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UPDATE: Howie Kurtz Keeps CNN Job; Will Address Being Dropped From Daily Beast This Weekend

By DOMINIC PATTEN | Friday May 3, 2013 @ 9:25am PDTTags: CNN, Howard Kurtz, The Daily Beast, Tina Brown

UPDATE 9:25 AM: He’s out at the Daily Beast but CNN has decided not to cut Howard Kurtz loose for his sloppy reporting about NBA player Jason Collins’ coming out. “There has been no status change with Howard Kurtz, he remains the host of Reliable Sources.  He will address this issue on the program this weekend,” a CNN spokesperson said today. No word if the Jeff Zucker-run news network will be renewing Kurtz’s contract as the long time host of the Sunday media show when it is up.

1st UPDATE, THURSDAY PM: Howard Kurtz’s job problems today may not be over. I have learned that CNN is reviewing what happened at the Daily Beast and its Reliable Sources host’s sloppy reporting on NBA player Jason Collins. “Some things have been raised this week and CNN wants to review the situation,” a CNN insider tells me about the cable news network’s relationship with its long time Sunday media show host after the Daily Beast dumped him Thursday. No word yet if that means Kurtz is canned at CNN but the fact that such a discussion is occurring can’t be a good sign.

PREVIOUSLY 1:42 PM: Media critic/reporter Howie Kurtz is the host of CNN’s Reliable Sources but he was fired today from his other gig at The Daily Beast for sloppy reporting on pro basketball player Jason Collin’s coming out. “@TheDailyBeast & @HowardKurtz have parted company… We wish him well,” tweeted Editor-in-Chief Tina Brown. At issue was that Kurtz reported wrongly that Collins hadn’t made public he was once engaged to a woman – when he had. The Daily Beast retracted the story on Wednesday. This didn’t seem to rise to the level of a firing offence. According to Kurtz tweets, “This was in the works for some time… But as we began to move in different directions, both sides agreed it was best to part company.” Kurtz had been the Washington Post media critic since 1990 but took a buy-out in 2010. He has done double duty on the CNN media show since 1998. In the past Kurtz has been criticized for writing about CNN and hosting the show. As of right now, sources tell me that Kurtz’s CNN gig is secure at the newly Jeff Zucker-run network.

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Newsweek To End Print Edition

By DAVID LIEBERMAN, Executive Editor | Thursday October 18, 2012 @ 5:30am PDTTags: IAC/InterActiveCorp, Newsweek, The Daily Beast, Tina Brown

Tina Brown, who edits Newsweek and The Daily Beast, announced this morning that the nearly 80-year-old weekly newsmagazine will go all-digital. The December 31 edition will be the last one in print. Its online successor, to be called Newsweek Global, will offer a single, subscription-based international edition designed for e-readers, tablets and the Web and targeted to opinion leaders. Even so, Brown and Newsweek Daily Beast CEO Baba Shetty say that they “anticipate staff reductions and the streamlining of our editorial and business operations both here in the U.S. and internationally.” The execs say that they are “transitioning Newsweek, not saying goodbye to it,” adding that they “remain committed to Newsweek and to the journalism that it represents. This decision is not about the quality of the brand or the journalism—that is as powerful as ever. It is about the challenging economics of print publishing and distribution.” Read More »

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IAC Investment In Newsweek/Daily Beast Will Be “Considerably Less” Next Year

By DAVID LIEBERMAN, Executive Editor | Wednesday July 25, 2012 @ 8:49am PDTTags: Barry Diller, IAC, Newsweek, The Daily Beast

Daily Beast Newsweek IACThe news comes from IAC/InterActiveCorp chief Barry Diller in a conference call with analysts to discuss his company’s earnings. Newsweek/Daily Beast is “squarely on our heads,” he said following the recent decision by … Read More »

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IAC Takes Over Newsweek/Daily Beast

By DAVID LIEBERMAN, Executive Editor | Tuesday July 24, 2012 @ 8:59am PDTTags: Barry Diller, IAC/InterActiveCorp, Newsweek, The Daily Beast

It’s up to Barry Diller‘s company to chart a course for the Tina Brown-run print and Internet publication. The family of one-time audio pioneer Sidney Harman decided to pull back from the joint venture with IAC. Harman was actively involved in the operation, but he died in April 2011. As a result, “the Harman trust has indicated that it does not intend to make further capital contributions to the venture,” it told Reuters, which broke the story. Harman’s wife, former California Rep. Jane Harman, will remain on the board. The big question now is how long Diller’s IAC/InterActiveCorp will be willing to stick by Newsweek/Daily Beast. Word has it the board doesn’t like the business, although Diller’s control of 42.8% of the company votes means he usually gets what he wants. The print publication had an operating loss of about $39.5M in 2009; the Washington Post sold it in 2010 to Harman for $1 along with his assumption of liabilities. But its circulation has continued to fall: It was down 31.6% in 2010 and then 3.4% last year to 1.5M. Meanwhile, the ad-supported online publication is estimated to be losing about $10M a year. Read More »

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Newsweek & Daily Beast Announce Merger

By NIKKI FINKE, Editor in Chief | Thursday November 11, 2010 @ 8:42pm PSTTags: Barry Diller, IAC/InterActiveCorp, Magazines, Newsweek, Newsweek Finance, Sidney Harman Newsweek, The Daily Beast, Tina Brown, Tina Brown Newsweek

This, after talks were abandoned just recently. The new venture will be called the Newsweek Daily Beast. Tonight, Tina Brown, Daily Beast’s co-founder, announced the merger — “some weddings take longer to plan than others” — and will top edit. The Daily … Read More »

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Daily Beast And Newsweek Talks Fall Apart

By THE DEADLINE TEAM | Monday October 18, 2010 @ 12:01pm PDTTags: Barry Diller IAC, Magazines, Newsweek, Sidney Harman Newsweek, The Daily Beast, Tina Brown, Tina Brown Newsweek, Wall Street Journal

The Wall Street Journal is reporting that talks between The Daily Beast and Newsweek have cratered. The two companies had been discussing a deal to make Tina Brown editor of Newsweek. But details couldn’t be worked out surrounding the division of power between Brown, new Newsweek owner Sidney Harman, and Barry Diller, who’s chairman … Read More »

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