| | | | | Exec summary: You've already heard all about the Trump administration's deceit... So let's start elsewhere... With news from YouTube, NBC News, The Denver Post, and the AT&T trial... Plus, scroll down for Brian Lowry's weekend movie reviews and the Academy's expulsions... | | | "It's critical that we're on the right side of history" | | That quote is from YouTube CEO Susan Wojcicki's annual presentation to advertisers on Thursday night... But it applies to many of us, eh?
Wojcicki said "it's 'critical' that the company is 'on the right side of history' as it addresses the controversy over inflammatory and extremist videos on its platform," CNNMoney's Jill Disis writes... Read her full report from the YouTube Brandcast here...
--> And here's YouTube's list of announcements from the event... | | Denver Post editorial page editor Chuck Plunkett resigns | | One month ago The Denver Post's editorial board published a plea for the paper's future -- calling out its hedge fund owner, Alden Global Capital, and expressing hope for a new owner.
It was an extraordinary SOS. The editor behind it was Chuck Plunkett. On Thursday, he turned in a follow-up editorial... again protesting Alden... and the piece was scrapped. "It was rejected within a couple of hours," Plunkett told me.
So he decided he had to resign. "I was being boxed in so that I couldn't speak," Plunkett said. He framed it this way: "How can I be silent at this point?"
Plunkett's resignation comes a week after the editorial page editor at a sister paper, the Boulder Daily Camera, was fired "after he self-published his own editorial taking a stand against Alden," Denverite noted... | | | There are a lot of unhappy people at the Post right now. Plunkett told me he was under pressure to leave the editorial board and return to the newsroom. He also said "there is active consideration of doing away with the editorial pages throughout the company." He means "at all the papers" owned by Digital First Media, the newspaper chain controlled by Alden. Amid all this controversy, Alden reps have not responded to requests for comment... | | AT&T's post-trial argument | | Post-trial briefs were due in US vs. AT&T on Thursday evening. The DOJ's version is not publicly available yet, but AT&T and Time Warner's brief is... The companies wrote that "the government did not even begin to make a credible case that the merger would likely harm competition, substantially or even just a little."
CNN's Hadas Gold recapped it here. Key point: While Judge Richard Leon "had asked both sides to offer options for remedies that could help alleviate any anti-competitive harms," the companies "said they had no need to do so." Does this mean they're confident the judge is going to rule in their favor? Read Gold's full story here... | | NBC News corrects explosive Michael Cohen story | | This seemed like a big scoop on Thursday: NBC News reported at 1pm that federal investigators "wiretapped the phone lines of Michael Cohen." The story by Tom Winter and Julia Ainsley also said "at least one phone call between a phone line associated with Cohen and the White House was intercepted." The story cited "two people with knowledge of the legal proceedings involving Cohen."
MSNBC went into breaking news mode right away. Twitter was all atwitter. But other news outlets had a hard time confirming it -- and at 5pm, we found out why. Winter went back on MSNBC with a correction -- the feds had access to phone logs, but NOT to the content of the calls.
By then, of course, Trump aides and lawyers had been asked about the story and lots of websites had regurgitated NBC's reporting. ABC even said it matched NBC's reporting, so they had to issue a correction too. Here's Oliver Darcy's full story...
Key point: NBC and ABC fessed up... They corrected the error... They didn't make excuses. Which brings us to the White House... | | Are you tired of the lies? | | Trumpworld's deceptions -- starting with President Trump and trickling down to his aides and allies -- are a top story right now. This is thanks in part to Rudy Giuliani's stunning interviews. (Other Trump lawyers were blindsided.)
I feel like I'm watching a repeat episode... We've heard all this talk about a "liar in chief" and a White House "credibility crisis" before... But the shifting stories about the Stormy Daniels payoff definitely give the subject newfound relevance.
You might be surprised by some of the voices that are speaking up... | | | "Let me be clear, Mr. President. How can you drain the swamp if you're the one that keeps muddying the waters?" Fox's Neil Cavuto said in a commentary directed at POTUS on Thursday. Cavuto said he's having "a devil of a time figuring out which news is 'fake...'" | | The editorial board of the WSJ -- like Fox, controlled by Rupert Murdoch -- also had a message for Trump on Thursday. "Trump is compiling a record that increases the likelihood that few will believe him during a genuine crisis," the editors wrote.
The last line: "Trump should worry that Americans will stop believing anything he says." | | -- Dan Balz's latest for the Post: Does it bother anyone that President Trump has been caught lying? Does it bother anyone that this is not new? Does it bother anyone that the president has been shown to be a liar?"
-- Maggie Haberman tweeted: "Sometimes folks in the White House know what they're saying is false. Other times Trump - or someone else - has told them something untrue..."
-- Jon Karl's Q for Sarah Sanders at the daily briefing: "When the president and the White House show what appears to be a blatant disregard to the truth, how are the American people to trust or believe what is said here or what is said by the president?" | | Brian Lowry emails: Through the years, I've occasionally sparred with publicists who were evasive -- or untruthful -- at the behest of their boss or a client. The point I have conveyed is that unless they plan on working for that person forever, the cost to their credibility and reputation won't be worth the damage done to it by holding on to their jobs. That thought stuck with me as I watched Sarah Sanders' press conference on Thursday, illustrated by this devastating Vice clip of all the times she punted in terms of delivering an answer...
--> Related: Chris Cillizza's latest is titled "Why Sarah Sanders should quit..." | | What do you do when you're having a hard day at work? You start thinking about your next vacation. Maybe you start Googling destinations. Penciling in dates. That's what I imagined when I saw the Trump campaign's announcement on Thursday. The president is holding another campaign rally... This time in Indiana... This time next week.
--> Per Mark Knoller, this will be Trump's "12th campaign rally since taking office..." | | -- Sinclair is not commenting on Jason Schwartz's latest. The title? "Sinclair preps to challenge Fox News..." (Politico)
-- Amy Chozick's new book "Chasing Hillary" has "sparked anger and hurt feelings at the New York Times," Steven Perlberg reports... (BuzzFeed) | | SI's Peter King jumps to NBC | | Peter King is leaving SI after 29 years -- and signing with the NBC Sports Group. He will write his weekly "Monday morning NFL column for NBC Sports' website, as well as make regular appearances on NBC Sports Network and NBC Sports Radio," per Frank Pallotta's story. "King will also continue to contribute to NBC's 'Football Night In America.'"
-- What I wonder: How much was the Time Inc. sale to Meredith, and Meredith's current effort to sell SI, a factor for King?
-- Media and tech editor Alex Koppelman tweeted: "Apropos of nothing other than Peter King leaving it: SI's website is so full of junk you have to sit through a loading screen to read an article. If someone can explain to me what the hell magazine execs are thinking, that'd be great, cause it's clear they don't know..." | | NYT is holding onto its post-election subscribers -- and still adding more | | Julia Waldow emails: The NYT's Q1 earnings are out -- and total revenues since this time last year are up, largely thanks to a boom in subscription $$$. The company says it now has approximately 2.8 million paid digital-only subscriptions, a 25% increase since Q1 2017, and a gain of 139,000 since last quarter.
--> Key point from the earnings call: RETENTION. "Retention of our core digital news product remains a very encouraging story," CEO Mark Thompson said. "We continue to retain the postelection cohorts, some of whom are now well over a year into their subscriptions at least, as well as earlier cohorts." | | The takeaway from CBS earnings | | Via the WSJ, here are CBS's Q1 earnings in two sentences: "Revenue for the quarter set a record, increasing 13% to $3.76 billion, topping estimates of $3.64 billion. Earnings per share of $1.34 beat analysts' consensus estimate of $1.19 per share."
With Shari Redstone and Les Moonves locked in a standoff over the terms of a CBS-Viacom merger, WSJ's Elizabeth Winkler says CBS sent a clear message with its earnings and investor call: "We're just fine as we are, thanks." To that point, Moonves said "CBS is operating from a position of great strength" and emphasized streaming service growth... | | WashPost says CBS "managers were warned" about Charlie Rose's behavior | | Who knew what when? Those are the questions at the core of the WashPost's follow-up investigation into Charlie Rose. CBS staffers have been expecting the story for months... And it arrived on Thursday, shortly before "CBS This Morning," leaving the morning show staff scrambling to read it and react. (Here's how the show covered the news.)
Amy Brittain and Irin Carmon's story cites "an additional 27 women" who said Rose "sexually harassed them." The key point: "Concerns about Rose's behavior were flagged to managers at the network as early as 1986 and as recently as April 2017." | | "We will continue our accounting for what has happened here before, and we will be the best place to do what we do in the future," CBS News president David Rhodes said in a memo to staffers.
The memo revealed that CBS Corporation has retained an outside law firm, Proskauer, to provide "independent advice" regarding complaints of sexual harassment. Does that mean there's an investigation still underway? Well, Rhodes' email said "we have continued to investigate a number of issues consistent with our long-standing policies..." | | By Julia Waldow:
-- Twitter is recommending that users change their passwords... Because the company discovered a bug that "saved user passwords on an internal log without proper encryption..." (CNNMoney)
-- Eric Bolling will host a show called "America" on the CRTV streaming service beginning this summer... (Page Six)
-- Shopping through Instagram? It's now possible, thanks to a new native payment system on the app... (TechCrunch) | | 🎤 Steve Gill on this week's "Reliable" podcast | | | Jason Schwartz's Politico story about "baby Breitbarts" popping up across the country inspired this week's "Reliable Sources" podcast. Conservative radio host and commentator Steve Gill, co-founder of The Tennessee Star website, told me that he's "filling a void" in the marketplace, citing "flaming" liberal bias from other outlets. Check out our conversation via Apple Podcasts or your favorite app... | | Reasons for hope on World Press Freedom Day | | What did you do to mark World Press Freedom Day?
Here are Christiane Amanpour's reflections on the day: "There is a lot to be concerned about over the current climate of press freedom, but I do have hope. As a journalist for nearly 35-years at CNN, I've worked with hundreds of other reporters. And one thing I know is that everyone in this profession possesses a tenacity and a fearlessness that can't be taught. Despite the horror of what happened in Kabul, and ever-tightening censorship all over the globe, I know journalists everywhere will continue to pick up their gear, go out, and cover the important stories -- even if it means they themselves could become targets. This is something to be both celebrated and protected on this World Press Freedom Day." | | Reuters journalists standing in solidarity | | Reuters reporters Wa Lone and Kyaw Soe Oo remain behind bars in Myanmar... So the news outlet used Thursday to call attention to the case through a hashtag campaign and other efforts. This photo, above, is the DC bureau standing in solidarity...
--> A bipartisan group of Senators penned a letter to the imprisoned journos on Thursday... | | | For the record, part three | | | -- Ryan Kavanaugh's Relativity Media filed for Chapter 11 on Thursday... (Deadline)
-- NowThis announced NowBreaking, "a breaking news channel produced exclusively for Snapchat Discover..." (Axios)
-- "The Hollow Rage of Tom Brokaw" -- TNR's Eve Fairbanks says Brokaw's "wounded response to accusations of sexual harassment reveals a lot about who is entitled to power..." (TNR) | | Academy expels Cosby and Polanski | | Department of better late than never? Chloe Melas emails: On Thursday The Academy of Motion Pictures Arts and Sciences voted to expel Bill Cosby and Roman Polanski.
Here's the full story by Melas and Lisa Respers France...
--> Speaking of Cosby, an emailer shared this: "Esquire sent Bob Huber, who wrote the big Philly mag piece about Cosby in '06, to both Cosby trials to cover it from his unique perspective." His story is up now... | | Megan Thomas adds: The Cosby/Polanski expulsions from the Academy were overdue in the minds of many, but indicative of potentially more to come. The Academy adopted a new "Standards of Conduct" policy in December... It says "there is no place in the Academy for people who abuse their status, power or influence in a manner that violates recognized standards of decency."
You'll recall that Harvey Weinstein was booted last October... The conduct policy was put into place afterward... | | Dershowitz is helping Weinstein's legal team | | | Alan Dershowitz has been hired as a consultant to Weinstein's legal team -- specifically to help lawyer Benjamin Brafman gain "access to his client's personal and business emails" from The Weinstein Company. THR's Eriq Gardner has details here... | | Thirty minutes is the new sixty? This change to "Conan," Conan O'Brien's TBS show, actually makes a lot of sense. "A half-hour show will give me the time to do a higher percentage of the comedy in, and out, of the studio that I love and that seems to resonate in this new digital world," O'Brien said in a statement on Thursday.
Per THR, TBS is also "expanding its partnership with O'Brien's Team Coco and has unveiled plans to expand its touring and online efforts connected to the long-running late-night series..."
-- Bill Carter's reaction: "Conan is one of the late-night greats. Super news to hear he will continue and add some new pages to the ledger (and legend)..." | | During a break from the blockbusters... | | Brian Lowry emails: The major studios are taking what amounts to a collective breather between blockbusters, in the three-week gap between "Avengers: Infinity War" and summer beginning in earnest with "Deadpool 2" and "Solo," Into that breach come two films that sail in different directions: "Tully," a little gem of a film reuniting Jason Reitman and Diablo Cody, to which any harried mother will surely relate; and "Overboard," a dreary remake of a 1987 romantic comedy that doesn't help matters much by flipping the genders.
Read Lowry's full piece here... | | Megan Thomas emails: Sandra Gonzalez profiled writer Tanya Saracho, a vibrant new voice in the entertainment industry and premium cable's first Latina showrunner. Saracho's new series, "Vida," which premieres Sunday on Starz, is a story about gentrification, culture and queerness, woven together by TV's first all-Latinx writers room.
In the profile, Saracho opens up about her upbringing along the Texas border and her hopes for what "Vida" could mean for the future of entertainment... | | | Jay Z has been ordered to appear in court after ignoring SEC subpoenas, Chloe Melas and Jackie Wattles report... | | | Email your feedback and thoughts to brian.stelter@turner.com... the feedback helps us improve this newsletter every day... Thanks! | | | | | | |
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