EXEC SUMMARY: Here's a first look at the TIME cover you'll be seeing everywhere on Thursday... Plus highlights from the First Amendment Awards and much more...
Shep: "The times ahead will test all of us..."
The divide between the Shep Smith side of Fox News and the Sean Hannity side of Fox was especially stark on Wednesday. Smith was in DC, accepting a First Amendment Award from RTDNF, while Hannity was on the air running defense for the president. I transcribed what Smith said during his acceptance speech. It is worth reading in full.
"Being accurate and honest and thorough and fair is our primary mission. It's our professional calling. And everyone on my team takes it extremely seriously," he said, referring to his "Shepard Smith Reporting" colleagues.
Smith recalled advice from one of his Old Miss journalism professors about telling the truth, no matter what. "I personally believe this is the duty not only of journalists but of every person who has the honor of a platform of influence," he said. "We must never manipulate or invent. We must never knowingly deceive. Because to do so is a disservice to our audience and potentially injurious to our society." | | Smith said he is convinced that "history will poorly reflect" upon those who intentionally misinform. By this point in his speech, I started to think that he was subtweeting his opinion side colleagues.
And he continued: "The times ahead will test all of us as finders and disseminators of accurate information. My team and I, like you and yours, will strive to remain on task, trying our very best to ignore the Twitter trolls and others who relentlessly pursue us, daily, and to get the facts to the people. ALL of the people. In every place, in every corner where information is taken in. The First Amendment that this award honors gives us the protection to do what is right. To do what's right, no matter what. To the founding fathers, we're grateful and mindful of our responsibility; of our purpose; and of our duty."
It was a powerful speech on a night full of them. "Good night, and get it right," he said. Scroll down for other highlights...
O'Rourke's turn
Reporters have been on "Beto O'Rourke watch" for months. Some have been living practically full-time in El Paso, Texas. The beat heated up in the past week... And now O'Rourke is about to "push the button," as one source told CNN, on his 2020 presidential campaign.
 Lest anyone still have doubts that he's running, Vanity Fair came out with its April cover on Wednesday evening, with O'Rourke photographed by Annie Leibovitz. The cover screams "I'm running."
The cover story, by Joe Hagan, is online now. Hagan tweeted that he convinced O'Rourke "to do this cover story after walking up to his house and introducing myself one Sunday afternoon. He was lounging on the front veranda, barefoot in blue jeans and T-shirt, talking on his cell phone."
Stand by for news...
Not long after the VF cover came out, O'Rourke seemed to confirm he was running in a text message with a staffer at El Paso station KTSM. The station said he texted, "I'm really proud of what El Paso did and what El Paso represents. it's a big part of why I'm running. This city is the best example of this country at its best."
So, it's official? Maybe not quite yet. But he's in Iowa for the next three days. As he touched down in the state on Wednesday night, O'Rourke and his aides declined to comment to CNN's Leyla Santiago, or to confirm the content of the text...
The problem with "Beto"
Is Amy Klobuchar "Amy?" Is Kirsten Gillibrand "Kirsten?" Is John Hickenlooper "John?" No. That's why journalists should resist the temptation to go with "Beto" when O'Rourke is the appropriate descriptor...
Top Twitter takes
-- National Journal's Hanna Trudo: "What if @JoeBiden trolled @BetoORourke by announcing tomorrow too 🙇🏼♀️"
-- The Resurgent's Erick Erickson: "Beto v. Trump would actually be fitting as both are media created candidates."
-- 538's Nate Silver: "Beto is going to generate a lot of Takes and then there will be a backlash to the Takes and then a backlash to the backlash and a backlash to the backlash to the backlash and all of that is only going to generate even more Takes."
TIME's orange cover
This is the cover of TIME mag that will be coming out on Thursday... | | The illustration is by Edel Rodriguez and the cover story is by Molly Ball... She writes that, as much as Nancy Pelosi "may not want to say it now, even her reticent Democratic allies in the House admit the push for impeachment is likely coming."
Pelosi, she says, "is actually playing a deeper game. Her aides note that she's never ruled impeachment out. All she's done, they say, is set a standard: increased popular support and some degree of GOP backing. Behind the scenes, she and her team are working to see that standard is met."
Ball's story will be up on TIME.com in the morning... The package also includes a column by David French about why impeachment is a mistake...
FOR THE RECORD, PART ONE
-- The most-read story on the WaPo website right now: "Trump disparages Boeing 737s in private before grounding the plane after deadly crash..." (WaPo)
-- Above the fold on Thursday's NYT front page: "Sentence Adds Time In Prison For Manafort" (NYT)
-- CNN's latest scoop: An attorney who said he was speaking with Rudy Giuliani "reassured Michael Cohen in an April 2018 email that Cohen could 'sleep well tonight' because he had 'friends in high places.'" Read Gloria Borger and Jeremy Herb's full story... (CNN)
-- Adrienne LaFrance has been promoted to exec editor of The Atlantic, and Swati Sharma and Sarah Yager are now managing editors... (Atlantic)
-- Oliver Darcy emails: Fred Barnes has joined The Washington Examiner as a senior columnist, the publication announced Wednesday. Barnes, of course, was one of the founding editors of the now-defunct Weekly Standard... (WaEx)
Goldston, Zucker, Attiah and more at the First Amendment Awards
Carl Bernstein, Dana Bash, Chris Wallace, Jake Tapper, Susan Zirinsky, Gloria Borger, Sam Feist, Jim Acosta, and Wolf Blitzer were all spotted at the Radio Television Digital News Foundation's annual fund-raiser in DC on Wednesday night. Some of the takeaways:
-- Karen Attiah accepting an award for Jamal Khashoggi: "All he wanted to do was write."
-- NBC's Kasie Hunt said one of the benefits of being on the campaign trail is meeting voters and showing them what journalism really looks like: "It's increasingly important in the face of this vitriolic rhetoric."
-- ABC News prez James Goldston: "This moment calls for us to be better at what we do than ever before. It is our duty to bolster the real news and to discredit news you can't trust. And when we do that I'm optimistic that good journalism will prevail."
-- Sportscaster Dale Hansen, who received the lifetime achievement award: "We are not the enemy of the American people, because we ARE the American people."
-- CNN prez Jeff Zucker: CNN's mission is to hold people in power accountable "even when it's uncomfortable. Especially when it's uncomfortable."
-- Carl Bernstein, who introduced Zucker, reflecting on 55 years as a journalist: "I don't know of a moment that's more perilous -- for the country, for reporting, for the truth, and for the First Amendment."
The evening's best jokes
CBS News prez Susan Zirinsky took the stage to present an award to David Begnaud. "I am here tonight to celebrate someone very important at CBS," she said. [Pause.] "R Kelly. No, I'm just kidding!" Well played...
And this from Zucker: "Oh, how we love that First Amendment! If we could, we'd kiss it like Donald Trump kissed that flag..."
Inside Fox's event for ad buyers
Fox News promoted "a message of transparency and trust at its first-ever upfront" on Wednesday, AdAge's Jeanine Poggi reported. She noted that there was a group of protesters outside Fox News HQ -- organized by Media Matters -- while the event went on inside.
The network's ad sales chief Marianne Gambelli alluded to recent controversies during the upfront. She acknowledged that there's a lot of "noise" out there, perhaps referring to the protesters, but said "the voice of a few shouldn't stop you from marketing to consumers who will buy your brand..."
>> Variety's Brian Steinberg: "Keeping the ad dollars flowing at Fox News is critical – not only for the network, but for its parent company..."
Carlson v. Carusone
This is how it works: Someone from your tribe is being criticized for saying hateful things? Show that the critics are hypocrites who have also said hateful things!
Case in point: Media Matters prez Angelo Carusone, who's been leading the charge against Tucker Carlson, "has his own track record of inflammatory statements," The Daily Caller's Peter Hasson wrote Tuesday. Hasson disclosed that Carlson was a co-founder of the Caller. He said "Carusone's now-defunct blog included degrading references to 'trannies,' 'jewry' and Bangladeshis."
The Daily Caller wrote about these same comments back in 2014. In fact, Carusone told me, "it's happened several times since 2012." But so what? The posts are offensive, then or now. Carusone admitted that his posts from the mid-2000s are "gross content." But, he said, "the entire context and tone" of his old website "was intended to be a giant obnoxious right-wing caricature, a parody of a right-wing blowhard living my life. It's awful and grotesque, which was sort of the point. But, it didn't work. I wasn't really good at it and it wasn't really me. I stopped it after a short while and found better ways and more constructive ways to channel my energy."
Meet the researcher...
Where did the embarrassing tapes of Carlson on "Bubba the Love Sponge" come from? Carlson claims he's the victim of a "mob of power-seeking organizations and people he says are waging a political war to censor him," Eli Rosenberg notes in this brand new WaPo piece, But "in reality, credit for the tapes' publication" goes to Madeline Peltz, who works the night shift at Media Matters. Peltz is "a 20-something in her first adult job who lives in the basement of a Washington, D.C., house she rents with five other people, a few cats and a dog named Noodles," Rosenberg writes...
FOR THE RECORD, PART TWO
-- BREAKING: "Federal prosecutors are conducting a criminal investigation into data deals Facebook struck with some of the world's largest technology companies, intensifying scrutiny of the social media giant's business practices as it seeks to rebound from a year of scandal and setbacks..." (NYT)
-- Meanwhile, "Facebook's major global outage is showing no sign of ending," Donie O'Sullivan reports... This is "believed to be the biggest interruption ever suffered by the social network..." (CNN)
-- "Gimlet Media, a podcasting startup recently acquired by Spotify, is the first audio-focused outlet to unionize in a wave of newsroom labor organizing..." (BuzzFeed)
-- Speaking of podcasts: Hot Pod founder Nick Quah will join me on the "Reliable Sources" podcast, out Thursday evening...
-- "The woman who precipitated Matt Lauer's downfall — and the loss of his $25 million NBC job — is shopping around a tell-all book..." (Page Six)
-- Alexandra Steigrad's latest: "CBS staffers in a panic over call for $100M in cuts..." (NYPost)
Inaccurate NBC report sends Twitter into a frenzy
Oliver Darcy emails: The Twitter-verse was sent into a frenzy on Wednesday afternoon when NBC News published a story that suggested Twitter was going to be eliminating the engagement numbers for retweets/likes. That, however, turned out to be inaccurate. After the report went far and wide on Twitter, NBC News published a correction which said the initial article "misstated the changes that Twitter is testing in a prototype app." The correction went on to say, "Twitter is testing putting engagement counts on replies behind a user tap, not removing the engagement counts for tweets."
| | Trump's RT of Geraldo...
This caught my eye on Wednesday. POTUS retweeted Fox's Geraldo Rivera, who wrote that Nancy Pelosi's "statements vs #Impeachment are refreshing & conciliatory. Her conclusion that attempting to remove @realDonaldTrump early would be 'divisive' is self-evident. Once #RobertMueller exonerates @POTUS of allegations he's a Russian spy, let's move on."
Today in the Trump-Fox feedback loop | | Brian Lowry emails: The Trump tweet about Jay Leno is a pretty good example of garbage in, garbage out, as "Fox & Friends" mischaracterized what the former "Tonight Show" host said -- seizing on the word "one-sided" -- and then the president ran with it in a self-serving way.
Basically, all Leno did was repeat something he has said in the past -- including an interview with CNN way back during the 2016 campaign -- when he noted that he was relieved to no longer be hosting a late-night show because of the incivility that Trump, primarily, had brought to politics. Leno's lament, in fact, was that it was difficult not to be one-sided, saying, "How do you play fair? How do you do a pro-Donald Trump joke? You can't. At least with Bush or Clinton, you could go back and forth. But this..."
>> Lowry adds: Also, Steve Doocy's point -- that alienating part of the audience is a bad business model -- completely flies in the face of both Fox's success and, not incidentally, Stephen Colbert's ratings ascent since the election...
FOR THE RECORD, PART THREE
-- Luke Mullins' latest: DC lobbyists "are trying to reach their audience of one" by targeting the TV shows Trump loves... (Washingtonian)
-- Financial disclosure forms have revealed the Fox News salaries for some former contributors and hosts. Jeremy Barr has all the info here... (THR)
-- "Amazon removed two books that promote unscientific autism "cures" after Wired published a report earlier this week highlighting books on the site that encourage parents to have their children consume potentially toxic chemicals..." (CNBC)
"Truth in Our Times" book party
Newsrooms are only as strong as their lawyers.
A.G. Sulzberger and Dean Baquet threw a book party for David McCraw, the NYT's top newsroom lawyer, on Wednesday night... McCraw's new book is titled "Truth in Our Times..." Baquet called him a "badass" who "sees it as his mission to help us publish the truth, not to keep us out of trouble."
Spotted: Andrew Ross Sorkin, Bill Keller, Tom Jolly, Ellen Pollock, Julie Bloom, Kevin McKenna, Carolyn Ryan, Nicholas Kristol, Rebecca Ruiz, Bill Brink, Susanne Craig, David Rohde, Jameel Jaffer, Tim O'Brien, Eileen Murphy, Jordan Cohen, Danielle Rhoades Ha, Max Tani, Michael Calderone, and many more...
Condé job listing raised eyebrows, but…
Oliver Darcy emails: The New York State Department of Labor said in a tweet on Wednesday that it was looking into a Condé Nast job opening at Epicurious. The job for an Epicurious editorial assistant had been described on Twitter by the website's director, David Tamarkin, as a "full-time freelance position" that came with no benefits. Tamarkin's description of the job had prompted outrage. But when I contacted Condé Nast, a spokesperson pushed back, saying the job had always been eligible for benefits. Tamarkin also said in a follow-up tweet that the job was, in fact, eligible for benefits...
FOR THE RECORD, PART FOUR
-- Discovery shares dropped 5% on Wednesday. AMC Networks was down nearly 5%. Viacom fell 3%. Why? Well Dade Hayes says investors are processing the news "that their networks are caught in the shuffle at DirecTV Now..." (Deadline)
-- Anousha Sakoui reports: "Harvey Weinstein's movie library" is getting a new home through Gary Barber's "new venture with Lantern Entertainment..." (Bloomberg)
-- This effort in Illinois is the latest example of news outlets "banding together to share statehouse coverage..." (NiemanLab)
-- "HBO told employees it is shutting down a communications center in Hauppauge, NY, a move that's expected to impact dozens of jobs on the network's broadcast technology team, including an unspecified number of layoffs," Felix Gillette reported... (Bloomberg)
Jess Cagle leaving People mag
"After a successful five-year run as Editor in Chief of PEOPLE and more than 30 years with legacy Time Inc., Jess Cagle has decided he's stepping down when his contract expires on March 31. He will also be leaving his role as Editorial Director of Entertainment Weekly and People en Español," Meredith's Bruce Gersh announced in an internal memo on Wednesday. He thanked Cagle for all the years of service and said Cagle's successor will be named "shortly."
>> Cagle said "this has been a tough decision, but it's time to do some other things while I'm still young—or at least alive. And it's time for me to live in Los Angeles full-time under the same roof as my husband and dog. I really cannot express how much this place and these people have meant to me..."
Super Bowl Switcheroo!
That's what Andrew Marchand called it. "NBC and CBS Sports are swapping Super Bowl years," he reported Wednesday. "CBS will move up a year in the Super Bowl rotation and broadcast the game played at the end of the 2020-21 season, while NBC will drop back to take the 2021-22 Super Bowl. There is no compensation because it benefits both networks, sources said." Here's why...
| | Britney Spears music is coming to Broadway
"Once Upon a One More Time" is "set to open this fall at the James M. Nederlander Theatre in Chicago before heading to the Great White Way," Lisa Respers France wrote Wednesday. The musical comedy will feature Britney Spears' tunes "and offer a feminist twist." Details here...
The title and trailer for "Star Wars" may be coming next month...
Frank Pallotta emails: Disney and Lucasfilm announced Wednesday that Lucasfilm president Kathleen Kennedy and "Star Wars: Episode IX" director J.J. Abrams will be on stage for a panel at "Star Wars Celebration" in Chicago on Friday, April 12. This would be a perfect time for the company to drop the first trailer for the anticipated film that hits our galaxy in December...
Lowry reviews two new Netflix offerings | | Brian Lowry emails: Netflix premieres two comedies this weekend, which feel unnecessary for different reasons: "Turn Up Charlie," a transparent vanity project -- with an '80s sitcom premise -- for the very busy Idris Elba, who produces and stars; and the latest season of "Arrested Development," which, 16 years removed from its premiere on Fox, looks ready for retirement. Read on...
"Empire" is back
Brian Lowry emails: "Empire" returned Wednesday night, beginning the second half of its season, with Jussie Smollett's future still very much up in the air. The question is: How much of a distraction will that situation be as the next seven episodes play out? The actor was left out of the last two. And: Will the off-screen drama, somewhat perversely, trigger interest in the series? The show's best ratings days are long since behind it...
Guess which show is bigger than "The Bachelor?"
One more note from Brian Lowry: A ratings footnote you'd never suspect based strictly on the amount of press coverage they receive: On Tuesday, CBS' rookie drama "FBI" attracted 8.96 million viewers, per Nielsen, topping the two big shows up against it: "The Bachelor" finale (7.66 million) and "This is Us" (7.53 million). It's a reminder that when it comes to which series reliably generate web traffic, not all viewers are equal...
ABC is reviving two games shows from the 80s
"Get ready for big money and lots of Whammies: ABC is bringing back 1980s game-show classics Card Sharks and Press Your Luck," Vulture's Joe Adalian reports... Here's the full story...
| | | Thanks for reading! Email me feedback anytime. See you tomorrow... | | | |
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