Happy Monday! Here's the latest from Donie O'Sullivan, John Harris, Zohreen Shah, Matt Stoller, Alex Weprin, Susan Morrison, Fortune, Bill Maher and many others... |
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The Contrarian set for combat |
Michael S. Schwartz/Getty Images/Drew Angerer/Pool/Reuters |
Today, veteran opinion columnist Jennifer Rubin is becoming the latest in a long list of Washington Post figures to leave the troubled institution.
Rubin tells me she is partnering with former White House ethics czar Norm Eisen and launching a startup publication called The Contrarian. Its tagline, "Not owned by anybody," is a pointed reference to billionaire Washington Post owner Jeff Bezos and other moguls who, in Rubin's view, have "bent the knee" to President-elect Donald Trump.
"Our goal is to combat, with every fiber of our being, the authoritarian threat that we face," Rubin says.
Rather than anti-Trump, the founders describe their venture as pro-democracy. They said they have already enlisted about two dozen contributors, including Ruth Ben-Ghiat, Andy Borowitz, George Conway, John Dean, Bob Kagan, Barb McQuade, Katie Phang, Asha Rangappa, Stephen Richer, and Andrew Weissmann.
Eisen, who is departing his CNN legal analyst role, will be the publisher. Rubin will be the editor-in-chief. Rubin says she resigned from the Post because it, "along with most mainstream news outlets, has failed spectacularly at a moment that we most need a robust, aggressive free press." She adds: "I fear that things are going from bad to worse at The Post." Here's my full story...
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Culture as well as politics |
The Contrarian is joining a growing group of publications – like The Bulwark and Zeteo – that are built on Substack. It will charge $7 a month for full access to columns, podcasts, and videos.
The founders stress that the site will cover culture and publish humor columns – with an eye toward appealing to folks who don't follow politics closely. Eisen, a former U.S. ambassador to the Czech Republic, says "I know from my experience in Europe that the dissident movements there have been led by those in humor, satire, and culture like my friend President Václav Havel who was a playwright."
"We will bring in a large array of voices – you need that to fight autocracy," Eisen says. "Laughing may actually end up being more important than political and legal analysis!" Read on...
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Seemingly every day I see another boldface-name journalist strike out on their own. A few examples from the past few days:
>> Yesterday, NYT and Bloomberg veteran Ashlee Vance announced a "futuristic" media company called Core Memory "focusing on emerging technologies and science."
>> Former Fox and CNN correspondent Kristin Fisher has started a YouTube brand for her space coverage called The Endless Void. (She remains a CNN contributor.)
>> After stints at the Washington Post and CNN, Brian Fung has transformed into "BrainFungi," running an experimental Twitch stream where he plays video games while covering and chatting about tech, media and public policy news.
>> Former CNN anchor Alisyn Camerota has started a Substack that she calls a "backstage pass to this 2025 Reinvention Tour."
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'This journey is personal' |
ABC's Zohreen Shah is like so many other homeowners in the Pacific Palisades right now: "I lost my home in the fires," she wrote in an Instagram post, and "I'm determined to find answers."
Shah and her husband had closed on the property just a few weeks ago and hadn't fully moved in yet. Still, she wrote, "this journey is personal. I hope when people see me on TV or TikTok, they know they’re watching someone who saw her dream home turn to rubble – and is fighting to build it back again." Shah is back on the air today...
>> Related: Variety's Michael Schneider wrote about some of the other L.A. reporters who are covering "devastation in their own neighborhoods..."
>> Disney says it is donating $15 million to fire relief efforts...
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Fact-checkers counter wildfire fictions |
Soon to be out of work, Meta's fact-checkers are battling "a blaze of wildfire conspiracy theories," Donie O'Sullivan writes. His new story has great insight from L.A. resident Alan Duke, the CNN alum who co-founded the fact-checking site Lead Stories. "Cutting fact checkers from social platforms is like disbanding your fire department," Duke says...
>> Related: Virginia Heffernan unpacks some of the most unhinged claims about the fires and says "disinformation" is the wrong word for what's going on: "It's not disinformation; it's fiction."
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What are Zuckerberg's goals? |
Has Mark Zuckerberg done enough to get off Trump's enemies list? Has he done enough to stay off?
In the past few days he has... put an end to Meta's DEI programs; criticized the Biden admin on Joe Rogan's podcast; and flown to Mar-a-Lago to meet with Trump again. Zuck's plane was spotted parked right next to Trump's plane in Palm Beach.
Will it all redound to Meta's benefit? "Forgive me for being cynical," anti-monopoly crusader Matt Stoller opines, "but Mark Zuckerberg's real goals are (1) an end to the FTC antitrust suit against the firm (2) to eliminate the consent decree that bans the targeting of children and (3) the legalization of mass copyright violations for AI training models (4) eliminating regulatory scrutiny of Facebook's payments business by the CFPB and (5) warding off the threat that Congress will regulate the social networking firm over kids privacy (6) U.S. government aid in preventing foreign governments from regulating the company’s platforms." Stoller went into more detail in this blog post.
>> Some users are reporting downticks in followers on Instagram Threads as some users shut their accounts down in protest of Meta’s new Community Notes initiatives. (Threads)
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Biden says it's 'shameful' |
In case you missed it (like I did) on Friday night: President Biden said of Meta abandoning its fact-checking program, "The idea that, you know, a billionaire can buy something and say, by the way, from this point on, we're not going to, we're not going to fact check anything" is "really shameful." |
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Fortune's Kali Hayes "published a story Thursday that was wrought with dubious claims about changes Elon Musk was alleged to have been planning to roll out for X users in the coming weeks," Mediaite's Kipp Jones reports. The story was quickly picked up by other media outlets. Then an anonymous X account called "Fortune Exposed" came forward, admitted to feeding "false information" to Hayes, and blamed her for not bothering "to verify the details."
It's the type of episode that makes everyone involved look bad. Fortune removed the article and ran a correction stating that a source "intentionally misled our reporter over a series of exchanges..."
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Political media notes/quotes |
>> Just announced: John Harris says Jack Blanchard is the next lead author and managing editor of Playbook. (Politico)
>> Steve Bannon reportedly told an Italian newspaper that "I will get Elon Musk kicked out" of Trump's inner circle "by the time he's inaugurated..." (Vanity Fair)
>> Speaking of Musk: The "Department of Government Efficiency" is "now unlikely to incorporate as an organized outside entity or nonprofit," Theodore Schleifer and Madeleine Ngo report. "Instead, it is likely to exist as more of a brand" for guys who are in group chats with Musk and/or Vivek Ramaswamy... (NYT)
>> The stated desire by RFK Jr. to ban pharmaceutical TV ads "would wound both friend and foe," Alex Weprin writes, noting the impact on Fox, just to name one Trump ally. (THR)
>> In an interview with Jake Tapper, Bill Maher said he's done doing standup comedy ("I need a break") but shut down speculation that he's retiring from HBO's "Real Time." They'd have to "drag me off that show," he said. (YouTube)
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Craig Melvin officially took over for Hoda Kotb on the "Today" show this morning. If you missed his debut alongside Savannah Guthrie, NBC is live-blogging his premiere day here. Melvin and Guthrie spoke with Oliver Darcy for Sunday night's Status Q&A...
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Today: NFL Wild Card Weekend comes to a close with Vikings v. Rams
Tuesday: The Senate holds a confirmation hearing for Pete Hegseth
Tuesday: The Oscar nomination voting window closes
Friday: Apple launches season two of "Severance"
Sunday: The Academy announces this year's Oscar nominations
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>> New this morning: The New Yorker features an excerpt from Susan Morrison's forthcoming biography of Lorne Michaels. (New Yorker)
>> Let the UFC talks begin! The league "is looking to get more than $1 billion a year from its next media-rights deal," more than double "what the current contract holder ESPN pays," Lucas Shaw reports... (Bloomberg)
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Jill Goldsmith sizes up "winners and losers in the Venu sports meltdown..." (Deadline)
>> TikTok's fate "is now in the hands of the Supreme Court. And things are not looking good for the app," Clare Duffy writes. (CNN)
>> NYMag's new cover story about "the sadistic power games of fantasy author Neil Gaiman" begins with an editors note saying "this story contains content that readers may find disturbing, including graphic allegations of sexual assault." (NYMag)
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Lionsgate's "Den of Thieves 2: Pantera" exceeded expectations over the weekend, pulling in $15.5 million at the domestic box office, Anthony D'Alessandro reports. Paramount's "Better Man" bombed with $1.05 million "despite notching great audience exits."
>> Meanwhile, Disney's "Moana 2" raked in an additional $6.5 million, bringing its global box office total to $989.8 million, Pamela McClintock reports. (THR)
>> And A24's "The Brutalist" "busted out in limited expansion this weekend with close to $1.39 million on just 68 screens," Jill Goldsmith adds. (Deadline)
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