| | | | | 'Tweet-Quoting' in the Age of Trump | | Welcome back to the Trump transition, where media organizations are still wrestling with the unprecedented challenge of covering our soon-to-be leader... This is Dylan Byers in for Brian Stelter, who is taking a much-deserved vacation this week.
On Sunday, Trump falsely claimed that he won the popular vote "if you deduct the millions of people who voted illegally"... On Monday, several outlets published headlines or tweets that neglected to make clear his claim was erroneous.
Here's a thought: If the President-elect of the United States peddles a baseless conspiracy theory, include that in your headline. ...
How to do it: "Trump promotes a baseless claim on illegal voting" - The New York Times; "Trump falsely claims 'millions of people who voted illegally' cost him popular vote" - CNN
How not to do it: "Donald Trump Alleges That 'Millions of People' Voted Illegally" - The Wall Street Journal; "Trump: Millions voted illegally" - The Washington Post | | But it's bigger than that... | | "The newsworthiness of Trump's tweets has been at the center of a spirited debate among reporters and media observers," Tom Kludt reports. "Is it news -- to use a recent example -- if Trump publicly chastises the cast members of the biggest hit on Broadway? If so, how much coverage is appropriate? ...
"Trump's election is already challenging the notion that everything a president does is by its definition newsworthy, as well as the merits of filing stories as quickly as possible in search of web traffic. And the way he operates shows how easily those two tendencies by the media leave it open to being exploited."
Jeff Jarvis, beloved media scold, calls tweet-quoting "lazy, damaging, unjournalistic." | | The whole press corps can chase after a Trump tweet, but who gets access to what the Commander-in-Chief is really thinking?
Joe Scarborough and Mika Brzezinksi, pundits who are friendly with Trump and meet with him often, have been the source for two scoops in the last week: 1. Trump's decision not to pursue an investigation of Hillary Clinton. 2. His irritation with a top aide for saying supporters would feel "betrayed" if he tapped Mitt Romney for Secretary of State (CNN's Dana Bash had that one as well.)
If the last few weeks are any guide, it seems fair to assume that friendly pundits like Scarborough and Brzezinksi, as well as Sean Hannity and Matt Drudge, will lay claim to more of the scoops coming from the Oval Office in the next four years.... | | Two conversations not to be missed:
-- Politico's Glenn Thrush talks to The New York Times' Maggie Haberman about what it's like to cover a Page-Six President... "It was all about the proximity and the familiarity with him," Haberman says. "I first started getting to know Trump when I was at The [New York] Post and he would call into Page Six with regularity... He recognized that he was a commodity and that he could get two people -- two outlets – to fight over the commodity."
-- Recode's Kara Swisher talks to political strategists Juleanna Glover and Hilary Rosen about why the Times could have major influence over Trump: "As we've learned this week, Donald Trump probably cares more about the New York Times and what its readers [think] about him than almost anybody," says Rosen. "Let's not forget about that. That's a significant way to influence the situation." | | The latest guidance from the Associated Press Style Guide...
"Recent developments have put the so-called "alt-right" movement in the news. They highlight the need for clarity around use of the term and around some related terms, such as "white nationalism" and "white supremacism" ... Let's tackle them.
Yes, that's where we're at...
Meanwhile, the Times talked to Steve Bannon's old film partner Julia Jones for their epic profile on Trump's chief White House strategist...
"Steve's not a racist," she tells the paper. "He's using the alt-right -- using them for power."
| | Time Inc. is back in the M&A conversation after reportedly rejecting a $1.8 billion takeover bid by billionaire investors Len Blavatnik, Edgar Bronfman Jr. and Ynon Kreiz.
The report, from The New York Post, caused Time Inc. shares to surge by more than 20%, a sign of hope for a company left with $1.5 billion in debt when it was spun off from Time Warner in 2014, and which has yet to post overall revenue gains since.
My take: None of these investors have experience in the publishing sector, but assuming the Post's report is true, they clearly see an opportunity to help usher Time Inc. into the digital age, and any company struggling to adapt to a changing environment is wise to at least consider its suitors.
FT Lex: "If others think they have the answers and, more importantly, are willing to pay up for the privilege of puzzle solving, such buyers should not be summarily dismissed."
Time Inc.: No comment, as a matter of policy. | | Murdoch, Cox to lose $100 million on Theranos | | Rupert Murdoch and Cox Enterprises are reportedly among the high-profile media investors who stand to lose millions from the recent troubles hitting the blood-testing company Theranos.
"Several large investments from families and individuals helped infuse Theranos with $632 million in its latest funding round, which stretched from 2014 to 2015," the WSJ reports. "Those investors include Rupert Murdoch and family-controlled Cox Enterprises Inc., which put about $100 million each into Theranos, people familiar with the matter said."
21st Century Fox declined to comment, but the fact that it appeared in the Wall Street Journal, which is owned by Murdoch, likely tells you what you need to know. | | WSJ: BuzzFeed's chief marketing and chief creative officer Frank Cooper is leaving the digital media company after about a year and a half...
Politico: BuzzFeed senior politics writer McKay Coppins is jumping to The Atlantic ... Coppins, who covered the 2016 election for BuzzFeed, will serve as a staff writer for The Atlantic's politics and policy team.
But here's the real rub: BuzzFeed's recent $200-million investment from NBCUniversal "gave BuzzFeed a post-money valuation of about $1.7 billion," according to WSJ, "meaning that BuzzFeed's valuation was essentially unchanged from NBCU's first investment last year..." | | CNN has acquired Beme, the video-sharing app launched by YouTube star Casey Neistat.
Neistat will launch his own media venture within CNN, focusing on "timely and topical video and empowering content creators to use technology to find their voice..." CNN will get access to Neistat's large -- and young -- digital audience.
How large? Niestat has 5.8 million subscribers on his YouTube page alone. | | Finally some good news for the NFL, via Frank Pallotta:
"The NFL has been dogged by mediocre ratings all season... but Thanksgiving showed that fans will feast on the league's offerings when the on-field ingredients are good. ... Put another way, good games equal good ratings. Most of the time.
"The Dallas Cowboys' 31-26 win over the Washington Redskins... averaged 35.1 million viewers for Fox... an 18% boost over Fox's game last Thanksgiving... and Fox's most-watched NFL regular season game ever.
"CBS' broadcast of the early afternoon Thanksgiving game, which saw the Lions narrowly defeat their division rival the Minnesota Vikings 16-13, averaged 27.6 million viewers -- CBS' most watched NFL telecast this season."
But, but, but.... "The holiday's night game on NBC, in which the Pittsburgh Steelers beat up on an Indianapolis Colts team that was missing quarterback Andrew Luck, was down roughly 7 million viewers from last year's Thanksgiving night match up." | | Sponsoring the post-Trump 'Apprentice' | | New name, new host, new sponsors...
NBC has announced the 12 brands that will sponsor "The New Celebrity Apprentice," which returns to NBC on Jan. 2 with new host Arnold Schwarzenegger, who takes over for President-elect Donald Trump... Of those twelve, only three are returning sponsors...
Brian Lowry emails: "What remains to be seen is whether the show's marketing challenge will be more formidable given its past association with President-elect Trump..." | | From Chloe Melas, Brian Lowry & Lisa France:
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