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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.
Trump Media & Technology Group today reported a $58.2M net loss on $4.1M in 2023 revenues, a disclosure that drove its stock price down 22.6 percent to $47.96.
Barry Pollack, an attorney at Wall Street’s Harris St. Laurent & Wechsler, has registered Julian Assange as a client with the Justice Dept. “out of an abundance of caution.”
Paramount Global to slash 800 jobs in what chief executive Bob Bakish calls part of an effort to “return the company to earnings growth"... Rolling Stone editor-in-chief Noah Shachtman is exiting at the end of the month due to disagreements with chief executive Gus Wenner over the direction the magazine is taking... The New York Times broke the $1 billion barrier in annual revenue from digital subscriptions in 2023... Press Forward is investing more than $500 million to strengthen local newsrooms.
The majority of news articles are read within the first three days of publication, according to a recent report.
The Los Angeles Times gives pink slips to 115 people or 20 percent of its newsroom staff... TIME is also laying off about 30 employees, which is approximately 15 percent of its editorial staff... The Baltimore Banner, which was launched by Stewart Bainum in 2022 after he failed to buy the Baltimore Sun, added 500 subscribers per day in the three days following Sinclair Broadcast Group's deal to purchase the Sun.
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