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MAD magazine is becoming a thing of the past. After the issue which comes out in October, the publication will be leaving newsstands, and will also stop publishing new content (with the exception of end-of-year special issues). The new version of MAD, available in comic shops and through mail subscriptions, will consist of material that has already appeared in the magazine over the course of its 67-year history. DC, which publishes MAD, will also continue to put out MAD special collections and books. The magazine had moved its offices from New York to Burbank, CA last year. According to comics research site Comichron, MAD has suffered from the kind of drop in circulation that has affected many print publications. From a high-water mark of 2,132,655 copies sold per issue in 1974, sales fell to 148,625 per issue in 2018. MAD had a brief moment in the spotlight earlier this year when presidential candidate Pete Buttigieg was compared to MAD mascot Alfred E. Neuman by president Trump. Buttigieg said that he had to Google Neuman’s name to find out who he was.
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Spanish-language broadcaster Univision is taking bids from potential buyers. According to the Hollywood Reporter, the company has enlisted Morgan Stanley, Moelis & Co. and LionTree as financial advisors as its board of directors reviews “strategic options for the company.” In April, Univision sold off Gizmodo Media Group, which included the former Gawker properties Gizmodo, Jezebel and Deadspin, as well as satirical site The Onion, to private equity firm Great Hill Partners. While terms of the sale were not disclosed, there was much speculation that Univision got far less than the $135 million it paid for the properties in 2016. At that time, the company was looking to expand its audience by appealing to young bilingual consumers. Vincent Sadusky, who took over as Univision CEO from Randy Falco last year, has been focused on redirecting the company back towards its Spanish-language base.
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| Linzee Troubh |
The Atlantic is bringing on Linzee Troubh as development director. Troubh will oversee the development of scripted and unscripted content from The Atlantic’s articles as part of a first-look deal the company signed in May with entertainment company Anonymous Content. She comes to The Atlantic from BuzzFeed, where she was senior manager, news development, part of the BuzzFeed Studios team responsible for original documentary content based on BuzzFeed News reporting. “The Atlantic already tells some of the most compelling, cinematic stories in the world, and Linzee’s arrival represents an opportunity to more aggressively and strategically bring those stories to Hollywood,” executive editor Adrienne LaFrance said in announcing the hire. Troubh will report to Kasia Cieplak-Mayr von Baldegg, executive producer of Atlantic Studios, who oversees all video journalism, film and television for the publication.
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.
