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| Maria Cantwell |
A bill introduced in the US Senate by Maria Cantwell (D-WA) would allow individual television stations that are affiliated with a larger network to qualify for assistance under the Paycheck Protection Program. The Local News and Emergency Act of 2020 would allow such stations to receive funds as long as “the proceeds of the loan are used to support expenses associated with the continued provision of local news, information, content, or emergency information.” The size of the individual station would simply need to meet the conditions that apply to other small businesses under the Industry Classification Code. In addition, stations receiving funds will not be permitted to “pay, distribute, or otherwise provide the covered loan or any portion of the covered loan” to any other entity than the station itself. The bill is also supported by John Boozman (R-AR), Joni Ernst (R-IA), Amy Klobuchar (D-MN) and Chuck Schumer (D-NY).
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| Roger Lynch |
Condé Nast is axing approximately 100 US-based employees and is placing about 100 more on furlough for several months. A company spokesman told the Wall Street Journal that the layoffs affect employees in the advertising, editorial and corporate divisions. No magazine closures are expected, and no titles are moving to a digital-only format. Condé Nast is providing severance packages and job-placement resources to employees who are getting laid off, and will cover the full cost of healthcare premiums for the employees who will be furloughed, according to a memo from Condé Nast CEO Roger Lynch. Last month, the company announced a round of cutbacks that included pay cuts of between 10 and 20 percent for employees, making $100K a year or more, with Lynch and the external members of the company’s board saw their salaries drop by 50 percent.
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A new round of furloughs is also hitting Tribune Publishing, which operates newspapers including the Chicago Tribune and Baltimore Sun. The New York Post reports that the company has reached a tentative agreement with the Chicago Tribune Guild, which represents its newsroom employees, to furlough 160 editorial staffers for one week per month in May, June and July. A tweet from the Guild said that the deal “fends off permanent pay reductions and assures us that the company will not try further cuts until at least the end of July.” Unionized employees with an annual base pay of $40,000 or above will be subject to the furloughs and those affected have the option of taking a buyout package.
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.
