 Michael Brunt |
The Economist Group has combined its sales and circulation teams to form a new publisher team. This structure brings together the circulation division, now the largest contributor of profits to The Economist Group, and the sales, marketing solutions, events and analytics divisions into one cross-functional team. Michael Brunt has been appointed chief operating officer and publisher of The Economist and will lead the new team. Brunt, who has been with The Economist Group since 2006, most recently served as managing director and chief marketing officer for circulation. “The publisher team combines the strongest parts of our business to ensure that we are creating the best products and services for our readers as well as our clients and that The Economist will be here for the next 175 years,” said The Economist Group CEO Chris Stibbs.
 |
Talent agency ICM Partners is now representing global media platform HuffPost (formerly known as the Huffington Post). ICM Partners will work with HuffPost to create multi-platform opportunities for its intellectual property. In addition to its client list in the film, television and music worlds, ICM represents many authors and journalists, including Thomas Friedman and Ken Auletta. “ICM’s partnership with HuffPost will allow us access to their impressive roster of great writers, thinkers, and thought leaders,” said Rich Green, head of media rights for ICM Partners. HuffPost says it serves an average of 155 million viewers on a monthly basis, spanning 17 editions around the world. It is part of Oath, the Verizon Communications digital content subsidiary that includes Yahoo! and AOL.
 |
The National Press Club on April 11 featured three trauma surgeons who made their case for a ban on assault-style weapons such as the popular AR-15, which was the gun used by the Parkland, FL, shooter. Dr. Ernest “Gene” Moore, Dr. Tom Scalea and Dr. Dennis Vane, all former presidents of the Western Trauma Association, discussed why the physician's group unanimously passed a resolution calling for a ban last year. “They’re not designed to hunt,” said Vane, former chair of pediatric surgery at Cardinal Glennon Children's Medical Center. “They’re designed to hurt people." Moore, editor of the Journal of Trauma and Acute Care Surgery and a former NRA member, emphasized that such weapons are meant for military use. Scalea, physician-in-chief at R Adams Cowley Shock Trauma Center in Baltimore, said the wider injury caused by assault-style weapons means more blood loss, and that a person shot only in an arm or leg can bleed to death in as little as four or five minutes. The doctors said they are not seeking to restrict other weapons or change the Second Amendment to the Constitution, which the Supreme Court has said guarantees Americans the right to own firearms. The National Rifle Association opposes restrictions on assault-style weapons and is challenging state bans in court.
Michael Kaminer, who was responsible for the Observer’s “Power List” for the past 13 years, has cut ties with the publication... The New York Times Company continues the march toward its goal of 15 million subscribers by the end of 2027... The John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation is providing more than $6 million in funding to eight organizations working to address the challenges local news and information environments face along the U.S.-Mexico border.
Conservative outlets Fox News, Newsmax and the Daily Caller are holding back from signing Pete Hegseth’s edict restricting press access in the Pentagon... CBS News sees the first executive departure of the Bari Weiss era as head of standards and practices Claudia Milne exits... Indiana University shuts down the print version of The Indiana Daily Student.
Rothschild family plans to unload 26.7 percent stake in The Economist... STAT, a digital media company that focuses the life sciences, brings back Damian Garde, who anchored its biotech newsletter and podcast from 2016 to 2024... High Times officially resumes print publication (following its 2024 shutdown) with the release of a limited-edition, collectible 50th anniversary issue. 
CBS News is set to hand over its reins to The Free Press co-founder Bari Weiss as Paramount acquires her site for $155M... C-SPAN comes on board as an official media partner of the U.S. Semiquincentennial Commission, which is charged by Congress to lead the celebration of the 250th anniversary of the signing of the Declaration of Independence... A new Gallup survey says that the level of trust that US audiences have in the media has hit a new low.
Paramount Skydance CEO David Ellison has named Kenneth Weinstein, former head of the conservative Hudson Institute, as ombudsman for CBS News.
