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Marky Mark and The Funky Bunch: Eva Longoria, Jane Blumberg and Mark Thompson attend during CNN Searching for Spain with Eva Longoria Screening and Reception on April 21, 2025 in New York City. (Photo by Noam Galai/Getty Images for CNN)
Welcome to the latest edition of Breaker. If this email has been forwarded, you can subscribe here and send your questions and complaints here. If you have a tip, contact the 24/7 Breaker Tip Hotline via text or Signal #551 655 2343. Anonymity guaranteed!
In tonight’s edition, executives and talent at CNN are riding out a summer of paralysis and high anxiety. As the Paramount/ WBD takeover hits pause, staffers are worried about the future of the network and their jobs. While some fret, others are using the time to jockey for their position. Below we report on who is making moves and what exactly is happening with CNN’s long overdue digital transformation.
Plus, Politico splashes the cash in D.C. to toast their new Playbook team, and we have gotten our hands on a new book that goes behind the scenes at the New York Daily News.
Also, when we Puck up here at Breaker, we own up. So tonight a mea culpa regarding our Tuesday item about Puck holding talks to develop a Wordle-like game, and we announce the winner of our name the Puck game contest.
Finally, it’s Thursday, which means Journo (and Comms) Jobs is back. Tonight we have a bonza edition with gigs at The Bulwark, The Ankler, ABC News, NBC News, The Guardian, Freakonomics, The Washington Post, The Points Guy, Semafor, plus a ton of great fall internship opportunities.
Mentioned tonight: Mathias Döpfner, Claudius Senst, Dasha Burns, Adam Wren, Will Steakin, Mark Thompson, Bari Weiss, Virginia Moseley, Alex MacCallum, David Ellison, Marie Beaudette, Amanda Wills, Eric Sherling, Wendy Fisher, Tom Cibrowski, Gerry Cardinale, Choire Sicha, Katie Drummond, Jon Kelly, Rupert Murdoch, Jeff Zucker, Tyler Denk, Peter Kafka, Michael Wolff, Alexandra Bruell, David Folkenflik, Matthew Pressman, Victor Nava, Ara Rosenthal, Ben Mueller, Greg Bensinger, Dawn Chmielewski, Jeff Bezos, Justin Baragona, Mike Pesca, Riddhi Setty, Charlotte Tobitt, Maxi Tani, Manori Ravindran, Mark Landler, Charlotte MacInnes, Rebel Wilson, Peter Apps, Robert Booth, Harry Enten, Donie O’Sullivan, Amy Entelis, Elle Reeve, Isobel Yeung, Meena Duerson, Hanako Montgomery, Dr Mehmet Oz, Phillipa Leighton-Jones, Megan Greenwell, Olivia Messer and more.
CNN Hunger Games
(Exclusive.) Within the walls of CNN’s New York HQ at 30 Hudson Yards, the summer has been marked with a sense of inertia.
With Paramount Skydance's $110 billion acquisition of Warner Bros. Discovery, currently on pause due to a federal judge's temporary restraining order (that was extended on Thursday through August 17th), executives and talent are stuck hanging in balance.
CNN CEO Mark Thompson recently told colleagues that …
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⁘ As credited in The New York Times, CNBC, Axios, The New York Post, CNN, Bloomberg, The Guardian, and more.
The People’s Paper
(Exclusive.) Walk past the art-deco New York Daily News building on 42nd Street in Midtown Manhattan, and you’ll see a massive globe set into the floor.
Spinning since 1930, the globe marks New York as the centre of the world, not to mention providing inspiration and a filming location for Clark Kent’s workplace “The Daily Planet” (there are pictures of Superman in the lobby for proof). More importantly, the vintage globe acted as a symbol of the New York Daily News’ journalistic intent to be "The Eyes, the Ears, the Honest Voice of New York."
The building was the original home of America’s first tabloid, the Daily News, which over the course of more than 100 years has …
Support fearless independent journalism.
The rest of this newsletter is for paid subscribers.
⁘ Unlock full access to our twice-weekly newsletter and archive.
⁘ As credited in The New York Times, CNBC, Axios, The New York Post, CNN, Bloomberg, The Guardian, and more.