| | | | | Happy New Year! This newsletter has two parts: First, a look ahead this week and this month's big media stories... Then, a look at stories you might have missed during the holiday... | | | Monday was A.G. Sulzberger's first day as publisher of The New York Times. His father Arthur Sulzberger joined the list of past publishers on the editorial page. A.G. wrote this letter to readers... It'll appear in Tuesday's print edition... There won't be any of the usual editorials, just his letter, according to an NYT spokeswoman... | | | ABC's chief investigative correspondent Brian Ross will return to work this week. His four-week unpaid suspension is almost over... I'm told that it officially ends on Thursday... Despite some internal grumblings and external demands that it should be made permanent. You may recall that James Goldston told staffers that Ross will not be covering Trump anymore... | | L.A. Times union election this week | | Longtime labor reporter Steven Greenhouse flagged this on Twitter: "The L.A. Times, for decades one of the nation's most anti-union newspapers, may soon unionize."
The union election is on Thursday, but votes won't be tallied until January 19, to give adequate time for mail-in ballots, "so we won't get the official word until later in January," national reporter and guild organizer Matt Pearce told me. And speaking of Tronc-owned papers... | | The NY Daily News has no editor or publisher | | That's right. The NYDN doesn't have an editor in chief or a publisher at the moment. Arthur Browne retired on Sunday. Tronc knew about his impending retirement when it bought the paper last September... But didn't line up a replacement... Or even name an interim or acting editor.
"We are in the midst of a search for the next editor in chief of the New York Daily News and expect to make an announcement in the next few weeks," a Tronc spokeswoman told me when I asked about this strange situation.
"The office will be broom clean when she or he arrives," Browne said... Here's my full story... | | Robert Siegel signing off on Friday | | It's time for a big transition at NPR's "All Things Considered." Robert Siegel's last day co-hosting is this Friday. His successor Mary Louise Kelly starts on Jan. 17.
And speaking of NPR: CEO Jarl Mohn, who's on medical leave right now, is expecting to return to work mid-month, according to a Dec. 15 note to staff... An outside law firm continues to examine how the organization's harassment scandal was handled... NPR's board of directors is planning to provide an update to staffers sometime early this month... | | Hey, want to be the next editor of Glamour? | | | If so, call Anna Wintour. Glamour is still looking for someone to replace Cindi Leive, who announced her exit in September. Keith Kelly hears that Condé Nast is "looking outside the ranks of traditional magazine editors to try to add more digital clout to the title. And that Leive, as the search drags on, has been asked to delay her departure. Sources say her last day is now scheduled to be Jan. 19..." | | The 90-day clock is ticking for Bob Iger to identify a new ESPN president. And Amazon Studios still needs a new boss. Jeff Bezos "has a rare opportunity to dip into a deep talent pool to restaff and reboot his content operation," TheWrap's Sharon Waxman says. "Word on the street is that he has been looking to hire top female executive talent."
I noted some of the other media industry job openings in this year-end story... | | Big $$ media deals awaiting approval | | Hearst's acquisition of Rodale is "expected to close in early January," David Carey said in a year-end letter to staffers. Several other major media deals are still awaiting government approval: Discovery-Scripps, Sinclair-Tribune, Meredith-Time. Of course, Disney-Fox was just announced, and AT&T-Time Warner is heading toward a March showdown with the DOJ in court...
--> Andrew Ross Sorkin, in his annual Dealbook review/preview column, says this is the question of the year: "Why does the administration really want to block the AT&T-Time Warner deal?" | | Will Lachlan agree to run New Fox? | | The Disney deal "provided Rupert Murdoch with the opportunity to establish the like-minded Lachlan as his clear heir, putting him in a position to eventually take over" Fox News and News Corporation, Brooks Barnes and Sydney Ember write in this deep dive story. So what will Rupert's elder son do? The story points out that Rupert wants him to be CEO of the Fox assets that don't go to Disney, but "Lachlan has not yet made a decision..."
--> The must-read story also reveals that Verizon was first -- the company came to Rupert "with a surprise acquisition offer" over the summer -- but Rupert "shrugged off the talks as uninspiring." So Verizon cracked open the door that Disney eventually walked through... | | Sandra Gonzalez writes: "A group of more than 1,000 women in entertainment have detailed a comprehensive plan to combat sexual harassment across industries." The name: Time's Up.
The coalition "intends to use the platform given to women in entertainment to fight for equality on behalf of women in all fields... Time's Up has already put together a $13 million fund to subsidize legal support... Major donors to the fund include Reese Witherspoon, Shonda Rhimes, Oprah Winfrey, Jennifer Aniston, Meryl Streep, Steven Spielberg and Kate Capshaw," plus ICM, WME, UTA, and CAA...
--> The coalition has been in the works since October. NYT's Cara Buckley has the backstory here... | | | Megan Thomas emails: Time's Up is also encouraging women to wear black to raise awareness of gender and racial inequality at the Golden Globe Awards on Sunday. The show, which has historically been the most rambunctious and alcohol-fueled award show of the season, is shaping up to feature politics and protest center stage. Expect a very different scene on the red carpet this year, Trump zingers from host Seth Meyers, and a noteworthy lifetime achievement award acceptance speech from Oprah Winfrey... | | -- 🔌: Look for Bill Carter and I on the 6am hour of "New Day" on Tuesday...
-- More reforms in the wake of Yashar Ali's shocking story about Miss America mismanagement: Gretchen Carlson "is going to serve as chair of the Miss America Organization board of directors..." (HuffPost)
-- Lead story in Monday's NYT: "Partisans, Wielding Money, Begin Seeking to Exploit Harassment Claims." Featuring David Brock spending $200,000 "on an unsuccessful effort to bring forward accusations of sexual misconduct against Mr. Trump before Election Day..." (NYT)
-- "A pattern of forced spankings by the publisher." These allegations involve H. Brandt Ayers, former publisher of the Anniston Star newspaper in Alabama... (Anniston Star) | | What are your 2018 resolutions for the media? | | Email me with them!
I asked Joanne Lipman, John Avlon and Sally Buzbee for resolutions on the New Year's Eve edition of "Reliable Sources." Here are some of their suggestions: Be more transparent, "relentlessly pursue facts," follow the money, "go to places that are being ignored and talk to people there," and "focus on solutions, not just the problem, of sexual harassment." Here's the segment... | | If you missed Sunday's show, you can listen to the podcast through iTunes, watch the segments on CNN.com, or read the transcript here. A few of the standout quotes:
-- Sarah Cuda on Facebook, Google, etc: "These are companies that figured out a way to put planes in space that beam the Internet down from the sky. You're telling me it's too hard for them to figure out what is 'fake news' and not spread it? It just isn't a priority" for them. Watch...
-- Rebecca Traister on the "tipping point" moment: "I worry that we focus too much on the repercussions of these individuals, rather than looking at the larger systemic imbalances that have been revealed by this." Watch...
-- Jeffrey Toobin on the Russia investigations: "The president is very fond of saying there was 'no collusion.' We know, in fact, there was at least some collusion." Watch... | | News you may have missed last week... | | -- There was a Twitter roar when Joan Walsh revealed that MSNBC was letting her analyst contract expire. MSNBC said she would be welcome on shows as an unpaid guest, which seemed insulting to her fans. Within 24 hours, CNN had signed her to a contract... (Deadline)
-- Joe Trippi, who recently helped Doug Jones win a Senate seat, said in a tweet that "after seven years," he's no longer a Fox News contributor... (Twitter)
-- The NYT examined the "growing union movement at more than a dozen digital publishers..." (NYT)
-- And took a look at the growth of MoviePass... (NYT)
-- The RNC and Trump's re-election campaign sent around a "fake news trophy" promo -- "a contest to name the 2017 KING of Fake News..." (Axios) | | Charles Osgood's parting advice | | | On the last work day of 2017, CBS legend Charles Osgood retired from his radio commentaries. He had recently renewed his contract to host the "Osgood File," but said he had to step down for health reasons. In this interview with Alex Silverman, Osgood said he had one word of advice for reporters: "Listen." | | -- Margaret Sullivan's must-read from a few days ago: It's about the public's media habits and trust. This is something I want to explore a lot more in the year ahead... (WashPost)
-- What's Facebook doing with Watch? Bloomberg's Shira Ovide interviewed product VP Fidji Simo... (Bloomberg)
-- Erik Wemple's latest: "New NYT scoop on Russia raises questions about old NYT story on Russia..." (WashPost) | | Two shootings, two different Trump admin reactions | | | The Toronto Star's Trump-checker Daniel Dale pointed this out on Monday: "Last week, a Muslim Pennsylvania man shot at cops, wounding one; Trump admin issued a statement calling it a terrorist attack and decrying 'chain migration.' Yesterday, a white Colorado man shot at cops, killing one and wounding four. Trump simply issued a 'condolences' tweet..." | | "Trump, through Twitter and the Times, dominates holiday news cycle" | | That's the headline on Matthew Nussbaum's recap for Politico.
If I try to recap all the reactions to Michael Schmidt's impromptu interview with POTUS, I'll be up all night 😉 Suffice to say I think there should be more attention on Trump's answers than on Schmidt's questions. And on the fact that White House aides didn't even know Trump was giving an interview! | | President Trump's golf outings are frequent, but photos of him on the links are few and far between. Last week CNN found a spot on public property to film POTUS golfing through some trees. But after several days, a large white truck showed up to block the view. Tom Kludt wrote about it last Wednesday. The next day, there was no truck, but there was Trump -- and he and his companions looked directly at the camera.
At the end of the week, per CNN's Noah Gray, about ten new trees were planted in the location, seemingly covering up the spot. Who planted and paid for the trees? The Secret Service, White House, and Trump Organization did not respond to CNN's requests for comment... | | | For the record, part three | | | -- By Craig Silverman: "I helped popularize the term 'fake news,' and now I cringe every time I hear it..." (BuzzFeed)
-- To cover the Trump presidency, The Daily Beast EIC John Avlon fixed on two millennials who hold clashing political beliefs. Here's David Folkenflik's profile of Asawin Suebsaeng and Lachlan Markay... (NPR)
-- Paul Farhi tweeted: "All-news station WTOP has ended its affiliation with CBS radio after many decades and has switched its top-of-the-hour newscasts to ABC broadcasts..." | | The "world of Playboy" probably won't include a print edition in the future | | Hugh Hefner's death last September "has set in motion a process that will move ownership" of Playboy "out of his family's hands," the WSJ's Lukas Alpert reports. Playboy Enterprises' controlling shareholder is private-equity firm Rizvi Traverse. The firm "is in talks to acquire the 35% stake Mr. Hefner left in trust to his heirs, a person familiar with the matter said." And "although a final decision hasn't been made, the company is seriously considering the future of the print magazine."
--> Rizvi Traverse managing partner/Playboy CEO Ben Kohn: "We want to focus on what we call the 'World of Playboy' which is so much larger than a small, legacy print publication..." | | This is a big week for Fox | | | Brian Lowry emails: This is, by any measure, a big week for the struggling Fox network, which premieres four series: in order, the sitcom "LA to Vegas," more "The X-Files" coupled with new drama "9-1-1," and music competition "The Four," intended to soften the loss of "American Idol." But there's another dimension to the pressure with the pending Disney acquisition of other Fox assets, creating uncertainty about where and how the orphaned network fits in Fox's future plans... | | "Mariah Carey's comeback and the mercury's dip proved a potent combination for ABC's 'Dick Clark's Primetime New Year's Rockin' Eve with Ryan Seacrest' as viewership soared over last year's telecast," Variety's Cynthia Littleton reports. "ABC averaged 10.5 million viewers and a 3.0 rating/12 share in the adults 18-49 demographic, a spike of more than 50% in both measures over the 2017 telecast, for the 8-10 p.m. ET portion of the annual special. From 10-11 p.m., the crowd swelled to 15.7 million viewers and a whopping 5.2/20 in the key demo — up 35% and 39%, respectively, from last year." Closer-to-midnight #'s will come in on Tuesday. So will #'s for Andy Cohen's debut next to Anderson Cooper on CNN...
--> On Fox's NYE show, Steve Harvey officiated Maria Menounos and Keven Undergaro's surprise wedding ceremony... | | The first meme of 2018... | | | News from New Year's Eve: "Just three weeks after its release, 'Star Wars: The Last Jedi' has already raked in more than $1 billion around the world," Jackie Wattles reported... Disney said "Jedi" ranked as the third-biggest film of 2017 worldwide... | | Strong start for "The Post" | | | "The Post" "is soaring in its holiday debut in nine theaters," THR's Pamela McClintock reported over the weekend. "Now in its second weekend, the Pentagon Papers drama -- up for six Globes -- is tipped to post a stellar location average of $86,111 for a cume of $2 million through Monday. Fox expands The Post nationwide Jan. 12..." | | Have you binged the new "Black Mirror" episodes yet? | | Here's what's streaming in January... | | "The first Billboard chart of the new year belongs to Taylor Swift." | | Most anticipated movies and TV of 2018 | | | The "black-ish" spin-off "grown-ish" premieres on Wednesday... Plus... | | | Sandra Gonzalez writes: "Marvel will bring to theaters a super hero story that's long overdue with 'Black Panther,' Ava DurVernay will make magic with 'A Wrinkle in Time,' Ryan Murphy will follow up the success of his O.J. Simpson tale with 'The Assassination of Gianni Versace: American Crime Story,' and that's just the tip of the entertainment iceberg that will sink your social life in the New Year." Here's her rundown... | | | Email brian.stelter@turner.com... I appreciate every message. Happy New Year! | | | Get Reliable Sources, a comprehensive summary of the most important media news, delivered to your inbox every afternoon. | | | | | |
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