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The New York Times, thanks to a “healthy growth in subscribers, revenue and profitability” reported a 26.4 percent hike in 2014 net income to $293.8M on a 6.6 percent revenue spurt to $2.6B. The number of digital-only subscribers rose by 350,000 in Q4, bringing the NYT’s total subscriber number to 11.4 million. Even The Athletic, the sports vertical that had been a money-loser for the Times, has turned the corner to profitability, with a year-over-year subscriber increase of 19.8 percent in Q4 2024. The print edition, however, continued its steady decline. The paper had 610,000 print subscribers at the end of 2024, down from 660,000 at the end of 2023 and 730,000 at the end of 2022. The company predicted that the rise in its digital fortunes would stay on track, with a 17 percent from a year ago in Q1 2025.
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| Lara Trump |
Lara Trump is taking on a new job title: talk show host. Starting Feb. 22, the daughter-in-law of President Trump, as well as former Republican National Committee co-chair, will be edging Brian Kilmeade aside in the Saturday 9-10 pm slot on Fox News to launch “My View with Lara Trump.” The new show, according to a Fox press release, will “focus on the return of common sense to all corners of American life as the country ushers in a new era of practicality.” “One Nation with Brian Kilmeade” will be moved to Sundays from 10-11 pm. This is not Trump’s first stint at the network. From 2021-2022, she was an FNC contributor, giving her take on current news stories across daytime and primetime programming. FOX News Media CEO Suzanne Scott said that “Lara’s innate understanding of the American public and today’s political landscape will be a compelling addition to our weekend lineup.”
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NBC News, NPR, The New York Times and Politico are being booted out of their dedicated office spaces at the Pentagon. Each of the four news organizations has been informed that they must vacate their Pentagon offices by Feb. 15 as part of a “new annual media rotation program.” Under that program, the New York Post will take the place of the Times as the resident press organization. One America News will replace NBC News; Breitbart takes over from NPR as the radio outlet; and Huff Post will assume the spot now held by Politico. Most of the new tenants have been considerably more favorable in their coverage of President Trump than their predecessors. Defense department spokesman John Ullyot said that the ousted organizations would remain part of the Pentagon press corps and will keep their ability to attend briefings. “The only change will be giving up their physical work spaces in the building to allow new outlets to have their turn to become resident members of the Pentagon press corps,” he noted. Expectedly, the ousted outlets are not happy about the change. “The Times is committed to covering the Pentagon fully and fairly,” said New York Times spokesman Charlie Stadtlander. “Steps designed to impede access are clearly not in the public interest.”
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. 
CBS News is set to hand over its reins to The Free Press co-founder Bari Weiss as Paramount acquires her site for $155M... C-SPAN comes on board as an official media partner of the U.S. Semiquincentennial Commission, which is charged by Congress to lead the celebration of the 250th anniversary of the signing of the Declaration of Independence... A new Gallup survey says that the level of trust that US audiences have in the media has hit a new low.
