| | | | | WSJ's creative strategy to win new subscriptions | | We've seen how the NYT, Vanity Fair and numerous other outlets are trying to sign up subscribers and invite donations by embracing Donald Trump's criticism of them and alluding to the potential challenges of the years ahead. The WSJ is going in a different direction, with a new ad campaign that basically says, "Unlike the rest of the mainstream news media, we're fair, and we saw Trump's election coming."
That's not a direct quote, but this is: "Not everyone was blindsided by this year's presidential election result. Over 2 million WSJ subscribers, whether they were excited about the outcome, or nervous about it, were ready," EIC Gerard Baker says in a new TV ad. "Because unlike so many news organizations, the WSJ covered this election the way we've been covering elections for the past 127 years: Objectively, and across the whole nation."
The ad includes testimonials from readers (who were paid to participate in the ad) saying how they were "ready" for Trump. One reader knocks the NYT by name.
For now the ads are only running on Murdoch-owned properties like Fox... But "we are looking at other options as well," the WSJ's CMO tells me... Read more... | | | But: There's tension bubbling up in the WSJ newsroom | | A skeptical reader emails: "I don't remember any Journal story predicting a Trump win. The paper cited the same polls and came to the same conclusions as NYT and others."
It's also worth noting that there's considerable tension in the Journal newsroom about its coverage of the president-elect. What some reporters see as neutrality, others see as weakness. Politico wrote about this before election day. And the turmoil is still very real, right beneath the surface... | | | Kushner selling the NY Observer? | | Jared Kushner's NY Observer has been "approached" by at least one suitor, and a sale could be in the cards. WWD's Alexandra Steigard broke the news on Wednesday afternoon, saying Kushner "has been quietly shopping the storied paper to potential buyers."
Joseph Meyer, the CEO of Observer Media, responded by saying this: "While Observer is not for sale, as one of the fastest-growing businesses in all of digital media, we are constantly being approached by potential investors and partners." So someone is definitely circling the Observer... Will Kushner sell? The smart money says yes... | | Viacom is about to lose another veteran exec, Dylan Byers writes. Doug Herzog, who oversees Comedy Central and MTV, will leave the company next month. Herzog started at Viacom way back in 1984.
So what happened? Well, Variety's Daniel Holloway says new Viacom CEO Bob Bakish has been "indicating that he favors new directions for MTV and Comedy Central." The presidents of the two channels, who had been reporting to Herzog, will now report directly into Bakish...
-- Bill Carter tweets: "Doug is class exec and person. What's happened at Viacom is both stunning and sobering: self-destruction of great brands. Best to Doug in the future..." | | From Herzog's internal memo to staffers: "If content is indeed king, and brands its queen, then you represent a powerful kingdom poised to return Viacom where, once more, it will be the envy of its peers."
What's next for him? He told Holloway "there's a whole new world out there" -- meaning digital and social media -- "and I'm just looking forward to being a part of that going forward..." | | | Couric returning to "Today" for a week | | This is going to be a lot of fun for "Today" show viewers. Katie Couric will return to her old seat next to Matt Lauer the week of Jan. 2, filling in for a week while Savannah Guthrie is on maternity leave, the LATimes' Stephen Battaglio reports.
The Daily Mail's Chris Spargo notes that this will be "Couric's first time returning to host the show since she left the program back in 2006 after a storied 17-year career." (Remember, she filled in on "GMA" for a week back in 2012.)
Speculation continues to swirl in TV circles about what Couric might do next... | | -- Erik Wemple reacts to Tuesday night's "O'Reilly Factor:" "Bill O'Reilly becomes spokesman for white America..." (WashPost)
-- In this "exit interview" with the NYT, Lydia Polgreen says she wants HuffPost to be modeled "in the tradition of the great working-class tabloids that speaks for and to people who feel left out..." (NYT)
-- "Only days before Christmas, AOL is re-jiggering the Huffington Post's Rise site, resulting in roughly 20 contract workers being let go," Keith Kelly reports... (NYPost)
-- Intriguing story by Sherisse Pham: Why Snapchat's owner is hiring in China... (CNN)
-- "Pantsuit Nation, the invitation-only Facebook group for Hillary Clinton supporters that now contains more than 4 million members, is getting a book deal..." (The Cut) | | | Real? Fake? Internet erupts as YouTube star's video goes viral | | "Two passengers were removed from a Delta plane parked in London" on Wednesday morning, CNN's Kwegyirba Croffie wrote. "The airline has begun an investigation and a flurry of comments are flying on social media."
From there, pretty much everything else is in dispute. This story says a lot about the age of media we're living through. "Hoax or not?" is a daily fight.
Writing about Wednesday's controversy, Staci Kramer framed it best: "What happens when the boy who cries wolf claims he really ran into a wolf?"
YouTube star Adam Saleh is the crier -- he posted Periscope and Twitter videos while being escorted off a flight from London to New York. He alleged discrimination, asserting that the dust-up happened because he was speaking Arabic during the boarding process. As his video gained hundreds of thousands of retweets and comments, online users pointed out that Saleh is a well-known prankster, responsible for videos like this recent hoax involving an airline, among others.
That's when the battle lines were drawn. One side sounded 100% sure that this viral video illustrated rampant Islamophobia. The other side seemed 100% sure that this was all a hoax -- "fake news," many said -- and that the other other side were fools. | | Numerous page-view-hungry outlets picked up the video and ran with it right away, before any real reporting could be done. I was criticized for retweeting the video. (My intent was to show that it was going viral -- a social media crisis for Delta.) My takeaway at the end of the day: What this situation called for was... for lack of a better term... "slow news."
Delta initially confirmed there was a "disturbance" and that more info was needed. Later in the day, the airline said Saleh and his friend "sought to disrupt the cabin with provocative behavior." Passengers provided varying accounts of what happened. Saleh and his manager said "this is not a prank" and it's "as real as it gets."
Now, 16 hours later, the story seems fishy, but it's still very much in dispute. The removal of the two passengers was "real news." But some passengers and many online commenters think they were "asking for it" -- that they were "fakes." By the time all the facts are in, unfortunately, the web will have moved on... | | | Still no press secretary announcement... | | Reporters have been expecting the Trump transition team to name the new White House press secretary and communications director for days. No word yet, though. Aides say it could come at anytime... Sean Spicer is still thought to be the front-runner for press secretary, and Jason Miller a likely choice for comms director...
-- Shameless plug: The existing press secretary, Josh Earnest, and comms director, Jen Psaki, will both be on "Reliable Sources" this Sunday, sharing advice for their successors... | | | Trump press conference watch: 147 days | | | His last press conference was on July 27, 147 days ago, right after the RNC convention. On Wednesday he appeared before cameras and briefly answered a few questions, but it definitely didn't qualify as a press conference... | | -- Joe Pompeo reports: "Jersey publishers 'not slowing down' in opposition to Christie newspaper 'revenge bill...'" (Politico)
-- Dean Obeidallah's latest: "Celebrities are right to skip Trump inauguration festivities" (CNN.com)
-- The AP names Lin-Manuel Miranda the "entertainer of the year..." (AP)
-- Walt Mossberg's "tech report card for 2016" has arrived... (Recode)
-- THR's Lacey Rose and Marisa Guthrie present 12 TV industry narratives to watch in 2017... (THR)
-- And BuzzFeed's Doree Shafrir has "what people are excited about in culture for 2017..." (BuzzFeed) | | | Condolences to "Jeopardy" winner who died earlier this month | | CNN's Emanuella Grinberg writes: In her final episode on the game show "Jeopardy!" Cindy Stowell revealed a secret. On a cruise with her mother some 15 years ago she joined a group of British teenagers in mooning the coast of Dover, France.
Little did the audience or her fellow contestants know she had a much bigger secret: At the time of the taping she was battling Stage 4 colon cancer and had only months left. By now, the world knows that the 41-year-old science content developer from Austin died on December 5, before her episodes aired. Stowell's seventh and final episode aired Wednesday, ending her six-game winning streak...
Only a select group of "Jeopardy!" staffers and host Alex Trebek knew she was ill. The show revealed news of her death on its website one week before her first appearance. Neither Trebek nor Stowell let on about her condition throughout her run, even as her voice shrank to a whisper at times. At the end of Stowell's final episode, after the credits, Trebek appeared to offer his condolences. "Appearing on our show was the fulfillment of a lifelong ambition for that young lady," Trebek said. "From all of us here at 'Jeopardy!' we offer our sincerest condolences to her family and friends."
Read Grinberg's full story here... | | | Another record: 455 scripted shows in 2016 | | Brian Lowry emails: FX CEO John Landgraf has distinguished himself as sort of the wise man among network execs -- someone who, in dealing with the press, tries to filter his analysis of the industry through a larger prism that goes beyond mere self-promotion. And he's thrown down a gauntlet about TV reaching a saturation point -- first suggesting 18 months ago that there is "too much TV," and updating his figures ever since to warn of the possibility of an eventual shakeout.
On Tuesday FX sent around Landgraf's latest "unofficial count" of scripted shows on broadcast, cable and streaming.
FX EVP for research Julie Piepenkotter wrote: "Peak TV was once again far from peaky in 2016, with a record 455 scripted original series across broadcast, cable, and streaming sources. This estimate reps a +8% increase over just last year (421 in 2015) ― but an astonishing +71% increase over five years ago (266 in 2011) and +137% over a decade ago (192 in 2006)."
-- Lowry adds: Landgraf's original "too much TV" assertion produced some blowback from, among others, Netflix, whose chief content officer Ted Sarandos subsequently argued that in the eyes of the consumer, there's no such thing as too much. That's a bit of an appetizer for the next edition of the TV Critics Association tour in January... | | | For the record, part three | | | -- Chloe Melas emails: Christina Grimmie's family has filed a wrongful death suit against AEG Live and the venue where she was shot and killed. The family is seeking a jury trial and monetary damages...
-- More from Chloe: Kanye West has canceled his plans for a European tour. This comes after he scrapped the remainder of her Saint Pablo Tour dates for 2016...
-- "Patriots Day" came out in theaters in NYC, L.A. and Boston on Wednesday. Read Lowry's full review here... | | | Hey, thanks for reading. What do you like about this newsletter? What do you dislike? Send your feedback to reliablesources@cnn.com. We'll be back tomorrow night... | |  | | We'd love to share our other newsletters with you. Check out Five Things for Your New Day, CNN's morning newsletter. Give us five minutes, and we'll brief you on all the news and buzz people will be talking about. | | | Get Reliable Sources, a comprehensive summary of the most important media news, delivered to your inbox every afternoon. | | | | | |
Post a Comment