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President-elect Donald Trump has launched the latest offensive in his continuing war on the media by filing suit against pollster J. Ann Selzer, her polling firm, The Des Moines Register and Gannett, the Register’s parent company. The suit claims that coverage of Selzer’s poll, which showed a three-percentage-point lead for Kamala Harris just a few days before the election, was intended to boost the Democratic effort. It was therefore alleged to be a violation of the Iowa Consumer Fraud Act, which prohibits deception when advertising or selling merchandise. The poll was based on telephone interviews with 808 likely Iowa voters. In the election, Trump won Iowa by a 13-point margin. The Register released the poll’s full data and details, as well as “a technical explanation” from Selzer. “We stand by our reporting on the matter and believe this lawsuit is without merit,” said Lark-Marie Anton, a spokesperson for Gannett.
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Forbes is going experiential in a big way. The media platform, which has been in the magazine business since 1917, is launching a private members’ club in Madrid’s financial district, targeting what a press release calls “an elite community of entrepreneurs, leaders and innovators.” The club is part of a drive to diversify the company’s revenue stream. According to Sherry Phillips, who was recently promoted from chief revenue officer to CEO of the company, the Madrid club—a partnership with SpainMedia, publisher of Forbes España— is its way of testing the waters before setting out on a wider rollout of similar clubs internationally. The seven-story Madrid club will leverage the Forbes brand through such amenities as a rooftop bar, a wine cellar and a restaurant headlined by Adolfo Santos, a Michelin-starred chef. “Forbes House represents the next step in our mission to convene high-impact communities and connect our global audiences with the tools and access they need to achieve success,” said Forbes president, licensing and branded ventures Peter Hung.
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“Sesame Street” will have to make plans to move any upcoming episodes out of its current cable and streaming neighborhood after Warner Bros. Discovery decides not to renew its distribution agreement with Sesame Workshop, the nonprofit producer of the show. Sesame Workshop has partnered with HBO, part of Warner Bros. Discovery, since 2015. Under that agreement, HBO had exclusive rights for the show’s episodes for nine months, after which they were broadcast for free on PBS. In 2019, the show was moved to Max, HBO's streaming service. Despite the end of the contract, reeruns of the show will continue to run on Max until 2027. The future of the show remains uncertain. “Based on consumer usage and feedback, we’ve had to prioritize our focus on stories for adults and families,” a Max spokesman told the New York Times. “And so new episodes from ‘Sesame Street,’ at this time, are not as core to our strategy.”
MSNBC president Rashida Jones is stepping down, after close to four years in the job... Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg is preparing for what he says will be “an intense year” by dumping staffers that he terms “low performers.” ... CBS News is putting Susan Zirinsky, who served as its president from January 2019 until April 2021, back in the driver’s seat as its interim executive editor.
ESPN, Fox and Warner Bros. Discovery have called time on Venu Sports, their proposed joint sports streaming service, before its kickoff... Piers Morgan, via his Wake Up Productions media company, is acquiring “Piers Morgan Uncensored,” the talk show that started broadcasting on Rupert Murdoch’s TalkTV in 2022 before moving to YouTube... HuffPost cuts 39 staffers. E-I-C Danielle Belton quits in protest.
Donald Trump’s campaign got a sneak preview of the questions for a Fox News town hall in January 2024, according to an upcoming book from POLITICO national political reporter Alex Isenstadt....The Washington Post laid off roughly 100 employees across its business division on Jan. 7....Getty Images and Shutterstock plans to merge under the corporate name of Getty Images Holdings, Inc.
The John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation pledges $20 million to support newsrooms and provide journalism infrastructure as part of its commitment to revitalize local reporting... Paul Krugman, who has written on political and economic topics for the New York Times for nearly 25 years, has retired... The Onion now faces a major roadblock in its attempt to buy Info Wars, the hotbed of conspiracy theory founded in 1999 by Alex Jones. 
With streaming platforms growing, half of young adults in the United States now say they don't watch any traditional TV at all, according to Statista.
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