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Twitter has released the details of the political ad ban that was announced by CEO Jack Dorsey on Oct. 30. The ban will apply to campaigns, government officials, political action committees and 501(c)(4) groups (what the IRS refers to as “social welfare organizations”). It prohibits content that makes reference to “a candidate, political party, elected or appointed official, election, referendum, ballot measure, legislation, regulation, directive or judicial outcome,” according to a post on twitter.com. What’s not prohibited: issue-based ads that address such topics as “economic stewardship” or “economic growth”—as long the ad is placed by someone, not in one of the prohibited categories. For-profit companies will be allowed to run issue ads as long as those ads do not call for specific political outcomes. News publishers can be exempted from the ban if they meet a set of criteria that includes having a minimum of 200,000 unique monthly visitors and not being dedicated to advocating on a single issue.
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Sports Illustrated is going monthly, the second time the publication has cut its print frequency in the past two years. SI went from publishing weekly to publishing every other week in January 2018. “We’re refining the exact schedule,” co-editor Steve Cannella told the New York Post, “but it will be essentially a monthly with four season-preview issues and the SI Swimsuit for a total of 17 issues.” The publication will continue to put out issues of SI Kids and SI Presents, as well as print editions tied to such events as the Super Bowl and World Series. Cannella said there will be no staff cutbacks as part of the change. Meredith sold SI to Authentic Brands Group in May for $110 million. ABG subsequently handed over SI’s media operations to Seattle-based tech and digital publisher Maven.
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McClatchy, which owns such newspapers as the Miami Herald, Fort Worth Star-Telegram and Charlotte Observer, is going to stop printing Saturday editions of all its papers by the end of 2020. Editorial content will still be produced for Saturday, but it will only run online. The policy has already taken place at four of the chain’s newspapers. McClatchy reported a net loss of $304.7 million for the third quarter. It is also in talks with the Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation, the U.S. government’s pension insurer, with the goal of having the PBGC assume control of its pension fund assets and its obligations. As of March, the fund was underfunded by $535 million, according to the Wall Street Journal. The company says that the $124 million contribution it is required to make to its pension fund next year would create “a significant liquidity challenge.”
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. 
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