🌅 Happy Monday. Here's the latest on Paramount, Elon Musk, Beyoncé, WIRED, DeepSeek, Lachlan Cartwright, and more...
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FCC request raises red flags |
The Trump administration's request for the raw material of a "60 Minutes" segment is raising big red flags across the media industry.
As former FCC commissioner Michael Copps told me, "if the new administration and the new FCC can strike paralyzing fear into our nation's media, it will be a sad day for what's left of our democracy."
Since you're a reader of this newsletter, you're already familiar with President Trump's lawsuit accusing CBS of deceptively editing an interview with Kamala Harris, as well as the related FCC complaint. Jessica Rosenworcel dismissed the complaint in one of her last acts as FCC chair, but her Trump-appointed successor Brendan Carr revived the matter, and last week he sent a "letter of inquiry" asking for the unedited tapes and transcript of the Harris interview.
Carr declined to comment, but he'd probably say that the request is necessary in order to evaluate the pending "news distortion" complaint. He'd also anticipate the counter-argument: That this whole thing is based on a Trump bugaboo, "60 Minutes" did nothing wrong, and the government should butt out of news gathering.
"There is no historical antecedent for this kind of highly partisan intervention by an FCC chairman," public interest lawyer Andrew Jay Schwartzman, who has nearly 50 years of experience in this space, told me.
Schwartzman said the media-regulating agency has broad powers to investigate rule violations – for example, indecency on broadcast airwaves – but said "this incident reeks of the abuse of that power for partisan political objectives."
Anna M. Gomez, one of two Democrats on the Republican-controlled commission, said much the same thing on Friday. "This is a retaliatory move by the government against broadcasters whose content or coverage is perceived to be unfavorable," Gomez said. "It is designed to instill fear in broadcast stations and influence a network's editorial decisions." Gomez will have more to say soon, I'm sure.
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Instead of saying no on First Amendment grounds – or at least putting up a fight before handing over the tapes – CBS is saying it is "legally compelled" to comply. Some experts dispute that. "They have no obligation to turn those materials over," said Christopher Terry, associate professor of media law at the University of Minnesota, who has been studying the FCC for years.
"There's no question CBS rolled over," Terry told me. "The question is why, and the answer seems obvious: They're going for a big merger later this year and they're doing everything they can to play nice."
A CBS spokesperson declined to comment. But Copps, who I quoted above, said "it's difficult to see purity of motivations here," since CBS parent Paramount Global needs the Trump administration to sign off on its deal with Skydance since CBS holds local TV station licenses.
Of course, as Schwartzman pointed out, if FCC chair Carr "has problems with current management, he should be happy to have the licenses go to someone else."
Here's the unanswerable question I posed several people over the weekend: If the Trump administration's media regulator receives raw news gathering material from CBS, what else will it request?
"During my over three decades in senior management at CBS television stations we aggressively protected outtakes and raw video," veteran TV exec Jay Newman told me Sunday. "The strong feeling was these were considered 'work product' – akin to a reporter's notes. The precedent set by releasing these to a government agency is abhorrent. The FCC should stick to its core mission and not being in the business of regulating content through intimidation!"
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No update on settlement talks |
A source involved in the matter confirmed the NYT's reporting that the Paramount C-suite is eager to make Trump's lawsuit go away. As for the FCC inquiry, well, the tapes and transcript should show that the network didn't cover anything up. (Maybe CBS News should have just published the transcript back in October.)
But will Trump's camp agree to settle, and for how much money? The lawyer representing Trump in the matter has not responded to my requests for comment.
>> If it happens, "such a concession would not only undermine one of TV’s most respected journalism programs, but also demoralize CBS News staff," Variety's Brian Steinberg wrote. "There is some speculation among CBS News employees that a settlement would spur intense blowback" from CBS News stars...
>> Semafor's Max Tani says "the settlement talks also put the buyer, Skydance founder David Ellison, in a challenging position..."
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Fox sets Super Bowl interview with POTUS |
Last year President Biden eschewed the traditional pre-Super Bowl TV interview. (Biden advisers claimed they were being "creative." Hmm.) This year the tradition is back. "Fox News chief political anchor Bret Baier will sit down with President Trump for a pre-taped interview at Mar-a-Lago that will air during the network's Super Bowl LIX pregame show," Sara Fischer reported for Axios this morning...
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The Atlantic: "CDC data are disappearing." NBC: "Government webpages vanish." AP: "Federal agencies begin removing DEI guidance from websites." NPR: "Trump administration purges websites across federal health agencies." The Lever: "Trump’s EPA just deleted climate change."
These changes hurt the information ecosystem just as much as any threat against a news outlet. An analysis by the NYT found thousands of deleted web pages affecting info about "vaccines, veterans’ care, hate crimes and scientific research, among many other topics." Read on...
>> "The Trump admin isn't just banning words and phrases on federal websites, they're banning words, terms, etc on scientific research funded with government grants," The Bulwark's Sam Stein notes, linking to this piece by Inside Medicine...
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Covering Trump's trade war |
"When the New York Stock Exchange opens on Monday at 9:30 a.m. we will see just how seriously the world takes the assault Elon Musk and Donald Trump launched on the American system of government," The Bulwark's Jonathan V. Last writes.
>> In the first trading day since Trump's tariffs were announced, stocks are set to tumble, as CNN's David Goldman reports here...
>> In the past week there have been "more Google searches for 'tariffs' than for 'Taylor Swift,'" Harry Enten said on "CNN News Central" just now. And Americans are mostly inclined to oppose the tariffs, he explained...
>> Media angle: CNBC's Sarah Whitten writes that "Trump's tariffs could threaten Hollywood production, box office recovery..."
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'Surreal' feeling in Canada |
During my two-year interregnum from CNN, I became a regular guest on several Canadian networks, and I loved it. Canadians love CNN and they care deeply about American dysfunction. Right now they're feeling deeply hurt about the tariffs; perhaps the better word is furious.
I checked in with some of my journalist friends there, and Vassy Kapelos, CTV's top political anchor, said "I have spent two decades in this job, and nothing compared to the last 24 hours. Sharing this news with Canadians felt surreal, upending and historic in the most devastating sense of the word."
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Political media notes and quotes |
>> ICYMI, our special Sunday newsletter covered the Pentagon's pro-Trump swaps and how the exiled outlets are responding...
>> Overnight Elon Musk held an X Spaces chat and bashed USAID at length. (CNN)
>> WIRED is so well-positioned to cover this story. Vittoria Elliott reports that "engineers between 19 and 24, most linked to Musk's companies, are playing a key role as he seizes control of federal infrastructure." (WIRED)
>> The "first word of the Trump administration's since-rescinded order to freeze spending on federal loans and grants came not from a major news organization, but from a woman working alone in her Brooklyn apartment," David Bauder writes in this profile of Marisa Kabas and "the power of independent journalism." (AP)
>> Drowning out rivals and dissenting voices "is a trademark of Trump's communication style and
the US media is struggling to adjust," Edward Helmore comments. (Guardian)
>> Meanwhile, in Ukraine... The Kyiv Independent has "launched a fundraiser to support three independent local media outlets in Ukraine, whose funding was cut as a result of" the pause on U.S. foreign aid. (Kyiv Independent)
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This morning: There is a pre-trial conference in the Blake Lively/Justin Baldoni case.
Later today: Roger Goodell holds his annual Super Bowl presser at 4pm.
Tuesday: Fox Corp and Spotify report earnings before the bell, and Snap after the close.
Tuesday: New releases include "Source Code: My Beginnings" by Bill Gates.
Wednesday: Q4 earnings for Disney and the New York Times before the bell; News Corp after the close.
Thursday: Q3 earnings for Amazon and Thompson Reuters.
Sunday: Super Bowl LIX!
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>> The Star-Ledger, the largest paper in New Jersey, published its final print edition on Sunday, complete with a 16-page special section celebrating its history. (Star-Ledger)
>> Media beat vets Lachlan Cartwright and Ravi Somaiya are teaming up to launch Breaker Media, starting with a weekly newsletter and podcast. (Semafor)
>> "Mark Robinson, the former North Carolina lieutenant governor whose scandal-plagued candidacy doomed his gubernatorial bid last year," has dropped his libel lawsuit against CNN. (Politico)
>> Isabella Simonetti profiled CNN commentator Scott Jennings, who likens his appearances on "NewsNight" to a "fun bout of roller derby." (WSJ)
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>> DeepSeek has been #1 in Apple's App Store for one full week – raising all sorts of questions for security experts and policymakers. (CNBC)
>> OpenAI has announced a new AI agent "designed to help people conduct in-depth, complex research using ChatGPT." (TechCrunch)
>> "AI systems with 'unacceptable risk' are now banned in the EU." (TechCrunch)
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(So many!) Grammys highlights |
Elizabeth Wagmeister reports from L.A.: Beyoncé finally (finally!) took home Album of the Year at the 67th annual Grammys last night. Beyoncé's daughter Blue Ivy and controversy-embroiled husband Jay-Z were on hand to support her as she also won for best county album, presented to her by Taylor Swift, for her genre-bending album "Cowboy Carter."
Beyoncé, who just announced a new tour, was introduced onstage by firefighters in a night that honored first responders after the devastating LA fires. (Mid-show, host Trevor Noah announced that over $7 million had been raised from at-home audiences.)
Other big winners included next weekend's Super Bowl halftime performer Kendrick Lamar, plus Sabrina Carpenter and Chappell Roan...
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Lisa Respers France writes: Los Angeles was golden last night, and not just because of the Grammy trophies. The night served as a reminder that in a country disrupted by divisive national politics, people can still come together to support each other in times of trouble. It also brought to mind the importance of diversity, as women and artists of color took home many of the night's biggest prizes.
Check out Lisa's piece and CNN's complete coverage here...
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Karla Sofía Gascón goes rogue |
"Oscar nominee Karla Sofía Gascón, the star of 'Emilia Pérez,' is staying in the race for best actress despite controversy over offensive social media posts." Gascón sat down with CNN's Juan Carlos Arciniegas for an hour-long interview – and a total break from entertainment world protocol. "Emilia Pérez" is a Netflix film, but "Netflix was not involved in setting up the CNN interview and was not aware it was taking place," Deadline reports. Here's the full CNN recap of the interview...
>> Zooming out: "Is this the most controversial Oscars race ever?"
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DreamWorks and Universal's "Dog Man" (which got two paws up from my kids) pulled in $36 million at the box office, nabbing the No. 1 spot over the weekend, followed by "Companion" from Warner Bros. and New Line, which brought in $9.5 million. Variety's Rebecca Rubin has a full recap here.
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