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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. While the report notes that social media news use was up six percent in the wake of Trump’s election, traditional media sources experienced no such “Trump bump.” The social media and video platforms filling that gap are leading to what the report calls a “fragmented alternative media environment containing an array of podcasters, YouTubers, and TikTokers.” Around a third of the report’s global sample use Facebook (36 percent) and YouTube (30 percent) for news each week. The report also uncovers what it says is a “deep divide” between the US and Europe, as well as between conservatives and progressives, about the role of content moderation and fact-checking in social media spaces. It also says that power of podcasts is growing, with 15 percent of respondents in the US accessing one or more podcasts in the last week. Not surprisingly, more than half of the study’s sample express concern about their ability to tell what is true from what is false when it comes to news online.
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| Anna Wintour |
Anna Wintour is leaving behind her role as Vogue’s head of editorial content, though she will continue to oversee the magazine from her joint roles as chief content officer for Condé Nast and Vogue’s global editorial director. A search is underway for a new person to lead the magazine’s daily operations, but that person will report to Wintour. The 75-year-old Wintour went on to add that on a practical level, many of her duties at Vogue would remain the same, “including paying very close attention to the fashion industry and the creative cultural force that is our extraordinary Met Ball and charting the course of future Vogue Worlds and any other original fearless ideas we may come up with.” She has been editor of Vogue since 1988.
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The BBC is putting up a paywall for US-based visitors who want to access all of BBC.com’s offerings. The price US users will have to pay is $49.99 a year (or $8.99 a month), allowing them to stream the BBC News channel and giving them access to “most BBC News stories and features.” Those not paying the fee will still have ad-supported access to selected global breaking news stories, BBC Radio 4 and the World Service. There will be no changes for the BBC's UK audiences or for those elsewhere around the world. The corporation hopes money from the US fees can supplement the £174.50 (about $240) license fee charged to UK households. The BBC has said it expected to have a £492m ($674) budget deficit for the latest financial year.
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.
