earnings growth"... Rolling Stone editor-in-chief Noah Shachtman is exiting at the end of the month due to disagreements with chief executive Gus Wenner over the direction the magazine is taking... The New York Times broke the $1 billion barrier in annual revenue from digital subscriptions in 2023... Press Forward is investing more than $500 million to strengthen local newsrooms.
The majority of news articles are read within the first three days of publication, according to a recent report.
The Los Angeles Times gives pink slips to 115 people or 20 percent of its newsroom staff... TIME is also laying off about 30 employees, which is approximately 15 percent of its editorial staff... The Baltimore Banner, which was launched by Stewart Bainum in 2022 after he failed to buy the Baltimore Sun, added 500 subscribers per day in the three days following Sinclair Broadcast Group's deal to purchase the Sun.
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