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| Kelli Raftery |
VicaomCBS executive vp corporate communications Kelli Raftery is leaving, effective April 6. Raftery’s exit is the latest in a stream of departures from the company formed by the 2019 merger of Viacom and CBS. It follows the March 2 announcement that CBS communications chief Dana McClintock, who was Raftery’s boss, is leaving later this year. Raftery, who spent 20 years at CBS, led overall media relations and communications strategy for CBS. According to a report in Variety, ViacomCBS raised its cost savings target from the merger from $500 million to $750 million.
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| Anna Wintour |
The coronavirus has taken its toll among several of the top figures in fashion media. A report in the New York Post says that Vogue editor-in-chief Anna Wintour, Elle editor-in-chief Nina Garcia and InStyle editor in-chief Laura Brown are all in “self-imposed quarantines” since they returned from Milan Fashion Week. The report adds that overall, about 30 people from the three companies that publish the titles are in self-imposed quarantine.
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| Bruce Dold |
Chicago Tribune publisher and editor Bruce Dold, who has been with the paper for 42 years, is being replaced as editor of the paper by Tribune Publishing chief content officer Colin McMahon. No replacement has been named to fill the publisher position, but McMahon will report to Chicago Tribune Media Group general manager Par Ridder, according to a memo sent to staffers from Tribune CEO Terry Jimenez, who took over from Timothy Knight earlier this month. McMahon will also continue as chief content officer, as well as retaining oversight of Tribune Content Agency’s editorial team. In addition, Peter Kendall, a 32-year Tribune vet who was of the paper’s two managing editors, is also exiting the company. The moves all follow hedge fund Alden Global Capital’s acquisition of a 32 percent stake in Tribune Publishing last year.
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.
