Tuesday, December 20, 2022

It's somehow only Tuesday! The 1/6 report is about to be published, Google appears on the verge of nabbing NFL's "Sunday Ticket," the NewsGuild doesn't want a mediator in negotiations with The NYT quite yet, the World Cup brought in record ratings, and so much more. But first, the A1.

THE A1

Musk the Misinformer

CNN Photo Illustration/David Niviere/Abaca/Sipa USA

Elon Musk is misleading the public — again.

The embattled billionaire, perhaps seeking to distract from the chaos he has wrought at his social media company, is making grossly misleading claims about Twitter and the FBI. And those claims are being blindly amplified to millions by Fox News and the rest of the powerful right-wing media machine which seems to have no interest in the pesky truth and instead has repeatedly shown they'll contort stories to fit preconceived and erroneous narratives.

In a tweet Tuesday, Musk wrote, "Government paid Twitter millions of dollars to censor info from the public." As supposed proof, Musk shared the latest installment of the so-called "Twitter Files" published the day before by environmentalist and writer Michael Shellenberger.

In those files, Shellenberger published a redacted screenshot of a 2021 email showing that Twitter's Safety, Content and Law Enforcement division had instituted a "reimbursement program" for its work responding to information requests from the FBI. The document indicated that Twitter had received $3.4 million in reimbursements at the time.

"Prior to the start of this program, Twitter chose not to collect under this statutory right of reimbursement for the time spent processing requests from the FBI," said the email to Twitter's then-deputy general counsel Jim Baker.

Twitter's guidelines for law enforcement, posted publicly on its website, openly disclose: "Twitter may seek reimbursement for costs associated with information produced pursuant to legal process and as permitted by law (e.g., under 18 U.S.C. §2706)." That law states that the federal government will pay companies for their efforts "obtaining the contents of communications, records, or other information" a fee "for reimbursement for such costs as are reasonably necessary and which have been directly incurred in searching for, assembling, reproducing, or otherwise providing such information."

Which is to say that the money Twitter collected had nothing to do with censoring anyone. The money was simply given as reimbursement for the processing of legal requests, similar to how a journalist might have to pay a fee for a government agency processing a Freedom of Information Act request. As Alex Stamos, the former chief security officer at Facebook and partner at the cyber consulting firm Krebs Stamos Group, wrote Tuesday, "This is absolutely nothing to do with content moderation."

But facts be damned in the world we now live in. Musk's claim has absolutely saturated right-wing media. If you rely on Fox News or talk radio or one of the online outlets that makes up the constellation of in right-wing media, you likely believe the biggest scandal since Watergate is unfolding. A sitting Republican congressman even said on Tuesday he was in favor of halting "all funding" for the FBI over the story. And the poisoning of that information well is also confusing others, who hear the nonsense and aren't sure what to believe.

Similar to Donald Trump, Musk and right-wing media continue to take relatively mundane procedures, such as a company receiving reimbursement for processing legal requests, and put them in the worst possible light, portraying them as nefarious.

Unfortunately, given the large audience they're convincing, the tactic seems to be working.

THE SIDEBAR

Musk also suggested that Rep. Adam Schiff approved "hidden state censorship" as House intel chair. Through a spokesperson, Schiff told me, "No, I don't support censorship. That is a fanatical stretch even from an (outgoing) CEO whose tenure at Twitter has been marked by a dramatic increase in hate speech." Full statement here.
Musk finally addressed the poll that said he should step down from Twitter: "I will resign as CEO as soon as I find someone foolish enough to take the job! After that, I will just run the software & servers teams." (Twitter)
Citing sources, David Faber reported that Musk has been actively searching for a new CEO and was doing so before his Twitter poll. (CNBC)
"Law enforcement in South Pasadena, California, offered conflicting information on Tuesday about Elon Musk's claim that a 'crazy stalker' followed a car carrying his son last week," Noah Kirsch, Anthony L. Fisher, and Emily Shugerman reported. (Daily Beast)
Micah Lee wrote about the "illusion" that Musk restored access to Twitter for the journalists he banned, which include CNN's Donie O'Sullivan, WaPo's Drew Harwell, The NYT's Ryan Mac, and Voice of America's Steve Herman: "We are still locked out." (Intercept)
Speaking of which: The NYT is continuing to send advertising dollars to Twitter, despite the open and willful censorship of its own reporter. A spokesperson told me Tuesday the paper is "closely monitoring" the situation, but declined to comment on how long it will be "monitoring" the situation before arriving at a decision.
Twitter on Tuesday was also slapped with dozens of legal complaints from ex-employees, including over issues with promised severance. (Reuters)
Mastadon issued a statement on Twitter's campaign against it: "This is a stark reminder that centralized platforms can impose arbitrary and unfair limits on what you can and can't say while holding your social graph hostage." (Mastadon)

——— BELOW THE FOLD ———

CNN Photo Illustration/ Jim Lo Scalzo/Pool/AP

Here Come 1/6 Files: Move over Twitter Files, the January 6 files are en route. The House committee probing the insurrection is set to release its full report, along with additional material, such as witness transcripts, on Wednesday. And you can expect it will spawn weeks worth of reporting. A person familiar with the committee's findings told me Tuesday night that the report will include "a lot of information and details" that will take reporters — or anyone, for that matter — "a lot of time" to pore over. "There are a lot of topics that were not featured prominently in the hearings that will give news organizations a lot to look at," the person told me.

Seeing Snake Island : CNN correspondent Will Ripley and a team of the network's journalists became the first foreign media to visit Snake Island since the land was recaptured by Ukraine over the summer — and the journey proved to be anything but easy. The team said they boarded a small boat and set out in the Black Sea, getting rocked by waves and showered with water in sub-freezing temperatures. On the island, they encountered at least four different types of landmines. And, when the team headed back, they reported their boat "got stuck on a sandbar" and it took six hours for each member to be "transferred, one-by-one, to another vessel in the darkness." More here.

THE BUSINESS

CNN Photo Illustratiuon/Rich Graessle/Icon Sportswire/Getty Images

Google's Giant Get: It looks like the NFL's "Sunday Ticket" could soon be heading over to YouTube. The WSJ's Joe Flint and Miles Kruppa reported Tuesday that the sports league is in advanced talks to sell the rights — which DirecTV currently has — to the technology titan. The duo added that an agreement could be reached by Wednesday. Read their full story here.

🔎 Zooming in: "A potential move of Sunday Ticket to YouTube is further evidence of major sports migrating from traditional TV," Flint and Kruppa write, "which has been hit by cord-cutting, to streaming and tech companies that are willing to spend heavily on content. Amazon has its own NFL deal, while Apple streams some Major League Baseball games and has a new deal for Major League Soccer."

Disney to Ditch Broadcast?: Will Disney sell off ESPN or ABC? Wells Fargo analyst Steve Cahall on Tuesday described it as the "best path forward" and said he sees it "as a reasonable probably late-'23 event." Cahall, who said it is "time for change," explained that "with linear and sports trends diverging from core IP, we think severing the company is increasingly logical." Over on CNBC, Jim Cramer commented, "I like the idea." We'll, of course, have to wait to learn what Bob Iger thinks about it.

First in Reliable | Mediator Morass: The NewsGuild has — for now — rejected a proposal from The NYT's management to bring in a neutral federal mediator to assist with contract negotiations. But the union insists it might be open to it in the future. Deputy managing editor Cliff Levy wrote in a memo that management was "genuinely confused" by the decision, contending that an impartial third-party could help the two parties reach an agreement sooner. Bill Baker, The NYT's unit chair for NewsGuild, countered, "Now is not the time for mediation. We still have room to bargain."

IN THE INDUSTRY

Barbara Starr closed out her incredible journey as CNN's Pentagon correspondent on Tuesday. CENTCOM commented, "Her aggressive reporting and tireless commitment to the truth brought this Nation closer to its military. She will forever be missed." (Twitter)
Brianna Keilar writes about how Drew Griffin uncovered the Veterans Affairs scandal and "helped ordinary people find the courage to right wrongs." (CNN)
The Telegraph has "slashed its paternity leave policy for UK employees down to two months from six," per Olivia Konotey-Ahulu. (Bloomberg)
Ben Strauss chats with Michael Rubin about Fanatics and sports betting: "People say that I'm nuts saying I think we'll be the number one player in the space a decade from now. But I do think that." (WaPo)

MEDIA MOVES

The NYT has named Alex Kingsbury as senior editor of international for its opinion division and Kristen Cruzata as chief of staff. (NYT)
The BBC has appointed Blathnaid Healy as executive editor of growth and social (BBC)

THE VALLEY

CNN Photo Illustration/Laure Andrillon/Reuters

Zuck Testifies: Meta boss Mark Zuckerberg was in federal court Tuesday, testifying in a case brought against his company by the FTC as it tries to stop the social giant's acquisition of fitness app Within. Zuckerberg agreed that he aims to "shape the future of technology" with his investments in virtual reality. But he sought to downplay that fitness was a central component of that future, describing social as "the most important" element. The NYT's Sheera Frenkel and David McCabe have more here.

TOO MANY TABS

When asked by Jake Tapper if he acknowledged the Uyghur genocide occurring in China, TikTok executive Michael Beckerman replied, "Look, that's not something I focus on." After being pressed by Tapper, Beckerman later did acknowledge human rights violations in China. (CNN)
Don't miss Alex W. Palmer's big story on "how TikTok became a diplomatic crisis." Palmer writes about how "the app's extraordinary success is made even more remarkable by the fact that it is a product of America's greatest geopolitical rival." (NYT)
TikTok on Tuesday introduced a new feature that explains why certain videos are recommended to users. (THR)
"Google and Meta, known together in the ad industry as the 'duopoly,' are expected to bring in less than half of all U.S. digital advertising this year for the first time since 2014," Sara Fischer reports. (Axios)

THE INFO WARS

CNN Photo Illustration/Jim Lo Scalzo/Pool/AP

Fight On The Right: Mark Levin is really no longer a fan of Matt Drudge. The right-wing radio bomb thrower bashed the conservative news aggregator on Tuesday, describing him as a "propagandist for the police state." Levin's rage, which was seemingly triggered by the Drudge Report's banner teasing Trump's tax returns being made public, reflects the larger feeling in MAGA Media, which is one of frustration that Drudge stopped blindly cheerleading for the former president. Drudge did not respond to a request for comment.

IN THE BATTLEFIELD

Justin Horowitz outlines the "extremists, bigots, and conspiracy theorists" that appeared on Tim Pool's 2022 shows. (MMFA)
Meghan Markle fake pregnancy conspiracies are flooding Twitter and YouTube," David Gilbert reports. (Vice)

CURTAIN CALL

CNN Photo Illustration/Jabin Botsford/The Washington Post/Getty Images

World Cup Win: A record 16.8 million people in the U.S. tuned in Sunday to watch Argentina square off with France in the World Cup final. The number gained on the 15.4 million who tuned in earlier this month to watch the U.S. take on England, a game that ended in a 0-0 draw. It was also more watched than the 2014 World Cup final between France and Croatia, which netted 12.5 million viewers. THR's Rick Porter has more here.

OFF STAGE

"Avatar: The Way of Water" came in behind "Top Gun: Maverick" for the second best Monday of the year. (Deadline)
"The Way of Water" also opened to a less-than-ideal second place in Japan. (Variety)
Disney has officially crossed into the $4 billion mark at the global box office this year. (Deadline)
James Cameron says doing another "Terminator" film is "in discussion." He says a potential film would focus "much more" on artificial intelligence instead of "bad robots gone crazy." (Variety)
Iranian Oscar-winning director Asghar Farhadi has demanded the release of actress Taraneh Alidoosti. (THR)
Kim Masters on 2022: "This year brought some big box office wins ... but mostly it was a time for film execs to stanch bleeding, rethink radical change and figure out how to get consumers to magically forget all about that whole direct-to-streaming thing." (THR)

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