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The Weekly Standard, a conservative news magazine that is no friend of Donald Trump, is closing down. The Dec. 17 issue of the magazine will be its last, according to parent firm Clarity Media. Clarity CEO Ryan McKibben said the news magazine “has been hampered by many of the same challenges that countless other magazines and newspapers across the country have been wrestling with,” seeing large declines in circulation over the past few years. Writers Bill Kristol and Fred Barnes founded The Weekly Standard in 1995. It was part of Rupert Murdoch's News Corp. It was acquired in 2009 by Clarity, which also owns the Washington Examiner, Colorado Springs Gazette and Colorado Politics magazine.
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CBS says it will donate $20 million to a group of organizations working to eliminate workplace sexual harassment. That money, however, will be deducted from any severance benefits due to ousted CBS chief executive officer Les Moonves. Recipients of the money are set to include such groups as the National Women’s Law Center, International Women’s Media Foundation, Time’s Up Legal Defense Fund and Women in Film Los Angeles. CBS worked with issue-driven communications firm Rally to determine the criteria for the grants and develop a strategy to support new and existing work. “CBS’ support of these endeavors ties into the Company’s ongoing commitment to strengthening its own workplace,” a CBS press release said. A Dec. 13 New York Times report said that CBS had agreed to a confidential settlement that would pay actress Eliza Dushku $9.5 million as a result of what she said was her wrongful termination following a series of sexual harassment incidents on the set of the network’s “Bull.”
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The “dual network” rule, which prevents any of the big four networks (ABC, CBS, NBC and Fox) from merging, may be in the crosshairs of FCC chairman Ajit Pai. The rule is just one of several media ownership proposals set to be reconsidered during a broad review, currently underway, that Congress mandates must take place every four years. While the FCC has previously reaffirmed the rule, an FCC Fact Sheet issued on Nov. 21 questions whether it “remains necessary to promote competition, localism, or viewpoint diversity.” In a meeting on Dec. 12, Pai said that the FCC’s rules need to “keep pace” with the marketplace. Specifically, the FCC said in a report that the growth of such streaming services as Netflix, Amazon and YouTube has given the big four networks a new level of competition that makes the rule obsolete. In addition to the dual network rule, the FCC will also be considering rules that limit the number of TV and radio stations that one company can own in a single market.
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. 
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.
