 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.”
USA TODAY brings on Jamie Stockwell as VP of news, effective March 30. Stockwell was most recently deputy managing editor of news for the Washington Post... YouTube expands its likeness detection capabilities to a pilot group of government officials, journalists and political candidates... The AP Fund for Journalism adds 50 news organizations to its local news program, bringing the total number of participating newsrooms to 100. 
Versant Media Group, the NBCUniversal cable TV spin-off, today reported its first financial results as 2025 revenues dipped 5.3 percent to $6.7B and standalone EBITDA dropped 9.1 percent to $2.2B.
Trump Media & Technology Group is discussing a spin-off of the Truth Social platform following the expected closing of its $6B merger deal with TAE Technologies... Condé Nast sells off Them, the digital LGBTQ-focused platform it launched in 2017, to Equalpride, publisher of Out, The Advocate, Out Traveler, Health PLUS Wellness and Pride.com... CBS News has parted ways with longevity influencer Peter Attia, one of the 19 contributors that editor-in-chief Bari Weiss brought on as part of her plan to present a wider variety of voices on the platform. 
Symbolic.ai forms a partnership with News Corp to begin using the company’s AI-native publisher platform in the newsrooms of News Corp publications to augment research, writing and publishing... Mediaite launches a newsletter that promises to give readers a summary of—media newsletters... The Fund for American Studies launches the Journalism Excellence Fellowship, a program that will provide promising young journalists the opportunity to work alongside top writers, reporters, and media professionals.
The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, which has roots going back to 1786, is going out of business, the paper’s owners, Block Communications, announced on Jan. 7... GQ editor Will Welch is stepping down to take on a new Paris-based role with the musician Pharrell, who is also men’s creative director at Louis Vuitton... Semafor says it has raised $30 million on a $330 million valuation, following its first profitable year. 
