The WaPo launches a new marketing campaign, The Atlantic CEO Nicholas Thompson talks about the mag's OpenAI pact, NFL boss Roger Goodell leaves open the possibility the Paramount-Skydance deal will trigger new talks about CBS, Warner Bros. Discovery rebrands "The Penguin" and "Dune: Prophecy" to be HBO Originals, Hollywood remembers Shelley Duvall, and more. But first, the A1.

The President Meets the Press

CNN Photo Illustration/Jacquelyn Martin/AP

For nearly an hour Thursday evening, President Joe Biden went toe-to-toe with the press corps — and, perhaps against the wishes of some in his own party, managed to exit the high stakes showdown unscathed.

Fielding a barrage of tough questions, Biden addressed 11 outlets during his closely watched dance with the news media, reiterating again and again that he plans to stay in the 2024 race, while also displaying an impressive command of complex foreign policy matters.

Stylistically, Biden wasn't without flaws. After introducing Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky as Vladimir Putin earlier in the day, Biden accidentally referred to Vice President Kamala Harris as Donald Trump. And throughout the affair, the 81-year-old president mostly spoke in his now trademark low and monotone voice.

But, unquestionably, the Biden that showed up at the conclusion of the NATO summit was not the same Biden that walked onstage at the CNN presidential debate two weeks ago. Did he ace Thursday's test? Probably not. But did he score a passing grade? Most definitely.

Interest in Biden's face-off with the news media had been steadily growing all week as lawmakers and other high-profile figures in the Democratic Party called for him to step aside and abandon his bid for a second term. Since his disastrous debate with Trump, Biden had not appeared unscripted at a public event for such a lengthy period of time. And, stepping further back, Biden had not held a solo press conference since November, making Thursday's his first of 2024.

The press was eager for an opportunity to confront Biden. As my colleague Hadas Gold reported Thursday, journalists who cover the White House were walking into the news conference with a significant amount of pent up frustration. Reporters have felt stonewalled and misled by the White House. They had been earnestly seeking a forum in which they could directly question Biden about his fitness for office and desires to seek an additional four years.

The truth is that, despite their pointed questions, reporters extracted little from Biden on Thursday evening. He stayed on message and was able to keep up with the unrelenting stream of queries directed his way. Outside his early flub referring to Harris as Trump, Biden showed a deep understanding of the issues. It was not the senile, dementia-plagued man that has been at times portrayed to the American public.

As Bill Carter, the veteran media critic, pointed out on X, it's curious why Biden did not actually hold such a press conference in the immediate wake of his poor debate performance to assuage concerns and stop the bleeding sooner. It would have mattered a lot more then.

But at this late stage, will it stop naysayers, who have been steadily gaining momentum, from calling on him to withdraw from the race?

CNN's Manu Raju reported after the press conference that it is unlikely to. Indeed, Rep. Jim Himes, the ranking Democrat on the House Intelligence Committee, issued a statement after the news conference saying he believed Biden should drop out of the race.

But it could get a lot worse. CBS News' Margaret Brennan reported that four Democratic sources told her "they expect dozens of Democratic lawmakers over the next 48 hours to issue statements" calling on Biden to step aside. And CNN's Edward-Isaac Dovere and Jeff Zeleny reported that Barack Obama and Nancy Pelosi have been speaking about their concerns with Biden's campaign.

In other words, at this juncture, while the performance Biden delivered at the much-hyped news conference was strong, it may simply be too late. Time will tell.

The Washington Post

First in Reliable | The WaPo is launching a new marketing campaign playing off its "Democracy Dies in Darkness" slogan: It's called "Switch On." The newspaper's chief strategy officer, Suzi Watford, sent a note to employees on Thursday unveiling the effort. "When asked what is most important in choosing a news source for elections coverage, both untapped audiences and Post subscribers chose: 'A brand that sheds light on what is true,'" Watford wrote. "Our campaign is born of this insight. Democracy Dies in Darkness, we say Switch On." Watford described the new catchphrase as an "active, optimistic build" on the outlet's "Democracy Dies in Darkness" slogan. She added that the team wanted a "scalable creative framework" to "supercharge growth" at the Will Lewis-led newspaper.

CNN Photo Illustration/Jaque Silva/SOPA Images/LightRocket/Getty Images

The A.I. Advancement Arc: OpenAI has built a measurement scale to keep a close eye on A.I's advancement. The ChatGPT creator told employees this week that it has "come up with a set of five levels to track its progress toward building artificial intelligence software capable of outperforming humans," Bloomberg's Rachel Metz reported Thursday. Metz reported that OpenAI plans to share the measurement scale with investors and others. Metz added that the tiers "range from the kind of AI available today that can interact in conversational language with people (Level 1) to AI that can do the work of an organization (Level 5)." Read the full story here.

CNN Photo Illustration/Stanley Bielecki Movie Collection/Getty Images

Remembering Shelley Duvall: Hollywood was in mourning on Thursday, remembering the life of Shelley Duvall. The actress, who starred opposite Jack Nicholson in "The Shining" and was known for her large expressive eyes, died Thursday at 75 after complications with diabetes. "My dear, sweet, wonderful life partner and friend left us. Too much suffering lately, now she’s free. Fly away, beautiful Shelley," Dan Gilroy, her partner, said in a statement. CNN's Lisa Respers France has more.