| | | | | Exec summary: The WashPost is prepping a big story about CBS... Bob Weinstein is still holding out hope for a deal... David Chase is working on a "Sopranos" prequel... SXSW is getting underway... | | Barack Obama might appear on-camera as the moderator of a new series on Netflix. Or he might stay off-camera as a producer of a show about uplifting American stories. Or maybe he'll do both. Talks are underway between Obama and Netflix, according to a source familiar with the discussions. The source characterized it as a possible "production partnership" -- for a series of shows, not just one -- and said the deal has not been finalized yet.
The talks were first reported by the NYT on Thursday night. "The number of episodes and the formats for the shows have not been decided," The Times said...
THE LOGIC: It would be a triumph for the streaming service, providing the kind of exclusive programming that sells subscriptions. And it would give the Obamas a platform to reach a huge audience around the world...
IF NOT NETFLIX: Amazon? | | | Obama senior adviser Eric Schultz said in a statement Thursday night that the Obamas "have always believed in the power of storytelling to inspire." While he did not comment directly on the Netflix talks, he said the Obamas "continue to explore new ways to help others tell and share their stories..." | | Out: Trump TV
In: Obama TV | | | NRO's Michael Brendan Doughtery tweeted: "I'm sure Obama's show will be more in that upper-middlebrow sweet spot, but it is INCREDIBLE that we had a president go from TV to the White House, and his predecessor is doing the reverse journey." | | Yes, fake news travels FASTER... | | A trio of researchers at MIT "have concluded that fake news travels at a markedly faster rate on Twitter than accurate information," Oliver Darcy reports. The research was published Thursday in Science mag. It's the largest such study to date. The researchers found that "it took true news stories about six times longer to reach 1,500 people on Twitter than stories that were false. False stories, the study said, 'diffused significantly farther, faster, deeper, and more broadly than the truth in all categories of information.'"
--> Co-author Sinan Aral told Darcy that he was "very surprised" by the results -- "not the result that false news travels faster than true news, but in the magnitude of the difference..." | | | More from Darcy's story: "Aral told CNN that this all points to the fact that 'behavioral interventions' might be part of the solution to combating fake news. He said labeling news sources, similar to how food is accompanied by a nutrition label that explains how it is made and what is in it, might 'reduce the spread of fake news online.' He also said removing the economic incentive of publishing fake news by weeding them out using algorithms, as Facebook has started to do, could be helpful..." | | -- Gizmodo's take: "Gigantic Study of Fake News Online Finds the Enemy Is Humanity."
-- Craig Silverman's recent speech about "living in a sea of false signals:" He said "We have a human problem on our hands. Our cognitive abilities are in some ways overmatched by what we have created. We must develop our capacity to navigate this complex and confusing information ecosystem..." | | WashPost prepping story about CBS | | Keep an eye on the Washington Post web site. The news outlet is finishing up a months-long investigation of CBS News, specifically looking at who knew what when about Charlie Rose's alleged misconduct. Based solely on the calls I've received from people who have spoken with the Post reporters, I expect this is going to be a big story. It's an open secret within CBS News. The Post has already gone to CBS for comment... But it hasn't been published yet...
--> Drudge's framing: "Wash Post preps story on sex turmoil at TV network..." | | CBS News president David Rhodes was on stage in DC Thursday night... He was one of the honorees at the Radio Television News Directors Foundation's First Amendment Awards Dinner...
Key part of his speech: "Some of the change you are seeing borne out in our workplaces, in standards of behavior, in more modern management... is a natural result of including more voices. We are only part way through that process. Taking out the misconduct and harassment, being more thorough about who gets opportunities and what they do with them -- these are part of hearing from more people inside and outside the news organization, getting the facts out, encouraging speech, drawing out the truth. Revealing, not concealing. Our prescriptions as management will not be the same in every case. This will at times be a painful process that some would rather not go through. But our work is getting better and better for it..." | | -- Warner Bros. Picture Group chairman Toby Emmerich says David Chase has "decided to revisit, and enlarge, the Soprano universe in a feature film." It's a prequel to "The Sopranos" tentatively titled "The Many Saints of Newark..." (NYT)
-- Interesting Erik Wemple piece: "The media is divided over whether Trump was mad. Is it possible to report his moods?" (WashPost)
-- Congrats to Oliver Darcy, who won a SABEW Best in Business award for his Mark Halperin reporting. Daniel Miller, Amy Kaufman and Victoria Kim of the LAT won in another media category... Here's the full list... (SABEW) | | Fox News settles gender discrimination suit with female reporter, her lawyer says | | | Diana Falzone, the reporter who sued Fox News in 2017 for gender discrimination, has settled her lawsuit with the company, her lawyer Nancy Erika Smith told me Thursday evening. Smith said she could not disclose the terms of the settlement, but told me, "We resolved Diana Falzone's case against Fox News and she no longer works there..." | | "Since 1851, obituaries in the NYT have been dominated by white men. Now, we're adding the stories of 15 remarkable women."
Julia Waldow emails: The NYT's new "Overlooked" section remembers the lives of Ida B. Wells, Sylvia Plath, Diane Arbus, and others who were excluded from the paper's obits. The announcement was timed to International Women's Day on Thursday, and it was very well received on social media...
-- More: The NYT says it will be "adding to this collection each week, as Overlooked becomes a regular feature in the obituaries section, and expanding our lens beyond women," Jessica Bennett and Amisha Padnani write. Readers can suggest an "overlooked obit" using this form, read how the project was started, and get the obit editor's thoughts on "why most obituaries are still of white men..." | | -- "The advertising industry, expert in the art of attention getting, has found itself riveted in recent months by an anonymously run Instagram account dedicated to exposing sexual harassment on Madison Avenue..." (NYT)
-- The WashPost's Ed O'Keefe is jumping to CBS News... (TVNewser)
-- The "inaugural David Carr Fellowship comes to end this month." Amanda Hess and John Herrman are staying with the paper... Greg Howard is leaving... (NYT) | | SXSW kicks off in Austin on Friday morning. CNN's Jake Tapper will be interviewing Bernie Sanders on stage at 12:30pm.
Later in the day, I'll be on a panel titled "Facebook and Publishers: The Evolution Of News" -- 5pm at the Hilton -- Steve Rosenbaum will be moderating and I'll be talking with Facebook's Alex Hardiman and Axios's Sara Fischer. Stop by if you're in Austin. Details here... | | | The president's Thursday afternoon announcement about tariffs was quickly TRUMPED by this... | | Cable news pundits were stunned by Thursday night's announcement that Kim Jong Un has invited President Trump for a meeting. AND that Trump has accepted. As the shock wore off, skepticism set in...
"Talk about a made-for-TV moment," CNN's Chris Cillizza writes. He says the expected meeting, at first blush, feels less "like a diplomatic gathering between two world leaders than a much-anticipated pay-per-view professional wrestling match between two longtime rivals..." | | | "THE KIM AND I," on the cover of the NYPost: | | Inside Trump's video game industry summit... | | The WashPost's Tony Romm has the download here: "Republican lawmakers and conservative media critics pressed President Trump on Thursday to explore new restrictions on the video-game industry." Trump expressed his POV by beginning the meeting with a montage of violent game clips. The W.H. later released a 90-second YouTube video showing "Violence in Video Games."
--> According to the ESA, the video game reps in the room "discussed the numerous scientific studies establishing that there is no connection between video games and violence..." | | And then there's Stormy Daniels... | | | COOPER'S SCOOP: Anderson Cooper has taped an interview with Stephanie Clifford aka Stormy Daniels. The interview will air on the CBS newsmag "60 Minutes," where Cooper is a regular contributor... But we don't know when... A source says it will air "on a future episode." News of the interview leaked out when her attorney Michael Avenatti tweeted a picture on Thursday afternoon. Here's my full story... | | "There is pervasive anxiety inside the walls of the White House over the fallout" from the Stormy Daniels allegations, CNN's Jeff Zeleny and Dan Merica report, citing multiple sources. Some officials are "worried that the salacious accusations and tangled legal fight could dwarf past controversies..."
--> On the other hand: Oliver Darcy points out how pro-Trump media outlets have been sweeping the Stormy story under the rug...
--> Manu Raju tweeted: "Sarah Sanders returns for a Friday afternoon briefing. Will she have better answers about Stormy situation tomorrow?" | | Does Trump have a right to block Twitter users? | | | Tom Kludt emails: It's a question that every hardcore Twitter user has wrestled with: to mute or block the trolls? It's also not the type of question usually pondered in a federal courtroom. But Judge Naomi Reice Buchwald clearly meant it Thursday when she suggested at a hearing in Manhattan that Trump could easily resolve a lawsuit brought last year by the Knight First Amendment Institute and seven other plaintiffs who have been blocked by the president on Twitter. The plaintiffs contend that such an action violates their constitutional rights, as Trump is a government official and his always-active Twitter feed is a public forum. Midway through the proceeding, Buchwald wondered out loud whether muting, rather than blocking, would satisfy all sides. Trump would be shielded from the criticism, while the critics would still be able to agitate freely. "Why are we here?" Buchwald asked. "Don't we have a solution that serves the interests of the plaintiffs, serves the interests of the president?" Read more... | | A decision "in due course..." | | More from Kludt: Katharine Fallow from the Knight Institute suggested the plaintiffs were amenable to the idea, though she said it wasn't perfect. Representing the defense, Justice Department lawyer Matt Baer said that both muting and blocking are "within the president's associational freedoms." Outside the courthouse, three of the plaintiffs who were in attendance offered mixed reviews for Buchwald's proposed settlement. Buchwald said she'll decide one way or another "in due course..."
-- Kludt adds: Personally, I've never blocked anyone on Twitter and I never will. Do your worst! | | | For the record, part three | | | By Julia Waldow:
-- Here's how "NBC Nightly News" celebrated its 70th anniversary... (TVNewser)
-- Instagram-style tagging (or @ing) is now available on Snapchat, complete with a "more" option that lets users add or view mentioned profiles... (TechCrunch)
--Bustle is rolling out a U.K. site and social channels in May and bringing 10 U.K. employees on board within the next three months... (Digiday) | | My interview with David Zaslav | | Discovery just bought Scripps Networks. Now what? Global expansion, a possible new streaming service, and an eye on future deals. Here's a recap of my interview with Discovery CEO David Zaslav... You can hear the whole thing through our "Reliable Sources" podcast page...
KEY DETAIL: Zaslav confirmed that Discovery is "thinking about" creating a Netflix-style streaming service as a home for some of its programming. "We're thinking about it because we have a lot of great content," Zaslav said. But he also talked up the importance of the programmer-distributor relationship... He's definitely not counting traditional TV out... | | | Through the Scripps deal, Discovery now owns Food Network and the Cooking Channel. "Between Food and Cooking, you know, why can't we own the kitchen?" Zaslav said. "We could own it with Amazon with Alexa. We could own it with a manufacturer like Samsung. We could own it with Google. But when someone comes into the kitchen, nobody has more recipes than us" or "more short-form content" about cooking... | | | For the record, part four | | | -- Daniella Emanuel emails: The Hill delved into conservatives' criticism over the Southern Poverty Law Center's involvement in YouTube content-filtering... (The Hill)
-- Megan Thomas emails: Who knew Emma Roberts had an influential book club like Reese Witherspoon? "How celebrity book clubs are changing the literary world for good..." (EW) | | Imagine if this had happened! | | "Jared Kushner Sought To Sell Newspaper To Trump's Political Enemies" | | Great scoop by BuzzFeed's Charlie Warzel: "Just days before heading to a West Wing job, Donald Trump's son-in-law Jared Kushner was secretly engaged in talks to sell his struggling news organization, The New York Observer, to Clinton mega donor and Univision chairman Haim Saban and Hillary Clinton ally David Brock -- a progressive media figure with aspirations to turn the news outlet into 'the Breitbart of the left.'"
More: "A source familiar with the matter said that Kushner did not initiate the talks and largely recused himself after an initial discussion, though he did not have any apparent reservations about selling to his father-in-law's sworn enemies..." | | Lowry says the O.J. footage is "undeniably compelling" | | Brian Lowry emails: Color me skeptical about Fox's assertion that the O.J. Simpson video that will be the basis for this weekend's special "O.J. Simpson: The Lost Confession?" just happened to turn up, conveniently when the network could use it as a counter-programming stunt to blunt the premiere of "American Idol" on ABC. But the 45 minutes or so of raw footage screened for reporters on Thursday was undeniably compelling, with Simpson at times appearing to blur the lines between imagining what happened and reminiscing.
Read Lowry's full story here... | | Russians released an anti-Clinton video game weeks before the election | | Donie O'Sullivan emails: In what may be the most bizarre and creative Russian troll operation yet uncovered, we found an anti-Hillary Clinton video game that was released a few weeks before the election. Through IP addresses, Reddit and Twitter archives, and digging into the indictment, we were able to piece the story together...
-- Donie adds: We found the game was pushed hard on Imgur. That company confirmed to us they are now looking into how their platform may have been used by "foreign actors..."
-- WSJ's latest: "Russian Trolls Tried to Torpedo Mitt Romney's Shot at Secretary of State" | | Bob Weinstein says the board "is still in discussions with potential buyers" | | "Bob Weinstein has suggested in a memo to staff that the board of the embattled Weinstein Co. still hopes to sell the company," THR's Pamela McClintock reports.
Key quote from Weinstein: "The board is still in discussions with potential buyers who want to keep the company and employees as a going concern. That has been one of our main goals and we are still pursuing it..." | | This live-action "Star Wars" show will be streaming | | | "Disney has turned to one of its favorite filmmakers, Jon Favreau, to produce and write a live-action 'Star Wars' television series for its upcoming streaming service," the NYT's Brooks Barnes reports... | | Megan Thomas emails: Bob Iger says he has no plans to change Fox Searchlight post-Fox deal.
Via Variety: "We have every intention once the acquisition is approved to maintain the business of Fox Searchlight," Iger said at Disney's annual shareholders meeting on Thursday. "We think they're in the business of making high quality films..." | | | For the record, part five | | | By Lisa Respers France:
-- This project had been on hold. But now The Cranberries are moving ahead on a final album with Dolores O'Riordan, who died earlier this year...
-- Michael B. Jordan says he will adopt "inclusion riders" for his production company moving forward...
-- Reese Witherspoon finally met Olympian Adam Rippon and told him "this was meant to be..."
-- "Bachelor" aftershocks continue: Chris Harrison says he thought "The Bachelor" was happy and was surprised by his change of heart... | | | Email brian.stelter@turner.com... the feedback helps us improve this newsletter every day... Thanks! | | | | | | |
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