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Mark Mysteries & Daily Beast Micro Deal Heat

News and notes on three trending media mini-sagas: Mark Thompson’s inability to share his CNN reinvention, CBS News’ dreary ploy, and Joanna Coles and Ben Sherwood’s Daily Beast M&A effort.

mark thompson
Thompson recognizes that he must extend audience engagement beyond the core offering by making CNN a fixture in people’s lives across more platforms. Photo: Neilson Barnard/Getty Images for New York Times
Dylan Byers
April 12, 2024

On Wednesday evening, CNN chairman and C.E.O. Mark Thompson sat down for a tête-à-tête at the Century Association—that bohemian, mahoganied Midtown social club frequented by the city’s old literary guard; myriad quasi-eminent writers, editors, and artists; and perhaps a few too many Timesmen. In strictly off-the-record remarks before his fellow Centurions, in conversation with peppy Atlantic C.E.O. Nick Thompson, Mark held forth on the rapidly changing nature of the media industry, the state of the news trade, and the challenges and opportunities facing CNN in a post-linear landscape, yada yada.