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F+W Media, publisher of such magazines as Writer’s Digest, Family Tree and Popular Woodworking, has filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy. The company says that the number of its magazine subscribers has dropped from 33.4 million in 2015 to 21.5 million, with advertising revenues falling from $20.7 million in 2015 to $13.7 million last year. According to a report in Forbes, the company has about $2.5 million in cash available, with $105.2 million in outstanding debt. In the Chapter 11 filing, company CEO Greg Osberg said that in order to get the money to pay its creditors, F+W has decided to sell all of its assets. The company will be sold off in two parts—its communities division, which includes its magazines, and F+W Books, which publishes 120 titles annually.
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Meredith Corporation is launching a new magazine, Happy Paws, that will be aimed at dog and cat owners. The magazine, which is set to hit newsstands on April 9, is being produced in partnership with a veterinarian-led organization called Fear Free. Meredith says that the pet coverage it currently features in such publications as Real Simple and Family Circle is extremely popular with readers. It also cites American Pet Products Association figures that say more than $72 billion was spent on pets in the U.S. in the past year. The first issue of Happy Paws is set to be followed by another in October, and the company says it will then determine the magazine’s frequency.
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Dan Wakeford is taking over the editor-in-chief post at People magazine from Jess Cagle, who resigned Wednesday. Wakeford has been the deputy editor at People since 2015. In the position, he edited the magazine as well as overseeing 11 of its digital verticals and developing such spin-off projects as the crime series “People Magazine Investigates.” Before coming to People, Wakeford was editor-in-chief at Bauer Publishing titles In Touch and Life & Style. “Dan has an impeccable track record for shaping the editorial direction and content strategy for some of the largest brands, and that makes him the ideal choice to lead Meredith’s most profitable brand,” Bruce Gersh, the president of People, Entertainment Weekly and People en Español, told the New York Times.
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. 
CBS News is set to hand over its reins to The Free Press co-founder Bari Weiss as Paramount acquires her site for $155M... C-SPAN comes on board as an official media partner of the U.S. Semiquincentennial Commission, which is charged by Congress to lead the celebration of the 250th anniversary of the signing of the Declaration of Independence... A new Gallup survey says that the level of trust that US audiences have in the media has hit a new low.
