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| Neeraj Khemlani, Wendy McMahon |
CBS is consolidating its news operations into one unit and has tabbed Neeraj Khemlani and Wendy McMahon to serve as presidents and co-heads of the newly formed division. The unified division will bring together CBS News, streaming news service CBSN, 10 CBSN Local platforms, cbsnews.com and 28 CBS-owned stations in 17 major U.S. markets. McMahon and Khemlani assume their new roles early next month and will partner in managing all aspects of the division. Khemlani, who was most recently executive vice president and deputy group head at Hearst Newspapers, was a producer for CBS’s “60 Minutes” and “60 Minutes II” from 1998 to 2006. McMahon, who was named president of the ABC Owned Stations in 2017, previously served as creative services director at CBS owned and operated WBZ in Boston and WCCO in Minneapolis. Susan Zirinsky will continue as president of CBS News until the new leadership has started and will assist with the transition. She is in talks with CBS about taking a role at a new CBS News Content Studio to be launched later this year.
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| Kim Godwin |
ABC has signed up longtime CBS News producer and executive Kim Godwin to run its news operations. Godwin will be the first black woman to lead a broadcast news division. At CBS, Godwin was executive vice president of the news division. She succeeds James Goldston, who stepped down as president of ABC News earlier this year. Godwin joins ABC as it faces allegations of poor communication and a lack of diversity.“Throughout Kim’s career in global news organizations and local newsrooms, she has distinguished herself as a fierce advocate for excellence, collaboration, inclusion and the vital role of accurate and transparent news reporting,” said Peter Rice, chairman of Disney general entertainment content.
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Reuters is putting up a paywall. Access to Reuters.com will cost $34.99 per month, after a free preview period, during which users will have to register after reading five stories. The company has not said when the fee will kick in. The price is in line with the $38.99 per month fee charged by the Wall Street Journal and the $34.99 tab for monthly access to Bloomberg. An article on Reuters.com says that the move is part of a move to attract a professional audience looking for “a deeper level of coverage and data on industry verticals that include legal, sustainable business, healthcare and autos.”
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.
