| | | | | Exec summary: Dodgers won game 1... Weinstein Co. was sued... Leon Wieseltier was axed... Plus, Hulu changes CEOs... New York Magazine celebrates... Brian Williams speaks... and "This Is Us" surprises all of us... | | This is a tally of President Trump's interviews with major American news organizations since inauguration day:
Fox -- 19
NYT -- 4
NBC -- 3
Reuters -- 3
WSJ -- 2
CBN -- 2
ABC -- 1
CBS -- 1
WashPost -- 1
AP -- 1
CNN -- 0
Everyone knows Fox is the president's favored network. But when you count up the interviews, it really is incredibly imbalanced. This data comes courtesy of CBS White House brainiac Mark Knoller. I asked him for an update on Tuesday because Fox announced another POTUS interview -- this time it's Lou Dobbs' turn -- airing Wednesday night on Fox Business.
Dobbs is one of Trump's all-time biggest fans. The interview is #19 for Fox this year -- while all the other outlets combined on this list have had 18 sit-downs. | | Lester Holt's interview feels like a long time ago... | | Let's be real: Trump's chats with Dobbs or Sean Hannity or Pete Hegseth are not "news" interviews. Trump isn't sitting down with Bret Baier or Shep Smith. He's chatting with his friends -- people who promote his agenda -- people he watches on TV every day.
Trump's last non-Fox interview was with Sarah Sanders' father Mike Huckabee. Obviously Huckabee is not a journalist and doesn't claim to be. Now, to be fair here, the president has granted a few interviews to journalists in recent months, most recently to the WSJ in August. But his last formal TV "news" interview off Fox was with NBC's Lester Holt way back in May... | | GOP senator Jeff Flake on the Senate floor on Tuesday: "We were not made great as a country by indulging or even exalting our worst impulses, turning against ourselves, glorying in the things which divide us, and calling fake things true and true things fake."
Flake said POTUS is "dangerous to democracy," just hours after Bob Corker bemoaned Trump's dishonesty in a live interview with CNN's Manu Raju. "It's very sad for our nation," Corker said.
--> Don Lemon to historian Douglas Brinkley on "CNN Tonight:" "Doug, have you ever seen anything like this before?" "Nothing like it." This was a day that called for historians... The Trump presidency is a test, whether people want to be tested or not... | | | Brian Lowry emails: The news that Jeff Flake will leave the Senate brought to mind that he's among the few sitting senators to have appeared in a reality TV show, participating in a Discovery series called "Rival Survival," in which he and Democrat Martin Heinrich (N.M.) had to work together to survive on a remote island. Yet Flake decided to opt out of the current reality show that is Republican politics... | | Stengel: The W.H. briefing is not news, it's "propaganda" | | | Time mag editor turned Obama State Dept official turned MSNBC political analyst Richard Stengel's mini-rant on air after the W.H. briefing Tuesday afternoon: "Why, on a news network, do we televise the press conference, the press spokesman talking to reporters? That is not news. That is propaganda. It's almost disinformation. And we watched it for 15 or 20 minutes. That is not enlightening our viewers -- that is somebody not telling the truth, and trying to think of an interesting way to tell it." Anchor Nicolle Wallace: "You'll have to take that up with management." Stengel: "Maybe they're listening!" | | "Sinclair is not in discussions with Mr. O'Reilly" | | Until Saturday's NYT story hit, Bill O'Reilly had high hopes about a deal with Sinclair. He saw a path back to a nightly television broadcast. Now, however, there are fresh doubts about his future. Here's my new story all about that...
-- Details: There was talk about a new O'Reilly-branded 8 p.m. show on a cable channel that Sinclair is trying to acquire. But my sources disagreed on whether a deal was actively in the works. While one of the people said yes, others said this was wishful thinking on O'Reilly's part...
-- A Sinclair spokeswoman told me: "Sinclair is not in discussions with Mr. O'Reilly..." | | THR's scoop: In the wake of the NYT story, O'Reilly lost the agents who had represented him for decades. On Monday, the board of United Talent Agency decided to drop him as a client. The move will take effect at the end of the year. (Full disclosure: I'm also represented by UTA.)
O'Reilly's spokesman Mark Fabiani says "he has lined up new representation already." But "the firm isn't ready to announce formally yet..."
-- Video: I discussed Tuesday's developments with Anderson Cooper on "AC360..." | | O'Reilly ranted on Monday, but he was more restrained on Tuesday... | | Tom Kludt emails: O'Reilly was quiet all day on Tuesday, refraining from tweeting or making any other public statements. On his web show, he addressed the matter but only briefly. "You know, I think we're past the controversy in a sense of hysteria," he said at the beginning of the broadcast.
O'Reilly said that more than 300,000 people visited his website on Monday, when he delivered an impassioned defense against the allegations that at times veered into some dark places. But there was no talk about his anger with God or the supposedly murderous intent of his enemies on Tuesday. O'Reilly told viewers that he appreciated them for forming their "own independent opinion based on factual data that we've provided." At the end of the broadcast, he read a few supportive messages from fans... | | What "the folks" are saying... | | Tom Kludt emails: I perused the message board on O'Reilly's website. Not surprisingly, many fans take O'Reilly at his word that this week's stories are baseless smears. "Why are they so vindictive to you," asked one woman...
--> But some (see: very, very few) couldn't help but raise an eyebrow at the $32 million figure. "Paying out $32M to anyone for something untrue just doesn't happen, ever," one person wrote. Another said she's having a difficult time explaining her O'Reilly fandom to her family members... | | "Forgiving:" Here's what Chris Ruddy told me | | | O'Reilly sometimes uses Newsmax's studio space in New York to record his podcast. Newsmax CEO Chris Ruddy says it's not a business relationship, it's just a courtesy to a friend. He declined to comment directly on the possibility of hiring O'Reilly, but didn't rule it out: "There's no question Bill O'Reilly has been damaged by some of this, but the bottom line is the recent accuser fully retracted all of her allegations. America is a very forgiving nation and people love a comeback story. If anybody can do it, Bill is the guy." | | -- Hadas Gold's latest: "Another hit to Murdoch's Sky bid..." (CNNMoney)
-- Stephen Colbert's comment while talking to Jake Tapper about O'Reilly on Tuesday's "Late Show:" "He will be missed." Here's a clip...
-- THR's Jeremy Barr writes: "John Huddy told me he was fired by Fox News unfairly and has been targeted because of his sister and father's ties..." | | WashPost's scoop about the Dems and the dossier | | It was well known that Democrats paid for some of the Fusion GPS research into Trump before election day. But who? The WashPost had the scoop on Tuesday: "The Hillary Clinton campaign and the DNC helped fund" the research. Here's CNN's story confirming the Post scoop.
-- Maggie Haberman tweeted: "Folks involved in funding this lied about it, and with sanctimony, for a year..."
-- At Tuesday's briefing, Sarah Sanders said "I wouldn't use the WashPost as my source." Exactly four hours later, she tweeted out the dossier scoop and said: "The real Russia scandal?" | | -- Hillary Clinton, The Hill, Fox News, Uranium One. What's going on here? Erik Wemple broke it down... (WashPost)
-- MSNBC's Chris Hayes tweeted: "Fox programming is now basically 24/7 about Hillary Clinton and Uranium. It's legit amazing."
-- Speaking of Fox... Justin Peters' view: "How Fox News is weaponizing the Harvey Weinstein scandal" (Slate)
-- Brian Williams says he's trying to win the trust of viewers "one at a time." He gave interviews to VF's Emily Jane Fox and Variety's Brian Steinberg...
-- This is Ben Mullin's first big story on his new beat for WSJ: A look at Ross Levinsohn's plans for the LATimes... (WSJ) | | Spotted at NYMag's 50th birthday bash | | | At the party hosted by Pam Wasserstein, Adam Moss and Avi Zimak at Katz's Delicatessen on Houston St: Don Lemon, Olivia Nuzzi, Eliot Spitzer, Jim Gaffigan, Jane Rosenthal, Charlie Rose, Lena Waithe, Zachary Quinto, Hannah Bronfman, Julie Klausner, Caroline Hirsch, Jordan Klepper, Gail Sheehy, Jon Batiste, Pat Kiernan, Rosanna Scotto, Jon Levine, Kurt Andersen, Michael Wolff, Lauren Starke, Steven Perlberg, Maxwell Tani, Sydney Ember, Michael Grynbaum... | | Laurene Powell Jobs fires Leon Wieseltier over past "workplace misconduct" | | Laurene Powell Jobs' Emerson Collective "has severed ties with former New Republic literary editor Leon Wieseltier after learning of 'past inappropriate workplace conduct,' the company said..."
This is the latest example of the "Weinstein effect." Wieseltier was helming a new journal called "Idea..." It was about to come out... But Wieseltier's name was on the recent anonymous "Shitty Media Men" list that circulated in the wake of the Weinstein exposes. Calderone says "former women staffers at The New Republic began sharing stories about Wieseltier," and Emerson Collective caught wind of it...
-- Wieseltier's statement: "For my offenses against some of my colleagues in the past I offer a shaken apology and ask for their forgiveness..."
-- Emerson says "the production and distribution of the journal has been suspended..."
-- The Atlantic's Adrienne LaFrance says many women who previously worked with Wieseltier have "Leon stories..." | | BuzzFeed internal memo about harassment | | | "Two weeks after BuzzFeed reported on anonymous accusations of sexual misconduct within the news media and within the company, a BuzzFeed internal memo Tuesday urged employees to speak out about sexual harassment," The Wrap's Jon Levine reports... | | Weinstein Company hit with $5 million civil suit | | | Actress Dominique Huett alleges that Harvey Weinstein sexually abused her in 2010 -- and on Tuesday "she sued his company for negligence, marking the first civil suit over the former co-chairman's alleged abuses since the scandal came to light," the LATimes' Ryan Faughnder and Stephen Battaglio report. "Huett has not filed a criminal complaint against Weinstein..." | | Tuesday's other developments | | -- Gloria Allred held a press conference with another new Weinsten accuser on Tuesday...
-- In the NYT, Jason Horowitz profiles Weinstein's "old friend and employee" Fabrizio Lombardo. He vehemently denies that "he was employed in part to help satisfy Mr. Weinstein's voracious appetite..."
-- This HuffPost column by Laura Bassett is making the rounds in the TV news biz, with folks asking, who's the "older, married" "famous broadcast journalist" described therein?
-- Via The Daily Beast: "The photographer Terry Richardson is "disappointed" that magazine group Condé Nast International has chosen to blacklist him..." | | Colony Capital on the clock | | | Some important details from that aforementioned LATimes story: "Colony Capital, Thomas Barrack's private equity firm, has about a week and a half to decide whether to buy the assets of the beleaguered studio... Bankruptcy or liquidation may await if no deal is reached with Colony or another buyer... Though "there are about 20 serious potential investors waiting to swoop in," according to one of the paper's sources... | | | CNNMoney's Julia Horowitz writes: Weinstein accusers "didn't just keep quiet because they were scared of retribution. Some worried that if they talked, they'd face legal action. That's why lawmakers in New York, New Jersey and California are considering legislation that would limit the use of both non-disclosure agreements and out-of-court settlements with confidentiality clauses in cases of sexual harassment and assault." This is something to keep an eye on. Read more... | | Twitter adding a purple dot to label political ads... | | | "Twitter announced Tuesday that it will label all political advertising on its platform and provide information about who bought the ads and what they spent," Dylan Byers reports... | | By Francesca Giuliani-Hoffman:
-- Important correction: Yesterday we said the Russian reporter who was stabbed in Moscow had died from the attack. She survived... but was severely wounded... she was moved to intensive care on Tuesday...
-- Announced Tuesday: Koa Beck is Jezebel's new EIC...
-- The FCC just scrapped a decades-old rule that required broadcasters "to have a physical studio in or near the areas where they have a license to transmit TV or radio signals..." (WashPost)
-- Sara Fischer outlines 5 things that are true about "fake news..." (Axios) | | "Facebook exec says humanity won't regret the internet" | | My favorite headline of the day. It comes courtesy of CNNMoney's Seth Fiegerman. An event at CUNY "intended to offer more transparency about Facebook's News Feed ended with a debate over whether the social network and the internet are actually good for mankind," he writes.
The key quote is from Facebook VP Adam Mosseri: "It's super important to acknowledge that connecting everyone and giving everyone the ability to share is not necessarily always a good thing. I believe it will create more good than bad overall. In the end, I don't think we as a human race will regret the internet. But I do believe there will be costs of connecting the world."
Mosseri is on a swing through NYC... I caught up with him on Tuesday evening... and told him I don't think humanity will really truly know the answer ("will humanity regret the internet?") until long after we're all gone... | | Update on Facebook's latest test... | | So what about those six countries -- Slovakia, Sri Lanka, Serbia, Bolivia, Guatemala, and Cambodia -- where Facebook is conducting a dramatic new test, placing posts from publishers and other pages in a separate feed from friends' posts? Mosseri says "the goal of this test is to understand if people prefer to have separate places for personal and public content."
But the test has "disrupted the news ecosystem" in these six countries, as The Atlantic's Alexis Madrigal wrote here. He asked: Does Faceboo"owe them anything?"
-- Even more FB news: Mosseri's NYC visit also included an event at CUNY's journalism school... He deflected Q's on the efficacy of its third-party fact-checking initiative... (Poynter)
-- New FB document: "Introducing News Feed Publisher Guidelines" | | | For the record, part three | | | -- Ryan Glasspiegel's latest: "ESPN Has an Identity Crisis: What Do They Want to Be?" (The Big Lead)
-- Earnings season: AT&T "reported mixed results for what will likely be its last quarter before the expected close" of the Time Warner deal... (Deadline)
-- "ICM Partners has acquired a majority interest in the indie speakers agency Royce Carlton..." (The Wrap)
-- More moves at Amazon Studios: Heather Schuster is the new head of unscripted programming and Tracey Lentz is the new head of creative unscripted... (Deadline) | | Mike Hopkins moving to Sony | | Hulu's CEO for the past four years, Mike Hopkins, "is leaving for a new job at Sony Pictures Television," Sandra Gonzalez reports. Hopkins will serve as chairman of Sony Pictures TV, reporting to his longtime mentor Tony Vinciquerra...
-- Per the LATimes, "Hulu's board had begun negotiations for a new contract with Hopkins, whose deal expires this month." But then Vinciquerra called him... | | New Hulu CEO: Randy Freer | | | Via Sandra's story: Randy Freer is exiting his post at Fox Networks Group, where he served as president and COO, to take over as Hulu CEO... | | A surprising reveal on "This Is Us" | | | I have to be honest with you -- I haven't even clicked on this link yet. It's a link to Sandra Gonzalez's latest story. She says the story is full of spoilers about Tuesday night's episode of "This Is Us." And I have to wait til I can watch the episode with Jamie. Hopefully sometime on Wednesday, Sunny permitting! But if you watched the show live, here's Sandra's story all about it... | | "Kardashians Ink Megabucks Renewal Deal With E! Through 2020" | | | That's the Variety headline. "The Kardashians are staying put at E! for at least another three years, Variety has confirmed — and they don't come cheap," Elizabeth Wagmeister writes. "The network has extended the famous family's contract for all-things-Kardashian, including the flagship series 'Keeping Up With the Kardashians.' An insider says the renewal deal will take the show through 2020 and amounts to 'below $100 million,' though E! declined to comment." TMZ, on the other hand, said the new deal is worth $150 million, and only lasts through 2019... | | | For the record, part four | | | By Lisa Respers France:
-- Kelly Clarkson had something to say about her weight and mental health...
-- Anna Faris and Chris Pratt may have broken our hearts with their split, but she says they are "great friends..."
-- Actress Jaime Pressly is doubly blessed -- she recently gave birth to twins... | | A "self-referential spoof of TV crime shows" on YouTube | | Brian Lowry emails: Those waiting for Google to make more of a mark in series-like original content might have finally found a poster child in "Ryan Hansen Solves Crimes on Television," a self-referential spoof of TV crime shows that represents a step up in class for the subscription service YouTube Red.
Notably, many of the jokes in the series – which features Hansen, playing a jaundiced version of himself, as an actor paired with a detective ("Orange is the New Black's" Samira Wiley) – come at YouTube Red's expense, including recurring gags about how the name sounds like Redtube, a porn site. "It's exactly like YouTube, but it's not free," Hansen deadpans at one point. (Network TV is also dismissed as being "creatively bankrupt.")
YouTube will follow up the show, which premieres Oct. 25, with "Do You Want to See a Dead Body?," a comedy based on the Funny or Die shorts, in mid-November... | | | 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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