 David Pecker |
David Pecker, CEO of American Media, the company that publishes the National Enquirer, was granted immunity by federal prosecutors in the investigation surrounding Michael Cohen
Pecker, a longtime friend of the president, met with prosecutors to describe Cohen’s involvement in the hush money schemes brokered before the 2016 election, the Wall Street Journal reported today. He said that not only did Cohen make payments to two women who allegedly had sexual encounters with Trump while he was running for president, but that the then-presidential candidate had knowledge of those payments.
The hush money was paid to porn star Stormy Daniels, who received $130,000, and former Playboy model Karen McDougal, who got $150,000 as part of a “catch-and-kill” setup, in which American Media bought the rights to her story and then withheld it from publication.
The New York Times reports that Pecker and American Media chief content officer Dylan Howard informed Trump that McDougal was looking to tell her story as early as June 2016 and that Cohen finalized a deal for the catch-and-kill operation in August 2016.
Cohen pleaded guilty to eight criminal counts—including tax fraud, making false statements to a bank and campaign violations—on Tuesday.
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.
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.
