Thursday, October 27, 2022

Friday promises to be filled with news. Meta and Amazon are getting eviscerated on Wall Street, the New York Post has fired a rogue staffer, a top DOJ spokesman is exiting, CNN has named its new digital chief, and more. But first, the A1.

THE A1

Rise of the Elon Era

CNN Photo Illustration/Susan Walsh/AP

Elon Musk is on the precipice of controlling one of the most instrumental information platforms in the world — and no one knows exactly what he is going to do with it.

The $44 billion takeover of Twitter is all but certain to occur on Friday, short of an unforeseen obstacle blocking its completion. "We are marching toward the deal," a person familiar with the matter assured me Thursday evening. By Friday evening, it's likely that Twitter will be a private company, no longer trading on the New York Stock Exchange, but belonging solely to Musk.

Inside Twitter, on the eve of Musk's likely takeover, emotions are running high about the "Chief Twit." Some staffers are excited, some are distressed, and many are simply worried about whether they'll have a job in the near future.

Musk has taken some steps to settle nerves. He visited the company's San Francisco headquarters again on Thursday. I'm told that Musk meandered around the office, holding a series of informal and formal meetings. His authorized biographer, Walter Isaacson, posted one photo of the Tesla/SpaceX billionaire chatting with staffers at a company coffee bar.

The only public message from Musk came in a note posted to his Twitter account, trying to reassure the platform's advertisers. He reiterated his decision to purchase Twitter was not "to make more money," but to "help humanity." More importantly, Musk wrote, "Twitter obviously cannot become a free-for-all hellscape, where anything can be said with no consequences!"

So free speech, but with some rules.

That doesn't exactly sound like the "free speech absolutist" Musk characterized himself as earlier this year. It sounds more in line with what Twitter's current stance is. Free speech, but with guardrails.

Of course, no one can predict what Musk will do.

The stakes are high. Will the platform's content moderation policies change right before the midterms? Will former President Donald Trump be welcomed back in the coming days? What about notorious conspiracy theorists like Alex Jones?

No one is even sure what the first 24 hours under his control will mean for the platform or its staff. Will the current executive team remain in place? Or will Musk move to purge executives like Parag Agrawal and Vijaya Gadde?

More broadly speaking, how many jobs will Musk move to cut across the company and how quickly will he want such reductions implemented?

And, in terms of the company's business model, will Twitter remain dependent on advertisers in the long term? Exactly how will advertisers respond to Musk's acquisition and the changes that he makes?

Everything is up in the air. The only certainty is that Twitter is about to enter a state of metamorphosis. What it ends up becoming hangs in the balance.

THE SIDEBAR

Twitter employees received an invitation for an all-hands meeting scheduled for Thursday evening. But that meeting was quickly canceled "until further notice," Casey Newton reports. (Twitter)
Musk asked Tesla engineers to meet with Twitter, a sign he is "moving swiftly to make a mark on the company he's about to take private," Kurt Wagner and Edward Ludlow report. (Bloomberg)
The nightmare scenarios: Charlie Warzel wonders what Musk could actually do to kill Twitter. (The Atlantic)
Musk once said he "hates advertising," but now he's realized he needs Twitter's advertisers, Scott Nover notes. (Quartz)
"The Twitter deal is all downside risk for Elon Musk," Elizabeth Lopatto argues, contending he has "everything to lose and only retweets to gain." (The Verge)

——— BELOW THE FOLD ———

CNN Photo Illustration/Arnd Wiegmann/Reuters

Big Tech's Big Tumble: It was a brutal day on Wall Street for both Meta and Amazon, with each company losing hundreds of billions in value. Meta ended Thursday down a staggering 25%, dropping 14 places on the list of the world's most valuable companies, falling past Home Depot, Nestlé, and Samsung. As investors dumped the stock, CNBC's Jim Cramer choked up and apologized for having once pushed viewers to purchase it.

Meanwhile, the state of affairs was not much better in the Amazon. The e-commerce titan also saw its stock fall through the floor after reporting Q3 earnings and forecasting sluggish holiday sales due to the poor economic outlook. In after-hours trading, Amazon's shares were down 14%.

Some Bright Spots: It was not all doom and gloom, however, in the tech sector. Apple beat expectations, demonstrating that the iPhone maker is "weathering the economic downturn better than fellow tech giants," as CNN's Clare Duffy wrote. Shares in Pinterest also popped nearly 10% after the social media company beat expectations.

THE BUSINESS

CNN Photo Illustration/Dania Maxwell/Los Angeles Times/Getty Images

Comcast Climbs: Shares in Comcast ended slightly up on Thursday evening after the broadband and entertainment giant beat expectations in its Q3 earnings report. But not all was sunshine. Comcast CFO Michael Cavanagh warned about the decaying advertising market, and said it could affect NBCU's Q4 results. CEO Brian Roberts added, "While we are certainly not immune to potential macroeconomic headwinds, I firmly believe that Comcast is in a very strong position relative to our peers and most other companies." More from the earnings:

► Peacock ended Q3 with 13 million paid subscription and 28 million monthly active accounts. But its losses grew year-over-year.

► NBCU CEO Jeff Shell spoke about how the company's "strategy in streaming is different than some of the premium SVOD players like Netflix and Disney+." Shell explained, "We manage it as one. We make decisions on programming as one, we sell advertising across the business as one."

► Comcast took an $8.6 billion write down related to Sky.

NY Post Fires Rogue Staffer: The New York Post on Thursday morning alarmed readers when it posted a series of racist, violent, and vulgar tweets and headlines. The tweets — which targeted NY Gov. Kathy Hochul, NYC Mayor Eric Adams, and NY Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez — were the result of a rogue employee, the Post said in a statement. The tabloid said that the unnamed employee had been fired and that the "vile and reprehensible content" had been scrubbed from its platforms. Here's my full story.

IN THE INDUSTRY

Erik Wemple says James Bennett "was right." Wemple adds, "It's also long past time to ask why more people who claim to uphold journalism and free expression — including, um, the Erik Wemple Blog — didn't speak out then in Bennet's defense." (WaPo)
In a Q&A, Poppy Harlow promised the midwest will be represented in CNN's new marquee morning show. (Star Tribune)
BBC Chief International Correspondent Lyse Doucet granted a wide-ranging interview in which she talked about her Ukraine coverage and impending cuts to the network. (Deadline)
Ankler Media now has more than 30,000 newsletter subscribers, founder Janice Min says. (Press Gazette)
A diversity report from UCLA indicates progress in the TV industry for women, but Latinos remain "severely underrepresented." (Deadline)

MEDIA MOVES

CNN has named Athan Stephanopoulos as its EVP of digital; Wendy Brundige has been promoted to SVP of digital. (THR)
Bianca Nobilo and Max Foster will co-host a 4am ET edition of "CNN Newsroom" out of London, starting November 1. (AdWeek)
NYT has named Vivian Nereim as its Saudi Arabia bureau chief. (NYT)
Marlow Stern has joined Rolling Stone from Daily Beast. (Twitter)
Matt Rivers has joined ABC as its Mexico City correspondent. (AdWeek)
The NBA has chosen Paramount's Tammy Henault as its chief marketing officer. (Variety)

THE MIDTERMS

Pittsburgh Post-Gazette

CANVASSING THE COVERAGE

The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette led Thursday's front page with the high-stakes Fetterman-Oz debate.
On the cover of the Arizona Republic: "Some in GOP are backing Dems."
The Miami Herald's big picture: "GOP ground operation with Hispanics could deliver Miami-Dade for DeSantis."
Fox News dramatically ramped up its mentions of crime in September. The other networks followed. (WaPo)
A hot mic caught Chuck Schumer telling Biden Democrats are "in danger" in Pennsylvania and "going downhill" in Georgia. (Mediaite)

THE INFO WARS

First in Reliable | Top DOJ Spox Exits: Anthony Coley, DOJ's director of public affairs, is preparing to exit his post. Coley has been in his job during a historic time, as the DOJ pursues the largest investigation in its history, the probe into 1/6, and of former President Donald Trump. Attorney General Merrick Garland, in a statement to CNN, thanked Coley for his work, saying he had "relied" on Coley's "excellent judgement and strategic vision."

Coley's expected departure for the private sector comes as the department will soon be at the center of political attention, with the end of the so-called quiet period tied to the midterm elections. Republicans have said that, should they take control in Congress, they plan to increase oversight of the DOJ's handling of politically-sensitive investigations. — From CNN's Evan Perez.

IN THE BATTLEFIELD

Philip Bump writes about how Tucker Carlson's "war on the 'elites' now embraces election denialism." (WaPo)
Right-wing commentator Steven Crowder called Kamala Harris a "generically ethnic whore" during his show on YouTube. (MMFA)
Banished from Fox News and Newsmax, former "60 Minutes" correspondent Lara Logan has been reduced to appearing on right-wing conspiracy theorist Mike Lindell's network. (Mediaite)
The series finale of "The Murdochs: Empire of Influence" will air Sunday on CNN at 10pm ET. (CNN)

CURTAIN CALL

CNN Photo Illustration/Rachpoot/Bauer-Griffin/GC Images

Ye's Hitler Fascination: "Several people who were once close to the artist formerly known as Kanye West told CNN that he has long been fascinated by Adolf Hitler — and once wanted to name an album after the Nazi leader," CNN's Chloe Melas exclusively reported Thursday. A former business exec told Melas that West "would praise Hitler by saying how incredible it was that he was able to accumulate so much power." Read the full story here.

► On a related note: Ye has returned to Instagram and, in one post, went after Ari Emanuel, who had pushed for a boycott of the artist. Ye said he "lost 2 billion dollars in one day" over his recent antisemitic rhetoric.

OFF STAGE

The investigation into the Alec Baldwin shooting of Halyna Hutchins on the set of "Rust" was handed over to the DA for possible charges. (LAT)
Critics are praising "Black Panther: Wakanda Forever" as one of the best Marvel films to date. (Variety)
Marvel boss Kevin Feige says he will be "first in line" to see the DC films from "Guardians of the Galaxy" director James Gunn, who was just named co-head of DC Studios by Warner Bros. Discovery. (THR)
Prince Harry's 416-page, highly-anticipated memoir, "Spare," is set to be released January 10. (CNN)
Jason Bateman and Jude Law are teaming up for a limited Netflix series called "Black Rabbit." (Deadline)
Matthew Perry discusses addiction with ABC's Diane Sawyer, saying he been in detox 65 times and "escaped death" after an emergency. (ABC)

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