Thursday, December 8, 2022

CBS News held its Brittney Griner scoop, the FTC tries to stop the Microsoft-Activision Blizzard deal, Disney+'s ad tier launches with more than 100 advertisers, Netflix and Buckingham Palace trade barbs, and more. But first, the A1.

THE A1

Turbulence at The Times

CNN Photo Illustration/Julia Nikhinson/AP

So, what now?

That's the question a union staffer at The New York Times asked me on Thursday, after a day in which more than 1,100 employees at the newspaper vowed not to work, frustrated by the lack of progress made with management on contract negotiations, which have been ongoing for a year and a half.

The 24-hour work stoppage will end Friday at midnight and employees will head back to work in the morning after mounting their historic protest against the Gray Lady. The day did leave The Times depleted of large swaths of its staff on several major desks. It certainly was an inconvenience to management.

And the NewsGuild made its point, with dozens of employees staging a demonstration outside the company's Times Square headquarters in the afternoon, holding picket signs in the air, handing out informational pamphlets to passersby, and demanding higher wages. "We make the paper, we make the profits!" the crowd chanted at one point. "What's outrageous? Stagnant wages!" they chanted at another point.

But the newspaper survived. Despite the lack of staffers, there were no major crises. Traffic remained constant, a person familiar with the numbers told me, and people continued to get their Wordle fix, despite calls from union members for people to stand with them in solidarity and boycott the website.

Which leads to the natural question: Where do negotiations go from here?

The next negotiating session, I'm told, is on Tuesday. Everyone certainly hopes that more progress will be made then. But management and the NewsGuild still remain far apart on the key sticking point of wages. In other words, don't expect an immediate resolution.

The difference now is that some of the urgency has dissipated. Negotiating teams from management and the NewsGuild had worked all week to try to get a deal done and avert the walkout, with a clear bright deadline of Thursday. Now that is gone.

Of course, the NewsGuild could move to strike again, for even longer. But it's unclear whether members would support doing so. At least, not unless negotiations break down in a significant way in the months ahead. Striking for one day was challenging enough.

At the end of the day, I asked Jim Luttrell, a senior editor at The Times, whether he thought the work stoppage moved the needle. "I certainly hope so," Luttrell said, "because this was a difficult step and no one is excited about taking more steps."

THE SIDEBAR

Shawn McCreesh asks: "Just what did the Times walkout change?" (NY Mag)
Claudia Irizarry Aponte spoke to other staffers from The NYT who walked out: "The newspaper's IT specialists, security guards and sales coordinators — some of whom earn as little as $52,000 a year." (The City)
Maxwell Tani reported that The NYT's Chief White House Correspondent Peter Baker and prominent White House correspondent Michael Shear skipped out on the work stoppage. (Semafor)
I'm separately told that Baker and Shear's decision declining to participate did not go over well with their colleagues and was the subject of much chatter. Neither Baker nor Shear commented Thursday.
Angel Adegbesan noted that "the strike put many journalists in an uncomfortable position — being the subject of the stories, including by their own company." (Bloomberg)
Notably, The NYT's own story on the walkout was un-bylined. (NYT)

——— BELOW THE FOLD ———

CNN Photo Illustration/Kirill Kudryavtsev/AFP/Getty Images

CBS' Call: CBS News was the first news organization to break news that Brittney Griner was released on Thursday — and that is because behind the scenes, the outlet had been aware of the prisoner swap for days. Included in CBS News' story was a line that indicated the outlet "learned last Thursday that the Griner-for-Bout swap was in the offing but agreed to a White House request to hold the reporting because officials expressed grave concern about the fragility of the then-emerging deal." Through a spokesperson, CBS News President Neeraj Khemlani told me about the decision to hold the story until Thursday: "We take seriously our responsibility as journalists to cover the story fully without putting lives in immediate danger." Khemlani also praised his Washington staff, saying breaking the story "was a joint effort among the White House team, DOJ team, Foreign Affairs and Investigative teams and really speaks to the strength of the CBS News Washington Bureau."

THE BUSINESS

CNN Photo Illustration/Adobe Stock

Demand for Disney: The hotly anticipated ad-supported version of Disney+ launched Thursday with more than 100 advertisers in play, the entertainment company said. Variety's Brian Steinberg reported that the company is also hoping to innovate in the advertising space in the near-future. "We want to make sure that for the first time, brands can come to the platform and have a great experience," said Rita Ferro, head of advertising sales. Ferro went on to say that "there are plans to continue to drive innovation across our ad technology" and that such changes "are coming" in 2023.

► 1 in 4 Disney+ subscribers are expected to downgrade their advertising-free subscription (now $10.99) to the cheaper advertiser-supported tier ($7.99), per research firm Kantar. Deadline's Dade Hayes has details.

IN THE INDUSTRY

While accepting the Fourth Estate Award, Clarissa Ward spoke about how "humanity and compassion can be among the most important tools a journalist can have." (TV Newser)
Former Fox News anchor Gretchen Carlson, who settled a sexual harassment lawsuit with the network, spoke to Jake Tapper and praised Biden for signing the "Speak Out Act" into law. (CNN)
Brittany Shammas reports on how journalists at the Pilot, a North Carolina newspaper, filed stories from cell phones in the dark during the power outage that rocked the area. (WaPo)
Lucas Manfredi writes about "the media layoff bloodbath." (The Wrap)
Chloe Fineman kicked off the global Condé Nast company meeting on Thursday, participating in a half-hour convo with Vanity Fair Editor-In-Chief Radhika Jones. (Vogue)

MEDIA MOVES

PBS has named John Yang as anchor of "PBS News Weekend." (Variety)
NBC News has named Allie Raffa as White House correspondent; Julie Tsirkin as congressional correspondent; and Josh Lederman as as a foreign correspondent based out of London. (TV Newser)
Vox has promoted Natalie Jennings to managing editor and Tanya Pai to a newly created role of director of newsroom standards and ethics. (Vox)
New York mag announced that Tammie Teclemariam will transition to a new role as "Underground Gourmet" columnist. (NY Mag)
CAA has promoted Kate Arenson, Jessica Brown, Sydney Chance, Emmett Gordon, Ron Jordan, Sydney Lipsitz, Peter Morton, and Andi Wong. (Variety)
Fox has promoted Allison Wallach to president of unscripted programming. (The Wrap)

THE VALLEY

CNN Photo Illustration/Michael Ciaglo/Bloomberg

Mega-Merger On Hold: The Biden administration is trying to stop another mega-merger. The FTC on Thursday sued to block the $69 billion Microsoft-Activision Blizzard deal, alleging that the merger of the two giants would "harm competition." Microsoft chief Brad Smith, to no surprise, countered that allegation, saying the company believes it will "expand competition and create more opportunities for gamers and game developers." CNN's Brian Fung has all the details here.

🔎 Zooming in: "The case could also mark a turning point for how regulators and the courts review proposed deals," Fung notes in his story, "at a time when US antitrust enforcers have intentionally brought difficult cases to test the law and to keep up with advances in technology."

TOO MANY TABS

Meanwhile: Meta is battling the FTC over its attempt to purchase virtual reality app Within for $300 million. (POLITICO)
Get ready to spend more. Amazon is rolling out a TikTok-style feed that allows customers to purchase products as they swipe. (WSJ)
If you have Alexa thank your Amazon driver, they can get a $5 tip. (TechCrunch)
Big Tech has fueled the rise of the militarization of police forces and domestic surveillance, a report has found. (The Verge)

THE INFO WARS

IN THE BATTLEFIELD

Russia is using disinformation to "demonize" Ukrainian refugees, Loveday Morris and Will Oremus report. (WaPo)
Islamophobe and far-right extremist Laura Loomer has had her Twitter account restored. (Daily Beast)
John Knefel has a deep-dive on Will Witt, the "conservative influencer behind pro-DeSantis propaganda operation The Florida Standard." (MMFA)

CURTAIN CALL

CNN Photo Illustration/The Duke and Duchess of Sussex/Netflix

A Royal Backtrack: Netflix and Buckingham Palace battled on Thursday over a disclaimer that aired at the start of the first episode of the docuseries about Prince Harry and Meghan Markle. The disclaimer said that the royal family had "declined to comment" for the series. The palace, initially, pushed back against that assertion, claiming they hadn't been contacted for comment ahead of time. A Netflix official strongly disputed the palace's claim, telling me that the communications offices for King Charles and the Prince of Wales were in fact contacted in advance of the docuseries. Eventually, the palace backtracked and conceded that they had been contacted, but said it was via a third-party production company with an email address they did not recognize, Max Foster reported. What a mess!

► In the first episodes, Harry and Markle target the UK media, accusing it of "exploitation and bribery." CNBC's Karen Gilchrist has details.

DC Drama: DC Studios co-boss James Gunn on Thursday addressed a story by THR's Borys Kit that said "Wonder Woman 3" has been canned. Gunn said some of the report is true and other parts are not, though he didn't elaborate more on what precisely he meant. Gunn did, however, go on to say, "We know we are not going to make every single person happy every step of the way, but we can promise everything we do is done in the service of the STORY & in the service of the DC CHARACTERS we know you cherish and we have cherished our whole lives." THR's Aaron Couch has details here.

OFF STAGE

Curtain call for Trevor Noah as he bid farewell as host of "The Daily Show" on Thursday. (The Guardian)
Taylor Swift's "Midnights" is the top album of the year, according to the Recording Industry Association of America. (Variety)
Jackie Chan is in talks for a "Rush Hour 4." (Variety)
Mike Flanagan and Trevor Macy are working on an adaption of Stephen King's "The Dark Tower." (Deadline)
An "Election" sequel is happening with Reese Witherspoon and Alexander Payne. (THR)

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