Exec summary: Christine Blasey Ford may or may not testify... Mic may or may not be sold... The Daily Beast is out with a new story about Andy Lack... And in other NBC news, Bob Greenblatt is reportedly ready to step down... Scroll down for details...
The bottom line
This week in media began with tech mogul Marc Benioff deciding that Time magazine is worth $190 million. It was a big bet on a big old brand. The five days since have shown again and again that the old brands still matter a lot.
This is, I know, a very old fashioned argument, but it was given a lot of new life this week. WaPo had the first interview with Brett Kavanaugh accuser Christine Blasey Ford. Other traditional news outlets diligently sought more info. They also handled a hornet's nest full of lies and smears, like the stories on right-wing websites about poor reviews of Professor Ford that were actually reviews of a different professor. For the most part, big newsrooms were part of the solution, not part of the problem. The Ed Whelan saga is another example. While some blogs and "Fox & Friends" promoted Whelan's pathetic finger-pointing, responsible outlets scrutinized his claims and treaded very carefully.
Elsewhere, CNN and other outlets documented the flooding in the Carolinas and followed up on the conditions in Puerto Rico. And on Friday the NYT published a jaw-dropper about Rod Rosenstein.
Obviously these outlets aren't perfect. But our society benefits when the Time mags and WaPos and CNNs are strong -- and suffers when they're weak.
In DC, the workweek ends as it began...
...With complete uncertainty about whether Kavanaugh will be confirmed. The GOP-controlled Senate Judiciary Committee gave Ford until 10 p.m. ET to respond to an offer to testify Wednesday. At 9:12, Ford's lawyer responded and said the deadline was arbitrary. "Its sole purpose is to bully Dr. Ford and deprive her of the ability to make a considered decision... Our modest request is that she be given an additional day to make her decision." So what happens now?
The Whelan mystery deepens...
Who helped with the research for his tweetstorm? Who helped him roll it out? Politico's Eliana Johnson reports that the well-known conservative PR firm CRC Public Relations "guided Whelan." CRC has also been working with key groups to promote Kavanaugh's nomination.
>> Johnson also says Whelan engaged in "unsuccessful attempts to persuade reporters" to pursue his "someone else attacked Ford" theory, before tweeting it out...
>> Whelan doubled down on his apology on Friday night, tweeting that "I grievously and carelessly wronged the person I identified, and I owe him and his family my deepest apologies. And I of course do not deserve to have him accept my apologies..."
>> WaPo's Emma Brown, who's had the only interview with Ford to date, shared this new info on Friday night: "On Sunday, Ford noticed that — even before her name became public — Whelan appeared to be seeking information about her." Ford noticed within 90 minutes of the Post emailing the W.H. and sharing her name, "hours before her identity was revealed" to the public...
Here's how to respond to Trump's "appalling" tweet
"Appalling" is Susan Collins' word. Collins condemned Trump's ugly comments about Ford, and she was joined by countless others on the left and right. The hashtag #WhyIDidntReport because the #1 trending topic on Twitter.
Chris Cuomo came up with an appropriate response. On "Cuomo Prime Time," he pointed out that most victims of sexual assault stay silent, and then he put the RAINN sexual assault hotline # on screen. "If you are still in the shadows, if you are afraid of what people will say, of what they'll believe and not believe, and that talking will only make it worse, please know this: The president does not echo the soul of this country in this regard. The truth is, there are many more who will help you than try to hurt you," Cuomo said. "If you need help, make a call... 800-656-HOPE...
NYT: Rosenstein talked about wearing a "wire" to record Trump
| | It's a headline for the ages: "Rod Rosenstein Suggested Secretly Recording Trump and Discussed 25th Amendment."
As soon as it hit, people speculated about Adam Goldman and Michael S. Schmidt's sources. Was Andrew McCabe's camp trying to provoke Trump into firing Rosenstein for some reason? What's going on here?
Some in Rosenstein's camp suggested that he was just being sarcastic about offering to wear a wire to expose Trump's aberrant behavior. No, Goldman said on "AC360:" His best sources say "this was not a flippant comment."
Goldman said he and Schmidt had been working on this story for months: "The reason it took me so long to get this story is the FEAR people had in me finding out this information. If it had simply just been 'Rod made a sarcastic joke,' people wouldn't have been reluctant to tell me. People didn't want to tell me because the context surrounding the wire was deadly serious, at least they believed that."
On MSNBC's "11th Hour," Schmidt backed all of this up. He said "we've been looking at this issue for months..."
(So, President Trump, is the NYT "failing" today?)
Now Rosenstein is doing damage control
Per CNN's Kevin Liptak and Laura Jarrett: "Two sources familiar with the matter" say Rosenstein "was at the White House this evening for about a half hour. He consulted with top aides" -- their identities are unknown -- and he was "instructed to issue a firmer denial" to the NYT story.
He did, but the second statement was still carefully worded. He said he "never pursued or authorized recording the president and any suggestion that I have ever advocated for the removal of the President is absolutely false..."
Fox's divide
Daniel Dale tweeted that Jeanine Pirro, Laura Ingraham and Gregg Jarrett have been "telling Trump to fire Rosenstein immediately" while Tucker Carlson and Sean Hannity have been urging caution. Hannity framed this as a "message for the president."
He said, through the TV, that "under zero circumstances should the president fire anybody" because "it is all a set up."
CNN's Kaitlan Collins noted that "Trump is on Air Force One right now, likely watching Fox News," while Hannity was sharing that advice...
On Sunday's show...
Jill Abramson, Charlotte Alter, Rachel Sklar, and Charles Blow will all join me on Sunday's "Reliable Sources" broadcast... Along with Olivia Nuzzi, David Zurawik, and Olivier Knox... See you Sunday at 11 a.m. ET!
FOR THE RECORD, PART ONE
-- A&E has ordered another 150 episodes of "Live PD..." (Deadline)
-- With Craig Melvin now officially installed on the "Today" show, his MSNBC program is moving from 1 p.m. to 11 a.m... "Velshi & Ruhle" is shifting to 1... (Twitter)
-- Steven Perlberg hears that Philip Rucker and Carol Leonnig are teaming up for a Trump book... And so are Chuck Todd and Michael Kruse... (BF)
-- James B. Stewart's big new profile: "David Boies Pleads Not Guilty..." (NYT)
Daily Beast's newest NBC story
The Daily Beast's Maxwell Tani and Lachlan Cartwright have been working on stories about NBC for several months. It's been the subject of a huge amount of gossip in TV news circles. On Friday night, one of the stories came out...
Friday's story focused on the chairman of NBC News. The headline: "Accused Sexual Harassers Thrived Under NBC News Chief Andy Lack." Here's the full story...
Burke supporting Lack
This statement seems designed to tamp down the speculation about Lack's fate: NBCU CEO Steve Burke told the Beast that Lack "has my complete support. We have worked together closely for over three years during which I have watched him oversee NBC News with great integrity, sound judgment and a focus on doing what's right. I look forward to continuing to work with Andy and to his continued success as the leader of NBC News."
More takeaways from the story | | -- According to the Beast, "Dateline" boss David Corvo was accused of "sexual harassing a female colleague." The story has specific details, including a $1 million payout...
-- The Beast cites sources who say that "Lack has been annoyed" at Megyn Kelly's #MeToo coverage. There's an anecdote about Kelly feeling pressure to back off when Tom Brokaw was accused of wrongdoing, though NBC PR says "the insinuation is ridiculous..."
-- And the story includes a new comment from Ronan Farrow's producing partner Rich McHugh: "There were multiple executives involved in the decision to stop our reporting. Each were in some way complicit in the silencing of victims..."
Here's how the SKY auction will work
"Comcast is bidding against 21st Century Fox and its powerful backer, Disney, on Saturday in an auction that is designed to end nearly two years of wrangling over control of European broadcaster Sky," Hadas Gold writes. "The UK Takeover Panel will oversee the rare auction, which includes up to three rounds of bidding and is designed to produce two final offers for Sky and its 23 million subscribers by Saturday evening in London."
Per Gold's story, the terms of the auction were previously negotiated. First Fox will email its opening bid... then Comcast can counter... then "both sides can then submit final 'sealed' bids." Read the rest here...
What's going to happen to Mic?
"Financial pressures" are mounting at the millennials-targeting startup Mic, so the company is "considering an acquisition offer, among other strategic options," the WSJ's Ben Mullin reported Friday.
Ominous rumors about a recent board meeting spread on Friday morning. In response, Mic execs tried to reassure staffers that the company is "doing its best work yet."
But here's the deal, according to Mullin: "Mic executives believe that, within the next year, the New York-based company will have to sell or consider other options to raise capital or cut expenses... That is because of a difficult operating environment for digital media companies, as competition for online-ad dollars intensifies..."
Final season of "Anthony Bourdain: Parts Unknown" premieres Sunday
The final episodes of "Anthony Bourdain: Parts Unknown" will begin to premiere Sunday at 9 p.m. ET on CNN.
Sunday's Kenya episode is the season premiere, and it's "the last to include his iconic narration," Jason Rezaian wrote for WaPo. "It's a powerful and heartbreaking example of television at its best. Bourdain was firing on all cylinders – which makes losing him all the more devastating..."
>> The next season of Lisa Ling's "This is Life" follows at 10:15 p.m. Sunday...
FOR THE RECORD, PART TWO
By Daniella Emanuel:
-- Another setback for Alex Jones: This time he's been banned from PayPal... (WaPo)
-- After monitoring IGTV -- Instagram's new long-form video service -- for three weeks, BI reporters found that it "recommended a crop of graphic and disturbing videos, including what appeared to be child exploitation..." (Business Insider)
-- Joseph Bernstein profiles Marc Randazza, an attorney in the middle of the new speech wars, who is "fighting for Nazis, satanists, and unapologetic trolls" to stay on Twitter... (BuzzFeed News)
-- Here's the AP's explanation of how new criminal laws in Nepal are affecting journalists in the country... (AP)
Browns' big win also scores for NFL
Frank Pallotta emails: The New York Jets and Cleveland Browns scored strong ratings for the NFL on Thursday night. The matchup, which ended with the Browns bringing their long losing streak to a halt, nabbed 8.6 million viewers for NFL Network. That's the network's most watched exclusive Thursday night game since December 2015. Overall, it was up 16% compared to last year's week 3 game on NFL Network, according to the league...
| | POTUS and Boris
Trump gave an "interview" to Sinclair's Boris Epshteyn on Friday. Epshteyn was an advisor to the Trump campaign... then, briefly, an aide in the White House... and now he tapes pro-Trump commentaries that Sinclair stations are ordered to run...
"Daily" briefings are no more
"The daily White House press briefing is no longer routine. In fact, reporters can't even count on one weekly anymore. So far this month, there has only been one press briefing in total," Daniella Emanuel writes in a recap of this week's "Reliable Sources" podcast.
My guest on the pod is White House Correspondents' Association president Olivier Knox. I asked him why he's not "screaming" about the severe cutbacks to the briefings. Here's his answer... You can check out the pod via Apple, Stitcher, or TuneIn...
>> Related: CJR's Pete Vernon has more on this subject here...
FOR THE RECORD, PART THREE
By Julia Waldow:
-- The Daily's Theo Balcomb breaks down the show's recent episode on H.S. sexual assault, based on an essay by Caitlin Flanagan... (Vulture)
-- ATTN: has raised $15 million in funding from Evolution Media as part of a move towards more premium video content... (THR)
-- Quartz is carrying on with 360-degree video, while other publishers focus elsewhere... (Digiday)
-- ICYMI: Montana Magazine is ceasing publication after almost 50 years... Its owner, Lee Enterprises, also shuttered the Missoula Independent earlier this month... (AP)
Reports: Bob Greenblatt leaving NBC
Variety's Daniel Holloway and Cynthia Littleton broke the news Friday night: "Bob Greenblatt is preparing to leave his post as NBC Entertainment chairman after leading the network's turnaround during the past eight years." He "renewed his contract with NBC last fall," but now he's "in the process of negotiating his exit plan at NBC after making the decision that the time is right for him to make the transition, multiple sources familiar with the situation have told Variety."
Other outlets quickly matched the reporting. Greenblatt is said to be meeting with Burke this weekend "to work out an exit plan that would give NBC a long runway for setting a successor..."
>> ICYMI: Vulture's Joe Adalian profiled Greenblatt just the other day... | | By Frank Pallotta:
-- With "Fahrenheit 11/9" out this weekend, Sean Fennessey asks "Does America Need Michael Moore?" (The Ringer)
-- Marvel Studios made some waves in the superhero world on Friday with reports that Chloe Zhao, director of the indie film "The Rider," will take over an upcoming project called "The Eternals." (THR)
Lowry reviews Netflix's two newest series
Brian Lowry emails: Netflix is trotting out so many originals that it's now often doubling up on high-profile premieres, this weekend being a case in point. The new series, "Maniac" and "The Good Cop," fall short for different reasons. The first, starring Jonah Hill and Emma Stone, is perhaps most notable for director Cary Joji Fukunaga's imprint, as the director of "True Detective" and now the next James Bond movie. Its surreal flourishes, however, don't entirely work, while "The Good Cop" -- starring Tony Danza -- feels like a pretty old-fashioned (and equally undistinguished) crime procedural. Read on...
New in theaters...
It's going to be a slow weekend at the box office. Universal has "The House with a Clock in Its Walls" coming out while Amazon Studios has "Life Itself," Amazon's "widest debut yet, though a lack of awareness and troubling reviews won't likely help the film's debut," Box Office Mojo reports...
Look out for these docs
Brian Lowry emails: It's a big weekend for TV-bound documentaries, with CNN Films' "Love, Gilda" opening in theaters and "Jane Fonda in Five Acts" -- which premieres on HBO next week -- getting a brief theatrical run, presumably to qualify for awards consideration. The film from director Susan Lacy (who last profiled Steven Spielberg) is well worth watching, but focuses heavily on Fonda's activism-filled life, at the expense, to a degree, of her screen career...
Here's your first look at Joaquin Phoenix's Joker
Frank Pallotta emails:
Via Instagram, Todd Phillips gave fans their first look at what Joaquin Phoenix's Joker will look like, makeup and all.
The director of next year's "Joker" showed off a makeup test on his Instagram, and let's just say that Phoenix's Joker is... different.
Some say he looks goofy; others think he's terrifying. Either way, the latest sneak peek just adds to the buzz of the film, which has some great talent in the cast, from Phoenix to Robert De Niro... | |
FOR THE RECORD, PART FOUR
By Lisa Respers France:
-- Rihanna keeps adding more work, work, work, work, work to her plate. She's been appointed as an ambassador of her native Barbados...
-- Sanaa Lathan talked with me about living the beauty of her new Netflix film "Nappily Ever After..."
-- Singer Noah Cyrus is selling her tears after her breakup with rapper Lil Xan for $12,000...
-- Here's a breakdown of the drama with Kanye West, Nick Cannon and Drake...
One new cast member on "SNL"
"SNL" will return this season "with its ensemble largely intact and just one new cast member: Ego Nwodim, a veteran of the UCB Theater in Los Angeles," NYT's Dave Itzkoff reports. "The rest of its repertory cast is also set to come back, minus Luke Null, a featured performer who was added to the show last year but was let go over the summer. The show has also hired new writers Alan Linic, Alison Gates, Eli Mandel and Bowen Yang." The show returns not THIS Saturday, but NEXT, the 29th...
Thanks for reading! Email me your feedback. See you Sunday...
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