* The MSNBC news network will soon be known as MS NOW. It’s part of the corporate divorce from NBC. No peacock symbol for the acronymed My Source News Opinion World.
* A final word on the recent passing of Rob Lorei, an icon of community radio and public TV. We lost a good one. We live in a media age increasingly defined by political talk that is more about performance optics and hectoring than reasoned exchange of opinions. It was always a welcome respite to see a first-class, politically knowledgeable media professional at work.
* “There is nothing more authentic than what people say on a hot mic.”–Bill McGowan, founder and CEO of Clarity Media Group.
* “Make Country Great Again”: Ft. Myers country music radio station WHEL (93.7 FM) saw its ratings triple since March after a “Trump Country” rebrand and MAGA embracing. It’s hardly a shock. Trump won 64% of the 2024 presidential vote in Lee County.
* “The bottom has fallen out of the entire industry.”–Andrew Morse, publisher of the Atlanta Journal-Constitution, which will stop publishing its print newspaper at the end of the year.
* Thanks to Trump-trolling South Park, frontal nudity has never been so funny.