Media Maneuvers: McClatchy Launches a Wave of Layoffs
Fri, Sep. 11, 2026
By Steve Barnes
McClatchy, which owns 29 daily papers across 14 states (including The Miami Herald, Sacramento Bee and Kansas City Star), launches a wave of layoffs that extends to at least 13 of those papers... The Toledo Blade, which was founded in 1835, is set to shut down on Dec. 31, unless owner Block Communications manages to find a buyer for it... A bill awaiting approval by California governor Gavin Newsom would give local newsrooms a boost.
Fox News Media issued a pretty sparse release to announce the departure of one of its stars. “Effective today, Maria Bartiromo is no longer with FOX News Media,” it reads.
Donald Trump's crazy idea to rename Lake Ontario destroys the H-O-M-E-S acronym for Huron, Ontario, Michigan, Erie and Superior. S-H-A-M-E doesn't do justice to the lakes... Team Trump's cheap shots at Canada's military irritates former US brass... Trump may love French-Canadians but that love is not reciprocal... Stanley Druckenmiller delivers big plug for AI... Polaroid cashes in on anti-data center sentiment. (Updated)
Brunswick Group partner John Simons has joined CNN as senior director of business & media. He held top jobs at Time and the Wall Street Journal.
WNET, the nation’s largest public media company, names Edward O’Keefe its next president and CEO, effective September 21. O’Keefe succeeds Neal Shapiro, who becomes president emeritus and will retire at the end of the year... The Stealth Bot Prohibition Act, which would empower news publishers and other content providers to defend themselves by mandating transparency for all bots crawling their sites, in introduced in the House by Rep. Laurel Lee (R-FL) and Rep. Valerie Foushee (D-NC)... Google gets socked by European Union regulators with a $1 billion fine for using the platform’s dominance as a search engine to illegally undercut competition.
Boston Globe Media acquires InstaTrac, a company that provides subscription-based services aimed at making government information easier to find, track, and understand... AARP names former New Republic CEO and publisher Michael Caruso as its SVP and chief content officer, unifying the organization's portfolio of media, live events and digital platforms... The Fund for American Studies, an educational nonprofit, awards its inaugural Journalism Excellence Fellowships.
Jennifer Wilton, who rose to the editor-in-chief position at DIE WELT, Germany’s most influential media outlet, will join FGS Global on Sept. 1 as a partner.
Wall Street Journal reporter Katherine Blunt will join Brunswick Group on July 13 as a director in San Francisco.
Chris Wade, who was at WPP for more than 14 years, joins Reuters as head of communications, effective July 6.
The Washington Post's surveillance pricing policy isn't good for its transparency, credibility... Iran shouldn't hold its breath waiting for its $300B reconstuction fund... CEOs are bullish on sales growth, capital expenditures, not so much on hiring.
Local journalism is becoming an increasingly rare commodity, which is having an effect on everything from civic engagement to personal loneliness to high borrowing rates for municipal loans, according to a study from Muck Rack.
Juleanna Glover’s Ridgely Walsh handles Lupa Systems as James Murdoch’s media & technology investment company acquires New York Magazine, Vox Media Podcast and various digital properties of Vox Media.
Tourism Ireland is looking for a firm to develop a US media database and provide management services in order to bolster the effectiveness of its pitches to promote travel to the island.
Katie Hill, who served as communications director for President Obama, is joining The New York Times as SVP, global head of communications and external affairs.
Trump Media and Technology Group Corp. has replaced CEO and former California Congressman Devin Nunes with Kevin McGurn, a seasoned media sales executive.
The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette is being bought by the Venetoulis Institute for Local Journalism, a nonprofit that is the parent organization of the Baltimore Banner... The British Broadcasting Corporation is axing approximately 2,000 jobs, about 10 percent of its work force... Snap, the company behind Snapchat, is also succumbing to layoff fever, announcing plans to lay off 16 percent of its employees, about 1,000 people.
CBS News Radio will go off the air on May 22, part of the axe-swinging managerial plan put into play by CBS editor-in-chief Bari Weiss... The Economist, which was first published in 1843, is changing hands. Canadian billionaire Stephen Smith has agreed to acquire a 26.9 percent stake in the publication from Lady Lynn Forester de Rothschild, her family and family foundation... Nexstar Media Group says it has closed its acquisition of TEGNA, the broadcast, digital media and marketing services company that was formed in 2015, when the Gannett Company split into two publicly traded companies.
Ragan Communications, a media and training company serving communications, marketing and HR professionals, names Rachel Salis-Silverman as chief communications officer, a new position at the company... Connect Media, an integrated media company and provider of commercial real estate news, brings on former Marino VP Christopher Santarelli as VP for Connect Creative, the company’s strategic communications and creative agency... AIR Limited, which has a portfolio including traditional hookah brands and advanced inhalation technologies, names Gaurav Jain as VP, investor relations and corporate strategy.
