 Janice Min |
Janice Min, former Hollywood Reporter co-president and chief creative officer, has been enlisted by NBCUniversal to advise E! and other female-skewing NBCU cable networks. Min, who edited US Weekly before she served as editor-in-chief of the Hollywood Reporter, will serve a consultant to NBCUniversal while also remaining in her capacity with Valence Media, the newly formed parent company of The Hollywood Reporter-Billboard Media Group, Dick Clark Productions and MRC. “I can think of no one better to collaborate with as we create new initiatives that enhance and move forward our commitment and connection to women,” said E! president Adam Stotsky.
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The Denver Post responded to the latest round of staff cuts demanded by its owner, Aldus Global Capital, by giving its Sunday Perspectives section over to articles protesting the move. Aldus has control over Digital First Media, which also owns the Boston Herald, as well as the Long Beach Press-Telegram and St. Paul Pioneer Press. The Post has undergone several previous rounds of staff reductions since Aldus took control in 2010, with 20 employees being offered buyouts in 2015, 26 either laid off or offered buyouts in 2016 and ten laid off last November. With a newsroom staff that currently numbers less than 100, the new round of cuts would axe another 30 positions. Chuck Plunkett, the Post’s editorial page editor, told the New York Times that he did not give Aldus or Post editor-in-chief Lee Ann Colacioppo any notice the articles criticizing Aldus would run. “I had to do it because it was the right thing to do,” he said.
 Frank Baker |
The Associated Press has launched a beat covering marijuana legislation and the issues surrounding it. The team, led by AP California news editor Frank Baker, will be responsible for producing marijuana-related stories in addition to keeping up with other breaking news. “Whether they love, hate or are ambivalent about marijuana,” Baker said, “people want to read about it.” The move comes as content centered on marijuana is proving to be a sweet spot in the current publishing environment. High Times Media just shelled out $6.9 million in cash and stock for Green Rush Daily and ENTtech CEO Tom Florio has announced plans to partner with recreational marijuana company MedMen to put out Ember, a custom-published print title.
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.
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.
