| | | | | Exec summary: ABC interviews Seth Rich's parents about why they're suing Fox News... Hachette inks a deal for Anthony Scaramucci's book... MTV says "TRL" is expanding... | | So many Trump scandals come down to the same four words: Who knew what when? For example: Who knew what about the porn star who was paid hush money right before election day?
On Wednesday, we learned more about the Stormy Daniels payoff... CNN reported on Wednesday night that there was "another Trump attorney involved," not just Michael Cohen. "AC360" broke the news at the top of the 8pm hour. The WSJ had it just a couple minutes later. The Trump Organization attorney, Jill Martin, is named in papers revealed by Daniels' attorney Michael Avenatti.
WHY IT MATTERS: Cohen previously said that "neither the Trump Organization nor the Trump campaign was a party to the transaction." Hmmm. CNN's MJ Lee and Curt Devine have all the details here...
-- Kirsten Powers to Anderson Cooper: "I feel like they're trying to, like, slowly drive us insane..."
-- BTW: When will Cooper's "60 Minutes" interview with Stormy air? The best bet is Sunday, March 25... | | "Trump says he made up facts" | | | A story for Thursday's morning shows: "President Trump boasted in a fundraising speech Wednesday that he made up facts in a meeting with the leader of a top U.S ally." Yep. The ally was Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau. Trump insisted "that the U.S. runs a trade deficit with its neighbor to the north without knowing whether or not that was the case," the WashPost reported Wednesday night, quoting an audiotape of the speech... | | Who's next? What's next? While Wednesday was a wee bit quieter than Monday and Tuesday, there were numerous stories about further White House shakeups to come. "We are told that there could be a 'bloodbath,' if not tomorrow, then Friday at the latest," Fox's John Roberts reported on "Special Report." (Earlier in the day, Roberts was spotted heading to a lunch with VP Mike Pence. Maybe this is a complete coincidence, but the lunch had other W.H. reporters buzzing.)
Roberts also affirmed reporting by other outlets that H.R. McMaster could be replaced by John Bolton -- who is currently a Fox News contributor.
Earlier in the day, another cable news commentator, CNBC's Larry Kudlow, was confirmed as Trump's pick to replace Gary Cohn... | | Kudlow has been a mainstay of CNBC for almost 30 years. Naturally his first TV interview about the new job was with CNBC's "Closing Bell."
"I didn't know" the announcement was happening on Wednesday, Kudlow said. "I wasn't watching TV this morning. The president called and he said, 'It's out.' Cuz I don't think he was intending to put it out til tomorrow or Friday. I said 'Oh.' He said, 'You're on the air.' He said, 'I'm looking at a picture of you. Very handsome.' So Trumpian!"
--> CNBC president Mark Hoffman wished Kudlow well in a memo... | | "Trump TV is a pipeline for Trump hires" | | | Chris Hayes on "All In" Wednesday night: "Trump TV is a pipeline for Trump hires..." He pointed to Fox host turned State Dept spokeswoman Heather Nauert's new promotion: "Despite having zero prior experience in diplomacy, Trump just installed Nauert as the acting undersecretary of the state for public diplomacy... In less than a year, Nauert has gone from 'Fox & Friends' to No. 4 at the State Department." | | | >> NYT's James Poniewozik tweeted: "I guess I owe President Trump an apology for all the remarks I made about how much time he spent watching cable TV, when in fact he was vetting future top advisers..." | | | Brian Lowry emails: The latest hirings/promotions invite the question: Has any president ever put more stock in people who opine on television? The closest analogy I can think of is professional football and basketball coaches, who tend to go back and forth between providing color-commentary/analysis and actual sideline gigs... | | And the chaos continues... | | | On Wednesday Axios quoted an anonymous W.H. official saying "this is the most toxic working environment on the planet." The WashPost's Josh Dawsey tweeted that "officials have begun betting pools of sorts among each other on who's getting ousted next." He added: "Lot of people who are usually in the know are not in the know." So take the leaks with grains of salt... | | CNBC's Jim Cramer had the scoop about his co-worker Kudlow earlier this week. Now there's this: Fox contributor and Townhall editor Katie Pavlich says "Trump is expected to fire VA Secretary David Shulkin and is strongly considering replacing him" with Pete Hegseth, co-host of "Fox & Friends Weekend."
Pavlich's story for Townhall cited three sources... | | | Via THR's Andy Lewis: Anthony Scaramucci "has signed a book deal for 'The Blue Collar President: How Trump is Reinventing the Aspirational Working Class,' a spokesperson at publisher Hachette confirmed to The Hollywood Reporter. The book will be published in September by the company's Nashville-based Center Street imprint..." | | Seth Rich's parents speak with ABC | | Seth Rich's parents Joel and Mary Rich have given an exclusive interview to ABC's Tom Llamas about the family's lawsuit against Fox News. Portions of the interview will air on "GMA" on Thursday...
--> Mary Rich tells Llamas, "I want the people who started the lies, who are responsible for the lies held accountable. This has gotta stop. This has gotta stop in America. And we're gonna try to help stop it..."
--> WashPost's Paul Farhi notes that Fox "has declined to correct, apologize for, explain or discipline anyone for its retracted Rich story..." | | -- NBC News chair Andy Lack to reporters on Wednesday: "Facebook doesn't have value for publishers really. I call them Fakebook..." (AdAge)
-- Tweet of the day: Jason Hirschhorn said media businesses are "having their duck goose / musical chairs moment..." (Twitter)
-- Heather Kelly's latest: "Apple debuts new page to help parents with screen-time concerns" (CNN) | | David Corn and Michael Isikoff's new book "Russian Roulette" -- full of new details about Russian interference -- has been #1 on Amazon's best sellers list for the past two days. The pair launched the book on "Maddow" Monday night, "The Lead" and "Hardball" on Tuesday, "Morning Joe" and "Fresh Air" and "All In" on Wednesday, etc. The authors say Trump "aided and abetted" the Russian meddling...
--> Isikoff on "CNN Tonight" just now: "There are details in our book that the House Intel Committee was completely unaware of..." | | "Cuomo Prime Time" aired on CNN for a week last summer and came back for most of the month of January. Now it will be a nightly show, facing off against Sean Hannity on Fox, Rachel Maddow on MSNBC and countless other prime time shows.
Chris Cuomo will take over the 9pm hour sometime this spring. CNN confirmed it on Wednesday after the NYT's Michael Grynbaum broke the news... Here's my full story...
-- Cuomo's mission statement: He tweeted, "We will test power. Every. Damn. Day. Just like always. Have to talk TO people more and ABOUT them less. Debate with decency. The need is clear. Hopefully we help fill it." | | When Cuomo moves to prime time, CNN's 9/10am co-anchor John Berman will move to "New Day," joining Alisyn Camerota from 6 til 9 a.m.
The exact dates for the changes have not been announced... And there's no word on who will take Berman's 9/10am seat... His co-anchor Poppy Harlow is on maternity leave right now... On Wednesday, Harlow tweeted: "Couldn't be happier for two great CNN men making big moves!" | | By Julia Waldow:
-- Rhonda Garelick explains why Stormy Daniels -- an "anti-Trump" of sorts -- "may be the only gladiator who has a chance right now in the ring with him..." (The Cut)
-- Google is banning ads that promote cryptocurrencies beginning in June in "part of an effort to clear unregulated financial products off its platform..." (CNN)
-- "Twitter is experimenting with a way to show you even more breaking news tweets," Alex Kantrowitz reports... (BuzzFeed News) | | Painful layoffs at the Denver Post | | | The Denver Post, with a newsroom of about 100 people, is shedding 30 jobs. This means an already-underserved media market is going to suffer even more. The Post has its own story on the cutbacks... Other sources placed the blame on the paper's owner, Digital First Media, which is controlled by an aggressive hedge fund that has been wringing costs out of papers like the Post... | | A city with "fewer journalists working in it" | | | I was struck by this quote from Denver Post editor Lee Ann Colacioppo to her staff: "I'm sure some commenters will cheer what they believe is the eventual demise of the mainstream media, but there is nothing to celebrate when a city has fewer journalists working in it." | | About that YouTube / Wikipedia announcement... | | Julia Waldow emails: While Susan Wojcicki announced at SXSW that YouTube will display links to Wikipedia articles in an effort to curb conspiracy theories, Wikimedia issued a statement on Twitter on Wednesday that "neither Wikipedia nor the Wikimedia Foundation are part of a formal partnership with YouTube." And: "We were not given advance notice of this announcement." Of course, YouTube doesn't need permission to link to Wikipedia... But the mixed signals are a bad look, amid a campaign to curb misinformation...
--> CNN's Kaya Yurieff has details here. She says "some experts also expressed concern over YouTube using Wikipedia as a fact-based source because its content can be edited by the general public..." | | Delrahim previews his case | | Via CNN's Jessica Schneider in DC: DOJ antitrust chief Makan Delrahim opened the first in a series of three roundtables with business leaders on Wednesday outlining his philosophy on regulations and consent decrees as a fix to potential antitrust violations. "When regulation replaces antitrust enforcement, the regulations and those regulators become stealthy and destructive forces that can interfere with the competitive marketplace. It can squeeze competition from the free market," Delrahim said.
The comments mirror remarks Delrahim has made in the past, and come just a few days before the government's case against the AT&T/Time Warner deal goes to trial. Delrahim: "We should proceed with heavy skepticism whenever we see regulation replacing vigorous enforcement of the antitrust laws..." | | New roles for Disney's Kevin Mayer and Robert Chapek | | Disney "is reorganizing its operations in a move that positions two top executives as potential successors" to Bob Iger, the WSJ's Ben Fritz wrote. "Kevin Mayer, the company's longtime head of strategy who has specialized in acquisitions and digital investments, was named chairman of a new direct-to-consumer and international segment, while parks chief Robert Chapek added consumer products to his portfolio, giving him oversight of what would be the company's biggest business unit by revenue and profit." This change was a result of consumer products head James Pitaro taking over ESPN...
--> The rest of the company: "Disney's movie studio, overseen by Alan Horn, and television division, run by Mr. Pitaro and Ben Sherwood, will remain largely intact..." | | | The reorg "sets up a structure for Disney to absorb the Fox businesses," the NYT's Brooks Barnes wrote. He noted that "as part of the restructuring, Andy Bird, the longtime chairman of Walt Disney International, is expected to leave the company..." | | | For the record, part three | | | | -- Ouch. Masha Gessen says "Vladimir Putin outwitted Megyn Kelly by weaponizing incompetence..." (The New Yorker) | | -- The Cut's Jessica Roy has been named deputy editor of Elle.com... (WWD)
-- Ben Mullin's latest: "Publishers Eye Facebook's Push for News Videos With Caution..." (WSJ) | | Almost wall-to-wall walkout coverage | | "ABC, CBS and NBC all produced network special reports at 10 a.m. ET as hundreds of thousands of high school students from around the country took part in #NationalWalkoutDay, part of the #Enough campaign seeking gun control legislation," TVNewser's Chris Ariens wrote...
There was extensive live coverage on CNN and MSNBC as well... Markedly less on Fox News... | | Fox's predictable critique | | | Not surprisingly, Fox's prime time hosts rallied against the student protesters. "The press were almost unanimous in their positive, fawning, uncritical coverage," Tucker Carlson said, calling it an "in-kind contribution to the marches." He told a guest that "you ought to pull your kids out immediately if they are exploited in the way these kids are being" exploited. Later in the evening, Laura Ingraham complained that "this was nothing but a left-wing, anti-Trump diatribe," and said "we need sit-ins, as in, sit in your class and learn!" | | "Democrat's Win in Pennsylvania Upends Parties' Midterm Plans" | | | That's the NYT's day-after headline on the home page. "Conor Lamb scored a razor-thin but extraordinary upset, winning a House seat in a district that President Trump carried by nearly 20 points," the paper says... | | | Tim Cook was on Capitol Hill on Tuesday... He met with Sen. Mark Warner, among others... Afterward, Warner told Cheddar's J.D. Durkin that "I think it would be helpful if other tech leaders were willing to come and meet with policy makers as opposed to simply sending their general counsels" (remember the FB/Twitter/Google hearings?) "because I think the American public is frustrated with some of the social media companies' lack of leaning in and -- quite honestly -- unwillingness to deal with policy makers at a senior-most level. I think they do so at their own peril..." | | | For the record, part four | | | By Daniella Emanuel:
-- Variety's newest cover story is about tech addiction... (Variety)
-- Daniel Funke's latest: "A guide to anti-misinformation actions around the world..." (Poynter)
-- Girlboss features Fox's Trish Regan: "The Working-Mom Story Every Young Woman Should Hear" (Girlboss) | | Colbert = appointment viewing? | | | Brian Lowry emails: Interesting tidbit in CBS' late-night ratings release on Wednesday: Episodes of Stephen Colbert's "The Late Show" enjoyed a 24% bump last week in total viewing over three days from its same-day audience, meaning lots of people are recording the show and watching it later. By contrast, the DVR lift for the two Jimmys, Fallon and Kimmel, was much smaller -- 6% and 7%, respectively. That seems notable, given that late night isn't known for its shelf life. (Colbert's weekly average also received a boost from Oprah Winfrey's appearance, the show's highest-rated episode in 10 months...) | | Ari Emanuel says "it is imperative" that WME supports inclusion riders | | | "WME is throwing its support behind the inclusion rider, the clause that has been top of mind in Hollywood ever since Frances McDormand uttered the phrase as the parting shot in her Oscars acceptance speech," THR's Rebecca Sun reports... Here's Ari Emanuel's memo about it... | | Madonna is directing this biopic | | | "Madonna is stepping behind the camera for a project she's passionate about," Lisa Respers France reports. MGM announced Tuesday "that the pop icon will direct 'Taking Flight,' a biopic based on Michaela DePrince's memoir 'Taking Flight: From War Orphan to Star Ballerina.' The book, written with her adopted mother Elaine, tells the story of how DePrince went from being an orphan in war-torn Sierra Leone to a celebrated ballerina..." | | What's going on with "TRL?" | | | TMZ posted a story on Wednesday that said "MTV is pulling the plug on its revived version of 'Total Request Live'" -- but the network responded by giving an interview to THR about its plans. MTV prez Chris McCarthy told THR that "we're expanding the franchise and will have three TRLs by summer." He says there's an A.M. edition in the works... Plus the late-night edition that's already been airing at 11pm... And the afternoon show, which is on hiatus right now. "All three will be airing by June," McCarthy said. "We have no plans of not having TRL on our linear network; there won't be a time when we don't have it on. The show has been killing it for us..." | | No more "cheating" in Hollywood | | Great insight from the NYT's Hollywood correspondent Brooks Barnes in this new Q&A:
"One of the biggest and more interesting changes" in the entertainment industry "involves institutional arrogance -- a deep-seated belief at studios, formed over decades of undisputed dominance, that nobody tells them what to do, including their customers. We will cast whom we want. We will tell the stories we want. And you will buy tickets, even if that means tricking you with marketing that makes something unwatchable look like a masterpiece. But that era is over. Social networks and sites like Rotten Tomatoes have empowered the masses. And Hollywood is still coming to grips with that. I ran into a studio executive a couple weeks ago who was fuming that she wasn't able to 'cheat' an opening weekend -- using marketing to cloak a bad movie -- because angry ticket buyers immediately started spreading the word to their friends on Facebook and Snapchat." | | | Email brian.stelter@turner.com... the feedback helps us improve this newsletter every day... Thanks! | | | | | | |
No comments:
Post a Comment