Hey there! This is Oliver Darcy filling in for Brian Stelter. If you have any thoughts/feedback/tips, I'd love to hear from you. Find me on Twitter (yes, I'm still using it) or shoot me an email. Now, let's get to the news...
Stay shocked
We're five weeks into this self-inflicted wound. The shutdown was embarrassing on day one and it's even more embarrassing on day 35. A challenge for journalists: Don't get numb to the pain and the political posturing. This is the type of story that only gets bigger as time goes on...
Out of touch?
Brian Stelter emails: In this government shutdown, there are no real-life "winners." Furloughed federal workers lose the most, and the rest of us also lose because we're paying taxes to fund a government that isn't functioning. But I recognize that some newsrooms find it irresistible to talk about the political "winners and losers." So let me just make this observation: If President Trump and his allies thought they were "winning" this fight, politically, they wouldn't be all over TV downplaying the pain of the shutdown.
WaPo's Aaron Blake explained why in a post on Thursday. And his colleague Colby Itkowitz wrote, "Trump has surrounded himself with people who seem to struggle with the concept of financial insecurity."
The NYT's Katie Rogers put it this way: "Trump has stocked his administration with millionaires and the garden-variety wealthy" who sound out of touch -- Thursday's Wilbur Ross take-out-a-loan interview on CNBC just being the latest example.
"To many of those suffering," CNN's Jake Tapper said, "those comments, assuredly today, sounded a bit Marie Antoinette-esque. Particularly given that tomorrow the second paystub that will read 0.00. A full month of no pay."
--> "The White House is facing an intensifying backlash over seemingly out-of-touch comments from Trump's group of largely wealthy advisers," Politico's Matthew Choi wrote...
Conway and Sanders on CNN | | Stelter adds: Kellyanne Conway appeared on CNN's "Cuomo Prime Time" on Thursday night. And Sarah Sanders is booked on "New Day" Friday morning, marking a rare appearance by the press secretary on CNN. What it says to me: Key W.H. aides know that rah-rah hits on Fox News aren't cutting it. Every reputable poll is shouldering Trump with most of the blame for the shutdown. So the W.H. needs to make its case to the general public, not just Trump's base...
Meet Harper
"This is 15-month-old Harper. She was born prematurely and needs a breathing tube," CNN's Randi Kaye reported on "AC360" Thursday night. | | Her dad Chris is a data processing assistant for the IRS. He's working without pay. His wife Allie says they'll run out of money in "another month or so." So they're concerned about the electricity being turned off. That's the electricity that powers Harper's ventilator.
Chris voted for Trump. "Right now, at this point, I 100% regret voting for Trump." He blames POTUS for the shutdown. So does Allie: "I don't think he's ever been in a situation like this." She would love to meet with the president, Mitch McConnell, "anybody." She says she would tell them, "This is not about a border. This is about our people." And what would Chris tell them? "Put us back to work, so we can get paid."
FOR THE RECORD, PART ONE
-- NBC's Thursday night scoop: "Officials rejected Jared Kushner for top secret security clearance, but were overruled" (NBC)
-- About last Thursday's scoop: Nick Tabor has a comprehensive list detailing "everything we know about BuzzFeed's Michael Cohen story, and why Mueller shot it down..." (NYMag)
-- City Bureau is Chicago's "J-school of the Streets..." Check out Max Blau's profile here... (Politico Mag)
-- Eriq Gardner has the latest on Stephen Elliott's lawsuit over the infamous "Media Men" list... (THR)
-- The Drum looks at how CNN "ventured beyond TV" to "grow the world's largest news audience." One point worth highlighting: More than 60% of CNN's traffic is from mobile... (The Drum) | |
Zuck's WSJ op-ed on the "Facts About Facebook"
Mark Zuckerberg turned to the op-ed pages of WSJ on Thursday evening to push back about what he believes are misconceptions about Facebook. In his piece, titled "The Facts About Facebook," Zuckerberg wrote that "recently" he's "heard many questions" about Facebook's business model and wanted "to explain the principles of how we operate."
Zuckerberg wrote that people "consistently" tell Facebook that if they are "going to see ads, they want them to be relevant." For that to happen, he explained, Facebook needs to collect date on its users to understand their unique interests. Zuckerberg also said that "there's no question that we collect some information for ads," but said "that information is generally important for security and operating our services as well." Read his op-ed in full here....
>> Donie O'Sullivan emails: I wonder if the "people" Facebook asks these questions to know that by receiving "relevant" ads they are being categorized and targeted. I wonder if the people would be OK living with irrelevant ads if they knew?
>> Alex Howard tweets: "Dear @facebook, If you want billions of people who use your service to be able to read your CEO's op-Ed, please don't place it in a publication that puts it behind a paywall. Or is the @WSJ targeted towards your customers, businessesC [sic] instead of consumers?"
FOR THE RECORD, PART TWO
-- Peter Hamby's latest: "How the media can prevent 2020 from becoming 2016..." (VF)
-- Caroline O'Donovan and Charlie Warzel followed YouTube's recommendation algorithm "down the rabbit hole." Its conclusion? "In the end, what's clear is that YouTube's recommendation algorithm isn't a partisan monster — it's an engagement monster..." (BuzzFeed News)
-- Mark Levin appears to be, uh, quite upset with Mediaite... (Mediaite)
-- SoundCloud co-founder Eric Wahlforss announced on Thursday that he is "stepping back from day-to-day operations and into an advisory role" beginning on March 1st... (Twitter / New York Biz Journal)
-- Politico's Jake Sherman has joined NBC News and MSNBC as a contributor... (Playbook)
-- Fox News will hold a "Battle at the Border" town hall Sunday evening hosted by "Fox & Friends" co-host Brian Kilmeade. "Fox Nation" personalty Tomi Lahren will also be featured on the program... (The Hill)
Layoffs hit HuffPost a day after parent company Verizon announced cuts
| | Thursday's cuts at HuffPost were no surprise after Verizon announced cuts to its media division on Wednesday, but that didn't make them any less painful. Throughout the day, journalists tweeted about the layoffs inside the newsroom. Among the affected was Jason Cherkis, a Pulitzer finalist, and Laura Bassett, the site's senior culture and politics reporter. Bryan Maygers, head of opinion at HuffPost, tweeted that he had been let go and that the outlet's "opinion section is no more." Tom Kludt has the full story here...
>> Verizon's awful statement: "Today marks a strategic step toward better execution of our plans for growth and innovation into the future...."
>> HuffPost had to make cuts due to VZ... But the editors sought to protect distinctive coverage areas and beats…
>> Erik Wemple: HuffPost's problems "are driven by a broken business model..."
BuzzFeed News employees will learn their fate on Friday
A spokesperson for BuzzFeed News told me that affected news employees will learn about their fate on Friday. Some staffers at other divisions inside BuzzFeed, however, will have to wait until next week...
Big picture: About 1,000 jobs lost in journalism this week
The media industry has lost approximately 1,000 jobs this week as layoffs have hit BuzzFeed, Verizon's media properties, and Gannett newspapers. That was the subject of a story neither Tom Kludt or I took pleasure in writing. Each case has different characteristics, but they share some of the root causes. Mainly, media companies have struggled in recent years to grapple with declining advertising revenue that has been eaten up by tech giants like Facebook and Google.
It's a turbulent time within the digital news industry. I happened to be chatting with a digital news executive Thursday afternoon and asked whether he thought things might ever feel stable in the industry. Not exactly, the executive who is still mostly optimistic for the industry replied. He contended that the industry, like others, sees ups and downs, noting that these gloomy times are like contractions, coming and going every couple years...
#SICK Right-wing trolls celebrate
There are some critics in conservative media who are genuinely interested in having good-faith discussions about the media industry. And then there are those who aim to destroy the industry altogether. The latter group, which seems to outnumber the former, revealed their true colors these past couple of days. It's not worth dignifying any of their particular comments, but many of them have celebrated and taken delight in watching journalists lose their jobs. It's disgusting, and I only note it because I think it's worth pointing out how toxic a portion of society has become -- in part, thanks to the current president of the United States...
FOR THE RECORD, PART THREE
-- David Ng and Stephen Battaglio explore why Netflix is needling Hollywood with its "peekaboo" ratings... (LA Times)
-- Justin Freiman emails: Sports fans are paying attention to TV ads when watching at bars and other places. A new study from Nielsen of viewing fall sports out-of-home found that 92% of people responding said they paid attention to at least some of the advertising shown... (B&C)
-- How a Reuters article "highlights ethical issues with native advertising..." (CJR)
Jim Acosta to write book on Trump's war with media
 In addition to serving as CNN's chief White House correspondent, Jim Acosta has also been writing a book about Trump's war on the press. He inked the deal with HarperCollins last fall -- before the W.H. tried to ban him -- and it was announced on Thursday afternoon. "The Enemy of the People: A Dangerous Time to Tell the Truth in America" is due in stores on June 11.
"Simply put, I am writing this book to share what I've experienced covering President Trump during his first two years in office," Acosta said in a statement. "This sobering, bewildering, and sometimes frightening experience has made it absolutely clear that this is a dangerous time to tell the truth in America." Stelter has the full story here...
Solving the "Morning Joe" mystery | | If you're a regular viewer of "Morning Joe," you have probably wondered why Joe Scarborough and Mika Brzezinski are rarely on camera together. WaPo's Paul Farhi laid out the answer in a Thursday Twitter thread. He said that both Scarborough and Brzezinski are frequently in Florida, where they are both have parents they are looking after. Per Farhi, as a result, they have been hosting from a small home studio, leaving a group shot "out of the question."
"What you don't see in these shots: Joe and Mika are actually sitting a few feet away from each other. But they each address their own camera rather than turning to speak to each other (because doing that would expose the fact that they're sitting on a makeshift set)," Farhi tweeted. Mediaite has all of Farhi's tweets rounded up here...
Insider's no-tweeting experiment
Employees over at Insider -- Business Insider's sister site covering politics, sports, and general interest news -- will be banned by their employer from using Twitter next week. EIC Julie Zeveloff West emailed staffers on Thursday informing them that they will be banned from tweeting during work hours.
"You cannot have Twitter or Tweetdeck open on your computer or phone during work hours next week," West wrote in a memo, a copy of which was was tweeted by The Daily Beast's Max Tani. "We will be watching!" I'm interested to know how this experiment turns out...
A quick thought on this "never tweet" idea...
Since NYT's Farhad Manjoo wrote his "Never Tweet" column, there has been a fair amount of discussion amongst journalists on the topic. (A lot of this, of course, taking place on Twitter.) I've seen a lot of people suggest journalists should pull back from the platform, either in part or all together.
I think it's worth noting that this is much easier to do for journalists who have already established themselves and risen through the ranks of journalism. For others, particularly those just starting out in the industry, Twitter is a key networking tool and a platform that allows them to have their work seen by others who might not otherwise come across it... which likely explains Charlie Warzel's point, that the column "seems to resonate most with people with stable, prominent jobs at big outlets." | |
FOR THE RECORD, PART FOUR
By Daniella Emanuel:
-- The "Facebook Moments" mobile app, where users could privately share photos and videos, will end February 25. The company ended its support for the app due to a lack of users... (TechCrunch)
-- The Center for Media Engagement at the University of Texas "found that uncivil comments on news stories can cloud a visitor's perspective of a news site -- even if more civil comments are presented first..." (NiemanLab)
-- Newhouse associate dean Joel Kaplan: "I think we're in a scary time. We'll see consolidation and cuts, cuts, cuts, and the next phase will be closures. Disaster is looming; that's when disaster will hit..." (Adweek)
Sky News to stream what happens in its newsroom for a day
Those curious about how journalists do their jobs on a day-to-day basis might soon have a unique way of finding out. BuzzFeed's Mark Di Stefano reported Thursday on Twitter that, for a day, Sky News will stream "everything that happens" in its newsroom online from 5:30 a.m. to 10:30 p.m.
According to Stefano, 32 cameras and microphones are being installed around the newsroom for the project, which is for the outlet's 30th anniversary. Stefano added that employees were informed through an email that a "safe zone" will be in the corporate offices, for anyone needing to get away from the cameras. I reached out to Sky News a couple times on Thursday to get more information on this project, but did not hear back...
This year's RTDNF honorees
The Radio Television Digital News Foundation will host its 29th annual awards dinner honoring champions of the First Amendment on March 13 at the Marriott Marquis Washington, D.C. The First Amendment Award will go to CNN and be accepted by Jeff Zucker. Other honorees include James Goldston, David Begnaud, Shepard Smith, Dale Hansen, Jamal Khashoggi, NBC's 2018 "Road Warriors," and the journalists of the Capital Gazette...
Meet Sidney Snowbot
| | Hadas Gold emails a fun one from Davos: They've been calling it Sidney Snowbot and it welcomes guests to our studio set on the roof of the main conference hall. It was made this year, and in past years, by cameraman Martin Bourke.
Remember MoviePass?
Jill Disis emails: MoviePass -- the beleaguered subscription service that was the talk of 2018 -- is on a comeback tour. The company is promoting a recently announced three-tiered subscription plan in a new campaign rolling out this week. The biggest difference: This MoviePass is a lot humbler. "We weren't doing a lot of listening," EVP Khalid Itum told me.
None of the current plans offer the same unlimited number of movie viewings that the company's popular $10-a-month service did, but that might change. Ttum also told Variety that the company wants to reintroduce some sort of unlimited model again...
| | By Lisa Respers France:
-- "America's Got Talent" star Jackie Evancho put up a lengthy post on Facebook about the dark side of being a child star. "There were men who wanted to hurt me," she said...
-- Jay-Z and Meek Mill are part of a group of entertainment, sports and business titans who have launched a criminal justice reform organization. The group have pledged $50 million and hired CNN's Van Jones to serve as CEO as they work to reduce the number of people serving unjust parole and probation sentences...
-- The creator of "Suits" has addressed those Meghan Markle rumors that she'll return for a guest appearance during the show's final season...
"The Other Two" finds laughs in the long shadow of fame
Brian Lowry emails: "SNL" patriarch Lorne Michaels' Broadway Video is on a bit of a production tear, with three series premiering over the next two months. Up first: "The Other Two," a very funny Comedy Central show, about two older siblings whose teenage brother becomes a Justin Bieber-like pop star. It will be followed by "Miracle Workers" on TBS and "Shrill" on Hulu in February and March, respectively.
Sundance increases security for "Leaving Neverland"
Kate Pellico emails: A Sundance law enforcement source tells Deadline that "tensions are higher...than anything I've ever seen" for Friday's premiere of "Leaving Neverland," the documentary addressing allegations of sexual abuse against Michael Jackson. As a result, police have increased security "out of concerns for the potential for a protest." The two-part documentary is set to air on HBO this spring.
| | | That's a wrap. Stelter is back in full-force tomorrow! | | | |
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