 Les Moonves |
CBS is offering a buyout deal of $100 million in stock to CEO Les Moonves, according to report on CNBC. Under the terms of his contract, Moonves would get up to $180 million in severance, as well as a production deal with the company. The discrepancy between the $100 million and $180 million is due to the CBS board’s desire to hold onto $80 million to help pay compensation claims if the sexual harassment charges pending against Mooves are confirmed. Forbes says that there is talk of COO Joe Ianniello stepping into Moonves’ role as an interim replacement. Following the initial news of Moonves’ possible exit, CBS shares closed up 3.1 percent Thursday, to $54.62.
 Toby Harnden |
The Washington Examiner is bringing on Toby Harnden as managing editor, effective October 1. Harnden joins the paper from the Sunday Times, of London, where he was Washington bureau chief. Before that, he served as US editor for both the Daily Mail and Daily Telegraph, where he was also Middle East corespondent. He is also the author of several books, including Dead Men Rise: The Welsh Guards and the Defining Story of Britain’s War in Afghanistan. Harnden replaces Philip Klein, who has been the Examiner’s managing editor since 2015. Klein moves into the executive editor slot, and will mainly focus on writing.
 Zanny Minton Beddoes |
Steve Bannon may no longer be welcome at The New Yorker Festival, but he is still on the lineup for The Economist’s Open Future Festival on Sept. 15. Economist editor-in-chief Zanny Minton Beddoes issued an open letter on Tuesday to explain her reasons for inviting Bannon, and for allowing that invitation to stand. “Mr. Bannon stands for a world view that is antithetical to the liberal values The Economist has always espoused,” Beddoes says in the letter. “We asked him to take part because his populist nationalism is of grave consequence in today’s politics.” She goes on to say that “the future of open societies will not be secured by like-minded people speaking to each other in an echo chamber, but by subjecting ideas and individuals from all sides to rigorous questioning and debate.” Beddoes will interview Bannon as part of what the festival is calling “A Debate on the Future of Liberalism.”
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.
