| | | | | Exec summary: Jeff Glor gets the CBS anchor gig... Megyn Kelly has Q's for Fox... Colony's Weinstein Co. deal is in doubt... the FCC has an important vote coming up... but first, Oliver Darcy's exclusive reporting... | | Five women accuse journalist and "Game Change" co-author Mark Halperin of sexual harassment | | Oliver Darcy reports: Veteran journalist Mark Halperin sexually harassed women while he was in a powerful position at ABC News, according to five women who shared their previously undisclosed accounts with CNN and others who did not experience the alleged harassment personally, but were aware of it. In a statement, Halperin apologized for inappropriate behavior.
--> Darcy's story has detailed allegations of harassment -- ranging in nature from propositioning employees for sex to kissing and grabbing one's breasts against her will. Halperin denied grabbing a woman's breasts. Read the full story here... | | | "During this period, I did pursue relationships with women that I worked with, including some junior to me," Halperin said in a statement to CNN Wednesday night. "I now understand from these accounts that my behavior was inappropriate and caused others pain. For that, I am deeply sorry and I apologize. Under the circumstances, I'm going to take a step back from my day-to-day work while I properly deal with this situation." | | "I've really started this whole fake news thing." | | When President Trump chatted with Lou Dobbs at the White House on Wednesday, Trump bragged about coming up with "some pretty good names for people," and then he took credit for coining the term "fake news."
"I've really started this whole 'fake news' thing," he said. "Now they've turned it around and then, now they're calling, you know, stories put out -- by Facebook -- fake. And they're fake."
He has it backwards, of course. Craig Silverman was using the term "fake news" way back in 2015. And I started showing examples on "Reliable Sources" in 2016. Our focus was always on fake stories spreading via Facebook and other social networks. Trump didn't start exploiting and redefining the term until a month after election day. He says "they've turned it around," but he's the one who actually did that... | | Here's why this really matters: Actual "fake news," hoax stories designed to deceive you, is a digital age plague. A responsible president would take this problem seriously. A responsible president would discourage the spread of misinformation, encourage the private sector to help stop the plague, and promote media literacy for all Americans. That's what a responsible president would do.
This is what President Trump does: "I'm so proud that I have been able to convince people how fake it is," he told Dobbs. "Yes," Dobbs said approvingly...
-- 🔌: Bill Carter and I will be talking about this on CNN's "New Day" Thursday around 6:45am ET... | | | Last week POTUS said he would follow through "next week" on his promise to declare the opioid crisis a "national emergency." On Wednesday he repeated it to Dobbs: "Next week, I'm going to be declaring an emergency, national emergency on drugs..." | | He's practically a Fox News contributor at this point 😉 | | | Hadas Gold had a great joke yesterday: "Man... at this point Trump should get a contributor deal with Fox!" This chart is the reason: | | In my latest piece about Trump and the press, I pointed out that all the major networks routinely lobby the White House for interviews. NBC's Matt Lauer was spotted at the W.H. last week for meetings that included an interview pitch. But journalists like Lauer are at a disadvantage... Because practically all of Trump's interviews are with his friends.
Even some journos within Fox have expressed frustration with Trump's choices. "We'd love to have you on 'Special Report' sometime," anchor Bret Baier tweeted to Trump on Wednesday, noting that it's been a year since they've sat down... | | | POTUS on Wednesday: "I think the press makes me more uncivil than I am." Erik Wemple's response: Just take a look at @realDonaldTrump. He says "Trump sends his insults directly to the American people, then blames the media for them..." | | "When right-wing media programs a presidency" | | | MSNBC's Chris Hayes set up his piece on the outrage over the uranium deal story this way: "From outraged cable news segment to the president's Twitter feed to an actual congressional investigation: When right-wing media programs a presidency." | | One night of Fox News chyrons | | | Speaking of the uranium deal... This is an incomplete list of what Fox News told its audience on Wednesday evening: | | HILLARY'S RUSSIA SCANDAL
EXPOSED: DEMS & THE REAL RUSSIA CONNECTION
THE REAL RUSSIA SCANDAL
TRUMP: URANIUM SCANDAL JUST LIKE "WATERGATE"
RUSSIA INVESTIGATION LOOKS INTO HILLARY
HILLARY'S DIRTY DOSSIER
CLINTON PAID FOR RUSSIAN DIRT & LIES
NEW DEVELOPMENTS IN THE URANIUM ONE SCANDAL
RUSSIAN URANIUM INVESTIGATION
MEDIA DOWNPLAYS ANTI-TRUMP DOSSIER NEWS | | -- This is an extraordinary essay by CNN correspondent and military wife Brianna Keilar. Please read it. (CNN)
-- What's Ronan Farrow working on? Page Six hears that "Farrow's making calls to potential sources for another New Yorker article" about Weinstein Co. that "may focus on the movie company's culture..." (Page Six)
-- Who is Yashar Ali? Steven Perlberg profiles "the man who's breaking all kinds of news these days..." (BuzzFeed)
-- What's Apple's plan for TV programming? Lucas Shaw says "some in Hollywood are beginning to wonder whether it has a clear strategy..." (Bloomberg)
-- Chris Mortensen speaks with Peter King about cancer treatment... (MMQB) | | Colony backing away from Weinstein Co. deal | | | Tom Barrack's Colony Capital is probably not going to be The Weinstein Company's savior, after all. "The creative product is something that we all looked at and thought was salvageable," Barrack told CNNMoney's John Defterios at an investor conference in Saudi Arabia on Wednesday. But -- and this is a critical but -- "the liabilities surrounding the situation, as you see day by day, [have] become quite complex." | | On Wednesday night both the NYT and WSJ popped stories that make a deal sound unlikely. Contrary to last week's announcement, "Colony has not and will not provide a cash infusion," the NYT's Brooks Barnes and Rachel Abrams reported. Colony might still buy some or all of the studio, but it "found more disorder than it had expected -- and less value -- once it started closely examining the studio's assets." The NYT's sources say Colony believes bankruptcy is the most likely near-term outcome...
-- But: A backup plan? Fortress Investment Group "has been working on a potential financing package for the studio valued at roughly $35 million," keeping the lights on for a few months, NYT says...
-- WSJ's Ben Fritz and Dana Cimilluca: "Weinstein Co.'s talks with suitor Colony Capital have stumbled and the troubled studio may seek other bidders as soon as next week..."
-- The Wrap says Dimension Films' projects are "falling apart" too... | | "Wind River" scrubbing Weinstein's name | | | Taylor Sheridan's film "Wind River," released by The Weinstein Company in August, is severing all ties with the company. "The unusual move was crucial if the film is to have any opportunity to be considered during awards season," Deadline's Mike Fleming Jr. reports. The film's main financier, Acacia Entertainment, will now fund an Oscars campaign without any help from TWC... | | "CBS Evening News with Jeff Glor" | | Jeff Glor is the next anchor of the "CBS Evening News." He'll take over for interim anchor Anthony Mason sometime next month... Specifics TBA... Mason will continue in his other roles as senior national correspondent and co-host of "CBS This Morning: Saturday..."
-- Mason congratulated Glor on Wednesday's newscast, then quipped, "I will finally get a day off..." | | This is a generational change for CBS. Former anchor Scott Pelley is 60; Mason is 61; Glor is 42.
In this interview with John Koblin, David Rhodes noted that Glor is being promoted from within, thanks to "what he's done here," his work for CBS, "as opposed to going out and getting some kind of attention-getting external hire." He said "there are diminishing returns to that..."
-- And there's this factor: Page Six quotes a source who says "CBS prides itself on being frugal..." | | -- WWD's Alexandra Steigrad is jumping to the NYPost to cover media... (Twitter)
-- CNN's Manu Raju won the Joan Barone award at Wednesday night's Congressional Correspondents Dinner...
-- This year's big winners of Editor & Publisher's EPPY Awards: Center for Public Integrity (5 awards), CNN (4), Bloomberg (4)... (E&P)
-- Farhad Manjoo's latest: "The tech giants are too big. They're getting bigger. We can stop them. But in all likelihood, we won't..." (NYT)
-- The BBC, NYT, FT, the Economist and the Guardian "were barred from the biggest event in China's political calendar on Wednesday..." (CNN) | | | On Wednesday FCC chair Ajit Pai "announced plans to eliminate decades-old media ownership rules meant to protect local coverage and diversity in media voices," the NYT's Cecilia Kang reports. Pai says the rules are outdated. Democrats disagree. A vote is slated for November... | | | On Tuesday I reported that Bill O'Reilly was angling for a deal with Sinclair, but that some sources said this chatter was just wishful thinking on O'Reilly's part. A Sinclair rep said on the record that "Sinclair is not in discussions with Mr. O'Reilly." Is that really true? Because on Wednesday, NBC's Claire Atkinson reported that O'Reilly "has been negotiating for a position" with Sinclair, and the $32 million settlement news "does not appear to have sidelined the talks." She quoted a source saying "they took a pause but it didn't really change anything for them..." | | Hadas Gold emails: On Wednesday James Murdoch made his first public comments about O'Reilly's $32 million settlement, saying it "was news to me when we saw the number the other day." Speaking at the Paley Center's International Council summit, Murdoch told interviewer Julia Boorstin that he can't be held responsible for every employee's actions at his companies, noting: "I can't make sure that everyone in the business doesn't behave badly at times, right? What I can make sure is if we know something, we can react to that information. We can be decisive about it."
"It is easy, I think, from the outside, to look at it and say, 'Well, didn't you know that?'" he continued. "We made a decision that is clear, and I hope sends a really strong signal to all of my colleagues, to everyone in the industry, etc., that actually there are behaviors that are not to be tolerated, and we will continue to strive to live up to that." | | | "Fox says it didn't know" about the price tag," Megyn Kelly said to Seth Meyers on Wednesday's "Late Night." "The question remains, Why didn't they? Why wouldn't you know? Why wouldn't you ask? Before you bring this man back into the workplace and unleash him on the workforce?" | | Other highlights from Paley's summit | | NBCU ad sales chair Linda Yaccarino: "A view is not a viewer."
Mark Britt, CEO, Flix: "Piracy is a proxy for unmet demand."
Joe Marchese, prez of ad revenue, 21CF: Without true measurement, "advertising is living a lie."
James Murdoch: "I don't think we're that concerned about cord-cutting." | | George Clooney, in an interview with CNN's Megan Thomas, reflecting on his days growing up when there were only three major networks:
"Basically you started with the same fact base. And so, if you were conservative and I was a liberal, we'd start with the same facts." But "now we're going to the place that best represents what we believe. So our facts that we're starting with, from the beginning, are much further apart. And that's a problem, I think for all of us, because we're talking at one another as opposed to talking with one another." | | | For the record, part three | | | By Francesca Giuliani-Hoffman:
-- The BBC takes on Iran with an appeal to the United Nations, lamenting a "sustained campaign of harassment" after at least 152 Persian staff and former contributors had their assets frozen... (The Guardian)
-- The Tow Center held 13 focus groups in four American cities to ask readers about media consumption habits on social platforms. They found that users are "hungry for transparency..." (CJR)
-- The NYT explains how it used online forensics and advanced verification techniques to report for this "pixel by pixel" reconstruction of the Las Vegas shooting... (NYT) | | Lowry recommends this new "Frontline" doc | | Brian Lowry emails: "Frontline" takes a deep dive into the roots of Vladimir Putin's apprehensions toward the U.S. In "Putin's Revenge," another topnotch documentary from Michael Kirk being served over two parts. The first part aired Wednesday night. Here's the landing page for the doc...
-- Related: Via James Warren: "'Frontline' makes an admirable move toward transparency" | | CNN's latest: How Russian hackers took advantage of American internet services | | | Jose Pagliery and Donie O'Sullivan report: "The use of American companies to push Russian propaganda goes beyond social media sites like Facebook. Russians also used American internet services to keep their websites up and hide their true owners, according to internet records and two executives at internet routing companies interviewed by CNN. The firms routing these websites' internet traffic include Cloudflare, a major Silicon Valley corporation, and a Ukrainian company's subsidiary in Florida." Read the rest here... | | | For the record, part four | | | By Julia Waldow:
-- It's rare to see Apple push back like this: The company says this Bloomberg report about Face ID accuracy and the iPhone X is "completely false..." (Bloomberg)
-- BuzzFeed is testing out a Stories feature that shows images and information in a manner similar to interfaces on Snapchat and Instagram... Only 6 percent of users have access to the developing product... (Digiday)
-- Slack, a newsroom favorite, has developed screen-sharing features that provide for greater co-worker collaboration... (TechCrunch)
-- Regal Entertainment Group plans to test demand-based pricing for movies, starting early next year... The switch could lead to "higher prices for top hits and low prices for flops..." (Bloomberg)
-- A milestone: FX's "Pose" features the largest cast of transgender actors hired as series regulars for scripted TV... (THR) | | Rupert's launch party for Laura Ingraham | | | Rupert Murdoch and co. threw a launch party on Wednesday night for Laura Ingraham, whose Fox News show will premiere at 10pm on Monday. NYT's Michael Grynbaum had a profile of Ingraham in Wednesday's paper... Re: her relationship with POTUS, she said, "Sometimes, I call him, and occasionally, I'll get a call..." | | | Brian Lowry emails: It's been a while since the Lakers or Dodgers made a legitimate championship run -- almost 30 years, in the latter case -- which has put into sharper focus how even a big media market like L.A. takes on a small-town vibe in its coverage when a local team is playing for the title. In media terms, that extends from the special sections and A1 stories in the L.A. Times to the rampant giddiness on local radio and TV, perhaps reflecting that in a city as sprawling and diverse as L.A., there's a genuine hunger for a story that taps into the common interest and bridge those divides... | | "Thank You for Your Service" brings veteran stories to screen | | | Lisa Respers France emails: I talked with the director, star and one of the subjects of the new film "Thank You for Your Service," which is a dramatic telling of life for a group of soldiers struggling after they return home. It's a personal one for the film's writer/director Jason Hall, who was nominated for an Oscar for his work on "American Sniper" and is the brother of a veteran... | | Disney series to feature a story arc about a gay teen | | | The Disney Channel series 'Andi Mack' will reveal "that one of the main characters is gay in the upcoming Season 2 premiere," Variety reports. "The story arc marks a first for Disney Channel, as it will be the first time the channel has depicted a character's journey to discovering they are gay..." | | | 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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