 Gerry Baker |
Gerry Baker, former Wall Street Journal editor-in-chief and currently editor-at-large at the paper, is launching a Fox Business show Nov. 30. “WSJ At Large With Gerry Baker,” will air Fridays at 9:30 p.m., immediately following Maria Bartiromo’s “Wall Street.” Fox says that the show will feature “in-depth conversations with business titans and other financial influencers.” When Baker stepped down in June, it was announced he would get a Journal-branded program on Fox Business, which, like the Journal, is part of the Murdoch family’s media holdings. Fox Business is in the process of revamping its primetime schedule, having also recently added “Trish Regan Primetime” to its lineup.
 Jacqueline Gifford |
Meredith Corporation has promoted Jacqueline Gifford to editor-in-chief of Travel + Leisure, effective immediately. Gifford, who succeeds Nathan Lump, has been with Travel + Leisure since 2013, most recently serving as travel director. She was previously, travel editor at Brides as well as features and travel editor at OK! She reports to Meredith VP, group editorial director Stephen Orr. Meredith picked up Travel + Leisure when it acquired Time Inc. and has decided to keep the title as one of its lifestyle, celebrity and entertainment brands. Meredith says that Travel + Leisure’s global audience is more than 16 million.
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New York Media, the company that owns New York magazine, says that it plans to institute a paywall for its websites, which include NYMag.com; Vulture, which focuses on pop culture; fashion-news site The Cut; and the politically focused Intelligencer. The charge for access to the company’s sites will be $5 per month or $50 for annual subscriptions. For another $20, subscribers will also receive the print magazine, which publishes every other week. The charge will not apply to The City, an upcoming vertical that is to provide local coverage of New York City. The new policy is to go into effect the last week of November, according to the company.
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Tribune Media rode a boom in political advertising to an unexpectedly strong third-quarter profit. Political ad revenues for the company were up 90 percent from the last midterms in 2014, and up 36 percent from the presidential cycle in 2016. Tribune Media CEO Peter Kern says that the end of the midterm election cycle does not mean an end to money from political ads. He predicts that net political ad revenue in the fourth quarter will hit $99 million, up 80 percent over 2014 and 29 percent over 2016. “We may be seeing the start of an always-on political cycle,” he said. Tribune withdrew from a $3.9 billion deal for a takeover by Sinclair Broadcast Group in August.
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.
