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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.
Trump Media and Technology Group Corp. has replaced CEO and former California Congressman Devin Nunes with Kevin McGurn, a seasoned media sales executive.
The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette is being bought by the Venetoulis Institute for Local Journalism, a nonprofit that is the parent organization of the Baltimore Banner... The British Broadcasting Corporation is axing approximately 2,000 jobs, about 10 percent of its work force... Snap, the company behind Snapchat, is also succumbing to layoff fever, announcing plans to lay off 16 percent of its employees, about 1,000 people.
CBS News Radio will go off the air on May 22, part of the axe-swinging managerial plan put into play by CBS editor-in-chief Bari Weiss... The Economist, which was first published in 1843, is changing hands. Canadian billionaire Stephen Smith has agreed to acquire a 26.9 percent stake in the publication from Lady Lynn Forester de Rothschild, her family and family foundation... Nexstar Media Group says it has closed its acquisition of TEGNA, the broadcast, digital media and marketing services company that was formed in 2015, when the Gannett Company split into two publicly traded companies.
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.
