Media

The Desk reports: The news director of a Michigan NBC affiliate ordered her reporters to ease up on coverage of LGBT-focused stories during Pride Month, saying the news pieces were upsetting some of the station’s conservative viewers. The memo, penned by WOOD-TV (Channel 8) Assistant News Director Amy Fox, followed several reports that focused on a celebration hosted in the …

Axios reports: Fox News has sent a “cease and desist” letter to Tucker Carlson as he ramps up a competing series on Twitter that drew a combined 169 million views for its first two episodes, Axios has learned. The contract battle between Fox and its former top host — who was taken off the air in April, after the network’s …

Puck News reports: After a year of leadership missteps, programming misfires, a disastrous Trump town hall and the near-total decimation of staff morale in the wake of a chilling all-access Atlantic story, Chris Licht will be vacating the C.E.O. position. In the next 48 hours, I’m told, Warner Bros. Discovery will announce that Licht will be stepping down as chairman …

The New York Times reports: Chuck Todd said on Sunday that he was stepping down from NBC’s “Meet the Press” after nine years in the moderator’s chair and would be succeeded by the network’s chief White House correspondent, Kristen Welker. In remarks at the conclusion of the show on Sunday, Mr. Todd, 50, said he was conscious that many leaders …

Media Matters reports: Newsmax used footage of an Iowa building collapse while discussing a drone strike in Russia during a Tuesday broadcast. The error occurred during the latest edition of The Record With Greta Van Susteren where she broke down the latest news of the strike that hit Moscow on Tuesday, the first to hit a civilian area in Russia …

The Philadelphia Inquirer reports: The Philadelphia Inquirer and outside cybersecurity experts continued Sunday to scramble to restore systems after an apparent cyberattack disrupted operations over the weekend. The Inquirer had been unable to print its regular Sunday newspaper, and it was not clear until late Sunday afternoon that it would be possible to print Monday’s editions of The Inquirer and …

Reuters reports: Vice Media Group, popular for websites such as Vice and Motherboard, filed for bankruptcy protection on Monday to engineer its sale to a group of lenders, capping years of financial difficulties and top-executive departures. Vice said that the lender consortium, which includes Fortress Investment Group, Soros Fund Management and Monroe Capital, will provide about $225 million in the …

The Huffington Post reports: Ousted Fox News host Tucker Carlson and CNN anchor Don Lemon seemed to have had little in common until now: The fallen cable news stars reportedly just hired the same lawyer to navigate their departures. Multiple outlets say Los Angeles attorney Bryan Freedman is representing both. Freedman has facilitated favorable breakup terms for hosts before, including …

The New York Times reports: Don Lemon is out at CNN. CNN said on Monday that it was parting ways with Mr. Lemon, a star anchor who was a fixture of the network’s prime-time lineup before enduring a short but controversial tenure as a morning show co-host. “CNN and Don have parted ways,” the network said in a statement on …

First, last month’s report by CNBC: BuzzFeed is shrinking its money-losing news organization, the company announced Tuesday, amid what people familiar with the matter describe as broader investor concern that the division is weighing down the company. Several large shareholders have urged BuzzFeed founder and CEO Jonah Peretti to shut down the entire news operation, said the people, who asked …

CNBC reports: DirecTV said Wednesday it reached a deal with Newsmax Media to once again carry the right wing network in its satellite-TV and streaming packages. DirecTV had not carried Newsmax on its services since late January, when carriage negotiations broke down between the two companies. Newsmax had earlier alleged at the core of the dispute was “political discrimination,” with …

Florida Politics reports: Republican lawmakers sidestepped decades of constitutional precedent and a wave of public opposition Tuesday to advance legislation aimed at weakening legal protections for journalists writing about public figures. Members of the Senate Judiciary Committee voted along party lines for the measure (SB 1220), one of several bills Gov. Ron DeSantis has prioritized this year targeting long-held First …

Reuters reports: A Brooklyn federal jury on Thursday convicted a former 21st Century Fox executive and acquitted another after a trial over an alleged scheme to bribe South American soccer officials to secure lucrative broadcasting rights. Jurors found Hernan Lopez guilty but acquitted Carlos Martinez on the same charges. South American sports marketing company Full Play Group SA was also …

The Associated Press reports: In defending itself against a massive defamation lawsuit over how it covered false claims surrounding the 2020 presidential election, the network is relying on a nearly 60-year-old Supreme Court ruling that makes it difficult to successfully sue media organizations for libel. Former President Donald Trump and Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, two favorites of many Fox News …

Yahoo News reports: The firing of Meghan Mangrum, a former education reporter for The Dallas Morning News, comes after she spotted a Feb. 11 tweet from Dallas Mayor Eric Johnson [photo] that alleged the local media had “no interest” in reporting on a drop in violent crime numbers in the city. Johnson wrote the tweet despite multiple media outlets – …

The Associated Press reports: Officials from India’s Income Tax Department searched the BBC’s offices in New Delhi and Mumbai on Tuesday, weeks after it broadcast a controversial documentary about Prime Minister Narendra Modi, the British broadcaster said. The BBC said it was cooperating fully. “We hope to have this situation resolved as soon as possible,” it said in a statement. …

CNBC reports: The National Enquirer, the tabloid at the center of several scandals involving former President Donald Trump, will be sold to a joint venture involving Theodore Farnsworth, the former MoviePass chairman who has been criminally charged with securities fraud. The deal’s price wasn’t disclosed, but Farnsworth, founder of Icon Publishing, told The New York Times that it was a …

Mediaite reports: CNN will be reaping another benefit of the Warner Bros. Discovery merger next month, when Overtime, the post-show segment from Bill Maher’s HBO program, Real Time With Bill Maher, begins airing on Friday nights. The network made the announcement in a press release Monday, describing it as one of “several other recent partnership between HBO and CNN.” The …

The Daily Beast reports: Negotiations hit a standstill on Tuesday between DirecTV and conservative cable channel Newsmax, prompting the pay-TV provider to cut loose the pro-Trump network from its lineup. On the surface, this should have been a typical cable package negotiation in an era of cord-cutting, shrinking subscription numbers, and reduced television revenues. Instead, it looks like it will …

Politico reports: Americano Media, which launched in March, is embarking on an aggressive expansion plan to shape center-right Hispanic opinion during the upcoming election cycle. The network has hired more than 80 Latino journalists and producers, are expanding their radio presence to television, and by the end of the year will have studios in Miami, Las Vegas and D.C. with …