 |
| Kevin Delaney |
Kevin Delaney, who left his position as editor and co-CEO of Quartz in October, is joining the New York Times Opinion department, where he will lead what Times editorial page director James Bennet is calling “the department’s next big project.” Before helping to launch Quartz in 2012, Delaney was a reporter in Paris and San Francisco for the Wall Street Journal, and also served as managing editor of WSJ.com. He remains a senior advisor to Quartz. Taking the editor-in-chief slot at Quartz is Katherine Bell, who most recently served as editor-in-chief of Barron’s magazine and was previously the top digital editor at Harvard Business Review.
 |
| Mike Bloomberg |
Mike Bloomberg is on track to become the biggest buyer of advertising in the history of U.S. presidential campaigns. A Politico report from last week said that the former New York City mayor has already spent over $120 million since declaring himself a candidate in November. The ad buys include $13 million each in California, Texas and Florida. “We’ve never seen spending like this in a presidential race,” Jim McLaughlin, a Republican political strategist who worked as a consultant for Bloomberg’s mayoral bids, told Politico. “He has a limitless budget.” Bloomberg’s advertising bill is more than twice the amount of all other Democratic candidates, with the exception of fellow billionaire Tom Steyer, who has shelled out $83 million.
 |
Comcast is in negotiations to buy Xumo, a free, ad-supported over-the-top video app that has more than 190 content channels, according to a report in the Wall Street Journal. The potential deal comes ahead of the April launch of Comcast’s Peacock streaming service, which will reportedly offer a free version with ads as well as subscription-based options. Peacock joins an increasingly crowded field of streaming services, which includes recent entrants Disney+ and AppleTV+. Xumo was formed in 2011 by Viant Technology LLC, then known as Interactive Media Holdings. One of its shareholders is magazine and TV company Meredith Corp.
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.
