Brian Stelter here with Kerry Flynn at 11:30pm ET Tuesday. Here's the latest on President Biden's town hall, Kamala Harris, the Houston Chronicle, Swati Sharma, CNN, HuffPost, Rush Limbaugh, The Weeknd, emojis, and much more...
"Gut punch"
That's what Daniela Altimari wrote in reaction to Tuesday's news that Alden Global Capital, a widely feared hedge fund, is buying the rest of Tribune Publishing and taking the newspaper owner private.
Altimari is a statehouse reporter at one of Tribune's papers, The Hartford Courant, which has the distinction of being the oldest continuously published newspaper in America. Altimari spent the day doing what great local reporters do -- monitoring a legislative hearing about vaccinations, and reporting back to the public. Then she spent the evening reading and absorbing the Alden "gut punch."
Here is Kerry Flynn with the details: "The Alden deal is valued at $630 million. The Chicago Tribune, one of the newspaper chain's papers, was first to report the news of the agreement. The acquisition has long been expected -- and feared internally -- after the hedge fund became the company's largest shareholder in 2019 with about 32% ownership." Keep reading...
What union members are saying
Along with the Chicago Tribune and the Courant, Tribune also owns the Orlando Sentinel, South Florida Sun Sentinel, NY Daily News, and several other papers covering key markets in the US. In Allentown, PA, reporter Jennifer Sheehan of The Morning Call said the deal news wasn't a shock but was still incredibly heart-breaking. "Over and over," she told Flynn, "Alden buys newspapers, cuts them to the bone, bleeds them dry and leave the shell behind... Regardless of today’s announcement, we will not stop fighting to save local news."
In Orlando Gabrielle Russon, a business reporter at the Sentinel, said "there are a lot of us who are truly sad right now. We love journalism. We care about what we do. And to watch our company being taken over by a hedge fund that has a history of destroying good newspapers is heartbreaking. It also hurts not to be together when we get such bad news like this since our newsroom shut down during the pandemic and we're all working remotely. It's a strange, isolating time."
Maryland papers would become nonprofits
As Flynn wrote, "Alden's takeover of Tribune felt inevitable." But the announcement also included a surprise: Alden has agreed to sell the Baltimore Sun Media Group to Sunlight for All Institute, a nonprofit led by Stewart Bainum Jr., chair of the hotel chain Choice Hotels International. This means that The Baltimore Sun, the Capital Gazette in Annapolis, The Carroll County Times and other Maryland papers would revert to a nonprofit model.
As a native Marylander who wants Baltimore and the Sun to thrive, I'm hopeful about this news. So are Sun staffers, judging by the image atop the Sun's story about the deal: A photo of a rainbow. The Sun's own story notes that "it was not immediately clear whether Bainum's effort is affiliated with an effort by a group of Baltimore philanthropists, businesspeople and the union representing Sun journalists to seek local ownership for the publication," or whether he's going it alone...
>> The guild that represents Sun reporters said "this is a really happy moment for us," but "at the same time, we're devastated for our colleagues who could be sold to Alden Global Capital, and we're going to fight like hell right alongside them."
These men will need to OK the deal...
"The deal's success hinges on securing the votes of California biotech billionaire and Los Angeles Times owner Patrick Soon-Shiong, who owns about 24% of Tribune Publishing, and shareholder Mason Slaine, a former media executive who owns roughly 8%," the Chicago Tribune's Robert Channick wrote. Soon-Shiong is not commenting. Slaine is non-committal, according to Channick...
Notes and quotes
-- Alden already owns "some 200 publications, including the Denver Post, St. Paul Pioneer Press and San Jose Mercury News," WaPo noted.
-- Alden boss Heath Freeman offers his firm "as a cure for years of bad management," NPR correspondent (and Sun alum) David Folkenflik tweeted. But Alden is "known for cutting its other newspaper titles to ribbons."
-- NewsGuild president Jon Schleuss: "I salute Bainum's effort" in Baltimore. "We need more folks to step and invest in truly local news that's accountable to our communities."
-- Poynter quoted the memo from Tribune CEO Terry Jimenez, which said "we will remain focused on our journalistic mission throughout this process."
-- Mother Jones EIC Clara Jeffery tweeted: "A big, maybe even the biggest, reason we're in this hyper-partisan, post-truth, conspiracy reality is because of the destruction and underfunding of legit reporting media, up and down the food chain."
New audio series about the Capital Gazette
NPR's "Embedded" is launching a four-part series about the surviving staff of the Capital Gazette. "Producer Chris Benderev spent more than two years following them through trauma and triumphs," according to NPR. The episodes explore the fallout from the 2018 shooting, the legal proceedings of the suspect, and the Alden takeover attempt. The trailer is up now... The first episode comes out on Thursday...
WEDNESDAY PLANNER
Ash Wednesday marks the start of Lent...
Twilio, Shopify and Baidu report earnings...
Biden's soundbites
What did you notice during President Biden's town hall on CNN? I noticed all the times he said "sorry" when he gave detailed answers to questions. "I'm sorry to go on," "I'm sorry to go on," he said repeatedly, especially during the second half of the broadcast. A critic would say he's too wordy, unable or unwilling to supply pithy soundbites and solutions. A sympathetic viewer would say that he simply has a lot to communicate, and wants more time to do it. Either way, as a TV anchor I would say, let's see him interact with the media more often in more depth.
>> For all the headlines from the town hall in Milwaukee, check CNN.com. Biden said he hopes the US will be back to pre-Covid normal by Christmas, which is a goal we should all try to help achieve...
>> First notable quote from Biden: "Look – for four years, all that's been in the news is Trump. The next four years, I want to make sure all the news is the American people. I'm tired of talking about Trump."
>> Second notable quote: "The nation is not divided. You go out there and take a look. You talk to people. You have fringes at both ends, but it's not nearly as divided as we make it out to be."
Deadline's recap
"Taking centerstage for the first time since assuming office," Biden "returned tonight to the town hall format that served him so well as a candidate last year in an attempt to assure a battered America that help is coming to fight the coronavirus pandemic," Deadline's Dominic Patten and Ted Johnson wrote. They called it "a winning performance," citing moments like Biden's empathetic interaction with a second grader and her mother who are worried about the virus. Here's the video of the exchange...
VP Harris on "Today"
Wednesday morning on the "Today" show, "Savannah Guthrie will speak with Vice President Kamala Harris live in her first TV interview since being sworn in," NBC says...
Trump is on a "statement" tear
In lieu of tweets, the former president is issuing lengthy statements that read like tweets strung together. Here is CNN's story about his insulting broadside against Mitch McConnell...
FOR THE RECORD, PART ONE
-- Rudy Giuliani is no longer representing Trump, per senior Trump adviser Jason Miller... (CNN)
-- A Thomas Friedman lead that gets your attention: "What do the left-wing San Francisco Board of Education, Donald Trump's right-wing G.O.P. and all the deer that hang out in my neighborhood have in common?" (NYT)
-- New from David Ignatius: "Only the truth will keep Trump away..." (WaPo)
Rush Limbaugh off the air for two weeks
Right-wing radio's biggest star has been off the air for two full weeks while battling lung cancer, causing growing concern among his fans. This week Todd Herman filled in on Monday and Mark Steyn filled in on Tuesday. Limbaugh's team has not shared any specific updates on his condition, but producer James Golden (known as Bo Snerdley) tweeted last week that "we are still praying for a remission... Thanks for all of your prayers, kind words and wishes for our Rush." The show's website has a "Share Your Rush Stories" page for fans to submit messages and memories.
"These lies are not harmless"
Fox News "is becoming its own worst nightmare – completely predictable," CNN's Brianna Keilar said Tuesday. "Worship Trump, blame Democrats, spotlight fear. Rinse, lather, repeat." Keilar followed up on the Sean Hannity B.S. that I wrote about on Monday night: Hannity pretended that a pre-planned event in support of Trump actually happened "spontaneously." She pointed out that this lie was peddled on Tuesday's "Fox & Friends" too. "These lies are not harmless," she said. "They're part of the bigger lie about what is true and what isn't. They're dividing a nation. They're dividing families." Then she brought up the letter from family members of Adam Kinzinger... Watch...
FOR THE RECORD, PART TWO
-- Hannity made a curious cameo in this WaPo story: "A GOP donor gave $2.5 million for a voter fraud investigation. Now he wants his money back..." (WaPo)
-- In January, when pro-Trump cheerleaders tried to downplay 1/6 and shift blame to leftists, I wrote about "riot denialism." But this is probably a better phrase: The "hoax-ification of the Capitol riot." Aaron Blake wrote about it in the context of Ron Johnson's offensive comments... (WaPo)
-- "After Trump, the attention economy deflates:" Smart piece by Scott Rosenberg... (Axios)
-- "Pizzagate's violent legacy:" Michael E. Miller's story is on Wednesday's Page One... (WaPo)
-- Important insights from Perry Bacon Jr.: The GOP's "most-Trump and pro-Trumpism contingent and the forces in the party pushing its growing radical and antidemocratic tendencies are often not national Republicans, but those at the local and state levels..." (538)
-- New research: "46,218 news transcripts show ideologically extreme politicians get more airtime..." (NiemanLab)
-- On Tuesday WH press secretary Jen Psaki "was questioned over the Biden administration's handling" of TJ Ducklo... (Mediaite)
Vox's new EIC
Kerry Flynn writes: "Less than three months after Ezra Klein and Lauren Williams announced they were leaving Vox Media, the publication has named its new EIC: Swati Sharma. The 34-year-old joins Vox next month after three years at The Atlantic, where she most recently was managing editor. She previously worked at WaPo and The Boston Globe. Per NYT's Marc Tracy, Sharma 'said in an interview that she was not looking to reinvent Vox, which has a staff of roughly 90 newsroom employees.'"
>> There still remains a slew of open top newsroom leadership jobs: WaPo, ABC News, Reuters, LA Times, Wired, HuffPost, etc...
Speaking of HuffPost...
Flynn adds: "BuzzFeed finalized its acquisition of the site -- announced back in November -- on Tuesday. HuffPost 'will operate as its own distinct brand' and 'will remain separate and independent from BuzzFeed News,' per a spokesperson. BuzzFeed welcomed their new colleagues with a Cameo of Fiona, the famous hippo of the Cincinnati Zoo..."
Brooke Baldwin leaving CNN
CNN's Brooke Baldwin announced on Tuesday that she will be signing off from her afternoon newscast and leaving the network in mid-April. "No, I don't have a job I am jumping right into, and yes, yes I am feeling very vulnerable," Baldwin told viewers. "But what is it Brené Brown says? Vulnerability is the birthplace of innovation, creativity and change, and I am so excited about what is to come."
Baldwin is a treasured member of CNN, so there are definitely mixed emotions about her departure. Watch her full farewell message here...
>> Plug! Baldwin's book "Huddle" comes out April 6...
>> "Cable news hours do not open up very often," THR Alex Weprin wrote. It's safe to assume that CNN daytime schedule news is coming soon...
FOR THE RECORD, PART THREE
-- First-hand experience with the vaccine: My better half Jamie received the first dose of a Covid-19 vaccine on Tuesday afternoon. (Jamie has rheumatoid arthritis, which is why she was eligible in New York state.) She celebrated the vaccine appointment on Instagram, and she'll be sharing all the details on NY1 in the morning... (Instagram)
-- Apple is making a "small change to its syringe emoji that removes the drops of blood." This "makes it more appropriate to represent Covid-19 vaccination, said Jeremy Burge, the chief emoji officer of Emojipedia..." (CNN Business)
-- An important piece by Elizabeth Dwoskin: "On social media, vaccine misinfo is mixing with "extreme faith," as "some churches and Christian ministries with large online followings" are promoting false claims about Covid... (WaPo)
-- Wondering why ABC's chief national correspondent Matt Gutman hasn't been on the air recently? He has been "suspended for violating company safety rules having to do with going into a hospital for a story without getting permission from management beforehand," Ted Johnson reports... (Deadline)
-- Some cities and states are delaying vaccine distribution because of the winter storms... (CNN)
Energy nightmare
Texans are bracing for another frigid round of winter weather while many parts of the state are out of power. Commentators on Fox News and other right-wing sources are blaming "green energy" like windmills. CNN's Matt Egan has a corrective story here: "Although some are attempting to pin the blame on one fuel source or another, the reality is that the Arctic temperatures are hobbling fossil fuels and renewable energy alike," he wrote.
>> Watch Chris Hayes' takedown of the Fox coverage: "They want to take every policy issue and turn it into some painful culture war idiocy. And there's an interest to do it! The fossil fuel companies want this too, right? They want to turn into some culture war idiocy, like 'the libs don't want you to have power.'"
Local news coverage remains constrained
It's unclear when the power situation will get better in Texas. Al Tompkins highlighted some of the newsroom staffers working in the "eye of the storm" and Amaris Castillo spoke with some local news editors for Poynter. On Tuesday night I checked in with Houston Chronicle editor Steve Riley, who said the power was back on at the Chronicle's building, "so we're hopeful" about printing Wednesday's edition of the paper. "We will be printing and distributing our Tuesday paper as well," he said. "We hate being late, but without power, we were in a tough spot. We are continuing to serve our readers with our e-edition and with our subscriber site, which is seeing a surge in traffic. People are hungry for information, and our staff is working hard to provide it..."
A bleak picture of the future?
Emily Atkin wrote in her HEATED newsletter, "This extreme polar vortex event epitomizes everything climate change is: unprecedented, unrelenting, affecting a population unaccustomed and unprepared. Yes, we have always had winter — but not here, and not like this. Now take out the word 'winter,' and replace it with every other extreme weather event. That’s climate change..."
FOR THE RECORD, PART FOUR
By Kerry Flynn:
-- "The CBS News series 'Unifying America,' which features stories about people who are trying to cross the racial, cultural and social divides in America, is being expanded to CBS Television Stations," starting Wednesday, Michael Malone reports... (B&C)
-- Gannett and McClatchy are partnering to sell national ads in their more than 300 local markets, per Sara Fischer. The companies also plan to create a combined first-party data set for targeting... (Axios)
-- Forbes launched its first party data platform, ForbesOne, after releasing its paywall last year, Max Willens reports... (Digiday)
-- NBCUniversal News Group "has created a $1 million scholarship fund at Columbia Journalism School for underrepresented populations who seek careers in journalism..." (Columbia)
-- Missed this the other day: "Local Florida officials passed a resolution mocking a newspaper columnist’s work and immigrant background," Elahe Izadi reports... (WaPo)
Murdoch tries the "Fox playbook" in UK... again
"While Britain has long had a freewheeling, unabashedly partisan newspaper industry, critics say the last thing it needs after Brexit is a Fox-like news channel — one that could sow further divisions and open the door to the kinds of conspiracy theories nurtured by President Donald J. Trump, and amplified by Fox," NYT's London bureau chief Mark Landler wrote in a piece about two new ventures -- News UK TV and GB News -- trying to compete with BBC's dominance in the UK. The former TV upstart is backed by Rupert Murdoch whereas the latter is a group of investors, including Murdoch empire veterans. Read on...
FOR THE RECORD, PART FIVE
-- Mardi Gras looked a bit different this year, with houses becoming floats and residents tossing beads from their cars... (NOLA.com)
-- John Simons is joining Time as an executive editor. He was most recently at WSJ, serving as deputy health and science editor and bureau chief for health business... (Time)
-- Chernin Group is acquiring a majority stake in Goldin Auctions, an auction house for sports trading cards, Lucas Shaw reports. Other investors include Kevin Durant, Mark Cuban and Bill Simmons... (Bloomberg)
-- "Former Disney and TikTok executive Kevin Mayer is exploring a deal to roll up several independent media and entertainment companies, including Scooter Braun's Ithaca Holdings and Ben Silverman's Propagate Content," Kim Masters and Natalie Jarvey report... (THR)
"What are magazines good for?"
"It is doubtful that the cover of Time holds the cultural sway that it once did, not least because there are now twenty-year-old TikTok influencers with subscriber pools more than thirty times as large," Nathan Heller wrote in a New Yorker piece about the history of magazines. Heller visited an exhibition, "Magazines and the American Experience," at The Grolier Club... The exhibition is open through April...
New PBS series on misinformation
Brian Lowry writes: "PBS' Nova is launching a new series titled 'Misinformation Nation,' which 'aims to educate young people about the dangers of misinformation, reporting not only how to identify it but also how to debunk misinformation encountered online.' It's a welcome effort, with the only disclaimer being that there's no reason to confine such an effort to young people."
Scorsese on 'content'
Brian Lowry writes: "Martin Scorsese has taken a lot of money from Netflix in the last few years -- including 'The Irishman' and his current series with Fran Lebowitz -- but he's not especially keen on the commodification of movies as 'content.' The director made that point in an essay for Harper's about Federico Fellin, in which he decried the use of the term in relation to film."
>> Scorsese wrote, “'Content' became a business term for all moving images: a David Lean movie, a cat video, a Super Bowl commercial, a superhero sequel, a series episode... it has created a situation in which everything is presented to the viewer on a level playing field, which sounds democratic but isn’t. If further viewing is 'suggested' by algorithms based on what you’ve already seen, and the suggestions are based only on subject matter or genre, then what does that do to the art of cinema?"
Lowry added: "It's a legitimate argument, but at this point risks sounding a little like that 'The Simpsons' gag 'Old man yells at cloud.'"
FOR THE RECORD, PART SIX
-- P&G is reconsidering using "Bachelor" host Chris Harrison in its ads after recent controversy... (AdAge)
-- Roku is planning to produce more original content, beyond its Quibi acquisition, per a job listing for a lead production attorney, Janko Roettgers reports... (Protocol)
-- Second City, the Chicago-based improv theater group, is in talks to sell to private equity company ZMC... (FT)
Lowry reviews two new NBC shows
Brian Lowry writes: "Dwayne Johnson and Kenan Thompson serve as an unlikely tag team for NBC in 'Young Rock' and 'Kenan,' an autobiographical look at the former's wonder years, and a pretty stale sitcom premise built around the "SNL" star from Lorne Michaels' company."
The Weeknd's huge Super Bowl bump
Variety's Jem Aswad reports: "Almost nine full days after the Super Bowl, the final chart numbers are in, and the Weeknd — who turns 31 today, Feb. 16 — saw an enormous bump in streams and sales thanks to his dazzling halftime performance at the big game: in fact, nearly every single song he performed in those 12-ish minutes is in the Rolling Stone Top 100 Songs chart..."
SAVING THE BEST FOR LAST...
Pet of the day
Phyllis writes: "I really enjoy (and learn!!) from your TV show and reporting [but] unfortunately, my cat Wills does not agree..."
That's okay Wills... I'm going to try to win you over!
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