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Gannett’s digital business had a healthy Q4 2022, despite an overall revenue decline at the company. While the $730.7 million Gannett racked up in total revenues in the fourth quarter represented an 11.6 percent drop from Q4 2021, digital-only circulation revenues rose 29 percent, hitting $35.5 million. Gannett ended the quarter with 2.04 million paid subscriptions—up 24 percent from a year earlier. The company’s digital marketing solutions platform brought in $119.7 million, a jump of 9 percent. "We also continued to make significant progress towards debt reduction,” said Gannett chairman and CEO Michael Reed, “repaying $47 million of debt while ending the year with a cash balance of $94 million.” Circulation revenues, however, took a 16.5 percent hit, bringing in $256.7 million vs $307.3 million in Q4 2021.
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NPR has announced plans to shed about 10 percent of its employees—about 100 positions—in response to a $30 million gap in the organization’s budget. “The ad industry has weakened and we are grappling with a sharp decline in our revenues from corporate sponsors,” NPR chief executive John Lansing wrote in an email to staffers. It is not yet known exactly where the cuts will fall, but an NPR spokeswoman said the final decision is to be made by March 20. The organization has already put a near-freeze on hiring into place, along with the elimination of most travel and suspension of internships. Lansing’s memo said that the coming cuts will not “disproportionately impact people of color or any other historically marginalized group.”
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| Carlos Watson |
OZY Media chief executive Carlos Watson is arrested on charges of conspiring to commit securities fraud and conspiring to commit wire fraud, according to a report in the Wall Street Journal. His arrest comes after former OZY chief operating officer Samir Rao pled guilty to fraud and identify theft charges in federal court. Among other things, Rao is accused of having impersonated a YouTube executive during a February 2021 fundraising call with Goldman Sachs, after which he stepped down. (Both Watson and Rao previously worked for Goldman Sachs). Another OZY official told a magistrate judge that she falsified financial information about the company being told to do by two company executives. While the company announced in October 2021 that it was ceasing operations, it soon backtracked on those plans. “As alleged, Carlos Watson is a conman whose business strategy was based on outright deceit and fraud,” said Breon Peace, the US attorney for the eastern district of New York. “He ran Ozy as a criminal organization rather than as a reputable media company.”
Boston Globe Media acquires InstaTrac, a company that provides subscription-based services aimed at making government information easier to find, track, and understand... AARP names former New Republic CEO and publisher Michael Caruso as its SVP and chief content officer, unifying the organization's portfolio of media, live events and digital platforms... The Fund for American Studies, an educational nonprofit, awards its inaugural Journalism Excellence Fellowships.
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. 
