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| John Ridding |
Financial Times group chief executive John Ridding is stepping down after close to 20 years in the position. Ridding will now serve as a special adviser to Nikkei, the Japanese media company that purchased the FT in 2015. He has been a special executive director at Nikkei since the sale and will leave Nikkei’s executive board in July. Ridding started at the FT 35 years ago as a junior sub-editor in the paper’s newsroom. The FT reported operating revenue of £520M ($697M) for 2024, up from £500M ($645M) in 2023. It also has a global paying audience of 2.9 million. Nikkei group chief executive Naotoshi Okada said Ridding had “stewarded the group through a period characterized by rapid international growth, diversification and digital transformation and leaves the business in robust health.” In a note to staff, Ridding said that the FT has “built a diverse portfolio that supports our gold standard journalism and strengthens our iconic brand.”
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| Scott Matthews |
MSNBC hires Scott Matthews as SVP of newsgathering, effective March 17, as the network prepares for life after its connection to NBC News. The network is set to be spun off by Comcast, which also owns NBC, and MSNBC president Rebecca Kutler is working to build up an independent news operation. Matthews will be charged with staffing and setting up that operation, as well as coordinating daily and breaking news coverage and setting editorial priorities. MSNBC will be casting its net for over 100 journalists, including field producers, correspondents and photographers. “Scott’s new role reflects our plans to build out MSNBC’s domestic, Washington and international newsgathering operations and expand our presence in the field,” said Kutler. Matthews previously worked for WABC-TV in New York, where he was vice president and news director
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Gallup has released a report showing that two-thirds of Americans either do not trust the media very much (31 percent) or do not trust it all (36 percent). On the Republican side of the divide, things are even worse: While 29 percent of Republicans said that they had “not much” trust in the news media, 59 percent said they had no trust in at all, meaning that almost nine out 10 had low trust in the news media’s reliability. Democrats reported much higher trust levels, with only six percent saying they had no trust at all and 40 percent saying they had not much trust. To put that in some historical context, back in post-Watergate America (1976), the amount of people reporting a high level of confidence in the media topped 70 percent. In addition, the downward trend looks likely to continue. More than four out of 10 (43 percent) of respondents over 50 said they had a high level of trust in the media, but that number drops to 26 percent for those under 50.
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. 
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.
