EXEC SUMMARY: Good evening from CPJ's International Press Freedom Awards and benefit dinner. That's where we start... Oliver Darcy picks up down below with the rest of the day's media news...
Shep Smith is back -- for one night only | | On Thursday night he hosted the Committee to Protect Journalists' annual fund-raising dinner.
This was Smith's first public appearance after quitting Fox News last month and going on an extended vacation. He embraced several of his former colleagues, including John Roberts and Jennifer Griffin, who were seated at tables near the front. He accepted congratulations from other journalists who lined up to say hello at a pre-gala reception. He joked about whether he'd remember how to use the TelePrompTer.
He was an outstanding host, of course. "I have long admired the work" of CPJ, he said, recalling how the group helped when two Fox staffers were kidnapped in Gaza in 2006. "Tonight," he announced, "I'm donating half a million dollars to this cause."
"It's your turn," he added after a standing ovation, urging others to donate.
Smith didn't say anything about Fox during his remarks, nor did he bring up President Trump by name. But Smith said that "intimidation and vilification of the press is now a global phenomenon. We don't have to look far for evidence of that." The NYT's Michael Grynbaum has details here...
"Journalists need to join hands"
"We know that journalists are sometimes wary of being perceived as activists for some cause," Smith said in his intro. "But press freedom is not the preserve of one political group or one political party. It's a value embedded in our very foundational documents. Journalists need to join hands to defend it."
He thanked the 43 news outlets and organizations that have joined a new PSA campaign called Protect Press Freedom. We broke the news of this effort in the newsletter earlier this month. I noticed that Dow Jones and the WSJ are supporting the campaign, but so far Fox News has not joined...
Pence meets with journos
In an op-ed for USA Today, CPJ exec director Joel Simon revealed that the group facilitated a meeting between Vice President Pence and "a group of courageous journalists from Pakistan, Nicaragua, Tanzania, India and Brazil" on Monday. Those journos were honored at Thursday's gala.
"Several of the journalists raised concern about the proliferation of laws criminalizing 'fake news' and the ways these laws are used to target critical media," Simon wrote, citing the term that Trump weaponized in late 2016. The VP "was deeply engaged by these stories and reaffirmed his commitment to press freedom," according to Simon...
So what about Trump?
That's the obvious question. If Pence can bring himself to at least say the right things, to at least act supportive of press rights, what about the president? No one's holding their breath anymore, not after three years of smears. But Simon's op-ed is a reminder that American leadership echoes around the world. "The journalists who met with VP Pence told him they would like the United States to be an ally and an inspiration. He seemed to get this," Simon wrote. "Let's hope he can persuade his boss."
Thursday's honorees
-- Patrícia Campos Mello, Brazil
-- Neha Dixit, India
-- Lucía Pineda Ubau and Miguel Mora, Nicaragua
-- Maxence Melo Mubyazi, Tanzania
-- Zaffar Abbas, Pakistan
Read all about their experiences at CPJ.org...
Alright, Stelter out, I'm handing off to Darcy...
FOR THE RECORD, PART ONE
-- Democrats ripped Mark Zuckerberg on Thursday after it was revealed he had a secret October meeting with Trump... (Politico)
-- Right-wing media has been citing a 2017 Politico story as evidence to support the Ukraine conspiracy theory. Media Matters breaks down why that doesn't quite work... (Media Matters)
-- The editor of Bklyner writes about how the poor state of local news is affecting Brooklyn: "We don't know what we don't know until something bad happens and then it is often too late..." (Bklyner)
-- Thursday's buzzy piece? This story from John Hendrickson on Joe Biden's stutter: "I asked Joe Biden to talk about the way he talks, which is also the way I talk..." (The Atlantic)
-- The story that will command headlines Friday: This story from Katelyn Polantz and Evan Perez: "Former FBI lawyer under investigation after allegedly altering document in 2016 Russia probe..." (CNN)
FRIDAY PLANNER
-- "Frozen 2" and "A Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood" open in theaters...
-- Trump is participating in the NCAA Collegiate National Champions Day...
Friday's Washington Post A1 sums up the week
| |
"TWO HISTORIC WEEKS, AND WHAT COMES NEXT"
That's the chyron on "AC360" Thursday night. The hearings have wrapped up. Damning evidence has been made public. And so what comes next?
Lauren Fox and Phil Mattingly have a story about how Republican senators have spoken with the White House about how a Senate trial should be conducted if the House moves forward and impeaches...
Hill dismantles right-wing conspiracy theories
Appearing before Congress Thursday, Fiona Hill deflated right-wing conspiracy theories that Ukraine, and not necessarily Russia, meddled in the 2016 election. Hill said it was a "fictional narrative that has been perpetrated and propagated by the Russian security services themselves."
Hill even called out "some" members of the House Intelligence Committee who have bought into the discredited theory, and noted that even when such misinformation is used for domestic political purposes it is harmful. "I refuse to be part of an effort to legitimize an alternate narrative that the Ukrainian government is a US adversary, and that Ukraine, not Russia, attacked us in 2016," she said.
...But will it matter?
While Hill took apart the idea that Ukraine was responsible for the real election meddling in 2016, it's unclear how much it will matter. The people who most need to hear her message were told on Thursday by the people they trust most -- personalities in right-wing media -- that she was not to be believed. Hill was attacked. She was smeared. And her expertise was questioned. Read on for a couple examples...
Hannity dismisses Hill as "so-called Ukraine expert," continues to push discredited theory
| | Unsurprisingly, Sean Hannity attacked Hill on his Fox program Thursday night. Hannity apparently thinks he knows more about Ukrainian and Russian politics than Hill, the White House's former top Russia expert. He referred to Hill as a "so-called Ukraine expert" and mocked her testimony. Hannity claimed Hill "falsely accused" Republicans of "pushing a conspiracy theory" about "Ukranian election interference." Okay, Sean...
OANN personality tweets shameful attack on Fiona Hill and Lt. Col Vindman
The "chief White House correspondent" for One America News Network, the far-right media organization with little reach that Trump keeps promoting, implied in a tweet Thursday that Fiona Hill and Lt. Col Alexander Vindman were not real Americans. Both Hill and Vindman were born outside the United States, but are citizens who have served the country. Notably, Vindman is a decorated military officer who was awarded the Purple Heart.
But OANN's Emerald Robinson didn't appear to have much regard for their service. In a tweet, she mocked Hill's accent and wrote, "I'm wondering: are any Americans going to testify against Trump?" Jake Tapper noted it was an "ugly" and "frankly, un-American thing to say." Robinson ultimately deleted her tweet, claiming it was being "misconstrued." She then attempted to smear Hill and Vindman with other attacks. Reprehensible behavior from an outlet Trump has repeatedly praised.
The big picture: Right-wing media wall holds
Several weeks ago, there had been some speculation about whether Trump's right-wing media wall would hold. And while it showed a sign of cracking when the President lost the Drudge Report, the wall has since held firm. Despite being faced with damning revelations, Trump's allies at Fox, in talk radio, and on the web have continued to stick with him.
On Fox Thursday night, Hannity claimed to his viewers that the hearings were a "dud" and "absolute unmitigated disaster for the Democrats." The banner on his show read, "JUST LIKE RUSSIA HOAX, UKRAINE IMPEACHMENT SHAM DIES AN EMBARRASSING DEATH FOR DEMOCRATS ON CAPTIOL HILL."
Hannity's prime time colleagues Tucker Carlson and Laura Ingraham also mocked the hearings. Radio hosts like Mark Levin and Rush Limbaugh have continued to spin for Trump. And websites like Breitbart have showed no signs of turning on him. The bottom line: Trump's right-wing media wall has held.
OTHER IMPEACHMENT-RELATED NOTES...
John Solomon says he was smeared
The author of the discredited stories at The Hill which have played a starring role in the impeachment inquiry said on Thursday he was being wrongfully attacked. John Solomon, a former executive at The Hill who now serves as a Fox News contributor, commented on the impeachment hearings during a segment on Martha MacCallum's show. "They smeared me," Solomon said, "Just like Joe McCarthy smeared people."
Where was Judge Andrew Napolitano?
One notable voice was missing from Fox News' special impeachment coverage over the last week: Judge Andrew Napolitano, who serves as Fox's senior judicial analyst. Fox opted to instead use Ken Starr and Andrew McCarthy, two legal minds who have been much more sympathetic to Trump than Napolitano.
It was not as if Napolitano, who has said that Trump confessed publicly to committing at least one crime, was unavailable. Napolitano offered his analysis on Fox Business Network and has written for the Fox website. But not including him on the flagship network meant that the millions of viewers who tuned in did not see a legal expert that they know and trust break down how damning some of the testimony was for the President's case.
FOR THE RECORD, PART TWO
-- Dan Rather has some guidance: "A general rule of thumb. Trust more those who testify under threat of perjury than those who issue statements through spokespeople or on Twitter..." (Twitter)
-- Poynter's International Fact-Checking Network is partnering with Univision News to "elevate international fact-checks of interest to Spanish language audiences living in the U.S. leading up to the presidential election..." (Poynter)
-- Twitter has rolled out its "hide replies" feature to users worldwide... (TechCrunch)
-- Al Jazeera's Josh Rushing called Tucker Carlson to talk about the Fox host's rhetoric on minorities and immigrants... (Fault Lines)
Former Fox News exec employed Macedonian writers to create content for hyper-partisan sites
Former Fox News executive Ken LaCorte was operating a pair of hyper-partisan news websites whose content was written by young Macedonians, an investigation by NYT and researchers at a security firm found. The websites, Conservative Edition News and Liberal Edition News, played to the different ideologies of their audiences.
LaCorte acknowledged to NYT that he had secretly operated the websites, and that he used them to try to drive traffic to his main venture, LaCorte News, which also employs another former Fox News exec, John Moody. "I wanted to find middle ground," LaCorte said. "But you can be more successful by playing the edgy clickbait game."
LaCorte told NYT that he came to admire the fake-news industry in Macedonia for its ads and traffic, and reached out to a 19-year-old Macedonian. He paid that person and his friends to do what he described as "journalism light." When NYT asked Facebook about LaCorte's pages last week, the social media company shut them down. LaCorte said it eliminated about 90 percent of his income.
#DemDebate ratings
Brian Stelter writes: Wednesday's face-off, the fifth this year, was quite well-reviewed, but it was the least-watched debate of this election cycle. The ratings for MSNBC (6.6 million viewers) were down more than 20% from last month's match-up on CNN.
One obvious reason: The hearings earlier in the day sucked all the political oxygen out of the room. On the other hand, cable news viewership levels have been significantly elevated by the hearings, so that theoretically could have benefited MSNBC. But it didn't seem to help. Here's my full story...
Jeter sells The Players' Tribune
Kerry Flynn writes: Derek Jeter announced today Minute Media, which owns Mental Floss, The Big Lead and other sites, acquired his company The Players' Tribune. Terms were not disclosed. Jeter founded the site in 2014, after retiring from the Yankees, as a place for athletes to publish first-person essays. The site had several viral hits from athletes like Kevin Durant and Megan Rapinoe, but it struggled to scale. The company had raised about $60 million.
>> Jeter wrote, "Most things won't change: my involvement as a founder, as an active member of the Board of Directors, and most important of all -- this being a platform that is built on trust. We will continue to operate independently, powered by Minute Media's technology and global scale."
| | USA Today sued by fired digital sales director for pregnancy discrimination
Kerry Flynn writes: A former USA Today digital sales director, Serena Bhaduri, sued Gannett for allegedly discriminating and retaliating against her after she told her managers she was pregnant. Bhaduri's pregnancy and the subsequent firing came after she "suffered a personal tragedy," the lawsuit, filed today in the Southern District of New York, reads. In November 2018, Bhaduri gave birth to a son who then passed away in January.
Bhaduri's lawyer, Jeanne Christensen from Wigdor LLP, tells me, "She notified them that she was pregnant and within days was terminated. That's unacceptable. I think what makes this case worse is they did that knowing the background. Apparently, if you get pregnant more than one time in a two-year span that's a problem."
Gannett and Bhaduri's two managers, named as defendants in the lawsuit, did not respond to my requests for comment. Read the full story here...
Buttigieg's deepfake strategy
Donie O'Sullivan emails: Pete Buttigieg's head of information security Mick Baccio said Thursday that the campaign tries to keep the mayor in front of a camera "all his waking" hours in part to mitigate against the threat of deepfakes and doctored video.
The thinking, I believe, being that it would be harder for someone to create a doctored video claiming the mayor said or did something if every moment on the campaign trail was documented. Baccio made the remarks at #CyberWarCon, a security summit that took place outside DC today.
>> NYT's Charlie Warzel: "This is a pretty wild approach. and not that far off from 'the candidate must live in an always livestreaming panopticon in order to mitigate scandal..."
FOR THE RECORD, PART THREE
-- Simon van Zuylen-Wood writes that The National Enquirer "is facing an identity crisis. Did its drift into propaganda doom it for good? Or can it return to tastelessly, gloriously airing the dirty laundry of the rich and famous?" (CJR)
-- NiemanLab's Christine Schmidt interviewed Cierra Hinton, the new executive director for Scalawag, a non-profit magazine about the American South, about what it means "for a diverse group of young Southerners to be producing content that is read by mostly white folks -- and white folks that are older than them..." (NiemanLab)
-- NYT's Caity Weaver argues that the "O.K." part of "O.K., Boomer" is most confrontational of all... (NYT)
Ronan Farrow to receive Equity in Entertainment Award
Brian Lowry emails: The Hollywood Reporter announced that journalist Ronan Farrow will receive the Equity in Entertainment Award at its annual Women in Entertainment breakfast on Dec. 11. The award will be presented by Gretchen Carlson.
AMC fires employees involved in racial profiling incident
Katie Pellico writes: AMC Theatres is firing three employees after members of a non-profit described being racially profiled during a a screening of "Harriet." In a letter sent to AMC earlier this month, first reported by WDSU, 15 members of the non-profit described "multiple incidents of employees interrupting the screening to ask different members of the charity to verify their ticket purchases and seating assignments" at the AMC theater near New Orleans.
The charity's letter demanded a series of remedial actions, from offering free tickets "to all public and private high school students in Orleans and Jefferson parishes to educate them about the life and legacy of Harriet Tubman," to the termination of the employees involved. AMC apologized for the incident, agreeing to each of the charity's eight demands, calling them "healing actions."
| | Where "Frozen 2" ranks among the Disney/Pixar animated sequels
Brian Lowry emails: In advance of "Frozen 2" blowing into theaters this weekend, I looked at its place in the relatively short history of animated sequels, something Disney didn't do theatrically through the early part of its history, and which Pixar only grudgingly began to pursue in earnest following its acquisition by the studio...
FOR THE RECORD, PART FOUR
By Lisa Respers France:
-- Actor Kristofer Hivju says there's a "Game of Thrones" alternate ending we will never see...
-- Megan Thee Stallion is denying speculation she's dating Khloe Kardashian's ex, NBA player Tristan Thompson...
-- Jon M. Chu denied Brenda Song was "not Asian enough" for a "Crazy Rich Asians" audition...
-- Country star Sam Hunt was arrested for DUI Thursday in Nashville...
New EP for "Masterpiece"
Rebecca Eaton, the exec producer of "Masterpiece" for the past 35 years, is shifting to an EP-at-large role... Susanne Simpson is the new EP of the acclaimed series. Current says Simpson will oversee "programming and day-to-day operations while Eaton is focused on development of new drama projects and fundraising for the Masterpiece Trust..."
| | | Thank you for reading! Send me an email with your feedback/tips, or connect with me on Twitter. Brian will be back tomorrow! | | | |
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