Hey, good morning. Here's the latest on The Atlantic, Lawrence O'Donnell, Susan Zirinsky, Little Red Book, Brooke Shields, Will Cain, Infowars, Jimmy Kimmel, and more... |
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There is a new "Trump bump" materializing for some news outlets, though it's showing up differently than it did the first time Donald Trump was elected president.
That's the assertion from The Guardian, at least. According to internal data shared first with CNN, Trump's reelection prompted a record surge in donations to the Guardian US. The outlet's end-of-2024 fundraising campaign raised $5.13 million in immediate contributions, more than double the previous record $2.2 million it brought in at the end of 2023.
Instead of the bump in traffic that many news outlets saw in 2016 and 2017, "we're seeing huge spikes in reader revenue and support," editor-in-chief Betsy Reed said.
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Capitalizing on controversies |
The Guardian's US arm has used controversies at other outlets – like Washington Post owner Jeff Bezos blocking the paper's planned endorsement of Kamala Harris – to generate spikes in contributions. When Trump marveled that "in this term, everybody wants to be my friend,"The Guardian blasted out a fundraising email saying "Trump, we don't want to be your friend" and urging readers to contribute a year-end gift.
Reed said, "this moment represents a real opportunity for mission-driven outlets to appeal directly to readers who crave tough, independent reporting, and our recent experience is proof of that." Here's my full story...
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YOU HEARD IT HERE FIRST... |
The Atlantic's three newest hires |
Quoting from Jeffrey Goldberg's memo to staff this morning: "I'm writing to share the news that several extraordinary writers are joining The Atlantic. Caity Weaver is joining us as a staff writer, and Jonathan Lemire and Alex Reisner will come aboard as contributing writers." Weaver is joining from NYT Magazine; Lemire, an MSNBC host, recently departed Politico; and Reisner is a writer and programmer who previously built a searchable database of books that were used to train AI models.
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Introducing 'Little Red Book' |
With the U.S. ban of TikTok set to take effect in less than a week, a Chinese social media app called Xiaohongshu has "surged to the top position on Apple's US App Store," CNN's Eric Cheung, Joyce Jiang and Hassan Tayir report. The app's name means Little Red Book, which "could be seen as a tongue-in-cheek reference to a red-covered book of quotations from the founding father of Communist China, Mao Zedong." The name is often shortened by U.S. users to RedNote.
I'll be honest – I first heard about RedNote yesterday when our family's 19-year-old babysitter said all of her favorite TikTokers were suddenly talking up Rednote. The users are "saying they're doing so as an act of defiance against Washington's move to control TikTok..."
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>> Jack Smith's election subversion report was released shortly after midnight. Shoutout to all the reporters who stayed up until 2-3 a.m. reviewing the 130-page document for the rest of us...
>> The NYT reports that Elon Musk will have office space in the Eisenhower Executive Office Building, adjacent to the White House...
>> A rare "particularly dangerous situation" red flag warning is now active for parts of Southern California...
>> Jimmy Kimmel, "barely holding back tears," returned to ABC last night after cancelling several shows last week due to the fires. Watch his monologue on YouTube. This banner is hanging outside his studio on Hollywood Boulevard:
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Hegseth's day of questioning |
In 2016, when Trump was about to begin his first term, Fox host and former Army National Guard officer Pete Hegseth wound up on the transition team's shortlist to lead Veterans Affairs. Amid vocal opposition from veterans groups, Trump went with Dr. David Shulkin instead. According to one of Hegseth's confidants at Fox, Hegseth said Trump told him that "I can't hire you" because "you're too young." But the two men remained in close touch as Hegseth's star rose at Fox (he made $4.6 million between 2022 and 2024) and now Hegseth, 44, is up for a much bigger job in Trump's second term – defense secretary.
Hegseth's confirmation hearing begins at 9:30 a.m. ET. Here are previews from CNN, Politico, Axios, and The New Yorker.
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📚 Today's new nonfiction releases |
Rep. James Comer is out with "All the President's Money," alleging "secret foreign schemes that made the Biden family rich." The book already stoked controversy due to Comer's claim that Bob Woodward confided in him about Biden's corruption. Woodward has completely denied Comer's account – "and said he had tapes which proved it had never happened," Martin Pengelly reports.
Also new on sale today: Brooke Shields' brilliantly-titled "Brooke Shields Is Not Allowed to Get Old: Thoughts on Aging as a Woman," Kurt Gray's "Outraged: Why We Fight About Morality and Politics and How to Find Common Ground," and Pico Iyer's "Aflame: Learning from Silence."
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"Lawrence O'Donnell has landed a very big scoop: The anchor of MSNBC's The Last Word is getting the last word with President Joe Biden," Vulture's Joe Adalian writes. Thursday's Oval Office taping will be Biden's final interview as president. MSNBC says it will air Thursday at 10 p.m. ET. As Adalian notes, "there's been no word on a final Biden press conference," and it seems POTUS will skip that end-of-term tradition...
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Rachel Maddow is returning to MSNBC's 9 p.m. hour five nights a week for Trump's first 100 days, Liam Reilly writes. It's a savvy move, but also an acknowledgment of MSNBC's recent ratings woes, since Maddow is by far the most popular star on the network and is uniquely able to regain audience attention.
>> Along with the Maddow news, MSNBC also announced a new Jen Psaki podcast and touted special segments on its other prime time shows...
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'Podcast style' show on Fox News |
Television producers are thinking about how to port podcast vibes to TV. Case in point: On Monday, when Fox News said "Fox & Friends Weekend" co-host Will Cain is taking over Neil Cavuto's 4 p.m. time slot, Fox said the hour will adopt the same name as Cain's existing podcast and will have a "signature podcast style." I suspect we'll see more of this across cable news. Cain will host from Texas, where he lives; he'll no longer have to fly to New York for the weekend show.
>> Fox always does what's best for its ratings. Replacing Cavuto with Cain is yet another admission that its right-wing audience mostly wants affirmation, not straight news. Cavuto's show was conservative in nature but was helmed by a newsman who earned his stripes on PBS and CNBC. Many Fox viewers perceived him to be anti-Trump because he wasn't slavishly pro-Trump. His time slot became one of Fox's lowest-rated of the day. Cain is much more in line with the Fox of 2025 – he's a commentator, not a reporter, who worked at ESPN (and CNN a long time ago) and is now openly rooting for Trump.
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Alex Jones ally doubles Infowars bid
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Hadas Gold writes: Infowars is still for sale, a lawyer for the court-appointed bankruptcy trustee told judge Chris Lopez during a hearing in Texas yesterday. Since Lopez blocked the sale to The Onion last month, the Alex Jones-affiliated group that challenged The Onion’s bid sent an "unsolicited" offer that more than doubled its earlier attempt. But it's not clear what will happen next. The trustee's lawyer said they will return to court with a sale process, "possibly with an auction, maybe even an auction in the court." The Onion CEO Ben Collins told me they still want to buy Infowars: "All options are open for us. We're going keep pursuing, just trying to figure out what the next process is."
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>> As CBS News recruits for a newly-created "executive editor" position – basically a high-level standards and practices boss – Susan Zirinsky is serving in the role "on an interim basis," George Cheeks says. (Variety)
>> Speaking of standards: "CBS News is facing renewed accusations of anti-Israel bias over a '60 Minutes' segment" on Sunday, Matthew Kassel reports. (Jewish Insider)
>> Another day, another Post departure: "Rosalind Helderman is leaving the Washington Post and joining the New York Times," Max Tani reports. (X)
>> Dr. Tara Narula is ABC's new chief medical correspondent. (TV Insider)
>> Hearst vet Rosa Heyman is the new EIC of Yahoo News. (Talking Biz)
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Hollywood's wildfire horror |
As the toll from the fires starts to sink in, this week's cover of Variety is titled "What We've Lost." Cynthia Littleton writes that "the high volume of industry insiders – from CEOs and A-listers to IATSE members and character actors — who called the Palisades and Altadena home means that the pain and ripple effects across Hollywood and the creative community will be severe and long-lasting."
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Taking care of L.A. employees |
Elizabeth Wagmeister writes: The major entertainment studios that call L.A. home are giving back to the fire-ravaged city. Disney and Warner Bros. Discovery (CNN's parent) have donated $15 million each to fire relief and rebuilding efforts. Comcast, Netflix, and Amazon have pledged $10 million each. "We are continuing to help by paying for hotel rooms and temporary housing, rental cars, meals, counseling, and are establishing an onsite emergency relief center," WBD said in an update yesterday. I'm so glad to see my workplace – and the overall entertainment industry – taking care of employees and the L.A. community during this truly devastating time.
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Iger 'overseeing Disney's relief effort from a hotel' |
"Consider the impact of the fires on Disney alone," the NYT's Brooks Barnes reports. "As of Monday, 64 Disney employees had lost their homes and hundreds more had been evacuated, including Robert A. Iger, the chief executive, and three members of his senior leadership team. Mr. Iger has been overseeing Disney's relief effort from a hotel, approving $15 million for community services and rebuilding efforts, arranging for Disney employees who have lost their homes to receive two months of free furnished housing and opening Disney's studio wardrobe warehouses to employees who need clothes and shoes. He has also been calling Disney employees who lost their homes."
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Oscars and Grammys updates |
The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences has again extended the Oscars timeline. "The show is currently set to proceed on March 2," but voting has "been extended through January 17, and the nominations announcement has been rescheduled for January 23 and will be held virtually instead of in-person," Elizabeth Wagmeister reports.
In other awards news, the Grammys are still set for February 2, but "the show will be reimagined to put the spotlight on first responders and also will include a charitable component." As Wagmeister notes, awards events "provide income for thousands of entertainment workers from caterers to drivers to lighting professionals," so it's not just about A-listers celebrating each other...
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>> The Sundance Film Festival will go ahead later this month. (Deadline)
>> Jesse Armstrong's next project is an original movie for HBO Films focusing on "four friends who meet up during the turmoil of an ongoing international financial crisis." (Deadline)
>> Carrie Underwood will perform at Trump's inauguration. (CNN)
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