EXEC SUMMARY: Here's the latest on John Kennedy's admission to Chris Cuomo, The AP's pact with Report for America, Netflix's new lease in NYC, and much more...
Bloomberg covering Bloomberg
Michael Bloomberg running for president is "everybody's nightmare come true."
That's the view of one reporter at Bloomberg's media company -- and it's a POV that was echoed by other staffers who spoke with me on Monday.
Some journalists at Bloomberg News are relatively optimistic about how this will play out. Others are pessimistic. The unanimous emotion I found, in calls and texts and emails, is frustration. The media company's owner is making the jobs of his reporters quite a bit more difficult.
Reporters tend to be skeptical creatures, and that's definitely true in this instance. They're looking at the Democratic primary lineup and they're wondering why Bloomberg thinks he has a shot at the nomination. Some of them are worried that the former NYC mayor is going to embarrass himself by running and coming up short.
But that's not the primary concern they have. The primary concern is about what his 2020 quest will do to Bloomberg's newsroom. Meantime, Bloomberg kicked off his campaign in Norfolk, VA on Monday... And in TV and digital ads all over the place... | |
This is unprecedented
There's never been a situation quite like this before -- a media mogul running for president while employing thousands of journalists.
Most Bloomberg LP staffers will not be directly affected by the 2020 bid. But Bloomberg Politics reporters obviously will. John Micklethwait's Sunday memo unnerved some of the staffers who received it.
Perhaps Micklethwait's plan is the best path through awkward terrain. But as the NYT's Marc Tracy wrote, this moment "is fraught for one of the most prominent global newsrooms in the country, which now has to document the candidacy of its owner, one of the richest men in the world."
Micklethwait said Bloomberg News would continue to report on the 2020 campaign, but would not "investigate" Bloomberg or his Dem primary rivals. He wrote: "We will continue our tradition of not investigating Mike (and his family and foundation) and we will extend the same policy to his rivals in the Democratic primaries. We cannot treat Mike's Democratic competitors differently from him."
Trump is still fair game for investigations because he is running the government. If Bloomberg somehow becomes the Dem nominee, newsroom management will "reassess" these rules.
Maybe this plan is the least-bad option? Maybe. But it still looks bad. Multiple staffers told me it's "damaging" and "embarrassing." A longtime former exec, though, said "I think Micklethwait is actually handling it pretty well."
These decisions are complicated, no doubt. Bloomberg's "long-held policy is that the organization doesn't investigate its owner's wealth, personal life, family and so on," WaPo media columnist Margaret Sullivan wrote Monday. "That was true during his three terms as New York mayor; it wasn't good then either, but the stakes are far higher now."
On the inside...
Bloomberg's DC bureau chief Craig Gordon held a Sunday afternoon phone call with staffers to answer Q's and give everyone a chance to process what's going on.
One reporter identified two main sources of frustration: One, that Bloomberg isn't "explicitly stepping away from the company and making a statement about editorial independence" while running for office, and two, that the leaders of Bloomberg Opinion are joining the campaign staff.
One of those leaders, Trump biographer Tim O'Brien, has already updated his Twitter bio to say "senior advisor to Mike Bloomberg's 2020" campaign. O'Brien is no longer an NBC/MSNBC contributor, BTW.
There's definitely a range of opinion internally. While people feel uncertain about this new arrangement, one reporter said "I'm extremely cautiously optimistic," expressing confidence that the editors in the D.C. bureau will "operate smartly." The reality is that most, or all, of the stories Bloomberg has published about the 2020 race would still be published per Micklethwait's plan — even the piece about Tom Steyer's coal investments.
But there's now a cloud hanging over what Bloomberg News covers, and what it doesn't cover, during the 2020 campaign...
Shout out to Mark Niquette...
He's the Bloomberg reporter assigned to cover the Bloomberg campaign. His stories have included the same skeptical notes that other news outlets' stories have had. For example, he wrote that "Bloomberg faces significant hurdles in the campaign, including his late start and questions about why a billionaire and former Republican with a past career on Wall Street should be the standard-bearer."
Drudge's banner
The Drudge Report celebrated the "BATTLE OF THE BILLIONAIRES" earlier on Monday: | |
FOR THE RECORD, PART ONE
-- House Dems "are increasingly focusing on multiple articles of impeachment" re: Ukraine, and some lawmakers are pushing "to go even further and include what many in the party see as clear criminality detailed in" Robert Mueller's report, Manu Raju and Jeremy Herb report... (CNN)
-- "I was wrong," Sen. John Kennedy told Chris Cuomo on Monday night, one day after saying on "Fox News Sunday" that "I don't know" who hacked the DNC in 2016, Russia or Ukraine. Kennedy: "It was Russia who tried to hack the DNC computer. I've seen no indication that Ukraine tried to do it..." (Twitter)
-- Elsewhere on cable news, Tucker Carlson said to Dem guest Richard Goodstein, "why do I care what is going on in the conflict between Ukraine and Russia? And I'm serious. Like, why do I care? Why shouldn't I root for Russia? Which I am." Later Carlson said he was only joking... (Mediaite)
-- And in the 9pm hour, Sean Hannity complained about me, calling me "Humpty Dumpty" again. I missed his rant because I was on the phone with sources for my forthcoming book about Fox in the Trump age... 🤷♂️ (Twitter)
Breaking news times two
CNN's team recapping Monday evening's back-to-back bursts of breaking news: "A federal judge said that former White House counsel Don McGahn must testify before Congress -- a major victory for House Democrats and their investigations into Trump. Minutes later, the Supreme Court blocked Democrats from obtaining the President's financial records for now..."
FOR THE RECORD, PART TWO
-- Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson with the quote of the day: "Stated simply, the primary takeaway from the past 250 years of recorded American history is that Presidents are not kings..." (CNN)
-- Alan Dershowitz's did-he-just-say-that response to the ruling, on Fox's "Ingraham Angle" Monday night: "Of course the president's not the king. The president's far more powerful than the king..." (Twitter)
-- Olivia Nuzzi's newest must-read is "A Reporter's Guide to Texting With Rudy Giuliani..." (NYMag)
CBS nabs interview with ousted Navy secretary
CBS News correspondent David Martin interviewed Richard Spencer on Monday... It was Spencer's first interview since his firing...
GOP leaders are avoiding TV
In the months ahead, the GOP leaders of the Senate will likely determine the fate of the Trump presidency. But good luck getting them to talk about it. Mitch McConnell and other members of GOP leadership rarely grant TV interviews other than to Fox News. And the senators who do speak, like John Kennedy, end up stoking controversy by making false claims and echoing conspiracy theories.
I wrote about this for CNN.com on Monday. Yes, I noted, House and Senate leaders of both parties do hold weekly pressers. And lawmakers of both parties are sometimes available for walk-and-talk interviews. But the reluctance to say yes to interviews with the country's highest-rated newscasts is revealing... And it is a source of continued frustration for the hosts and bookers of political TV programs. Read on...
Conversely...
Leading Democratic lawmakers of both parties continue to turn down Fox's interview requests. Adam Schiff has not appeared on Fox since April, when Chris Wallace interviewed him on "Fox News Sunday." Nancy Pelosi and Chuck Schumer have not granted sit-down interviews to Fox since 2017...
An important PolitiFact piece
"Mitt Romney and the few other Republican lawmakers who have spoken out against Trump lately have become the targets of disinformation on social media," PolitiFact's Daniel Funke writes. "False Facebook posts and tweets about federal and local lawmakers who broke the party line have been shared thousands of times, with some talking points making their way onto radio and TV programs, too." Funke says that "for Republicans, the choice on social media is clear: support the president or get smeared..."
What is Pecker telling prosecutors? | | Monday afternoon's scoop by CNN's Kara Scannell and Mark Morales: National Enquirer boss David Pecker "has spoken with prosecutors with the New York district attorney's office as part of its investigation into the Trump Organization's handling of hush money payments to women who alleged affairs" with Trump.
--> Key details: Pecker "is expected to continue talking with prosecutors, sources said. The meeting between Pecker and the local prosecutors shows that investigators are still trying to connect the dots between Trump and the hush money payments. The meeting could result in Pecker being a potential critical witness down the road in any legal action against Trump or the Trump Organization..."
Three years later...
Salena Zito and Brad Todd's book "The Great Revolt" is coming out in paperback this month -- so they re-interviewed their subjects -- "the unique coalition of voters who helped sweep Trump into office."
In this new piece for the NYPost, Zito writes: "Conservative ideology alone did not unite this coalition. What did was conservatism fused with a populist distrust of big institutions including the media, DC politicians, Hollywood and corporations, all based in ZIP codes far removed from the people they supposedly serve. Three years later, all 24 of the people we interviewed for 'The Great Revolt' (except two we've been unable to reach) told us they have not wavered in their political allegiances."
FOR THE RECORD, PART THREE
-- "The all-stock merger of CBS and Viacom is expected to close on Dec. 4, the companies said on Monday." Shares of ViacomCBS "are expected to start trading on Nasdaq from Dec. 5..." (Reuters)
-- A big hire by NBC: "Gretchen Morgenson will join the NBC News Investigative Unit as Senior Financial Investigative Reporter on December 2," per an internal memo... (Deadline)
Margaret Low leaves The Atlantic for WBUR
"Veteran news executive Margaret Low will be the next chief executive and general manager of WBUR, leading one of the nation's preeminent public media outlets amid a series of shakeups," WBUR's Callum Borchers reports.
Low is leaving The Atlantic, "where for the past five years she has served as senior vice president and head of the magazine's live events division. WBUR opened its own event hall, CitySpace, earlier this year." Full story here...
New jobs covering state government!
The AP and Report for America are working together to create 14 new reporting positions to cover state government.
"That number is small, yes, but it's a start," Poynter's Kristen Hare writes... "The positions, mostly funded by the AP and RFA, will last for 18 months and begin next June. The AP will make the coverage from the new positions available for free to other media in those states." More here...
>> RFA co-founder Steven Waldman: "The significance of state government keeps going up, up, up and the number of statehouse reporters keeps going down, down, down. So we have a severe accountability crisis when it comes to state government."
>> "The AP created a formula to choose the states getting reporters, said Noreen Gillespie, AP deputy managing editor for U.S. news. It looked at data on news deserts, the health of the statehouse press corps and asked AP bureaus to apply for the positions with a beat plan and vision for the positions..."
Alden keeps buying Tribune stock...
WSJ's Lukas Alpert tweeted: "Alden Capital, the much-maligned hedge fund behind Digital First Media has acquired another ~7% of Tribune Publishing stock. They now own 32% of the company behind the Chicago Tribune, Baltimore Sun, NY Daily News, etc. Not clear what the end game here is..."
FOR THE RECORD, PART FOUR
By Kerry Flynn:
-- Ghen Maynard, a CBS programming exec behind shows like "Survivor" and "The Amazing Race," sued his employer, alleging wrongful termination... (WSJ)
-- Amanda Hess explores how Instagram affected the tabloid industry and celebrity culture... (NYT)
-- Kate Knibbs ranks movie journalists, with the latest example of Matthew Rhys as Lloyd Vogel in "A Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood..." (The Ringer)
-- Dani Deahl details graphic recordings Rev contractors have transcribed. This report follows Sarah Emerson's reporting on the subject after the company slashed workers' pay earlier this month... (The Verge)
Netflix is re-opening the Paris Theater
The NYT's Nancy Coleman writes: "When the Paris Theater, New York City's last surviving single-screen movie house, shut its doors in August, it wasn't just a heart-wrenching loss for film lovers: It was a physical symbol of the ways streaming services are fundamentally changing the film industry. Now, a streaming platform is coming to its rescue. Netflix, whose theatrical run of Noah Baumbach's 'Marriage Story' reopened the Paris earlier this month, on Monday announced its agreement to lease the space. The long-term deal gives the company a New York venue for screenings, premieres and special events as the platform continues to expand beyond laptops and into theaters."
>> Netflix "did not specify the deal's terms or length," WaPo's Steven Zeitchik notes. Nor did the company "specify how it would decide which directors or films would get the theater, especially in the busy fall, when a single screen would be hotly in demand. Also unclear is whether independent theaters, which have sometimes been open to showing Netflix films, will become more resistant now with Netflix in the theater business..."
>> Reminder: Netflix is still negotiating to buy the Egyptian Theatre in Hollywood...
Super Bowl LIV ad spots are sold out
"Fox Sports has sold all its available commercial inventory in Super Bowl LIV, slated to be broadcast from Miami Gardens, Florida, on February 2, 2020," Variety's Brian Steinberg reported Monday.
Steinberg spoke with Fox EVP Seth Winter, who said 30-second ads during the fourth quarters have sold "for between 'north of $5 million' to as much as $5.6 million... Several factors have played in the network's favor. Winter cited a robust economy underpinning advertisers' desire to get into the game, along with a plan unveiled by the National Football League and Fox in May that called for the elimination of one commercial break in each of the Super Bowl's four quarters." More here...
FOR THE RECORD, PART FIVE
-- Loved this piece by Daniel Holloway: Inside "Sunday Night Football," "how primetime's most watched TV show gets made..." (Variety)
-- THR's must-read cover story by Tatiana Siegel: "Five Years Later, Who Really Hacked Sony?" (THR)
| | Hoda Kotb is getting married
After six years and two daughters together, Hoda Kotb is engaged to Joel Schiffman, Lisa Respers France reports. Kotb broke the news on "Today" Monday and her coworkers went crazy with excitement. The announcement is a really fun clip to watch...
FOR THE RECORD, PART SIX
By Lisa Respers France:
-- Jenna Dewan has denied "shading" Camila Cabello at the American Music Awards, and insists she loves the singer...
-- Susan Sarandon missed a political event for Bernie Sanders because of a concussion... Here's what she shared on Instagram...
"Stacey Abrams Producing CBS Drama Based on Her Novel"
"Stacey Abrams is getting into television," THR's Rick Porter wrote Monday. "The former Georgia lawmaker and voting-rights advocate will executive produce a drama in development at CBS. Never Tell is based on a novel Abrams wrote under the pen name Selena Montgomery. The project from CBS Television Studios and PatMa Productions is being written by Talicia Raggs, a co-executive producer of NCIS: New Orleans..."
| | ICYMI...
How to catch up on Sunday's "Reliable Sources"
Watch the video clips on CNN.com... Catch the full episode via CNNgo or VOD... Or listen to the pod via Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Stitcher, TuneIn, or your favorite app...
Notes and quotes
-- Joel Simon and Kathleen Carroll of the Committee to Protect Journalists talked about their recent meeting with the VP...
-- Former Dem lawmaker Katie Hill, who resigned from Congress last month, said "right-wing media and those who attacked me" wanted her to be silenced, but "that's not going to work..."
-- And here's the story behind the story of the BBC's interview with Prince Andrew, which has been described as "embarrassing" and "disastrous" for the prince. BBC Newsnight presenter Emily Maitlis told me about her interviewing techniques... And said she knew it would be "watched by women who had been girls whose lives had been turned upside down by Jeffrey Epstein." Here's the full segment...
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