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Facebook's system outages that started at about noon Wednesday and continued into Thursday may lead to refunds to advertisers on the company’s various platforms, according to a Bloomberg report. In addition to causing user problems, the outage also affected the company’s ad buying system. The outage is thought to be the largest that the social network has ever suffered. While rumors circulated online that the problems were the result of a distributed denial-of-service (DDos) attack, in which attackers flood a company's network, Facebook said—via Twitter—that "the issue is not related to a DDoS attack." Facebook’s shares slid 2.3 percent in pre-market trading on Thursday morning.
 Jeanine Pirro |
Advertisers are pulling their spots from both Jeanine Pirro and Tucker Carlson’s programs on Fox News. “Justice with Judge Jeanine” has lost at least three corporate advertisers after Pirro’s March 9 on-air comment that Muslim congresswoman Ilhan Omar is “Sharia-compliant” because she wears a traditional hijab head covering. Fox News condemned the comments in a statement, saying the network has “addressed the matter with her directly.” Carlson's show lost advertising from bedding and sleepwear company SHEEX after audio released by Media Matters revealed Carlson making comments that derided women, minorities and LGBTQ people. In December, Carlson faced an advertiser boycott after he said on his Fox show that immigrants make the country “poorer and dirtier.” In response, at least 30 advertisers ended their relationship with his show, including Takeda Pharmaceutical Company, CareerBuilder, TD Ameritrade and Just For Men.
 Jess Cagle |
People magazine editor-in-chief Jess Cagle is stepping down. Cagle, who is also editorial director of Meredith’s entertainment group, which in addition to People includes such titles as Entertainment Weekly, will officially exit March 31. From 2009 to 2014, Cagle was editor-in-chief of Entertainment Weekly. His 32 years at Time Inc. (which was acquired by Meredith in 2017) also included a stint as a senior editor at Time. "I’ve decided it’s time to do some other things while I’m still young — or at least alive," Cagle said in a note to staffers. While sources told the New York Post that Cagle’s contract expired and Meredith did not renew it, a Meredith representative told the paper that it was Cagle’s decision not to renew his contract.
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.
