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Tribune Publishing has put off posting its financial results for the first quarter of fiscal 2020 until June 5. The previously announced date was May 22. The company says it needs more time to assess the valuation of certain assets and determine if a non-cash impairment charge is required, primarily as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic. In the past few weeks, Tribune has made a deal to furlough all unionized newsroom employees making $40,000 or more for a week in May, June and July, and canceled a $9 million quarterly dividend it was planning to award to shareholders.
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Facebook has launched a new feature that is intended to move it further down the path toward being a major online shopping destination and offer small businesses a way to find new buyers. Facebook Shops will let businesses set up product listings on their Facebook page, Instagram profile, Stories or in ads, the company says. Also planned are options that would let businesses sell products to customers through the chat features of WhatsApp, Messenger and Instagram Direct. While Facebook has let businesses list products on Facebook and Instagram, with the new feature they can upload their catalogs once to make them accessible across Facebook’s apps. While the feature is free, Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg says the plan is for increased advertising by sellers to generate profits for the company. He also assures potential shoppers that the feature is secure. “We’ll also protect your privacy when you’re using this” he said in live chat posted on Facebook, “and we’re not going to share what you buy with friends or anyone else on our services without your permission.” Following the announcement of Facebook Shops, the company’s shares rose six percent, reaching an all-time high of $230.75 on May 20.
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The American Society of Journalists and Authors (ASJA) has launched the ASJA Crisis Coverage Awards: COVID-19 Edition, which will recognize professional writers for their coverage of the COVID-19 outbreak. The contest is now open, and submissions will be accepted until July 3. Writers are invited to submit English-language articles, including self-nominations, published between January 1 and June 30. Submissions must fit into one of the following categories: Business & Economy, Education, Healthcare, Mental Health, Personal Essays, Politics & Government, Science, Social Adaptation and Technology. “ASJA is proud to recognize our colleagues’ vital work as they help audiences make sense of all aspects of the coronavirus pandemic,” said Janine Latus, chair of the ASJA Crisis Coverage Awards Committee. Writers may apply for multiple categories, but cannot use the same article more than once. Articles can be submitted by visiting http://asja.org/crisis-coverage-awards-covid-19. A portion of the entry fees will be contributed to ASJA’s Writers Emergency Assistance Fund. For more information, click here.
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.
Trump Media & Technology Group is discussing a spin-off of the Truth Social platform following the expected closing of its $6B merger deal with TAE Technologies... Condé Nast sells off Them, the digital LGBTQ-focused platform it launched in 2017, to Equalpride, publisher of Out, The Advocate, Out Traveler, Health PLUS Wellness and Pride.com... CBS News has parted ways with longevity influencer Peter Attia, one of the 19 contributors that editor-in-chief Bari Weiss brought on as part of her plan to present a wider variety of voices on the platform. 
Symbolic.ai forms a partnership with News Corp to begin using the company’s AI-native publisher platform in the newsrooms of News Corp publications to augment research, writing and publishing... Mediaite launches a newsletter that promises to give readers a summary of—media newsletters... The Fund for American Studies launches the Journalism Excellence Fellowship, a program that will provide promising young journalists the opportunity to work alongside top writers, reporters, and media professionals.
The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, which has roots going back to 1786, is going out of business, the paper’s owners, Block Communications, announced on Jan. 7... GQ editor Will Welch is stepping down to take on a new Paris-based role with the musician Pharrell, who is also men’s creative director at Louis Vuitton... Semafor says it has raised $30 million on a $330 million valuation, following its first profitable year. 
The Walt Disney Company and OpenAI reach an agreement that will make a set of more than 200 animated, masked and creature characters from Disney, Marvel, Pixar and Star Wars available for use by Sora, OpenAI’s short-form generative AI video platform... CBS News editor-in-chief Bari Weiss has moved Tony Dokoupil, a co-host at “CBS Mornings” since 2019, into the anchor’s chair for the “CBS Evening News,” following the departure of John Dickerson and Maurice DuBois... USA Today editor-in-chief Caren Bohan has left the paper.
