Author:
Kirk Varner
TheDesk.net offers the latest news and analysis on the business of streaming media, broadcast TV, media, measurement and advertising. If you have a tip, story, press release or announcement, email news@thedesk.net.
Viewpoint: Can local TV news still matter?
In his inaugural column for the website TVND, semi-retired TV news veteran Kirk Varner makes the case that local TV news matters now more than ever.
By:
Kirk Varner
OPINION
Low ratings likely behind cancellation of “The Reidout” at MSNBC
The show has lost more than a quarter of its audience between this month and February 2024, according to Nielsen data reviewed by The Desk.
MSNBC to settle $30 million defamation lawsuit brought by Georgia doctor
The lawsuit centered on an unfounded NBC News report that claimed women at immigration detention facilities received medically-unnecessary hysterectomies in 2020.
Associated Press sues White House officials over ban
The news organization says it is being barred from events involving President Donald Trump because it refuses to refer to the Atlantic Gulf as the "Gulf of Mexico."
Viewpoint: How online brain rot is undermining good storytelling
"Modern media and technology constantly remind us to preserve our memory and protect our history. However, memory is paradoxical in that it involves forgetting and absence with every act of remembrance."
By:
Masoud Kianpour
Viewpoint: CNN and the journalism sausage factory
The defamation trial involving CNN, its star host Jake Tapper and American veteran exposed how the American news hot dog is made.
By:
Charles Benaiah
Viewpoint: Mainstream media continues to face a credibility crisis
The media is the least trusted institution of 10 civil and political institutions in the U.S., recent polls show – even worse than Congress.
By:
Anita Varma
The Desk ends 2024 as most-engaged media trade publication on LinkedIn
More industry executives and front-line workers engaged with stories, articles and newsletter from The Desk among our core competitive set of media and entertainment publications.
Former CNN news anchor Aaron Brown dies at 76
The journalist is perhaps best known for leading CNN's coverage of the September 11, 2001 terror attack, reporting live from a Manhattan rooftop as the World Trade Center burned, then crumbled, in the background.
Viewpoint: Is Bluesky really the better social platform?
Bluesky's decision to implement a "hard block" and associated block leaderboard compound the confirmation silo issues that plague other social platforms.
By:
Charles Benaiah
What does Bluesky’s surge in popularity mean for journalism?
Reporters and editors are fleeing the unfriendly waters of X/Twitter for the level-headed Bluesky — is that a good thing?
By:
Craig Robertson
CNN scrutinized after report claiming man freed from Syrian jail
The man, initially identified as a captive held in detention for three months, turned out to be a former Air Force intelligence officer who was jailed for no more than 30 days.