Forward

EXEC SUMMARY: Hey there, this is Oliver Darcy filling in for Brian Stelter. Scroll down for Chuck Todd's point about the FBI's "alarming" misconduct, Sinclair's scrapping of political commentary segments, Garrett Graff's argument that Fox News is a "threat to national security," Harvey Weinstein's tentative deal, and more. But first...

Impeachment fades from forefront

For only the fourth time in history, the President of the United States is facing impeachment. It's a historic moment. And yet, some of the country's biggest news organizations are putting the story on the back burner. Despite the House Judiciary Committee beginning debate over the articles of impeachment Wednesday evening, the news wasn't in the top three stories on the three major broadcast networks.

ABC, CBS, and NBC all led their programs with the shooting at the Jersey kosher market. David Muir then covered the arctic blast and IG report. Lester Holt moved on to the tentative Harvey Weinstein settlement and New Zealand volcano. And Norah O'Donnell reported on the Boeing 737 MAX and IG report. Impeachment was the No. 4 story on all the major nets.

No impeachment story on NYT A1

But the impeachment story isn't just fading from the network news broadcasts. The first edition of NYT's A1 on Thursday features no stories on impeachment. Instead, only a small blurb indicates that the House Judiciary Committee "met at night to debate the articles," and refers readers to page A19 for coverage. Yep, the paper of record will have only a minimal reference to impeachment on Thursday's front page…

Fox & MSNBC carry regular programming

Over on cable news, CNN was the only outlet to carry the impeachment hearings uninterrupted. MSNBC carried the opening statements and dipped in and out, but largely charged through with normal prime time programming. Fox News didn't even carry the opening statements live. The network aired normal programming throughout the night, occasionally playing a sound bite or two from the proceedings.

A reminder

News industry and political professionals are plugged into the news cycle and know the twists and turns of the impeachment story. But it's worth keeping in mind, there is a considerable amount of the country that does not live on Twitter and watch cable news all day. They count on programs like the evening news. And those who tuned in Wednesday were seeing stories like the arctic blast or New Zealand volcano prioritized above history in the making.

THURSDAY PLANNER

-- The House Judiciary Committee is scheduled to reconvene at 9am ET to consider amendments to the articles of impeachment...

-- Duncan Hunter's legal team is scheduled to present their arguments in an appeal in his criminal trial in Seattle. Read the latest from the San Diego Union-Tribune reporter who broke the story, Morgan Cook...

-- Democratic candidates face a Thursday deadline to meet the fundraising and polling thresholds for the December 19 primary debate stage...

-- Polls are open in the UK General Election until 5pm ET. "Counting will begin straight away," and "most results are due to be announced in the early hours of Friday morning," per the BBC.

Here are Thursday morning's front pages, via Philip Bromwell:

FOR THE RECORD, PART ONE

-- Margaret Sullivan's latest is great: "Headlines, in print and on screens, provide a snapshot of news delivered to a fractured nation..." (WaPo)

-- Lindsey Graham (predictably) took swipes at the media as he opened the Michael Horowitz hearing Wednesday... (Mediaite)

-- Online posts indicated that one of the suspects in Tuesday's shooting at a New Jersey kosher deli had pushed anti-Semitic conspiracy theories... (NBC News)

-- James Comey will appear on "Fox News Sunday" with Chris Wallace this weekend. The booking comes after Comey said he was canceled by "Fox & Friends" earlier in the week, an assertion the network has denied... (Daily Beast)

-- Right-wing personality Mark Levin was at the White House for Trump's signing of an executive order targeting anti-Semitism. He referred to Trump as "the first Jewish President of the United States..."

-- Reminder from NYT's Annie Karni: "The canceling of the WH media Christmas party was a story last year, and now it's just gone and it's not even a thing, like the press briefing and the NYT/WaPo subscriptions..." (Twitter)

Todd: FBI misconduct "alarming," but facts being "warped" to fuel "presidential conspiracy theories"

The FISA abuse unearthed by Inspector General Michael Horowitz is alarming. It shouldn't be swept under the rug. That said, since Horowitz dropped his report on Monday, right-wing personalities have been focused almost solely on that portion of the report. They've been using it to paint the entire Russia investigation with a broad brush, and suggest it proves the investigation was rotten.

Over at MSNBC, Chuck Todd did an excellent job getting at this. Todd acknowledged the FBI misconduct was "alarming." But he went on to note that "the facts are being distorted more by spin, and in some cases, conspiracy theories." Todd explained, "The facts have been warped to defend the president here. Counter-narratives have been pushed and presidential conspiracy theories taken hold as part of this broader information war." Mediaite has more here...

Fox's Chris Wallace made a similar point...

Over on Fox, Chris Wallace made a similar point. Wallace said there was "terrible misconduct" and called it a "serious deal." But Wallace added, "That doesn't mean the entire Russia investigation was fraudulent."

>> More shooting inside the tent: Wallace's colleague, pro-Trump Fox personality Dan Bongino, turned to Twitter to throw shade on him for the comment...

Bye, Boris

Brian Stelter emails: Sinclair is scrapping the political commentary segments that local TV stations were required to carry for years. On Friday, former Trump aide Boris Epshteyn's pro-Trump talking points segments will be sunsetted. So will the essays by progressive commentator Ameshia Cross. Why? Well, Sinclair is first and foremost a profit-making organization, so I think this is about ratings -- there was scant evidence that the right-wing OR left-wing monologues were popular with viewers. The company says it's going to focus on investigative reporting instead: As NBC's Claire Atkinson reported Wednesday, Sinclair's internal memo said "we will be expanding our local investigative journalism footprint in our daily newscasts."

To be sure, there is reason to be skeptical about Sinclair's commitment to investigations. But "the mood and energy is really lifted today," a longtime Sinclair staffer told me. "While there's still some concerns over content being right-leaning, this is a step in the right direction." More...

FOR THE RECORD, PART TWO

-- Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey announced a "small independent team" of researchers to be tasked with the goal of creating "open and decentralized standard for social media..." (The Verge)

-- A detective has been assigned to the case of the female TV news reporter who was slapped on the backside by a runner as she covered a race... (NBC News)

-- Uh, what? Fox News host Jesse Watters apparently thinks female reporters sleep with sources "all the time" for scoops... (Daily Beast)

-- Watters' comments were related to the ongoing controversy about the "Richard Jewell" film... Scroll down for Brian Lowry's review...

"Fox News is now a threat to national security"

Those are the words of Garrett Graff in his latest for Wired. In the piece, Graff argued, "The network's furthering of lies from foreign adversaries and flagrant disregard for the truth have gotten downright dangerous." Graff argued that Fox is "clearly advancing and giving voice to narratives and smears backed and imagined by our foreign adversaries," peddles rhetoric that "is undermining America's foundational ideals," and peddles misinformation that "leaves its viewers too misinformed to fulfill their most basic responsibilities as citizens."

Graff wrote, "While propagandizing has long been a key facet of Fox's business ... the situation is clearly getting worse: the lies deeper, its always-tenuous commitment to 'Fair and Balanced' unraveling further. Whatever loose adherence to a reality-based world the Fox worldview once possessed, whatever guardrails on truth the network might have once installed, are now gone."

>> Key graf: "In 1984, George Orwell wrote his imagined dystopian regime 'told you to reject the evidence of your eyes and ears,' but Fox News has actually figured out a tactic even more pernicious: Fox News' own masters of Orwellian doublespeak, its Hannitys, Carlsons, and Doocys, the ones who smugly declare down up and up down, aren't even bothering to tell their viewers to ignore their eyes and ears, because the truth never even approaches their airtime."

Weinstein reaches tentative deal with accusers

"After two years of legal wrangling, Harvey Weinstein and the board of his bankrupt film studio have reached a tentative $25 million settlement agreement with dozens of his alleged sexual misconduct victims, a deal that would not require the Hollywood producer to admit wrongdoing or pay anything to his accusers himself," NYT's Megan Twohey and Jodi Kantor reported Wednesday, citing lawyers involved in the negotiations.

A source with knowledge of the deal confirmed to CNN that a tentative deal had been reached. But, attorneys for one of Weinstein's alleged victims have rejected the deal. Details from CNN's Elizabeth Joseph here...

...shows up in court using walker

Earlier in the day, Weinstein arrived in a Manhattan court using a walker, "an apparent sign of the disgraced movie producer's deteriorating health," CNN's Julia Jones and Eric Levenson reported. Weinstein's attorney, Donna Rotunno, said he'll be undergoing back surgery on Thursday. "We wanted him to use a walker last week and Mr. Weinstein didn't want the press to think he was seeking sympathy," she said. "He is in pain, he's having surgery, and we will be back in court on January 6 for trial."

FOR THE RECORD, PART THREE

By Kerry Flynn:

-- More than 400 employees at Tribune Publishing signed a letter for the company's board of directors, demanding commitment to increased staffing and investments in the newsrooms and consider offers of other ownership... (NiemanLab)

-- Ryan Deto tells the inside story of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, where 20 guild members and 9 managers have left this year as they battle with editorial conflicts with and mistreatment from leadership... (Pittsburgh City Paper)

-- Susie Banikarim is joining Vice News as evp and global head of newsgathering. She was previously evp and editorial director of Gizmodo Media Group... (Variety)

-- Fortune plans to launch a paywall in January with three tiers (Digiday)

AOC: I won't go on Fox because of "unmitigated racism" from Tucker Carlson's show

Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez said on Wednesday she goes "back and forth on whether to go on Fox News," but ultimately has decided against doing so because of Tucker Carlson. She tweeted the "main reason" she has avoided the network is because "the ad revenue from it bankrolls a white supremacist sympathizer to broadcast an hour-long production of unmitigated racism."

Ocasio-Cortez's comments came after a guest on Carlson's show referred to her district as dirty and said "part of the reason" is that it's "one of the least American districts in the country." More on that here...

SOME MORE TUCKER NEWS...

Why Tucker Carlson's attacks on Paul Singer have an "ironic twist"

I missed it on Tuesday, but this story from Lachlan Markay at The Daily Beast is worth a read. Markay noted that Tucker Carlson's "war" with GOP donor Paul Singer "has an ironic twist." As it turned out, Carlson's outlet The Daily Caller had previously asked Singer for money and had been turned down.

Now, Carlson is using his Fox News program to bash Singer, including as recently as last week. As Markay noted, "For Singer, the denunciation must have seemed particularly disorienting." When Markay asked Signer's camp for comment, an adviser told him, "There was no principle at stake here. This is how a protection racket operates—you pay Tucker or you become a target. And he now has a much bigger platform to pursue his vendettas."

For his part, Carlson told Markay he didn't recall "having anything to do" with The Daily Caller's request to Singer for money. "But it wouldn't matter anyway because, as I've said many times, my views about pretty much everything have changed dramatically in the past 10 years, based on the evidence," Carlson added. "America's changed and so have my views."

YouTube unveils stricter harassment policy

"After months of promising to reexamine how it handles harassment on its platform, YouTube has unveiled an update to its policy," CNN's Kaya Yurieff reported. On Wednesday, the Google-owned video platform said it would take a 'stronger stance' against threats and personal attacks, among other changes intended to address the safety of its community.

"YouTube said it would now prohibit 'veiled' or 'implied' threats, not just explicit ones. This new policy includes content that simulates violence against a person or language indicating physical violence could occur. YouTube also said it will no longer permit 'maliciously' insulting someone based on characteristics like race, gender expression or sexual orientation, whether it's a private individual, YouTube personality or public figure. The policy applies to content, as well as comments."

Facebook promised transparency on political ads. Its system crashed days before the UK election

"Tens of thousands of political ads went missing from Facebook's archive this week, according to researchers, just days before voters go to the polls in the most important UK election for decades," Hadas Gold reported. "A spokesperson for Facebook confirmed its library went down....The problem affected several countries, and Facebook prioritized fixing the UK database because of the imminent election."

FOR THE RECORD, PART FOUR

-- NBC News correspondent Kristen Dahlgren writes an essay on how one of her reports helped her discover she had a symptom of breast cancer... (NBC News)

-- Susie Banikarim is joining Vice News as executive VP and global head of newsgathering... (Variety)

-- Phillip Picardi is leaving Out magazine, where he has served as EIC for the last year... (WWD)

Time Person of the Year: Greta Thunberg

Kerry Flynn emails: TIME recognized Greta Thunberg, the 16-year-old climate crisis activist, this year. She's the youngest to receive the title. Read the Time cover story here...

Time also created four new categories in part because it's now an independent media company, no longer a part of Meredith, Time Inc. or another media conglomerate. Time EIC Edward Felsenthal told me, "All the titles at Time Inc. began out of Time and then we were part of a company. That was great, but now being on our own, in this moment, where we can reclaim that heritage."

>> Athlete of the Year: U.S. women's soccer team...

>> Entertainer of the Year: Lizzo...

>> Business Person of the Year: Bob Iger...

>> Guardians of the Year: Public Servants including whistleblower, Marie Yovanovitch, Ambassador William Taylor, Fiona Hill, Lieut. Colonel Alexander Vindman, Mark Sandy...

The top 10 news searches on Google for 2019

Internet giant Google unveiled its annual "Year in Search" list on Wednesday. The top 10 news searches in the United States? Hurricane Dorian topped the list. It was followed by searches on the Notre Dame Cathedral fire and Women's World Cup. Others included on the list were the El Paso shooting and Equifax data breach settlement. You can see the list here...

FOR THE RECORD, PART FIVE

-- This is always worth spending some time with: NYT has released its annual list of the year in pictures... (NYT)

-- Vox's Emily Stewart describes how Michael Bloomberg achieved billionaire status by way of "a computer system most people have never heard of, let alone seen..." (Vox)

-- From Digiday's Max Willens: "How The Boston Globe invented #SubscribeSunday..." (Digiday)

The SAG nominations:

If you're not caught up on Wednesday morning's nominations yet, view the full list here. Per Lisa Respers France, the casts of "Bombshell," "Marriage Story" and "Once Upon a Time in Hollywood" led film nominations with four each. "The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel" scored the most nominations among TV series...

A surge of awards "snub" stories

Brian Lowry emails: In the coverage of this week's various award-nomination announcements, I'm noticing a trend in "snub" stories, which involves using odd numbers that seemingly give the designation more credibility, the way Joe McCarthy tossed around specific if fluctuating numbers of communists working in the State dept. So Goldderby headlined the "17 unforgivable SAG Awards TV snubs" and the "23 biggest SAG Awards film snubs." To the extent the designation is wholly arbitrary, wouldn't it make more sense to stop at 10 or 20?

A great-movie wannabe

Brian Lowry emails: The controversy surrounding "Richard Jewell" — and its depiction of a female reporter — underscores what's wrong with the film, which is sharp and well done while focusing on the wrongly accused security guard and those close to him, and borders on caricature when it deals with his FBI and media persecutors. As a consequence, to borrow a description applied to Jewell regarding law enforcement, Clint Eastwood's film registers as merely a great-movie wannabe. Read Lowry's full take...

Lowry reviews Netflix's "6 Underground"

Brian Lowry emails: Netflix has made a lot of noise during awards season, but "6 Underground" reminds us the streaming service is interested in making all kinds of movies — in this case, a Michael Bay-directed action movie starring Ryan Reynolds, which winds up playing like a bad parody of Michael Bay movies. Keep reading...

FOR THE RECORD, PART SIX

By Frank Pallotta:

-- Dave Itzkoff has a great primer for "Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker," which opens next week (!!!)... (NYT)

-- Nicholas Braun, known for his depiction as Cousin Greg on "Succession," will play WeWork's Adam Neumann... (THR)

-- Let's get ready to be sardonic!! "Curb Your Enthusiasm" will return on January 19 on HBO...

Seen and heard at THR's Women in Entertainment breakfast

Megan Thomas emails: Wednesday's news about Harvey Weinstein coincided with THR's annual Women in Entertainment Breakfast, where there was plenty of conversation about the evolving definition of power in the entertainment industry and little talk of the disgraced former film executive. Reese Witherspoon was honored with the Sherry Lansing Leadership Award and recalled a story about meeting with an unnamed studio executive as a 22-year-old who told her there was little space for female leads in film and "Meryl Streep is completely over."

Witherspoon, who started her Hello Sunshine production company in 2011 with the goal of elevating stories by and about women, spoke of female leadership as partnership and the celebration of collective, inclusive strength. The event also featured the presentation of $1.5 million in scholarships to inspiring young high school seniors in the Women in Entertainment Mentorship program. Witherspoon closed the morning by saying, "I can't wait to applaud and witness what all my powerful sisters will accomplish in the future."

Plus, as USA Today noted, Gretchen Carlson was at the event "to present journalist Ronan Farrow with the equity in entertainment award..."

Lifetime sets date, drops trailer for "Surviving R. Kelly" follow-up

Katie Pellico emails: Lifetime unveiled the "explosive" trailer for "Surviving R. Kelly Part II: The Reckoning" on Wednesday, and THR's Michael O'Connell had the scoop. The follow-up docu-series is set to air a year over three consecutive nights beginning Thursday, Jan. 2. It will feature "interviews from a variety of perspectives — including new survivors, supporters, music industry insiders" and others, O'Connell reported.

Thank you for reading! Email me or connect with me on Twitter. Brian will be back tomorrow. I'll see you later this week!