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The Knight Foundation is investing $5.4 million to create the Knight Growth Challenge Fund, which will support both non-profit and for-profit news outlets that have proven journalistic and business prowess and a solid business plan for sustainability. By supporting the efforts of these outlets to expand into new markets, the fund hopes to open up access to local journalism. The newsrooms included in the first group of recipients are: The Assembly (statewide in North Carolina), Cityside (Richmond, CA), The Post and Courier (Myrtle Beach and Columbia, SC), The Salt Lake Tribune (statewide in Utah), Spotlight PA (State College, PA) and Georges Media/Shreveport-Bossier City Advocate (Shreveport, LA). The effort, administered by the Miami Foundation, is supported by Blue Engine Collaborative, which will provide coaching, consulting and other resources to each of the selected publishers. “These first six organizations can prove that local news can find ways to grow to serve more communities, and we’re absolutely thrilled to help them reach their full potential over the next two years,” said Blue Engine Collaborative founder and CEO Tim Griggs.
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The New York Times will no longer make endorsements in the city’s elections, ending a policy it initiated in 1897. According to Times Opinion editor Kathleen Kingsbury, while the paper will continue to offer “perspective on the races, candidates and issues at stake,” it will not take a position in this fall’s Senate, congressional or state legislative races, and also plans to stay on the sidelines in Mayor Eric Adams’ re-election bid next year. The announcement follows similar plans by the Baltimore Sun and Alden Global Capital, the country’s second-largest newspaper chain.
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Playboy is headed back into print, with an annual print edition set to make its debut in February 2025. Former Men’s Journal editor-in-chief Mark Healy will head up the new version. The previous print incarnation of the brand was shuttered in 2020. Not only will the magazine’s trademark interview appear in the new edition’s pages, the Playmate of the Year will return, as well as features dedicated to such emblems of the swinging lifestyle as cars and audio equipment. There will be a “new class” of Playboy Bunnies, who will represent the brand at events. The publication also says it has redesigned Playboy.com and launched ecommerce initiatives and features that embrace the creator economy. “Playboy is the quintessential iconic brand, and it has always been more than a magazine—it is the original creator business,” according to PLBY Group CEO Ben Kohn.
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.
Trump Media & Technology Group is discussing a spin-off of the Truth Social platform following the expected closing of its $6B merger deal with TAE Technologies... Condé Nast sells off Them, the digital LGBTQ-focused platform it launched in 2017, to Equalpride, publisher of Out, The Advocate, Out Traveler, Health PLUS Wellness and Pride.com... CBS News has parted ways with longevity influencer Peter Attia, one of the 19 contributors that editor-in-chief Bari Weiss brought on as part of her plan to present a wider variety of voices on the platform. 
Symbolic.ai forms a partnership with News Corp to begin using the company’s AI-native publisher platform in the newsrooms of News Corp publications to augment research, writing and publishing... Mediaite launches a newsletter that promises to give readers a summary of—media newsletters... The Fund for American Studies launches the Journalism Excellence Fellowship, a program that will provide promising young journalists the opportunity to work alongside top writers, reporters, and media professionals.
