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| Col Allan |
The New York Post, as well as owner News Corp., ex-editor Col Allan and current editor Keith Poole, are facing a sexual harassment lawsuit from Michelle Gotthelf, a 20-year employee of the paper who most recently served as its digital editor. Gotthelf was fired by Poole on Jan. 12 following what she charges are several instances of sexual harassment and verbal abuse. She also says that Allan, who has been as an advisor at the Post since 2019 after having retired as editor in 2016, demanded that she remove a story about writer E. Jean Carroll’s rape accusations against former president Trump from the Post’s website. The suit claims that Allan “delighted in degrading Ms. Gotthelf, and women generally, in front of her mostly male peers.” Gotthelf is being represented by New York legal firm Wigdor, which the New York Times says previously won a $10 million settlement on behalf of 18 plaintiffs who filed a discrimination suit against News Corp’s Fox News.
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| Joe Earley |
Disney names Joe Earley president of Hulu, part of an ongoing reorganization of Disney’s executive suite. Earley shifts to Hulu from Disney+, where he was executive vp marketing and operations. He succeeds former Hulu chief Kelly Campbell, who left the company in October to become the president of NBCUniversal’s Peacock. Earley will report to Michael Paull, who will now oversee Disney+, Hulu, ESPN+ and Star+ as president of Disney Streaming. Disney is also creating a hub for international content creation, which will be run by Rebecca Campbell as chairman, international content and operations. According to the Hollywood Reporter, Disney is preparing to buy out Comcast’s minority stake in the streamer for more than $13 billion sometime in the next few years.
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NBCU Academy, NBCU News Group’s multi-platform journalism training and development program, adds 13 higher education institutions to the program, bringing the total of participants to 30 institutions. The new members include the University of Florida College of Journalism and Communications, Howard University, Montclair State University and the University of Texas at Arlington. Launched in January 2021, NBCU Academy offers free online instruction and digital content for students at participating institutions. “Through NBCU Academy, we’re forging a generation of diverse journalists that are ahead of the curve on media technologies and have a deep understanding of a range of industries,” said NBCU News Group senior vice president of diversity, equity and inclusion Yvette Miley.
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.
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. 
