EXEC SUMMARY: "Who will pay for the news?" Scroll down for a brand new Reuters Institute report... Plus our recap of Tuesday's House hearing about Big Tech, and much more...
MSNBC and NYT at odds
NYT exec editor Dean Baquet and MSNBC president Phil Griffin broke bread last week amid tensions between their two news organizations. But the lengthy lunch did not resolve the issues at hand, according to four sources with knowledge of the sit-down. The executives remain at an impasse.
The specific issue is about TV appearances by Times reporters on Rachel Maddow's MSNBC show. The larger issue is about the line between news versus opinion on cable networks, including CNN. Here's my full story... | | The background
This dust-up dates back to May 30, when VF's Joe Pompeo caused a ruckus by reporting that Times management wants reporters to "steer clear of any cable-news shows that the masthead perceives as too partisan." Maddow's show is evidently one of those -- and she is not happy about it. The prime time host prides herself on her support for newspaper journalists.
Editors at The Times are merely trying to be more consistent about "enforcing our long-standing rules," as one source told me. But it has caused consternation behind the scenes at the cable network. "It's poorly executed and poorly thought through," one of the MSNBC staffers said. Read on...
Speaking of Maddow...
Five moderators for the first #DemDebate
NBC's plan for June 26 and 27 in Miami: "The format for both debate nights will be the same. Lester Holt will appear in both hours of the debate each night including moderating the first hour with Savannah Guthrie and Jose Diaz-Balart. He will be joined by Chuck Todd and Rachel Maddow in the second hour."
--> Michael Grynbaum's NYT story noted that Maddow's presence is a "wild card of sorts. Her nightly show is a required stop for Democratic presidential contenders, and she is a widely revered figure on the left. But opinion journalists are rarely chosen to interrogate candidates in the formal setting of a debate stage. And network partisanship has proved a thorny issue early in the campaign," given the DNC's blackballing of Fox...
Hannity v. Maddow (again)
Per Mediaite, Sean Hannity attacked "tin foil hat" Maddow on his Tuesday night show -- wryly pointing out that he doesn't get to host debates on Fox. He joked that he, Mark Levin, Rush Limbaugh, Jesse Watters, Laura Ingraham, and Tucker Carlson would all moderate a debate.
Of course, Maddow's fans say she is nothing like Hannity. Here's one of the many differences: Hannity claims "journalism is dead" while Maddow uses her show to promote journalists. (BTW, getting back to my lead item, Maddow's affection for newspaper reporters was one of Griffin's points at lunch with Baquet...)
IN OTHER NEWS...
"Who will pay for the news?"
This is the focus of a brand new report by the Reuters Institute for the Study of Journalism. The researchers found that "most people would not pay for online news and that there had been only a small increase in the proportion of people willing to do so in the last six years. Even among those who do pay, there is 'subscription fatigue' -- many are tired of being asked to pay for so many different subscriptions."
Here's the full report. And here's Laura Hazard Owen's takeaway for NiemanLab: "Even people who LIKE paying for news usually only pay for one subscription..." | |
FOR THE RECORD, PART ONE
-- "Former pro-wrestler Tyrus was booted off his Fox Nation show after his co-host Britt McHenry filed a sexual-harassment complaint against him with Fox News management," Maxwell Tani and Asawin Suebsaeng reported Tuesday night... (Beast)
-- A Fox spokesperson declined to comment on the Beast's report. My attempts to reach Tyrus were unsuccessful... He did not comment to the Beast, either...
-- John Lyons, the exec editor of Australia's ABC News, reflecting on last week's raids: "Unless there is law reform, the humiliation suffered by the Australian media in recent weeks will occur again. And Australia as a democracy will suffer." (WaPo)
-- Joe Biden's evisceration of Trump on Tuesday included several lines about the press... And the dangers of Trump's "enemy" attacks... (Mediaite)
CODE CONFERENCE
Mary Meeker's 333 slides!
Christmas in June for geeks: Mary Meeker shared her annual Internet Trends Report slide deck at the Code Conference on Tuesday. Recode's Rani Molla summed up some of the highlights here, but if you're anything like me, you'll want to carve out time to skip through the slides.
>> One of the takeaways, via Axios: "In the developed world, citizens are increasingly looking for ways to dial back, while billions elsewhere are still waiting on consistent internet access..."
>> Joshua Benton's reaction piece for NiemanLab: "The scariest chart in Mary Meeker's slide deck for newspapers has gotten even a wee bit scarier..."
>> Up and up and up: "Americans are spending more time with digital media than ever: 6.3 hours a day in 2018, up 7 percent from the year before..."
>> Let me know what trends and data points stand out most to you... Email me...
Sulzberger: Idea of Trump bump is "overblown"
Oliver Darcy emails: Speaking with Peter Kafka at Code Conference, A.G. Sulzberger acknowledged that a so-called "Trump bump" helped the NYT, but said it was also exaggerated. "I think the Trump bump stuff -- it was real," said Sulzberger. "But I also think it's also overblown." He said that months after Trump was sworn into office, the newspaper "saw signs of that petering off really dramatically," noting that there has been "all sorts of indication that people are really tired of reading about presidential politics." Sulzberger added, "So we actually saw readership of political coverage decline."
>> Related: Sulzberger talked with Kafka about a number of other things at Code Conference, including his views on Trump's "enemy of the people" rhetoric. You can watch the full interview here...
>> Also at Code: From Kafka's interview with Paula Kerger: "Apple's attempts to limit data sharing on kids' apps is negatively impacting PBS"
FIRST LOOK
Gayle King on the cover of THR
The cover story, authored by Marisa Guthrie, will be up on THR.com Wednesday morning. Here's the cover: | | Related: WaPo's Robin Givhan came out with a tremendous profile of King on Tuesday... Describing King as "an African American, female broadcaster finding her most high-profile success at what many consider retirement age. She has accomplished this feat exuding earnest curiosity rather than gravitas. With certainty in her skills and at home in her skin, King is her own best friend."
FOR THE RECORD, PART TWO
-- CJR is appointing "public editors for The New York Times, The Washington Post, CNN, and MSNBC." Since the contributors don't have a direct connection to the news outlets, they're more like columnists who are taking on the outlets as a beat... (CJR)
-- Ken Auletta "says he's done 100 interviews" so far for his book on Harvey Weinstein... (BI)
-- Christopher Palmeri's new profile: Comcast CEO Brian Roberts' son Tucker Roberts "is fielding teams of professional Overwatch players and investing in the future of gaming..." (Bloomberg)
-- WaPo started the day with this scoop: "Mark Zuckerberg reached out to Speaker Pelosi. She hasn't called him back." (WaPo) | |
House begins probe into Big Tech with look at news business
Oliver Darcy emails: It's officially underway. The House Judiciary Committee on Tuesday kicked off its antitrust probe into Big Tech with a look at how companies like Facebook and Google have hurt news organizations while simultaneously allowing for the spread of misinformation. Rep. David Cicilline, who led the hearing, described it as "the first significant antitrust investigation undertaken by Congress in decades."
And if Tuesday's hearing was any indication, it will operate in a bipartisan fashion. Over the course of the three hours, both Republicans and Democrats seemed to relish taking Big Tech to task...
"If online news publishers can't survive, then who can?"
Darcy emails: Cicilline made an important point at the hearing, noting that "massive cuts" have taken place in recent years not only at "traditional news companies" but also at "online news sources." Cicilline then said, "This raises a critical question: if online news publishers can't survive, then who can?"
That point was echoed by News Corp's David Pitofsky, who said, "Many in Silicon Valley dismiss the press as old media, failing to evolve in the face of online competition." Explaining that "this is wrong," Pitofsky said "online platforms are placing news organizations under siege through massive free-riding."
Increased readership ≠ increased revenue
An Phung emails: AJC editor Kevin Riley summed up the problem in a way that makes the tension between the tech platforms and local journalism palpable. "We have more people reading the Atlanta Journal-Constitution than at any other point in our history," Riley said. "The challenge here is simple, which is, in what kind of world do you grow your audience, reach a bigger market and somehow face even greater financial challenges than you did before?"
Missing: Tech execs!
An adds: Unfortunately, no one from Big Tech was present to answer any Q's. The omission was glaring. Riley along with others made their case in front of a panel of sympathetic lawmakers who appeared as if they have already made up their mind about Silicon Valley...
>> Google's Richard Gringas did release a statement, however: "We've worked for many years to be a collaborative and supportive technology and advertising partner to the news industry, as it's worked to adapt to the new economics of the internet. Every month Google News and Google Search drive over 10 billion clicks to publishers' websites..."
Zuckerberg Deepfaked
Donie O'Sullivan writes: A deepfake video of Mark Zuckerberg appearing to talk about "one man, with total control of billions of peoples' stolen data" was recently posted on Instagram – seemingly to test Facebook's response to the next generation of manipulated media. On Wednesday an Instagram rep responded by saying that the site will treat the video "the same way we treat all misinformation on Instagram." If it's marked as false by third-party fact checkers, the spokesperson said, the site's algorithms won't recommend people view it. Later in the evening, a different third-party weighed in -- CBS said it has "requested that Facebook take down this fake, unauthorized use of the CBSN trademark."
Is the video "misinformation," or is it just satire?
Donie adds: The ever-vigilant Oliver Darcy pointed out that this video had very little attention (only a few thousand views!) before the news media reported on it. I'd argue that a faked video of Zuckerberg presents an interesting test case for Facebook -- but Oliver is right, if a video like this featuring Zuckerberg were actually going viral and fooling people, would the company be as comfortable keeping it up?
>> Tune into CNN's "New Day:" Donie will have some new reporting Wednesday morning on what is being done about potential deepfakes of 2020 candidates...
>> And on Thursday, Congress will hold its first hearing on the threat of deepfakes...
FOR THE RECORD, BANNED EDITION
Seriously, there's enough daily news to create a new section of this newsletter - TODAY IN BANS.
-- "Twitter suspended the account of David Neiwert, a reporter for Daily Kos and author of the book Alt-America, on Tuesday, making him the latest journalist covering white supremacists and the far-right to be hit with a temporary ban..." (Beast)
-- "Pinterest has permanently banned Live Action, the influential anti-abortion group that published videos claiming Planned Parenthood harvested and sold fetal body parts, for spreading misinformation and conspiracies..." (BuzzFeed)
Prominent white supremacists are still on YouTube in wake of ban
Kaya Yurieff writes: Six days after YouTube said it would ban supremacist content and remove videos that deny well-documented atrocities like the Holocaust, accounts belonging to some of the most prominent purveyors of hate in the US, such as white supremacist Richard Spencer and former KKK leader David Duke, are still on the platform. A YouTube spokesperson declined to comment on specific accounts, but said that enforcement of the updated policy will take time and that the company will expand its coverage of the new rules over the next several months.
But how effectively YouTube will enforce its new policy is an open question. We found that one Nazi channel run by a man named Brian Ruhe, that YouTube has twice before deleted, was back up just hours after YouTube's rule change -- and making no attempt to hide itself or its connection to the two previously banned accounts. After CNN inquired about the new channel, YouTube took it down. And on and on it goes...
Playing Whack-a-Mole – with Nazi sympathizers
Kaya adds: My attempts to get answers as to YouTube's actions regarding several other channels apparently owned by Ruhe were met with vague answers -- and new actions by YouTube that contradicted its previous positions. In addition to the new account Ruhe started Wednesday, CNN Business found two other accounts belonging to him. One focused on his brand of Buddhism; the other, which was dedicated to his livestreams, contained only two lengthy videos, one of which included mentions of Adolf Hitler and Nazi ideology. After I asked YouTube about the accounts, it removed the livestreaming account and the account that Ruhe had started after the new policy was announced last week, though not the account about Buddhism.
A cursory review of the account Ruhe started last week, though, did not reveal any content in obvious violation of YouTube's policies. When I asked YouTube why it was removed, since both it and the Buddhism account did not immediately seem to be in violation, YouTube responded by removing the Buddhism account. A YouTube rep declined to provide any further explanation about these decisions...
🤷
FOR THE RECORD, PART THREE
-- Ross Douthat's latest is about the "offline roots of online radicalization..." (NYT)
-- IRONY ALERT: Media Matters notes that while defending Trump, "Fox & Friends" attacked John Dean for tweeting too much... (Media Matters)
-- "Now that's more like it," Anthony Crupi tweeted: "Game 5 of the NBA Finals averages 18.2 million viewers and a 10.6 HH rating, the latter metric topping all four games of last year's Dubs-Cavs sweep. Sunday's broadcast down 11% vs the most recent non-deciding Game 5 in 2016..." (Twitter)
-- Central Park Five prosecutor Linda Fairstein says Netflix's "When They See Us" defamed her, Lisa Respers France reports... (CNN)
-- Megan Thomas flagged this: The six newly elected Academy board members include "A Star Is Born" screenwriter Eric Roth and "Black Panther" costume designer Ruth Elaine Carter... (Oscars)
Dan Harris leaving "Nightline"
Dan Harris, who co-anchors "Nightline" on weekdays and "GMA" on the weekends, is giving up his late-night gig, "citing a desire to tend to a growing business that has sprouted up" around his book "10% Happier," Variety's Brian Steinberg reported Tuesday.
"It is a high class problem: I simply have too many awesome things on my plate," Harris told colleagues. Details here...
QUOTE OF THE DAY
It's from this Matt Lewis column:
"If Bill Clinton was using a black-powder musket to divert our attention from his scandals, Donald Trump is using a fully automatic distraction machine."
| | "Frozen 2" shows Disney Animation's box office might
Frank Pallotta writes: Move over Iron Man, Queen Elsa is here to remind Hollywood that Disney Animation can still conjure up blockbuster magic of its own. The first full trailer for "Frozen 2" premiered Tuesday. The quick peek at the upcoming film brings viewers back to Arendelle -- a frosty but lucrative world for Disney. While Disney's Marvel and Star Wars brands have broken box office records recently, Disney Animation still maintains a reputation for producing solid hits...
A "Frozen" marketing challenge?
Brian Lowry emails: It's going to be particularly fascinating to see how well Disney can market "Frozen 2." While the blockbuster hit might seem like a can't-miss commodity, six years have passed, and anyone who had a 5 or 6 year old singing "Let It Go" and demanding Elsa dresses now has a tween who has almost surely moved on to more mature pastimes. That means selling the sequel to what's essentially a new generation of moppets, along with their parents, who -- if it's anything like the first time -- will be on the hook for all that merchandise hitting toy stores around the Thanksgiving opening...
Swingin' sixties poster | | Frank Pallotta writes: Quentin Tarantino's upcoming 9th film, "Once Upon A Time in Hollywood," is in the race for best movie poster of the year.
The poster, which was released Tuesday, fits the film's swingin' sixties setting with a retro hand drawn design. The look matches the film's setting, which takes place in 1969 Hollywood...
FOR THE RECORD, PART FOUR
By Chloe Melas:
-- Britney Spears claims paparazzi edited photos to make her look overweight...
-- The organizers of Woodstock 50 say they are forging ahead despite losing this summer's venue...
-- In his first interview after heart surgery, Mick Jagger told Rolling Stone that he's "feeling good..."
-- Is Jennifer Aniston now walking back her "Friends" reunion comments?
"Big" ratings for "Little Lies"
Brian Lowry emails: "Big Little Lies" notched solid gains for its second-season premiere -- up more than 30% across all platforms, to about 2.5 million viewers, from its season-one debut. It's a solid boost for a much-buzzed-about show, but also a reminder of what an outlier "Game of Thrones" was in the niche-oriented world of premium-TV ratings.
>> Do the math on the on-demand viewership: "The 9 p.m. linear premiere averaged 1.4 million viewers, up approximately 25% from the 1.1 million viewers the Season 1 linear premiere drew. Per HBO, Season 1 went on to average 8.5 million multi-platform viewers per episode," Variety's Joe Otterson notes...
FOR THE RECORD, PART FIVE
By Lisa Respers France:
-- Jada Pinkett Smith's moves toward independence were initially hard for her husband, Will Smith...
-- Two headlines from Rihanna's new interview in Interview mag: She wants to be a mom "more than anything in life..." And she promises that new music is coming...
-- It's been quite the year for "Old Town Road." Now a mom says the viral hit got her nonverbal son with autism to start singing...
A-listers continuing to sound the climate change alarm
Brian Lowry emails: Leonardo DiCaprio's latest climate-change documentary, this one titled "Ice on Fire," premiered Tuesday on HBO, offering dire warnings but also concrete proposals to ameliorate the problem. It comes a week after "Wonders of the Sea," a look at the dangers to the oceans narrated and produced by Arnold Schwarzenegger. Add Robert Downey Jr.'s recently announced Footprint Coaltion, and it's the latest example of celebrities trying to use their profiles as a means to cut through the apathy surrounding the issue, with the tradeoff that while they bring attention to these projects, they tow along considerable baggage as well. More...
LAST BUT NOT LEAST...
"Fortnite" v. Netflix
An important reminder about gaming as a "social experience," via this THR story by Patrick Shanley:
"Fortnite isn't just a game — it's also social media. So says a study from National Research Group, which provides a telling snapshot of the new attention economy. Fortnite players spend more of their free time logging into the battle royale game than they do scrolling through Facebook and Instagram or streaming on Netflix and YouTube..." | | | Thanks for reading! Send me your feedback, tips, ideas here. See you tomorrow... | | | |
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