Media Insider: Musk To Buy Twitter for $44B, Gizmodo Acquires Quartz

Welcome to Media Insider, PR Newswire’s roundup of media news stories from the week.

Elon Musk to buy Twitter in $44 billion deal
CNN | Clare Duffy

Twitter has agreed to sell itself to Elon Musk in a roughly $44 billion deal that has the potential to expand the billionaire’s business empire and put the world’s richest man in charge of one of the world’s most influential social networks. The deal, which will take the company private, caps off a whirlwind period in which Musk became one of Twitter’s largest shareholders, was offered and turned down a seat on its board, and bid to buy the company – all in less than a month. Under the terms of the deal, shareholders will receive $54.20 in cash for each share of Twitter stock they own, matching Musk’s original offer and marking a 38% premium over the stock price the day before Musk revealed his stake in the company.

More on the Twitter front: The company has banned advertisements that promote climate change denial.

Gizmodo publisher G/O Media acquires business news site Quartz
Reuters | Yuvraj Malik and Eva Mathews

Gizmodo publisher G/O Media Inc is acquiring Quartz, the latest in a series of consolidations in digital media. The financial terms of the deal were not disclosed. The deal comes as publications struggle to grow revenue amid a fierce fight for advertising dollars with internet heavyweights Meta Platforms Inc and Alphabet Inc. Great Hill Partners-owned G/O Media will be the third owner of Quartz, which was founded in 2012. 

ICYMI: Lee Enterprises launched weekly magazine delivery in Tulsa, Okla., with plans for other markets on the way.

The Emancipator makes its welcome, long-anticipated debut
Media Nation | Dan Kennedy

The Emancipator, long in the making, made its formal debut this week. Aimed at covering the Black experience from an antiracist point of view, the site features videos and comics alongside serious essays and reported pieces. The site is a joint venture of The Boston Globe’s opinion operation and the Center for Antiracist Research at Boston University. Northeastern journalism students are involved as well. The point of the project is to provide national coverage of the country’s reckoning with systemic racism. There’s no paywall.

Read next: New study finds Americans back journalism preservation bill, want action.

Fortune moves into wellness coverage under an expansive new financial deal with CVS
Digiday | Sara Guaglione

Fortune is moving into the wellness space with a new vertical aimed at helping mid-level managers balance their personal and professional lives. Called Fortune Well, the new hub went live on April 28 and is underwritten by CVS as part of a larger two-year deal that will support many parts of the publisher’s products. CVS will be the sole advertiser of the hub, which will contain a mix of editorial and branded content. CVS will distribute content from Fortune Well on its own platforms as well. The vertical will target managers who are also “caregivers,” taking care of children, aging parents or both.

Read next: Allen Media Group’s free streaming platform, Local Now, launches two Las Vegas Review-Journal channels.

EU agrees on landmark law aimed at forcing Big Tech firms to tackle illegal content
CNBC | Ryan Browne

The European Union agreed on new digital regulations that will force tech giants like Google and Meta to police illegal content on their platforms more aggressively, or risk potential multibillion-dollar fines. The European Parliament and EU member states reached a deal on the Digital Services Act, a landmark piece of legislation that aims to address illegal and harmful content by getting platforms to rapidly take it down. Margrethe Vestager, the EU competition chief and a key architect of the bloc’s digital reforms, said the deal is “better than the proposal that we tabled” back in 2020. 

Another interesting read: The NYT Opinion section has doubled in size since 2017, with an eye on building subscription engagement.

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Maria Perez is director of web operations at Cision. In her spare time, she enjoys gaming, watching too much TV, and chasing squirrels with her dog Molly.