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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.
The number of local journalists in the US is dwindling rapidly, according to a new report from nonprofit organization Rebuild Local News and PR and communications software platform Muck Rack... Washington Post columnist Joe Davidson, who wrote its “Federal Insider” column for most of the 20 years he has been at the paper, is exiting. Cites Bezos as reason for quitting... Men's Journal is returning to print, beginning with a Summer Edition featuring Matty Matheson of FX’s The Bear. 
The Reuters Institute’s 2025 Digital News Report finds that declining engagement, low trust and stagnating digital subscriptions are eroding the power of traditional news media....Anna Wintour is leaving behind her role as Vogue’s head of editorial content, though the will continue to oversee the magazine from her joint roles as chief content officer for Condé Nast and Vogue’s global editorial director... The BBC is putting up a paywall for US-based visitors who want to access all of BBC.com’s offerings. 
For the first time in history, Americans in May spent more time watching streaming content than broadcast or cable TV combined, according to Nielsen data.
High Times is preparing to resume publication of its magazine in limited-run, collectible editions, following the brand’s acquisition by RAW Rolling Papers founder Josh Kesselman... VICE Media names Adam Stotsky, a former NBCUniversal exec and president of Dick Clark Productions, as CEO... Condé Nast picks Mark Guiducci to serve as global editorial director of Vanity Fair, a newly created role, effective June 30. 
A new study reveals a significant asymmetry in media trust among Democrats and Republicans, with Democrats more likely to trust and consume a wider variety of news media, while Republicans remain more likely to distrust news organizations and restrict their media diet to a few select sources.
