EXEC SUMMARY: Here's our Tuesday planner, THR's Oprah cover, and tributes to John Singleton. Plus, scroll down for details about Sinclair's sports talks, Diane Sawyer's next special, and James Holzhauer's streak...
Biden's bump
Joe Biden officially entered the Democratic race for president last week, and he held a campaign kickoff event in Pittsburgh on Monday. Is he gaining ground among potential primary voters as a result? We'll probably find out soon. But as I watch all the coverage of the 20+ candidates in the 2020 race, I always remember that Donald Trump hadn't even come down the escalator at this point four years ago.
Biden keeps making headlines... He taped a big interview with ABC's Robin Roberts on Monday... It will roll out on Tuesday's "GMA..." | | "Trump takes Biden's bait"
Erin Burnett's lead on Monday: "OutFront tonight, Trump takes Biden's bait." She said "Biden's decision to take the fight straight to Trump is clearly getting under Trump's skin."
One of the pieces of evidence: Trump's tweet that "the Media (Fake News) is pushing Sleepy Joe hard." I wonder if Trump noticed when Fox News carried Biden's launch speech live on Monday afternoon... And I wonder if he noticed Biden say "we have to choose hope over fear, unity over division and maybe, most importantly, truth over lies." (Speaking of: Scroll down for the Post's updated count of Trump's untruths...)
Fighting "on the president's home turf"
"For all his weaknesses, right out of the gate Joe Biden has shown that he can fight on the president's home turf: the media," CNN political analyst Julian Zelizer tweeted Monday. "With Charlottesville and unions, Biden goaded POTUS into making comments that highlight his liabilities among independent and blue collar voters in 2020..."
FOR THE RECORD, PART ONE
-- Rod Rosenstein has given his two-week notice... (CNN)
-- BREAKING: "Trump sues banks to stop them from complying with House subpoenas..." (NYT)
-- Related headline: "Trump's lack of cooperation with Congress intensifies impeachment push in House..." (WaPo)
-- Will there be an empty chair on Thursday? "The House Judiciary Committee is moving forward with its plan for staff attorneys to question A.G. William Barr... even as the attorney general is threatening not to attend the hearing over the proposed format..." (CNN)
NYT taking action after apologizing for anti-Semitic cartoon
"For now, we've decided to suspend the future publication of syndicated cartoons," the NYT said Monday, after an anti-Semitic political cartoon was published in the international edition of the paper. The Daily Beast's Lloyd Grove broke the news about the NYT's decision.
>> Grove also said the Anti-Defamation League "is preparing to issue a report on Tuesday showing an alarming increase in anti-Semitic incidents, year over year, in the United States..."
>> ADL CEO Jonathan Greenblatt on Kate Bolduan's CNN show Monday morning: "It wouldn't surprise me if this was published out of Tehran or Damascus, but it does not belong in The New York Times or any credible media outlet..."
TUESDAY PLANNER
-- They're supposed to talk about infrastructure: POTUS will sit down with Nancy Pelosi and Chuck Schumer at 10:30 a.m. ET...
-- Apple earnings will be out after the markets close on Tuesday...
-- Mark Zuckerberg will deliver the keynote speech at Facebook's developer conference at 10 a.m. PT, 1 p.m. ET...
FIRST LOOK
Oprah on the cover of THR
This issue will be out on Tuesday, on the same day as The Hollywood Reporter's inaugural Empowerment in Entertainment gala. Winfrey will be speaking at the event in L.A... | | In an interview with THR's Lacey Rose, Winfrey reveals that her "60 Minutes" contributor deal is no more. "I've removed myself from that," she said. And she's blunt about the reason why. "It was not the best format for me... How should I say this? Never a good thing when I have to practice saying my name and have to be told that I have too much emotion in my name... I think I did seven takes on just my name because it was 'too emotional.' I go, 'Is the too much emotion in the Oprah part or the Winfrey part?' I was working on pulling myself down and flattening out my personality — which, for me, is actually not such a good thing."
In the interview, Winfrey also talks about Gayle King's new CBS deal, her Apple plans, the 2020 race and more... It'll be out on Tuesday...
FOR THE RECORD, PART TWO
-- This is the story behind the story of the Pete Buttigieg campaign: David Freedlander's account of how Lis Smith "helped turn an obscure Indiana mayor into a national name." A must-read for understanding modern media and politics... (Politico Mag)
-- The AP's David Bauder reports: NBC News chair Andy Lack is also the "key person behind Mississippi Today, an online news site that has been operating for three years..." (AP)
-- Correction: Last night I said the series finale of "The Big Bang Theory" is this Thursday. It's on May 16, of course! I must have been bleary-eyed. Thanks to all of you who emailed me with the correction...
-- And speaking of "Big Bang:" CBS announced on Monday that a half-hour retrospective will air at 9:30 p.m. on finale night, which is, again, on May 16 😉 (Deadline)
Streaming the news
Shorenstein Center Fellow and former CNN SVP Ed O'Keefe is coming out with a paper on Tuesday about news video and the streaming wars. Here's a first look. He argues that "news is the killer app — and will be key to winning the streaming war." Right now "the business model is in conflict with experimentation," O'Keefe acknowledges, but "it is not time to give up; it is time to invent and experiment..."
The takeaway: "News has proven — in every medium throughout time — to be a successful hook to attract and retain audience. And at the moment, the market leader," meaning Netflix, "is not all-in on news. To the investor, the (re)inventor, the news disruptor — whether legacy or digital native — go the spoils."
Three key quotes from the report
-- Anne Nordestgaard Dyrehauge, editorial manager of PLAY news, part of a streaming service in Denmark: "People are not willing to pay for news, but they are willing to stay for news."
-- VICE exec Josh Tyrangiel, talking about "VICE News Tonight" on HBO: "Nobody needs more news." It's everywhere. So story selection is the differentiator. "We should report on things that nobody else reports on, and we should provide context on the stuff that everybody's swarming and distorting..."
-- Hollywood showrunner Julie Plec, describing pitch meetings: "Streamers are constantly saying, 'We need content that will bring NEW eyes to us...'"
The paper also comes with this colorful media world GIF: | |
Fighting Measles myths
"MEASLES SURGES PAST 700TH CASE IN U.S. OUTBREAK" is the top headline on Page One of Tuesday's NYT.
As the outbreak worsens, "the biggest challenge we face right now is misinformation and myths about the vaccine. It's important that parents realize that the vaccine is safe and effective," Dr. Nancy Messonnier, director of the National Center for Immunization and Respiratory Diseases, told Fox News on Monday.
At the time I'm writing this, CNN.com's lead story is about Walter Blum, one of the 93 children infected with measles in the United States this year who was "too young to be vaccinated" against the highly contagious, vaccine-preventable virus. "Like all babies, he relied on the rest of society to vaccinate." Walter's mother says "our community kind of failed us." Thankfully she was willing to speak out. This story is a perfect example of taking a troubling statistic and making it personal...
Anti-vaxxers turn Brady Bunch clip into a meme
An example of the "meme wars:" An anti-vaccination group is highlighting a 1969 scene from "The Brady Bunch" -- when Maureen McCormick, playing Marcia, says "if you have to get sick, you sure can't beat the measles" -- and using the old TV clip to "downplay the seriousness of measles," Chloe Melas writes. And McCormick does not approve.
McCormick told NPR: "I think it's really wrong when people use people's images today to promote whatever they want to promote and the person's image they're using, they haven't asked or they have no idea where they stand on the issue." She added: "Having the measles was not a fun thing. I remember it spread through my family..."
FOR THE RECORD, PART THREE
-- Google "collected $30.7 billion in ad revenue" in Q1, "short of the $32.6 billion that analysts had modeled..." (THR)
-- Spotify has surpassed 100 million paid subscribers... Jordan Valinsky has all the Q1 earnings info here... (CNN)
-- The NewFronts are underway... And AdAge counted the "Game of Thrones" references at Monday's events... (AdAge)
-- The NYT's event for advertisers promoted new TV shows and festivals... And the company said "The Daily" podcast "just surpassed 2 million downloads a day..." (WWD)
-- Later in the day, Twitter "announced over a dozen new content deals" focused on "quality programming..." (Axios)
-- Later this week Walmart will announce a slate of new TV shows for its Vudu service... Hey, if Amazon can make lots of shows, why can't Walmart? (Bloomberg)
| | Kimberly Guilfoyle is joining Trump 2020
Nine months ago, Kimberly Guilfoyle left Fox News. Days later, she joined America First Action, which is billed as Trump's official super PAC. Last fall she campaigned in battleground states with her boyfriend Donald Trump Jr. Now Guilfoyle is jumping from the super PAC to the Trump campaign... Her title will be "senior adviser..." Trump loyalists cheered the news while critics like Rick Wilson jeered... Wilson said "the rubes are literally paying for Don Jr's girlfriend."
10,000 untruths and counting...
As I foreshadowed in last night's newsletter, WaPo came out with an updated count of Trump's false and misleading statements on Monday. 10,000! It's a milestone, but not a cause for celebration. "The tsunami of untruths just keeps looming larger and larger," the Post said...
-- Chris Cillizza's take: "It's not the quantity of lies. It's the acceleration of them."
-- Ezra Klein tweeted: "It's not that lying is too harsh a term for what Trump does. It's that it's too light a term for what he does."
In Trump's defense
How do Trump boosters excuse the stream of misinformation? Here's how Newt Gingrich (who's out promoting a new novel) did it on "CBS This Morning:" Trump "is a businessman. He's not a politician. He's not trained by the ways of Washington. He has a tendency to fling things around," Gingrich said... "But" -- here's the pivot -- "on big things, he has been stunningly effective."
QUOTE OF THE DAY
Ken Strickland, NBC's DC bureau chief, quoted in this WWD feature about NBC's White House crew:
"One year of President Trump's administration equals three or four years covering Clinton or Bush."
| | "How Fox News dominates Facebook in the Trump era"
File this under I-wish-I'd-written-it: Vice's David Uberti went deep on Fox News and Facebook, documenting how Fox "has cemented itself as the most dominant news publisher on Facebook as measured by engagement." Much of the content is what you'd expect: "We would intentionally post content that would be divisive and elicit a lot of comments," a former social producer told Uberti. Read on...
No, YOU hang up!
Maria Bartiromo shared more of her Sunday morning phoner with POTUS on Monday morning, and it was another example of something we've observed before: Trump wanting to keep talking while the Fox hosts want to wrap him up. Remember when this happened last year on "Fox & Friends?" It happened again with Bartiromo... She gave him several chances to say goodbye... And repeatedly tried to wrap him... But he kept going.
WaPo's Philip Bump has a wise analysis of the interview here. Bartiromo "said 'yes' to Trump 14 times. Almost no claim made by Trump was challenged in any way, with the exception of his renewed assertion that he could close the border entirely... About the only point at which she confronted the president was when she was trying to wrap up the interview, but he wanted to keep talking..."
FOR THE RECORD, PART FOUR
-- "The NRA's problems are reminder of how people invested in the partisan economy like to talk about principles, while they profit from polarization," John Avlon says... (CNN)
-- Barnes & Noble moved out of the Bronx five years ago. Since then, there hasn't been a bookstore in the borough. But now there is one again: An indie shop called the Lit. Bar. This is a wonderful story... (NYT)
-- Halima Aden is making history as the "first model to be featured in Sports Illustrated's annual Swimsuit Issue wearing a hijab and burkini..." (Elle)
-- "Larry King is recovering in a hospital after undergoing a procedure to address chest pain, known medically as angina, Ora TV said..." (CNN)
Screen time special on ABC this Friday
Diane Sawyer is the anchor of this two-hour special, "ScreenTime," airing Friday at 8... ABC says Sawyer and her team spent six months "talking to families, teachers, doctors, and even tech insiders to pursue questions, answers and solutions." The special includes an interview with Tim Cook...
>> Speaking of Apple: The NYT's reporting about the company removing and restricting third-party screen time apps prompted a Sunday statement...
Holzhauer's streak survives
There were a few minutes during Monday night's episode of "Jeopardy!" when I thought James Holzhauer's streak might be coming to an end. Alas, he turned it around -- but only won the day's match by $18. Meg Wagner and Veronica Rocha have all the details in CNN's live story...
>> WaPo's Charles Lane argues that Holzhauer "is a menace" to the game show...
FOR THE RECORD, PART FIVE
-- Joshua Benton noticed that Amazon is looking to hire a "managing editor, news" for its doorbell business Ring. "That's right: A doorbell company wants to report crime news..." (NiemanLab)
-- The NYT has an update on Yemeni-American bodega owners' ongoing boycott of the NYPost... (NYT)
-- Important piece by Jonathan Peters and Jared Schroeder about a recent spate of suits against media companies: "These suits seem less about winning than about exacting revenge on publishers for stories the plaintiffs didn't like. They show why we need stronger anti-SLAPP protections at the state and federal levels..." (CJR)
-- Fox, Sinclair, OANN, Salem? Here's Jeremy Barr on "how Salem is quietly becoming a conservative media giant..." (THR)
"Disney still negotiating Fox RSN terms"
That's the headline from SBJ's John Ourand... In his subscribers-only newsletter, he says "Sinclair appears to be the likely winner to pick up the Fox Sports RSNs that Disney is selling. But a deal still has not been finalized, and a formal announcement is not imminent. The other bidders have not been told that the process is over. If a deal is announced this week, it's going to Sinclair; anything longer suggests potential snags." Remember, Disney is facing a mid-June deadline...
| | Remembering John Singleton
"His films broke ground. His films mattered."
"We will miss his work and his storytelling voice."
"His vision changed everything."
Those are just a few of the tributes to director John Singleton, who died Monday after suffering a stroke almost two weeks ago. He was 51. Sandra Gonzalez is collecting the tributes here...
A trailblazing career
Brian Lowry writes: Singleton was just 23 when he wrote and directed "Boyz n the Hood." He had a trailblazing career -- including being the first African-American nominated for a best director Oscar, and the youngest person ever. Most recently, he was working on the FX series "Snowfall," which dealt with themes similar to his debut movie...
-- Ann Hornaday's appreciation for the Post: Singleton "helped redefine American pop culture, and his impact is still being felt today."
-- Justin Chang's piece for the LA Times: "With John Singleton's brilliant 'Boyz N the Hood,' the filmmaker found his voice from the start."
-- CNN's Mitra Kalita wrote about one scene in "Boyz N the Hood" that "literally changed my life..."
| | "Endgame" made even more money than we thought
Frank Pallotta emails: The weekend is over, but "Avengers: Endgame" somehow made more money. The Disney and Marvel film was revised up in its final numbers on Monday from its Sunday estimates. The blockbuster brought in $357.1 million domestically this weekend, up from Sunday's $350 million. It also ticked up internationally to $866.5 million — a bump of roughly $7 million...
Think about this...
Brian Lowry adds: These "Avengers" numbers are so staggering it's hard to even put them in context, but think about this: The second weekend could drop by two-thirds and still amass another $120 million. The question at some point will be what kind of repeat business the movie does, since so many people felt compelled to see it when it opened, it might not possess the kind of legs associated with some other past blockbusters. But these are, to say the least, high-class problems...
"The long night"
Still no "Game of Thrones" spoilers here... But AJ Willingham has a recap of the mother of all battles... and Doug Criss wrote about the darkness...
-- Plus, Chloe Melas writes: "Game of Thrones" star Maisie Williams says she wasn't so sure she was ready for the epic Winterfell battle...
FOR THE RECORD, PART SIX
-- "The Simpsons" mocked upstate New York on Sunday night... And it "wasn't long before politicians started taking jabs..."
-- Chloe Melas emails: Viola Davis sat down with me to discuss her latest projects, including a documentary about diabetes...
-- The next "Fantastic Beasts" film now has a November 2021 release date, Sandra Gonzalez reports...
WGA West's Inclusion Report Card is out
Brian Lowry emails: The Writers Guild of America issued its "Inclusion Report Card" for the 2017-18 TV season, which concluded, "Women and persons of color remain underrepresented relative to their percentages in the overall U.S. population, and discrimination worsens at upper employment levels."
However, the report did find "evidence of progress," Variety's Rachel Yang wrote. Over the last decade women have increased from 30 to 35% of the work force, while people of color have increased from 17% to 27%. Those gains, moreover, have come while the number of staff positions has doubled, reflecting a significant increase in opportunities for writers. Yet the playing field remains tilted...
| | | Thank you for reading. Email me anytime. See you tomorrow... | | | |
