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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.”
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.
