Thursday, September 29, 2022

Friday is around the corner. Scroll down for revelations from Elon Musk's texts and how Big Tech is continuing to buckle the belt. Plus, highlights from emotional testimony during the Sandy Hook defamation trial. But first, the A1.

THE A1

Documenting the destruction

CNN Illustration/Wilfredo Lee/AP

Daniel Glaun woke up on Thursday morning not knowing whether or not his home had fallen victim to Hurricane Ian.

Glaun, a reporter at the News-Press, the broadsheet that services Fort Myers, Florida, had slept on a mattress cover inside NPR affiliate WGCU's building, which has become a refuge for journalists in the region who needed a reliable internet connection and power.

But instead of trying to find his way home to check on the status of his life possessions, Glaun set out to do his job. He's just one of dozens of reporters at the News-Press and elsewhere in the decimated city working to report on the catastrophe while also managing the destruction left behind in their own lives.

"Honestly I have it easy," Glaun told me by phone Thursday afternoon when I asked how difficult that must have been. "I'm renting. I don't have kids. So for me it is an inconvenience."

"I have colleagues who have lived here a long time, who have owned homes and have families, whose houses are devastated and it's really hard for them," Glaun added. "They're doing an incredible job of being on frontlines here reporting and dealing with a personal crisis."

At around 10:30 a.m., Glaun set out with a photographer and another reporter in an SUV to survey the damage that Ian had left behind. The scenes were jarring.

"Once you get within a couple miles of the water, it's completely decimated," Glaun explained. "There were boats that were thrown across the road. There were submerged cars. ... We saw a neighborhood and the houses were totally wrecked."

But Glaun and his colleagues could not report any of this information in real-time. The storm had knocked out cell phone service in the area, making it hard for residents to communicate, as well as journalists to report from the field.

So the trio of reporters gathered string and photographs before heading back to the NPR office. From there, they field their dispatches and images to the paper.

Glaun told me that he isn't a Florida narrative. In fact, he only moved to the Fort Myers area about nine months ago. But he said that "everyone" he has spoken to has made one thing clear to him: Ian is "one of the worst hurricanes to hit Southwest Florida in recent memory."

"The scale of devastation and lack of communications," Glaun said, "it screams to me that people are in desperate need of immediate and long term help."

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CNN Illustration/From Drudge Report

Off the Air: Nearly two dozen television and radio stations in Florida were knocked off the air by the relentless winds and flooding rains from Hurricane Ian, taking with it critical sources of information during the emergency. In all, six TV stations, 15 FM stations, and six AM stations were off the air, the FCC said in a status report Thursday in the storm's disastrous wake. The agency didn't specify which stations were out of service, but WINK-TV, the CBS affiliate in Fort Myers, reported it had been knocked off the air by the catastrophic 'cane. At the WINK studios, the station's chief meteorologist Matt Devitt posted stunning video showing the storm surge flooding into the outlet's offices.

"Right now, we are working as fast as we can to get back on the air," Tom Doerr, director of local news and content at WINK News, said in a statement on the station's website. "It's complicated by high water."

In the meantime, the station said it was posting updates for its viewers on social media. But the storm also knocked out some 1,500 cell sites across the state as well, making communication, especially where the storm made landfall, particularly difficult, if not impossible. The FCC also reported more than a half-million cable and wireline subscribers — which includes TV, telephone and internet services — had lost service in the disaster area.

OFF THE WIRE

The top headline on The NYT's homepage looks ahead: "Ian Strengthens Into Hurricane Again as It Heads Toward Carolinas." (NYT)
CNN's 7 p.m. banner put things into perspective: "HURRICANE IAN OBLITERATES PARTS OF FL; GOV: DAMAGE IS 'HISTORIC.'"
At the News-Press, a top headline reads: "Cape Coral left severely damaged after Hurricane Ian." (News-Press)
A remarkable scene occurred on-air as CNN's Bill Weir followed a Cape Coral homeowner as she surveyed the damage insider her home for the first time. (CNN)
Orlando TV reporter Tony Atkins was captured rescuing a nurse stuck in her car and surrounded by floodwaters during his reporting. (WESH)
Photos showed the Universal Orlando park flooded and Jurassic Park ride damaged by Ian amid "recovery efforts" underway. (Deadline)
NPR's Eric Deggans writes after Jim Cantore was hit by a branch while on-air: "Can the hurricane TV reporters come inside now? Please?" (NPR)
Disney World will reopen its theme parks in a "phased approach" starting Friday. (Orlando Sentinel)

THE VALLEY

CNN Illustration/Win McNamee/Getty Images

Elon's Eccentric Texts: Prepare to read a lot of stories about Elon Musk's text messages. Dozens of pages of the billionaire's private messages were included in a Thursday court filing. Included in the messages, which you can read for yourself here, are texts to Jack Dorsey, Larry Ellison, Mathias Döpfner, Kathryn and James Murdoch, Joe Rogan, Gayle King, and more. Here are just a small handful of highlights:

► Dorsey wanted Musk on Twitter's board: In a March 26 message to Musk, the Twitter co-founder said that he previously tried his "hardest" to get Musk on the board, but was turned down. Dorsey described the board as "super risk averse." Dorsey added in the message, "That's about the time I decided I needed to work to leave, as hard as it was for me."

► Döpfner encouraged Musk to buy Twitter: In a March 30 text, the Axel Springer chief who is known to be good friends with Musk, texted the SpaceX/Tesla honcho, "Why don't you buy Twitter? We run it for you. And establish a true platform of free speech. Would be a real contribution to democracy." Musk told Döpfner that it was an "interesting idea" and Döpfner replied that he was "serious," saying it would be both "doable" and "fun." Later, after news Musk had invested in Twitter, Döpfner congratulated him and asked, "Shall we discuss whether we should join that project? I was serious with my suggestion." The two continued to talk about the idea.

► King's attempts for an interview: The "CBS Mornings" host attempted at least twice to score a sit-down interview with Musk. When news that he had first invested in Twitter broke, King texted "Have you missed me (smile)" and wondered, "Are you ready for to do a proper sit down with me so much to discuss! especially with your twitter play ... what do I need to do ????"

► Rogan's musings: Sprinkled throughout the messages is Rogan, the popular Spotify host, texting Musk about his plans for Twitter. "Are you going to liberate Twitter from the censorship happy mob?" he asked in one message. In another, he suggested the two celebrate when Musk officially acquires the platform. "I REALLY hope you get Twitter," Rogan wrote. "If you do, we should throw a hell of a party." Musk replied with a single emoji: "💯"

► Murdochs in the mix: At one point, James Murdoch messages Musk and says that he will "call when some of the dust settles." Later in the day, Kathryn Murdoch texted, "Will you bring back Jack?" Musk replied that Dorsey "doesn't want to come back" because he is "focused on Bitcoin."

CNN Illustration/Drew Angerer/Getty Images

Big Tech Buckles the Belt: Big Tech companies are continuing to focus on increasing efficiency as an economic downturn looms. Wednesday brought two examples, by way of Meta and Google. In a company-wide meeting, Mark Zuckerberg told staffers that Meta is implementing a hiring freeze and taking additional steps to reduce the company's cost. A Meta executive later sent a memo, obtained by WSJ, which said the 2023 budget would be "very tight." Across the Valley, Google announced that it will shut down Stadia, its cloud gaming service. Stadia's demise comes only three years after the product launched, yet another sign that tech giants are tightening the belt as the digital advertising environment goes south.

TOO MANY TABS

Peter Kafka examines "the mysterious ad slump of 2022" and shares four theories "on why ad sales are plummeting even as the economy is doing fine." (Vox)
DirecTV and Thoughtworks are the latest companies to tell Reuters they are pausing advertising on Twitter after the outlet found marketing campaigns appearing alongside tweets soliciting child porn. (Reuters)
Alex Weprin looks at the NFL's recent partnerships with Big Tech: "The deals with Apple and Amazon underscore the league's turn to tech as it plots out a future where the traditional pay TV bundle continues to collapse." (THR)
The copycatting continues: Twitter is adding a new TikTok-like feature allowing for full-screen video. (TechCrunch)

THE BUSINESS

IN THE MARKET

On night one of the News and Documentary Emmy Awards, ABC News and Vice News led with eight awards. CNN and The NYT followed with five. CBS News and NBC News won three. (Deadline)
The Fast Company hacker spoke to Joseph Cox about the racist push notifications sent out: "It could have been a hoax threat-to-life event, a hoax nuclear fallout, the hoax death of President Biden... Instead, I chose to embarrass Fast Company." (Motherboard)
Newsy is rebranding as Scripps News, effective January 1. (AdWeek)
The union representing fired WaPo reporter Felicia Sonmez has filed a complaint with the National Labor Relations Board. (Daily Beast)

MEDIA MOVES

First in Reliable: Semafor has made two more hires: Joseph Zeballos-Roig from Insider who will cover domestic policy on Capitol Hill; and Emily Buder who joins as a senior video producer.
The 19th has expanded its politics team with two new reporters, Mel Leonor Barclay and Grace Panetta. (The 19th)
Subrata De has extended her contract as EVP of programming and development with Vice News. (Deadline)
STAT has hired Erica Goode from The NYT as special projects editor; Sarah Todd from Quartz as assignment editor; and Sarah Owermohle from POLITICO as Washington correspondent. (STAT)
Alisa Bowen has been promoted to president of Disney+. (Variety)

THE INFO WARS

CNN Illustration/Brian A. Pounds/Hearst Connecticut Media/AP

Sandy Hook Parent's Pain: Sandy Hook parent Robbie Parker delivered wrenching testimony on Thursday about the harassment and pain his family has suffered as a consequence of lies pushed by right-wing conspiracy theorist Alex Jones. "I'd been taught that like, you don't engage with a bully. If somebody's bullying you, you ignore them and eventually they get tired and they leave you alone. And that had worked for me in my life," Parker said. But Parker said it was ineffective with Jones and that for years he faced inescapable harassment as a result of the Infowars host's rhetoric. "They would come in these waves and it was almost like I knew when Alex Jones said something because we would get a huge wave of stuff," Parker said. CNN's Lauren del Valle has more.

IN THE BATTLEFIELD

Matt Gertz examines the "Carlson-Kremlin feedback loop." (MMFA)
Harvard researchers plan to meet at first-of-its-kind conference to hold Big Oil accountable for climate misinformation. (Boston Globe)
Stephen Battaglio profiles how Jessica Tarlov "became a liberal star" on Fox News as co-host of "The Five." (LA Times)

CURTAIN CALL

OFF STAGE

CNN's Chloe Melas has worked to reintroduce the memoir of her grandfather, Frank Murphy, who survived a WWII POW camp and is featured in a forthcoming AppleTV+ series from Steven Spielberg and Tom Hanks. (THR)
Jason Bateman will direct an FBI surveillance thriller for Netflix based on a forthcoming book by Vice journalist Joseph Cox. (Deadline)
A win for Judge Judy and CBS: A judge has dismissed a lawsuit against them over the 2017 $95 million sale of her library. (Deadline)
Amazon Prime is asking all 25 James Bond films available on October 5. (Variety)
Chris Hemsworth has signed a first-look deal with NatGeo. (THR)