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Refinery29 has given pink slips to more than 40 full-time employees, according to a report in the Wall Street Journal. The digital publisher, which is geared toward millennial women, alerted staff in an internal e-mail, saying that it expects to miss its 2018 revenue target by five percent, and will restructure as a result. Most of the employees being let go work in the company’s product, engineering and video divisions. Refinery29 co-CEOs Justin Stefano and Philippe von Borries said in the memo that the company is shifting its focus toward producing content that can be licensed to TV and streaming networks. Despite missing its revenue target, the company says its international business is on pace to grow 100 percent from 2017, with its direct-to-consumer events business up over 300 percent.
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Apple is planning to launch its upcoming TV subscription service in more than 100 countries, according to a report on tech site The Information. The company is working to get its new service going in the U.S. in the first half of next year. The service will allow users to sign up for TV network subscriptions from outside providers like HBO and Netflix. However, access to original programming from such producers as Reese Witherspoon and Oprah Winfrey will only be available on Apple devices, i.e., iPhones, iPads, iMac and the Apple TV set-top box. As of the first quarter of this year, Apple TV accounted for 28 percent of the market for streaming devices, lagging behind Roku’s 37 percent.
 Zephyr Teachout |
The Nation has named Zephyr Teachout to its editorial board. Teachout was a candidate for New York State Attorney General this year and ran against Andrew Cuomo in the 2014 Democratic primary for Governor. The Nation endorsed her in both races. Teachout has also been a contributor to the publication, writing on such topics as 21st-century trust-busting, tackling abuses of power, and advocating for equitable economic policies. She will be joining the editorial board to advise on issues close to her work combating corruption, crony capitalism, monopoly power and corporate-friendly politics. “Her deeply informed insights into why our current political system is broken—and how it can be repaired—will inform our journalism and thinking,” said Nation editor and publisher Katrina vanden Heuvel.
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. 
The Walt Disney Company and OpenAI reach an agreement that will make a set of more than 200 animated, masked and creature characters from Disney, Marvel, Pixar and Star Wars available for use by Sora, OpenAI’s short-form generative AI video platform... CBS News editor-in-chief Bari Weiss has moved Tony Dokoupil, a co-host at “CBS Mornings” since 2019, into the anchor’s chair for the “CBS Evening News,” following the departure of John Dickerson and Maurice DuBois... USA Today editor-in-chief Caren Bohan has left the paper.
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. 
