Exec summary: How much can Netflix charge? Who will NYMag's new editor be? How long will Michelle Obama's book stay at No. 1? Why did Roku reverse course regarding InfoWars? Scroll down for complete coverage...
🌎 Different news planets
Sometimes I trick myself into believing that America's various echo chambers aren't THAT far apart. But then I snap back to reality.
When I flipped on MSNBC's "All In with Chris Hayes" Tuesday night, the banner read "AMERICAN PRESIDENT SUSPECTED OF BEING RUSSIAN ASSET." Hayes' guest, former CIA director John Brennan, said he agreed with David Laufman's assessment -- that President Trump is "a clear and present danger to the national security of the United States."
Laufman is a former head of the DOJ's counterintel unit. He shared his view with Rachel Maddow on Monday night. "The notion that the president of the United States would be trying to conceal the details of conversations with the leader of our principal foreign adversary was positively chilling," Laufman said.
A little later, I turned on "Hannity." I saw graphics that screamed "DEEP STATE WEB OF CORRUPTION" and "CLINTON'S FREE PASS." Sean Hannity directed his monologue to A.G. nominee William Barr, giving him a "road map of corruption" to investigate. But obviously the road map excluded all of Trump's messes. "Mr. Barr, there are no shortage of corrupt Trump haters to investigate," Hannity said. He also said Barr "must also revisit Hillary Clinton's various crimes."
On CNN around the same time, Chris Cuomo was interviewing Democrat Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse, who said "If there are crimes that [Trump] has committed, he should be indicted." Later, Cuomo broke down Barr's confirmation hearing into "good for Trump" and "bad for Trump" sections. Watch the segment here...
NYMag is about to name a new editor
Someone is about to get the once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to succeed Adam Moss at NYMag.
Moss announced his exit plans in an interview with the NYT's Michael Grynbaum. "For a certain set of media obsessives, Tuesday's announcement" was "virtually earth-shattering," VF's Joe Pompeo wrote later in the day.
Scroll down for reactions. But there's an expectation that a new editor will be named on Wednesday or Thursday -- so let's take a look at the possibilities.
Grynbaum's story says "internal candidates could include Stella Bugbee, the editor in chief of The Cut, and Jared Hohlt, a senior Moss deputy who oversees the print magazine."
Pompeo says story editor David Haskell's name "is in heavy circulation" among staffers: "Bugbee has developed a public persona to match her job, but Haskell is seen internally, sources told me, as the masthead figure most thoroughly groomed as a potential Moss successor."
Town & Country also has a list of names, citing "several current and former magazine staffers." The list includes Haskell, Bugbee, Lauren Kern, David Wallace-Wells, Ben Williams, and several outsider names: Jake Silverstein, Dodai Stewart, and Graydon Carter.
Moss' last day will be March 31, so there will be a two-and-a-half month long transition period...
Why now? | | "There are many reasons, but they pretty much boil down to this: editors ought to have term-limits," Moss wrote in a note to staff on Tuesday. "Experience is good, but after a while every institution needs a blood transfusion."
His interview with Grynbaum also contained a telling quote: "I don't wake up obsessed every morning, and I used to. And I think, actually, you kind of need to be obsessed."
--> Bugbee tweeted: "I would like more time with him, but I also feel he deserves this break and have often wondered how he could sustain his epic focus and tireless perfectionism..."
--> The news caught staffers by surprise, people familiar with the matter told Oliver Darcy...
Top reactions
-- Lynn Hirschberg told the NYT: "I'm happy for my friend, but I'm very sad for journalism, and I'm very sad especially for magazines, because I feel like it's very much the end of something. He's the best, he's the best, he's the best."
-- Jake Silverstein tweeted: "So much respect, admiration and awe for Adam Moss... He's an editor other editors have been (and will be) copying for decades."
-- Evan Smith tweeted: "He is the greatest magazine editor of my lifetime — I learned more from him than everyone else combined. And he's a sweet guy. My hero. A huge loss."
FOR THE RECORD, PART ONE
-- Former Ohio governor John Kasich joined CNN as a senior political commentator on Tuesday... (CNN)
-- And former Missouri senator Claire McCaskill joined NBC/MSNBC as a political analyst... Her first appearance was on "Morning Joe..." (MSNBC)
-- In Kasich's debut appearance, on "Cuomo Prime Time," he said he's going to be "like an umpire calling balls and strikes." Amid 2020 chatter, he said he's not looking to promote himself... (Twitter)
-- Snap "has seen an exodus of executives over the last year," and now CFO Tim Stone is leaving, just eight months after coming over from Amazon. Heather Kelly has details here... (CNN)
Iowa papers urge Steve King to resign
Iowa's biggest paper, the Des Moines Register, has had enough: "Congressman Steve King should resign."
Perhaps more surprisingly, the largest paper in King's district, the Sioux City Journal, came out with a similar editorial on Tuesday evening. "If he cares deeply about citizens of the 4th, and we believe he does, King should do what is in their best interests and step down from office," the Journal wrote...
-- On Tuesday morning the NBC News standards department told staffers to "avoid characterizing [King's] remarks as racist." Later in the day, after HuffPost's Yashar Ali published the internal email and many observers criticized NBC, the news division revised the guidance and said "it is fair to characterize King's comments as 'racist,' and point out that he has a history of racist comments..."
-- WaPo's Erik Wemple asks: "What do you call someone who uses racist language over an extended period of time? A 'person who regularly says racist things'? A 'racism user'? A 'racially charged guy'?"
Another WSJ scoop about Gannett
Univision's effort to sell Gizmodo Media is still going on. And Gannett, it turns out, is "one of a few serious bidders remaining" in the auction, the WSJ reported Tuesday. But Digital First Media -- which is pushing to take Gannett private -- is, despite its name, against Gannett doing any new digital deals right now. There's no new word from Gannett about how it's going to handle the hedge fund pressure from DFM...
BTW: Other bidders for Gizmodo Media "include Bryan Goldberg, owner of website Gawker.com, and an unnamed private-equity firm," the WSJ said...
Nerves inside Gannett's newsrooms
Tom Kludt emails with his latest story: At the Argus Leader in Sioux Falls, S.D., journalists are updating their resumes. Reporters at the Detroit Free Press are fretting about a possible merger with a cross-town rival. And for every employee at publications owned and operated by Gannett, the future just got a little bit more uncertain – and possibly even bleaker. I spoke with journalists at Gannett-owned papers to take their temperature on the prospect of DFM – best known for pillaging the Denver Post – taking over their parent company...
-- Jim Friedlich, CEO of the Lenfest Institute for Journalism, on DFM's bid: "This is the lumber company trying to buy the national park."
-- Will Bunch's latest column argues that DFM "is doing more to destroy a free press in America than Trump..."
Another outlet tries to pivot to video
"INTO, the online LGBTQ magazine owned and operated by gay dating app Grindr, terminated on Tuesday its editorial staff, effectively ending the digital outlet's 17-month run," NBC's Tim Fitzsimons and Brooke Sopelsa report.
The Advocate's Daniel Reynolds broke the news. A Grindr rep told him that INTO is making a "strategic shift" to video... | |
FOR THE RECORD, PART TWO
-- Daniel Funke's latest: "Older Americans share more fake news than young people. But they also share more facts..." (Poynter)
-- The NYT has a new role in the newsroom: "Data editor." Amanda Cox has been promoted to the position... (NYT)
-- Seth Winter, "the former head of NBC Sports ad sales, is joining Fox in a similar role..." (Variety)
-- Laura Forman is joining Dan Gallagher in covering "all things tech" for the WSJ's "Heard on the Street" column... (Talking Biz)
Michelle Obama's stunning Amazon best seller streak
I wanted to check in on "Becoming," two months after publication, because I don't think people realize just HOW big this book is. It is STILL No. 1 on Amazon's constantly updated list of best-selling books.
So I asked Amazon for some more data. Here's the key finding: "Becoming" enjoyed the longest streak at No. 1 for any book since "Fifty Shades of Grey" came out in 2012. No political tome or public figure's memoir has ranked No. 1 for as long as Obama's has.
The book's 47-streak was briefly broken in late December, but it's been back on top ever since. Since 1995, only seven other titles have had longer streaks: Four "Harry Potter" titles, the "Da Vinci Code," one Oprah's Book Club selection, and "Fifty Shades." Here's my full story...
-- REMINDER: Penguin Random House paid a reported $65 billion for the rights to both Barack and Michelle's books. Barack's memoir does not have a publication date yet...
Messina's take on 2020
Barack Obama's 2012 campaign manager Jim Messina tweeted on Tuesday about the crowded Dem field: "Why wouldn't XX candidate run for Prez? Tell me there is any scary candidate/front-runner and I'll call you a liar." Then he added: "Except Michelle. If she ran, you're all screwed. But sadly she isn't."
Gillibrand makes news on Colbert
Following up on my story yesterday about the "Colbert primary:" Kirsten Gillibrand used the "Late Show" to announce that "I am filing an exploratory committee for president of the United States" on Tuesday night. CNN's Dan Merica has the full story here... Gillibrand will be on Maddow's show Wednesday night... | |
NAACP criticizes CBS News
A single tweet from Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez is continuing to stir criticism of CBS News. AOC called out the news division over the weekend for "not including any African-American journalists on its 2020 election coverage team," Variety's Elaine Low writes. On Tuesday the NAACP said the staffing situation — illustrated by a photo of campaign embeds — "further proves the voting power and voices of Black America continue to be undervalued." And the National Association of Black Journalists said it was "very disappointed" and disturbed.
CBS said in a statement on Sunday that the lineup of campaign embeds is merely the "initial wave" of "what will be an outstanding and diverse group of journalists assigned to cover the 2020 election for CBS News."
FOR THE RECORD, PART THREE
-- "What happened to Maria?" is the subject of this William D. Cohan piece about Maria Bartiromo. He discloses high up that he's a paid CNBC contributor writing about Fox Business... (Institutional Investor)
-- Hulu and Netflix are releasing competing documentaries about the "Fyre Festival" scam this week. Scott Tobias wrote about the competition and the ethical concerns about each film... (The Ringer)
-- Nina Jankowicz writes: Mark Zuckerberg "wants a conversation about 'the future of technology in society.' But he's framing the debate badly..." (Slate)
Facebook's new $$$ for local news
I interviewed Facebook VP Campbell Brown about the company's announcement of a three-year commitment to invest $300 million in "news programs, partnerships and content." | | Facebook posted a profit of $5.13 billion in its most recent quarter. So I asked about the perception that the company is giving away crumbs to make up for damage it has done to the news biz. Brown responded by making the point that "we're not going to un-invent the internet." (True!)
"What I try to think about in my work with publishers is, 'Where do we go from here?'" she said. "There is no one-size-fits-all model. There is no single solution that's going to work with every publisher. We can be part of the solution, but we can't be the whole solution."
Takeaways from FB
-- "This is an important shift for us around local," Brown said. FB is expanding its efforts to help local and regional news outlets gain subscribers and members...
-- Some of the $$$ will go directly to the Pulitzer Center, Report for America, etc. "We want to support nonprofits that are doing great work..."
-- FB will hold a two-day summit focused on local news in March to hold further discussions with publishers and look for more ways to allocate the $300 million...
-- As for Brown's future at Facebook, which has been the subject of industry speculation, she said "I love my job." Read the rest here...
How much can Netflix charge?
Netflix will report quarterly earnings on Thursday... I'll be listening closely to the company's comments about subscription prices, in light of this news on Tuesday: "Netflix is raising prices in the United States... All three of the company's plans will increase in price by $1-$2. The standard $11 plan, for example, will increase to $13 per month." Read Jill Disis and Frank Pallotta's full story here...
-- This is "the biggest increase since Netflix started its streaming service a dozen years ago. That's going to hurt some consumers," NYT's Edmund Lee wrote...
-- But it's going to help on the street. Netflix stock closed up 6.5% on Tuesday...
-- Carl Quintanilla noted on Twitter that Netflix is "now up nearly 50% from its Christmas Eve low of $233.88..."
-- CFRA's Tuna Amobi: "The price hike could help ease concerns with a growing deficit on free cash flow..."
-- Here's a Matthew Ball Twitter thread making a "bull case for Netflix" despite stepped-up competition...
Roku scrubs InfoWars from its platform
Oliver Darcy emails: Roku on Tuesday evening removed InfoWars from its platform. The move came after outcry from users threatening to boycott the streaming service. It also followed a statement put out by the lawyer representing several Sandy Hook families suing Alex Jones which said that the families would avoid using Roku.
InfoWars had previously been available on Roku for some time, but the fringe media organization recently published an updated app, resulting in its availability on Roku gaining attention and criticism. Initially, Roku defended allowing InfoWars on its platform, telling reporters that it had not violated any rules. But the company reversed its decision in the evening. A spokesperson would only tell me Roku had heard from "concerned parties" and that both versions of the InfoWars app would be removed from the platform.
--> Worth remembering: InfoWars is still on some platforms, including Google Play and Instagram. Most tech platforms took action against the outlet last year, but not all...
WSJ stands by its story following Right-Wing Watch article
Oliver Darcy emails: Did the WSJ fall for a prank directed at right-wing fringe activist Laura Loomer? Right-Wing Watch writer Jared Holt asked that question in a piece he published on Tuesday. The story contained texts and audio of a phone call suggesting Loomer fed WSJ information derived from pranksters aiming to fool her into thinking conservatives were being censored on Twitter. Specifically, in the phone call, the prankster told Loomer CAIR had influence over Twitter executives. WSJ reported in a story earlier this month that "outside groups and individuals had privately lobbied Twitter executives to remove" Loomer from the website. The WSJ noted in particular that CAIR was one of the groups that "had complained to Twitter."
CAIR's executive director denied to Right Wing Watch that the organization had lobbied Twitter executives to remove Loomer, saying staffers only used the standard reporting mechanism built into Twitter to flag her tweets from their personal accounts. And a Twitter spokesperson told me that its senior company executives never met with CAIR. But, in a statement, a WSJ spokesperson told me that the newspaper "stands behind the entirety of the reporting" in its story. The spokesperson added that the WSJ had reporting which showed CAIR went beyond the standard procedure an average Twitter user has at his or her disposal to flag a complaint...
FOR THE RECORD, PART FOUR
-- Megan Thomas emails: These jokes are NSFW, but Sasheer Zamata took on Louis C.K. and his recent, highly criticized stand-up sets and it is searing... (Vulture)
-- "You," a dud for Lifetime, "has become Netflix's latest water-cooler hit," Rosie Knight writes... (THR)
"A Boogie Wit Da Hoodie Reaches No. 1 With a Dubious Distinction"
This Ben Sisario story documents the death of album sales due to streaming: This week's No. 1 album on the Billboard chart, "Hoodie SZN" by A Boogie Wit Da Hoodie, sold just 823 digital copies. "The sales number represents a new low on the chart," Sisario wrote. But tracks from the album were streamed 83 million times -- so the composite # was enough to hit No. 1. Incredible...
| | Remembering Carol Channing
Lisa Respers France emails: Beloved actress Carol Channing, star of Broadway's "Hello Dolly," was hailed by fellow stars after her death was announced on Tuesday. She was 97. Read on...
Alicia Keys will host the Grammys on Feb. 10
"I know what it feels like to be on that stage, and I'm going to bring that vibe and energy," Alicia Keys, a 15-time Grammy Award winner, said in a statement about her hosting gig. Here's the full story by Chloe Melas...
👻 Like father, like son 👻
"Jason Reitman has co-written a screenplay with Gil Kenan and will direct a new sequel to the original 'Ghostbusters,' an individual with knowledge of the project tells TheWrap," Umberto Gonzalez wrote Tuesday night. "Reitman's father, Ivan Reitman, who directed and produced the original 1984 film, will produce. The as-yet untitled film will go into production this summer and with release in summer 2020..." | |
FOR THE RECORD, PART FIVE
By Lisa Respers France:
-- R. Kelly has been accused of threatening one of his alleged victims...
-- Producers for "Family Guy" say they are phasing out gay jokes...
-- The Cranberries reflected and released new music on the one-year anniversary of lead singer Dolores O'Riordan's death...
Another reminder that, in the TV biz, everything old is new again...
HGTV is reviving "Extreme Makeover: Home Edition," seven years after ABC retired the show...
Last but not least...
Lisa Respers France emails: Take heart, theater music club geeks, because dreams do come true. An unknown high school student has been cast in the coveted role of Maria for Steven Spielberg's "West Side Story" remake. Read all about it here!
| | That's a wrap. Send me your feedback anytime! It always makes the letter better. See you tomorrow...
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