Thank you, Bill Belichick... |
...For giving everyone a media literacy lesson.
The famed coach's awkward interview with CBS's Tony Dokoupil triggered days of speculation about his relationship with girlfriend Jordon Hudson. So Belichick, whose memoir comes out next week, issued an equally awkward statement yesterday saying that he expected the interview "to focus solely on the contents of the book."
"Unfortunately, that expectation was not honored," he said, so Hudson stepped in "to help refocus the discussion," which led to a viral moment.
Belichick put some of the blame on his publicist, and some on CBS for a "selectively edited" segment creating a "false narrative." But he has no one to blame but himself. He is media-savvy enough to know that TV networks don't agree to the type of ground rules he said he wanted. Would CBS produce a segment mostly about the book's topics? Yes. But talk "solely" about it? No.
"When we agreed to speak with Mr. Belichick, it was for a wide-ranging interview," CBS said yesterday. "There were no preconditions or limitations to this conversation. This was confirmed repeatedly with his publisher before the interview took place and after it was completed."
Belichick's cleanup effort was positively Trumpian, particularly his complaint about CBS's editing. But when he sat for a 35-minute taping, he knew it wasn't all going to air on "CBS Sunday Morning." And so, instead of owning the situation, he went with the president's favorite tactic: Blame the media.
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Speaking of CBS and editing: |
Reps for Paramount and Trump were "far apart" as they began mediation talks yesterday, according to the WSJ.
Trump set the proverbial table for the talks by posting a screed about his "60 Minutes" lawsuit on Truth Social. He defended his legally dubious suit and attacked The New York Times for reporting that "legal experts have called the suit baseless and an easy victory for CBS."
The Times was and is right, but Trump threatened legal action, prompting a rep to say the Times "will not be deterred by the administration's intimidation tactics." Our own Hadas Gold has more here...
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A new ruling in the long-running case of Epic Games v. Apple could have wide-ranging ramifications. As The Verge's Jay Peters put it, "a judge just blew up Apple's control of the App Store."
A federal judge ruled "that Apple must loosen its grip on its App Store and stop collecting a commission on some app sales," the NYT's Tripp Mickle wrote. The judge rebuked Apple for its "continued attempts to interfere with competition" and made a criminal contempt referral to prosecutors.
Reuters has all the background here. Jason Kint, the CEO of Digital Content Next, said the ruling is to the news media's benefit, too: "This outcome marks a pivotal shift toward accountability and a more open digital marketplace where premium publishers can build sustainable, direct relationships with consumers without interference from dominant gatekeepers."
>> Apple said in a terse statement, "We strongly disagree with the decision. We will comply with the court’s order and we will appeal."
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'Nightly News' transition timing |
Lester Holt's final day anchoring the "NBC Nightly News" will be Friday, May 30. Tom Llamas will make his official debut in the chair on Monday, June 2, NBC News confirms. Llamas will still anchor his one-hour streaming newscast "Top Story" on NBC News NOW immediately following "Nightly." Llamas was in Rome last week covering the Pope's funeral, and Holt will travel to Rome next week to cover the papal conclave. Meantime, I hear Llamas is beginning to visit NBC stations across the country to prep for his expanded role...
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Hadas Gold writes: He has slammed the media and mostly avoided real interviews but yesterday Elon Musk sat down with a small group of mainstream reporters (including USA Today, Bloomberg, Axios, Semafor, etcetera) for a sort-of send-off interview. Stories were all embargoed until this morning.
The timing can't be ignored — the group interview was conducted as the Wall Street Journal was about to publish a piece reporting the Tesla board had opened a search "for a CEO to replace Elon." It seems Musk's DOGE goodbye tour is in full force. Meantime, the Tesla board chair is fully denying Musk is being replaced, and Musk is assailing the WSJ...
>> Jonathan Swan's takeaway: After 101 days, "Musk sounds less confident."
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CPJ on Trump's first 100 days |
"Journalists are always the first to be attacked when democracy declines," the Committee to Protect Journalists' chief executive Jodie Ginsberg says.
And that's what is happening right now in the US, her organization asserts in a new report about Trump's first 100 days. You should check it out here.
>> Among the many nuggets: "CPJ has noted a significant increase in the number of newsrooms seeking safety advice, concerned that the changing national political environment could threaten their ability to report without fear of retribution from authorities."
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Andrew Kirell writes: I've been watching Karoline Leavitt's daily “new media” briefings with MAGA influencers. Between the troubling displays of sycophancy, and the even more troubling guest lists (Jack Posobiec of "Pizzagate" infamy isn’t even the worst of the bunch), I've been left wondering, "Who exactly is this for?"
But Wednesday’s briefing actually made a tidbit of news: Eric Bolling, who was once fired by Fox News, asked Leavitt if Trump would sue Fox for its recent poll showing his approvals underwater. Leavitt called the poll “fake” and added, “I know he’s made some phone calls to express his displeasure with it,” suggesting Trump personally called Fox execs to complain. Wouldn't be the first time that’s happened. (Bet he's calling New York Post bosses about today's front page, too.)
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Fox fireworks coming soon? |
Marshall Cohen writes: Get ready for new and potentially damning revelations about Fox's conspiracy-laced 2020 election coverage. Court filings next month are expected to contain Fox emails and deposition transcripts from Smartmatic's defamation case against the right-wing network. In a highly redacted version made public Wednesday, Smartmatic wrote, "Fox deliberately deceived its audience with utter contempt." Fox denies wrongdoing and said in its own filings that the lawsuit “was manufactured to chill speech and generate headlines by a failing election company.”
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'Five Years Later' cover of TIME |
This morning TIME is out with a special report, "Five Years Later: America Looks for a Way Forward After George Floyd," ahead of the fifth anniversary of Floyd's death. This cover package — featuring an incredible painting, Holding On (Blue), by Tajh Rust — was produced in collaboration with the Center for Policing Equity and explores "why the pursuit of racial justice remains so challenging in America." Check it out here.
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>> During an on-stage interview with Sara Fischer, "PBS CEO Paula Kerger said she was prepared to 'vigorously' defend the independent broadcaster's board," in the wake of Trump's attempted firings over at CPB. (Axios)
>> The White House is starting "a new Drudge Report-like website devoted to promoting pro-Trump news stories," and Matt Drudge is cracking up about it. (Axios)
>> Swedish journalist Joakim Medin has received an 11-month suspended sentence for "insulting the president," Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, and "he remains behind bars awaiting trial on a second more serious charge." (AFP)
>> "Matriarch" by Tina Knowles debuted at #1 on the NYT best seller list. (NYT)
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The 'App Store Accountability Act' |
"A pair of Republican lawmakers are set to propose a new law that would require app stores to verify the ages of all users and share that information with app developers, following a similar state law that was signed in Utah earlier this year," CNN's Clare Duffy reports. "If passed, the legislation, called the App Store Accountability Act, could mark the first major federal online safety legislation in years..."
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Meta demonstrates dominance |
Meta shares are up 6% in premarket trading after posting faster-than-expected revenue growth. "The tech giant indicated growth would remain steady this quarter, blunting concerns that tariffs would harm its digital ads business," per the WSJ.
>> On the company's earnings call, CFO Susan Li "said Meta had seen some decreased spending from Asia-based e-commerce exporters... but that generally trends in April had been healthy," Reuters reported.
>> Gene Munster highlighted this "sneaky good" data point: Across its family of apps, Meta counts 3.43 billion daily active people, up 6% year over year. "That’s ~64% of the world’s daily internet users," Munster said. "Growing faster off an absurdly high base = investors sleep well at night."
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>> Meta will face a group of authors — including Ta-Nehisi Coates and Richard Kadrey — in court today, "one of the first big legal tests of whether tech companies can use copyrighted material to train their powerful artificial intelligence models." (FT)
>> Alphabet CEO Sundar Pichai testified in federal court in DC yesterday to defend Google against the Justice Department's proposed penalties. Pichai made some news – "he hopes that Gemini, his company's AI service, will be added as a built-in option for iPhones this year." (Bloomberg)
>> Apple has notified "new victims of spyware attacks across the world," including at least one journalist. (TechCrunch)
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Weekend box office preview |
>> Martin Scorsese is producing a documentary featuring Pope Francis' final on-camera interview, Dan Heching reports. (CNN)
>> "Warner Bros. is going the creepy viral route to promote Weapons, the new child horror film from Barbarian writer-director Zack Cregger," Tim Molloy observes. (MovieMaker)
>> Shōgun "is officially coming back for Season 2 at FX." (Variety)
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AI's Herculean Resurrection |
BBC Studios has teamed up with Agatha Christie's estate to "launch a writing course on education-focused streaming service BBC Maestro taught by Christie herself," using AI to bring the author back to life, Deadline's Max Goldbart reports from London. VFX artists and a professional actress were enlisted to "recreate her voice and likeness using AI-enhanced tech and restored audio recordings."
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