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The Week in Business: High-profile media exposures

    Within hours on Monday, cable news underwent a seismic shift. First, Fox News announced that it had ousted Tucker Carlson, the most popular primetime host. The move came less than a week after the company paid $787.5 million to settle a defamation lawsuit with Dominion Voting Systems. A focus of the case was Mr. Carlson’s text messages showing him denigrating Donald J. Trump after the 2020 presidential election. But it wasn’t until the day before the defamation trial was due to begin that the Fox leadership discovered private messages from Mr. Carlson that were redacted in previous legal documents showing him making highly abusive and abusive remarks. Those messages served as the catalyst for his firing, several people with knowledge of Fox’s discussions said. Shortly after Mr. Carlson was fired, CNN announced it had “broken up” with Don Lemon, a longtime star on the network who most recently co-hosted a morning show. Mr Lemon was met with backlash in February when he made comments about women and aging that many considered sexist.

    Federal regulators were racing this weekend to seize and sell off the troubled First Republic Bank before financial markets open Monday. First Republic, a medium-sized bank in San Francisco, reported a staggering deposit flight last month. Last Monday, the bank’s executives said it had a quarterly loss of $102 billion in customer deposits, more than half of the $176 billion it had at the end of last year, not counting the $30 billion lifeline it announced in March. received from the bank of the country. largest banks. First Republic’s problems are part of a wider banking crisis that began with the collapse of Silicon Valley Bank in mid-March. In a report released Friday on the bankruptcy of the SVB, the Federal Reserve blames itself for failing to prevent the collapse of the SVB. Michael S. Barr, the Fed’s vice chairman for oversight, said regulators at the central bank had failed to “take strong enough action” and said regulatory standards for SVB were “too low.”

    According to preliminary data released Thursday, the U.S. economy continued to grow in the first three months of the year as consumers continued to spend on goods and services, such as travel and eating out. Gross domestic product in the United States rose 1.1 percent year-over-year, a slowdown from 2.6 percent in the last three months of 2022, but still its third consecutive quarter of growth. Robust consumer spending helped offset slowdowns elsewhere: the housing sector and business investment in equipment – two sectors of the economy that are sensitive to changes in interest rates – both continued to contract. But how long will consumers keep opening their wallets? Analysts are not sure.

    Aren’t all Federal Reserve meetings long awaited these days? Well, yes. But even in the era of closely monitored Fed moves, this Wednesday’s meeting is remarkable. With signs of an economic slowdown, some analysts now believe there is a slim chance that Fed officials will interrupt their series of rate hikes. At their last meeting in March – in the midst of the banking turmoil – officials raised interest rates by a quarter point, matching the previous month’s increase. But the Fed signaled that much uncertainty lay ahead as it sought a narrower path to a soft landing, narrowed by the collapse of Silicon Valley Bank and Signature Bank. Still, many analysts expect the central bank to approve another quarter-point hike, continuing its fight to tame cooling but sustained inflation.

    Thousands of Hollywood screenwriters could go on strike on Tuesday when their contracts with the industry’s major studios expire. Earlier this month, the writers’ unions, which are affiliated with the East and West Coast chapters of the Writers Guild of America, said that 98 percent, or more than 9,000, of the writers they represent approved a strike permit, allowing union leaders to advocate for a work break. Writers say their wages and working conditions have deteriorated amid the scripted television streaming boom. Hollywood studios have said demands for a new pay structure ignore economic realities. As the possibility of a strike drew closer, executives saved scripts and prepared reality series, which don’t require scriptwriters. But late-night shows like “Saturday Night Live” immediately go dark when writers leave work.

    The consensus forecast for Friday’s jobs report is that employers added 170,000 jobs in March, up from 236,000 in February. That would be the first time the number of new jobs added in a month falls below 200,000 since the start of the pandemic, and it would also put the labor market close to the Fed’s target of about 100,000 jobs. per month. The labor market has proved remarkably resilient in light of the central bank’s recent policy changes. But analysts say that could soon change: they expect a significant slowdown later this year, which could lead to more layoffs of the sort that have so far been largely confined to the tech and media industries.

    Bed Bath & Beyond said last Sunday it was filing for bankruptcy and would close hundreds of locations as it tried to sell parts of its business. Disney filed a First Amendment lawsuit on Wednesday accusing Florida Governor Ron DeSantis and other state officials of “a targeted campaign of government retaliation.” And the latest in the FTX saga: On Thursday, the FBI searched the home of Ryan Salame, a former executive of the defunct cryptocurrency exchange.