 |
| Mike Pompeo |
Fox News hires former secretary of state Mike Pompeo as a contributor. Pompeo, who will provide analysis across all Fox News Media platforms, was scheduled to make his debut on the April 9 edition of “Fox & Friends.” He joins fellow Trump alumni Larry Kudlow and Kayleigh McEnany at the network. “I intend to give viewers a candid, no-nonsense look at geopolitics, international relations and the America First policies that helped chart the course for unprecedented American prosperity and security,” Pompeo said in a Fox News release.
 |
News Corp. plans to issue $1B in bonds to fund acquisition drive, according to a report on The Hill. That figure is a hefty jump from the $750 million in bonds that the company previously said it would issue. In March alone, News Corp made two large purchases. On March 25, it announced plans to pick up Investor’s Business Daily for $275 million, and just days later said it was also buying Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Books. The Houghton Mifflin deal will give News Corp. control of J.R.R. Tolkien books including “The Lord of the Rings” trilogy, as well as George Orwell’s “Animal Farm” and “1984.”
 |
| Jessie Henderson |
Apple Studios is beefing up its push into the feature film market with the addition of Jessie Henderson as a feature film executive. Henderson comes to Apple from HBO Max, where she served as executive vice president of original feature films. She was previously co-president of Feigco Entertainment, producing film and TV projects that included the all-female “Ghostbusters” and “Zoey’s Extraordinary Playlist.” Apple has also recently hired Paramount Pictures feature executive Lejo Pet.
Trump Media and Technology Group Corp. has replaced CEO and former California Congressman Devin Nunes with Kevin McGurn, a seasoned media sales executive.
The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette is being bought by the Venetoulis Institute for Local Journalism, a nonprofit that is the parent organization of the Baltimore Banner... The British Broadcasting Corporation is axing approximately 2,000 jobs, about 10 percent of its work force... Snap, the company behind Snapchat, is also succumbing to layoff fever, announcing plans to lay off 16 percent of its employees, about 1,000 people.
CBS News Radio will go off the air on May 22, part of the axe-swinging managerial plan put into play by CBS editor-in-chief Bari Weiss... The Economist, which was first published in 1843, is changing hands. Canadian billionaire Stephen Smith has agreed to acquire a 26.9 percent stake in the publication from Lady Lynn Forester de Rothschild, her family and family foundation... Nexstar Media Group says it has closed its acquisition of TEGNA, the broadcast, digital media and marketing services company that was formed in 2015, when the Gannett Company split into two publicly traded companies.
USA TODAY brings on Jamie Stockwell as VP of news, effective March 30. Stockwell was most recently deputy managing editor of news for the Washington Post... YouTube expands its likeness detection capabilities to a pilot group of government officials, journalists and political candidates... The AP Fund for Journalism adds 50 news organizations to its local news program, bringing the total number of participating newsrooms to 100. 
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.
