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Penske Media, which publishes titles including Variety and Deadline, has acquired a 51 percent stake in Rolling Stone. Singapore-based BandLabs Technologies retains its 49 percent share of the magazine. Jann Wenner, the magazine’s co-founder, is staying on as editorial director, and Gus Wenner will keep the positions of COO and president as well as becoming a member of Penske’s advisory board. While details of the deal have not been officially disclosed, a report from the Financial Times said that it values Rolling Stone at more than $110 million. Penske Media owner Jay Penske said his goal was to make sure that Rolling Stone “continues to ascend for decades across multiple media platforms.”
 Bill DeBlasio |
New York City Mayor Bill DeBlasio says that government-supported media might be one solution to the recent woes hitting journalism, the New York Post reports. “Do I trust the public sector to create fair and responsive media more than a bunch of rich individuals from multinational corporations?,” DeBlasio said in an interview conducted by reporters from the recently shut down websites DNAinfo New York and Gothamist and posted on Medium.com. “Of course.” DeBlasio’s comments follow a piece published last month in the New York Daily News, in which New York City Councilmember Rory Lancman wrote “it’s time for New York City to get back into the business of funding local journalism.” The city was in that business with radio station WNYC until it was sold off in 1995.
 Charlie Rose |
The National Press Club Board of Governors has unanimously voted to rescind the Fourth Estate Lifetime Achievement Award it presented to Charlie Rose in 2014. The award goes to a journalist who “has achieved distinction for a lifetime of contributions to American journalism.” The board concluded the actions described in the charges made against Rose represent neither the values of the National Press Club nor the criteria for the award. In a statement posted on the NPC website, the board reaffirmed its commitment to the right of all journalists to pursue their work free from harassment or discrimination.
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.
Paramount Skydance CEO David Ellison has named Kenneth Weinstein, former head of the conservative Hudson Institute, as ombudsman for CBS News.
