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Inside the NYT during a moment of debate over its coverage of Trump and racism
| | It's been a rocky past couple of weeks for NYT. The newspaper grappled with a bad headline that was ditched after a torrent of criticism. And one of its top editors, Jonathan Weisman, was demoted after a spate of embarrassing activity on social media.
All of this led to Dean Baquet's Monday town hall where he addressed employee concerns. For a story published Wednesday, I spoke to Baquet and nine staffers about the internal debates raging inside the news organization. You can read the full piece here...
The two sides of the debate
At Baquet's town hall on Monday, he explained his position. It is his belief that it is more powerful to show the reader Trump's actions than to merely attack a label of "racist" to them. Some staffers agree with that approach. As one told me about the word "racist" and whether NYT should use it, "Using that language is a turn off to some readers. And there are a lot of people that think The Times is too liberal, and when you start throwing words like that around, people will accuses use of editorializing."
On the other side of the debate, a staffer countered that the desire to "show and not tell" might be "well intentioned," but it is ineffective. "It puts a burden on readers and especially those who are maybe less savvy," the staffer explained. "And when the stakes are so high and so many people feel personally threatened and there's real danger in the air, the show don't tell approach feels inadequate."
Generational divide
At play here is a clear generational divide, something that Baquet acknowledged when I spoke with him on Tuesday. Younger staffers generally feel NYT should be more aggressive and explicit in its coverage of Trump. Older staffers generally prefer taking the more traditional approach espoused by Baquet.
"There is a generational divide in newsrooms right now," Baquet told me. But he flatly rejected the notion that NYT has not covered Trump boldly enough, saying, "My own view is that we are covering Donald Trump very aggressively."
"Our role is not to be the leader of the resistance"
What Baquet is certain about -- and this is something even those pushing for more aggressive coverage agree on -- is that NYT should not serve as a publication for the left. "Our role is not to be the leader of the resistance," Baquet said. Put more bluntly, one NYT staffer said, "We have to remember we are not advocates for the left. We are not f---ing part of the resistance."
And regarding Bernie Sanders criticism of WaPo...
Baquet told me he expects more media criticism as the election season heats up. He noted that politicians have always "sought to discredit independent journalism when they didn't like what was being reported." But he also granted that criticism of the press has increased and took issue with some of what has come from the left.
Specifically, he took issue with the way Bernie Sanders suggested WaPo does not cover him more positively because it's owned by Jeff Bezos. Baquet said, "I think he did it in a very inappropriate way. I have never seen any evidence in my conversations with friends at The Washington Post that Jeff Bezos has any influence over coverage. I think in the realm of criticism, that one particularly crossed the line."
FOR THE RECORD, PART ONE
-- Fox host Todd Starnes invoked the Nazi invasion of Europe during a discussion on immigration in which he also claimed that the United States has been "invaded by a horde." I checked in with a Fox spokesperson about his comments, but never heard back... (Daily Beast)
-- MSNBC correspondent Mariana Atencio writes in a passage in her book, first flagged by Yashar Ali, that she received a call from a network female manager before the 2017 WHCA dinner and was told "don't look too Latina." An MSNBC spokesperson told Erik Wemple "action was taken" for the "unacceptable comment..." (WaPo)
-- In 2003, former journalist David Bank interviewed Jeffrey Epstein on his private Caribbean island. After Epstein's recent arrest, Bank "dug out the tapes and listened to them..." (Bloomberg)
-- Speaking of Epstein: NY Mag interviewed the financier's former bodyguard... (NY Mag)
Breaking news coverage of Philly shooting
News of the Philadelphia shooting broke around the 5pm hour on the East Coast. CNN's Wolf Blitzer broke into programming with breaking coverage on "The Situation Room," followed soon after by Fox's Shepard Smith who interrupted "The Five" with the news. Since then, the incident has played out on all three of the cable networks... News cameras keep their distance
Philly's news choppers originally showed live, close-up shots of police officer movements. But the cameras zoomed out and TV networks shifted to "moments ago" video, in part because police said the choppers were "hindering" operations. The obvious concern: That suspects were watching the coverage...
| | Stephanie Grisham's first TV interview
Brian Stelter emails: Stephanie Grisham's first TV interview as W.H. press secretary and comms director went to Sinclair and BlazeTV's Eric Bolling... The sit-down aired on some Sinclair stations on Wednesday evening...
Grisham touted Trump's accessibility to the press, the same way many of her colleagues do, and she said "the president is his best spokesperson," a comment Bolling seconded.
When he asked about the possible restoration of on-camera press briefings, she said "We're going to talk about it" but "that'll be ultimately up to the president." She noted that Steve Mnuchin and Ken Cuccinelli have taken Q's in the briefing room recently. But she defaulted to the view that briefings aren't really necessary: "He's so accessible," she said, "so right now I think that that's good enough..."
>> Related: Trump HAS eclipsed "his predecessors on media availability," Erik Wemple writes, but "accessibility doesn't equal transparency, a trait that requires honesty..."
The market's recession warning
Here's the banner headline on CNN Business Wednesday night: | | THR's Paul Bond reports: "It was an inauspicious first day of trading for Viacom and CBS following their announcement they will merge to form a single company dubbed ViacomCBS, falling 8 percent and 9 percent, respectively, as stocks — media shares, in particular — were hammered Wednesday on concerns the economy is headed for recession..."
>> The NYT's lead headline in Thursday's paper: "Markets Shudder as Signs Point to Global Slowdown..."
How Lou Dobbs spun the sell-off
The markets plunged 800 points on Wednesday, and if Trump was watching his favorite business television host, he would have heard just what he wanted. On his Wednesday evening program, Lou Dobbs dismissed the weight investors were placing on the inverted yield curve, which had sent markets tumbling earlier in the day.
Dobbs said he didn't understand why that it would "override the health and strength of the economy" and "other markets," even though, according to CNN Business, the inverted yield curve provides an "eerily accurate track record for predicting recessions." Earlier in the day, Trump delivered a similar message on Twitter, claiming the United States is "winning, big time, against China" and dismissing the "CRAZY INVERTED YIELD CURVE!"
| | "Third time's the charm"
Stelter emails: "You can argue the third time's the charm," Bob Bakish said in an interview with Andrew Ross Sorkin on CNBC's Squawk Box on Wednesday. "We started this discussion at the end of '16 when I was acting CEO of Viacom. Then, it was revisited again about a year and a half later. And this time, yesterday, we announced we're putting the two companies together."
Per Deadline's Dade Hayes, "Sorkin asked if Joe Ianniello, the acting CBS CEO who will become chairman and CEO of CBS of the new company, will collect $70 million because he didn't become CEO of the combined entity. 'Look, you can look at the public filings and all,' Bakish replied. 'We are thrilled to be moving forward together. We are going to create a lot of value here. And we can't wait to get on with it... His contract is what his contract is.'" Sounds expensive...
| | Des Moines Register's Steve King scoop
On Wednesday, the Des Moines Register published a story with remarks from Republican Rep. Steve King that generated national headlines and drew widespread condemnation. In a video first posted by the local newspaper, King wondered that, if not for rape and incest, "Would there be any population left?" The comments, which came as King defended banning abortion, are almost as strange as they are shocking.
Don't take that from me. Liz Cheney, the House Republican Conference Chair, calling the remarks "appalling and bizarre" and reiterated that "it's time" for King "to go." Asked about the comments by Wolf Blitzer, Democratic presidential candidate Kamala Harris laughed aloud and, seemingly at a loss for words, said, "These guys are just out of their minds! What is that? ... What is going on with these people?"
SPEAKING OF LOCAL NEWS....
Pew: The elderly, black Americans, and people with less education prioritize local news most
Katie Pellico writes: In a study published Wednesday, Pew tabulates which demographics are most interested in local news: "Older Americans, black adults and those with a high school education or less show considerably more interest in local news than their counterparts." The new data builds on a prior survey Pew conducted back in 2018...
>> Another key, albeit disheartening finding: Younger audiences are much more likely to say they aren't interested enough in local news to pay for it.
>> Laura Hazard Owen puts Pew's findings in context for NiemanLab. "To be clear," she writes, "just 14 percent Americans of any age pay for it; most also believe that local news is doing well financially."
FOR THE RECORD, PART TWO
-- "A new policy rolled out by the Interior Department's inspector general puts strict limits on the office's interactions with reporters..." (The Hill)
-- "BuzzFeed chief marketing officer and commerce leader Ben Kaufman is stepping down from his position at the end of the year..." (The Information)
-- ProPublica is "giving away all of our secrets" about the art of large-scale data collaboration, starting with the guidebook, which is itself a collaboration... (ProPublica)
-- Kate Mooney writes about how the em dash "divides" us all... (NYT)
Clarissa Ward details "frightening" propaganda Russian-linked site published about CNN team
A months-long CNN investigation into the activity of Russian oligarch Yevgeny Prigozhin, a close associate of Vladimir Putin's, led to a Russian site launching a disinformation campaign against CNN journalists Tim Lister, Sebastian Shukla, and Clarissa Ward. Ward, CNN's chief international correspondent, told Brianna Keilar on Wednesday that a website linked to Prigozhin released a 15-minute propaganda video on the CNN team before the story was published.
"They were filming us secretly," Ward said. "There's video of me and the team at the airport, in our hotel lobby, then there's a particularly sinister scene in my hotel room, in which a man is interviewed pointing to a chair saying 'Yes she was sitting right there, she was sitting at her computer and she offered me $100 to say bad things about Russians.'"
Ward said that on "one level" it's "certainly sinister and quite frighting," noting three journalists were murdered last year in the Central African Republic, where they were investigating Russian influence, while covering stories linked to Russia. But, Ward said, "I have to be honest with you, it's somewhat satisfying. Because it makes it clear that our reporting has hit a nerve and we are telling a story some people would rather not see be told."
Wintour gets an even bigger role at Condé
"Anna Wintour's already big job just got bigger." That's how Keith Kelly put it in his New York Post story detailing changes announced by Condé CEO Roger Lynch on Wednesday. In addition to Wintour's role as EIC of Vogue, and artistic director of Condé, she will now serve as "global content advisor."
The change came as Lynch restructured the leadership team following last year's merger of Condé Nast and Condé Nast International. Lynch said that he hopes to "take full advantage" of the company's "unique growth opportunities and exceptional content around the world."
Remnick reaffirmed
The New Yorker's David Remnick didn't get a job change, or added responsibility, but as WWD pointed out, Lynch "noted that Remnick will continue to report directly to him, making one think there was need to publicly reaffirm his position. Or maybe if Remnick was left off the announcement it would have raised eyebrows."
FOR THE RECORD, PART THREE
-- CNN announced Wednesday that Laura Barrón-López, Mark McKinnon, Aisha Moodie-Mills, and Elliot Williams have joined as contributors...
-- Jessica Lipsky for CJR: "The enduring influence of the Black Panther Party newspaper..." (CJR)
-- Curbed has a special TV issue out. I can definitely relate to the story about having watched HGTV for a full day... (Curbed)
-- That "teen girl" who went viral for supposedly tweeting from her fridge? BuzzFeed's Stephanie McNeal says it's "almost definitely a fake..." (BuzzFeed)
NYT poaches Taylor Lorenz
She's one of the best writers on the internet culture beat, and now she's headed to the paper of record. On Wednesday, NYT announced that it has hired Taylor Lorenz to join its culture of tech team. Lorenz, who will join the paper from The Atlantic, will start her new job in September.
>> Quite the quote from Lorenz's future colleague, Kevin Roose! "Over the past few years, no other reporter has caused me as much pain and misery as Taylor. Seemingly every few days at The Atlantic, she came out with a story so fresh and original, so well-timed and zeitgeisty, and so much better than anything I was working on, that I entered a shame-spiral that lasted for days.
Disney and Charter's new deal
Brian Lowry emails: There's some interesting language in Disney's just-announced distribution agreement with Charter Communications, reflecting the delicacies associated with studios getting into the distribution business with their announced streaming services, and efforts to address some of the uncertainties caused by that.
According to the press release, the deal "contemplates Charter's future distribution of Disney's streaming services, including Hulu, ESPN+ and the soon-to-be-launched Disney+." The dizzying lineup of channels covered by the agreement includes Disney's recently acquired portfolio from Fox, including FX and National Geographic...
THR looks behind Universal's decision to abandon "The Hunt"
Universal did not expect to find itself at the center of a cultural war that would play out on Fox and Trump's Twitter feed over "The Hunt." That's according to a THR story published by Tatiana Siegel on Wednesday offering a glimpse of the events that led up to the studio canceling plans to release the film.
According to THR, "Sources say the studio leadership was reluctant to cave to the outrage of those who have not seen the finished film." But, THR reported, Universal executives, who had received death threats over the film, decided the movie was just too toxic to move forward with.
>> Of note: "Sources in the international film community say they are still interested in releasing" the film, according to THR...
Colbert sits down with Cooper | | Anderson Cooper landed a rare interview with Stephen Colbert this week... And it will air as a prime time special Thursday at 9 p.m. ET on CNN. Here's a preview from Wednesday's "AC360," and two key quotes...
>> "We're constantly being told by this administration: you don't see what you see, you don't hear what you hear. Now they're saying you don't feel what you feel."
>> "He, our president, wants to live in a fantasy world where only the way he perceives the world is the way it is, only the things that sort of serve his vision, and he's also trying to convince us that that is the only world that exists. It's extremely solipsistic. But he's also trying to invite us into this madness that he has. And that's heresy against reality."
| | From "Fleabag" to James Bond
 Frank Pallotta writes: THR has a great cover feature on Phoebe Waller-Bridge, the star-creator of "Fleabag" who is quickly becoming one of the biggest rising stars in Hollywood. Waller-Bridge, who is also a writer for the acclaimed BBC series "Killing Eve," is punching up the new James Bond script.
Waller-Bridge had a really interesting take on our favorite British spy saying that Bond lives a life "none of us would ever want, if we're honest." She added to THR, "We don't want to go put a bullet in someone's head to sleep with people and have martinis. It's a kind of fantasy nightmare."
FOR THE RECORD, PART FOUR
By Frank Pallotta:
-- Netflix announced that "The Spy" starring Sacha Baron Cohen premieres September 6. The limited series was written and directed by Gideon Raff, whose Israeli drama "Prisoners of War" inspired "Homeland..." (Deadline)
-- "Crazy Rich Asian" star Henry Golding may be joining "G.I. Joe..." (Variety)
-- EW has a cool look at the new cast of Netflix's "The Crown..." (EW)
-- Jay-Z defends Roc Nation's new deal with the NFL while also speaking about Colin Kaepernick... (ESPN)
How 'Who Wants to Be a Millionaire' changed the primetime TV rulebook
Brian Lowry emails: "Who Wants to Be a Millionaire" marks the 20th anniversary of its United States premiere this week. While the quiz show recently went off the air for the first time in that stretch, in terms of altering the primetime landscape and way programs are developed, few series have had a greater impact, or a longer tail.
FOR THE RECORD, PART FIVE
By Lisa Respers France:
-- Gurinder Chadha, director of the new film "Blinded by the Light," talked to me about her new film which is a bit of a love letter to Bruce Springsteen as well as a moving story about an immigrant teen coming of age in the UK in the 1980s. She also shared with me the rocker's perfect response to her film... (CNN)
-- Harry Styles fans are upset over reports he turned down the role of Prince Eric in the forthcoming live action "Little Mermaid..." (CNN)
| | Thank you for reading. I always enjoy your feedback, so send me a note via email or find me on Twitter... See you tomorrow!
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