 |
Voting-machine company Dominion has added Newsmax Media and Herring Networks (the owner of One America News Network) to the list of those it has sued regarding claims that the company rigged the 2020 election in favor of president Biden. Dominion also sued former Overstock.com CEO Patrick Byrne, who has made similar accusations. Earlier this year, the company filed lawsuits against Fox News, Rudolph Giuliani, attorney Sidney Powell and MyPillow CEO Mike Lindell over their roles in spreading election fraud claims. According to the Wall Street Journal, Newsmax said that its coverage of the 2020 election cited allegations made by public figures, including former president Trump, his advisers, and members of Congress, while One America said that the statement and claims made in “Absolute Proof,” a documentary produced by Mindell which claimed to show “100 percent” manipulated votes in President Joe Biden’s favor, were presented “as opinions only.”
 |
The New York Times posted positive numbers for Q2 2021 as regards both subscription and advertising revenue. Subscription revenue grew 16 percent over last year’s second quarter, “the largest year-on-year subscription revenue gain in more than a decade,” according to president and chief executive officer Meredith Kopit Levien. The paper says it added 142,000 net digital subscriptions in Q2, and now has more than eight million paid subscriptions across its paid and digital products. It expects total annual net subscription growth for 2021 to be “in the range of 2019.” Advertising revenues rose 66 percent overall year-on-year. Digital ad revenue fueled much of the growth, increasing 80 percent over Q2 2020 and 22 percent over Q2 2019’s pre-pandemic figures. Print ad revenue, while up by 48 percent over Q2 2020, was down 33 percent from Q2 2019. The company’s adjusted operating profit was $93 million, up 78 percent from the same period last year.
 |
| Eric Ludgood |
The E.W. Scripps Company hires former CNN International vice president for editorial Eric Ludgood to lead Newsy, its national news platform. Currently available on over-the-top and connected TV platforms, Newsy will launch over the air in more than 90 percent of U.S. television homes on Oct. 1, carried primarily over Scripps-owned broadcast stations' spectrum. Ludgood comes to Scripps from WAGA-TV, the FOX-owned and operated channel in Atlanta, where he was executive producer of the investigative team. At CNN, he played a pivotal role in such stories as the election of Nelson Mandela and the events of Sept. 11 and led the CNN World Report unit. In this newly created role, Ludgood will be responsible for the overall leadership, editorial identity and programming for Newsy.
Michael Kaminer, who was responsible for the Observer’s “Power List” for the past 13 years, has cut ties with the publication... The New York Times Company continues the march toward its goal of 15 million subscribers by the end of 2027... The John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation is providing more than $6 million in funding to eight organizations working to address the challenges local news and information environments face along the U.S.-Mexico border.
Conservative outlets Fox News, Newsmax and the Daily Caller are holding back from signing Pete Hegseth’s edict restricting press access in the Pentagon... CBS News sees the first executive departure of the Bari Weiss era as head of standards and practices Claudia Milne exits... Indiana University shuts down the print version of The Indiana Daily Student.
Rothschild family plans to unload 26.7 percent stake in The Economist... STAT, a digital media company that focuses the life sciences, brings back Damian Garde, who anchored its biotech newsletter and podcast from 2016 to 2024... High Times officially resumes print publication (following its 2024 shutdown) with the release of a limited-edition, collectible 50th anniversary issue. 
CBS News is set to hand over its reins to The Free Press co-founder Bari Weiss as Paramount acquires her site for $155M... C-SPAN comes on board as an official media partner of the U.S. Semiquincentennial Commission, which is charged by Congress to lead the celebration of the 250th anniversary of the signing of the Declaration of Independence... A new Gallup survey says that the level of trust that US audiences have in the media has hit a new low.
Paramount Skydance CEO David Ellison has named Kenneth Weinstein, former head of the conservative Hudson Institute, as ombudsman for CBS News.
