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Media Matters has named Fox News its Misinformer of the Year for 2020. The network takes the baton from Fox contributor and founder of JusttheNews.com founder John Solomon, who won in 2019. Fox employees and executives who have received the prize in the past include Lachlan Murdoch (2017), Sean Hannity (2008) and Bill O’Reilly (2004). The main reason that Fox News as a whole won the award this year was its coverage of the COVID pandemic. “The right-wing network has promoted coronavirus misinformation an estimated 13,551 times on its weekday programs over the course of the pandemic,” according to Media Matters. A timeline illustrating the network’s qualifications for the award can be seen here.
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Politico has acquired E&E News, a news organization that covers energy and the environment. E&E News, which currently employs more than 65 reporters and editors in cities including Washington, New York City and Los Angeles, will continue to operate under its own name. E&E News principal founder and owner Michael Witt will remain with the company for the time being. Politico says that the acquisition will allow it to grow its footprint in the energy news space as the company focuses on bolstering its professional news business. Politico has survived the current economic relatively intact, with the company saying that it has added staff, now employing about 600 people in North America and close to 200 in Europe. Witt said that the combined company “will provide unparalleled and unique coverage of energy and environmental issues.”
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Amazon has signed an agreement to acquire podcast creator and producer Wondery. Reports in the Wall Street Journal and Bloomberg put the deal in the $300 million range. Wondery will still operate independently under its own name. Amazon Music launched podcasts in September, and the acquisition sets the company up to compete with Spotify, which acquired podcast advertising and publishing platform Megaphopne in November. Amazon says that it intends for its purchase of Wondery to “accelerate the growth and evolution of podcasts by bringing creators, hosts, and immersive experiences to even more listeners across the globe.”
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.
