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Clear View Group, which bought Ebony and Jet magazines from Johnson Publishing in 2016, failed to meet its payroll on May 31. According to a report in the New York Post, most of the remaining editorial staff at the publications are being laid off. On May 24, Ebony staffers were told that the print edition of the magazine would be suspended. Jet has been an online-only entity since 2014. Meanwhile, Pride Media, the parent company of Out magazine, is having financial difficulties of its own. WWD reports that the magazine has been racking up unpaid freelancer bills, and websites Pink News and AutoStraddle say they are owed money from Pride Media for ad placement and commission fees. The company made a new round of layoffs on June 14, and staff salaries were cut eight percent earlier this year.
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The Department of Justice has filed a civil antitrust lawsuit seeking to block the proposed acquisition of LSC Communications by Quad Graphics. The suit says that the goal of the suit is “to preserve competition in the markets for magazine, catalog and book publishing services in the United States.” It says that the companies are “by far the largest printers in the United States,” and claims that each company views the other as its top competitor, resulting in a “price war” that has kept down printing prices. Quad chief executive Joel Quadracci countered that claim by saying that deal would actually mean cost savings for clients. He also said that the suit ignores a major competitor—one that is having a big effect on printed media. “Our competition is not only other printers,” he said, “but other forms of media,” noting that the revenues of a combined Quad/LSC would pale in comparison to the ad revenue brought in by social media giants like Facebook.
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The Washington Post is planning to add ten newsroom positions in a move to bolster its investigative reporting teams. Five of those positions will be in the paper’s dedicated investigative unit, with reporters also being added to newsroom teams including sports, climate and environment, and foreign. The Post will also add a Freedom of Information Act specialist, whose remit will be to work with all newsroom departments on pursuing journalistic opportunities in public records. “Our goal is to further strengthen an already robust investigative unit and to continue distributing investigative firepower throughout the newsroom,” said Post executive editor Martin Baron.
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.
Trump Media & Technology Group is discussing a spin-off of the Truth Social platform following the expected closing of its $6B merger deal with TAE Technologies... Condé Nast sells off Them, the digital LGBTQ-focused platform it launched in 2017, to Equalpride, publisher of Out, The Advocate, Out Traveler, Health PLUS Wellness and Pride.com... CBS News has parted ways with longevity influencer Peter Attia, one of the 19 contributors that editor-in-chief Bari Weiss brought on as part of her plan to present a wider variety of voices on the platform. 
