Exec summary: Scroll down for my story about the Stephen Colbert primary, Frank Pallotta's look at NBC's C-suite changes, Sandra Gonzalez's interview with Gretchen Carlson, and much more...
This matters.
"Nothing matters" may be the No. 1 saying of the Trump age. The news cycle is insane, so much is shocking, so little is impactful... At least that's how it sometimes feels. But it is not true. MSNBC's Ari Melber pointed this out in an excellent segment last month.
The evidence "shows many things actually do matter, especially facts and carefully exposed facts about the federal government," Melber said. He shared a long list of instances when reporting led to change in 2018.
There is a brand new example of this, and it comes from Iowa. Last week The New York Times published this story by Trip Gabriel: "Before Trump, Steve King Set the Agenda for the Wall and Anti-Immigrant Politics."
In an interview with Gabriel, the GOP congressman sympathized with white supremacists, lamenting that the term "white supremacist" is considered offensive. The story gradually gained attention over several days. Now the party is trying to break with him like never before. On Wednesday night King was removed from committee assignments. And, as CNN's story notes here, Rep. Chris Stewart "began calling for King's resignation" in an interview on Chris Cuomo...
Reaction from inside the NYT
An NYTer points out: "The quote that has led to this uproar was not even the lead King quote in the article. The focus of the piece wasn't King's embrace of white identity politics, which we assumed was well known, but about how that ideology fed so directly into Trumpism..."
So why now?
I asked CNN's SE Cupp, who called King a "cancer on the country" last Friday. She has been clear: King has to go. I asked her, why was this time different? King's prejudices have been clear for years, why did it break through now?
She texted me: "The generous answer — I think it was easier for some to compartmentalize King as merely an outlier, a kook, or a fringe right-winger in years past. But since then his views have been increasingly amplified at home and abroad — most disturbingly by President of the United States, whose rank apologism for white-nationalist thinking makes King's brazenness feel so much more urgent and alarming. Another, more cynical, explanation is that it takes less courage for Republican lawmakers to condemn King than it apparently would to condemn Trump. They can *look* brave and principled without running afoul the consequences of actually calling out the president for similar language."
The cable news factor
Last Friday the liberal group Media Matters came out with this finding: "Rep. Rashida Tlaib cursing got 5 times more coverage on cable news than Rep. Steve King embracing white supremacy."
The headline was technically accurate -- assessing 24 hours worth of coverage of each story -- but I felt that it was incomplete. Tlaib's profane call for impeachment was on camera and it happened as the Dems were taking control of the House. It ignited instantly. King's quotes to the NYT caught fire slowly but had much more staying power. Over the weekend, CNN and MSNBC were all over the story.
I asked Angelo Carusone, the president of Media Matters, if he had re-run the #'s, and here's what he told me on Monday night: "CNN and MSNBC's coverage of Steve King's racism has steadily increased in recent days. With additional developments, it still took a few days for King coverage to reach parity with the first 24 hours of Tliab coverage. This spotlights need for self-reflection on priorities. On the other hand, Fox News needs some serious soul-searching. Even after all these days, Fox News has covered King's racism for only a bit more than 15 minutes total. That's less than one-third the attention they gave to Tliab's comments in just the first 24 hours. Then again, they don't have much room, given that the substance of King's isn't that different than what is said during Fox News primetime."
What will Trump say?
On Monday, POTUS said he wasn't familiar with King's most recent comments. Obviously that claim strains credulity. But he's going to be asked about King again. What will he say?
>> Via NBC's Chris Donovan, here's a flashback to 2015, after Trump was introduced by Steve King: "Isn't he a great guy? He doesn't get a fair press. He doesn't get it, it's just not fair. And I have to tell you, I'm here, and very strongly here, because I have great respect for Steve King."
Welcome to the Colbert primary | | Iowa. New Hampshire. Donor enclaves on the coasts. And... the Ed Sullivan Theater? Yes, the home of Stephen Colbert's "Late Show" is proving to be a key stop for Democrats who are positioning themselves for 2020 presidential bids.
Bernie Sanders and Julián Castro were on last month. Kamala Harris had a double-length interview last week. And Kirsten Gillibrand is expected to share some news about her presidential plans on Tuesday's show. It will be her second appearance in just over two months.
So I wrote this story about the "Colbert primary," noting that his interviews with politicians have not been a drag on the show's ratings. If anything, they've been a boon.
He's the Maddow of late-night
A Colbert booking is kind of like a Rachel Maddow booking. Aides for several of the most-talked-about contenders told me that they view Colbert as a crucial stop on the presidential roadshow. "We strategize about Stephen a lot," a comms aide for a yet-to-be-declared candidate said.
Here's my story, including the full list of Dem bookings since last summer... And the caveat that the comedy route works better for some politicians than for others...
FOR THE RECORD, PART ONE
-- Margaret Sullivan's latest: "Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez is freaking out the news media. And it's working for her..." (WaPo)
-- Joe Pompeo looks at how WaPo is covering the divorce of the paper's owner Jeff Bezos... "One Post journalist told me that some reporters and editors are indeed having conversations about how to handle it and what angle would be appropriate..." (WaPo)
-- In a bonus Mediator column, Jim Rutenberg explains why Trump is still playing nice with David Pecker and the National Enquirer... (NYT)
How will Gannett respond?
Digital First Media formally proposed "to buy Gannett for $12 a share in cash" on Monday morning, Jill Disis reports here.
So what will Gannett do? The company's outgoing CEO Bob Dickey told staffers that "we are business as usual" while the offer is reviewed. But staffers are obviously on edge. Niraj Warikoo, staff writer for the Gannett-owned Detroit Free Press tweeted: "If DFM takes over Gannett, it will basically be the end of the American newspaper industry."
>> Here is Ken Doctor's latest on possible paths forward...
>> Dan Kennedy: "Let's just hope the Gannett board decides to fight rather than give in..."
What makes NBCU's streaming strategy different
Frank Pallotta emails: NBCUniversal restructured its exec ranks on Monday with an eye toward launching a new streaming service in early 2020. The company is stacked with bingeable content, everything from hit films like "Jurassic World" to hit TV shows like "The Office." | | So what's the plan? An ad-supported version will be free to those who already have a cable subscription. An ad-free option will come with a fee. And those without cable TV will be able to purchase an à la carte subscription.
The most interesting point from NBCU's news…
More from Frank: NBCU said that it will continue "to license content to other studios and platforms, while retaining rights to certain titles for its new service." In other words, "The Office" will likely still be available on Netflix while also being on NBCU's new service. For me, that's the most interesting point of this announcement. It goes in the opposite direction of Disney, which isn't just creating a new service but taking its content with it, and shows that NBCU is not placing all of its bets on red or black.
If it wants, NBCU can eventually pull its popular content and hurt its competitors or it can continue to make a ton of money by licensing its content. It has options! Read on...
Monday's exec moves
Bonnie Hammer will run NBC's direct-to-consumer and digital enterprises. NBC Sports chair Mark Lazarus will now oversee broadcast, cable, and news too. Jeff Shell, chairman of the Universal Filmed Entertainment Group, will gain oversight of NBC Entertainment.
Brian Lowry emails: Universal is just the latest studio to undergo a reorganization to evolve to meet the demands of the new streaming universe, following changes at WarnerMedia, CBS/Showtime and Disney. It's a sign that veteran TV (mostly) executives are the ones being tasked with morphing their old medium to adapt to survive this rather uncertain new world...
How this affects NBC News
NBC News and MSNBC chairman Andy Lack previously reported directly to CEO Steve Burke. Now he will report to Mark Lazarus, who reports to Burke.
"We are making the company easier to manage," Burke told THR. He had 18 direct reports, and now he'll have 12. Thinking ahead? "We're giving two people in Jeff Shell and Mark Lazarus more responsibility, and they're two people who have earned more responsibility..."
Burke speaks about Kelly, Lack and Oppenheim
Three keys quotes in Variety's interview with Burke:
-- On the Megyn Kelly debacle: "News organizations like ours should take risks." It was ultimately his call to hire her. "Megyn Kelly was a huge talent. She was at the wrong time of day (on NBC). In hindsight we shouldn't have done it. But it wasn't Andy going off rogue."
-- On the "Today" show: "Matt Lauer was a grenade that we didn't know was a grenade. I was here seven years and I thought Matt Lauer was the greatest interviewer in news."
-- On Lack and NBC News prez Noah Oppenheim: "I still have full faith in" Lack, "and Noah is extraordinary. He's going to end up running NBC News after Andy retires. He's really good." | |
FOR THE RECORD, PART TWO
-- There are doubts, lots of doubts, about Jeffrey Katzenberg's Quibi venture, Beejoli Shah reports... (The Information)
-- "Matthew Rhys is jumping from Soviet spycraft in The Americans to an iconic All-American role: Perry Mason. The actor has signed on to play the famed fictional defense attorney in HBO's long-in-the-works limited series..." (Vulture)
-- Two former Weekly Standard staffers, Mike Warren and Holmes Lybrand, are joining CNN... (Twitter)
-- WordPress has launched a Google-backed platform for "small- and medium-sized news organizations..." (WordPress)
-- Have you seen this yet? "Gillette's new ad isn't about shaving. It's about men in the age of #metoo," Heather Kelly writes... (CNN) | |
Barr testifies on Tuesday
The Senate hearing for Trump's nominee for attorney general, Bill Barr, will begin at 9:30 a.m. ET. Expect wall to wall coverage on cable...
I rest my case about Trump's Oval Office address...
Quinnipiac pollsters asked, "Did Trump's recent televised address to the nation change your mind about building a wall along the border with Mexico, or not?" Only 2% of respondents said yes...
Inside CNN.com
CNN Digital Worldwide SVP and editor in chief and all around great human being Meredith Artley is Kara Swisher's guest on "Recode Decode" this week. The whole conversation is worth streaming/reading, but I wanted to pull out this point about what audiences want/need from newsrooms right now.
At CNN, "our DNA is breaking news. If the world's falling apart, this is where you go to let people know what's going on," Artley said. But "we're now seeing this huge thirst from audiences for context and analysis."
This too: "People want to know CNN's take on things. If you are a consumer of news, at some point you will be, I want to know what CNN has to say on it..."
Kasich's cable news gig?
On Monday, as John Kasich's term as Ohio governor came to an end, UTA* announced that he had joined the agency as a client. UTA said it would "help him navigate the next phase of his public and private life."
And that's going to include a TV role. CNBC's Brian Schwartz reported that Kasich, one of the most prominent critics of Trump within the GOP, "has signaled to close advisors and some donors that he is looking to sign with either CNN or MSNBC," with an announcement as soon as Tuesday...
*: Occasional discourse: I'm also represented by UTA.
He's not returning to Fox...
This says something about the way the world has changed, eh? Kasich hosted a weekend show called "Heartland" on Fox News for many years. But Fox has changed and so has he. Kasich has "ruled out joining Fox News Channel," the CNBC report said.
Kasich has NOT ruled out a 2020 run against Trump. So any network deal may be relatively short-term...
FOR THE RECORD, PART THREE
-- Nicole LaPorte's latest: "Inside Netflix's all-out blitz to win a Best Picture Oscar for Roma..." (Fast Company)
-- The Daily Mail hears that Mario Lopez is taking over a "revamped edition of Access Hollywood" in the fall... (Daily Mail)
Noah Kotch departs Daily Mail
Oliver Darcy emails: Noah Kotch is out as editor in chief of the Daily Mail. Page Six reported that Kotch had "walked out" on Friday after only a half a year on the job. The gossip column quoted an "insider" who said Kotch "wasn't gelling with the other editors."
A Daily Mail spokesperson confirmed Kotch had departed in a short statement to me, saying he had "left the company to pursue other opportunities." Kotch has bounced around the industry in the last several years, holding senior positions at various companies. Prior to the Daily Mail, he was the editor in chief of Fox's website. And prior to that he worked as an executive at Rupert Murdoch's now-defunct Heat Street, as well as Vocativ...
Gretchen Carlson's "Breaking the Silence" documentary | | Megan Thomas emails: Check out Sandra Gonzalez's interview with Gretchen Carlson about her Lifetime documentary on workplace harassment, which premiered Monday night. She turned the spotlight on harassment victims outside of the media industry...
Fifteen years of change
In last night's newsletter, I mentioned my column marking 15 years since the creation of my former blog TVNewser.
Adweek also produced a list of the "30 most impactful TV newsers" of the last 15 years, and I wanted to share a few notable quotes from the interviews:
-- CNN boss Jeff Zucker on his toughest professional challenge of the past 15 years: "Enduring constant accusations from the leader of the free world that the work my colleagues at CNN and across the news media do is fake news."
-- What Rachel Maddow knows about the business that she didn't in 2004: "You can wear the same darn thing on TV every single night. No one really cares."
-- What Hoda Kotb knows: "That all your little mistakes don't really matter that much. I thought every time I tripped, which was often, that it was fatal. I remember thinking, How will I ever recover? Also, when you're younger in your career, you think about deadlines and scoops. When you get older in your career, you realize you are telling stories about people. I have learned that it's about the people and not about the process."
-- Sean Hannity: "The toughest challenge is sustaining that daily momentum and not allowing yourself to get distracted. I never get too high or too low."
| | Three new TV series about your fears
Brian Lowry emails: This week brings a wave of new shows in a sci-fi vein, each tethered to existing intellectual property about (in order) vampires, aliens and assassins (oh my): "The Passage," on Fox, is the best of the bunch (based on a series of books), while CW's "Roswell, New Mexico" revives the WB series that premiered 20 years ago, and Syfy's "Deadly Class" is derived from a graphic novel. Read about all three here...
How much "Star Trek" is too much?
Brian Lowry emails: From the same bucket, CBS All Access continues to test just how much of an appetite there is for "Star Trek" in the streaming space, confirming development of a fourth show featuring that brand name, this one starring "Crazy Rich Asians'" Michelle Yeoh and spun off from "Star Trek: Discovery," which was used to help launch the service...
FOR THE RECORD, PART FOUR
By Lisa Respers France:
 -- Meet the egg that broke Kylie Jenner's Instagram record...
-- Miley Cyrus paid sweet birthday tribute to hubby Liam Hemsworth...
-- French Montana walked back R. Kelly remarks that seemed to support him...
"Kareem Abdul-Jabbar: Why the 'Green Book' Controversies Don't Matter"
Brian Lowry emails: Amid the questions about "Green Book's" award hopes linked to criticisms of the movie — both regarding its accuracy and past behavior by its creative team — the film picked up a high-profile defender in Kareem Abdul-Jabbar. The money line in Abdul-Jabbar's THR column goes to the broader issue of fidelity to the record in fact-based films: "Unless they're making a documentary, filmmakers are history's interpreters, not its chroniclers." I'd only add a slight addendum, noting that it's fine to take creative liberties as long as the actual story doesn't fundamentally undermine what the dramatic portrayal depicts...
| | How to catch up on Sunday's show
If you missed it, listen to the podcast via Apple Podcasts, TuneIn, Stitcher, or your favorite podcast app... Watch the video clips on CNN.com... Or watch the entire episode through CNNgo or VOD...
A few of the highlights
-- Joanne Lipman discussed Zirinsky's promotion, the "glass cliff" for women in the news business, and potential solutions. Watch here...
-- Indira Lakshmanan and Mark Lukasiewicz, above, discussed what the broadcast networks should do the next time Trump requests air time...
-- Katie Rogers shared her reporting about Bill Shine's role as W.H. comms chief...
-- Oliver Darcy and I agreed that there's no obvious network home for Megyn Kelly, now that she has left NBC...
How much longer will we have to wait?
Here's what I said at the start of Sunday's "Reliable Sources:"
The news is not just a "rough draft of history." It's a woefully incomplete rough draft -- there are gaping holes in the story. Sometimes the most important facts, the single most important details, are not filled in until years later. Sometimes the secrets are buried so deep. Other times, the truth is staring us all right in the face, but it's so uncomfortable that we try to look away.
So what will the final draft say about President Trump? What does Robert Mueller know that we don't? And how much longer will we all have to wait for answers?
| | That's a wrap. Send me your feedback anytime! It always makes the letter better. See you tomorrow...
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