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| Andrew Lack |
NBC News chairman Andrew Lack is leaving the company at the end of May. Following his departure, Telemundo chairman Cesar Conde will become chairman of NBC Universal News Group, which will encompass NBC News, MSNBC and CNBC. Lack had served as president of NBC News in the 1990s, leaving the network for stints as chairman and CEO of Sony Music Entertainment and CEO of Bloomberg’s media group. He returned to NBC in 2015, and while his stewardship of MSNBC and such iconic NBC properties as “Today” and “Meet the Press” has been generally successful, his second stint at the network has also been marked by such controversies as Matt Lauer’s departure from “Today” after sexual harassment claims as well as assertions by Ronan Farrow that NBC suppressed his reporting about Harvey Weinstein. NBC News president Noah Oppenheim and MSNBC president Phil Griffin will remain with the network, reporting to Conde.
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| Almar Latour |
Dow Jones has named Almar Latour chief executive of the company, as well as publisher of the Wall Street Journal, effective May 15. Latour, who succeeds William Lewis, is currently an executive vice president at Dow Jones and publisher for Barron’s Group, includes Barron’s, MarketWatch, Dow Jones Wealth and Asset Management Group, Mansion Global, and Financial News. His other positions with the company have included executive editor, editor-in-chief Asia and managing editor at WSJ.com. In February, News Corp announced that the Journal had more than two million digital subscriptions. Overall, Dow Jones digital-only subscribers grew 17 percent in 2019.
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| Diamond and Silk |
Diamond and Silk, the two North Carolina sisters who made a name for themselves with their pro-Trump commentaries on Fox News and its streaming outlet Fox Nation, are no longer appearing as part of the network’s programming, according to a report on The Daily Beast. While Fox has made no public comment about their future on the network, the pair have not put out an episode of their weekly Fox Nation program since April 7. (Earlier episodes, however, are still available for streaming on the platform.) Diamond and Silk have drawn negative attention over the past weeks for their comments on the coronavirus crisis, claiming, among other things, that the number of people reported to have died from the disease was inflated to undermine Trump, and that the virus is “something that was man-made.” Their biggest supporter remains firmly in their corner, however. “I love Diamond & Silk, and so do millions of people!” the Tweeter-in-chief posted last week.
Underscore Media, a new creator-led media venture dedicated to New York sports, is built around three established New York sports personalities, Sal Licata, Jimmy Traina, and John Jastremski.
McClatchy, which owns 29 daily papers across 14 states (including The Miami Herald, Sacramento Bee and Kansas City Star), launches a wave of layoffs that extends to at least 13 of those papers... The Toledo Blade, which was founded in 1835, is set to shut down on Dec. 31, unless owner Block Communications manages to find a buyer for it... A bill awaiting approval by California governor Gavin Newsom would give local newsrooms a boost. 
Fox News Media issued a pretty sparse release to announce the departure of one of its stars. “Effective today, Maria Bartiromo is no longer with FOX News Media,” it reads.
Brunswick Group partner John Simons has joined CNN as senior director of business & media. He held top jobs at Time and the Wall Street Journal.
WNET, the nation’s largest public media company, names Edward O’Keefe its next president and CEO, effective September 21. O’Keefe succeeds Neal Shapiro, who becomes president emeritus and will retire at the end of the year... The Stealth Bot Prohibition Act, which would empower news publishers and other content providers to defend themselves by mandating transparency for all bots crawling their sites, in introduced in the House by Rep. Laurel Lee (R-FL) and Rep. Valerie Foushee (D-NC)... Google gets socked by European Union regulators with a $1 billion fine for using the platform’s dominance as a search engine to illegally undercut competition.
