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RT America, part of Moscow-based media company RT (formerly known as Russia Today), is getting ready for the 2020 election by hiring additional staff in the US, according to the New York Post. A quick search on LinkedIn shows that the company is looking to fill positions including news correspondent, newscast producer and digital media specialist—all to be based in the company’s Washington, DC bureau. Igor Ogorodnev, the Web editor-in-chief for the company in the US, told the Post that the recruitment drive is “an expansion and an upgrade.” A Post source who responded to an ad for one of the positions was allegedly told by Ogorodnev that he was interested in such stories as the “rumor” that COVID-19 deaths are being exaggerated by US media outlets. He also specified “no anti-Trump coverage… We’re not the Washington Post.”
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Traditional pay TV is taking a big hit from the coronavirus crisis. A report from independent research firm MoffettNathanson says that subscriptions to pay TV services fell by 1.8 million in the first quarter, which it says is the biggest quarterly drop ever recorded. The percentage of U.S. households with pay TV service sits at 63 percent—the lowest number since 1995. The report adds that satellite services were particularly hard hit, down by 1 million for the third quarter in a row. But things are tough for cable operators too, with 600,000 cutting the cord during the first quarter. “With sports off the air, and with the pain of the tsunami of unemployment just beginning to hit as the quarter ended, all these numbers will get worse in the second quarter," the report said.
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TIME for Kids, a weekly magazine for elementary school students, has launched a Spanish language digital edition, with new digital editions in additional languages planned in the coming weeks. This marks the first time that that the publication has been available in any language other than English. TIME for Kids in Spanish is available globally through the TIME for Kids free digital library, launched in March, which brings the previously classroom-only publication to homes. The company says that the digital library is part of its effort to support teachers, families and students around the world who are dealing with school closures due to the coronavirus pandemic.
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.
