| | | | NYT: Koch brothers backing Meredith's new bid for Time Inc. | | | BREAKING: Meredith has some new help as it embarks on a third bid for Time Inc.: Backing from the Koch brothers. Sydney Ember and Andrew Ross Sorkin's latest scoop: Charles G. and David H. Koch, "the billionaire brothers known for supporting conservative causes," have "tentatively agreed to back Meredith's offer with an equity injection of more than $500 million..." Sources say "the new round of negotiations, motivated by the surprise entry of the Kochs, could lead to a quick deal." Here's the full NYT story... | | | THE AT&T-TIME WARNER DEAL | | AT&T bracing for DOJ lawsuit | | It's been one week since AT&T's public dispute with the Justice Department. The company is bracing for an antitrust lawsuit from the DOJ that would attempt to block its pending acquisition of Time Warner, CNN's parent company, on the grounds that it would harm consumers. But the DOJ is having trouble finding allies.
More than a dozen state attorneys general have been involved in the DOJ's review of the deal, according to sources. But according to a state official who spoke with me on condition of anonymity, some of the states concluded that the legal case to block the deal is thin. The official also expressed concern that the DOJ's case could be politically motivated -- i.e., a retaliatory move against CNN.
CNBC's David Faber was out front on this story on Wednesday: "Sources told CNBC that federal officials reached out to 18 state AGs and sent a draft complaint to at least seven of them, but so far no states have committed to join the case. The DOJ is still likely to bring one, the sources said." A lawsuit could come at any time... Here's my full story... | | Delrahim speaking on Thursday | | | DOJ antitrust chief Makan Delrahim is scheduled to give a keynote speech at the American Bar Association's Fall Forum in DC... Thursday at 11am... We'll have coverage on CNNMoney... | | "AT&T Engages Washington Firepower" | | | That's the headline at Bloomberg.com... Todd Shields and Ben Brody describe how AT&T lobbyists "are increasing their outreach to Congress as it becomes clear the merger is meeting resistance." Several AT&T reps were at Tuesday's House hearing with Jeff Sessions, "and some of those people went up on the dais to talk to lawmakers during the break..." | | Hannity promises Roy Moore decision, then punts | | Roy Moore wrote an open letter to Sean Hannity on Wednesday, apparently responding to Hannity's 24-hour ultimatum. Hannity teased his response all hour long... While dedicating most of his show to Bill and Hillary Clinton's "reckoning..." Finally, at 9:57, Hannity read Moore's letter and said the allegations against Moore "are beyond disturbing and serious."
But, as Oliver Darcy notes here, Hannity declined to drop his support for Moore, suggesting additional time and information is needed to render a decision. Darcy writes: "He ended the show saying the decision ultimately lies with the people of Alabama and should not be decided by him or other conservative or Republican leaders. 'I am very confident that when everything comes out, they will make the best decision for their state,' he said..."
-- Politico's Jason Schwartz tweeted: "Hannity is like the dad who counts to three and then does nothing..."
-- 🔌: Bill Carter and I will be talking about this on CNN's "New Day" around 7:45am Thursday... | | | Keep scrolling for more on Moore... | | Newsweek's cover story about Fox News | | Newsweek's Alexander Nazaryan analyzes Fox News in the Trump age in this week's issue of Newsweek... His piece just posted... Here's where he's coming from: "While I find much of Fox News objectionable, I also find much of Fox News irresistible."
Nazaryan says "Fox News is often accused of trafficking in outrage, but it offers viewers something far more valuable than that: self-assurance. Outrage is rooted in certitude..." | | Did Trump get a sneak peek at Fox's A.M. rundown? | | | Before the start of Wednesday's "Fox & Friends," a jet-lagged POTUS tweeted that the broadcast "will be showing much of our successful trip to Asia, and the friendships & benefits that will endure for years to come!" How did he know what was coming up on the show? (Or was he just making an educated guess?) | | | Take a look at the WashPost's MOST READ list. It tells us something about this moment in American politics. Thirty hours after that viral Uranium One takedown, it's #1 headline on the Post's site: "Fox News's Shepard Smith debunks his network's favorite Hillary Clinton 'scandal,' infuriates viewers." | | Meryl Streep at the CPJ dinner | | Christiane Amanpour hosted Wednesday night's International Press Freedom Awards benefit for the Committee to Protect Journalists... She was joined by Meryl Streep, who publicly pledged support for the organization during her famous Golden Globes speech last January... Streep said to the journalists in the room, you are the enemy of the people, "just the bad people...."
More from Streep: "There has never been a more exciting, exhausting or, let's face it, dangerous time to be an investigative journalist...especially of course, for women..."
Streep applauded American journalists -- calling out some by name -- and presented an award to Mexican correspondent Patricia Mayorga... | | -- Twitter is overhauling its blue verified check mark program... and taking the check mark away from "some prominent users" who violate its standards... Selena Larson has details here... (CNN Tech)
-- Cokie Roberts with a useful reminder on "SE Cupp Unfiltered:" The idea that journalists should be "popular" is absurd. Our job is to question power... (Video via Twitter)
-- A must-read op-ed by a top editor in Belgrade: "My country, Serbia, has become an unwilling laboratory for Facebook's experiments on user behavior," with news outlets as "unfortunate lab rats..." (NYT) | | It's been almost a week since the first Roy Moore story... | | ...And reporters are continuing to uncover new info about Roy Moore's past. New accusers came forward on Wednesday... While Moore's lawyers came out to cast doubt on one of the allegations... And Gloria Allred responded by calling on Moore to testify under oath.
-- ICYMI: A shocking moment on MSNBC: One of Moore's lawyers "suggested that MSNBC host Ali Velshi's 'background' would help him understand Moore's 'process'" because Velshi is of Indian descent. "He's from Canada," co-host Stephanie Ruhle shot back... Watch the video if you haven't seen it yet...
-- Rachel Maddow interviewed Post reporter Beth Reinhard by phone after her latest story came out: "Did you find any evidence of him dating women his own age?" Reinhard: "We haven't."
-- Moore's web site now features a page titled "Report News Contact," to tell the campaign about "inappropriate" inquiries...
-- Moore continues to avoid reporters and decline interview requests... | | A tip of the hat to CNN commentator Amanda Carpenter... On "AC360," she said exactly what I've been thinking... She dismissed all the Moore camp's talk about suing the WashPost/suing Alabama newspapers/etc. "Until someone actually puts their name on a complaint, I think people should quit talking about suing the press," Carpenter said. "Because it's so easy to say 'I'm going to file a lawsuit against the press.' But they never do. Ask Donald Trump."
-- Speaking of... On Wednesday Alabama Media Group responded to a legal letter by saying "we will not be silenced or slowed by Roy Moore's threat..." | | "Anonymous threats, deceptive texts, alternative facts" | | | Marc Fisher's story for the Post sums it all up: "Alabamians say they are on the receiving end of a muddy river of threats, dirty tricks and angry attacks," all aimed at undermining the allegations against Moore... | | Oliver Darcy emails: Matt Drudge took a brutal swipe on Wednesday at Steve Bannon over the Breitbart chief's support for Roy Moore. In a tweet, Drudge linked to a Daily Beast story that said Bannon recently had second thoughts about supporting Moore. "A lesson on leaving politics to the professionals," Drudge wrote. A person with knowledge of the situation confirmed to me that, in the face of the growing scandal surrounding Moore, Bannon had asked confidants about whether he should continue supporting the embattled candidate. But Bannon ultimately decided to continue backing Moore, the person said.
I obtained some internal Slack messages showing how Breitbart staffers reacted to Drudge's shot at Bannon. Washington editor Matthew Boyle wrote, "FAKE NEWS. MATT DRUDGE IS PEDDLING FAKE NEWS." Read more...
-- Some context: It's important to remember that, prior to Trump's campaign, Drudge and Breitbart were, editorially, a mirror image of each other, almost always framing stories in the same light and rarely taking contradictory stances. But now Drudge is an ally of Jared Kushner, who was at odds with Bannon when the two worked together in the White House... | | | Jake Tapper talking about how POTUS responds to sexual scandals: "It would seem the only relevant factor for President Trump is whether you're a friend or a foe, not the credibility of the charges. And just as an observation -- if the only thing you care about when it comes to sexual harassment or abuse charges is whether the person accused is your friend or whether you can use the charge against your enemies, well, then you don't actually care about the crime of sexual harassment and abuse..." | | | Will this photo have a spot in the history books about this "populist" era? It was enough to keep Twitter abuzz for an entire afternoon, until... | | | President Trump came in front of cameras at 3:30pm for a lengthy speech about his trip to Asia that contained very little new info, but provided at least one award-worthy meme. "Water-gate" called to mind his criticism of Marco Rubio on the campaign trail... and some commentators argued that it had serious overtones... calling it the latest example of staff incompetence... | | | NBC's Katy Tur: "It was me, me, me, me, me" // AP's Josh Lederman on Fox: "This had the feeling, Shep, of when your cousin has already told you all about their vacation but he makes you watch the slide show of all of his pictures anyway" // Nicolle Wallace on MSNBC: "I wonder how they let him walk out and give a ridiculous speech" // Hans Nichols also on MSNBC: "I feel sorry for the wire reporters trying to find a lead out of that speech. 'Cuz there's nothing new that the president attempted to announce there..." | | -- Alvin Chang analyzed "Hannity" transcripts and concluded that he's "become the media's top conspiracy theorist..." (Vox)
-- I missed this Reuters scoop yesterday: "Amazon has scrapped plans to launch an online streaming service... because it believes it cannot make enough money on such a service..." (Reuters)
-- Time Inc. is hoping people will pay for "Sports Illustrated TV..." (WSJ) | | FCC will vote to relax cross-ownership rules on Thursday | | Via Francesca Giuliani-Hoffman:
On Thursday the FCC will vote "on whether to relax decades-old rules that prevent the same company from owning a newspaper and TV station in the same market and limit the number of stations a company may own... Center-stage in the vote is Sinclair Broadcast Group," Poynter's Al Tompkins writes... | | "The rollicking feud between CNN and BuzzFeed is an entertaining throwback to media wars of the past," CJR's Pete Vernon writes in this entertaining story.
CNN PR VP Matt Dornic is quoted saying BuzzFeed has "forced us to not rest on our laurels." And: "I think it's actually good for both organizations." BF EIC Ben Smith seems to agree: "In some ways we're flattered that CNN sees us as a rival and competitor." Read 'til the end for Vernon's funny kicker... | | Wilbur Ross loses his billionaire title -- again | | | Tom Kludt emails his latest story: Last week it was Forbes; this week it was Bloomberg. But the conclusion was all the same: Wilbur Ross is not a billionaire. The Bloomberg Billionaire Index lowered Ross' net worth calculation from $3 billion to $860 million after "determining that figures he provided couldn't be independently verified." Bloomberg's previous calculation "included historical compensation figures submitted by Ross in an on-the-record email exchange in 2016, before he joined President Donald Trump's cabinet," wrote Bloomberg reporter Brendan Coffey. "Those figures have now been removed." Commerce declined to comment... | | | For the record, part three | | | By Julia Waldow:
-- Recommended reading: Olivia Nuzzi takes readers "inside the Breitbart embassy, where Steve Bannon entertains elites and plots his populist takeover..." (New York mag)
-- Jon Lovett speaks with Matt Wilstein about forming Crooked Media, using comedy to explore politics, and measuring his approach with that of "late night..." (The Daily Beast)
-- Arianna Huffington and the creator of "House of Lies" are teaming up to produce "Valley of the Boom," a limited series about Silicon Valley in the 1990s, for National Geographic... (THR)
-- BuzzFeed is chasing after commercial revenue, with the help of "search-centric content" and a dedicated staff of nineteen... (Digiday) | | -- Vice's "toxic" culture in the spotlight: The Daily Beast's Brandy Zadrozny talked with "more than a dozen former and current Vice employees about the culture for women inside Vice Media. They spoke of harassing behavior and company indifference..."
-- Via The Wrap: "Mark Schwahn has been suspended from E!'s 'The Royals' amid accusations of sexual harassment..."
-- Rebecca Keegan's latest: "With harassment complaints up 500%," the Screen Actors Guild is "grappling with a post-Harvey Weinstein era..."
-- Weinstein Co. "is getting a cash infusion" by selling the U.S. and Canadian rights to "Paddington 2," Ben Fritz reports...
-- Rose McGowan is vowing to fight these charges of drug possession, Lisa Respers France reports...
-- An anonymous woman has filed a class action suit against the Weinstein Company... | | | For the record, part four | | | By Francesca Giuliani-Hoffman:
-- Gizmodo Media Group is launching The Takeout, a new vertical for all things food... (The Takeout)
-- Kickstarter is introducing Drip, a new service that lets you subscribe to ongoing projects -- a Kickstarter spin on Patreon... (NiemanLab)
-- Kevin Roose's latest column: "Snapchat's New Test: Grow Like Facebook, Without the Baggage" (NYT)
-- The WSJ is testing out a new commenting system, developed in partnership with The Coral Project... (WSJ) | | Columnist in Philly carrying Narcan | | | CNNMoney's Penelope Patsuris emails: Journalists carrying Narcan is now a thing. Drug users are overdosing right in front of reporters covering the opiod epidemic, so Mike Newall, a city columnist for The Philadelphia Inquirer, has an overdose reversal kit. "I'm a columnist, so maybe I'm free to raise my hand and say, 'I am in favor of saving lives,'" he tells CJR... | | Lowry: Scandals provide reason to distinguish stars from their work | | | Brian Lowry emails: This week's episode of "This is Us" made a point that's also presented in Louis C.K.'s now-shelved movie "I Love You, Daddy" -- namely, that idolizing celebrities can be fraught with peril because you don't really know them. The question of hero worship, and the disappointment that can yield when personal lives aren't as admirable as professional ones, is worth considering in light of recent sexual-misconduct allegations... Read Lowry's full column here... | | The lingering Q about "Justice League" | | | Brian Lowry emails: Although I'm steering clear of "Justice League" reviews (the first batch of which broke at midnight) until I see the movie tonight, the lingering question is whether the positive response to "Wonder Woman" -- after considerable griping about "Batman v. Superman" and "Suicide Squad" -- reflected a turning point for Warner Bros. in seeking to crack the code to create a comics-to-screen rival to Marvel's box-office dominance, or an outlier... | | | For the record, part four | | | By Lisa Respers France:
-- If you thought you saw Taylor Swift in a Nashville Target, your eyes were not deceiving you. The old Taylor may be "dead," but her tradition of popping in one of the retail stores and interacting with fans after she releases a new album is very much alive...
-- Kim Kardashian West has confirmed the gender of soon to be baby number 3. But while she and hubby rapper Kanye West are sitting pretty in pink, she says they haven't decided on a name yet... | | | Email brian.stelter@turner.com... I appreciate every message. The feedback helps us craft the next day's newsletter! | | | Get Reliable Sources, a comprehensive summary of the most important media news, delivered to your inbox every afternoon. | | | | | |
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