#media-leadership

#media-leadership

CBS Evening News finished in third place behind ABC and NBC for total viewers during the week of March 2. The show, hosted by Tony Dokoupil, drew 4.117 million total viewers last week and 507,000 viewers in the key demographic. Compared with the prior week, the broadcast slipped 1% in total viewers but edged up 1% in the demo, making it the only evening newscast to post a week-to-week decline in any measured category.

Five months into her tenure running CBS News, Bari Weiss is making choices that are drawing scrutiny from inside the building—and raising a question the newsletter class spent the weekend chewing on: where does The Free Press end and CBS News begin? The flashpoint was a Friday report CBS News posted across its social channels about New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani's wife, Rama Duwaji, and her Instagram likes from October 7, 2023.

For years, the creator economy has rewarded founders who built audiences and companies simultaneously, serving as talent, brand, strategist and executive all at once. But as teams grow, revenue diversifies and operational complexity increases, that model is increasingly under pressure. One of the clearest examples comes from Smosh, one of YouTube's longest-standing creator businesses. Nearly two decades after its founding, Smosh has survived multiple platform evolutions, monetization resets and cultural changes by intentionally separating creative leadership from executive control.

ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. (January 28, 2026) - Poynter, a global leader in journalism, is pleased to welcome six new members to its National Advisory Board. The board brings together experienced leaders who offer strategic insight and fresh perspectives to support Poynter's mission of strengthening journalism in service to democracy, public trust and truth. The new members are: Katie den Daas, senior vice president of global newsgathering, ABC News Julie Pace, senior vice president and executive editor of The Associated Press Hari Sreenivasan, journalist and a host of "Amanpour and Company" Bala Sundaramoorthy, president and chief operating officer of Times Publishing Company Wendi C. Thomas, f ounder and investigative editor of MLK50: Justice Through Journalism Jessica Yellin, founder of News Not Noise and former White House correspondent

CBS, home to venerable institutions like "60 Minutes" and "Face the Nation," is a legacy, mainstream broadcast journalism outlet. Weiss, meanwhile, built her career as a contrarian columnist at The New York Times before stepping away in a highly publicized resignation over what she described as ideological groupthink. She soon launched The Free Press, an outlet that rails against the establishment with commentary that skews conservative. The idea that she might soon run one of America's most traditional broadcast news operations seemed unfathomable.

Kutler shared the news during an internal editorial call on Wednesday morning, according to CNN's media correspondent Brian Stelter, after first informing the network's leadership and speaking privately with several of MSNBC's top anchors. In a candid message, Kutler used the moment to urge colleagues to take their own wellbeing seriously. Take care of yourselves and your health, she told staff, adding that self-care was vital even in the midst of an unprecedented news cycle.

In my 30 years as a Trustee at NYPR, I've had the privilege of watching this organization become more innovative, vital, and essential to our city and audiences.

Our growing digital portfolio will benefit from this new organizational structure, setting Audacy up perfectly for further success," said Chris Oliviero, Chief Business Officer, Audacy.