Monday, October 31, 2022

Happy Halloween! Gavin Newsom is calling out Fox News, "CNN This Morning" is readying for launch, the giant Penguin Random House-Simon & Schuster deal is blocked, YouTube has suspended Steven Crowder, Amazon is doubling down on sports, and more. But first, the A1.

THE A1

Echoes of Trump in Elon

CNN Photo Illustration/Jonathan Newton/The Washington Post/Getty Image

Elon Musk has filled the void vacated by Donald Trump on Twitter, mirroring the former president's behavior on the platform through his promotion of misinformation, attacks on news organizations, and desire to rule by tweet.

Take Musk's last 24 hours on the platform for example: The billionaire gave credence to a fringe conspiracy theory about the brutal attack on Paul Pelosi. Then, when media outlets reported on his irresponsible behavior, Musk assailed them. He trolled The New York Times in one tweet and chastised The Guardian as a "far left wing propaganda machine" in another.

All the while, Musk has showed a desire to rule Twitter as an institution by tweet. Like Trump, Musk has eschewed the traditional, more formal style of corporate governance used by his predecessors. In fact, he's blown that model up. Twitter has yet to issue one formal press release (that I'm aware of) since Musk took over, but the platform has made plenty of news.

Instead of communicating through conventional means, Musk has chosen to make significant news through seemingly off-the-cuff tweets — just like Trump. For example, Musk disclosed that "the whole verification process is being revamped" in a random reply message to a photographer. Normally, such an announcement would be rolled out in a highly choreographed manner.

The worry about Musk's behavior, however, is not about how he announces changes to the platform. It's about the recklessness in the way he operates.

Twitter is an important communications platform that plays an outsized role in our information environment — and it is one that the billionaire now unilaterally controls. As the steward of the platform, Musk has an implicit responsibility to make sure that it doesn't become, as he put it, a "hellscape."

But since he ascended to "Chief Twit," Musk's actions have suggested he simply does not care about it.

In fact, not only has Musk himself contaminated the information environment he now reigns over, but he is apparently working to dismantle the little infrastructure erected to help users sift through the daily chaos. Recent news reports, including from CNN, indicate that he plans to strip public figures and institutions of their blue verified badges if they do not pay.

Charging for verified badges might appear at first glance as a business story. But the move will have significant ramifications on the information landscape. Most notably, it will make it much more difficult for users to distinguish from authentic and inauthentic accounts.

Perhaps, however, that is the point.

The right has for years lashed out at "blue checks," whom in their eyes represent elitist gatekeepers who control the conversation, even though many conservatives also don blue badges. Taking away those free blue checks away, and the air of authority they give upon the profile they are appended to, will certainly delight some conservatives.

Musk's authorized biographer, Walter Isaacson, tweeted in 2018 that "the best thing" one could do to "save social networks, the internet, civil discourse, democracy, email, and reduce hacking would be authenticating users."

Now, nearly five years after his tweet, Musk is moving to do the opposite for users who refuse to pay. It says a lot about how he is running Twitter.

THE SIDEBAR

Musk on Monday dissolved the Twitter board, cementing his control over the platform. (CNN)
Musk said — on Twitter — Monday evening that him solely running the company "is just temporary." (Twitter)
Musk worked with his inner circle throughout the weekend on plans to lay off 25% of Twitter's workforce, Elizabeth Dwoskin and Faiz Siddiqui report. (WaPo)
Walter Isaacson appeared on "Squawk Box" on Monday morning and spoke about his weekend with Musk, offering insight into looming layoffs at the company. (CNBC)
Speaking of CNBC, reporter Deirdre Bosa apologized after reporting laid-off Twitter employees were leaving the building carrying boxes. It was a hoax. (Twitter)
Twitter engineers have been told to look at code from Vine, with hopes it could be revived by the end of the year, Sara Fischer reports. (Axios)
Musk has also quietly changed Twitter's homepage, Alex Heath reports. (The Verge)

——— BELOW THE FOLD ———

Fueled by Fox?: In an interview with CBS' Major Garrett, California Gov. Gavin Newsom hammered Fox News for fueling rhetoric targeting House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and her husband. "I've seen the dehumanization of Nancy Pelosi," Newsom said. "I don't think anyone's been dehumanized like she has consistently. Now I watched this one guy, Jesse Watters or something on Fox News. What he's been saying about Paul Pelosi [for] the last five, six months, mocking him consistently. Don't tell me that's not aiding and abetting all this. Of course it is." Newsom went on to say that Fox is "sowing the seeds" for "a culture and climate like this."

► Watters responded on Monday, mocking Newsom as "not very smart" and saying that he "thinks if you mock a Democrat, it puts them on a target list."

🔎 Zooming out: WaPo's Paul Kane had the big picture point after the DOJ filed charges against the Pelosi attacker suspect on Monday: "Every conspiracy theory - that Paul Pelosi was friends with attacker; that a 3rd person let the police in; that [the] attacker was let into home by Pelosi; attacker is liberal Dem - rebutted here in these DOJ charges."

THE BUSINESS

CNN Photo Illustration/CNN

Licht's Big Bet: When CNN launches its new marquee morning show Tuesday, it will represent the biggest stamp new network chief Chris Licht has put on the channel yet. Licht, a morning show savant, is replacing the drums of ex-boss Jeff Zucker's "New Day" with softer tones in "CNN This Morning." The show — which debuts at 6am and is helmed by Don Lemon, Poppy Harlow, and Kaitlan Collins — is Licht's first permanent alteration of the channel's lineup.

Licht told Vanity Fair's Joe Pompeo last week that he wants the show to be "culturally relevant," but did acknowledge he does "care about the ratings." Licht, noting that mornings are the most competitive part of television, said he believes CNN's offering does fill "a void that's not being met by the other very good morning shows." He added, "I like our chances."

Mega-Merger Blocked: "A federal judge blocked on Monday a bid by Penguin Random House, the biggest book publisher in the United States, to buy one of its main rivals, Simon & Schuster, in a significant victory for the Biden administration, which is trying to expand the boundaries of antitrust enforcement," NYT's Alexandra Alter and Elizabeth Harris reported Monday evening. Read their full story here.

IN THE INDUSTRY

ProPublica is scrambling to verify a Chinese memo after questions its exposé was based on a mistranslation, Max Tani reports. (Semafor)
The employee who went rogue at the New York Post and published racist and vulgar headlines under the tabloid's name has broken his silence, telling Lachlan Cartwright he had "an emotional tantrum" and is sorry for his behavior. (Daily Beast)
Anna Peele profiles Steve Kornacki: "There's an irony to the Kornacki phenomenon. Viewers look to him for answers, but Kornacki himself understands better than most the fragility of certainty." (WaPo)
Elie Honig has written a new book, "Untouchable: How Powerful People Get Away With It," due out January 31. The book will be published by Harper Collins. (Publishers Weekly)
A strike has been averted at the Dodo after union staffers voted to ratify a new two-year agreement with Vox Media. (Deadline)
Disney and Sinclair have renewed their affiliation agreement through 2026. (RBR)
Paramount's stock has been downgraded by Wells Fargo. (THR)
Correction: I misstated the Peacock Q3 numbers in Thursday's edition of this publication. The streamer ended the quarter surpassing 15M paid subs.

MEDIA MOVES

Lillian Thomas joins The WSJ as a U.S. News Bureau Chief (Twitter)
Judson Jones is joining The NYT as a meteorologist. (NYT)
Lisa Bennatan has joined Cheddar. (Twitter)
Sarah Rappaport has joined Bloomberg Pursuits. (Twitter)
Sue Kroll is named Amazon Studios head of marketing. (Deadline)

THE MIDTERMS

From The New York Times

Days Away: With just one week left until the crucial midterm elections, The New York Times led its front page Monday with a big new poll capturing voter sentiment with the headline: "Senate Contests Are Tight In 4 Key States." The poll surveyed voters in Arizona, Georgia, Nevada, and Pennsylvania. Below is a look at local newspaper headlines voters are reading in those states.

CANVASSING THE COVERAGE

The Philadelphia Inquirer underscored the high stakes in the election with its A1: "ABORTION ACCESS ON BALLOT IN U.S."
The Las Vegas Sun led its front page with the caution: "Early results on election night may be misleading again."
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution topped its home page Monday with a key poll of its own: "Final AJC midterm poll: Kemp leads Abrams, deadlocked Senate race."
And in Arizona, where challenges to election processes are already underway, the Arizona Republic has started tracking the voting controversies and legal battles.

THE INFO WARS

YouTube Suspends Crowder: YouTube has suspended right-wing talk show host Steven Crowder's account after he called Kamala Harris a "generically ethnic whore" during his show last week. "We removed content from and issued a strike to the StevenCrowder channel for violating our harassment policy, which prohibits content that graphically sexualizes or degrades an individual," a YouTube spokesperson told me. "As a result, the StevenCrowder channel is suspended from uploading content to YouTube for two weeks." It's not Crowder's first run-in with YouTube. Back in 2019, the platform demonetized his account.

IN THE BATTLEFIELD

Michael Grynbaum wrote about how television newsers are preparing "for a chaotic midterm night." (NYT)
Pennsylvania has become a disinformation battleground ahead of the midterms, hardening the state's partisan divide and deepening distrust, the NYT's Steven Lee Myers writes from West Chester, Pa. (NYT)
Hunter Walker is "in the studio" with new podcaster Andrew Cuomo, who he says is "channeling Joe Rogan." (New Yorker)
New England Patriots owner Robert Kraft bought ad spots during NFL games calling out anti-Semitic hate after Kanye controversy. (Mediaite)
The Department of Homeland Security is quietly broadening its efforts to police disinformation, including on Covid and racial justice. (Intercept)

THE VALLEY

TOO MANY TABS

"Facebook's monopoly is imploding before our eyes": That's the headline on this piece about the Big Tech company's problems from Edward Ongweso Jr. (Vice)
Meta should forget the metaverse and focus on making a new Twitter, Darrell Etherington writes. (TechCrunch)
If Instagram was down for you on Monday, know that you weren't the only one. (CNN)

CURTAIN CALL

CNN Photo Illustration/Cooper Neill/Getty Images

Doubling Down on Sports: Amazon is diving deeper into live sports. The e-commerce giant announced Monday that it will launch a 12-hour slate of daily talk shows, which will air starting at 8am. The move, of course, comes after Amazon acquired "Thursday Night Football" and on the heels of a new Black Friday game that it will start to exclusively broadcast next year. The New York Post's Andrew Marchand, who broke the news, noted that while the roster does feature some big names such as Cari Champion, it is comprised "mostly what Amazon hopes are the continued growth of up-and-comers." More from Marchand here.

OFF STAGE

"The White Lotus" season two premiere drew 1.5 million viewers on HBO and HBO Max, jumping 63% from the series' debut. (Variety)
Taylor Swift has made history again, becoming the first artist to hold the top 10 spots on the Billboard Hot 100 in one week. (Billboard)
Season two of "Severance" has started filming with a bigger cast. (THR)
Another CW show's demise is here: "Stargirl" will come to an end after season three, Katie Campione reports. (Deadline)
Speaking of the DC: Kara Eriksen breaks down "why Warner Bros. Discovery's Gunn grab is crucial for DC." (Variety)
Chris Redd says he is "resting up" after being attacked outside NYC's Comedy Cellar. (THR)
Just in time for the holidays: Peacock will soon begin streaming Hallmark programming. (Deadline)
Using Roku data, Chris Morris writes about how streaming platforms "can turn slow-burn shows into red-hot hits." (Variety)

Thank you for reading! This newsletter was edited by Jon Passantino and Kelly Bourdet. Have feedback? Send Oliver an email here. We will be back in your inbox tomorrow.