Happy Friday. Here's the latest on The Observer, Kash Patel, Taylor Swift, Adrian Wojnarowski, David Sacks, Patrick Soon-Shiong, Jessica Cruel, and more... |
Pressing for access in Gaza |
Omar Al-Qattaa/AFP/Getty Images
|
A group of Democratic U.S. senators are pressing Secretary of State Antony Blinken to prioritize media access and safety in Gaza. "The United States must make clear to Israel that targeting media organizations and members of the press is unacceptable," the senators wrote in a letter to Blinken that's being reported first here. "It is also important that the United States support UN efforts calling for accountability and protection of journalists in Gaza and the West Bank."
The senators lobbied President Joe Biden about press freedom relating to the conflicts last December. The situation is even worse now. Israel has imposed an "information blackout" on Gaza, Reporters Without Borders says. Since the Hamas-led attack on Israel on October 7, 2023, "over 140 journalists have been killed in Gaza by the Israeli army," the group says. "At least 34 were killed while working." The Committee to Protect Journalists continues to speak out against Israel's "systematic attack on journalists and media infrastructure."
The U.S. senators want Blinken to "prioritize journalists' immediate access to Gaza with guarantees from the Israel Defense Forces to ensure that it does not target them in its operations." The letter, signed by Brian Schatz, Tim Kaine, Chris Van Hollen, Elizabeth Warren, Bernie Sanders, Peter Welch, Amy Klobuchar, Jeff Merkley, George Helmy, Cory Booker, Jeanne Shaheen, and
Tina Smith, also includes 25 questions for Blinken's staff about what the State Department is doing to support the press. Here's the letter...
|
|
|
Observer sale is moving forward |
A very big deal in the UK: "The owner of The Guardian is pressing ahead with the sale of the world's oldest Sunday newspaper," The Observer, "to a fledgling digital media company, just hours after scores of journalists went on strike in protest at the deal," Sky's Mark Kleinman reports.
The buyer, Tortoise Media, says it will inject £25 million in new investment and give the brand "a new lease of life as a powerful, progressive voice in the world." Here are quotes from all the parties involved...
|
|
|
Trump basks in Fox's glow |
Mission accomplished, Lachlan Murdoch and Suzanne Scott: President-elect Donald Trump was definitely feeling the love at Fox Nation's Patriot Awards on Long Island last night. "You're my friends, you're my friends," Trump gushed from the stage. He praised the night's host Sean Hannity; waved to Fox personalities like Tyrus and Jeanine Pirro; and said one of the Fox contributors he just poached for his administration, Tom Homan, was right out of "Central Casting."
>> Trump's newsiest remark: He referenced cost of living concerns and noted the economy was a key issue in the election, but said "I never believed it was as important as immigration and the border and stopping our country from being invaded." He added, "I always really felt that was bigger than inflation."
|
|
|
Fox has a Pete Hegseth conflict |
This morning, Trump posted support for Pete Hegseth, calling him a "WINNER" who has "strong and deep" support. Of course, Hegseth is one of the president-elect's key nominees, so it's worth scrutinizing the conflicts of interest at his former employer, Fox News.
Staffers at Fox know a lot about the ex-host – and as I've written before, many of them are very fond of Hegseth – but some of what they know could be embarrassing for Hegseth, Trump and Fox, since the network employed Hegseth and treated him as a homegrown star for about a decade.
For example: In 2016 and 2017 Hegseth's affair with colleague Jennifer Rauchet, now his wife, was the subject of office gossip. "We all knew about it, and we all knew we just couldn't say anything about it," one of Hegseth's former fellow hosts told me.
This week, I revisited interview notes from my 2020 book "Hoax" and realized that I had some quotes about Hegseth, like that one up above, that I should have included. Most significantly: A longtime Fox News producer said Hegseth had a drinking habit that was an "open secret" on the set of "Fox & Friends." The producer said he sometimes noticed beer cans in the trash can inside Hegseth’s office, and said he once asked his boss, "Does Pete drink before he goes on the air every day?"
Keep in mind: That interview took place in 2020, so this is not some ax-to-grind source suddenly trying to take down Trump's Pentagon pick.
Those quotes are just a small part of a big new CNN Investigates story by Casey Tolan, Curt Devine, Rob Kuznia and yours truly. Check it out here...
|
|
|
Vetting the nominees' books and shows |
Four links you should check out if you haven't already:
>> The NYT's Carlos Lozada read Hegseth's most recent book, "The War on Warriors," and found that Hegseth and Trump "have the same enemies." He said "moments in the book almost read like Hegseth was fantasizing about the very job he'd be offered less than six months later." Lozada has lots of insights here...
>> The Daily Beast's Harry Lambert read FBI director nominee Kash Patel's 2023 book "Government Gangsters" and called it "mad, bad — and very revealing." Here's why...
>> Speaking of Patel, Vox's Zack Beauchamp listened to every podcast clip of Patel on "War Room" he could find, and "the overwhelming impression is that Patel is a man whose entire worldview revolves around paranoid conspiracy theories." More here...
>> ABC's Lucien Bruggeman spoke with former aides to Tulsi Gabbard, Trump's pick for director of national intelligence, who said she "regularly read and shared articles from the Russian news site RT." Here's the significance...
|
|
|
Trump dominated in 'news deserts' |
"While Trump's national popular-vote margin was just under 1.5%, his margin in news deserts was massive," Paul Farhi and John Volk report for the Medill school's Local News Initiative. In counties "lacking a professional source of local news," Trump won "by an average of 54 percentage points." In the few news-desert counties won by Kamala Harris, "her margin was a comparatively slim 18 points, the analysis shows."
The reporters note that "Trump’s dominance of news deserts doesn't imply a cause and effect." But it does instigate some really interesting discussions about democratic participation, social alienation, and the loss of community cohesion. So read on...
|
|
|
Battle over LA Times 'bias' |
Patrick Soon-Shiong continues to roil the Los Angeles Times newsroom. His plan for an AI-powered "bias meter" is being rebuffed by the Los Angeles Times Guild. Liam Reilly and Jon Passantino have the latest here.
>> Yesterday Harry Litman, a contributor to the publication for the past 15 years, said he had just resigned because "I don't want to continue to work for a paper that is appeasing Trump and facilitating his assault on democratic rule for craven reasons."
>> Only three Editorial Board members are currently listed on the Times' website, though Scott Jennings, CNN's conservative political analyst who recently said he is joining the board, has yet to be added.
|
|
|
>> Condé Nast "is once again cutting staff and making changes to its portfolio of publications." Among the changes: "Allure's editor-in-chief Jessica Cruel will take over the reins of Self magazine..." (THR)
>> Most of the Condé cuts are on the business side as "Elizabeth Herbst-Brady consolidates the advertising and consumer revenue divisions into 'One Team,' the new mantra," Lauren Sherman reports... (Puck)
>> New reductions at Vox Media have "impacted lifestyle brands including Thrillist, PS, and Eater." (Business Insider)
>> Charlotte Klein's latest: "Why have so many well-respected journalists left Politico lately?" (NY mag)
>> Rupert Murdoch has made a "surprise Australian homecoming," his first visit in years, Mark Di Stefano writes. (AFR)
|
|
|
A list of superb year-end lists |
|
|
Erick W. Rasco/Sports Illustrated |
>> "Woj's Next Chapter:" Chris Mannix's story reveals a ton, including Adrian Wojnarowski's prostate cancer diagnosis; Woj's other reasons for walking away from the NBA news grind; and the fascinating fact that the Harris campaign wanted him to break the news of the Tim Walz VP pick. (Sports Illustrated)
>> Bill Grueskin's latest: "Should a student reporter face prosecution for embedding with protesters?" (CJR)
>> It doesn't really matter "whether Democrats leave X — X doesn't care. It left them first," John Herrman writes, explaining how Twitter's successor is "an utterly new platform built within the old one." (NYMag)
>> Andy Greenberg writes about Micah Lee, who was booted from X for a post that Elon Musk disliked, and how he has navigated the post-X world. (WIRED)
>> "It’s fun to say that artificial intelligence is fake and sucks — but evidence is mounting that it’s real and dangerous," Casey Newton writes in this well-argued new column. (Platformer)
>> Faith Karimi explains how "a three-year-old TikTok post helped capture a suspect in an unsolved murder." (CNN)
>> Alex Weprin says "the NFL is ready to take over Hollywood now." (THR)
>> Esther Zuckerman says the "Wicked" practice "of taking pictures of the movie screen" reflects a bigger change in our society. (NYT)
|
|
|
>> New #'s: Musk "spent more than a quarter-billion dollars to elect Trump, including funding a mysterious super PAC, new filings show." (CNN)
>> Musk's pal/tech investor/"All In" podcast co-host David Sacks will be Trump's White House “czar” overseeing AI and cryptocurrency policy. (CNN)
>> OpenAI "is introducing a higher-priced paid tier" for ChatGPT "that includes unlimited access to its most powerful artificial intelligence models, including an improved version of its software that can perform human-like reasoning tasks," Rachel Metz reports. The price tag is $200 a month. (Bloomberg)
>> OpenAI's latest content deal is with Future, the publisher behind Tom’s Guide, PC Gamer, TechRadar, Marie Claire, and other brands... (The Verge)
>> The AI-powered search engine Perplexity "is expanding its publisher program, with the LA Times, Adweek, Mexico News Daily, and a dozen other news outlets signing up," Kyle Wiggers reports. (TechCrunch)
>> TikTok and Nielsen have inked a partnership that will give advertisers "the ability to compare ad performance on the quick-hit streaming-video site with that of other digital, connected-TV and linear outlets," Brian Steinberg writes. (Variety)
>> James Cameron "is teaming up with tech giant Meta to bring more premium content to its Meta Quest mixed reality headsets," Alex Weprin reports. (THR)
|
|
|
"Taylor Swift's Eras Tour changed everything," the WSJ's Neil Shah writes. "The biggest tour of the 21st century is coming to an end" this weekend, but the retrospective stories are just starting. "The tour shattered sales and attendance records and created such an economic boom that even the Federal Reserve took note," the AP's Kimberlee Kruesi says. The tour became "became a near-religious experience" for fans, the BBC's Clare Thorp notes.
I especially enjoyed this piece by USA Today's dedicated Swift reporter, Bryan West, who "experienced the Great War to get tickets on multiple continents." The tour is over on Sunday, but the Swift story sure isn't...
>> BTW: If you're going to one of the Vancouver shows this weekend, email us your reflections afterward!
|
|
|
Upgrading movie theaters 🙏 |
"A trio of hit films in ‘Wicked,’ ‘Gladiator II,’ and ‘Moana 2’ have powered the U.S. box office to an astounding $680 million in ticket sales between Nov. 22 and Dec. 1," TheWrap's Jeremy Fuster reports, noting that "exhibitors are expecting that to be a prologue to a bigger 2025, which is why several top chains are planning to spend a combined $2.2 billion to give thousands of theaters a much-needed overhaul."
|
|
|
>> The aforementioned Taylor Swift is a best selling author now: The "Eras Tour Book" "sold 814,000 copies over the Thanksgiving holiday weekend," its first weekend on the market. (AP)
>> “Universal/Warner Bros’ ‘Twisters’ has debuted as streamer Peacock‘s biggest Pay 1 film ever in its 14 days on the platform,” Anthony D’Alessandro reports. (Deadline)
>> HBO’s “Harry Potter” series plans to start filming next summer. (THR)
>> A “Scrubs” reboot is in development at ABC. (Deadline)
>> USA Today is introducing "Movie Meter," a platform "that engages movie enthusiasts to rate which film deserves the 'Film of the Year' designation." (Gannett)
|
|
|
|
® © 2024 Cable News Network. A Warner Bros. Discovery Company. All Rights Reserved.
1050 Techwood Drive NW, Atlanta, GA 30318 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
