| | | | -- Bill O'Reilly will be paid about $25 million on the way out the door...
-- Fox's O'Reilly-free 8pm time slot was very high-rated on Wednesday...
-- Rupert Murdoch and other 21st Century Fox board members met in NYC on Thursday morning, but no details have dribbled out...
-- Critics are continuing to pressure the British regulator Ofcom in an effort to stymie the Sky deal...
-- Last year Rupert "leaned on his film studio" to option O'Reilly's book "Killing the Rising Sun," "irking studio employees in the process," BuzzFeed's Steven Perlberg and Ken Bensinger scooped. The deal got done... so now what'll happen to the movie? | | As one of my sources said: "It is a staggering amount." But the Murdochworld spin is that Fox smartly limited the payment to one year's salary... precisely because execs knew this week might come...
Last summer Roger Ailes received $40+ million. NYT's Emily Steel and Michael Schmidt framed it like this: "Payouts related to sexual harassment allegations at Fox News now total more than $85 million. The vast majority of that — up to $65 million in exit packages — is being paid to the men who were ousted..."
-- Elizabeth Warren tweeted a link to my story and opined: "Golden parachutes are wrong for predators on Wall Street, & they're wrong for predators at Fox News."
-- As O'Reilly might say: What do the folks think of this? | | Joe Pompeo is the envy of the media reporter crew right now... because an O'Reilly rep accidentally sent him e-mails showing "O'Reilly lawyers' last-ditch effort to save his job." The money quote: O'Reilly venting to his lawyers, "You all should know that I will not put up with much more from FNC." If you haven't read the story yet, click here... | | | The view from inside Fox... | | MIND MELD a/k/a what I heard from Fox sources during the day: Aftershocks are still being felt... Don't expect any other big announcements imminently... "Everybody needs to catch their breath..." Dismissing O'Reilly was easier than creating a new primetime lineup without him... Stress levels are high... "But there's a lot of confidence in the letters F-O-X..." | | An emailer says this Fox Networks Group promotion rubbed some people the wrong way: "On the same day our company pays O'Reilly $25 million as he departs, HR sent a full company email about 'High Five Awards.' Any employee that receives two recommendations from colleagues for a job exceptionally well done is eligible for....$50." | | In his latest Politico column, Jack Shafer asks: "If Ailes and O'Reilly had to walk the plank, why not current Fox co-presidents Bill Shine and Jack Abernethy? Shine figures in a sexual harassment suit filed against Ailes by current on-air personality Julie Roginsky..."
About that... Dylan Byers emails: All indications are that Bill Shine will stay at the network, several sources at the company told me. With his deep knowledge of the talent and staff, he is seen as invaluable to keeping the network running in the wake of the Ailes and O'Reilly controversies... | | | Something that connects Trump and O'Reilly? | | A smart thought from a TV newser: "Murdoch's children are playing the same kind of moderating role for Rupert that Trump's children are playing for the president..." | | | TV interviews with new O'Reilly accuser | | Perquita Burgess -- the woman who accused O'Reilly of calling her "hot chocolate" and made grunting noises around her -- spoke publicly for the first time on "The View" and "Anderson Cooper 360" on Thursday. She was joined by attorney Lisa Bloom. Here's the "AC360" segment... | | -- ICYMI: On "New Day," Alisyn Camerota said Ailes' "chilling effect" stopped people at Fox from reporting harassment... | | | Margaret Hoover's must-read | | Former Fox News contributor/now CNN contributor Margaret Hoover writing for the NYT:
"What is needed now is a rallying rejection of sexist behavior toward women from conservative media personalities and outlets... Today's conservatives must dissociate themselves from a 'Mad Men' culture of the past..." | | The ratings impact of O'Reilly's firing will be measured over months, not days. But day one was a very good one for Fox. Wednesday's #'s were on par with O'Reilly's recent performance at 8pm... Read more... | | The poster of O'Reilly that said "NOBODY MOVES THIS MAN..." was removed from the window at Fox News HQ on Thursday morning... | | O'Reilly "was an articulate, aggressive spokesman for the daily Fox News narrative," Bill Carter writes in this in-depth look at the broadcaster's rise and fall.
Carter says O'Reilly's demise "seemed surprisingly fast only because its inevitability had been so long deferred by his enormous success. For years, that track record protected him from a steady drumbeat of problems, not only accusations of crude sexual behavior around women, but also acute racial insensitivity, widespread rumors of volatile treatment of subordinates and a resume dotted with self-aggrandizing fabrications." Read the rest here... | | | O'Reilly's new ID: "America's bestselling historian. Loving father." | | O'Reilly's old Twitter bio: "Host of The O'Reilly Factor." New Twitter bio: "#1 in cable news for 15+ years. America's bestselling historian. Loving father." | | Without solid new info, the guessing games continued on Thursday. "I don't see him going quietly into the night and just retiring," UMD broadcast journalism professor Mark Feldstein told USA Today's Mike Snider... | | Michael Wolff's latest for THR, titled "It's James Murdoch's Fox News Now:" "In some sense, with the ouster of Ailes and now O'Reilly, James has overthrown his own network... Rupert, 86, is said to be watching this in some disbelief, but with some pride, too..." | | Dylan Byers emails: What is Fox News without Ailes and O'Reilly? That is the billion-dollar question on the mind of James Murdoch, who is slowly but surely taking over his father's company and seeking to impose order on its most controversial asset.
Dylan will have more tomorrow on CNNMoney... | | | U.S. preps charges for Assange | | The WashPost and CNN reported on Thursday evening that U.S. authorities have prepared charges to seek the arrest of WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange... Per CNN's story, "prosecutors have struggled with whether the First Amendment precluded the prosecution of Assange, but now believe they have found a way to move forward..." | | | Concerns about press freedom? | | -- Trevor Timm tweets: "This would be incredibly dangerous for press freedom & all reporters. I hope even WL's harshest critics in the media will denounce this."
-- Glenn Greenwald tweets: "In 2011, most media outlets opposed WL's prosecution on press freedom grounds. Now?" | | | Congratulations, Robert Costa | | Costa! WETA announced Thursday afternoon that Robert Costa will be the new moderator of public TV's "Washington Week," effective this Friday. He tweets: "My goal is to follow Gwen's example." Gwen Ifill died last November... and Costa has been one of the fill-ins since then...
Marty Baron's favorite part of the press release: "Costa retain his full-time position with The Washington Post." He'll also "continue to serve as a political analyst for NBC News and MSNBC..." | | Three stories from Wednesday, when I was all-O'Reilly-all-the-time:
-- Alex Sherman's scoop: Sinclair "is aiming to acquire Tribune Media... for a per-share price in the high $30s..." (Bloomberg)
-- The Associated Press deleted a "weirdly edited 'Allahu Akbar' tweet," as Becket Adams explains here... (Washington Examiner)
-- "Trump and the New England Patriots called out the NYT for its interpretation of the size of the team's Super Bowl delegations to the White House during the Obama and Trump administrations..." (WashPost) | | | Hey, would you like this Facebook job? | | "Facebook is looking to hire someone to head up its news products, a significant new role charged with helping to combat the proliferation of so-called fake news on its service," but is "having trouble finding someone with both the news and technology chops necessary to fill the role," Recode's Kurt Wagner reports. Interested? Try to get ahold of Facebook VP Fidji Simo... | | | Kaczynski is keeping track... | | AG Jeff Sessions has been avoiding interviews... except with conservative media. As CNN's KFILE revealed on Thursday, Sessions said on "The Mark Levin Show" that he is "amazed" a "judge sitting on an island in the Pacific" was able to block the administration's immigration order.
Andrew Kaczynski tweeted later in the day: "Sessions with another Fox interview tonight. 8 Fox interviews since he was swore in. 6 on conservative talk radio. Appears none w/rest." | | | Dems have Q's about Bannon and Breitbart | | "A group of Democratic senators, including Massachusetts' Elizabeth Warren, want to know whether Steve Bannon, President Donald Trump's chief strategist and former Breitbart News chairman, violated government ethics rules when he communicated with Breitbart about the site's coverage of the White House," BI's Eliza Relman reports... | | Megan Thomas emails: Support appears strong for WGA strike approval. Key dates to watch:
-- Votes to approve the strike will be tallied on Monday, April 24
-- Negotiations resume between writers and the studios on Tuesday, April 25
-- The current 3-year WGA contract expires on May 1
-- Work stoppage could begin May 2 | | | "The X-Files" is back again | | Variety's Daniel Holloway reports: "Fox has ordered a new 10-episode revival of 'The X-Files,' the classic television sci-fi drama that returned to the network's air with a limited series last year. The new installments — billed as a continuation of the 10-episode 2016 run, will premiere during the 2017-18 television season..." | | | What makes the Time 100 special | | Megan Thomas emails: Time's list of "most influential people of 2017" is packed with interesting tributes. Meryl Streep's words on Viola Davis beautifully exemplify why everyone in Hollywood loves these women. A sample…
"When you spend your life embodying other lives, if you are successful, the one that belongs to you can silently slip behind. But Viola Davis' hard-won, midlife rise to the very top of her profession has not led her to forget the rough trip she took getting there. And that is why she embodies for all women, but especially for women of color, the high-wire rewards of hard work and a dream, risk and faith." | | | For the record, part three | | | -- Lisa France emails: Bruce Springsteen is taking aim at Trump in a new protest song...
-- Brian Lowry emails: Bill Nye has gone from "Science Guy" to warrior against the forces of anti-science in his new Netflix series... Read more...
-- More from Lisa: Snoop Dogg is the patron saint of 4/20, and even puts his money where his mouth is as a key investor in a venture capital firm that invests in marijuana start ups. It's just how the rapper rolls... | | What do you like about this newsletter? What do you dislike? Send your feedback to reliablesources@cnn.com. We appreciate every email. | |  | | 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. | | | | | |
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