 Jere Hester |
The City, a local news website set to launch later this year, has formed a partnership with New York magazine. Readers will be able to access The City through the magazine’s website, and the New York website will also post content from The City on its pages. The new site is intended to fill in at least part of the gap left in New York City coverage by the demise of such outlets as the Village Voice and DNAinfo. It is slated to cover topics including transportation, immigration, housing and criminal justice. The City will be led by Jere Hester, who was city editor at the New York Daily News before becoming director of the NYCity News Service at CUNY’s Craig Newmark Graduate School of Journalism. The chairman of the site’s board of directors will be BuzzFeed News editor Ben Smith. The City will start operations with nearly $8.5 million in funding, which includes $2.5 million each from the Leon Levy Foundation, the Charles H. Revson Foundation and Craigslist founder Craig Newmark.
 Richard Parsons |
CBS has named Richard Parsons, the former chairman of both Citibank and Time Warner, interim chairman of its board of directors. Parsons succeeds Les Moonves, who resigned Sept. 9 following a string of sexual misconduct charges. Parsons had been nominated for a spot on the CBS board earlier this year, officially joining the board as one of six new members this month. According to a report in the New York Times, he is an ally of Shari Redstone, who is vice chairman of the CBS board as well as controlling shareholder in the company. Redstone had been involved in a legal battle with Moonves over a possible merger between CBS and Viacom, but all parties have agreed to dismiss the lawsuit. “We have a distinguished and independent Board that is steadfast in its commitment to serve the best interests of all shareholders,” Parsons said in a statement issued by CBS. “I think I speak for all Board members when I say I look forward to learning more about CBS’ compelling opportunities and how we can help guide and support the Company's growth.”
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21st Century Fox, after losing out in its quest to purchase European pay-TV company Sky, is selling its 39 percent stake in Sky to Comcast, the top bidder in the auction for the company. According to Variety, the purchase price is $15 billion. The planned sale will allow Comcast to take full control of Sky. “In light of the premium Comcast has agreed to pay for Sky, we and Disney have decided to sell 21CF’s existing 39 percent holding in Sky to Comcast,” 21st Century Fox said in a statement Wednesday. In July, Comcast abandoned its efforts to purchase a large portion of 21st Century Fox’s assets, paving the way for Disney to acquire them. "The sale of Fox's Sky holdings will substantially reduce the cost of our overall acquisition and allow us to aggressively invest in building and creating high-quality content,” said Disney chairman and CEO Robert Iger.
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.
