EXEC SUMMARY: Scroll down for the latest about Lachlan Murdoch, BuzzFeed, Jennifer Aniston, Substack, Mark Zuckerberg, NBC, USA Today, Netflix, "Fortnite," and more...
Day 1,000
What's the proper way to describe what's going on with the President of the United States? Are newsrooms fully conveying the gravity of the crisis that's unfolding?
-- He's getting basic facts wrong about American forces that are in harm's way.
-- He is promoting debunked conspiracy theories, including the Crowdstrike server nonsense.
-- The Ukraine scandal is deepening by the day.
-- And the situation in Syria is deteriorating by the day.
-- The US military is destroying equipment as it conducts a rapid pullout from northern Syria.
-- RT and other Russian state-owned media outlets are celebrating the American withdrawal.
-- Eyewitnesses tell CNN that they are seeing Russian flags in an area in Kobani in northern Syria where US troops had been.
-- Trump is criticizing his former Secretary of Defense, James Mattis, calling him "the world's most overrated general."
-- Trump's meeting with Democratic leaders was, in the words of Katie Rogers, so "off the rails" that "they can't even agree on which insult was used."
-- Nancy Pelosi said he had a "meltdown," so he said SHE had a meltdown.
-- Earlier in the day, Trump made about 12 false claims in front of the Italian president.
-- He said "Syria may have some help with Russia, and that's fine. It's a lot of sand. They've got a lot of sand over there. So there's a lot of sand that they can play with."
-- As Dana Milbank puts it, "The world is staring at Trump, mouth agape."
-- His lawyer Rudy Giuliani is under a widening federal investigation.
-- Another Giuliani associate is under arrest.
-- The NYT's top headline on Thursday: "President digs in on Syria pullout as House revolts:" | | -- And above the fold of Thursday's WaPo front page, there are three headlines: "Trump strikes back at criticism over Syria move," "Hasty U.S. pullback a seismic shift for Mideast," and "Prepare for impeachment, McConnell tells GOP."
Trish Regan's scoop
Did the White House really release Trump's letter to Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan because Trump or someone close to him thought it made him look good? Fox Business host Trish Regan was the first to obtain the letter... and reporters were gobsmacked by it. "I saw this letter and I thought it was a joke. I thought it was a hoax," Jake Tapper said on CNN. "But then I sent it to Stephanie Grisham, and she said it was real."
"Pray for his health"
"I pray for the president all the time and I tell him that. I pray for his safety and that of his family," Pelosi told reporters. "Now we have to pray for his health because this was a very serious meltdown on the part of the president." This is noteworthy on Pelosi's part -- "pray for his health" -- she is edging closer to a conversation about mental health.
CNN's Manu Raju followed up and asked, "Are you suggesting he is mentally unwell in any way?" Pelosi responded: "I'm not talking about mentally, I'm just talking about handling -- just handling the truth."
--> Figures like George Conway have been urging this conversation for quite some time. Earlier in the day, before many of the most disturbing developments, Conway tweeted: "Someone on this runaway train needs to pull the emergency brake. Who's it going to be?"
--> And after the letter to Erdogan came out, he asked, "Are we ready yet to have a full national conversation about the diseased mental state of the president of the United States?"
--> Agree or disagree with Conway, but I think Trump's instability and incoherence continues to be the big story, the through-line that connects Ukraine and Syria and all the rest. It's all visible... If people are willing to see it...
Trump's "I know you are, but what am I?" tactic is getting tired
He tried it again on Wednesday night, tweeting, "Nancy Pelosi needs help fast! There is either something wrong with her 'upstairs,' or she just plain doesn't like our great Country. She had a total meltdown in the White House today. It was very sad to watch. Pray for her, she is a very sick person!"
FOR THE RECORD, PART ONE
-- The FT's US national editor Edward Luce tweeted: "Trump's writing is that of a ten year old; his grasp of how the world works closer to a five year-old: and his behaviour that of a mentally ill 73-year-old man. This is why America has a 25th amendment." (Twitter)
-- CNBC's John Harwood: "None of this is funny. It's not entertainment. It's dangerous for the world. It's harming our country. It's life and death for allies." (Twitter)
-- Philip Bump with some perspective: "There has only been one poll in which Gallup has found more support for impeaching & removing a president than its new one about Trump. Four days after that other poll, Nixon resigned." (WaPo)
-- Something to keep an eye on: "U.S. Postmaster General Megan Brennan plans to retire in January, officials said Wednesday, following months of complaints from President Trump that the Postal Service was losing too much money and should be charging retail giant Amazon more for package delivery..." (WaPo)
Trump "ambushed" UK parents in disastrous PR ploy
CNN's Ivana Kottasová and Maija Ehlinger report: "The grieving parents of a British teenager have described a highly choreographed White House encounter at which President Trump presented them with an unexpected offer to meet the woman involved in the crash that killed their son." The couple declined, telling Sky News they want a meeting on "their terms" and "on UK soil." A family spokesperson told BBC the family felt "ambushed."
Katie Pellico adds: Several outlets pointed out that the botched plan was awkwardly suited for a reality TV segment. The NYT's Maggie Haberman tweeted that it was "an effort at a Springer episode." The Daily Beast's Barbie Latza Nadeau wrote, "You can almost imagine the reality-show excitement that surely went into the ill-considered plan..."
THURSDAY PLANNER
Gordon Sondland testifies behind closed doors...
Nancy Pelosi holds her weekly presser at 10:45am ET...
Mark Zuckerberg has promised to deliver "the most comprehensive take I've written about my views" during a "Conversation on Free Expression" at Georgetown University, to be streamed live on Facebook at 1pm ET...
Trump holds a rally in Dallas at 8pm ET...
Twitter responds to Kamala Harris…
And says they won't shut down Trump's account despite the senator's calls.
Via Donie O'Sullivan, here's what Twitter is saying: "We understand the desire for our decisions to be 'yes/no' binaries, but it is not that simple."
What Harris' camp is saying: "Twitter is not holding Donald Trump accountable for abusing their platform to threaten people and incite and inspire violent behavior."
FOR THE RECORD, PART TWO
-- Fox's Dana Perino is interviewing Mark Zuckerberg... it's a first for Fox... and it is airing on Perino's show Friday afternoon...
-- One year after buying TIME, Marc Benioff is out with a letter about his intentions and values. He begins this way: "It's a paradox of this moment in human history — we have a vast universe of information at our fingertips, yet we still struggle to understand the forces that shape our world..." (TIME)
-- Speaking of Benioff, he blasted Facebook at Wednesday's Knight-Bagehot dinner in NYC... For more, watch his interview with CNN's Poppy Harlow... (CNN)
-- Rachel Donadio's latest: "Two years ago today, Malta's most famous journalist, Daphne Caruana Galizia, was assassinated by car bomb in Malta. Her murder remains unsolved..." (The Atlantic)
Steve Burke standing by NBC News management
Every revelation from Ronan Farrow's book sparks another round of speculation about Andy Lack and Noah Oppenheim's fates. Witness Monday's edition of "The View:" Meghan McCain asked "will the current management at NBC survive?" and Sunny Hostin said "why do they still have jobs?"
On Wednesday, after several days of what David Folkenflik calls "corporate silence" to his questions, he got an answer from Hilary Smith, a corporate spokeswoman for NBCUniversal: "The top leaders of NBC News still have the confidence of senior leadership within the company."
Megyn Kelly says there should be an "outside investigation" of NBC | | Fox-turned-NBC host Megyn Kelly returned to Fox on Wednesday night for an interview with Tucker Carlson. Key quotes, via Variety:
-- "The number one that needs to happen now is they need to release any and all Matt Lauer accusers from their confidentiality agreements. NBC says it has nothing to hide. Great. Let's not hide anything," she said.
-- The Q is "whether they were more interested in protecting their star anchor than they were in protecting the women of the company."
-- "There needs to be an outside investigation into this company. They investigated themselves. That doesn't work."
Lachlan Murdoch's call for "civil debate"
Katie Pellico writes: Fox boss Lachlan Murdoch spoke with THR's Matthew Belloni "just before Shep Smith quit" for this THR 100 interview. On the topic of rhetoric at Fox News, Murdoch responded, "Look, I think unfortunately in this country, there is less and less civil debate, and I think we're all poorer for it." Later, when asked if Roger Ailes would "tolerate the infighting among the hosts on Fox News," Murdoch issued the same call: "I can't speak to if Roger were around or not, but unfortunately in this country there's less and less civil debate." Re: infighting, he said "civil debate among our countrymen and our colleagues at work is something we always aspire to."
FOR THE RECORD, PART THREE
-- Why Bill O'Reilly's name was trending on Wednesday: "Bill O'Reilly accused Beto O'Rourke of lying. The internet struck back..." (NBC)
-- The FCC voted on Wednesday to approve the T-Mobile and Sprint merger, "but the deal still faces a legal challenge from states..." (CNBC)
-- CNN is planning "new extensions" for the "Citizen by CNN" forum that launched last year, Brian Steinberg reports... I'll be interviewing a newsmaker at the forum in NYC next week... (Variety)
USA Today "phasing out" print?
USA Today's current owner denies it. But Poynter's Rick Edmonds, one of the best reporters on the beat, says "USA Today and its digital sites are about to undergo a major restructuring that will include building up digital marketing while phasing out the print edition."
His key bit of reporting: "The deal for GateHouse's parent, New Media Investment Group, to acquire Gannett, which owns USA Today, will not close for at least another month. Nothing much will happen — or legally can happen — until then, and don't look for this to be the new company's first order of business. Winding print down could take several years. But two knowledgeable sources, talking on background, said a move away from USA Today in print is part of the calculations for the new enterprise."
>> USA Today publisher Maribel Perez Wadsworth's response: "Gannett has no plans to discontinue the print edition of USA TODAY, which remains an important part of our business." But New Media Investment Group might...
Family Circle magazine to shut down after December issue
Kerry Flynn emails: Meredith announced today the December issue of Family Circle will be its last. The monthly home magazine for women launched in 1932 and has a circulation of 4 million. But it's now being discontinued as part of another Meredith restructuring. Spokesperson Art Slusark told me about 70 employees were laid off, including 25 staffers from Family Circle. Read the full story here...
A day full of news for podcast fans
I was on stage representing WarnerMedia at the IAB Podcast Upfront on Wednesday. One of the announcements: CNN is launching a "significant" new podcast initiative, "heavily investing" in audio, Tyler Moody said... Details to come...
Here are some of the day's other content announcements, compiled by Kerry Flynn:
-- Shonda Rhimes' Shondaland signed a three-year deal with iHeartRadio... (TechCrunch)
-- NBC News partnered with Wondery to launch more news and politics podcasts in 2020... (Adweek)
-- Meredith Corp. has new audio programming from its brands People, Entertainment Weekly, InStyle and Parents... (Meredith)
-- Ira Glass said his company is launching a new, yet-to-be-titled show in early 2020... It will be a four-parter...
Miami Herald announces new investigative lab
The Miami Herald announced the creation of a new journalism lab on Wednesday that, in partnership with the Miami Foundation, will "nearly double the size" of the Herald's investigative team, and "host the largest team of investigative reporters in our region to expose corruption, identify fraud and reveal exploitation while also covering solutions to problems that impact the quality of life of South Florida residents."
The goal is "to raise $1.5 million for reporting efforts spread over three years, adding two full-time reporters, a data visualization specialist, a videographer and an editor to our existing team." Learn more here...
#DemDebate ratings takeaways
The CNN/NYT #DemDebate on Tuesday "drew about 8.3 million live television viewers on CNN, Nielsen said on Wednesday," per the NYT's Michael Grynbaum. Online streaming added another 450,000 to the total.
"The event featured 12 candidates, up from the 10 who debated last month in Houston at an event seen by about 14 million people on ABC News and Univision," Grynbaum wrote. He suggested that "some viewers may be growing tired of watching an oversize Democratic field..."
| | BuzzFeed News uncovers massive Facebook account rental scam
Katie Pellico writes: BuzzFeed News reporter Craig Silverman uncovered a massive Facebook account rental scheme run by San Diego-based company Ads Inc. He obtained "documents, recordings, and other information" that "provide an unprecedented, detailed inside look at how black hat affiliate markers weaponize targeted advertising, fake news articles, and overseas labor to exploit Facebook on a massive scale." Silverman says the scam constitutes "one of the largest-ever subscription trap operations."
In the process of pursuing and publishing the story, and "as a result of inquiries from BuzzFeed News, Facebook served Ads Inc. with a cease-and-desist notice." Ads Inc. has since announced they are shutting down. Read on...
>> The scam in short: Ads Inc. convinced "thousands of average people to rent their personal Facebook accounts to the company," where they would run fake news articles that appeared to come from outlets like TMZ or Fox News, and contained a celebrity endorsement and "free trial" offer. The scam targeted baby boomers, Silverman says. One employee said "the key is to take a celebrity older people like and find a product that matches their image."
>> Silverman also details how Ads Inc. sought out stay-at-home moms, recruiting "a network of women" to market the rental offer on Facebook.
FOR THE RECORD, PART FOUR
-- Kristen Hare's latest: "How the Charleston Gazette-Mail overcame bankruptcy, layoffs and management changes to double digital subscriptions..." (Poynter)
-- Via Kerry Flynn: BuzzFeed announced a creator program for Bring Me!, its travel and experience brand, to create more long-form content and branded campaigns... (BuzzFeed)
-- Newsletter platform Substack looks back on two years... (Substack)
-- ICYMI: Read about Substack's first media company venture with Stephen Hayes and Jonah Goldberg, The Dispatch... (NiemanLab)
"Paradise" lost, times two
Brian Lowry emails: The anniversary of the devastating fire in Paradise, California, has inspired not one but two documentaries, both titled (somewhat confusingly) "Fire in Paradise." PBS' "Frontline" will air its version on Oct. 29, while Netflix has a short film debuting on Nov. 1...
FOR THE RECORD, PART FIVE
-- Late-breaking: "Los Angeles Times reaches historic agreement with its newsroom union..." (LAT)
-- Kokatu's Cecilia D'Anastasio and Dhruv Mehrotra did a deep dive on Niantic, the company behind Pokémon Go and Harry Potter: Wizards Unite, discovering that users' "every move is getting documented and stored -- up to 13 times a minute..." (Kokatu)
-- In one of two new essays out Wednesday from former Amazon Studios head of strategy Matthew Ball, he highlighted "Hollywood's Video Game Blind Spot..."
-- Recommended: Sign up for Ball's essays here...
"Fortnite is exciting again"
Nick Statt's assessment of what Epic Games has done: "Fortnite has proved once again that it's one of the most boundary-pushing video games out there. Following a shocking gamble that saw the game pulled offline for nearly 48 hours, players were reminded that Epic Games' battle royale hit is in a league of its own when it comes to experimental live events, all in service of the game's weird and wonderful brand of world-building." Read on at The Verge...
Netflix misses on subs...
But the stock surges
Frank Pallotta writes: Netflix fell slightly short of its own expectations on Wednesday, reporting 6.8 million new subscribers in the third quarter, just a tick under the 7 million that the company was projecting. Still, the company's stock still soared as much as 10% in after hours trading.
>> Recode's Peter Kafka explained that Netflix investors are "an itchy bunch, who often pile and in and out of the stock for almost any reason at all" and might have expected "a bigger loss..."
>> Coming soon: The service said it expects to add another 7.6 million subscribers in the next quarter...
Netflix's serenity about the streaming wars
Pallotta adds: Netflix's earnings on Wednesday will be the last before Apple TV+ and Disney+ hit the market next month. "In our view, the likely outcome from the launch of these new services will be to accelerate the shift from linear TV to on demand consumption of entertainment," Netflix wrote in its shareholder letter Wednesday. "Just like the evolution from broadcast TV to cable, these once-in-a-generation changes are very large and open up big, new opportunities for many players."
| | Time for "Community" to stream
"'Community' is set to be the next long-running comedy to hit the SVOD marketplace with Sony Pictures Television taking out the Dan Harmon-created show following mega streaming deals for shows such as Seinfeld, which is distributed by Sony TV, The Big Bang Theory, Friends and The Office," Peter White reported Wednesday...
FOR THE RECORD, PART SIX
-- The Walt Disney Company was founded on this day in 1923...
-- "Endeavor Group Holdings Inc., the owner of talent agency WME and sports league UFC, has officially withdrawn its intention to go public..." (LAT)
-- NBC has cancelled "Sunnyside" by moving it to the web: "The remaining seven episodes will air weekly on the NBC app, other digital platforms and NBC.com..." (Deadline)
'Avengers: Damage Control' muscles into world of virtual reality
Brian Lowry writes: The designers at Lucasfilm's immersive entertainment unit ILMxLAB say they've heard fans loud and clear, and responded to their desire for a longer virtual-reality experience with "Avengers: Damage Control," a VR adventure that runs 18-20 minutes, considerably longer than any of their previous efforts. Coming to the Void locations, it's a showcase for the improving technology, as well as the medium's pricey nature...
Mike Isaac's book will be a Showtime limited series
Variety's Joe Otterson writes: "Brian Koppelman and David Levien are developing a limited series about ridesharing company Uber for Showtime. The 'Billions' creators and showrunners will serve as writers and executive producers on the series, which will be based on Mike Isaac's book 'Super Pumped: The Battle for Uber.' Isaac will serve as co-executive producer on the project..."
FOR THE RECORD, PART SEVEN
-- Brandon Griggs has "11 juicy details from Elton John's new memoir..."
-- The brand new "Office Ladies" podcast takes you inside Dunder Mifflin, Sandra Gonzalez writes...
-- "Taylor Swift performed for NPR's Tiny Desk Concert series before she heads out on her 2020 world tour. It was just Swift, her guitar and a piano. And she's good," Marianne Garvey writes...
The first Apple TV+ premiere | | "Apple TV+ held its first premiere in company history Tuesday at the Regency Village theater in Westwood, for Ron Moore drama 'For All Mankind,' a series that explores an alternate history of the space race," THR's Alex Cramer reports.
--> Disclosure/reminder: I'm a consulting producer on one of Apple's other projects, "The Morning Show."
--> "Morning Show" star Jennifer Aniston "made history when she joined Instagram on Tuesday," People mag reports: She "broke the Guinness World Records title for the fastest time to reach one million followers on Instagram in five hours and 16 minutes..."
| | | Thanks for reading! Send me your feedback via email or connect with me on Twitter. See you tomorrow... | | | |
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