| | | | | Exec summary: See how much money Bob Iger will be making... Read Arthur Sulzberger's retirement memo... Hear Rupert Murdoch's dismissive comments about Fox News' scandals... Get a preview of Friday's "Today" show... Watch our farewell to AIM... And see who was at "The Post" world premiere in DC... | | That was the banner on "AC360" Thursday night. "U.S. intelligence agencies are unanimous in this conclusion: That Russia launched an unprecedented attack on the American electoral process during the 2016 presidential campaign, and are almost certainly going to try to do it again," Anderson Cooper said. It's a "clear threat to national security and American democracy -- something a leader of a country under attack surely would want to address. But tonight there's new reporting from the Washington Post that says not only does President Trump continue to reject evidence of Russia meddling to support him, he doesn't even want to hear about it. According to the Post, current and former officials says the president's daily brief is 'often structured to avoid upsetting him' with intelligence relating to Russia."
The Post story really was extraordinary, so that's why I wanted to lead tonight's newsletter with it. Read the exclusive report here...
--> Guess which network didn't mention the Post reporting on Thursday evening? You guessed it: Fox's pro-Trump shows attacked Robert Mueller and Hillary Clinton all evening instead...
--> Chaser: Trump and Vladimir Putin spoke by phone Thursday evening. Jeff Zeleny reported: "We are told President Trump initiated this phone call to thank President Putin for praising his strong economic success..." | | "The Disney-Fox Deal Has Friends in High Places" | | That's the headline on James Stewart's column in Friday's NYT. He's talking, of course, about the relationship between Trump and Rupert Murdoch.
Tom Kludt has the full story for us here. Sarah Sanders confirmed on Thursday that "the president spoke with Rupert Murdoch earlier today, congratulated him on the deal." She said Trump thinks "this could be a great thing for jobs." On CNN after the briefing, I said this was bogus -- Disney and Fox are promising $2 billion in cost-cutting synergies -- which means layoffs are inevitable... | | Two deals, two different Trump reactions | | | Quoting from Kludt's story: "The president's rosy view of the Disney-21st Century Fox deal -- and his less than positive opinion of other major mergers -- can potentially be seen as an extension of his media preferences." Remember, Trump's campaign said he would "break up the new media conglomerate oligopolies." And his DOJ is now suing AT&T to block the acquisition of CNN's parent company Time Warner. But Trump is slapping Murdoch on the back... | | -- David Goldman's latest story: The DOJ has a LOT to scrutinize now...
-- 🔌: Bill Carter and I will be talking about this on CNN's "New Day" in the 6am hour on Friday... | | | Scroll down for much, much more on the Disney deal... We have a section full of coverage... | | "The Last Jedi" lands in our galaxy | | | Frank Pallotta emails: "Star Wars: The Last Jedi" opened Thursday night in the U.S., and its biggest competition at the box office this weekend will be the previous "Star Wars" film: 2015's "The Force Awakens." Here's my story all about the projections. I will be coming to you live from outside a theater in NYC Friday morning... with initial numbers from opening night... It's going to be 30 degrees, so may the Force and my coat be with me... | | Arthur Sulzberger, Jr.'s Thursday memo to NYT staff: "After almost 26 years, I will retire as publisher at the end of the year. This morning, our company's board confirmed A.G to be my successor."
The transition from father to son will take effect on January 1. "This isn't a goodbye," Arthur wrote. "As chairman, I'll remain an active presence in the building and in the life of The Times, supporting the leadership as they continue to push the company forward. But, beginning in the new year, the grand ship that is The Times will be A.G.'s to steer."
A.G. sent out a memo a little while later -- here it is. There was no newsroom gathering on Thursday since there's construction throughout the newsroom, but the NYT is holding its annual State of the Times meeting on Monday, and it'll be followed by a holiday reception/toast to Arthur in The Times Center... | | | Media winter continues: The year is drawing to a close with more media industry layoffs. Refinery29 is cutting 34 people, about 7% of its staff. Read Jill Disis and Oliver Darcy's story here... | | New nonprofit news site in the works | | | Oliver Darcy emails: Jim Rich announced Thursday that he had left HuffPost as executive editor to launch a not-for profit news site covering NYC and the state. In a memo to friends, Rich wrote that he believed the for-profit model for local news organizations "is dead" and "not coming back." Rich said he could "sit by no longer and hope that this problem will fix itself." Read his full memo here... | | -- Sinclair has 173 TV stations. Tribune has 42. The DOJ "wants the companies to sell off roughly a dozen" stations as a condition of approving the deal... (WSJ)
-- "The NFL's premiere game of the week took a big hit in TV ratings on Sunday night, despite it being a close game," Frank Pallotta reports... (CNNMoney)
-- Rejoice, fellow podcasters! "Apple has finally turned on its podcast analytics feature..." (Recode) | | Murdoch sounds dismissive of Fox's scandals... | | Via Hadas Gold: Rupert Murdoch brushed off the sexual harassment scandals that have roiled Fox News over the past few years, saying they have not been harmful for the bottom line. In an interview on Sky News, he said "it's all nonsense. There was a problem with our chief executive. Sort of, over the years. But isolated incidents." Once Roger Ailes was removed, "there's been nothing else since then," Murdoch said, evidently forgetting about Bill O'Reilly's ouster.
Murdoch also commented that some of the allegations involved just "a bit of flirting." (Tell that to the women whose careers were derailed by predatory execs and anchors.) Read Gold's full story here... | | Addie Zinone, a former production assistant at the "Today" show, has decided to speak publicly about what she says was her affair with Matt Lauer. She told Variety's Ramin Setoodeh that the relationship was "consensual," but that she "ultimately felt like a victim because of the power dynamic." Zinone said Lauer "went after the most vulnerable and the least powerful -- and those were the production assistants and the interns."
Zinone provided copies of some of her conversations with Lauer. "I'm putting my name and face out there to squash any doubts about the allegations from other women," she said. The PR firm representing Lauer told me he had no comment on the new report... | | SCOOP: On Friday's "Today" show... | | | Veteran civil rights attorney Ari Wilkenfeld represented the first woman to file a complaint with NBC about Lauer. It was that complaint that triggered Lauer's dismissal. On Friday morning, Wilkenfeld will be on the "Today" show... Part of a taped piece about this cultural moment... I hear he was interviewed by Stephanie Gosk... | | NYPD opening an investigation on Russell Simmons | | | The LAT's Amy Kaufman broke this news on Thursday: The NYPD "has opened an investigation into Russell Simmons." CNN's Brynn Gingras confirmed that detectives in the NYPD Special Victims Unit (SVU) "are working to identify the women who made the accusations and are reaching out to them as part of the investigation..." | | | -- Also on Thursday, Simmons took to social media to say "#NotMe," Lisa Respers France reports. He says, "I will prove without any doubt that I am innocent of all rape charges..." | | Overnight, Tavis Smiley responded to PBS's decision to suspend distribution of his talk show by saying, "if having a consensual relationship with a colleague years ago is the stuff that leads to this kind of public humiliation and personal destruction, heaven help us." He criticized PBS for secretly investigating him and said: "This has gone too far. And, I, for one, intend to fight back."
--> PBS fired back on Thursday: "We stand by" the integrity of the outside law firm's investigation. It "revealed a pattern of multiple relationships with subordinates over many years, and other conduct inconsistent with the values and standards of PBS." | | Thursday's other developments | | -- This just in: Mario Batali has been fired from ABC's "The Chew..."
-- Morgan Spurlock "is stepping down effective immediately as CEO of his production company, Warrior Poets..."
-- An update on the NYT investigation into Glenn Thrush's alleged sexual misconduct: Joe Pompeo reports that "the Times is expected to deliver a verdict before Christmas." He says "the prevailing sentiment among Thrush's colleagues in D.C. is that he should not lose his job... | | -- When it comes to sexual misconduct, "I do believe that there's a spectrum of behavior," Matt Damon says...
-- Variety has published new allegations against Dustin Hoffman...
-- The Boston Globe's Friday headline: "At ESPN, the problems for women run deep..."
-- I should have mentioned this last night: Mic was the first outlet to report on allegations against celeb pastry chef Johnny Iuzzini. ABC has yanked "The Great American Baking Show" as a result... | | -- Significant? "According to new polling from Suffolk University, those voters who have the most trust in Fox's reporting have increasingly begun to view Trump unfavorably," Philip Bump writes... (WashPost)
-- The Washington Examiner's Becket Adams followed up on my item in last night's newsletter about the faulty "FOX NEWS HAS OBTAINED 10,000 TEXTS" story. He notes that Fox has yet to air a correction... (Examiner)
-- NYT's Katie Rosman spotted this on Cindi Leive's Instagram: "At a welcome party for new Vanity Fair editor Radhika Jones, Anna Wintour gifted everyone with pairs of fox tights." Context: This infamous WWD item about Jones' style... (Instagram) | | A day for the media history books | | The BBC's Amol Rajan says this is "the humblest day of Rupert Murdoch's life." NPR's David Folkenflik tweeted: "Can't underscore enough what a retreat this is." But maybe the Fox asset sale is a savvy move. "Rupert is selling at the high," Bloomberg's Joe Nocera wrote...
We sent out a special mid-day newsletter with complete coverage of the deal announcement... If you missed it, you can check it out here. Lemme sum up some of the headlines and highlights since then... | | All of CNN's stories about the deal | | -- Main news story by Hadas Gold and Charles Riley: $52 billion deal will super-charge Disney's streaming ambitions
-- David Goldman: Here's who gets what in the deal
-- Alanna Petroff: Disney is buying itself "a messy TV deal in Europe"
-- Frank Pallotta: What the deal means for Marvel, "Avatar," and streaming
-- Chris Isidore and Ahiza Garcia: Disney is doubling down on sports, despite ESPN's woes
-- Paul R. La Monica: Iger is the "undisputed king of Hollywood"
-- Brian Lowry: "Rupert Murdoch's media legacy takes a U-turn"
-- Aaron Smith: "The Simpsons" predicted this moment 19 years ago! | | Bob Iger, who's now retiring in 2021, not 2019, "could receive as much as $142 million worth of stock, at the current share price, under a new employment agreement he signed," WSJ's Ben Fritz reports.
There's lots more in his story. Iger's "target long-term compensation award, a mixture of stock and options, will be $25 million. In fiscal 2016, he received $17.3 million..." | | -- Will Iger and James Murdoch work out a role for James in the company?
-- Sharon Waxman asks: "Will streaming giants Amazon and Netflix swoop in to poach Fox executives? I think yes..."
-- As a Hulu devotee, I'm worried about this: What will Hulu look like two years from now?
-- Picking up on what Andrew Ross Sorkin wrote: Could a higher bidder for the Fox assets still emerge? | | Media mogul musical chairs | | | Brian Lowry emails: It's possible that Disney might wind up with indigestion swallowing something as large and unwieldy as Fox. But for those who believe content is king -- or at least, the driver for all of these new distribution engines -- Disney suddenly has a whole lot more of it. And it's virtually certain that the fallout from this will have every other content-heavy company -- Viacom, CBS, Sony -- huddling with their bankers and discussing their options. It's happened before, but this is one of those situations where nobody will want to risk being caught without a partner when the music stops... | | | In a memo to Sony staff, Tony Vinciquerra confirmed that "we did take a run at the Fox assets when we learned of their availability..." He says "In this climate, studios will either grow or become a target for acquisition," and "it is my goal to do the former, not the latter..." | | -- NYT's Brooks Barnes: This deal is "the biggest counterattack yet from a traditional media company against the tech giants that have aggressively moved into the entertainment business..."
-- Pivotal's Brian Wieser writes: "Fox is being well-compensated for the businesses it is selling, and Disney will gain advantages from the additional scale it is buying..." | | | -- Fox will retain ownership of its studio backlot; Disney will lease space there for the next seven years... | | | -- Variety says "the Disney-Fox deal is the second-biggest showbiz merger of all time." The AT&T-Time Warner deal isn't on this infographic... | | "The one clear orphan..." | | Brian Lowry emails: Indiewire's Michael Schneider -- in a piece headlined "How the Battle to Beat Netflix Starts Today" -- singled out the one clear orphan in the Disney-Fox deal: the Fox network. For years, studios have touted the synergy of providing programs that they own to their broadcast arms. With 20th Century Fox Television included in Disney's acquisition, all that flies out the window, raising serious questions about Fox's broadcast future.
It's worth noting, too, that Fox will launch a major overhaul of its primetime lineup in January, with the return of "The X-Files," and the new series "9-1-1," "LA to Vegas," and "The Four," a music competition designed to fill the void left by "American Idol" going to ABC. Forgive the producers of those shows if they suddenly feel like they're dealing with an absentee landlord... | | On Thursday afternoon the FCC voted, as expected, to roll back "net neutrality" rules. Now what? "The repeal isn't set to take effect until next year. The issue may ultimately end up being decided in court, and Congress may step in with a legislative solution," CNNMoney's Jackie Wattles writes.
Here's an overview of Thursday's developments by Seth Fiegerman. And here's what telecoms and tech companies are saying... | | The Daily Caller helps out Ajit Pai | | Oliver Darcy emails: The Daily Caller created what amounted to a web advertisement for the FCC's position on net neutrality. Benny Johnson, made the video starring FCC chair Ajit Pai. In it, Pai informed critics of what they can still do on the Internet now that net neutrality has been repealed. Of course, the video and Johnson's story didn't include counterarguments to Pai's talking points...
--> Also of note: appearing in the video alongside Pai was Martina Markota, a video producer for The DC who "pushed the Pizzagate conspiracy theory," BuzzFeed reported... Later, she said in a statement, "I do not believe" in Pizzagate... | | | For the record, part three | | | -- AOL Instant Messenger officially retires on Friday. So CNN Tech asked some of us to reminisce about our embarrassing screen names. Here's Laurie Segall, Erica Hill, Frank Pallotta, Vanessa Yurkevich, Chris Moody, and yours truly... (CNN Tech)
-- Embattled NPR CEO Jarl Mohn will return from medical leave next month. But his fate is "still up in air pending investigation into his handling of Michael Oreskes harassment allegations," Paul Farhi reports... (Twitter)
-- Business Insider is dropping the "Business" from its name, foreshadowing several brand extensions... (WSJ) | | 🎧 This week's "Reliable" podcast | | | Will Sommer studies conservative media's stars in the Trump age. He's the campaign editor at The Hill by day and author of the Right Richter newsletter by night. On this week's "Reliable Sources" podcast, I asked him about the conservative media ecosystem... the power of sites like Breitbart... and the influence of Infowars. Listen to the podcast via Apple, Stitcher, or TuneIn... | | | Omarosa's first interview since her "resignation" was with Michael Strahan on "GMA" Thursday morning... Then she taped another one with Deborah Roberts for "Nightline..." But in between the two segments, Robin Roberts dismissed Omarosa -- "Bye Felicia," she said on "GMA" -- and Omarosa responded via a text to "Inside Edition," calling Roberts "petty..." | | | CNNMoney's Michael Tarson emails: Trump the TV producer was back in full effect Thursday at his press event about cutting regulations. The props were both laughable and effective. Lawmakers are no strangers to props at pressers or on the House and Senate floor -- but will we be seeing more of this in year two, as the president looks for ways to improve his messaging and hype his agenda? | | | Oliver Darcy's sightings at NBC's holiday party for the press at 30 Rock: Phil Griffin, Noah Oppenheim, Lester Holt, Megyn Kelly, Brian Williams, Seth Meyers, Ari Melber, Ali Velshi, Al Roker, Kate Snow, Andy Cohen, Ayman Mohyeldin, Craig Melvin, Yasmin Vossoughian, Savannah Sellers, Don Nash, Bonnie Hammer, Sara Gore, Janice Huff, Jim Rutenberg, Maxwell Tani, Lorie Acio, Mark Kornblau, Kristen Osborne, Dana Klinghoffer, Olivia Petersen, Colby Hall, Alex Weprin, Jon Levine, Cale Weissman... | | "The Post" premiere in D.C. | | | Spotted at the world premiere of "The Post" at the Newseum on Thursday night: Jeff Bezos, Marty Baron, Sally Quinn, Carl Bernstein, Bob Woodward, Warren Buffett, Barry Diller, Mike Allen, Wolf Blitzer, Sam Feist, Ruth Marcus, Paul Farhi, Karen Tumulty, Mary Jordan, Major Garrett, Lally Weymouth, John Harris, Jim VandeHei, Jim Acosta, Hadas Gold, Fred Hiatt, David Chalian, Chris Wallace, Blake Hounshell, Michael Feldman, members of the Graham family, and many many more... | | Chloe's interview with Steven Spielberg | | | Chloe Melas emails: Steven Spielberg sat down with me to promote his upcoming film "The Post," and the conversation quickly turned to women's rights and the rampant sexual harassment in Hollywood. He said he was "shocked" but not "surprised" by the recent allegations against powerful Hollywood men. But he also said he's never seen change happen more quickly than in the past few weeks and called it a "national reckoning." Watch and read the interview here... | | | Sandra Gonzalez tweeted: "Curb Your Enthusiasm renewed for 10th season by HBO. Larry David's statement: 'As I've said many times, when one has the opportunity to annoy someone, one should do so...'" | | | For the record, part four | | | By Julia Waldow:
-- Should journalists do away with the term "fake news" going forward in 2018? Daniel Funke asked media insiders... (Poynter)
-- Have you heard about this? The NYT has added a fact-checker to its D.C. bureau... (Politico)
-- Third time's the charm? NBC is taking another swing at its attempts to remake the "IT Crowd" in the United States, with the help of original series creator Graham Linehan... (Variety) | | | Email brian.stelter@turner.com... I appreciate every message. The feedback helps us craft the next day's newsletter! | | | Get Reliable Sources, a comprehensive summary of the most important media news, delivered to your inbox every afternoon. | | | | | |
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