| | | | | Happy Holidays! This is our final newsletter of 2017. We'll recap the year on the TV edition of "Reliable Sources" on Dec. 24 and 31... Then we'll be back in your inbox on Jan. 1. Scroll down for our thank-yous... | | 2017: So many transitions in so little time | | The pace of change has been truly extraordinary these last twelve months. From C-suites to newsrooms, odds are you had a new boss, or some of your friends did.
In January, Lydia Polgreen replaced Arianna Huffington at HuffPost. In February, Janice Min handed over the reins of THR to Matt Belloni. And on and on: Noah Oppenheim became president of NBC News. Rebecca Blumenstein jumped from the WSJ to the NYT. Ross Levinsohn took over the LA Times.
Brad Grey resigned from Paramount in February. Three months later, he died. That same month, Roger Ailes died.
Doug Herzog left Viacom, Marissa Mayer left Yahoo, David Karp left Tumblr, Tim Westergren left Pandora. Michael Lynton stepped down from Sony and became the chair of Snap. Newsweek replaced its top editor twice in one year. Twice in one year!
Campbell Brown joined Facebook and the company introduced the "Facebook Journalism Project." Josh Elliott left CBS under odd circumstances. Speaking of CBS, it replaced Scott Pelley with Jeff Glor on the "Evening News." Ryan Seacrest joined Kelly Ripa on "Live." Meghan McCain joined "The View."
I'm just getting started here. Megyn Kelly jumped to NBC. Tucker Carlson got promoted at Fox. "The Five" moved to 9pm, then back to 5. Milo Yiannopoulos resigned from Breitbart. Steve Bannon returned. At the White House, Sean Spicer was replaced by Sarah Sanders. Mike Dubke was replaced by Anthony Scaramucci who was then replaced by Hope Hicks.
Hearst agreed to acquire Rodale. Meredith struck a deal to acquire Time Inc. Graydon Carter stepped down. Radhika Jones stepped up. Edward Felsenthal succeeded Nancy Gibbs at Time. Nina Garcia succeeded Robbie Myers at Elle. Glamour is still looking for someone to replace Cindi Leive.
I know I'm missing some heavyweights here. And I haven't even mentioned most of the deals yet. Sinclair agreed to buy Tribune's TV stations. Discovery made a deal with Scripps. Disney agreed to buy most of 21st Century Fox... | | The reckoning is reshaping newsrooms | | Some of the changes foreshadowed the fall's "tipping point." April: Bill O'Reilly forced out at Fox after secret settlements were revealed. July: Jamie Horowitz fired from FS1 amid a sexual harassment probe. The amount of turnover post-Weinstein is staggering. I think about it every time I turn on "Today" and "CBS This Morning."
Behind the scenes, Amazon Studios needs a new boss. The Paris Review needs a new editor. Vox made a list of over 100 "power brokers" in various industries who have been accused of sexual misconduct. Louis C.K. Tavis Smiley. Mark Halperin. Kevin Spacey. Leon Wieseltier. Dustin Hoffman.
Now WNYC and Vice and "The Chew" have openings. The NFL Network and ESPN might have openings, too, given the multiple suspensions there. The president of The Ringer remains suspended. John Lasseter is on a six-month leave from Pixar. NPR has new newsroom management. PBS has new 11pm shows. Next year Glenn Thrush will be back at the NYT, but on a different beat... | | More transitions to come in 2018... | | | The changes kept coming in December. Last week, Arthur Sulzberger said his son A.G. will take over as NYT publisher, effective January 1. Earlier this week, John Skipper resigned from ESPN and Charles Osgood announced he's retiring from the radio. Today Elizabeth Vargas said she's leaving ABC next May. Scroll down for our full year-in-review... But first, today's news... | | Facebook's Friday surprise... | | | CNN Tech's Selena Larson writes: "Facebook rolled out on Friday a tool to let users see whether they liked or followed any Facebook pages or Instagram accounts created by the Internet Research Agency, the troll farm with links to the Kremlin that has sought to spread chaos in U.S. politics. The tool, which Facebook had promised users in November, is available through the site's Help Center." Read more... | | | Donie O'Sullivan emails: Facebook dumping this tool on the Friday before Christmas and making it available only on desktop is consistent with how the company has dragged its feet on the whole Russian saga -- despite consistently claiming they're doing the opposite. However, with the release of this tool Facebook has done more than Twitter and Google/YouTube. Neither of those companies have indicated they are going to let their users know if they followed Kremlin-linked fake accounts... and let's not forget Verizon-owned Tumblr -- they haven't even acknowledged to us that the Russian operation extended to their platform despite CNN finding evidence it did... | | | Hadas Gold writes: "Fox News' chief Washington correspondent, James Rosen, is leaving the network. A spokesperson confirmed the news" but "did not comment on what led to Rosen's departure." TVNewser broke the news... | | | The Daily Mail scooped ABC News on this one: Elizabeth Vargas is exiting the network in May... Amy Robach is a front-runner to succeed Vargas on "20/20..." | | | Oliver Darcy writes: "MSNBC host Mika Brzezinski apologized Friday evening after she angered some of the women who had accused Mark Halperin of sexual harassment or assault with comments she made earlier in the day." Read Darcy's full story here... | | FCC fining Sinclair $13.3 million | | "Republican and Democratic FCC commissioners traded barbs this week after levying a record fine on conservative-leaning Sinclair Broadcast Group," David Goldman reports.
"The FCC said Sinclair violated its sponsorship identification rules, and the $13.3 million fine is the largest-ever penalty for that offense... But the FCC's two Democratic commissioners said the fine should have been significantly larger -- $82 million, or 3% of the company's annual sales. That would be the maximum allowable fine under the regulator's bylaws. They also accused the FCC's Republican majority of political favoritism." Here are the details... | | Sinclair giving $1,000 bonuses | | | Sinclair is joining AT&T, Comcast and other companies: "Around 9,000 full and part-time employees at all of its stations and subsidiaries, excluding senior-level executives and employees covered by collective bargaining agreements currently being negotiated, will receive a $1,000 bonus," Hadas Gold reports... | | -- Just announced: "Mariah Carey to get another chance" on "New Year's Rockin' Eve" following last year's "fiasco..." (People)
-- Yashar Ali's latest scoop, about the Miss America Organization, had immediate impact on Friday. The group's CEO Sam Haskell was suspended "after nearly 50 former winners of the pageant called on him and other top leaders to resign..." (CNN)
-- An eye-opening AP story: At least 200 journalists were targeted by Russian hackers in a years-long campaign... (AP)
-- Sinclair's ABC affiliate in Washington, WJLA, says "The McLaughlin Group" will be back in January... Moderated by Tom Rogan... (The Hill)
-- This Sunday on a special edition of "Reliable Sources:" Joanne Lipman, Sally Buzbee, Angie Holan, S.E. Cupp, and John Avlon... Sunday 11am ET on CNN... | | | AN UNFORGETTABLE YEAR? OR A YEAR TO FORGET? | | | Lee Alexander emails: The best part of ending the year, in my opinion, are all the great "best of/end of year" lists. And this web site, YEAR-END LISTS, is your one-stop site for the best films, TV, books, and music of 2017. It's guaranteed to keep you entertained during holiday travel and maybe even inspire some last-minute gift ideas... | | Some of 2017's best lists | | -- FactCheck.org presents "The Whoppers of 2017" and apologizes for the length of the list...
-- Since that's depressing, this is uplifting: Longform's "Best of 2017" list
-- The Atlantic's "Best Books We Read in 2017"
-- And The Atlantic's "50 Best Podcasts," with "S-Town" at #2 and "The Daily" at #1...
-- Here are Time's top 10 photos of 2017...
-- And here's Google with "the year in search..."
-- I always love Richard Deitsch's list of the "the best journalism of the year..."
-- ICYMI, Chartbeat's list of the 100 most engaging stories of the year is really impressive...
-- So is NYMag's "55 Ways Donald Trump Structurally Changed America in 2017"
-- AdAge's list of the year's "media feuds" are all "Trump vs..." | | THE YEAR'S BIGGEST STORY? | | AP's survey of editors says... | | | "The wave of sexual misconduct allegations that toppled Hollywood power brokers, politicians, media icons and many others was the top news story of 2017, according to The Associated Press' annual poll of U.S. editors and news directors." The #2 story? Trump's "tumultuous first year as president." | | | Brian Lowry emails: The Harvey Weinstein scandal, coming on the heels of the Fox News fallout that began in 2016, was surely the year's defining story in media and entertainment circles. The Disney-Fox deal, meanwhile, represents a separate quake whose aftershocks will be felt in 2018, and likely result in further reshaping of the business -- issues I addressed at more length in this column... | | CNN's list of the Top 7 Media Stories | | | The "tipping point" is also the #1 story on our list of the year's Top 7 Media Stories. The piece, produced by Laurie Frankel, will start airing on CNN this weekend, but you can also stream it here... | | Unfortunately, attacks against the press -- both verbal and physical -- were some of the biggest stories covered in this space in 2017.
Laurie Frankel emails: One story I wasn't able to fit into the Top 7 was Greg Gianforte's assault on the Guardian's Ben Jacobs, during the Montana special election in May. Gianforte, of course, went on to win, and later pleaded guilty to misdemeanor assault. According to the Committee to Protect Journalists, there have been 39 physical attacks on journalists in the U.S. this year. When I asked how that compares to 2016, CPJ couldn't give me an answer. The U.S. Press Freedom Tracker only started documenting cases this year. So that's something to keep an eye on in 2018... | | One simple question that summed up Trump's year | | I included this memory in a list of 14 "what did he just say?!" moments from the year in Trump coverage. This is from Trump's first and only solo press conference in February. He falsely said he had the biggest electoral college victory since Ronald Reagan. NBC's Peter Alexander looked up the facts on his phone, read it to the president, and asked "Why should Americans trust you?" Trump did not give a reason. His excuse was "I was given the information."
But that question -- "Why should Americans trust you?" -- was relevant all year long. It came up over and over again. The White House couldn't escape its credibility crisis. But the news media faced a parallel crisis -- gaining and regaining the audience's trust was front of mind all year long in newsrooms... | | The country's biggest disaster | | | This is the next cover of NYMag: | | | The story, "Maria's Bodies," is by Mattathias Schwartz. Here's what he told me: "We're almost 100 days past Maria and at least half of Puerto Rico's population is still without electricity. The consequences are deadly—overall mortality is up more than 20 percent, or roughly 500 deaths each month. Next week we'll get the November numbers. If those show an increase, it's safe to say Maria's death toll will surpass Katrina's. Finally, my story shows that the biggest and most important hospital on the island asked FEMA for a backup generator on Sep. 22. It took the federal government an entire month to deliver it, and according to one doctor, 15 patients died in the meantime. No electricity kills, and there's truth to what Mayor YulÃn has said about people continuing to die..." | | -- In Saturday's NYT, Michael Grynbaum profiles Jeanine Pirro. Her "new proximity to power" -- to President Trump -- "represents a rise in fortune and influence for someone who, until recently, was a minor Fox News player mired in its weekend backwater..." (NYT)
-- HuffPost says some women at the NYT feel "neglected" and "frustrated" as the paper rehabs Glenn Thrush... (HuffPost)
-- ICYMI: Washington City Paper's new owner, Mark Ein, says he's forming "a group of business, civic and media leaders to help guide the paper, including José Andrés, Anthony Williams, Jake Tapper and Ta-Nehisi Coates... (WashPost)
-- With a trial slated for March, AT&T and Time Warner have extended "the deadline for completing the deal to June 21." It was previously April 22... (Variety) | | 🎧 Special "Reliable" pod | | | Hear CNN's Oliver Darcy, Chloe Melas, Tom Kludt, and Frank Pallotta recap the biggest media stories of 2017 on our end-of-the-year "Reliable Sources" podcast. Listen to the pod here via iTunes! It's also available through Stitcher and TuneIn... | | No press conference on the way out the door | | Surprising? No, not really. Trump has bucked tradition all year long. Presidents usually hold an end-of-the-year press conference, as I wrote here, but Trump's aides advised him not to. CNN's Jeff Zeleny reported: "Trump told aides he was eager to take questions Friday and hold a news conference..." But "the aides were eager to avoid him being besieged with questions about the investigation into Russian election meddling and other matters..."
So instead the president signed the tax reform bill -- because, he said, "I watched the news this morning and they were all saying, 'Will he keep his promise? Will he sign it by Christmas?'"
He answered a few Q's from members of the press pool, while aides tried to cut off the Q&A session... Check out Zeleny's description of the scene here... | | Trump's Christmas spirit? | | | He vented about what he sees as the media ignoring his accomplishments on Twitter Friday morning, and he said it again while in the Oval Office, but he also complimented the press pool: "Many of you have worked very hard. Many of you have worked very very fairly, and we appreciate that." He also offered the journos some of his signing pens... | | | For the record, part three | | | Julia Waldow emails:
-- CNN and Snap have "mutually decided to hit pause" on CNN's daily Snapchat news show, "The Update," in the new year ahead, Amol Sharma reports... (WSJ)
-- AdAge tallies up "media we mourned" over the course of 2017... On the list: The Village Voice print edition, Teen Vogue print edition, and Esquire Network... (AdAge)
-- An important read: "Suspension of daily news show for black Americans raises concerns about media diversity..." (WashPost) | | | Julia Waldow emails: The celebrated TV sportscaster Dick Enberg died Thursday. He was 82. CNN's obituary recounts that Enberg received "14 Emmy awards and nine Sportscaster of the Year awards, and worked for NBC, CBS, and ESPN" over the course of his career... Read more... | | | For the record, part four | | | -- Fox's John Roberts and CNN's Kyra Phillips will be performing walk-on roles in The Washington Ballet's "The Nutcracker" on Saturday...
-- Strangest story of the day: "The new US ambassador to the Netherlands lied twice to a Dutch news crew about 2015 comments he made saying the country was in chaos because of Muslims..." (CNN)
-- The DOJ's decision to direct RT "to register as a foreign agent was triggered in part by an intelligence community report that said the network played a role in Moscow's efforts to aid Donald Trump in the 2016 election..." (Politico) | | "The Post" is out in NYC, DC, L.A. this weekend | | | Brian Lowry emails: "The Post" is both a timely ode to journalism and a look at feminism in the pre-Roe v. Wade era, with Washington Post publisher Katharine Graham thrust into a role she never expected to occupy at a crucial moment. The latter part helps the movie get past the question of why tell the Pentagon Papers story from the Washington Post's perspective, instead of the New York Times. Read Lowry's full review here... | | | Chloe Melas recently sat down with "The Post" director Steven Spielberg... Watch some of the interview highlights here... | | | -- Related: Sandra Gonzalez's interviews with the screenwriters... | | Megan Thomas emails: What movies should you see over the holidays? Here are helpful links to Brian Lowry's reviews, and my best-bet suggestions for your holiday movie-going.
For inspiration, see "The Post" or "Molly's Game." Both are excellent from start to finish. Meryl Streep and Jessica Chastain's performances are Oscar-worthy...
Looking for something for the whole family? See "The Greatest Showman" or "Coco." (My 5-year-old says "Ferdinand" is pretty good too.)
To watch three-time Oscar winner Daniel Day Lewis in his self-proclaimed – and impressive -- final film performance, check out "Phantom Thread..." | | -- Christopher Plummer steps in as a last minute replacement to Kevin Spacey in "All the Money in the World..."
-- Christian Bale stars in the retro-western "Hostiles..."
-- "Pitch Perfect 3" kicks off a string of 15 upcoming sequels...
-- Almost forgot "The Last Jedi!" Lots of controversial thoughts on this film, which is stopping no one from seeing it, of course... | | Brian Lowry emails: Netflix has delivered an expensive dud with "Bright," an action vehicle for Will Smith from "Suicide Squad" director David Ayer. Frankly, I worried my review might be a tad harsh, but after perusing some of the aggregator sites, calling "Bright" dim in no-uncertain terms appears to be the general consensus...
-- Related: Great piece by WashPost's Steven Zeitchik: "Is 'Bright' Hollywood's most polarizing — and significant — release of 2017?" | | Looking back... "Wonder Woman" set a tone for the year | | Frank Pallotta emails: I looked back at some of the stories I was most proud of this year, and the one that sticks out was "How 'Wonder Woman' could change Hollywood." At the time I reported about how the comic book film starring Gal Gadot and directed by Patty Jenkins could become the biggest opening for a female director ever (which it did go on to do).
Looking back on it now, I think that "Wonder Woman" helped set the tone for the year by being a big -- and needed -- example of female representation and power in front and behind the camera in one of Hollywood's most popular genres. The film broke box office records and showed that blockbusters can help change the conversation in Hollywood and in culture. Here's hoping there's more of that in 2018... | | | Thank YOU for scrolling to the end... Thanks for reading our nightly digest and recommending it to others... thanks to CNNMoney's Rich Barbieri, Alex Koppelman, An Phung, Robert McLean, and Jethro Mullen for editing this newsletter on different nights... thanks to Jason Farkas, Jonathan Auerbach, Shanta Covington, Audrey Benson, Lee Alexander, Francesca Giuliani-Hoffman, and Julia Waldow for producing "Reliable Sources..." a big thanks to our reporters in NYC, L.A., DC, London, and other outposts for scoops, stories, and other contributions to this newsletter... and thanks most of all to Jamie and Sunny for tolerating my late-night deadlines. We're off to celebrate Sunny's first Christmas and Jamie's birthday and the New Year. See you in January! | | | Email brian.stelter@turner.com... I appreciate every message. Happy New Year! | | | Get Reliable Sources, a comprehensive summary of the most important media news, delivered to your inbox every afternoon. | | | | | |
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