 |
Netflix looks to be gaining a new ad-supported tier and losing about 300 employees. In a Thursday panel at the Cannes Lions, Netflix CEO Ted Sarandos said the company is speaking with several partners as it looks to introduce ads to the platform. According to a report on Deadline, those potential partners are rumored to include Google, NBCUniversal and Roku. The 300 axed staffers follow 150 who were let go by Netflix in May. The streamer has a global workforce of around 11,000. It has lost nearly 70 percent of its value since it announced that it had lost 200,000 subscribers at the end of the first quarter and expected to shed 2 million more in the second quarter.
 |
The International Fact-Checking Network at Poynter launches a Legal Support Fund that will offer financial assistance to fact-checking organizations that face threats of harassment, intimidation and litigation. The fund is supported by Meta and the Google News Initiative’s partnership with IFCN. The fund will be administered by the IFCN. Grantees will be selected by a committee from regional and global organizations with legal, journalism, and freedom of press domain expertise. Committee members will review each application for recognized risk that the case could result in imprisonment, bankruptcy and closure. “Fact-checkers around the world are experiencing harassment and online abuse in different forms and capacities,” said IFCN director Baybard Örsek. “We are excited to offer a sense of support to organizations facing those challenges on the ground and working toward finding sustainable solutions to navigate increasing attacks on journalism and fact-checking.”
 |
The final print edition of London’s Time Out, which focused on listings of entertainment venues and other events, has hit the stands. Launched in 1968, the magazine was originally a paid-for publication. Still, it became free in 2012, after the internet undermined its traditional business model by making it easy to find event listings online. Its New York print edition, which was launched in 1995, ceased publication in 2020. At its peak prior to the pandemic, the magazine had been published in over 40 cities around the world. It briefly rebranded as “Time” for a while in 2020 since many of its readers were unable to socialize or go out to work due to the pandemic lockdown.
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.
