Media
Ties Between Alex Jones and Radio Network Show Economics of Misinformation
Ted Anderson, a precious metals seller, was hoping to rustle up some business for his gold and silver dealership when he started a radio network out of a Minneapolis suburb a couple of decades ago. Soon after, he signed a brash young radio host named Alex Jones. Together, they ended up shaping today’s misinformation economy. […]
Know More
Can Paramount Compete With Netflix and Disney?
In January, the board of Paramount, including Shari Redstone, the company’s chair, met with a group of bankers to get an update on the media industry and to hear about potential deals that might help the company better compete with streaming giants like Netflix and Disney. The bankers, from Goldman Sachs and LionTree, came with […]
Know More
CNN+ Streaming Service Will Shut Down Weeks After Its Start
Executives at Discovery, wary of antitrust rules, were constrained from advising their counterparts at CNN until the merger was done. CNN+ had lost its champion when Mr. Zucker left in February because of an undisclosed romantic relationship with a colleague. But Jason Kilar, the WarnerMedia chief executive, forged ahead anyway, launching the streaming platform on […]
Know More
Will Substack Go Beyond Newsletters? A Company Weighs Its Future.
There are things that the newsletter writer Kirsten Han misses about Substack. They just aren’t enough to outweigh the downsides. She disliked how the platform portrayed itself as a haven for independent writers with fewer resources while offering six-figure advances to several prominent white men. The hands-off content moderation policy, which allowed transphobic and anti-vaccine […]
Know More
Discovery Closes In on Acquisition of WarnerMedia
“I am sure you aren’t surprised that it came with a fair amount of anxiety, disappointment and concern relative to the changes it would trigger,” he wrote. “All considered, I remain confident we have set the right path.” The creation of Warner Bros. Discovery could prompt changes among existing media companies, forcing smaller companies like […]
Know More
You Don’t Know Much About Jay Penske. And He’s Fine With That.
‘This Guy Is Serious’ Ten Penske Media employees interviewed for this article describe their boss as someone who stepped up for publications in trouble. “Jay Penske came in and saved this business,” said Dea Lawrence, the chief operating and marketing officer of Variety. “He is a hero to the publishing world.” His company has more […]
Know More
How Billionaires Are Shaping France’s Presidential Campaign
PARIS — The face of President Emmanuel Macron’s possibly fiercest rival in France’s coming election is not on any campaign poster. He has not given a single speech. His name will not be on the ballot. He is not a candidate at all, but the man often described as France’s Rupert Murdoch: Vincent Bolloré, the […]
Know More
With New Limits on Media, Putin Closes a Door on Russia’s ‘Openness’
One of the paradoxical things about Vladimir V. Putin’s increasingly authoritarian rule of Russia was how relatively open society always remained. For all the state’s control of media, people could read or watch what they wanted, including foreign newscasts like BBC and CNN. The internet was largely unfettered, a portal to the rest of the […]
Know More
Jeff Zucker’s Downfall at CNN: Ethical Lapses and Falling Ratings
The network president had spent years standing by his anchor. Now, feeling that Mr. Cuomo had misled him, Mr. Zucker was losing patience. He had initially planned to fire Mr. Cuomo, before deciding to hold off. Mr. Zucker tried to be diplomatic as he broke the news that Mr. Cuomo was suspended. He suggested there […]
Know More