Forward

EXEC SUMMARY: Boris Johnson is set to win a majority, Steve Burke is stepping down from NBCU next year, HQ is attempting a comeback, Taylor Swift says she is placing her family first, and more...

Packing up the Newseum

The Newseum held its final public program on Wednesday. In three weeks, the museum will close its doors on Pennsylvania Avenue. The Freedom Forum promises that its work will continue... in new locations and in new ways... but the shuttering of the Newseum is bittersweet. More bitter than sweet, really. We need more places like the Newseum, not fewer.

"The problem was expenses and debt," former USA Today editor Ken Paulson wrote recently. "The Washington building was too ambitious ($450 million in construction), the upkeep was too costly and donations were too few." In its twelve years in DC, the museum was never able to break even.

The chair of the Newseum, Peter Pritchard, talked about these challenges at Wednesday night's farewell event. Among other things, "we underestimated how hard it would be to break even when the competition is free," meaning all the government-subsidized museums up and down the National Mall.

Still, more than 10 million visitors experienced the Newseum during its 12 years smack-dab between Capitol Hill and the White House. The location always seemed so perfect to me -- because, as one of the exhibits stated, the Americans who wrote the First Amendment knew that "a free press could be used to challenge the government should it grow too powerful or abusive."

For those of you who are in DC between now and New Year's Eve, stop by the Newseum. For those who aren't, I posted a long Twitter thread full of my favorite artifacts from the exhibition halls. Some examples:

>> A copy of a 301 year old newspaper, the Boston News-Letter, which was "the first successful newspaper in the Colonies."

>> A 1789 front page that printed the first 12 proposed amendments to the Constitution. "Article the Third," about freedom of press and speech and religion, eventually became the FIRST...

>> The NYT's 1927 front page about the test of a new medium called "television." It's "like a photo come to life," but commercial use is "in doubt," the headline said!

Chris Wallace's message

"Fox News Sunday" moderator Chris Wallace was one of the speakers at Wednesday night's Newseum event. "I believe the President Trump is engaged in the most direct, sustained assault on freedom of the press in our history," he said.

As the audience began to applaud, he asked them to listen to the rest of his remarks. "Because I think many of our colleagues in the news business see the president's attacks -- his constant bashing of the media -- as a rationale, as an excuse to cross the line themselves to push back," he said. "And that is a big mistake."

His main point: Trump doesn't want the press to be trusted, but presidents come and go, and the press endures. "I think we should remember some essential truths," he said. "First, ours is a great profession. Maybe the best that anybody ever thought of as a way to make a living. Think of it! We get paid to tell the truth. How many people can say that?"

Wemple's idea

Re: Wallace's remarks about Trump's "assault on freedom of the press," WaPo's Erik Wemple wrote that "this fundamental truth needs to be repeated, stressed, pounded into Americans' ears."

"So, a modest proposal: Give Wallace a week off from his 'Fox News Sunday' grind and use the show to replay any and all remarks he has made at journalistic advocacy events," he wrote. "Then convene an all-hands meeting at Fox News headquarters. Play the same tape. That way, Wallace can speak directly to the most important accomplices of the most direct, sustained assault on freedom of the press in our history..."

So what's next for the Newseum?

The Freedom Forum will continue to do what it does, but without a flagship building. Chair and CEO Jan Neuharth says "our next chapter has yet to be written," which doesn't mean much, to be honest. Will the museum find a new physical home? "Hopefully."

IN OTHER NEWS...

Boris touts 'historic' election

Check CNN.com's live story page for the latest updates about the UK election. Here are a few of Friday morning's front pages, sent to the presses while the votes were still being counted...

Trump's busiest day on Twitter ever

As of 11:30pm ET, Trump is up to 123 tweets and retweets (mostly RTs) from his @realDonaldTrump account since midnight. As far as I can tell, this is a new record. He hit 105 on Sunday.

Like other reporters, I'm using the Trump Twitter Archive and Factba.se to check Trump's totals. His retweet sprees, a relatively new tactic, are what's making him more active than ever on the platform...

McConnell on Hannity

The Senate Majority Leader very rarely gives sit-down TV interviews, so Thursday night's hit with Sean Hannity was noteworthy. It was ostensibly booked to promote the new paperback edition of his book "The Long Game," which has a foreword by Trump.

Among other things, McConnell said "there is no chance the president is going to be removed from office." Re: the length of the expected Senate trial, "my hope is that it will be a shorter process rather than a long, lengthy process." And he emphasized how closely he is working with the president's lawyers: "I'm going to take my cues from" them, he said.

>> McConnell's comments have triggered a new news cycle full of questions about whether it's appropriate for a Senate "juror" to be coordinating with the White House...

"The most shameful hour..."

Adam Schiff was Stephen Colbert's only guest on Thursday night's "Late Show." Schiff said Trump's solicitation of foreign help in elections is "a continuing risk to our democracy."

"For some of our members, who are defending the Constitution, it is their finest hour," he said. "But for others, who are willfully blinding themselves to this president's misconduct, it is the most shameful hour. And I wonder how they are going to explain" their choices to their grandchildren someday. "What will their answer be? For all too many, it will be nothing. It will be nothing except shame..."

Pew: "Trusting the News Media in the Trump Era"

New from Pew Research Center: A review of "more than 50 different surveys conducted by the Center – combined with an analysis of well over 100 questions measuring possible factors that could drive trust in the news media – confirms that in the Trump era, nothing comes close to matching the impact of political party identification. On item after item, Republicans consistently express far greater skepticism of the news media and their motives than Democrats, according to this analysis that focuses on trust in the news media during 2018 and 2019." Read in detail...

FOR THE RECORD, PART ONE

-- A key graf at the end of Peter Baker and Maggie Haberman's newest story: What Trump's advisers "worry about is the snapback of his anger once the impeachment process is over. They predict he will be furious, and looking for payback." (NYT)

-- The recent flurry of pro-impeachment editorials from national and coastal newspapers "hasn't come close to the level two decades ago when more than 115 newspaper boards called for President Bill Clinton's resignation," Michael Calderone writes... (Politico)

-- "A Trump rallygoer who appeared in a viral CBS News video, ominously warning that the country might descend into a 'second Civil War' if Trump was removed from office in a Senate trial, is actually an InfoWars host..." (Mediaite)

-- Steve Bannon: "If you don't think Tucker Carlson has more influence on national security policy than many of the guys on the National Security Council, you're wrong." (Beast)

Steve Burke almost ready to step down from NBCU

Multiple news outlets were chasing this news on Thursday. Variety's Matt Donnelly and Cynthia Littleton published first, during NBCU's annual press holiday party in NYC: "Steve Burke is expected to step down as CEO of NBCUniversal next year and is likely to hand the reins to Jeff Shell, who is now chairman of NBCUniversal Film and Entertainment, multiple sources tell Variety. Burke's NBCUniversal contract formally expires in August 2020, but sources say he could depart earlier in the year."

NBC declined to comment... But THR published its own version of the story within minutes... And other outlets have also matched the reporting. Maybe more details will come out on Friday. The hand-off comes as the company prepares to launch its Peacock streaming service in April...

Lachlan's L.A. record

WSJ's Katherine Clarke with the scoop: Lachlan Murdoch "has paid roughly $150 million for Chartwell, a Bel-Air estate, according to people familiar with the deal."

The château-style estate seen in "The Beverly Hillbillies" was listed in 2017 for $350 million. "While this deal falls short of that, it still sets a record for a home in the Los Angeles area. It is also the second most expensive residential sale ever recorded in the country, according to data from appraiser Jonathan Miller." Read the full report...

>> "Also trading in the deal was the former home of President Reagan and his wife, Nancy, which sits behind the main estate," the LAT's story notes...

>> Don't feel bad for Lachlan, but: "The estate carries one of the highest annual tax bills in the Los Angeles area at $1.3 million..."

HQ's attempt at a comeback

Kerry Flynn emails: HQ is back. Well actually, it never left. But it's true that the popularity of the app that gave us twice a day live trivia faded. Now, the startup is trying to make a comeback with a new game, called HQX. The startup's CEO Rus Yusupov told me, "With HQX, we've created a format that's all about being rewarded for your creativity and getting that reach and recognition. I don't know if people will become famous on it, but I'm excited to see where it goes." Keep reading...

Protocol's new hires

Kerry Flynn writes: Special job change shoutout to my boyfriend Mike Murphy, who is joining Politico's new sister site Protocol. I met Mike in 2015 shortly after he graduated from intern to full-time reporter at Quartz. Now he's leaving the company as tech editor to cover the ways tech is transforming our world for Protocol. I'm so excited for him!

>> Protocol exec editor Tim Grieve also announced Biz Carson, formerly of Forbes, and Lauren Hepler are joining to cover Silicon Valley. Janko Roettgers, formerly of Variety, is joining to cover tech, media and entertainment...

FRIDAY PLANNER

It's Friday the 13th!

Per Kerry Flynn, we'll learn the results of the NBC News Digital unionizing push in the afternoon...

"Jumanji: The Next Level," "Richard Jewell" and "Uncut Gems" open nationwide.

And "Bombshell" hits theaters in L.A. and NY ahead of its wide release next week...

FOR THE RECORD, PART TWO

-- Gretchen Carlson's new op-ed, timed to the release of "Bombshell" in theaters: "Today I call on Fox News to release me, and all employees forced to sign NDAs as a condition of harassment settlements, from these agreements immediately..." (NYT)

-- Do you have any questions for Craig Whitlock, the reporter who wrote the Afghanistan Papers series? I'll be interviewing him on Friday morning, so email me... (WaPo)

CNN to host January's Dem debate

CNN's Kyle Blaine writes: "CNN will host the Iowa Democratic presidential debate on January 14, in what will be the final face-to-face meeting between the candidates before the nation begins heading to the polls. CNN, in partnership with the Des Moines Register, will air the debate live in primetime from the campus of Drake University." No word on the DNC's criteria to qualify yet...

Three more debates in February

Blaine continues: "The DNC also announced on Thursday that ABC will host a debate in New Hampshire on February 7 at St. Anselm College in partnership with WMUR and Apple News," marking Apple's first foray into sponsoring a presidential debate. "NBC News and MSNBC will host a debate in Las Vegas on February 19 in partnership with The Nevada Independent." Then, in partnership with Twitter, "CBS and the Congressional Black Caucus Institute will co-host a debate at The Gaillard Center in Charleston, South Carolina, on February 25."

Videos show Alex Jones & top InfoWars personalities in new depositions

Oliver Darcy emails: Lawyers representing the father of a Sandy Hook victim released video depositions on Thursday showing right-wing conspiracy theorist Alex Jones and two top InfoWars personalities answering questions about the outlet's coverage of the 2012 shooting. Jones, who had falsely said the Sandy Hook shooting was staged, is being sued for defamation by the families of victims in Texas and Connecticut courts.

Since his previous statements, Jones has conceded the shooting was real. He said earlier this year in another deposition that it was a "form of psychosis" that caused him at the time to believe it was staged. I went through the hours of depositions released Thursday. Here are some highlights...

>> Alex Jones said he went through a period where he "did basically see almost everything as staged." He added, "I've gotten more sophisticated about that and I've admired that."

>> Jones ended his deposition peddling a conspiracy about the death of Jeffrey Epstein.

>> Paul Joseph Watson, a longtime InfoWars personality, said he did not believe that InfoWars treated the Sandy Hook shooting with the caution it deserved. Watson said, "From my perspective, decent and right, I would not have covered it that way, no."

>> Watson, however, argued that he did not believe "InfoWars directly did anything" to the parents of Sandy Hook, and testified that Jones only owed them an apology for the outlet's coverage.

>> An email entered into the records showed Watson had privately expressed to Jones that the "Sandy Hook stuff" was "killing us" and "promoted by the most bat shit crazy people."

>> Rob Dew, a senior InfoWars employee, said he was "proud" of the outlets coverage of Sandy Hook because he believed it "stopped what was going to be a lot of antigun legislation." Asked if he was sorry for the false information InfoWars peddled, Dew said he was not because people "get things wrong all the time."

FOR THE RECORD, PART THREE

-- Tamron Hall's show has been renewed for a second season... (THR)

-- Brian Lowry emails: Flagging this Steve Zeitchik story about Netflix wining and dining (and flying and hotel-ing) journalists as part of its awards pitch. A lot of ethical questions here... (WaPo)

-- Correction: Last night we linked to an old story about Duncan Hunter and incorrectly said there was a court appeal hearing in his case. Apologies, and thank you to everyone who wrote in about the error!

VF: "A new act to Richard Jewell's media tragedy"

VF's Joe Pompeo has a new look at the "high-profile journalism controversy" around the Clint Eastwood-directed bio-drama, "Richard Jewell," which opens in theaters on Friday. The dispute has "pitted Georgia's newspaper of record, the Atlanta Journal-Constitution, against Eastwood and Warner Bros. in a vituperative and emotional public dispute. It all boils down to what many view as the character assassination of Kathy Scruggs, a woman who isn't alive to defend herself, even though she has no shortage of advocates throughout the journalism community." Read on...

>> Pompeo cited the NYT's Nicholas Confessore, who wrote, "An accurate movie script about a female reporter would involve her being constantly propositioned or harassed by people she covers, while being invited to evening 'meetings' that somehow turn into involuntary dates with sources, and bombarded with rape threats on Twitter."

>> Read Brian Lowry's full review here. Although "worth seeing," Lowry says the "missteps and excesses leave it looking like a great-movie wannabe..."

Taylor Swift picking more family time over touring

Lisa Respers France reports: "We may now know why Taylor Swift is only making a few US stops during her 2020 tour. The singer who turns 30 Friday has been named Billboard's Woman of the Decade and shared her next year's plans with the publication. 'This is a year where I have to be there for my family -- there's a lot of question marks throughout the next year, so I wanted to make sure that I could go home,' she said. Swift could be referring to her mother, Andrea Swift's, cancer diagnosis. which the superstar revealed in an essay she wrote for Elle magazine published in March."

>> "Swift's 2020 'Lover' concert and festival tour mostly hits Europe, but has stops in New York City, Atlanta, Los Angeles and Foxborough, Massachusetts. The Grammy-winning artist said she also plans to rerecord some of her hits next year when she's contractually able to. Swift has been engaged in a battle with Scott Borchetta, the head of her former label, Big Machine Records and Scooter Braun, the mogul who acquired her pre-'Lover' master recordings from the label in June." Read the full story from Lisa Respers France here...

FOR THE RECORD, PART FOUR

-- Apple has already ordered a second season of "Little America," the anthology series about immigrants in America set to debut in January, from Lee Eisenberg and "Big Sick" writers Kumail Nanjiani and Emily V. Gordon... (Variety)

-- "The 'Sesame Street' live-action film starring Anne Hathaway has been pushed back again, this time another half a year to Jan. 14, 2022," Brian Welk reports... (TheWrap)

Netflix developing scripted series about Spotify

Netflix announced an original series in development about Spotify, "the Swedish start-up that shook the entire music industry and evolved into becoming one of the world's leading music services." The limited, scripted, and as of yet, untitled series is inspired by "Spotify Untold," a book from business reporters Sven Carlsson and Jonas Leijonhufvud.

Berna Levin, EP at the production company on the project, Yellow Bird, said "The story of how a small band of Swedish tech industry insiders transformed music – how we listen to it and how it's made – is truly a tale for our time. Not only is this a story about the way all our lives have changed in the last decade, it's about the battle for cultural and financial influence in a globalised, digitised world." Read the full release...

Lin-Manuel Miranda's 'In the Heights' trailer debuts

Lisa Respers France reports: We now have a look at Lin-Manuel Miranda bringing one of his Broadway hits to the big screen. The first trailer for 'In the Heights' debuted Thursday... Judging by the trailer, the movie sticks close to the Tony-winning musical on which it is based... Watch it here!

FOR THE RECORD, PART FIVE

By Lisa Respers France:

-- NBC correspondent Kristen Dahlgren's reporting on the different types of cancer symptoms may have saved her life...

-- TLC has a new reality show about plus-sized women and their thinner love interests and it's turning into a bigger deal than the network may have imagined. "Hot & Heavy" hasn't even aired yet, but is already facing backlash...

-- Here's what we know so far about Lifetime's "Surviving R. Kelly II: The Reckoning..."

"Reese Witherspoon is not here for your sexist paycheck shaming"

Katie Pellico writes: So THR's TV editor Lacey Rose tweeted, recapping part of her cover story profiling Reese Witherspoon, "the Oscar-winning actress, producer, entrepreneur and activist" who has "built an empire on her own taste and work ethic." Rose wrote that Witherspoon "plots projects all over Hollywood and responds to critics of her paychecks: 'Does it bother people when Kobe Bryant or LeBron James make their contract?'" Read more...

Thank you for reading! We'll be back tomorrow...