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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. The $3.5 million all-cash acquisition includes the High Times Cannabis Cups, a series of online cannabis product competitions. The brand also plans to rebuild its digital platform to host a curated network of cannabis podcasts, experts and community voices, as well as “heralding the future of free thinking” and “protecting the truth of the power of the plant.” Founded in 1974, High Times entered into receivership in April 2024. “We’re not just reviving High Times as a news source, we’re positioning it as a guiding light for culture and a definitive authority on all things cannabis and psychedelics,” said partner Matt Stang.
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| Adam Stotsky |
VICE Media names Adam Stotsky, a former NBCUniversal exec and president of Dick Clark Productions, as CEO. Former Amazon and Paramount Television executive Amy Powell joined VICE Media as president earlier this month. At NBCU, Stotsky was president of E! Entertainment and Esquire Network as well as CMO of NBC Entertainment. At Dick Clark Productions, he led production efforts leading up to its sale to Penske Media Corp. VICE executive chairman told Deadline that Stotsky is “a seasoned operator with deep brand expertise across television, sports and media. He is the perfect executive to lead Vice for our next phase of growth.” After filing for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in July 2023, VICE was acquired by Fortress Investment Group and other lenders, including Soros Capital Management and Monroe Capital.
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| Mark Guiducci |
Condé Nast picks Mark Guiducci to serve as global editorial director of Vanity Fair, a newly created role, effective June 30. Radhika Jones stepped down from the editor-in-chief spot in April. Guiducci was most recently creative editorial director at Vogue, leading content across print, digital, video, audio, social media and live events. He was previously editor in chief at GARAGE Magazine, and prior to an earlier stint as arts editor at Vogue, he was features associate at Vanity Fair. In his new post, Guiducci will oversee the creative and editorial direction of Vanity Fair across all markets where it is published including the US, UK, France, Italy and Spain. Condé Nast chief creative officer Anna Wintour called Guiducci “an energetic and creative editor at the center of his generation and a leader under whom Vanity Fair will grow in ways I can foresee and, no doubt, many ways I can’t.”
The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, which has roots going back to 1786, is going out of business, the paper’s owners, Block Communications, announced on Jan. 7... GQ editor Will Welch is stepping down to take on a new Paris-based role with the musician Pharrell, who is also men’s creative director at Louis Vuitton... Semafor says it has raised $30 million on a $330 million valuation, following its first profitable year. 
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. 
