EXEC SUMMARY: Oliver Darcy here, in for Brian Stelter. Scroll down for BuzzFeed's letter to DHS, the latest on NYT's botched Brett Kavanaugh essay, Randall Stephenson's defense of AT&T's big media deals, Facebook's judicial arm, and more. But first...
Circus on Capitol Hill | | It was a circus on Capitol Hill Tuesday as Corey Lewandowski testified before the House Judiciary Committee in its first official impeachment-related hearing. The roughly six-hour show, was televised throughout the day on the cable news networks. As Marshall Cohen reported for CNN, "Democrats hoped the televised hearing would refocus public attention on former special counsel Robert Mueller's investigation, which revealed evidence that Trump obstructed justice during his first year in office."
But if Democrats were hoping hours of televised testimony from Lewandowski would assist their case, they were perhaps mistaken. The hearing quickly went off the rails as Lewandowski stonewalled. It was light on substance and heavy on snarky comments and contentious moments. In fact, as Cohen reported, the hearing "yielded so little information, that the panel's Democratic chairman, Rep. Jerry Nadler, threatened to hold Lewandowski in contempt."
Lewandowski says he has "no obligation to be honest with media"
One notable moment was Lewandowski's concession that he feels no obligation to be honest with the media. House Judiciary counsel Barry Berke played a February interview Lewandowski did with MSNBC host Ari Melber. What Lewandowski said in the interview differed from what he told Mueller's investigators.
"I have no obligation to be honest with the media," Lewandowski said in response. Lewandowski reiterated that claim again, saying he was not under obligation to "be honest" with the press "because they're just as dishonest as anybody else." Reporters, if you haven't already, take note...
Melber calls it a "striking" moment
On his show, Ari Melber responded to Lewandowski's comments. He summarized what happened at the hearing and then played a clip of Lewandowski. "That is what it sounds like when somebody admits under oath when they were lying," Melber said. He added, "[It's] really striking to see under oath someone admit to their lying and then explain the reason is their disrespect...for the press."
MacCallum gives Lewandowski a pass
This was really stunning. As flagged by progressive watchdog Media Matters, Fox anchor Martha MacCallum interviewed Lewandowski on Tuesday evening, and somehow DID NOT ask him about his admission he feels no obligation to be honest to the press. Unbelievable...
Burnett: Did this "hurt" cause of Democrats?
On her show, Erin Burnett spoke to Eric Swalwell, who questioned Lewandowski on Tuesday, about the hearing. Burnett said up front, "I have to say there were humorous moments, but then I think as an American citizen it was pretty depressing."
Swalwell said the aim was to bring the Muller report "to life." Burnett responded, "I understand the point that you make as Democrats and you say people haven't read it and you want to bring it to life, but things got muddled today and it didn't come to life." Burnett wondered whether the chaos at the hearings could have "hurt" the cause of Democrats. Swalwell conceded that it was an "imperfect proceeding."
Swin sums it up
I thought this tweet from Asawin Suebsaeng distilled things nicely. "Objectively speaking Corey Lewandowski is the biggest liar I've ever interacted with in Trumpworld, & that is saying something," Suebsaeng wrote. "I'm extremely confident a lot of others, including prominent Trump folks, would agree but yes fine call him to testify to curry Trump's favor on live tv..."
FOR THE RECORD, PART ONE
-- Congrats to Michael Barbaro and team on this milestone: "The Daily" has hit 1 billion downloads. NYT says, "On any given morning, the show is now downloaded two million times..." (NYT)
-- How do reporters who cover the Information Wars "outsmart the internet trolls"? Sara Fischer talked to Jane Lytvynenko, Ben Collins, Will Sommer, and Donie O'Sullivan to find out... (Axios)
-- NYT said Tuesday it is closing its Spanish-language platform, NYT en Español... (The Hill)
-- This is the story that has been all over my Twitter feed. BuzzFeed's Scaachi Koul profiles Lauren Duca... (BuzzFeed)
-- Update on Alex Trebek: The "Jeopardy!" host says he has restarted chemotherapy after his "numbers went sky high..." (CNN)
-- A real (and true) headline: "Sean Spicer Begs Americans to 'Stand for Christ' By Helping Him Win Dancing With the Stars..." (Mediaite)
EXCLUSIVE
DHS inexplicably disinvites BuzzFeed reporter from media tour of border
The Department of Homeland Security inexplicably disinvited a BuzzFeed reporter from a media tour of the southern border this week, according to an email the organization's news director sent the agency protesting the decision. The email, which I obtained, was written by BuzzFeed news director Tom Namako to DHS spokesperson Andrew Meehan. Namako wrote that he wanted to "protest the treatment of our reporter Hamed Aleaziz, one of the most authoritative, knowledgeable, and fairest immigration reporters in the country, by your agency."
Namako said that Aleaziz was invited on the media tour with Sec. Kevin McAleenan and that DHS even requested his personal information for "security clearance purposes." But, Namako wrote, on Monday Aleaziz was "notified that he would be excluded from the tour." Namako added, "We are perplexed and disappointed by your apparent decision to specifically target Hamed, who has always sought your agency's perspective in his coverage. His exclusion serves only to prevent our audience and the American public from understanding the real situation at the border."
Namako said that when Meehan visited BuzzFeed's offices in February, he told him that he viewed Aleaziz as a "fair reporter" and "repeatedly asked that he come see the border with US immigration authorities." Namako concluded, "As you suggested, Hamed has now sought to take you up on your offer. I am requesting you keep to your word."
>> Of note: Aleaziz has broken a number of stories on his beat, most recently news in August that the DOJ sent immigration judges a link to a white nationalist blog post as part of a news briefing...
No comment from the agency
I reached out several times by email to Meehan and the general DHS press address, but those messages were also not returned. Finally, I called Meehan. He told me he was heading to dinner, but that someone from the press operation would be in touch with me shortly. Hours later, I hadn't heard back...
Kavanaugh authors blame NYT editing process for omission of key detail
| | Robin Pogrebin and Kate Kelly continued the media tour for their new book on Brett Kavanaugh on Tuesday -- and, of course, the big topic was their botched essay that appeared over the weekend in NYT's Sunday Review. Appearing on "New Day," the authors said it was an "oversight" by the paper to have omitted a key detail in their story: The woman at the center of the allegations against Kavanaugh, declined to be interviewed. Moreover, her friends said she did not recall the incident.
>> Here's exactly what Pogrebin said: "In the editing process, I think there was some debate about naming her because the Times has a history of not necessarily naming a victim, and so, in the course of that reporting, I think a judgment was made to omit her name and that sentence also included the fact that she didn't remember it. Upon realizing that omission, that oversight, the Times decided to put it back into the story and to issue an apology for having left it out in the first place."
Pogrebin admits to authoring tweet
Pogrebin was asked by Alisyn Camerota about a Politico report that she authored the now-deleted NYT tweet promoting the essay. Pogrebin side-stepped the question on "New Day," but later on "The View" she conceded she did author it. "It was a misworded tweet," she said, "but what happens... is the reporters are asked to draft tweets and we're also asked to draft headlines. They don't always get used, sent out, they often don't."
Trump continues to attack the NYT
Trump (predictably) continued to use the botched story to attack the NYT on Tuesday. In one tweet, he claimed the paper has been "losing a lot of money." That's not true. NYT made $37.9 million in profit in the second quarter...
FOR THE RECORD, PART TWO
-- Bloomberg has promoted one of the reporters who worked on the hotly-contested "Big Hack" story... (WaPo)
-- A popular "Vets for Trump" page on Facebook was hijacked by a Macedonian businessman in March its operators said, leaving them "to watch helplessly as their page began operating under foreign control..." (WaPo)
-- Headline of the day: "BY GEORGE, SCHWEITZER'S LEAVING CBS." After a "quarter-century as the head of CBS's marketing efforts," George Schweitzer is stepping down at "the end of the 2019-20 broadcast season" and handing off Amazon Studios head of marketing to Mike Benson, Anthony Crupi reports... (AdAge)
-- Former Fox anchor Jane Skinner returned to the network Tuesday and reunited with Shep Smith to discuss her new NFL documentary... (Fox)
-- Al Roker has penned a piece in which he argues, "Climate change is not ignorable. It's time to stop debating what is staring us all in our faces..." (NBC News)
Randall Stephenson defends big media deals | | Paul R. La Monica emails: Randall Stephenson has been criticized by some investors for spending too much on media assets. AT&T bet big on satellite TV firm DirecTV and followed that up with the purchase of Time Warner, the company now known as WarnerMedia that is the owner of CNN, HBO and the Warner Bros. studio.
Speaking at the Goldman Sachs Communacopia conference Tuesday, Stephenson shot back at skeptics, including activist shareholder Elliott Management, the hedge fund that just bought a $3.2 billion stake in AT&T and hopes to convince the company to spin off or sell DirecTV, a Mexican wireless business and some other assets. Stephenson said he doesn't think those moves make sense or are necessary. "We believe people are going to spend more and more of their day watching premium content and we expect people will also demand more bandwidth," Stephenson said.
Stephenson voices support for Stankey
La Monica adds: Stephenson also lavished effusive praise on WarnerMedia chief John Stankey, who was recently promoted to COO of all of AT&T, making him Stephenson's likely successor. Stephenson said Stankey is an ideal candidate since he has experience running the traditional telecom assets that are still the bread and butter business for Ma Bell. Stephenson also said it's premature for people to start speculating about when he will step down. When he was asked if Stankey was the heir apparent, he quickly shot back that "The board hasn't informed me I'm retiring yet."
Vows to pay down debt
One more note from La Monica: Stephenson did say that there was one area where he agreed with Elliott Management. The company needs to get its debt level down to a more manageable level. But Stephenson said that AT&T has already taken many steps to reduce its leverage ratios and the company is "highly incentivized" to drive it down further...
NBC announces Peacock
NBCUniversal announced on Tuesday that its forthcoming streaming service will be called Peacock. The service will debut in April 2020. Its library will feature more than 15,000 hours of content, including shows like "The Office" and "Parks and Recreation." Peacock will also include blockbuster Universal movies such as the "Fast & Furious" series. All that said, it's unclear how much the service will cost. Read Frank Pallotta's full story here...
Billion for "Big Bang?"
"In what is easily a record-setting five-year deal, HBO Max has secured the exclusive domestic streaming rights to 'The Big Bang Theory,'" THR's Lesley Goldberg reported Tuesday. The intra-WarnerMedia deal also means that TBS will continue carrying "Big Bang" repeats through 2028. "Sources estimate that the deal, including both the streaming end and syndication extension, is worth billions of dollars," Goldberg said.
Variety's story has some different math: "Industry sources said WarnerMedia committed about $600 million over five years for 'Big Bang' rights across HBO Max and TBS." Deadline has the $600 million figure as well...
Dish chair: Streaming wars "going to be a bit of a bloodbath for a while"
Dish Network chair Charlie Ergen, who also spoke at Communacopia, said he believes the streaming video wars are "going to be a bit of a bloodbath for a while." Per THR's Alex Weprin, Ergen described the landscape like this: "The game now [for entertainment companies] is to load up your channels and get as much shelf space as you can, while you undercut them [distributors] with your direct-to-consumer offering."
FOR THE RECORD, PART THREE
-- About "Axios Plus:" The company is "gearing up for the January launch of a content management service aimed at big companies as it looks to reduce its reliance on advertising," Lucia Moses reports... (Business Insider)
-- The Atlantic announced a new slate of speakers for its festival next week, including Laurene Powell Jobs interviewing Bob Iger... (The Atlantic)
-- Glamour editor -- and former CNN'er -- Samantha Barry is launching a new podcast called "She Makes Money Moves..." (Radio Ink)
-- BuzzFeed is searching for a president. The position has been vacant since 2017... (Axios)
-- Kerry Flynn emails: G/O Media named Larry Mlawski its new head of programmatic and ad operations. Mlawski most recently ran North American revenue operations for Trusted Media Brands and prior to that worked at LinkedIn... | |
Facebook's judicial arm is coming soon
Get ready for Facebook's version of a judicial branch. The social media company plans to soon announce the first members of a new independent oversight board aimed at holding the platform's moderators to account. "The charter gives the board power to override Facebook's decisions in specific content cases, and to develop policies to guide Facebook in the future," Brian Fung reported for CNN Business. The board will be comprised of as many as 40 people...
Updates hate and extremism policies
Facebook on Tuesday announced that it had updated its policies on hate and extremism. One of the new updates was the company announcing its own defeinition of terrorism. That said, as ABC's Catherine Thorbecke pointed out, privacy experts say "questions remain as to whether these steps will have a major impact in stopping the spread of hate speech."
WaPo unveils Zeus Prime
WaPo unveiled on Tuesday a product that it hopes will help level the playing field between publishers and Big Tech. The product allows for companies to purchase ads in real-time. Called Zeus Prime, the interface was developed with digital ad company Polar. WaPo said it planned to "create a national ad network powered by a full stack revenue performance platform."
How will ads be vetted?
When I saw this news, I was curious as to how the ads would be vetted since it promises real-time deployment. I asked WaPo, and the paper's VP of commercial technology and development Jarrod Dicker got back to me.
Dicker explained, "At launch, the process of granting access and vetting is manual. Zeus Prime will be made available by invitation only to local advertisers on The Washington Post. Each advertiser must be approved by The Post's Commercial group, as Zeus Prime is a closed network. Once access is granted, advertisers can buy on their own without having to engage with The Post, and we will continue to monitor that they are adhering to our ad policy or terms of service."
FOR THE RECORD, PART FOUR
-- "Snap is in early talks with media companies about powering a dedicated news section inside the Snapchat app," Alex Heath and Jessica Toonkel report. The "planned news section represents a do-over of sorts" for Snap's "editors to present real-time, breaking news from a handful of trusted news partners..." (The Information)
-- Twitch has acquired the gaming database website IGDB... (TechCrunch)
-- Attention audiophiles: Amazon is now offering millions of songs in high-quality audio for $15 a month... (CNN Business)
-- Saagar Engeti interviewed Josh Hawley on his push to regulate Big Tech... (The Hill)
Remembering Cokie Roberts
| | "Our longtime colleague and friend Cokie Roberts has passed away at the age of 75," David Muir reported on ABC's "World News Tonight" Tuesday evening. ABC announced Roberts' death in a special report around 10:30am ET. Roberts' family said the cause of death was "complications from breast cancer."
"She will be dearly missed"
Kerry Flynn emails: Roberts worked for both NPR and ABC for decades. "She will be dearly missed," ABC News president James Goldston wrote in a memo to colleagues. "Cokie's kindness, generosity, sharp intellect and thoughtful take on the big issues of the day made ABC a better place and all of us better journalists." NPR president and CEO Jarl Mohn echoed that sentiment, writing, "Cokie was one of NPR's 'founding mothers,' since 1978 her signature voice and commentary have accompanied public radio listeners, provided context for news and been a familiar presence in their homes."
Trump: "She never treated me nicely"
Brian Stelter emails: ABC, NBC, CBS, PBS, CNN, and Fox all paid tribute to Roberts during their nightly newscasts. Rival networks expressed condolences. So, too, did former presidents George W. Bush and Barack Obama. This made me think about the mutual respect that usually exists regardless of party or affiliation -- but is too often missing from today's politics.
I hate to even bring it up, but that's what brings me to Trump's comments. While watching ABC's "World News Tonight" coverage, I noticed that the network left Trump out altogether, choosing to include Bush, Obama and Nancy Pelosi's condolences instead. I understand why they did that -- I mean, Trump reacted to Roberts' death by saying "I never met her" and "she never treated me nicely." Only then did he say, "But I would like to wish her family well. She was a professional and I respect professionals. I respect you guys a lot, you people a lot. She was a real professional." Then he circled back to his original point: "She ever treated me well, but I certainly respect her as a professional."
Other notable quotes
>> Matthew Dowd: "I will miss Cokie. ABC will miss her. And the world will now have to mourn the gentle movement of her light from amongst us to the heavens above. I do hope that she understood while she was here how many of us loved her."
>> Nina Totenberg on PBS: "You know, one of my colleagues said to me today that he thought it was fitting that she died on Constitution Day. And I think that Cokie really saw journalism as a calling -- to carry out the values of our system of government and our Constitution... I think that is what drove her..."
>> Steve Inskeep: "A great many women have been telling stories today of Cokie Roberts' help and encouragement over decades. She was a pioneer who tugged others down the trail. She was also, simply, a leader among journalists. And there are men at NPR who cried today..."
>> Peter Baker: "RIP Cokie Roberts, a stellar journalist, a class act and an inspiration to generations of reporters who followed. She revered public service even as she covered the ins and outs of how it worked with a clear eye. Can't believe she's gone." | |
RIP Sander Vanocur
He was "the last surviving journalist who questioned Nixon and Kennedy in the first televised presidential debate," the NYT's Douglas Martin reported: "Sander Vanocur, the television newsman who became familiar to American viewers as a prominent White House correspondent during the Kennedy administration and as a tough questioner in presidential debates, died on Monday night in a hospice facility in Santa Barbara, Calif. He was 91."
I love this quote that Martin pulled out from one of Vanocur's speeches -- a 2004 address at Stanford -- in which he said, "I'm a strong advocate of freedom of the press, as long as they have something to say."
>> Chuck Todd also took time out of his program to remember Vanocur's storied career in broadcast news... | | Shane Gillis and "SNL" fallout
NBC's decision to fire Shane Gillis from "SNL" for racist remarks in his past has created a split in the comedy community... Marianne Garvey recaps the reactions here...
>> Brian Lowry emails: In the wake of the aborted hiring of Gillis, Variety's Brian Steinberg recaps the various headaches that social media — and the backlash that often goes with it — is creating for the latenight comedy shows, with access to old material and show clips making it easier to circulate material that's deemed offensive...
"Thrones" looks poised to torch more Emmy records
Brian Lowry emails: Remember last summer, when social media was abuzz with griping about "Game of Thrones" final season? Well, that likely won't prevent the HBO drama — already the holder of several Emmy records — from torching a few more, after its major haul at the Creative Arts Emmys. That's especially if TV Academy voters are feeling nostalgic about the finish of that show.
FOR THE RECORD, PART FIVE
By Lisa Respers France:
-- On Tuesday, Taylor Swift announced her 2020 tour, but it only has 2 US stops...
-- Jennifer Lawrence and her fiancé spark marriage speculation after they were spotted at City Hall in New York City...
-- Paul Hogan says he was great as "Crocodile Dundee" but adds that as a husband not so much...
Network for video games announced
Shannon Liao emails: Video game industry veterans raised $17 million to launch their own media company, the Video Game Entertainment and News Network, by mid-2020. Ariel Horn and Ben Kusin, co-CEOs of the new venture, told CNN Business that they're going after millennials and Gen-Z generations. "We want to be available anywhere to people, however they're consuming content," said Kusin.
"Dancing" ratings
Lowry emails: "Dancing With the Stars" ratings were roughly even with last year's premiere — up slightly in total viewers, to 8 million, while even in the key demographic of adults 18-49. As long as he's there, ABC could always put Sean Spicer to work spinning the numbers.
| | | Thanks for reading! Send me your thoughts via email or find me on Twitter. I'll be back filling in for Brian tomorrow. See you then! | | | |
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