Brian Stelter here at 11:20pm ET Wednesday with the latest on Texas, Tucker Carlson, ProPublica, Nintendo, Netflix, "Young Rock," Donald Glover, and much more...
Time to pay?
The eyes of the news industry are trained on Australia right now. What's happening down under, regarding proposed regulation to force Big Tech to pay news publishers, will have ramifications all around the world. I spoke with execs on both sides of this issue on Wednesday, and they are all in agreement about that: In the words of one source, regulators in other countries "all want to cut and paste" Australia's proposed News Media Bargaining Code.
"We are expecting a big push in the US in the new Congress," David Chavern, the head of a trade group for newspapers, tweeted Wednesday.
So what is this all about? If you haven't been following along, here's the story in a few sentences: Large publishers, led by Rupert Murdoch's News Corp, have been pushing to get paid by Google and Facebook, since the tech platforms profit by running ads alongside links to news content. The tech companies have been objecting, saying this payment plan would break how the web works, but they've come up with alternatives to compensate some news producers. Some of their allies have likened it to a shakedown. The NYT's Damien Cave has a recap from Sydney here. Now to Wednesday's developments:
"This post can't be shared"
Kerry Flynn writes: "What is Facebook without news? People and publishers in Australia are now finding out. What was once Facebook leadership's suggested outcome in response to Australia's bargaining code became a reality on Wednesday. When users in Australia tried to post news article, a message popped up that reads, "This post can't be shared." The same went for people all around the world when they tried to post news from Australian publishers. And all news publisher pages in Australia are now empty. So are other news-adjacent pages that seem to have been swept up in this action by mistake.
In a thread on Twitter -- a platform still permissible for sharing news in Australia and elsewhere -- Facebook exec Campbell Brown wrote, "Our goal was to find resolution that strengthened collaboration with publishers, but the legislation fails to recognize fundamental relationship between us & news organizations."
This legislation is not yet law. But FB is taking action on its own terms. Its argument is that publishers choose to post news and make money from doing so. In a blog post, FB's William Easton suggested that "the value exchange between Facebook and publishers runs in favor of the publishers." Even so, Facebook had been starting to pay some publishers for their content through Facebook News. Brown and Easton said in their separate blog posts that Facebook had been planning to launch that product in Australia. But now they're focused on other countries.
>> According to the Australian Financial Review, "Nine and News Corp were both on the cusp of inking agreements with the Silicon Valley giant, according to industry sources. But in this game of global brinkmanship between a sovereign government and gigantic corporation, Facebook is desperate to avoid setting a precedent for other countries to plunder its rich revenues..."
Google, on the other hand...
Facebook's drastic action was in stark contrast to an earlier announcement on Wednesday from Google. Instead of following through on its threat to shut down search in the country, Google has been cozying up with Australian publishers, including Murdoch. News Corp and Google announced a three-year deal in which the tech giant will pay to license content from Murdoch's brands in Australia and other countries. This means that News Corp is participating in Google's News Showcase, a new product where publishers curate content, and partnering on developing a subscription platform, sharing ad revenue and investing in audio and video journalism. This way, Google technically isn't paying for links, it's paying for something separate.
>> Earlier this week, Australia's Seven West Media and Nine Entertainment signed licensing deals with Google for News Showcase...
>> Note what News Corp chief Robert Thomson said earlier this month: "New terms of trade will be introduced" in Australia "but that debate now extends across the globe. There is not a single serious digital regulator anywhere in the world who is not examining the opacity of algorithms, the integrity of personal data, the social value of professional journalism, and the dysfunctional digital ad market..."
Will the FB blockade be temporary?
-- ABC Managing Editor David Anderson's statement: "We will continue our discussions with Facebook today following this development..."
-- Casey Newton tweeted: "I expect this will be temporary. In the meantime, though, there are worse things than Australians getting their news from somewhere other than Facebook." In his newsletter, he argued that the Google/News Corp deal is bad for journalism...
-- Emily Bell tweeted: Facebook is "not a consistently pro-democratic company, and it is not an accountability platform. It also does not fundamentally care about or respect journalism. It is an advertising company..."
-- Mike Isaac wrote: "I am fascinated to see what sort of information — misinformation? — fills the void in countries that will no longer allow news publisher link sharing..."
A profound reminder of FB's power
Donie O'Sullivan writes: "Specifics of this case aside.... this is a reminder of the huge role Facebook plays in our lives and in our discourse. From staying in touch with friends, to where we get news, to where the seeds of an insurrection can be sowed. Given its size, influence, and importance, we are going to see the company at the center of more and more existential and fundamental debates about how we communicate and how we are informed and misinformed in the 21st century..."
THURSDAY PLANNER
A House hearing on the Reddit-driven drama surrounding GameStop begins at noon ET...
Biden's planned trip to Michigan has been rescheduled due to snow...
Jen Psaki will brief the WH press corps at 12:30pm...
Ava DuVernay and Peter Roth's Array Crew hiring database will launch...
Compounded crises in Texas
Millions are still without power across Texas. Water service disruptions are affecting almost 12 million residents. Some people are resorting to desperate measures. My friend Erin Geiger Smith, a Texas native, said what I was thinking Wednesday night: "I'm terrified of what we're going to hear out of Texas in the next several days. The suffering we're learning about in real time is immense. It's usually those in the most trouble whose stories come later."
There are crises on top of crises. The 19th* CEO Emily Ramshaw tweeted earlier in the day, "What we’re enduring in Texas is catastrophic — and the distribution of basic, factual, timely information from people and agencies in positions of power has been inadequate and incompetent *at best.*" Ramshaw encouraged people to donate to The Texas Tribune, where she was previously EIC. The newsroom has done incredible, important work during the crisis, including explainers on how to help, responding to misinformation and stories on the people impacted...
Update from the Dallas Morning News
"We’ve covered hurricanes, heat waves and tornadoes over the years, but no weather story quite like this," Dallas Morning News managing editor Keith Campbell told me Wednesday night. "The teamwork has been awesome to see. It's been a tough 72 hours for many of our journalists. Many of us have lost power, some for more than 24 hours, and some have lost water too. Today during our Page One news meeting, I watched on Zoom as a plumber worked on burst pipes in the background at an editor's home."
"The staff has been committed to telling the story as thoroughly as possible," he added, "from covering the ERCOT mess to telling readers what it's been like for Dallas' homeless weathering the cold." Campbell said he's awfully thankful that it's finally supposed to start warming up on Thursday. Here's the Thursday front page:
Rush Limbaugh, 1951 – 2021
Rush Limbaugh was a Rorschach test, as Jane Coaston of the NYT observed Wednesday afternoon. Fights over Limbaugh's legacy began immediately after his wife Kathryn announced his death.
"To conservatives, they've lost a hero, a titanic figure who made them feel like they had a voice," Brian Rosenwald said. "To liberals, a hate monger is gone. And there is a grain of truth, or more, in both portrayals."
Rosenwald, the author of "Talk Radio's America," told me that news coverage of Limbaugh's passing "should focus on Rush's significance — how he reshaped both Republican and conservative politics and the media. He helped drag the Republican Party to the right and towards viewing politics as warfare, while also pioneering 'infotainment' content that blended information with entertainment without having to follow journalistic conventions. The debate over the moral side of his impact is one in which the two sides of the political spectrum will never agree, but we all need to recognize his immense impact to understand where politics are in 2021 and how we got there."
On Fox News, Limbaugh's death was treated like the passing of a president, with commercial-free live coverage and hours of tributes. Former president Donald Trump called in right away. "People, whether they loved him or not, they respected him, they really did," Trump said. For a more even-handed assessment, read Oliver Darcy's obituary here...
Seven views of Rush's impact
-- Sean Hannity, speaking for so many in right-wing media: "There is no talk radio as we know it without Rush Limbaugh."
-- "Messengers of the Right" author Nicole Hemmer: "He made right-wing media entertaining, profitable, and politically powerful."
-- HuffPost's banner headline in the afternoon: "BIGOT, MISOGYNIST, HOMOPHOBE, CRANK: RUSH LIMBAUGH DEAD."
-- The WSJ editorial board: "Limbaugh knew he was an entertainer, not an intellectual or politician, and he said so many times. He was popular because he was superb at his craft and represented traditional American values that the dominant culture too often demeans."
-- Rick Perlstein says Limbaugh made listeners feel like "part of a community, part of a movement. In the case of politically alienated reactionary white males, they had an ally who would watch their back." He also says Limbaugh "primed the audience" for the QAnon phenomenon.
-- "Conventional etiquette dictates that we do not speak ill of the dead. But Rush Limbaugh isn't just any dead guy," for he spoke ill of the dead all throughout his career, Erin Gloria Ryan wrote for The Daily Beast.
-- National Review VP Jack Fowler: "Was the phrase 'died trying' ever so epitomized?"
"Best of Rush" will air for the time being
Limbaugh's syndicator, Premiere Networks, says "transitional programming" will air in his time slot "until his audience is prepared to say good-bye." Producers will draw on the show's archives and "pull segments that are relevant for each day's news cycle and allow us to feature the best of Rush for the full three hours of the program," according to a statement. Guest hosts will be used "when needed to guide Rush's audio from one topic to another, but Rush will be the predominant voice heard."
>> The trade publication Radio Insight said "we have heard from affiliates who have been told it will be a minimum of 90 days before permanent plans for the 12-3pm eastern slot are solidified..."
Giving Limbaugh the last word
This is how Marc Fisher's masterful WaPo obit ends:
"A caller once confronted him on a TV show, saying, 'You’re a manipulator, you’re devious and you’re evil.' 'I'm a harmless little fuzzball,' Mr. Limbaugh replied. 'Nobody makes you listen to me...The show is about having fun.'"
Trump's first interviews since the riot
He extolled Limbaugh, repeated election lies, dodged questions about 2024, and complained about lost Twitter followers during a trifecta of interviews on Newsmax, OAN and Fox Wednesday evening. Trump demurred "when asked if he'd consider filling the talk radio void left by Rush," per CNN's DJ Judd, who watched all of the interviews.
"On Newsmax, Trump fixated on what he sees as election fraud," Judd wrote. The Big Lie also came up during his lunchtime call to Fox -- and the network's news anchors didn't challenge him at all. Curiously, though, Trump stayed on-topic and talked about Limbaugh during his short call with Hannity at night...
>> Election law expert Rick Hasen tweeted: "Big test coming up for major media is how much they amplify Trump's continued false statements that he won the election..."
FOR THE RECORD, PART ONE
-- Nikki Haley penned a WSJ op-ed centered around media resentment: The "liberal media" wants "to stoke a nonstop Republican civil war..." (WSJ)
-- Haley's piece "reads as media-bashing but it’s actually damage control/homage to Tim Alberta and everybody who works in and covers politics will see it as such," Jonathan Martin tweeted... (Twitter)
-- Kelly Clarkson "will sit down with Dr. Jill Biden for her first solo broadcast interview since becoming First Lady," airing February 25... (Deadline)
-- The Democratic-led Energy and Commerce Committee has scheduled a hearing titled "Fanning the Flames: Disinformation and Extremism in the Media" for next Wednesday... (House.gov)
Two follow-ups to the Biden town hall
-- "CNN's Biden Town Hall bested MSNBC and Fox News combined in the key adults 25-54 demographic on Tuesday night," TheWrap's Tony Maglio wrote Wednesday. In the demo, the town hall averaged 880,000, out of 3.5 million total viewers...
-- CNN's Daniel Dale fact-checked the telecast and found that Biden made "at least four false claims." He said "the common thread between Biden's inaccurate claims at the town hall: he was trying to deploy some fact or figure to bolster a point, except the fact or figure wasn't right..."
CNN's new schedule
CNN's new lineup is now set: Brianna Keilar is moving to the mornings, joining John Berman on "New Day" starting in April. Her move and Brooke Baldwin's departure open up three hours in the afternoon. Weekend anchor Ana Cabrera will move to weekdays at 1pm ET, while Berman's current co-anchor Alisyn Camerota and "New Day Weekend" co-anchor Victor Blackwell will pair up from 2 to 4. As previously announced, "The Lead with Jake Tapper" will expand from 4 to 6 starting in April as well.
>> With Blackwell moving to weekdays, Boris Sanchez will co-anchor "New Day Weekend" alongside Christi Paul...
>> Jim Acosta will anchor weekends from 3 to 6pm. Here's my full story...
>> "We are committed to making sure that we also look like America," CNN boss Jeff Zucker told Mediaite's Colby Hall...
Tucker Carlson 24/7
"Tucker Carlson Tonight" continues to become "Tucker Carlson All Day and Night." The latest evidence: "Carlson will develop two new video projects for the channel's Fox Nation streaming service," THR's Alex Weprin wrote. "Carlson will host a video podcast for Fox Nation, and will host a series of 'in-depth specials' called Tucker Carlson Originals."
>> Subtext of this news: The two-year-old Fox Nation streaming service has not converted millions of cable viewers into paying customers yet... Far from it...
>> What a weird title: "The programming will be produced by the Tucker Carlson Tonight team including senior EP Justin Wells, who has been named 'VP of Tucker Carlson Digital Products' for Fox News, suggesting that other Carlson fare could be forthcoming to the streamer..."
FOR THE RECORD, PART TWO
-- Last night I mentioned that my wife received her first dose of the Covid vaccine. Naturally, she filmed the experience! Here's a clip from her report for NY1... And her discussion about people who question the vaccine eligibility of others... (Twitter)
-- Why are Covid-19 cases falling so fast? This Derek Thompson story helped me make sense of it... (The Atlantic)
-- On Thursday the CDC is releasing startling new data about life expectancy in the US, showing the toll of Covid-19...
-- Turning to news-about-the-news: "Upwards of 30 candidates have been vying for" the open Los Angeles Times editor job, Allen Salkin and Brittany Martin report... (LA Mag)
Tofel retiring from ProPublica
Kerry Flynn writes: "Richard Tofel announced Wednesday that he is retiring as president of ProPublica after 14 years. As Stephen Engelberg said, 'When the history of non-profit journalism in America is written, Dick Tofel will surely be among the titans.' A nationwide search is on for his successor..."
FOR THE RECORD, PART THREE
-- Poppy Harlow and Mellody Hobson will be guest co-chairs of the FORTUNE Most Powerful Women summit this year...
-- Bill Gates' "How to Avoid a Climate Disaster" is firmly in first place on the Amazon best seller list... (Amazon)
-- NYT media editor Jim Windolf is out with a review of Ira Rosen's new "60 Minutes" memoir... (NYT)
-- Handy: Howard Polskin has created a "2021/2022 Trump Book Tracker..." (TheRighting)
The future for Tribune
Kerry Flynn writes: "'The 'audacious lie' behind a hedge fund’s promise to sustain local journalism' is the headline to Margaret Sullivan's column on Alden's deal to buy Tribune Publishing. Sullivan paints a grim picture for the future of Tribune's papers, referencing her years of covering the hedge fund including in her book 'Ghosting the News.' But Sullivan also acknowledged the 'bright spot:' The Baltimore Sun's nonprofit status."
>> Will Patrick Soon-Shiong, who owns nearly 25% of Tribune's stock, object to the Alden deal? "Sources in Soon-Shiong’s orbit told me it is seen as highly unlikely that he will intervene," VF's Joe Pompeo wrote...
Sun updates
>> The NYT's Marc Tracy wrote about Stewart Bainum, the potential new owner of The Baltimore Sun Media Group, and interviewed associates about his interest in the news business...
>> Scott Dance, a Sun reporter and union chair, told Flynn "we are feeling optimistic and hopeful that this is a step towards a stronger Sun. It's bittersweet, because we want investment and local ownership for all our colleagues in other Tribune newsrooms, too...'"
>> Per Paul Farhi, a SEC filing says the purchase price of the Sun is $65 million, including other Maryland papers like the Capital Gazette...
FOR THE RECORD, PART FOUR
By Kerry Flynn:
-- TIME released the second annual TIME100 Next on Wednesday. Shout out to CNN's Abby Phillip who made the list... (TIME)
-- Remember CCPA? People are filing lawsuits to 'test boundaries' of the California Consumer Privacy Act, Kate Kaye reports... (Digiday)
-- "With the loss of physical newsrooms, how are young journalists faring?" Clio Chang asks... (Nieman Lab)
-- Editors at student publications The Daily Aztec and The Hofstra Chronicle explain their TikTok strategies... (Poynter)
-- Harry and Meghan's looming interview with Oprah Winfrey has Buckingham Palace officials "steeling themselves" for embarrassing revelations, Mark Landler writes. "And there's griping afoot in the British press..." (NYT)
Donald Glover's big new deal with Amazon
He has "exited his pact with Disney-owned FX for a multiple-year, eight-figure overall deal with Amazon," THR's Lesley Goldberg scooped on Wednesday. "The pact is believed to include a content channel of sorts that will spotlight Glover's work and other curated content on Amazon's Prime Video hub." His brother Stephen "has also signed an overall deal with Amazon." Much more here...
FOR THE RECORD, PART FIVE
-- "CBS' praised 'Mom' — the network's longest running comedy series on the air — will end its run after the current eighth season..." (Deadline)
-- "As CBS is reportedly in development on a fourth 'NCIS' series, the network is bringing an end to one of its first three. 'NCIS: New Orleans' will wrap up its seven-season run later this year..." (TheWrap)
-- "'Paddington 3' — a new entry in the beloved movie series — is in active development..." (Variety)
-- Demi Lovato previewed a forthcoming documentary on YouTube and revealed that she "suffered multiple strokes and a heart attack" following her near-fatal overdose in 2018, Sandra Gonzalez reports... (CNN)
-- "For the first time in over a year, Nintendo hosted a full-fledged Direct presentation," and shared sneak peeks of new games... (The Verge)
Two new Netflix arrivals
Brian Lowry writes: "Netflix debuted 'Amend: The Fight for America' on Wednesday. It's an inventive, star-studded six-part docuseries about the 14th Amendment's legacy past and present, marred only by host-producer Will Smith's 'Schoolhouse Rock'-esque transitions. Also new to the streaming service: 'Behind Her Eyes,' a very twisty British drama that subverts audience expectations, so the less known going in, the better. Here's what I carefully wrote about it..."
Strong start for 'Young Rock'
Brian Lowry writes: "Audiences were apparently interested in what 'Young Rock' was cooking, as the NBC sitcom drew that network's best rating among key demos for a regular-time slot premiere since 2017. The autobiographical show and its companion, 'Kenan,' attracted 5 million and 4 million opening-night viewers, respectively."
>> Lowry adds: "Separately, NBC announced that it will no longer provide fast-national ratings data to the press, following Fox's similar decision, suggesting those numbers no longer accurately reflect the way programs are viewed..."
LAST BUT NOT LEAST...
Pets of the day
Peter Dickow, a 35-year former broadcast journalist turned Senate aide, shared a photo of these two: "Allie and Brady like to watch me work – when they are not sleeping..."
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