Tuesday 5 June 2018

Primary night; Journal's new editor; Fox's apology; Wednesday's calendar; today in Trump; Peele's deal with Amazon

By Brian Stelter and CNN's media team
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Exec summary: Hello from L.A.! I'm on the West Coast for some interviews... The trip overlapped with the California primary... Scroll down for Trump's Twitter blockade, Amazon's big announcements, and more...

The biggest primary night of 2018, so far

That's the headline on CNN.com right now. The polls are closed, but it's still early, especially out west. Here's the live blog. CNN TV has live election coverage throughout the night/early morning...

 >> The big picture: "Democrats flip 42nd state legislative seat since Trump took office..."

Succession, WSJ style

"Gerry Baker's time is almost up." "Gerry is on the way out." These rumors have been rippling through the WSJ newsroom for well over a year. And on Tuesday they actually came true. Baker is stepping down as EIC.

The details via Hadas Gold: "Baker will be replaced by Matt Murray, the paper's current executive editor. Baker served as editor-in-chief for just over five years, and was previously deputy editor. In his new role, Baker will now write a column and host the paper's conferences. He will also now host a Wall Street Journal-branded news and interview show on Fox Business Network, which shares an owner with the Journal, Rupert Murdoch..."

Who's next

Baker is a talented editor, but as Gold's story notes, "he has come under criticism both internally and externally over his treatment of President Trump..."

Murray will take over next Monday.

 >> The view from the WSJ, per a well placed source: "Matt is a universally liked guy with nearly 25 years at the paper, and he has been very involved in all the strategizing about the future of the WSJ. I think he's earned a lot of trust from Thomson and Murdoch." 
Wednesday's calendar 
 -- Game Three of the NBA Finals! Tip off is at 9pm ET. Will it be Warriors in 4?

 -- Samantha Bee will be back on "Full Frontal..." She'll address last week's controversy head-on... The episode will tape in the evening and air at 10:30pm ET...

 -- On Wednesday Trump's W.H. "will host its first iftar, the sundown meal that breaks fasts during the holy month of Ramadan." The reaction from American Muslims: "Thanks, but no thanks." Read Daniel Burke's full story here...

Fashion world stunned by Kate Spade's apparent suicide

The tragic news came via NYPD sources on Tuesday morning. Now we're getting details about her suicide note...

News outlets sharing the lifeline #

Spade's hometown paper, the Kansas City Star, ended its story with this:

"To get help: Call the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline at 1-800-273-8255."

A number of other news outlets, including the NYT, included the lifeline info in stories on Tuesday. The # was widely shared on social media.

On "NBC Nightly News," Lester Holt noted that suicide is the tenth leading cause of death in America, then showed/read the lifeline #...

CNN's Anderson Cooper also shared the # on screen during "AC360."

Fox apologizes for Eagles error

No one on the Eagles' 2017-18 regular season roster knelt during the national anthem. But this Fox News segment on Monday night implied otherwise. Photos of players kneeling in prayer were shown during a Shannon Bream segment about the protest controversy... So there was a torrent of criticism, including from one of the players, who called it "propaganda..." By midday Tuesday, Fox had apologized. And Bream repeated the apology on her program Tuesday night. Here's Tom Kludt's full story...

 -- Oliver Darcy adds: Even the Media Research Center, a right-wing media watchdog that rarely, if ever, criticizes Fox News, called out Fox for the error. MRCTV managing editor Brittany Hughes tweeted that it was a "deceptive photo montage" and that "truth matters." Hughes later added, "Simply pointing out the facts."

Another step forward for the Sky takeover...

Via CNNMoney's Alanna Petroff in London: "21st Century Fox can proceed with its planned takeover bid for Sky," provided it sells Sky News, "the UK government announced on Tuesday."

Comcast's bid for Sky will also be allowed to proceed. "The next development could be a bidding war." For more, I recommend The Information's analysis here...
For the record, part one
 -- Eighteen new names were added to the Fallen Journalists Memorial Wall at the Newseum on Monday... (NBC)

 -- A new Tow Center analysis of the stories Apple News is recommending "shows a strong tendency by editors to favor a small group of big players and less inclination to promote regionally focused news outlets..." (CJR)

 -- The premiere of "Cuomo Prime Time" was CNN's #1 program of the day on Monday... While it ranked behind Hannity and Maddow, it had "fairly impressive numbers when compared to what CNN has recently been delivering in primetime..." (Contemptor)

Today in Trump...

 -- Jake Tapper said it best: Trump told "some blatant lies about the Super Bowl-winning team to spike the ball for political points..."

 -- Don Lemon's follow-up: Trump is "demanding forced patriotism just as autocrats have done for centuries..."

 -- Kelly Sadler, the W.H. comms aide who mocked John McCain, "was quietly let go Tuesday nearly a month after making the insensitive remark..."

-- Another day, another Scott Pruitt shocker: The WashPost revealed that he "enlisted an EPA aide to help his wife find a job — with Chick-fil-A..."

 -- Want to understand Trump's latest conspiracy theory tweet? Jonathan Chait has you covered here. He says the new "spygate" claim is being propped up by the Gateway Pundit...

Sanders grilled again on WH credibility problem

Oliver Darcy emails: For the second consecutive day, Sarah Sanders was grilled by the White House press corps over her statement in August pertaining to the Trump Tower meeting. Sanders at the time claimed Trump was not involved in the White House's drafting of the first statement on the matter, an assertion that was contradicted by a letter -- published over the weekend by the NYT -- Trump's lawyers wrote in January.

On Monday, Sanders refused to answer questions on the matter and referred reporters to Trump's lawyers. On Tuesday, Josh Dawsey continued the grilling of Sanders, asking if she stood by her previous statement. "We just want to know if it was accurate or not," Dawsey said during the daily briefing. "You said something from the podium. Was it accurate or not?"

Sanders replied by saying she strives each day to provide accurate information to reporters. But that didn't seem to quell the press corps. Andrew Feinberg, a reporter for Breakfast Media, asked how Americans can trust that what "they hear from this White House" is credible. Sanders replied, "Frankly, I think my credibility is probably higher than the media's..."

A judge ruled that Trump can't block Twitter users. Now the DOJ is appealing

Hadas Gold writes: "President Trump has unblocked the seven plaintiffs who sued him and members of his administration for blocking them on Twitter, but the president plans to appeal last month's ruling by a federal judge who said that Trump is in violation of the Constitution when he blocks Twitter users."

Meanwhile: "Not everyone Trump has blocked -- which includes everyday users to celebrities like novelist Stephen King and model Chrissy Tiegen -- are now able to view his tweets..." Details here...

This is the Fox + Trump bump

On Monday afternoon Harris Faulkner's new book "9 Rules of Engagement: A Military Brat's Guide to Life and Success" was #55,340 on Amazon. Tuesday morning she promoted the book on "Fox & Friends..." Then Trump endorsed it in a tweet... and she promoted it some more on her own Fox shows. Now? It's #4 on Amazon...

Picture this...

This AP story referencing Trump's fury with Jeff Sessions includes an Air Force One scene: 

Last Thursday Trump was "returning from a trip to Texas, reveling in both a successful day of fundraising and the heads-up he had received from economic adviser Larry Kudlow that the next day's jobs report would be positive. But when an aide mentioned Sessions, Trump abruptly ended the conversation and unmuted the television in his office broadcasting Fox News, dismissing the staffer to resume watching cable, according to a person familiar with the exchange..."

"Passive aggressive attack" ?

Of all the stories you could lead with... of ALL the shocking stories about Trumpworld... Tucker Carlson decided to lead his Tuesday show with "liberal media hypes 'missing' First Lady."

Of course, Melania attended a W.H. event on Monday... And she'll be at a FEMA briefing on Wednesday... so the concern about her well-being has abated. But Carlson claimed the media has a "sick obsession" with Melania. His commentary seemed really dated. He said my short "Reliable Sources" conversation about how she'd been out of sight for 3+ weeks was a "passive aggressive attack." And he said journalists are revealing that they "hate" the First Lady. Ohhhh, Tucker...

 -- Related: Margaret Sullivan's latest: "Actually, Melania, your disappearance is a legitimate news story"
For the record, part two
 -- Bill Gates says "he'll pick up the tab" for all of this year's U.S. college grads "to download a copy" of Hans Rosling's book "Factfulness." The book is all about why "things are better than you think..." (CNNMoney)

 -- "Eye on America" is back... The second segment of the relaunched CBS franchise aired on Tuesday night... (Deadline)

-- Taylor Lorenz's latest is about how Gen Z gets advice: "How does a Google-averse generation figure out how to deal with acne, fake friends, and boy trouble? On Instagram, of course..." (The Atlantic)

 -- "Bill Davis, the public radio executive who oversaw the transformation of KPCC from a small college-run station into one of Southern California's largest news organizations, announced Tuesday he plans to step aside sometime in the next 18 months..." (KPCC)
The entertainment desk
Two big moves by Amazon Studios today:

A first-look deal with Jordan Peele

This got Hollywood's attention: Jordan Peele "has signed a deal giving Amazon the first look at his ideas for television series." As John Koblin writes here, "Amazon has been courting Mr. Peele for months, including making commitments to a TV show and a documentary." Tuesday's deal is "Amazon's biggest talent-related deal since Jennifer Salke joined the company in February to run Amazon Studios..."

Barry Jenkins will direct "The Underground Railroad"

"Oscar winner Barry Jenkins (Moonlight) will direct all 11 episodes of limited series The Underground Railroad, which has received a formal greenlight by Amazon," Deadline's Nellie Andreeva reports...

Lowry reviews Marvel's "Cloak & Dagger"

Brian Lowry emails: Marvel continues its aggressive and synergistic expansion into TV. But the mixed track record for some of its recent shows -- either creatively, commercially, or both -- has made the company look less invincible, at least in that medium. Case in point: "Marvel's Cloak & Dagger," a teen-oriented drama for Disney-owned cable network Freeform, which, dramatically, doesn't draw blood...

 >> Looking ahead, the latest iteration of Marvel's more successful (if a little spotty) Netflix collaboration, "Luke Cage," returns June 22...
For the record, part three
By Brian Lowry:

 -- The moderator might be as big a draw as his subject on July 19, when Ronan Farrow — whose reporting played a key role in Harvey Weinstein's downfall — interviews producer Ryan Murphy at a Hollywood Radio and Television Society luncheon...

 -- Meanwhile, Murphy's latest FX drama, "Pose," got off to a relatively soft start ratings-wise Sunday, as did HBO's drama about a dynastic media family, "Succession..."
LAST BUT NOT LEAST...

"Solo" will "lose money"

"In one of the biggest box-office surprises in recent times, Solo is badly underperforming and will become the first of the Star Wars movies made by Disney and Lucasfilm to lose money," THR's Pamela McClintock reported Monday. "Wall Street analyst Barton Crockett says Solo will lose more than $50 million. Industry financing sources, however, say that figure could come in at $80 million or higher, although no one knows the exact terms of Disney's deals for home entertainment and television, among other ancillary revenues. Solo, directed by Ron Howard, isn't likely to gross much more than $400 million globally against a budget of at least $250 million and a major multimillion-dollar marketing spend..."
HEY, WHAT DO YOU THINK OF THIS LETTER? Email your feedback and thoughts to brian.stelter@turner.com... the feedback helps us improve this newsletter every day... Thank you!
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