| | | | | Exec summary: Scroll down for the "Roseanne" season finale, Mark Zuckerberg's testimony, the White House's cover-up, plus my sightings from HBO's "Succession" premiere and the annual Freedom of the Press Awards dinner... | | The New Yorker reports: "Philip Roth, the seminal American novelist whose book 'American Pastoral' won the Pulitzer Prize for Fiction, in 1998, has died." He was 85.
Roth was the author of 29 novels. "One of our greats," NYT Book Review editor Pamela Paul tweeted Tuesday night. "A very sad moment for American, and global, literature." Here's the NYT's obit...
>> Roth "retired" in 2012. Here's what he said about the frustration of writing...
>> Roth's final contribution to The New Yorker was this June 2017 piece, "I Have Fallen in Love with American Names..." | | | The dynamic between government and media is always a push and pull. But the government is pushing harder lately... Restricting access to info... And sometimes literally closing the door on reporters. Tuesday is a prime example... | | Oliver Darcy emails: The press corps' tug of war with the EPA escalated on Tuesday, with the federal agency barring reporters from CNN, the AP, and E&E News from attending the opening of a summit featuring Scott Pruitt. The AP said in a story that when its reporter protested and asked to speak with a public affairs person after being blocked from the event, a uniformed security guard forcibly shoved her out of the building.
>> In a statement, EPA spokesman Jahan Wilcox blamed space limitations inside the venue for blocking the journalists, saying the EPA was only able to accommodate a limited number of journalists. When I called and asked about the incident with the AP reporter, Wilcox declined to comment beyond his original statement, which said he was "unaware of the individual situation that has been reported."
>> It was an odd explanation from Wilcox, since there appeared to be room for more reporters. The Hill reported that there was a handful of vacant seats in the press section, and a person told Politico there were dozens of empty seats in the venue. A photo we obtained also showed space for cameras. Read more here... | | How the news outlets responded | | As I reported on "The Situation Room," AP exec editor Sally Buzbee said the blocking of journalists was a "direct threat to the public's right to know about what is happening inside their government" and said it was "distressing" a journalist was "forcibly removed."
I liked the kicker to CNN's statement too: "We understand the importance of an open and free press and we hope the EPA does, too." | | | Oliver Darcy adds: This is a serious self-inflicted wound on the part of the EPA's comms department. The agency is already under scrutiny, and incidents like this only add fuel to it. Had Wilcox worked to get journalists access into the event, the EPA could have saved itself a big headache... | | The Freedom of the Press Awards Dinner | | A timely event! This EPA issue was mentioned when Dean Baquet, Lynn Novick, Nabiha Syed, and Robert Siegel were honored at Tuesday night's annual fundraising dinner held by the Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press.
ABC's David Muir was the master of ceremonies. RCFP chair David Boardman told the audience that "the best way to protect your rights is to exercise them, vigorously," and the best way to convince the public that our work matters is "to do work that truly matters..." | | Rivals sitting side by side | | With me at Wolf Blitzer's table of CNNers: Wolf's wife Lynn, Joey Jackson, Kate Bolduan, Jay Shaylor, Sam Vinograd, Laurie Segall, Elise Garofalo...
Spotted: Marty Baron, Don Baer, Richard Tofel, Margaret Sullivan, James Bennet, Steve Brill, Gary Knell, Bill Keller, Arthur Sulzberger, Paula Kerger, Karen Kaiser, Ben Smith, Kevin Goldman, Anna Bross, David Joachim, Joe Kahn, Jenifer Fenton, Peter Ligouri, Eve Burton, Michael Glantz, Michael Calderone, Kyle Pope, Lisa Belkin, Matt Purdy, Julie Bloom, Steven Perlberg, many more... | | Baquet received the fourth and final award of the night...
-- He thanked Arthur Sulzberger, Jr. and A.G. -- specifically Arthur for shepherding the paper and leaving a newsroom "even bigger and better than the one he inherited."
-- He repeated his belief that the crisis in local journalism -- not Trump's attacks or anything else -- is "the greatest crisis in journalism today."
-- Baquet's final point: "The president may not like or understand what we do... In fact, it is in his interest to undermine us... But we move ahead, protecting the principle that inquiry and reporting are what matter most of all. That in an age when certainty and snark sometimes pass for journalism, absolutely nothing is more important to us than the joyful and serious pursuit of the deepest knowledge and understanding." | | Stahl says Trump knows exactly what he's doing... | | Hadas Gold emails: At Monday night's Deadline awards in NYC, Lesley Stahl recounted an interesting meeting with Trump during the transition. She visited Trump Tower ahead of her post-election interview with him for "60 Minutes." Stahl said that at one point he started going after the media: "At one point he started to attack the press. It's me, my boss and him. And he's attacking the press. There were no cameras," Stahl said. "I said 'you know, that is getting tired, why are you doing this…it's time to end it.'"
According to Stahl, Trump answered, "You know why I do it, I do it to discredit you all and demean you all, so when you write negative stories about me, no one will believe you."
--> CNBC's John Harwood weighed in: "having a hard time imagining him using the words 'demean' and 'discredit...'"
--> And radio host Kai Ryssdal: "He said this to her more than a year ago. I'm thinking it would've been handy to have known, say, a year ago..." | | -- The latest on CBS v. Redstone: "In an 8-K, CBS disputes the validity of a controversial bylaw amendment, but says even if it was valid, it wouldn't be effective for a few weeks..." (THR)
-- "Facebook now requires your Social Security number to buy political ads." Here's Donie O'Sullivan's latest... (CNNMoney)
-- Vice following up on last night's newsletter: "This Livestream of Hawaii's Volcanic Eruption Is Strangely Hypnotizing" (True!)
-- Heads up: Amol Sharma is looking for a deputy editor for WSJ's media and marketing coverage... Details here... | | The "Roseanne" season finale... | | I taped an interview with the NYT's James Poniewozik on Tuesday. It's for a forthcoming CNN prime time special... I can't share the details yet... but after the interview, his review of the "Roseanne" season finale stood out to me. The episode aired on Tuesday night... And Poniewozik made the case that the reboot was really two shows in one. "The first and better one was closer to the series' original class-conscious, character-based comedy," he writes. Read the rest here...
>> Another view: "The Roseanne Season Finale Is a Fairy Tale," Vulture's Kathryn VanArendonk writes... | | This is America in one sad headline | | Via The Upshot blog: "Rural and Urban Americans, Equally Convinced the Rest of the Country Dislikes Them."
That's one of the takeaways from this new Pew survey. Pew says "many urban and rural residents feel misunderstood and looked down on by Americans living in other types of communities." It made me wonder: How much do sensational headlines and us-versus-them cable news segments contribute to this negative sentiment? | | | Gerry Smith's latest for Bloomberg is titled "the hard truth at newspapers across America: Hedge funds are in charge..." | | "Fox & Friends" says whoops | | "Fox & Friends" on Tuesday "dedicated an entire segment to blasting the National Association of Black Journalists for naming ESPN's Jemele Hill its Journalist of the Year." A guest said Hill is "unemployed," which is, of course, not true. Later in the day, the @FoxAndFriends posted this:
"Correction: Hill is currently employed by ESPN." | | -- Vanity Fair "laid off around six employees this week after letting go 15 in mid-February..." (THR)
-- For the first time in three months, the "Today" show had an across-the-board ratings win against "GMA" last week... (TheWrap)
-- A ten-year deal, but this isn't for sports rights: Univision has snapped up the rights to the Latin Grammy Awards through 2028... (Deadline)
-- ABC's "The Middle" said goodbye on Tuesday after nine seasons on the air... (Variety) | | CNN's Samuel Burke reports from the hearing: Members of the European Parliament made sure to tag team previous Q's Mark Zuckerberg avoided with his "I'll have my team follow up with you on that." You could feel how much more seriously Europe takes privacy, and you could see the learning curve politicians have had from the Senate, the U.S. House and now to the European Parliament…
BUT: The traditional format of the hearing meant the members asked ALL their questions first, all at once! And only when they all finished, THEN Zuckerberg answered at the end. Nearly an hour worth of great questions were followed up by a very brief monologue from Zuck trying to quickly answer all of their questions. Format disaster! It meant he was able to recycle broad bullet point answers...
AND: It was a mess for European broadcasters who were all set to make a TV event out of this hearing... but with no back-and-forth with Zuck, we watched our European colleagues all shrug their shoulders as they realized viewers would definitely be tuning out... | | NYT's next venture: Parenting | | | Per an internal memo: "The New York Times is thrilled to announce that we are investing in a new parenting product." What will it look like? TBD, but Jessica Grose will be the lead editor... and Youngna Park will be the product lead... | | "A new phase of the #MeToo movement may be upon us..." | | | The NYT editorial board reacting to the new "60 Minutes" and NYT reporting about Mario Batali: "A new phase of the #MeToo movement may be upon us. Call it the 'not so fast' era: Powerful men who plotted career comebacks mere months after being taken down by accusations of sexual misconduct now face even more alarming claims..." | | | For the record, part three | | | -- I talked with Pete Vernon about Showtime's new docuseries "The Fourth Estate" and how it compares with 2011's "Page One," the NYT documentary I appeared in... (CJR)
-- I missed this yesterday: "The New York Times, Anonymous Content, Paramount Television, and 3dot Productions are developing an original series titled Overlooked," based on the NYT's belated obits of notable women... (NYT)
-- Roger Ailes died one year ago this week. Now there's a film and a miniseries in the works about his story. "Ailes's dark legacy will endure. He resides in every political moment," Margaret Sullivan writes... "In short, Ailes fostered hate, abused women and helped give us a divisive president..." (WashPost) | | What about Fox's investigation into the Seth Rich retraction? | | | Oliver Darcy emails: One year ago on Wednesday, Fox News retracted its story on Seth Rich and said it would investigate the matter and provide updates as warranted. Thus far, there has been no disciplinary action announced by the network or update on how the article ultimately was published. So I thought on the one-year anniversary I'd check in with Fox News and see where things stand. Was anyone ever disciplined? Is the network continuing its investigation? Fox News isn't saying. A network spokesperson declined comment, citing pending litigation on the matter... | | | Yes, the sinkhole outside the West Wing entrance to the briefing room has been covered up... | | Previewing HBO's "Succession" | | HBO held a premiere for its media mogul family drama "Succession" at Time Warner Center on Tuesday night...
Spotted: The stars of the series, plus Richard Plepler, Frank Rich, Kevin Messick, Regis Philbin, Merissa Marr, Kate Kelly, SE Cupp, John Goodwin, Gabe Sherman, Lawrence O'Donnell, Mark Robichaux, Lorne Manly, and many more... The show premieres on June 3, and if you like this newsletter, I think you'll like it... | | Brian Lowry emails: The major networks don't spend much time talking about the traditional September-through-May TV season anymore, given that they program originals on a year-round basis. But they tend to be more interested when they can claim victory, and NBC scored a clear win for that period in key demographics, albeit one that comes with a bit of an asterisk: NBC received a boost from airing the Super Bowl and Winter Olympics -- the first time a network has boasted that one-two punch in season since the early 1990s. (The network would have been No. 1 regardless, but sports significantly padded the demo margin.)
CBS actually edged NBC in total viewers (9 million to 8.9 million), followed by ABC (6.1 million), which closed the season with a lift from "Roseanne" and "American Idol;" and Fox (4.9 million). Among adults 18-49, CBS, ABC and Fox finished in a three-way tie, with a 1.5 rating trailing NBC's 2.2. NBC also cited a milestone outside of primetime: an average 9.4 million viewers on a live-plus-seven-day basis for original episodes of "SNL," according to the network, the show's most-watched season since 1995... | | | "Drama series 'UnReal' is set to move from Lifetime to Hulu for its fourth and what will likely be its final season," Variety's Daniel Holloway reports. Hulu already has the streaming repeat rights to the series... Through this new deal, the fourth season, which has already been shot, would premiere on Hulu... | | Lowry's "Arrested" review | | Brian Lowry emails: When Netflix brought "Arrested Development" back in 2013, it was a big deal for the streaming service. A lot has changed in the last five years, with a new fifth season that feels in some respects like a nostalgic reunion.
Read Lowry's full review here... | | Megan Thomas emails: Reese Witherspoon has announced a new partnership with Amazon's Audible. Selections from Witherspoon's popular Hello Sunshine book club, along with complementary original content, will be distributed under the deal. "With our busy lives, it can be hard to find the time to read. That's why I am excited to work with Audible to provide a fun way to listen to beautiful stories in your free time," Witherspoon said in a statement announcing the project.
>> On Witherspoon's current playlist is Curtis Sittenfeld's "You Think It, I'll Say It," which Hello Sunshine is also developing into a TV series... | | | For the record, part four | | | By Lisa Respers France:
-- R. Kelly has been sued for alleged sexual assault...
-- Donald Glover is totally cool with Lando being pansexual in "Solo..."
-- "American Idol" crowned its first ABC winner -- with a twist!
-- Speaking of ABC: Adam Rippon won "Dancing with The Stars: Athletes..." | | | HEY, WHAT DO YOU THINK OF THIS LETTER? Email your feedback and thoughts to brian.stelter@turner.com... the feedback helps us improve this newsletter every day... Thank you! | | | | | | |
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