 Randall Lane |
Randall Lane has been named chief content officer at Forbes. Lane will focus on integrating editorial content across digital and print, developing more editorial franchises and working with contributors and the Forbes editorial team to develop more multiplatform reporting. In addition to his new role, Lane will also continue to serve as the editor of Forbes Magazine. He joined Forbes in 1991 and has served as reporter, staff writer and Washington bureau chief. “Randall is a unique and talented leader at Forbes,” said Forbes Media CEO Mike Federle. “He’s the perfect fit for this position as we continue to expand globally, build new editorial initiatives, reach new audiences and evolve to adjust to changing consumer behaviors.”
 |
Following on the heels of what the New York Post reports is a $100 million operating loss for 2017, Condé Nast appears to ready to perform some major surgery to the corporate side of its business—and the cuts aren’t just being considered for the print side of the company. According to the report, the company’s entertainment division, Condé Nast Entertainment, is also said to be under review. So far this year, there have been two rounds of layoffs at the company, paring over 200 jobs. With Hearst having acquired Rodale and Meredith sealing its deal to buy Time Inc., Condé is being suggested as a potential acquisition target itself. While Amazon, Google, Apple, Hearst and various venture capital firms are part of the rumor mill as regards possible buyers, the Post says company insiders say there no plans at present to sell the company.
 Jim Roberts |
Cheddar, a streaming financial news network that focuses on stocks and technology and is broadcast daily from the floor of the New York Stock Exchange, has named Jim Roberts editor-in-chief. Roberts comes to Cheddar from the public strategy firm Mercury, where he has served as managing director. He has also worked as an editorial consultant for The Hill, was executive editor and chief content officer at Mashable, and spent over 25 years at the New York Times. Roberts’s hire is part of a drive by Cheddar to beef up its editorial product, an effort that includes the launching of a news reporting unit to be called “Cheddar Scoops.”
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.
Trump Media & Technology Group is discussing a spin-off of the Truth Social platform following the expected closing of its $6B merger deal with TAE Technologies... Condé Nast sells off Them, the digital LGBTQ-focused platform it launched in 2017, to Equalpride, publisher of Out, The Advocate, Out Traveler, Health PLUS Wellness and Pride.com... CBS News has parted ways with longevity influencer Peter Attia, one of the 19 contributors that editor-in-chief Bari Weiss brought on as part of her plan to present a wider variety of voices on the platform. 
Symbolic.ai forms a partnership with News Corp to begin using the company’s AI-native publisher platform in the newsrooms of News Corp publications to augment research, writing and publishing... Mediaite launches a newsletter that promises to give readers a summary of—media newsletters... The Fund for American Studies launches the Journalism Excellence Fellowship, a program that will provide promising young journalists the opportunity to work alongside top writers, reporters, and media professionals.
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.
