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Graydon Carter, former Vanity Fair editor, is starting up a newsletter this summer that will be aimed at a high-end, international readership. He will be collaborating on the new venture, called Air Mail, with Alessandra Stanley, who was a critic and reporter for the New York Times. The newsletter will feature magazine-length original articles that will be sent out to readers at 6 a.m. every Saturday. In addition, it will sample articles from selected European and Asian publications. Its content, as well as related podcasts, will also be available on a website, AirMail.news. While he is moving into the digital arena, Carter says that his new project will maintain the same editorial standards he held to in print. “These are fully formed narratives,” he told the Times. “Vanity Fair was in the excellence business, and I want to stay in the excellence business. We’re not after clickbait.”
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American Media, which owns the National Enquirer as well as Us Weekly and Men’s Journal, has purchased the Adventure Sports Network, a portfolio of 14 adventure and sports brands, from TEN: Publishing. The acquisition includes Bike, POWDER and SURFER, as well as the Dew Tour, an action sports event series. American Media chairman and CEO David J. Pecker says that the combination of the newly acquired titles with Men’s Journal creates “a significant digital network.” With the addition, the American Media Active Lifestyle Group is projected to reach more than 35 million social media fans and followers. The ASN brands also pull in a significant millennial audience with video, delivering more than 60 million monthly views across its portfolio. Last June, American Media, picked up 13 brands from Bauer Media USA, including the celebrity titles In Touch, Closer and Life & Style.
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The Local Media Consortium and the Local Media Association have announced a call for applications, inviting media organizations to apply to participate in a pilot project focused on helping local newsrooms develop revenue streams through branded content. Funded by the Facebook Journalism Project, this branded content project will provide grant money to three to five organizations that have achieved some success with their branded content program to expand their program while increasing revenue. For more information and to apply, local broadcast, digital and print media companies can visit the application page. Applications will be accepted through March 1.
Trump Media and Technology Group Corp. has replaced CEO and former California Congressman Devin Nunes with Kevin McGurn, a seasoned media sales executive.
The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette is being bought by the Venetoulis Institute for Local Journalism, a nonprofit that is the parent organization of the Baltimore Banner... The British Broadcasting Corporation is axing approximately 2,000 jobs, about 10 percent of its work force... Snap, the company behind Snapchat, is also succumbing to layoff fever, announcing plans to lay off 16 percent of its employees, about 1,000 people.
CBS News Radio will go off the air on May 22, part of the axe-swinging managerial plan put into play by CBS editor-in-chief Bari Weiss... The Economist, which was first published in 1843, is changing hands. Canadian billionaire Stephen Smith has agreed to acquire a 26.9 percent stake in the publication from Lady Lynn Forester de Rothschild, her family and family foundation... Nexstar Media Group says it has closed its acquisition of TEGNA, the broadcast, digital media and marketing services company that was formed in 2015, when the Gannett Company split into two publicly traded companies.
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.
