"Global Footprint":
The Washington Post will add correspondents in Brazil and West Africa in 2019. Following recent additions in Mexico, Rome and Hong Kong, its "foreign-based reporting staff will soon number 30 correspondents in 22 locations outside the United States, the largest in the news organization’s history."
"All-Cash Offer":
Nexstar Media Group "has reached an agreement to acquire Tribune Media Co. for about $4.1 billion." The deal would make Nexstar the largest local television station operator in the United States. Tribune's proposed $3.9 billion sale to Sinclair Broadcast Group "collapsed over regulatory hurdles" three months ago.
"Right-Sized":
Oakland-based lifestyle magazine Sunset has struggled with "declining ad sales and management missteps" in recent months, including the resignation of several top editors and an "abrupt move" from a waterfront suite to a WeWork communal space. According to private equity investor Michael Reinstein, who specializes in distressed assets and purchased the periodical last year: "I view Sunset as my life’s work; making it live another 120 years is core to me."
"A Tumultuous Time":
Journalists at Mashable and PCMag "have joined the wave of digital news outlets aiming to become union shops." More than 80 percent of workers in the "would-be bargaining unit" of the NewsGuild of New York-CWA have signed union cards. "We're [all] operating sort of skeletal editorial crews," said Mashable reporter Heather Dockray. "We want to see [parent company Ziff Davis] invest in us."
"A Call For Justice":
CNN on Thursday terminated the contract of contributor Marc Lamont Hill after the Temple University media scholar called for the establishment of a "free Palestine from the river to the sea" at a U.N. event. "I do not support anti-Semitism, killing Jewish people, or any of the other things attributed to my speech," Hill said in a statement. "I have spent my life fighting these things."
"Onward And Upward":
Millennial-targeted news site Mic laid off more than 100 staff members Thursday and sold its remaining assets to Bustle Digital Group for $5 million. "Our business models are unsettled, and the macro forces at play are all going through their own states of unrest," said publisher Cory Haik in an internal memo. "If anyone tells you they have it figured out, a special plan to save us all, or that it's all due to a singular fault, know that is categorically false." The sale was condemned as an "egregious act" by the NewsGuild of New York-CWA, the union that represents Mic employees.
"A Sudden Interest":
Former CBS Chairman/CEO Les Moonves allegedly conspired with talent manager Marv Dauer to secure guest roles for actress Bobbie Phillips after a New York Times reporter inquired about Moonves's sexual misconduct last year. Phillips has alleged that Moonves sexually assaulted her in 1995. Moonves's failure to disclose the offers to CBS investigators may jeopardize his proposed $120 million severance package.
"Limited Options":
Millennial-focused digital publisher Mic is "is in talks to sell at least part of the company to Bustle Digital Group" following the collapse of a video initiative with Facebook. "They became very dependent on Facebook and they went all in on it, and they got burned," said a source.
"Feeling The Heat":
A Guardian report linking former Trump campaign chair Paul Manafort to Wikileaks founder Julian Assange may contain disinformation, former CIA officer Alex Finley cautioned. "I find it hard to believe [reporter Luke] Harding would not go to great lengths to confirm his story," she said. "He must know he is a target for disinformation. But that is not to say it could not happen."
"Potential Token Value":
Former Sludge staffer Jay Cassano alleged Monday that fledgling blockchain journalism start-up Civil (which funded Sludge) "lied to me and other journos about how much its blockchain token would be worth and when it would be issued." Accordin to Cassano, "undelivered tokens made up roughly 70 percent of his salary for five months." Civil co-founder Matt Coolidge asserted: "all participants in Civil's token sale [...] were refunded their contribution" and "will receive tokens as soon as they're available."
