Exec summary: TGIF! Thank you for all the kind words about our newsletter redesign. We will keep tweaking it based on your feedback. Scroll down for info about Ronan Farrow's reporting, the NYT's correction, Jemele Hill's departure, and much more...
CBS's hell week
This week began with Les Moonves "resigning" from CBS. The week ends with everyone wondering: Who will take his place? What can CBS do to restore confidence? And will it work?
Acting CEO Joe Ianniello "made the rounds with top CBS executives across the divisions" earlier this week, VF's Joe Pompeo reports. "According to people familiar with how the conversations went down, he didn't come across as someone who was resigned to just minding the store for a few months. He conveyed that he has enormous respect for the company's creative community and that he won't get in their way. The main takeaway of the meetings? Full steam ahead."
Full steam ahead...
Notes and quotes
-- Moonves "self-immolated," so now the pressure is on Shari Redstone, Deadline's Peter Bart writes. He says the drama has "stoked rumors of a potential buyout" by Jeff Bezos...
-- Variety's Cynthia Littleton says stories about Moonves' "dark side" are pouring out... At the same time, "there is also a swelling anger that the reports of Moonves' behavior have cast a dark cloud across the whole of CBS..."
-- Littleton quotes a CBS exec saying "this" -- i.e. the kind of harassment and bullying described in Ronan Farrow's stories -- is not going on behind every other door here. It's just not."
-- My impression from sources inside the Eye: It is mostly back to business as usual now...
-- This Glamour column is being shared in TV newsrooms: "I'm Sick of Female Journalists Cleaning Up the Messes Their Male Coworkers Made"
Now, a weekend full of parties in Hollywood...
Emmy Awards pre-parties are already underway, and they'll continue on Saturday and Sunday... Have a drink for me, I couldn't make it this year... Anyway, people will surely be chattering about the CBS fallout. The actual awards broadcast is on NBC on Monday night, instead of Sunday, lest it conflict with "Sunday Night Football."
"EXILE"
What John Hockenberry and Jian Ghomeshi have in common is that they both lost their jobs and status as a result of allegations of sexual misconduct or harassment. And they both wrote essays that were published by major magazines this week. And they're facing newfound criticism.
Hockenberry's piece, titled "Exile," is in the October issue of Harper's. If you read it, make sure to read this piece at The Cut about reactions from his accusers.
Ghomeshi's essay is in the New York Review of Books. If you read it, make sure to read Issac Chotiner's interrogation of NYRB editor Ian Buruma...
Michelle Goldberg said it best
"Reading Hockenberry's essay," she says, "it hit me: I feel sorry for a lot of these men, but I don't think they feel sorry for women, or think about women's experience much at all. And maybe that's why the discussion about #MeToo and forgiveness never seems to go anywhere, because men aren't proposing paths for restitution. They're asking why women won't give them absolution." Read her full column here...
This week's "Reliable" podcast: What happened to Tucker Carlson? | | ...That's what Lyz Lenz sought out to explore. She wrote "The Mystery of Tucker Carlson" for CJR. It's an outstanding profile, so I asked her to join me on this week's "Reliable Sources" podcast. She says Carlson's journey from an acclaimed magazine writer to an angry, anti-immigration cable news host reveals something about race, class, and economic status in America. Tune in via Apple Podcasts, Stitcher or TuneIn...
Speaking of Tucker...
On Sunday's "Reliable Sources" on CNN, I'll ask Michael Avenatti about his ugly appearance on Thursday's "Tucker Carlson Tonight." Avenatti says Dems eyeing 2020 should go into the "belly of the beast," a/k/a Fox News. Is he right?
Plus: Janice Min, Jessica Valenti, Brendan Nyhan, Amanda Carpenter... And Glenn Kessler, who just counted Trump's 5,000th false/misleading statement... See you Sunday at 11am ET!
FOR THE RECORD, PART ONE
-- An Phung emails: Lehman Brothers filed for bankruptcy ten years ago Saturday. In this new video, CNN's Christine Romans looks back on what it was like to cover the financial crisis that ushered in the worst recession since the Great Depression... (CNNMoney)
-- Look out for more reporting from Ronan Farrow: He and his New Yorker colleague Jane Mayer broke news about the misconduct allegation against SCOTUS nominee Brett Kavanaugh on Friday. And Politico says Farrow flew to CA "in an attempt to persuade the woman behind the allegations to share her story..." (Politico)
-- Erick Erickson weighs in: "What's going to happen next is the Kavanaugh accuser is going to come forward, conservatives will realize at once she is not credible, and Democrats will scream that we are sexists supporting a predator. This is all so predictable..." (Twitter)
| | Nonstop live coverage of Florence
CNN, MSNBC, Fox News, and The Weather Channel have been live for days, and will stay that way through Saturday... All the cablers have anchors staying live overnight... On CNN, Don Lemon will be live from the coast til 1am ET, then George Howell will take over til 5am, when Victor Blackwell will co-host "New Day" from Myrtle Beach...
The equation: Water over time
-- Chris Cuomo on CNN: "This is about time. Water over time..."
-- David Begnaud in Morehead City, NC on the "CBS Evening News:" "It is just as bad right now as it was 12 hours ago, and it's expected to continue for another 12 to 24."
-- Here's a look at the flood damage inside WCTI, the ABC affiliate in New Bern...
-- Via CNN.com's live blog: WTVD reporter Julie Wilson "had to stop a live broadcast in New Bern to save a dog stranded in knee-deep water..."
Good and bad press for The Weather Channel
The channel has been soaking up praise for this segment depicting storm surge... TWC calls it "immersive mixed reality" and says it uses video game technology... Wired has all the details here.
But TWC is also getting dinged for this Friday afternoon live shot featuring Mike Seidel. In this viral video, Seidel seems to be bracing himself against high winds while two men walk casually in the background. The channel responded by defending Seidel: "It's important to note that the two individuals in the background are walking on concrete, and Mike Seidel is trying to maintain his footing on wet grass, after reporting on-air until 1:00 a.m. ET this morning and is undoubtedly exhausted..." | |
FOR THE RECORD, PART TWO
-- "Fear" is still No. 1 on Amazon. Bob Woodward sat down with Fareed Zakaria for this weekend's "GPS..." In this preview clip, Woodward talks about how confidentiality creates a "relationship of trust" with sources... (CNN)
-- Don't miss Scott Nover's piece about the state of journalism in Brooklyn, partly through the eyes of Bklyner publisher Liena Zagare... (The Atlantic)
-- Congrats! Margaret Brennan and husband Yado Yakub "have welcomed a son named Eamon Brennan Yakub..." (People)
-- "Disney and Comcast could be forced into a quick-fire auction for Sky," Hadas Gold reports... (CNNMoney)
A "stupid unforced error" by the NYT
Oliver Darcy explains: The NYT issued a lengthy editor's note to this controversial story on Friday. The story suggested that Nikki Haley had used $52,701 in taxpayer money to purchase curtains for the new UN ambassador's residence. But the article included comment from a spokesperson for Haley who said plans to purchase the curtains were made during the end of the Obama admin and that Haley had no say in the purchase. For that reason, the story drew significant backlash on social media, prompting editors to "review" it. By mid-afternoon, The Times came out and said that the story had "created an unfair impression about who was responsible for the purchase in question." An editor's note was appended to the top of the story saying, in part, "The article should not have focused on Ms. Haley, nor should a picture of her have been used. The article and headline have now been edited to reflect those concerns, and the picture has been removed." >> Tim Alberta tweeted: "Such a stupid unforced error—handing Trump yet more ammunition to delegitimize all the objective, airtight, fact-based reporting out there. Mistakes happen, but on a 1-10 avoidability scale, this was an 11." Read Darcy's full story here...
Baquet's comment
Before the editor's note came out, Donald Trump, Jr. angrily tweeted, "Will you print a correction or just leave it as is because you want it to be true???" Hopefully Jr. saw the correction and learned a lesson. Dean Baquet told the WaPo's Paul Farhi that he wanted this to be the takeaway: "If we get it wrong, we correct it. We own up to it." Yes, but... I think Ari Fleischer had it right in this tweet: "It took conservatives on Twitter zero seconds to catch what was wrong. Why didn't any editors spot the problem before the story ran?"
Bezos cuts the ribbon
 Jeff Bezos visited his newspaper on Friday... He led a ribbon-cutting ceremony for a sixth floor newsroom expansion, per multiple reporters who live-tweeted it... "You guys really are making sure democracy doesn't die in darkness," Bezos said... He also cribbed from Marty Baron's famous line, saying, "We're never at war with anybody. Just do the work..."
>> ICYMI: Bezos said last night that Trump should welcome media scrutiny instead of staying in attack mode...
FOR THE RECORD, PART THREE
-- The Golden Globes are staying on NBC... The HFPA has struck a "a new eight-year deal" with the network... (Deadline)
-- Friday was Racked's last day... The Vox-owned site is pushing people over to a new consumer culture/buying site called The Goods by Vox... (Racked)
-- 🎉 "'Live with Kelly and Ryan' closed out its latest week of attempts to set various Guinness world records with a ringer: Exec producer Michael Gelman now holds the title for Most Morning Talk Show Episodes Produced for a Single Talk Show..." (Deadline)
Jemele Hill leaves ESPN
The inevitable is now official. "ESPN host Jemele Hill announced on Twitter that Friday is her last day at the network," Frank Pallotta writes. In her farewell note, she didn't say much about what she will do next, but she recently formed a production company...
| | Trump got on the phone with the WSJ...
...And the reason is really revealing. He spoke with the WSJ's Peter Nicholas because Nicholas was working on a story about one of Trump's former legal advisers, Jay Goldberg, who has a book coming out in December. In the phoner, Trump disputed Goldberg's criticisms of his behavior, bragged about his performance as POTUS, and "questioned whether it is appropriate" for Goldberg to write about a client. Details here...
He kept tweeting about Puerto Rico...
Trump resumed his death toll denialism with several terrible new tweets on Friday. He quoted something Geraldo Rivera said on Fox News... something Lou Dobbs said on Fox Business... and something the WaPo wrote.
Meanwhile, the RNC's talking points for the weekend... the weekly email titled "Pundit Prep..." is about Florence: "The President's number one priority at this time is to ensure the safety and well-being of all individuals in affected areas."
An ironic retweet
@RealDonaldTrump retweeted @FEMA's "rumor control page" for Florence. The tweet said that "during disasters, it's critical to avoid spreading false information..."
Trump out of sight
Peter Baker tweeted the big picture story of this W.H.: "For the second day in a row, with plenty of news on Hurricane Florence, the Kavanaugh nomination and the Manafort plea, Trump remains completely out of sight and the White House holds no press briefing..."
Manafort pleads guilty
| | The Lawfare blog summed up Friday this way: "Only three weeks ago, the president of the United States lauded Paul Manafort for bravely rejecting any cooperation with Special Counsel Robert Mueller. Today, Manafort buckled."
-- CNN's Katelyn Polantz: "Friday's court activity signals Mueller's investigation will continue and delve deeper into what Manafort knows..."
-- Jeffrey Toobin said on "The Situation Room" that the Mueller team got what they wanted: "He confessed to an extraordinary number of crimes. This guy, Paul Manafort was basically a one-man crime wave..."
| | | "After a long period of ignoring the site, Trump now publicly loves Breitbart again. A West Wing official told The Daily Beast that Trump has recently been demanding print-outs of Breitbart clips, and will sometimes ask where Breitbart 'stands' on a given issue of the day..." | | This weekend's box office
"The Predator" is this weekend's big launch, but "a cloud of controversy may stall what might have been a larger performance," BoxOfficeMojo notes. Thursday night ticket sales weren't great. Details here...
A tale of two streamers
Brian Lowry emails: Hulu's "The First" stars Sean Penn, but it's a plodding, completely earthbound look at the first mission to Mars. Amazon's "Forever" explores a different frontier in much more provocative fashion, although there are enough twists baked into it that it's virtually impossible to review...
Lowry also recommends...
Lowry adds: "Warriors of Liberty City," the latest documentary series from LeBron James -- who has become very, very busy as a producer -- is making its debut on Starz. The series looks at kids playing youth football in football-mad Miami...
Who's dying on "Modern Family?"
Chloe Melas writes: "Series co-creator Christopher Lloyd said in Season 10, which premieres later this month, a main character will die. 'We're handling some bigger life events in this season,' Lloyd told Entertainment Weekly. 'We do deal with a death, which is certainly a topic that families have to deal with, and on television, it's not easy to do because that's a heavy subject. But at the same time, it would seem unusual for a family not to go through it.' As for hints of who it might be, Lloyd said it's a 'significant character on the series...'"
As Melas notes, "there's been speculation Season 10 will be 'Modern Family's' final one..."
Crews says he accepts Venit's apology
Megan Thomas emails: Terry Crews shared the letter of apology he received from Adam Venit, the former WME agent who Crews accused of groping him at a party in 2016.
Venit didn't directly admit to the allegations but wrote, "I take responsibility for us being here now, together in this situation. I am sorry for all of it."
Crews wrote that he got the letter in March and accepted Venit's apology when learned he resigned from WME on September 10... | | Thanks for reading! Email me your feedback... See you Sunday...
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