Media Insider: Twitter CEO Steps Down, CNN Suspends Cuomo, Vox Nabs NPR Host for Podcast Deal
Welcome to Media Insider, PR Newswire’s roundup of media news stories from the week.
CNET | QUEENIE WONG, ANDREW MORSE & CARRIE MIHALCIK
Twitter’s Jack Dorsey steps down as CEO
Jack Dorsey has stepped down as CEO of Twitter and will hand over the top job to the company’s CTO, Parag Agrawal. As CTO, Agrawal led the social network’s technical strategy and advanced the use of machine learning at Twitter. “I’ve decided to leave Twitter because I believe the company is ready to move on from its founders,” Dorsey said. Dorsey had been CEO since 2015, leading the company to its first profit in 2018 and navigating a period of intense scrutiny of social media platforms – he testified at multiple hearings. He remains CEO of Square, a digital payments company he co-founded in 2009.
(Update: CNN fired Cuomo over the weekend.)
In other social media news, a UK regulator is ordering Meta to sell off Giphy.
NEW YORK TIMES | MICHAEL M. GRYNBAUM & JOHN KOBLIN
CNN Suspends Chris Cuomo After New Details on Help He Gave His Brother
CNN has suspended star anchor Chris Cuomo indefinitely, pending evaluation. The decision comes after new details emerged that show his role in trying to help his brother, former governor of New York, Andrew Cuomo, was more involved and intimate than previously known. The network and its president, Jeff Zucker, supported Cuomo for the past 18 months, “even as a drip of uncomfortable revelations raised questions about the network’s adherence to journalistic standards.”
Read more: CNN host Chris Cuomo used his media sources to find out info on brother Andrew’s accusers, records show.
AXIOS | SARA FISCHER
Vox Media poaches top NPR host, lands distribution deal with WNYC
According to Axios, Vox has inked a deal with WNYC to distribute its flagship podcast “Today, Explained” to public radio stations across the country beginning next year. This will be the first time Vox’s content will appear regularly on the radio, part of its effort to grow the reach of its podcast network. Vox will also bring on Noel King, co-host of NPR’s “Morning Edition,” as editorial director and co-host of “Today Explained.” The mutually beneficial deal means a broad reach for the podcast and free programming and a younger audience for the radio network.
Architectural Digest is also expanding its reach and will publish its first global print issue, a collaboration between editors from its U.S. and nine international editions.
NEW YORK TIMES | MARC TRACY
Local News Outlets Could Reap $1.7 Billion in Build Back Better Aid
Local news outlets could see relief in the form of a payroll tax credit, a small part of the Build Back Better bill. If the bill makes it through the Senate, it will provide $1.67 billion over the next five years for outlets that primarily cover local news. “If eligible, they could reap up to $25,000 for each locally focused journalist they employ in the first year and $15,000 in each of the next four,” according to the Times. Art Cullen, the editor and a co-owner of Iowa’s Storm Lake Times, told the Times, “I’ve been skeptical of things like local tax levies or direct federal subsidy…But on the other hand, we need help and take it everywhere I can get it.”
Read next: Pan-European newsroom launches as a hub for collaboration on covering EU affairs in 15 languages.
POYNTER | ANGELA FU
Wirecutter staff strike during Black Friday weekend
Union workers at The New York Times’ product review site Wirecutter went on strike during what is normally the site’s busiest time of year, from Thanksgiving through Cyber Monday. The Wirecutter Union has been bargaining for their first contract for nearly two years. They say low wages and insufficient salary increases are some reasons for the strike. The next negotiation session is scheduled for early December, according to an NYT spokesperson.
After the strike: Every member of the Wirecutter Union will be eligible to receive overtime pay for the hours they missed working overtime during the strike.
