Forward

EXEC SUMMARY: President Trump and James Comey are both giving TV interviews on Wednesday... Scroll down for details... Plus: Jussie Smollett's next steps, Stephen Colbert's "low bar," WaPo's newest contributor, and more...

The local news conundrum

These three stories came out on Tuesday, and they are all related:

FIRST, an excellent new Pew Research Center survey about how Americans consume local news and what they want from their news sources.

This is one of the key findings: "Even amid declining revenues and staffing, about seven-in-ten Americans think their local news outlets are doing very or somewhat well financially (71%). When it comes to their own financial support of the industry, just 14% of American adults say they have paid for local news in the past year, either through subscription, donation or membership."

So: Most people don't know about the sorry state of local news biz models, and most people say they are not subscribing. One caveat: Most Americans DO pay for local TV news, without realizing it, by paying for cable.

SECOND, Charles Bethea's dispatch from coal country. "A year ago," he wrote for The New Yorker, "the last Kentucky newspaper staffer dedicated to the environmental beat full-time left his job. He was not replaced."

Bethea said "other outlets are trying to fill the gaps," including a fantastic journalist from the Report for America project, and "strong local radio coverage." But Tom FitzGerald, the director of the Kentucky Resources Council, said "nobody is able to do the in-depth work that used to be done." Are big environmental stories being missed? Most likely -- but "it's hard to know what you don't know," FitzGerald said.

THIRD, Sara Fischer's scoop about a new venture by Google. Several of the tech giants are trying to get on the right side of news history... battling the widespread belief that their products have seriously hurt the news biz... by bankrolling all sorts of new services and initiatives. This "Local Experiments Project" by the Google News Initiative is a big move.

Google is stepping up to fund "dozens of new local news websites around the country and eventually around the world," Fischer wrote. Richard Gingras told her that Google "will be spending many millions of dollars on this overall."

Is this what the future looks like in smaller media markets?

About the Google experiment...

McClatchy is Google's first partner. The company's CEO Craig Forman said the "experiment" will provide news coverage "to three small to mid-sized U.S. communities that don't have access to significant local sources of news and information."

It's a three-year bet... "Our objective at McClatchy is to explore new models for independent local news and information," Forman said in this blog post. "Google's objective is to test the business models and operational aspects necessary to succeed in local news."

--> Columbia J-school prof Bill Grueskin tweeted: "Google is *directly funding* new local-news sites, using a newspaper chain (McClatchy) as its publishing partner and promising total editorial independence. A very different model from what we've seen in the past..."

--> His colleague Emily Bell tweeted: "This where we have been heading for a while. Would US news organizations be comfortable with the govt directly owning local news? If the answer is 'no' then this should concern them too..."

Still waiting for the Mueller report...

Right-wing commentators are increasingly acting like they've already read the Mueller report, when all they've read is Bill Barr's letter. Left-wing commentators are increasingly calling out the secrecy surrounding the report.

Meantime, some other folks are just trying to move on. The AP's big Tuesday night headline sums it up well: "Trump takes victory lap; parties start to pivot past Russia..."

"This is a huge story"

The media bashing continued on Tuesday... Particularly on Fox News... With commentators claiming that the credibility of the "media" has been ruined by Barr's letter.

Here's a counterpoint from MSNBC prez Phil Griffin, who gave this statement to VF's Joe Pompeo:

"We're going to keep doing our job, asking the tough questions, especially when it involves holding powerful people accountable. This is a huge story. The president of the United States was the subject of an investigation by our own government. That probe has produced 34 criminal indictments so far. And we know the Russians interfered with our election. Our journalists, legal analysts, and prime-time hosts are covering the biggest story in politics and national security with distinction."

Comey speaking to Holt

Per NBC: "Former FBI Director James Comey will sit down with NBC News' Lester Holt for an exclusive interview" airing on Wednesday's "NBC Nightly News." This will be Comey's first interview since Mueller submitted his report...

A rare interview with Mark Corallo

Due to all the news about Mueller, Trump and Russia right now, ABC's weekly podcast "The Investigation" has gone daily this week. Wednesday's episode will feature a rare interview with Mark Corallo, the former spokesperson for Trump's private legal team. Per ABC, he "shares his unique and unfiltered insight into inner-workings of the Trump administration during the early days of the Mueller probe, describing the 'problematic' incidents and what he calls 'reckless' behavior that he says influenced his decision to leave..."

Trump taking a victory lap on Hannity

Sean Hannity is taping an interview with POTUS on Wednesday... It will air on Wednesday night's show...

--> Stephen Colbert on "Late Show" Tuesday night: "I've gotta say, being told you've not been indicted for betraying your country is a pretty low bar for a victory lap. If I don't run anyone over in my car tomorrow, I expect to celebrate with an ice cream cake..."

The most-read piece on the WaPo website...

...Is George Conway's blistering op-ed titled "Trump is guilty — of being unfit for office." It's been No. 1 on the most-read chart all evening. "If the charge were unfitness for office," Conway wrote, "the verdict would already be in: guilty beyond a reasonable doubt."

On Twitter, WaPo blogger Helaine Olen called it "another episode of the George and Kellyanne Show..."

FOR THE RECORD, PART ONE

-- Spotify's third podcasting acquisition of the year: It is buying Parcast, "the L.A.-based company, founded in 2016 by Max Cutler, that trades in a genre-oriented, high-volume portfolio with broad titles like Serial Killers, Cults, and Unsolved Murders..." (Hot Pod)

-- The FT, citing a "person close to the negotiation," says that Spotify is paying more than $100 million in cash and earn-outs to buy Parcast... An enormous multiple on Parcast's limited revenues..." (FT)

-- "Video game giant Electronic Arts is laying off 350 people, the company said on Tuesday, marking the latest round of job cuts to hit the gaming industry in recent months. Last month Activision Blizzard laid off 800 employees... (TheWrap)

The Smollett case is over*

*Or is it?

From the very beginning, the Jussie Smollett case has been a messy collision of crime, celebrity, race, politics, and media.

Tuesday was yet another confusing day. Maybe the most confusing of all. After all the charges against Smollett were dropped -- prompting an outraged response from Chicago police officials -- his attorneys "insisted he was indeed attacked and that misinformation led to a rush to judgment against him," CNN's Ray Sanchez wrote here...

--> Sanchez has a list of six unanswered questions, including "What happens to the brothers?" and "Could the case be unsealed?" Read on...

What's next for Smollett

"Jussie will stay quiet for a while," a source close to Smollett told me on Tuesday night. The source reiterated what others in his camp have been saying all day: He just wants to get back to work.

"'Empire' hasn't been picked up for another season yet but if it does, there is no reason not to expect Jussie to be in the cast," the source said. He's also planning to get back to singing, other acting gigs and just generally "getting his life back together."

The makers of "Empire" say...

The Fox studio, now owned by Disney, and the Fox broadcast network, now owned by Fox, issued a joint statement that said "Jussie Smollett has always maintained his innocence and we are gratified on his behalf that all charges against him have been dismissed."

--> By Chloe Melas: Here are some of Hollywood's reactions to the news...

Lowry's take

Brian Lowry emails: Chris Hayes rather neatly summed up the awkward position some of those decrying Jussie Smollett's release are in, given its proximity to the "did not exonerate" line from the Barr letter based on the Mueller report.

Meanwhile, strictly from a public-relations standpoint, it doesn't feel like going out on a limb to say that anyone choosing to register an opinion on the disposition of Smollett's case is, at this point, needlessly going out on a limb...

Avenatti's first interview since the arrest

CBS says this is Michael Avenatti's "first interview since he was arrested on federal charges of fraud and extortion." He sat down with Jericka Duncan on Tuesday... A clip aired on the "Evening News..." And the interview will air Wednesday on "CBS This Morning..."

FOR THE RECORD, PART TWO

-- Vice's Broadly has created "a stock photo library with images of transgender and non-binary people, to increase the visibility of those communities..." (CJR)

-- Sinclair is "shutting down its general interest website, Circa.com," Erik Wemple reports. The company is blaming the "onerous" environment for smaller digital publishers... (Twitter)

-- One more from Wemple: "Remember when the New York Times cleared Trump of collusion before the election?" (WaPo)

YOU HEARD IT HERE FIRST...

León Krauze joining WaPo's Global Opinions

The Washington Post is continuing to build out its Global Opinions section... The newest addition is award-winning Mexican journalist León Krauze, an anchor at KMEX Univision 34 and a co-host of Slate's "Trumpcast." He will be a contributing columnist, starting in April...

Inside Javelin

This Jason Zengerle story about the Washington literary agency Javelin is a must-read. It details how Keith Urbahn and Matt Latimer set out to displace Bob Barnett "as the king of the Washington literary hill."

While "Barnett isn't exactly hurting for business," the Trump era "has spelled an end to his near-monopoly on brokering political blockbusters," Zengerle writes. Javelin has shepherded James Comey, Cliff Sims and others through the book process. "Now rarely a week goes by that Latimer and Urbahn don't hear from someone in the administration..."

--> More interestingly, the story details how things went "sideways" between Javelin and Sean Spicer and Omarosa Manigault Newman. Latimer says that in both cases, the ex-officials failed to see that "the key to getting out of Trump World, in my view, is mystery."

Former Mattis aide writing a fly-on-the-wall book

Zengerle also revealed that there's another big book on the way: retired Navy Cmdr. Guy "Bus" Snodgrass, who was comms director for Defense Secretary James Mattis, is writing a book titled "Holding the Line." It will come out this October.

The value proposition of the book is to read "what it was like inside the room with Trump and Mattis," Urbahn says...

-- Related: NBC's Courtney Kube says this will be "the first book by one of Mattis' closest advisers, and is the first look behind the scenes of Mattis' nearly two-year tenure as defense secretary..."

"Becoming" tops ten million copies

"Becoming" by Michelle Obama "is on course to become the most successful memoir in publishing history, after selling more than 10 million copies to date, the former first lady's publisher said on Tuesday," The FT's Tobias Buck reported.

Bertelsmann CEO Thomas Rabe called the book "highly profitable" for Penguin Random House. And he said "we believe that these memoirs could well become the most successful memoir ever..." Remember, as the FT noted, Penguin paid "a record $65 million in a two-book deal" with the Obamas...

Barack's book coming later this year?

I noticed this detail in the WSJ's "Becoming" story: "Markus Dohle, Penguin Random House's chief executive, said the publisher hoped to release Mr. Obama's presidential memoir this year."

FOR THE RECORD, PART THREE

-- Facebook says the Indian elections are a "top priority:" The company is "taking steps to reduce the spread of false information on its platforms ahead of India's general election..." (AP)

-- Another must-read by Ben Strauss: "A leak investigation cost Adnan Virk his ESPN career. Now he's starting over..." (WaPo)

The Correspondent is no longer launching a US newsroom 🤔

Last December I covered The Corrrespondent's bid to raise $2.5 million to launch a news operation in the United States. This model worked in the Netherlands, so the founders decided to expand, and they won a number of big celebrity backers in the US. The campaign raised $2.6 million, but now co-founder and CEO Ernst Pfauth says he's going to keep the organization in Amsterdam

"We've closed our campaign office in NYC," he wrote Monday, "and we have decided that we won't open a newsroom in the US for now." However, The Correspondent will start covering news in English at the end of September, with correspondents "all over the world." Some donors are now questioning this... Others are calling it a "bait and switch..."

Kathie Lee's farewell party

NBC threw a farewell party for Kathie Lee Gifford at the Times Square Edition Hotel on Tuesday night. Friday, April 5 is her last day on "Today..."

Spotted: Hoda Kotb, Savannah Guthrie, Al Roker, Carson Daly, Craig Melvin, Dylan Dreyer, Lester Holt, Noah Oppenheim, Meredith Vieira, Andy Cohen and more...

Star-studded send-off for "Veep"

"Veep" star Julia-Louis Dreyfus received a standing ovation when she walked on stage at the season premiere of the show's final season Tuesday night in NYC. Casey Bloys told the crowd it's "surreal" to be saying goodbye to "Veep," and called it "one of the great classics of HBO." You know that feeling you get when you've been laughing so hard your sides hurt? That's how I feel right now, after seeing two of the episodes...

--Spotted: The entire cast, from JLD to Tony Hale to Anna Chlumsky... Plus Richard Greenblatt, Jeff Zucker, Bryan Cranston, Tammy Haddad, Frank Rich, Pam Wasserstein, Matthew Ball, Michael Barbaro, Lisa Tobin, Ben Smith, Ilana Glazer, Abbi Jacobson, Stephen Colbert, Chris Licht, John Oliver, Al Franken, Lena Dunham, Wyatt Cenac, Jessica Williams, John Avlon, Mehmet Oz, Edmund Lee, Lorne Manly, Callie Schweitzer, Quentin Schaffer, and many more...

Speaking of Franken and Hale and comedy...

The Daily Beast's new pod

The Daily Beast is taking a big swing with a podcast called "The Last Laugh." EIC Noah Shachtman says it's the pod "where the biggest names in comedy get real. The first episode features Sarah Silverman, and she makes a ton of news -- on her break from Hulu, on the 'bulls--t' allegations against Al Franken, and more." And episode two features Hale...

FOR THE RECORD, PART FOUR

-- This blackout is over: Dish Network and Univision have "agreed to end a more than nine-month standoff that left the satellite TV company without its most popular Spanish-language programming and drove many customers away from the service..." (WSJ)

-- "HBO is losing another top executive:" Simon Sutton, president and chief revenue officer, "is stepping down..." (Bloomberg)

-- "After more than a decade at 20th Century Fox Television, prolific writer-producer Brad Falchuk is heading to Netflix with a massive four-year overall deal..." (Deadline)

Jordan Peele might have made a secret cameo in 'Us'

For real! Lisa Respers France has the details here...

ABC chief's "rebound" plan

ABC's new entertainment president Karey Burke gave a wide-ranging interview to THR's Lesley Goldberg... Check it out here... Some of the highlights:

-- Top goal: "To get back to No. 1 with women. To rebound from a tough fall."

-- How to grow: "We start with scripted then focus on what broadcast can do specifically, uniquely and best: live events. Since I've been here, we've bought a few big tentpole live events. Also, we're having conversations with our partners at ESPN and the news division about collaborating on big tentpole events."

-- Becoming more talent-friendly: "We are willing and supportive of doing a certain number of series every year that will be shorter orders... Never has there been more of an opportunity for actors to go back and forth between film and television. We have to make that possible."

-- A possible "Modern Family" spin-off: "We will dive into those conversations very soon."

Will Kimmel leave?

Goldberg noted in the interview that "Jimmy Kimmel is in the last year of his contract and has teased retirement."

Burke said keeping Kimmel is a "top priority," and "we are actively in conversations with Jimmy and his team about staying on for as long as he wants to... It's my hope that he'll be around for a few more years..."

And if he decides to leave, Burke said "Jimmy has pitched a contingency plan that is brilliant..."

FOR THE RECORD, PART FIVE

By Lisa Respers France:

-- Here's a recap of the many twists and turns in the Jussie Smollett investigation...

-- Justin Bieber is stepping away from music for a minute because of "deep rooted issues."

-- You oughta know... that Alanis Morissette is pregnant!

Papadopoulos is filming a reality show for... who?

Brian Lowry emails: George Papadopoulos again referenced that he and his wife are filming a "post-Mueller" docu-series about their lives during an interview Tuesday with MSNBC's Ari Melber. The Washington Post reported on the project back in December, although at that point there was no distributor for the project, and frankly, it's hard to imagine where such a show would fit...

Thanks for reading! Email me feedback anytime. Hope you had a great weekend... see you tomorrow...