Media Maneuvers

Newsweek Media Group has shut down two of its digital-only news sites, Latin Times and Medical Daily, according to a report in the New York Post. Latin Times managing editor Maria G. Valdez and several other staffers have been let go. The move comes as NMG names Nancy Cooper, who has been serving as Newsweek’s interim editor, as its permanent editor. Cooper replaced former editor-in-chief Bob Roe, who was fired along with investigative reporter Celeste Katz and executive editor Ken Li in the wake of a Feb. 20 Newsweek exposé revealing a number of ongoing scandals within NMG. Newsweek breaking news editor Gersh Kuntzman and national editor John Seely were fired later. A piece from Reporters Without Borders, an international non-profit, non-governmental organization that promotes and defends freedom of information and freedom of the press, alleges that the firings were related to attempts to uncover high-level financial corruption and wrongdoing involving NMG’s co-founders. “Newsweek Media Group’s leadership has ignored a key principle of press freedom: business owners must not interfere in a media outlet’s editorial decisions, much less fire reporters for having the courage to expose misconduct within their own workplace,” said Margaux Ewen, US Director of Reporters Without Borders.

The print edition of the British weekly New Musical Express has been axed by Epiris, which purchased the magazine’s owner, Time UK, from Meredith Corporation last month. The value of the deal was estimated at £130m (about $180 million). NME, which has printed since 1952, was re-launched as a free paper in 2015 after its paid circulation had dropped to around 15,000—down from its peak circulation of over 300,000 in the 1960s. According to NME digital director Keith Walker, the publication’s global digital audience has almost doubled over the past two years.

Kathleen McElroy

Kathleen McElroy, a journalist and former editor at the New York Times, has been named director of the School of Journalism at The University of Texas at Austin. McElroy is currently associate director and senior lecturer in the school, where she received her PhD in December 2014 after nearly 30 years as a professional journalist. At the Times, she held such management positions as associate managing editor, dining editor, deputy sports editor and deputy editor of the website. She has worked for publications including all-sports daily The National, Newsday and the Austin American-Statesman. McElroy succeeds departing director R.B. Brenner, who served as director since 2014. Brenner is returning to Stanford University to teach and lead projects in the journalism program.