EXEC SUMMARY: The weekend ended with breaking news from the White House... Scroll down for complete coverage... But first, a look at the week ahead in media and tech...
Writers versus agents: New deadline is Friday
The big story in Hollywood: "At the last minute, the Writers Guild of America has extended the deadline for imposing a 'Code of Conduct' on the talent agencies by about a week, to end of day Friday, April 12," THR's Jonathan Handel wrote. "The code was set to go into effect at 12:01 a.m. Sunday."
So the weekend ended without a mass firing of agents. Who blinked and why? "Sources said that the agents initiated a meeting with WGA" on Saturday afternoon, Deadline's team reported.
The meeting seems "to have broken through some of the ice between the sides," Variety's Cynthia Littleton tweeted. "WGA West chief David Young told me it was a 'good conversation.' But make no mistake, the divide is still huge." The guild is calling Friday night a "real deadline." The countdown clock is set...
Coming up this week...
Monday: NCAA Championships on CBS. The game is "one of the last best opportunities to reach a lot of male viewers until the NBA Finals in June," Brian Lowry notes...
Monday night: Rep. Eric Swalwell may share some 2020 news on "The Late Show with Stephen Colbert..."
Tuesday: This year's Peabody nominees are announced...
Wednesday: The 10th annual Women in the World summit begins in NYC...
Thursday: Disney's big investor day in L.A...
Thursday: THR comes out with its "Most Powerful People in Media" New York list...
Friday: Coachella gets underway...
Friday: "Little" opens in theaters. Lisa Respers France's interviews with the cast, director and producer will be out later this week...
Sunday: The final season of "Game of Thrones" begins...
Hoda and Jenna
Monday is Jenna Bush Hager's official first day as a co-host of the fourth hour of "Today." In practice, though, she's been a fixture on the show for years, so "it will be a seamless transition," a source on the show says. Don't expect many changes on Monday... "The show will evolve over the coming months..."
Three big new books on Tuesday
>> On Tuesday Jake Sherman and Anna Palmer are coming out with "The Hill to Die On," which I previewed the other day...
>> Robert Caro's "Working" hits bookshelves... Scroll down to hear more from Caro...
>> And Erin Lee Carr comes out with her memoir "All That You Leave Behind." The memoir is magnificent. The chapters bring her father David Carr back to life. I'll be hosting the book launch event on Tuesday evening, details here...
Five CNN town halls this week
And you thought three town halls in one evening was impressive last month? Here's the schedule this week:
Tuesday 10pm: Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand (moderated by Erin Burnett)
Wednesday 10pm: Gov. Jay Inslee (moderated by Wolf Blitzer)
Thursday 10pm: Former HUD Secretary Julián Castro (moderated by Don Lemon)
Sunday 7pm: Author Marianne Williamson (moderated by Dana Bash)
Sunday 8pm: Businessman Andrew Yang (moderated by Ana Cabrera)
The big unknown
Will the Mueller report be released to the public this week? "The first public confrontation is imminent," with A.G. Bill Barr "scheduled to appear Tuesday and Wednesday before the House and Senate Appropriations committees for hearings ostensibly about the DOJ's budget," WaPo's Devlin Barrett wrote Sunday...
BREAKING
UK to tech execs: Clean up your platforms or face 'substantial' fines
Hadas Gold emails from London: Tech execs could be hit with substantial fines and criminal penalties under new rules proposed by the UK government that aim to make the internet safe for children and other vulnerable groups. The penalties will be set out Monday in a government position paper that says the United Kingdom will make internet companies legally responsible for unlawful content and material that is damaging to individuals or the country.
The government said that an independent regulator would be created to enforce the new rules, which focus on removing content that incites violence, encourages suicide or constitutes cyber-bullying. Content related to terrorism and child abuse would face even stricter standards.
The government will continue to develop this plan over the next twelve weeks before proposing it as legislation... Read the rest here...
Two key tech hearings this week
Donie O'Sullivan emails: Sparks will fly when reps from Facebook and YouTube appear before the House Judiciary Committee on Tuesday on a panel about the rise of white nationalism through social media with reps from groups like ADL and… Candace Owens. As Oliver Darcy pointed out, Owens recently had to clarify comments she made about Hitler.
And on Wednesday reps from some of the social media companies will be back on the Hill for a Senate hearing titled "Stifling Free Speech: Technological Censorship and the Public Discourse." Expect a lot of talk about perceived algorithmic anti-conservative bias...
FOR THE RECORD, PART ONE
-- Baylor won the NCAA women's tournament title game Sunday... (Bleacher)
-- Lloyd Grove's latest: "Inside Megyn Kelly's 2020 campaign -- for a new job in right-wing media..." (Beast)
-- NBC's Craig Melvin tweeted this on Sunday night, linking to a WGN story: "What should be breaking news but isn't. We should care! 30 shot over 3-hour span in Chicago, including 11-year-old and at least 11 teens" (Twitter)
YOU HEARD IT HERE FIRST
Joe Lockhart's new podcasting gig
The Words Matter Podcast went through a public breakup in February when Steve Schmidt and Elise Jordan left. Now the pod is being reconstituted: Former W.H. press secretary and current CNN commentator Joe Lockhart is joining Katie Barlow as the new co-host, executive producer Adam Levine says...
| | Nielsen out
The big picture lede by WSJ's Vivian Salama and Louise Radnofsky: "Kirstjen Nielsen resigned Sunday as homeland security secretary, adding another challenge for an administration grappling with its core immigration agenda while facing a surge of migrants at the southern border."
>> From CNN's team: "Nielsen did not resign willingly, a person close to her told CNN, but was under pressure to do so."
>> Flashback: Lou Dobbs called for Nielsen's ouster at the end of March...
>> Kevin McAleenan will be the acting DHS secretary. WaPo/CNN's Catherine Rampell tweeted that the "number of Cabinet members who will now be 'acting' lends new meaning to the term political theater..."
>> NYT's Katie Rogers tweeted: "And then there were two ... women left in Trump's cabinet."
From the left and right
VIEW FROM THE LEFT: "The story everyone tells should be that Trump's immigration agenda is a full-blown catastrophe on every level, that he's looking for a scapegoat for this, and that he's incapable of understanding *why* his agenda is failing so miserably," WaPo's Greg Sargent tweeted...
VIEW FROM THE RIGHT: "Kirstjen Nielsen has resigned as DHS secretary in the midst of soaring illegal immigration levels and an expanded Catch and Release policy under her direction," Breitbart's John Binder wrote...
"This isn't just about Nielsen..."
Obama W.H. aide turned CNN national security analyst Samantha Vinograd emails: "This isn't just about Nielsen -- it's also about how other confirmed cabinet secretaries feel about their boss tonight. Their job security is directly dependent on how willing they are to tell the President what he wants to hear rather than what he needs to hear."
Vinograd adds: "Can you imagine the job interview for Nielsen's successor? Willingness to bend the law when the President says so; willingness to let the President pull the rug out from under you; willingness to clean up the President's diplomatic messes -- not to mention run a massive Department. Add to that ability to get vetted and confirmed and the cast of potential characters is pretty small..."
CBS had the news first...
CBS correspondent Paula Reid's tweet sent newsrooms scrambling on Sunday afternoon. "Two US officials tell @CBSNews DHS Secretary Kirstjen Nielsen meeting with President Trump at 5pm, expected to resign," she wrote just after 5. Reid called into CBSN right away. An hour later, Trump confirmed Nielsen's departure in a tweet...
Nielsen tried to sway Trump through the TV
Remember seeing Nielsen on "Tucker Carlson Tonight" last week? This bit of reporting comes from CNN's Jeff Zeleny: "She did interviews -- including on CNN -- to try and improve the President's souring view of her, a source close to Nielsen said, but to little avail. 'Nothing she could do or say could change how the President started viewing her,' the source said..."
How would we cover Trump if he ran a different country?
On Sunday's "Reliable Sources," I suggested a "mental exercise" for the Trump age: What would you think if these headlines were happening in some other country? How would President Trump's conduct be covered? Here are the examples I cited...
IN OTHER NEWS...
Ex-Murdoch exec speaks out | | Joseph Azam joined Rupert Murdoch's News Corp as an SVP in 2015. He says he loved working there. But after the presidential election, he noticed a disturbing "change in tone."
"I was fine with working with and for people who had different values and opinions than I did, but I noticed a significant shift in the ferociousness and, frankly, in the relationship with facts, you know, particularly on the Fox side," Azam told me on Sunday's "Reliable Sources." After Trump took office, "it became very profitable to kind of fall in line with an anti-immigrant, anti-refugee, anti-Muslim rhetoric," he said. "And I was affected by that." He resigned in late 2017. (News Corp declined to comment.)
--> During the interview, I said that his concerns about Fox's change in tone are shared by others -- meaning, current employees at Fox and News Corp -- who feel they can't speak up...
--> Azam first spoke out publicly in an interview with NPR's David Folkenflik last month. In that interview, and again on Sunday, he cited recent acts of violence by extremists as a motivating factor. Here's my full story, plus video of the interview...
FOR THE RECORD, PART TWO
-- Speaking of Fox: Here's my conversation with the NYT's Jim Rutenberg from Sunday's show... (CNN)
-- POTUS started his Sunday by claiming that members of Robert Mueller's team are "illegally" leaking. In the same tweet, he said journalists make up sources. "When you're starting your morning attack of institutions, you gotta pick a lane," the NYT's Katie Rogers said. "Either the leaks are real or the news is fake..." (CNN)
-- Viacom CEO Bob Bakish and Pluto TV CEO Tom Ryan are on the cover of Adweek. Jason Lynch's story says "ad-supported platforms are now key to streaming's future..." (Adweek)
-- Gabe Bullard on reimagining audio news: "Smart speakers are challenging the foundations of radio, and news outlets are racing to find a place on the platform..." (Nieman Reports)
Cheers to Don and Tim! 🥂 | | CNN's Don Lemon announced his engagement to Tim Malone via Instagram on Saturday. The Twittersphere is still swooning. Congrats to both!
EYE ON 2020
Campaign Journalism Conference this week
David Axelrod's nonpartisan University of Chicago Institute of Politics is co-sponsoring a Campaign Journalism Conference later this week. Axelrod gave me a preview on Sunday's show. His key bit of advice: "Cover the electorate, not the polls." Watch...
--> Brian Lowry emails: Axelrod's assessment of campaign coverage is one of the more astute I've heard, and given the pace of the current cable news cycle, one of the least likely to be heeded in, as he observed, the crush to blanket the story of the day/moment...
Women candidates facing harsher news coverage?
StoryBench, a project at Northeastern University's School of Journalism, has been analyzing articles about 2020 contenders. It recently found that "female candidates running for president are consistently being described in the media more negatively than their male counterparts." On Sunday's show, Laura Bassett and David Zurawik reacted to the research... Watch...
Are Republicans winning the meme wars?
Charlie Warzel's latest must-read for the NYT: "Welcome to 2019, where it takes just 19 hours for a faked homemade video of Joe Biden to travel from the keyboard of a pseudonymous 'memesmith' to the president of the United States." He tells the story of "CarpeDonktum," a Kansas City man who has become "the president's unofficial meme maker." Read on...
>> It sure seems like the right is winning the "meme wars." On Sunday's show, I asked Axelrod whether Democrats are equipped to fight back...
Here's what "CarpeDonktum" told me
"My goal is to entertain, while also delivering a message consistent with my view of the world," he told me via Twitter DM. "The world has fractured into two distinct realities," he said, claiming that outlets like CNN portray the president as an evil racist in one "reality" while, in the other, "the president is neither of those things, and is simply doing things that Liberals don't agree with. Memes and Humor can sometimes bridge that divide to uncover a more universal truth about reality..."
FOR THE RECORD, PART THREE
-- Netflix for the 1%? Fred Rosen and Dan Fellman "have quietly founded Red Carpet Home Cinema, which rents first-run films for $1,500 to $3,000 each..." (NYT)
-- Will Ferrell and Adam McKay have "mutually decided" to "wind down one of the longest creative partner relationships in town..." (Deadline)
My interview with Jessikka Aro | | What does Finnish journalist Jessikka Aro want, now that Senate Democrats are pressing for answers about the State Department's decision to rescind her International Women of Courage award? "I really want to know: Who was the person who really gave the order to cancel my award?" she said. "And what would he or she like to tell about her motivation in doing so?"
Last month, sources told Foreign Policy mag that the award was yanked due to Aro's criticism of POTUS on social media. If that's true, "I am really sorry for you guys over there if that really is the situation, if Trump or his administration have been infected with fear and self-censorship," Aro told me. She said she has no regrets about speaking out against Trump's "enemy of the people" tweets. Watch or read more from Aro on CNN.com...
How the Sun brought Baltimore's City Hall scandal to light
The scandal surrounding Mayor Catherine Pugh is an embarrassment for Baltimore. But the reporting is a powerful example of first-rate local journalism — in this case, by The Baltimore Sun. The paper has published 30+ stories about Pugh's book deals since reporter Luke Broadwater broke the story last month. On Sunday's show, I talked with David Zurawik, the Sun's media critic, about the power of local news...
QUOTE OF THE DAY
What has Robert Caro learned by writing about power for so many years? Here's what Caro told Christiane Amanpour:
"I learned that it's not enough to write about the powerful men who wield it, you have to write also about the powerless. What's the effect on the people without power who are affected by government? Either their lives are changed for the better or for the worse, either Robert Moses or Lyndon Johnson brought them something or if they stood in their way, ruined them. And I feel that you have to show, as I said, not just the powerful but the powerless -- otherwise books about power are somewhat incomplete."
>> Read or watch Amanpour's full interview with Caro...
'Captain America' dives into politics
Are you skeptical of this? Yeah, me too. But here's the scoop via CNN's Maeve Reston: Actor Chris Evans is working on a "secret, non-partisan civic engagement project, which he is calling 'A Starting Point.'" He sent a video invite to lawmakers from both parties on Friday night, asking them "to participate in interviews for a civic engagement website that will be aimed at reducing partisanship and promoting respectful discourse." Read on...
| | ACM Awards highlights
The 54th Annual Academy of Country Music Awards are still being handed out at the time I'm sending this out... Lisa Respers France has the full winners list here...
>> "Dan + Shay were among the early winners," she wrote, "with their hit 'Tequila' scoring song of the year. They went on to also win single record of the year and duo of the year...
>> Host Reba McEntire "didn't waste any time calling out the Academy of Country Music for failing to nominate a single woman in its top category, entertainer of the year," THR's Allison Crist noted...
Netflix teases release of possible Beyoncé doc
"It looks like a Beyoncé documentary may be dropping on Netflix next week," CNN's Amir Vera wrote Sunday night. "The video streaming giant tweeted a tease Sunday that simply said 'Homecoming' with some Greek letters worked in. The project will be available April 17..."
"Shazam" wins the weekend
"Shazam" became Warner Bros.' "third nonsequel comic-book hit in a row over the weekend, arriving to applause from critics and stout ticket sales of nearly $156 million worldwide," the NYT's Brooks Barnes wrote Sunday.
The movie made about $53.5 million in North America. "Second place at the domestic box office went to a remake of 'Pet Sematary' (Paramount), based on the novel by Stephen King. It took in an estimated $25 million. Disney's big-budget 'Dumbo' trundled along in third place, selling $18.2 million in tickets, for a sad two-week total of $76.3 million." Read on...
"The Chi" returns | | Megan Thomas emails: Season 2 of "The Chi" premiered Sunday night on Showtime. Beautifully written, with an extraordinary young cast, this coming-of-age drama created by Lena Waithe explores love, loss and redemption in Chicago's Southside. If you missed Season 1, it's worth the time investment. I attended a premiere screening last week where Waithe and the cast talked about storytelling, survival, the fleetingness of "black joy" and the death of Nipsey Hussle, who was killed the day prior. On-screen and off, "The Chi" represents where Hollywood is heading and it's inspiring...
Billboard says its decision to remove "Old Town Road" from country charts "could be revisited"
Katie Pellico writes: 19-year-old "rap-singing" Lil Nas X's first single, "Old Town Road" is "genre-bending," bringing Billboard to (maybe) reconsider its decision to move the hit from its Hot Country to Hot Rap charts, Rolling Stone's Brendan Klinkenberg reports.
The re-categorization was first reported by Rolling Stone on March 26, sparking controversy and debate over what qualifies as "country." In a Saturday statement to Rolling Stone -- notably less than a day after Billy Ray Cyrus hopped on the remix in solidarity -- Billboard said, "Our initial decision to remove 'Old Town Road' from the Hot Country Songs chart could be revisited."
>> Billy Ray Cyrus tweeted alongside the remix's release, "What's the rudimentary element of a country and western song? ...it's honest, humble, and has an infectious hook, and a banjo. What the hell more do ya need?"
>> Klinkenberg writes, "According to a Mediabase report, 33 country music stations played 'Old Town Road' last week, and it received the co-sign of a recognized country star in Cyrus — both make the case that 'Old Town Road' is a country hit, regardless of its chart classification."
>> More from Rolling Stone on the "History of Black Cowboys in America."
| | LAST BUT NOT LAST...
Let Matthew McConaughey read you to sleep
Megan Thomas emails: Most journalists I know are up late and early and rarely shut-off in between, leading to some messy sleep cycles. In my effort to ward off middle-of-the-night insomnia, I recently started using an app that has guided meditations, white noise and fictional "sleep stories" -- one of which is read by Matthew McConaughey.
File this under kind of hilarious but also effective: he reads a charming 35-minute story called "Wonder," written by Chris Advansun. It made me doze right off. And I'm not the only one! McConaughey's dreamy, drawly voice has potentially been helping people fall asleep since his story debuted last December. The app is called Calm...
| | | Thank you for reading. Email me feedback anytime! See you tomorrow... | | | |
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