 Barbara Jones |
21st Century Fox, in the wake of a $90 million settlement of shareholder claims arising from the sexual harassment scandal at Fox News Channel, has formed the Fox News Workplace Professional and Inclusion Council. The Council will advise Fox News and its senior management as the company works to put into place measures that it says are designed to “ensure a proper workplace environment for all employees and guests.” Those measures are to include bolstering employee training and furthering the company’s recruitment and advancement of women and minorities. The council’s four independent members include Barbara Jones, a former judge in the U.S District Court for the Southern District of New York, and Virgil Jones, who has served as vp, talent acquisition and diversity at the Gannett Company. “The Workplace Council gives our management team access to a braintrust of experts with deep and diverse experiences in workplace issues,” Jack Abernethy, co-president of Fox News Channel, said in a statement. “We look forward to benefiting from their collective guidance.”
 Eric Schmidt |
Google says that it plans to "derank" stories from Russian-sponsored news sites Russia Today and Sputnik in response to allegations that they have been used as a tool in U.S. election meddling by the Russian government. Google's move would de-prioritize the sites in search algorithms, making it less likely that users would see their content via search. In a statement published on RT by Sputnik and RT editor-in-chief Margarita Simonyan, she accuses Google of censorship. However, Eric Schmidt, the chairman of Alphabet, Google’s parent company, disputes the censorship claim. “I am strongly not in favor of censorship,” Schmidt said at the Halifax International Security Forum on Nov. 19. “I am very strongly in favor of ranking. It’s what we do.” RT has also been forced to comply with the requirements of the Foreign Agents Registration Act. That move has provoked a retaliatory effort by Russian President Vladimir Putin. According to Sputnik, Putin has signed into law amendments that will allow international media outlets that operate in Russia to be listed as “foreign agents”.
 Warren Schlichting |
DISH Network has reached a multi-year agreement with CBS Corp. to carry its owned and operated local stations, as well as CBS Sports Network, Pop and the Smithsonian Channel. The channels will be restored to DISH customers. “We are grateful to our customers for their patience this holiday week as months of work has resulted in a deal that delivers CBS for years to come,” said Warren Schlichting, DISH executive VP of marketing, programming and media sales. Terms of the agreement were not disclosed.
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. 
CBS News is set to hand over its reins to The Free Press co-founder Bari Weiss as Paramount acquires her site for $155M... C-SPAN comes on board as an official media partner of the U.S. Semiquincentennial Commission, which is charged by Congress to lead the celebration of the 250th anniversary of the signing of the Declaration of Independence... A new Gallup survey says that the level of trust that US audiences have in the media has hit a new low.
