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Newsday has sold amNewYork, its free commuter paper, to Schneps Media, according to the New York Post. Schneps started life as the Queens Courier in 1985, and now operates 33 weekly newspapers and 28 magazines in the New York metropolitan area including the Bayside Times, The Villager and Long Island Press. Schneps Media CEO Joshua Schneps told the Post that the company intends to keep on publishing the paper. amNewYork was launched in 2003, and a statement from Newsday says that it is Manhattan’s highest daily circulation newspaper and has almost 1 million unique visitors to its website each month. Newsday publisher Debby Krenek said that the company will now double down on its Long Island focus as well as continuing to expand its multimedia products and platforms.
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| Todd Starnes |
Fox News has did not renew the contract of radio host and commentator Todd Starnes in the wake of comments he made about Democrats on his radio program Sept. 30, according to a report on The Wrap. During an interview with right-wing pastor Robert Jeffries, Starnes said he has no doubt that Democrats “want to especially go after and target Christians in America.” He also agreed with Jeffries’ assertion that Democrats may possibly worship the demon god Moloch. A source with knowledge of the situation said that the termination of Starnes' contract was in the works well in advance of those comments. Starnes is also known for having told Rep. Ilhan Omar (D-MN), one of the first Muslim women elected to Congress, to take a “one-way plane ticket back to whatever third-world hellhole you came from.” In addition to his Fox News Radio show and “Starnes Country,” a program that appeared on the streaming service Fox Nation, Starnes contributed opinion pieces to FoxNews.com. His radio show "Fox News & Commentary" will be replaced by "Fox Across America.”
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| Rich Barbieri |
Rich Barbieri is joining the New York Times as deputy business editor. Barbieri comes to the Times from CNN, where he has been since 2007, most recently serving as executive editor of CNN Business. In that position, he oversaw a global team of about 50 reporters and editors covering companies, economics, technology, media, markets and the workplace. Before his stint at CNN, he was managing editor at Crain’s New York Business. Barbieri has also been news editor for AP’s New York City bureau and has worked as an editor and writer at American Lawyer Media. His remit at the Times is to help the paper attain its digital and storytelling goals as it expands its business coverage.
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. 
Symbolic.ai forms a partnership with News Corp to begin using the company’s AI-native publisher platform in the newsrooms of News Corp publications to augment research, writing and publishing... Mediaite launches a newsletter that promises to give readers a summary of—media newsletters... The Fund for American Studies launches the Journalism Excellence Fellowship, a program that will provide promising young journalists the opportunity to work alongside top writers, reporters, and media professionals.
The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, which has roots going back to 1786, is going out of business, the paper’s owners, Block Communications, announced on Jan. 7... GQ editor Will Welch is stepping down to take on a new Paris-based role with the musician Pharrell, who is also men’s creative director at Louis Vuitton... Semafor says it has raised $30 million on a $330 million valuation, following its first profitable year. 
