Happy Wednesday! Here's the latest on BuzzFeed, Amazon, Stephen King, BBC News, Oprah Winfrey, Billboard, and more... |
During Donald Trump's first term in office, Fox News frequently misled and misinformed the president, even as he poached aides and policy idea from the network. One of the premises of my 2020 book "Hoax" was that Trump's reliance on Fox hurt him more than Fox helped him. Is the Pete Hegseth nomination the first such example of Trump's second term?
The president-elect has been fond of Hegseth for years. He has watched "Fox & Friends Weekend;" has fawned over Hegseth and the other hosts; and echoed the show's talking points, including about eradicating "wokeness" in the military. Once again, he has picked one of his Fox favorites for a job – but the nomination is faltering in a very public, very dramatic way.
Today "is going to be absolutely critical" for Hegseth's nomination, a senior Trump Transition source told Jake Tapper. CNN and other news outlets, including Rupert Murdoch's Wall Street Journal, are reporting that Hegseth's nomination is in trouble, and Trump might tap Florida governor Ron DeSantis to run the Pentagon instead.
Hegseth "has not been forthright with the Transition team staff and the President-elect and Vice President-elect," the senior Trump Transition source told Tapper, citing the recent reporting about allegations about Hegseth's behavior involving women and alcohol. "He has hurt a lot of people as a result. He didn't disclose anything."
As New York Times DC correspondent Glenn Thrush pointed out, "There’s an alternate universe in which Trump didn't submit a half dozen nominees who are questionable/unacceptable to his own allies in the Senate — squandering time, momentum, goodwill and party unity."
Some commentators are almost talking about Hegseth in the past tense. But he declared this morning on X that "our warriors never back down, & neither will I." He referenced "fake, anonymous sources & BS stories."
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As I noted yesterday, Fox has almost totally ignored the spiraling nature of Hegseth's nomination on air and online. Some of the allegations about Hegseth are about his years at Fox – making this a very complex situation for Lachlan Murdoch and Suzanne Scott. Last night, many Fox hosts and commentators disputed an NBC News report about Hegseth's alcohol use.
This morning, the defense extended to "Fox & Friends." Hegseth's mother Penelope, whose scathing email about him "mistreating women for years" was obtained by The New York Times, sat down with Steve Doocy for an extended Q&A, which doubled as the first time Fox has acknowledged the email's existence. Penelope came ready: She sidestepped Doocy's first question, looked straight into the camera and thanked Trump "for your belief in my son. We all believe in him. We really believe that he is not that man he was seven years ago."
She also addressed "female senators" on Capitol Hill, saying, "I really hope that you will not listen to the media and that you will listen to Pete." Hegseth, of course, has been a prominent member of "the media" for the past decade.
Penelope Hegseth blasted The Times at length and said "it feels almost criminal when reporters call and threaten you." (She seemed to be referring to the paper's request for comment, which acknowledged that if she didn't comment, the paper would publish details from the shocking email anyway.) Her main message was that Pete is a changed man. That's the narrative his allies have been pushing in private, as well. But a changed-man narrative is premised on ugliness in the man's past...
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This morning, Hegseth is back on Capitol Hill meeting with senators. "He has a math problem right now," CNN's Manu Raju says. Right now, he simply does not have the votes. Maybe he can change some senators' minds – his whole job at Fox was to be charming and persuasive every weekend morning – but as the transition source told Tapper, "there are significant concerns more accusations are going to come out from his time at Fox News." I'm already getting messages from media types asking questions like this: "If/when Hegseth is no longer the SecDef nominee, will Fox welcome him back no question asked?"
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Hegseth may appear on Fox later today, but the network has not yet announced any appearance...
Andrew Ross Sorkin hosts a full day of live interviews at the DealBook Summit...
NBC televises the Rockefeller Center Christmas Tree lighting in prime time...
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Sources: Rashida Jones eyes exit |
Overnight, two sources confirmed Oliver Darcy's scoop that MSNBC president Rashida Jones is "mulling a departure" early next year. It's a logical time for Jones to think about it: She has "successfully led the network to ratings highs," as Darcy noted, and she has a new boss, Mark Lazarus, who will be the CEO of Comcast's "SpinCo." Changes may be afoot, but for now a spokesperson for Jones is denying that she is eyeing an exit. Here is Darcy's full story for Status...
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Guardian staffers are on strike |
Journalists at the Guardian and the Observer are on strike, as this unbylined story on the Guardian's home page says. The 48-hour action is "in protest at the proposed sale of the Observer newspaper to Tortoise Media." This is the Guardian's first strike "in more than 50 years..."
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News media under martial law |
Jun Yeon-Je/AFP/Getty Images |
When South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol declared martial law on Tuesday night, journalists were just as shocked as everyone else. CNN's Mike Valerio said "we thought, wait, is this a typo? SOUTH Korea?"
"While the decree put 'all media and publications' under the control of the Martial Law Command, our journalists were able to work without hindrance to cover the news," Michael Mainville, AFP's Asia Pacific Regional Director, told CNN's Liam Reilly. "The idea that we would do anything but continue reporting never really crossed our minds," said Chun Young-Sun, the Korea JoongAng Daily’s managing editor. This NYT story says "Martial Law Didn’t Silence South Korea's Media. It Empowered Them."
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A lesson in 'how to hold the line' |
"It would have been disastrous for press freedom if martial law had come into effect," the Committee to Protect Journalists said overnight. "However South Korean journalists and citizens have demonstrated in remarkable fashion how to hold the line against the erosion of democracy. This can be a critical lesson for many societies that are seeing backsliding in democracy and press freedom, including in the West."
Seth Stern, the Freedom of the Press Foundation’s director of advocacy, told Reilly that the South Korea chaos "raises concerns that others will try similar tactics until they're normalized and ultimately succeed." He said "journalists in the United States need to write about press freedom and make it part of the national discourse, and not only when there's a catastrophe to report or when a
politician says something extreme."
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>> Amazon "is reaching out to news publishers about opportunities to license their content for the next generation of Amazon's Alexa voice assistant, slated to debut next year," Sara Fischer scoops. (Axios)
>> "ESPN and Stephen A. Smith are close to hammering out a new contract" that could see Smith-backed concepts show up on Disney's entertainment channels, Brian Steinberg reports... (Variety)
>> Check out Forbes' "30 Under 30" list of media makers... (Forbes)
>> In an action timed to the "30 Under 30" list, Forbes staffers staged a walkout on Tuesday amid a protracted battle between the union and ownership... (TheWrap)
>> BuzzFeed "could be on the hook for $124 million this week." Peter Kafka expects some news from the company soon... (Business Insider)
>> Oprah Winfrey is starting a weekly podcast, including one show per month with an Oprah's Book Club author "in partnership with Starbucks..." (THR)
>> The Kremlin's favorite propagandist Tucker Carlson is in Russia again, this time he says to interview the country’s foreign minister Sergei Lavrov... (Mediaite)
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Paramount's 'sweeping changes' |
David Ellison plans "sweeping changes at Paramount Global, including cuts at the company’s TV networks, billions of dollars more for streaming and an overhaul of top management," Lucas Shaw and Thomas Buckley report for Bloomberg. George Cheeks "is expected to stay" while Chris McCarthy's future "is less certain." The third co-CEO Brian Robbins "is expected to leave around the close of the deal..."
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The scary reality of rural radio |
Just how tough is the business of rural radio broadcasting? So tough that even Stephen King couldn't make it work. The legendary author is "killing off his cluster of money-losing radio stations" in and around Bangor, Maine "after 41 years under his and wife Tabitha's ownership," Billboard's Marc Schneider reports.
According to a statement, the stations have "consistently" lost money for decades and "King personally has covered those losses." King, 77, said he loved being "a local, independent owner," but he is feeling his age and wants to "get his business affairs in better order..."
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BBC investigates one of its own |
BBC News – which is editorially independent from the wider BBC – started to investigate Gregg Wallace, the longtime host of the BBC's hit show "MasterChef," last summer. The reporting uncovered "allegations of inappropriate sexual comments by 13 people who worked with him across a range of shows over a 17-year period."
When the journalists went to Wallace's reps for comment last week, in advance of publishing a story, Wallace's lawyers defended him, but the show's production company said he would step aside. And there has been nearly a week of fallout since. On Tuesday, the BBC said two special Christmas episodes of "MasterChef" are being shelved after initially indicating that the specials would air.
On one level, this is a powerful example of BBC News independence. At the same time, though, the wider BBC organization is coming under "growing scrutiny," the AP says, amid questions about "how Wallace had continued to front some of its most popular shows for so long despite the complaints."
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>> At WIRED's The Big Interview event yesterday, Bluesky CEO Jay Graber said the service now has 24 million users. "Graber admitted that the recent growth in users has delayed the rollout of premium subscriptions..." (WIRED)
>> TikTok defended its handling of Romania election content in a "grilling by EU lawmakers..." (AP)
>> "Celeb greetings app Cameo is pivoting to creators with a new product called CameoX," Sarah Perez reports. (TechCrunch)
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Did Billboard get it right? |
Chris Pizzello/Invision/AP/File |
First of all, kudos to whomever cooked this up at Billboard – the publication's ranking of top 25 pop artists of the past 25 years has been nothing if not buzzworthy. Last week, Taylor Swift was announced as the No. 2 pick. And on Tuesday, Beyoncé was named No. 1. "Beyoncé tops our staff-chosen editorial list based on her full 25 years of influence, impact, evolution," Andrew Unterberger wrote. Cue the debates! Abby Phillip's panel talked "Bey or Tay" last night. The
Daily Mail even quoted an "insider" saying "Taylor couldn't be happier" for her friend... |
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>> New this morning: Taylor Swift was the most streamed artist on Spotify this year. On the podcast front, Joe Rogan and Alex Cooper topped the Wrapped list. (THR)
>> After six days, "Disney's record-breaking 'Moana 2' stands at $404.5 million" worldwide, and is "already the No. 9 movie of the year," Anthony D'Alessandro reports. (Deadline)
>> Sean Penn "blasted the organizers of the Oscars for being cowards who, in effect, limit the kinds of films that can be funded and made," Sam Metz writes. (AP)
>> Sean Hannity "will debut a new monthly longform interview program on Fox Nation" with guests "spanning the world of sports, entertainment, and politics," Brian Steinberg reports. (Variety)
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