 Janice Min |
Janice Min, former US and Hollywood Reporter editor-in-chief, plans to join forces with ex-CBS Entertainment head Nina Tassler on a new TV and digital-media production company, according to the New York Post. The LA-based startup will focus on projects led by females, including writers, directors and producers, and likely financial backers include Creative Artists Agency and its investment arm, Evolution Media Capital, the Post said. Min, who was allegedly on the short list to replace Graydon Carter as EIC of Vanity Fair, is currently a strategic advisor at Eldridge Industries, which controls The Hollywood Reporter as well as its sister publication Billboard.
 Patrick J. Purcell |
The Boston Herald is being acquired by GateHouse Media. The acquisition comes after Boston Herald, Inc., filed a voluntary Chapter 11 bankruptcy petition in the District of Delaware Dec. 8. According to an article in the paper’s Saturday edition, BHI says that the sale will allow the operation to continue, providing a level of stability for employees, customers and vendors. As of September 2017, GateHouse publishes 130 daily newspapers, more than 640 community publications and over 540 local market websites, reaching more than 21 million consumers weekly. each week. Earlier this year, it acquired Dix Communications in Ohio and Calkins Media in Pennsylvania and New Jersey. “All I ever wanted to do was keep the Boston Herald alive,” publisher Patrick J. Purcell said in a letter to employees. “And it is with this pending sale that I am able to do that in these difficult newspapering times.”
 Emily Gitter |
The Wall Street Journal has named Emily Gitter editor of weekend business and finance. Gitter, who has been with the paper since 2005, will be tasked with leading efforts to create a new weekend business and finance section, as well as coordinating the WSJ’s weekend coverage of business and finance across both print and digital platforms. She has served as editor of the Journal’s Mansion section, which focuses on luxury real estate, since 2012 and before that was deputy editor of Weekend Journal. Before coming to the Journal, Gitter held editorial positions at New York Magazine and the New York Sun.
Underscore Media, a new creator-led media venture dedicated to New York sports, is built around three established New York sports personalities, Sal Licata, Jimmy Traina, and John Jastremski.
McClatchy, which owns 29 daily papers across 14 states (including The Miami Herald, Sacramento Bee and Kansas City Star), launches a wave of layoffs that extends to at least 13 of those papers... The Toledo Blade, which was founded in 1835, is set to shut down on Dec. 31, unless owner Block Communications manages to find a buyer for it... A bill awaiting approval by California governor Gavin Newsom would give local newsrooms a boost. 
Fox News Media issued a pretty sparse release to announce the departure of one of its stars. “Effective today, Maria Bartiromo is no longer with FOX News Media,” it reads.
Brunswick Group partner John Simons has joined CNN as senior director of business & media. He held top jobs at Time and the Wall Street Journal.
WNET, the nation’s largest public media company, names Edward O’Keefe its next president and CEO, effective September 21. O’Keefe succeeds Neal Shapiro, who becomes president emeritus and will retire at the end of the year... The Stealth Bot Prohibition Act, which would empower news publishers and other content providers to defend themselves by mandating transparency for all bots crawling their sites, in introduced in the House by Rep. Laurel Lee (R-FL) and Rep. Valerie Foushee (D-NC)... Google gets socked by European Union regulators with a $1 billion fine for using the platform’s dominance as a search engine to illegally undercut competition.
