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Hightimes Holding, the publisher of High Times magazine, warned shareholders in its most current SEC filing that the company may have to shutter the 45-year-old publication. Citing “recurring operating losses, net operating cash flow deficits, and an accumulated deficit,” the filing says there is “substantial doubt” that High Times will be able to publish for another year. According to the New York Post, the company has engaged Toronto-based Lazer & Lazer to help it find a new backer that can help resolve $105.2 million in debt. It reported a net loss of $11.9 million for the six months ended June 30. High Times is not the only cannabis-focused media outlet to be having difficulties. Online platform Civilized Life laid off its staff in anticipation of its purchase by analytics company New Frontier Data, and social network MassRoots went offline recently, after reporting a net loss of $774,638 for the second quarter.
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The Pulitzer Prize Board is adding a new category, audio reporting, for its 2020 awards. The new prize will recognize “a distinguished example of audio journalism that serves the public interest.” Producers of radio programs and podcasts will be able to submit entries for awards consideration, in addition to US newspapers, magazines, wire services and online news sites that publish regularly. “The renaissance of audio journalism in recent years has given rise to an extraordinary array of non-fiction storytelling,” said Pulitzer administrator Dana Canedy. The board will start accepting nominations for the new award, as well as for those in the other 14 journalism categories, on Dec. 16, with a deadline of Jan. 24, 2020.
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| Jane Bradley |
The New York Times has hired Jane Bradley to be its new UK investigative correspondent, based in London. Bradley comes to the Times from BuzzFeed, where she was a member of the platform’s investigative team. At BuzzFeed, she was the lead reporter on a six-part investigation into allegations of bullying and sexual misconduct against the self-help guru Tony Robbins, as well as being a Pulitzer finalist as part of a team that investigated a string of mysterious deaths of Russians in London. Bradley was previously a producer at the BBC. She will start at the Times in early January.
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.
Paramount Skydance CEO David Ellison has named Kenneth Weinstein, former head of the conservative Hudson Institute, as ombudsman for CBS News.
