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Vanity Fair is letting go of around 15 employees as it adjusts to life under new editor Radhika Jones, according to a piece in the Hollywood Reporter. The cuts include several senior staffers, among them managing editor Chris Garrett, features editor Jane Sarkin, associate managing editor Ellen Kiell and executive head of communications Beth Kseniak. About five staffers were axed at Glamour, another Conde Nast publication, which recently brought on print novice Samantha Barry as editor-in-chief. The changes follow two other recent waves of layoffs. Conde Nast let go of about 80 people in November, following the demise of the print edition of Teen Vogue, and cut about 100 positions last spring. “Vanity Fair and Glamour are taking the first steps in reshaping their teams to reflect the new editorial directions of the brands,” according to a Conde Nast representative.
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Circulation numbers for The Economist remain strong, according to Audit Bureau of Circulation data for July through December 2017. Combined print and digital circulation for the magazine held steady at 1,391,671, despite a price hike of 20 percent. Revenue from circulation rose 25 percent year over year. While digital circulation saw a 24.7 percent jump, print kept pace with it. The print vs. digital split was 69:31 vs 74:26 for the previous year. The Economist’s social media audience rose 24.1 percent, to 55,659,842. North American users remain a big part of all those audiences, with circulation at 758,068, accounting for 55% of global circulation. “This past year we made an increased investment in our marketing activities across all channels,” said Economist chief marketing officer and managing director of circulation Michael Brunt. “This investment is already delivering a positive return for us with a steady increase in the profitability of our circulation.”
 Lisa Katz and Tracey Pakosta |
NBC has promoted Lisa Katz and Tracey Pakosta to serve as co-presidents of scripted programming for the network. Former president of scripted programming Jennifer Salke left the network last week, and will now run Amazon Studios. Katz, currently executive VP of drama, came to NBC from 20th Century Fox Television in July 2016 and has overseen the buying and development of one-hour projects, plus moving the pilots and first seasons of new dramas through the production process. Pakosta came to NBCUniversal in 2011, where she began as executive VP of comedy for Universal Television before assuming that role for NBC in 2015. “Lisa and Tracey have impeccable taste, strong leadership and a deep understanding of the NBC brand,” said NBC Entertainment Chairman Robert Greenblatt.
 Sandra Song |
Nylon Media, which recently became a digital-only publication, has named Sandra Song its new senior entertainment editor. Song was previously digital entertainment editor at Teen Vogue. At Nylon, she will work with the company’s strategic marketing and events teams to build out its entertainment content. “Sandra’s laser-sharp focus on intersectionality, and the entertainment industry’s complicated relationship with it, has made her a thought-leader in the cultural criticism space,” said Gabrielle Korn, Editor in Chief at Nylon.
Versant Media Group, the NBCUniversal cable TV spin-off, today reported its first financial results as 2025 revenues dipped 5.3 percent to $6.7B and standalone EBITDA dropped 9.1 percent to $2.2B.
Trump Media & Technology Group is discussing a spin-off of the Truth Social platform following the expected closing of its $6B merger deal with TAE Technologies... Condé Nast sells off Them, the digital LGBTQ-focused platform it launched in 2017, to Equalpride, publisher of Out, The Advocate, Out Traveler, Health PLUS Wellness and Pride.com... CBS News has parted ways with longevity influencer Peter Attia, one of the 19 contributors that editor-in-chief Bari Weiss brought on as part of her plan to present a wider variety of voices on the platform. 
Symbolic.ai forms a partnership with News Corp to begin using the company’s AI-native publisher platform in the newsrooms of News Corp publications to augment research, writing and publishing... Mediaite launches a newsletter that promises to give readers a summary of—media newsletters... The Fund for American Studies launches the Journalism Excellence Fellowship, a program that will provide promising young journalists the opportunity to work alongside top writers, reporters, and media professionals.
The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, which has roots going back to 1786, is going out of business, the paper’s owners, Block Communications, announced on Jan. 7... GQ editor Will Welch is stepping down to take on a new Paris-based role with the musician Pharrell, who is also men’s creative director at Louis Vuitton... Semafor says it has raised $30 million on a $330 million valuation, following its first profitable year. 
The Walt Disney Company and OpenAI reach an agreement that will make a set of more than 200 animated, masked and creature characters from Disney, Marvel, Pixar and Star Wars available for use by Sora, OpenAI’s short-form generative AI video platform... CBS News editor-in-chief Bari Weiss has moved Tony Dokoupil, a co-host at “CBS Mornings” since 2019, into the anchor’s chair for the “CBS Evening News,” following the departure of John Dickerson and Maurice DuBois... USA Today editor-in-chief Caren Bohan has left the paper.
