Good morning! Busy day ahead. Here's the latest on Sean 'Diddy' Combs, Instagram, RT, Nikki Haley, NABJ, Elon Musk, James Cameron, TikTok, and more. By the way, if you received this email from a friend, you can sign up here.
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The Murdoch family feud's impact |
At most offices, water cooler talk revolves around annoying company rules or the quality of the snacks in the break room. But at Fox News, they gossip about the Murdoch family.
What will happen after patriarch Rupert Murdoch dies? Will his more moderate children wrest control of Fox from his conservative chosen-son Lachlan? Will Lachlan's younger brother James Murdoch force Fox to take a progressive bent?
These are weighty questions, without clear answers, so employees go around and around talking about the possibilities. In my book "Network of Lies," which is coming out in paperback and audiobook form with four new chapters on Tuesday, I report that James has drafted detailed plans for dragging Fox News back toward what he considers reality-based news.
Here's the key bit of new reporting from the book: "Prominent Fox hosts talked openly about how they might reposition their own personal brands in the event of a James-led takeover. Some Fox personalities even tried to establish back-channel relationships with James, even though Lachlan was the boss."
The theme music for a certain HBO drama is probably playing in your head right about now. Yes, some savvy (or conniving) Fox hosts have plotted how to remain relevant if the political winds shift after Rupert's death. But right now Rupert is in Reno, Nevada, trying to control the weather. He is seeking to amend the family trust (his own creation) that gives his four oldest children equal votes over the future of his conservative media empire in the event of his death. He wants to change the structure so that Lachlan will remain in charge for decades to come.
James, Elisabeth and Prudence Murdoch oppose the change. So the family members are in Reno (a favored and usually low-profile location for such disputes) for critical hearings before a probate judge. The proceedings began Monday and may take about two weeks, according to a person with knowledge of the matter. The source insisted on anonymity because the case is so secretive that, for weeks, the court wouldn't even acknowledge the Murdochs were involved. On Monday, though, the dispute was visible on camera because Rupert walked into court through the front door. He was joined by former attorney general Bill Barr.
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On one level this is a highly personal, and painful, dispute between billionaires. On another level, this is intensely political, and that's why it matters to everyone else. James, who welcomed President Biden to his home for a fundraiser in 2022 and endorsed Kamala Harris earlier this month, believes Fox News is poisonous to democracy and believes he might be able to change it. With the support of Elisabeth and Prudence, he could theoretically take control of the family business someday. But his father is trying to stop him. As this story in Rupert's Wall Street Journal explains, Rupert "is arguing that shifting voting control of the trust to Lachlan should be allowed because it is in the best interest of all the beneficiaries, including his other children."
As for those Fox hosts, maybe they cozied up to James prematurely...
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Willy Sanjuan/Invision/AP |
An indictment is expected to be unsealed this morning following last night's arrest of Sean 'Diddy' Combs in Manhattan. A bank of cameras are waiting for him to arrive outside the courthouse.
While these charges against Combs are unclear, he has already faced a litany of sexual assault lawsuits, as well as a federal human trafficking probe last year. An attorney for Combs says he had been complying with the investigation that prompted the indictment and had, of his own volition, flown to New York ahead of the charges. Combs' team maintains the music mogul is innocent and has "nothing to hide." More from Elizabeth Wagmeister, Josh Campbell, and Elizabeth Wolfe here.
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Instagram's new teen restrictions |
After years of pressure over child safety, Instagram this morning announced new "teen account" settings, its "most dramatic effort yet to protect young users from dangers on its platform," CNN's Clare Duffy writes. The changes will "automatically make millions of teen accounts private and restrict what kinds of content those users can view on the app."
In an interview on "GMA," Instagram boss Adam Mosseri promoted the new settings as a way to give parents of teens more power. "We've decided that parents should be our north star," he said. Obviously the company would rather have parents set the rules, rather than lawmakers or regulators.
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RT is now banned on Facebook |
Meta's big Monday night announcement: "After careful consideration, we expanded our ongoing enforcement against Russian state media outlets. Rossiya Segodnya, RT and other related entities are now banned from our apps globally for foreign interference activity." As CNN's Sean Lyngaas reports, "the move comes days after the US Justice Department announced charges against two RT employees for funneling nearly $10 million into a US company" and Secretary of State Antony Blinken said RT engaged in "influence operations and military procurement."
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Trump's appearance at the National Association of Black Journalists' convention in July was memorable ("turned Black") to say the least. Organizers said at the time that they would also like to host a conversation with Kamala Harris. Now it's happening: Harris will sit down with a panel of Black journalists at WHYY, the public radio giant in Philadelphia, Tuesday at 2:30 pm ET. "Fresh Air" co-host Tonya Mosley, TheGrio's Gerren Keith Gaynor and Politico's Eugene Daniels will ask the questions. Here are the details and live stream links.
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Also making news on Tuesday... |
>> SiriusXM is adding Nikki Haley as a host. The company just announced that "Nikki Haley Live" will air on Wednesday evenings between now and January. It will also be distributed as a podcast.
>> NBC's Lester Holt is sitting down with SpaceX's Polaris Dawn crew for an exclusive on today's "Nightly News."
>> Today's new nonfiction releases include "Something Lost, Something Gained" by Hillary Clinton, "On Freedom" by Timothy Snyder, "Connie" by Connie Chung, and "Character Limit" by Ryan Mac and Kate Conger.
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Trump talks to Hannity tonight |
"Ex-President Donald Trump responded to a second apparent assassination attempt that he blames on incendiary political rhetoric by inflaming the situation even more," CNN's Stephen Collinson wrote this morning.
>> Trump recounted the golf course incident during a live audio chat on X last night (and barely talked about his "soon-to-launch crypto venture" that was the reason for the X chat) and in an interview with Washington Post columnist Marc Thiessen. He will also be on Fox with Sean Hannity tonight.
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24 hours of Elon Musk headlines |
>> Elon Musk says he was joking when he tweeted that "no one is even trying to assassinate Biden/Kamala." The Secret Service says it is "aware" of the now-deleted post. I think these four headlines sum it all up:
>> AP's Ali Swenson: "Musk has often inflamed politically tense moments, raising worries for the US election"
>> WIRED's Andrew Couts: "Elon Musk is a national security risk"
>> Business Insider's Peter Kafka: "I'm running out of things to say about Elon Musk and his terrible tweets"
>> CNN's Matt Egan: "Elon Musk is on track to soon become the world's first trillionaire"
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Judge throws lifeline to Newsmax |
Marshall Cohen reports: The judge in the Smartmatic-Newsmax case, which is set for trial in two weeks, threw a lifeline to the pro-Trump network Monday with favorable rulings that could help the network rebut 2020 election-related defamation claims. Judge Eric Davis said he might decide during the trial that some of the allegedly defamatory statements were "opinion" and therefore can’t be reviewed by the jury. He also will let Newsmax present evidence to the jury about the recent federal indictment charging Smartmatic execs with bribing a top Philippines election official to secure contracts.
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Inside the pivotal TikTok hearing |
Brian Fung reports: Who really controls TikTok's magical algorithm — the US-based company that runs the app or its Chinese parent, ByteDance? That's what bedeviled a trio of federal judges charged with deciding whether to allow the implementation of a law that could ultimately result in TikTok being banned for all Americans. After more than two hours of oral argument yesterday between TikTok and a group of content creators on one side, and the US government on the other, it remains uncertain how the judges may rule. Read on...
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>> Correction: Yesterday I wrote that Yuval Noah Harari's "last book" was "Sapiens," but it was his first! He has published three books since, the newest being "Nexus." Thanks to reader Jim for flagging this.
>> Michael Smerconish is releasing "SMERCOMICS," a book of political cartoons telling the story of 2024, and donating all profits to the Children's Crisis Treatment Center. (X)
>> Four Jewish Chronicle columnists have quit, citing lackluster editorial standards and ownership secrecy. (Press Gazette)
>> The NYT is unveiling a new display in its lobby for the 173rd anniversary of its first edition. (LinkedIn)
>> Poynter's Tom Jones is launching a biweekly media podcast. (Poynter)
>> Vivek Ramaswamy is hosting a new series for Fox Nation. (Deadline)
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Anti-DEI documentary is a hit |
If Michael Moore were in theaters with a new hit documentary, you probably would have heard about it. Have you heard of right-wing activist Matt Walsh's new film "Am I Racist?" It is "the first theatrical release from Jeremy Boreing and Ben Shapiro's The Daily Wire," and it had "a phenomenal opening weekend, grossing $4.75 million on 1,517 screens for the No. 4 spot at the domestic box office and one of the top documentary bows of the past decade," Deadline's Jill Goldsmith reports.
As you might surmise from the title, Walsh's film takes aim at diversity and inclusion efforts and mocks liberals' views about race. In recent days he has complained that not a "single mainstream critic" has reviewed the film.
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"The Emmys brought an average 6.87 million viewers to ABC on Sunday night, a 54% rise in total viewers from the record-low 4.3 million who tuned into the most recent ceremony on Fox at the start of this year," Variety's Selome Hailu reports. |
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>> "James Cameron has purchased the rights to Charles Pellegrino's forthcoming book 'Ghosts of Hiroshima'" to make a movie about the atomic blasts, and the aftermath. (Deadline)
>> "Beetlejuice Beetlejuice" maintained the top spot at the box office last weekend, raking in $51.6 million, while "Speak No Evil" nabbed the No. 2 spot, opening to an estimated $11.5 million. (THR)
>> Netflix renewed “Emily in Paris” for a fifth season. (Rolling Stone)
>> Tyler, The Creator will make his film debut in A24’s Timothée Chalamet-led “Marty Supreme.” (Deadline)
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