CNBC Acquisition, Fortune Layoffs and TikTok Footnotes: Media News Recap for July
Welcome to Media Insider, PR Newswire’s roundup of media news stories from the month.
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July brought a wave of directional shifts across the media landscape. Jeff Bezos is reportedly eyeing a major expansion of his media portfolio, G/O Media continued to dismantle its digital holdings and Fortune joined the list of legacy brands tightening their belts.
Here’s everything you need to know about what happened in the media world in July.
Jeff Bezos weighing possible acquisition of CNBC
Amazon founder Jeff Bezos is reportedly weighing a possible acquisition of CNBC, according to sources familiar with the matter.
Bezos has expressed interest to business associates in buying the cable network — home to “Squawk Box” and “Mad Money with Jim Cramer” — once it is spun off by NBCUniversal parent Comcast later this year.
CNBC would align well with Bezos’ interests, according to another source, who noted that the network could serve as a credible “neutral voice” in his media portfolio — a major plus following Bezos’ headaches as owner of the left-leaning Washington Post. (New York Post)
Other deals announced in July:
- Ziff Davis acquired three publications. (MediaPost)
- DallasNews Corp. board rejected a last-minute Alden bid as Hearst upped its offer. (San Antonio Express-News)
- Newsletter publisher 6AM City bought AI startup Good Daily. (AdWeek)
- Skydance is in early talks to acquire The Free Press. (New York Times)
- Michigan Independent Media Group acquired City Pulse. (Editor & Publisher)
- The San Francisco Standard took over the work and leadership publication Charter. (MediaPost)
- Sample News Group will acquire Eagle News Group. (Editor & Publisher)
Footnotes, TikTok’s crowdsourced fact-checks, launches in the U.S.
TikTok announced the public launch of Footnotes, a crowdsourced fact-checking system similar to X’s and Meta’s Community Notes feature.
The technology will initially roll out to U.S. users as a pilot program, allowing contributors to both write and rate Footnotes on TikTok videos. All U.S. users can view the notes rated as helpful and submit their own ratings in return.
TikTok uses a bridging algorithm that tries to find consensus among people who typically have different views. If both sides rate a note as helpful, then it’s more likely to be true, according to this method. This also guards against brigading, where one side tries to sway a decision their way by voting similarly. (TechCrunch)
More launches from July:
- The Wallflower, a gay lifestyle magazine, is set for launch. (MediaPost)
- Wired is launching five newsletters and audio versions of articles. (Talking Biz News)
- NBCU is exploring launching a sports cable network. (Wall Street Journal)
- ABC News is debuting a daily show on Disney+. (The Hollywood Reporter)
- An award-winning international correspondent has launched a journalism platform. (Associated Press)
- The Atlantic unveiled a national security section and newsletter. (MediaPost)
- The Information launched a new video product, TITV. (Axios)
- Reuters launched AI-voiced video content in Spanish and Portuguese. (Editor & Publisher)
Fortune Lays Off 10% of Staff
Fortune has laid off an estimated 10% of its staff, about 30 employees, as part of “hard organizational changes to prepare Fortune to endure and thrive in the years ahead,” according to a staff memo from CEO Anastasia Nyrkovskaya.
Nyrkovskaya cited the fast-changing business landscape, including the rise of AI, declining website traffic, and growing demand for audio and video formats, as driving the need to adapt the company’s business model. (MediaPost)
More job cuts in July:
- WKAR laid off staff amid federal budget challenges. (WKAR)
- The Chicago Tribune laid off eight newsroom employees. (MediaPost)
- The Washington Post’s CEO urged staffers not aligned with the new direction to take buyouts. (FOX News)
- American Public Media Group is planning layoffs amid a $6M deficit. (Current)
- Bloomberg News reorganized the newsroom, making some job cuts. (MediaPost)
- Union members fought layoffs at Oregon’s Bend Bulletin. (MediaPost)
G/O Media Winds Down by Selling Kotaku, One of Its Last Sites
G/O Media, the digital publisher that once owned sites like Jezebel and Deadspin, is winding down its operations and selling off one of its last properties, video game website Kotaku.
The company once owned a collection of websites that belonged to the Gawker Media blog universe and The Onion, but it has slowly been shedding its holdings. With the sale of Kotaku, only one website remains: The Root, which covers Black culture and news.
In April, G/O Media sold the business news site Quartz and The Inventory, a commerce site, to Redbrick, a Canadian software company. In recent years, it also sold off Jalopnik, The Onion, Jezebel, Lifehacker, Deadspin and the A.V. Club.
Jim Spanfeller, G/O Media’s chief executive, said he was still working to find a buyer for The Root, but that G/O Media “will exit having increased shareholder value.” (New York Times)
Other closures in July:
- Boulder Weekly fired its newsroom and halted publishing. (9News)
- Phil McGraw’s Merit Street Media filed for bankruptcy. (The Hollywood Reporter)
- Oxford University Press will stop publishing a China-sponsored science journal. (The Guardian)
L.A. Times Owner Says He Will Take Newspaper Public in Next Year
Patrick Soon-Shiong, owner of the Los Angeles Times, announced plans to take the newspaper public in the next year.
Soon-Shiong bought the Los Angeles Times in 2018 for $500 million from Tronc, a media company that was, at the time, listed on the New York Stock Exchange.
Since taking over the newspaper, Soon-Shiong has struggled to make it profitable, and a history of deep losses would cloud its appeal to investors. AdWeek reported that the L.A. Times lost $50 million in 2024 as paid subscriptions fell to just over 300,000. The newspaper laid off more than 20% of its newsroom staff last year.
A public offering would happen “over the next year,” Soon-Shiong said on “The Daily Show” in a taped interview with host Jon Stewart. He did not share any details or address whether this would dilute his control over the newspaper. (New York Times)
More notable stories from July:
- Dotdash Meredith rebrands as People Inc. (Axios)
- Press Forward granted $22.7 million to 22 newsroom projects. (NiemanLab)
- Substack raised $100 million, reaching a $1.1 billion valuation. (Axios)
- The San Francisco Standard launched a paywall. (MediaPost)
- Publishers like The Philadelphia Inquirer are bundling New York Times content into subscriptions. (NiemanLab)
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Maria Perez is director of web operations at Cision. In her spare time, she enjoys gaming, watching too much TV, and chasing squirrels with her dog Cece.
