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Wednesday, February 22, 2023

NPR will lay off 10% of its staff, Don Lemon apologizes again as he returns to CNN's air, Donald Trump appears iced out of Fox News, Meta reportedly plans more layoffs, and HBO boss Casey Bloys is on the cover of Variety with some news about a few of the premium channel's biggest shows. But first, the A1.

THE A1

A Newsroom's Worst Nightmare

CNN Photo Illustration/WKMG

Spectrum News 13 will never be the same.

The Orlando television station on Wednesday became the latest local news organization faced with the impossibly difficult task of having to report on a deadly attack targeting their own colleagues.

In 2015, it was WDBJ-TV. In 2018, it was the Capital Gazette. And now, in February 2023, it's Spectrum News 13, a Charter Communications-owned cable news outlet in Florida.

On Wednesday afternoon, the station deployed a crew to report from the scene of a shooting that had occurred earlier in the day when, suddenly, bullets started flying once again. A nine-year-old girl was killed. And bullets struck two of the news organization's journalists, fatally wounding one and critically wounding another.

For now, Spectrum News 13 said is withholding the names of the two journalists who were shot. But its anchors and reporters rallied throughout the evening to provide raw, moving, and at times gut-wrenching coverage of the horrific act of violence against their colleagues.

In a statement, Charter Communications said it was "deeply saddened by the loss of our colleague and the other lives senselessly taken today."

"Our thoughts are with our employee's family, friends and co-workers during this very difficult time," Charter said. "We remain hopeful that our other colleague who was injured makes a full recovery. This is a terrible tragedy for the Orlando community."

Working in local television news is unpredictable. One day a reporter might find themselves covering extreme weather, such as a hurricane. The next day they might be assigned to cover a political rally, in which they're denounced as "fake news." And, on yet another day, they might be deployed to the scene of a crime, as was the case for the Spectrum News 13 journalists on Wednesday.

Which is to say that the job carries some risk, a fact that is not lost on those who do it. As WESH-TV reporter Luana Munoz said as she broke down covering the story from the scene on Wednesday evening, "This is every reporter's absolutely worst nightmare."

And yet, scores of reporters happily do it, day in and day out, not for fame or fortune — the pay is far too low and the industry's economics are far too unstable — but because they believe in the mission: informing their neighbors. Bettering their communities by providing the public with important information.

That is what makes Wednesday's senseless violence all the more tragic. The Spectrum News 13 journalists were attacked while doing a job aimed at serving the public.

The violence comes after a particularly dangerous year for members of the press worldwide, with a staggering 67 journalists and others in the media profession killed in 2022, according to the Committee to Protect Journalists. That figure is more than double what was reported in 2021, when 28 journalists were killed.

"I don't have the words," Rebecca Turco, one of Spectrum News 13's journalists, tweeted Wednesday evening. "We still have so many questions tonight but even if we get answers, they won't make it make sense."

"Praying our other team member will be okay," Turco added. "Please keep our crew's families in your thoughts."

THE SIDEBAR

A suspect has been taken into custody and motive is still being determined, Spectrum News 13 reported.. (Spectrum News 13)
"This is extremely devastating for all of us," Spectrum News 13 reporter Celeste Springer said on air. "But I am proud to have such an amazing team backing all of us. .... Please, please say a prayer tonight for our co-worker who is in critical condition. And while you're at it, please say a prayer for every victim of gun violence." (Twitter)
WFTV reporter Sabrina Maggiore said "a man walked by our crew before opening fire." Maggiore added that their crew "rendered aid on at least one victim before emergency crews arrived." (Twitter)
White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre released a statement: "Our hearts go out to the family of the journalist killed today and the crew member injured in Orange County, Florida, as well as the whole Spectrum News team." (Twitter)
"The shooting of journalists in Florida today who were doing their jobs and serving the local community is an absolute tragedy," CNN said. "CNN stands with our affiliate partner, Spectrum News 13, and will support them and the families of these journalists in any way we can." (Twitter)
Rick Scott said the attack was "absolutely horrible" and that his team is "closely monitoring the situation and keeping these Floridians and their families in our prayers." (Twitter)

——— BELOW THE FOLD ———

CNN Photo Illustration/CNN

Back in the Anchor Chair: Don Lemon on Wednesday returned to "CNN This Morning," nearly a week after his sexist remarks about when women are "in their prime" sparked a mountain of internal and external backlash. Lemon did not address the controversy on air, but before Wednesday's show, he apologized for his remarks again in a tweet. "I appreciate the opportunity to be back on 'CNN This Morning' today. To my network, my colleagues and our incredible audience — I'm sorry," Lemon wrote. "I've heard you, I'm learning from you, and I'm committed to doing better. See you soon." WaPo's Jeremy Barr has more here.

► Variety's Brian Steinberg had these details: "Behind the scenes, the anchor was apologetic, according to a person familiar with the matter, and acknowledged the mistake he had made. CNN executives, this person says, conceded that 'CNN This Morning' remains a work in progress and expressed hope that a new executive producer slated to come on board would bring new leadership to the show."

THE BUSINESS

CNN Photo Illustration/Drew Angerer/Getty Images

NPR's Unwelcome News: National Public Radio on Wednesday said that it will reduce its workforce by 10%, after projecting a staggering $30 million budget shortfall. An NPR spokesperson said that the cuts would translate to about 100 employees being laid off. "When we say we are eliminating filled positions, we are talking about our colleagues — people whose skills, spirit, and talents help make NPR what it is today," CEO John Lansing wrote in a memo to employees. "This will be a major loss." Lansing blamed the "sharp decline" in revenue amid the dim economic outlook and said final decisions about who will be cut should hopefully be ironed out by March 20. CNN's Jon Passantino has more here.

IN THE INDUSTRY

"The global print advertising market has halved in the past six years but a growing online 'oligopoly' of tech giants and retailers mean digital ad revenues are still insufficient to plug the gap," Charlotte Tobbit writes, citing a new report. (Press Gazette)
Henry Blodget was spotted at the Daily Beast's offices, prompting speculation from staff that IAC could sell the site to Axel Springer. But management told the staff's union afterward that there is no sale in the works at the moment, Alexandra Steigrad reports. (New York Post)
Jeremy Barr reports on the enormous resources TV news networks have invested to covering the Ukraine war. CNN International boss Mike McCarthy said the network often spends hundreds of thousands of dollars per week. "This is what we do," he said. (WaPo)
Don't miss Joe Pompeo's story on how Richard Rushfield and Janice Min are taking on Hollywood with The Ankler: "I seem to have a history starting troublemaking publications," Rushfield said. (Vanity Fair)
Lester Holt was honored by the Arthur W. Page Center Wednesday evening with the Larry Foster Award for Integrity in Public Communication. (APC)
Jessica Lessin announced the launch of The Information Pro, a "new tier of subscription" that offers more features. (The Info)
Altice USA shares fell 5% in after-hours trading after a poor earnings report. (MarketWatch)
IMAX shares were up about 2% in after-hours trading after a better than expected earnings report. Nevertheless, revenue fell 10% in the last quarter when compared to the same period the year before, despite the tremendous success of "Avatar." (Variety)
Mary Forrest, wife of NBC's Richard Engel, writes about saying goodbye to their son Henry. (Today)

MEDIA MOVES

Future has hired former BuzzFeed and Cheddar exec Jon Steinberg as CEO. (Variety)
CNN tapped Otto Bell as SVP and chief creative officer. (Deadline)
The NYT promoted Liz Day as executive producer of "The New York Times Presents." (NYT)
POLITICO hired Olivia Olander to cover employment and immigration. (POLITICO)

THE INFO WARS

CNN Photo Illustration/Michael Conroy/AP

Ducking Donald: One of Donald Trump's most important political relationships appears to be on ice these days. The disgraced president has started bashing Fox News ("RINO network") on his Truth Social platform, in addition to zinging Rupert Murdoch's other media properties. And on Wednesday, The Spectator's Freddy Gray noted that the right-wing talk channel effectively has a "silent ban" on Trump. "He hasn't been seen on the main channel since he declared his candidacy for the 2024 presidential in November and other Fox sources have confirmed that there's a reason Donald is not appearing on their network," Gray wrote. A Fox News source told Gray the network "would never apply a ban" on a presidential candidate. But, as another Gray source said, "Fox News digital will write about Trump and give him little phone interviews. But he has not been on the actual channel since he announced. Rupert doesn't want him to win." Read the full piece here.

🔎 Zooming in: If Trump doesn't have Fox News in his corner as he faces 2024 challengers, it will most certainly present a major challenge to his candidacy. That said, Fox News did offer critical coverage of Trump in the 2016 primaries, and he managed to come out on top and eventually convert the network into his propagandistic mouthpiece.

IN THE BATTLEFIELD

Mike Pence is going after Ron DeSantis over his actions to punish Disney, declaring the moves "beyond the scope of what I as a conservative, limited-government Republican would be prepared to do." (Bloomberg)
A slew of prominent right-wing media figures are supporting James O'Keefe after Project Veritas ousted him. (MMFA)
CNN is set to depose Michael Flynn's family members in the coming weeks. (Law & Crime)
CNN, MSNBC, and Fox News all skipped showing Trump's speech in East Palestine, Ohio, while Newsmax and OAN carried it live. (Mediaite)

THE FOX FILES

CNN Photo Illustration/Alex Wong/Getty Images

Ingraham's Tangle: In the aftermath of the 2020 election, as conspiracy theories about election fraud went mainstream inside the Republican Party, Laura Ingraham's senior executive producer Tommy Firth grew frustrated. Firth evidently knew that the theories saturating right-wing media were nonsense. According to Dominion Voting Systems' recent legal filing, Firth texted network executive Ron Mitchell, "This dominion s**t is going to give me a f***ing aneurysm — as many times as I've told Laura it's bs, she sees s**t posters and trump tweeting about it." Mitchell responded, "This is Bill Gates/microchip angle to voter fraud." When reached for comment on Wednesday about the messages, a Fox News spokesperson pointed to the network's general statement that accused Dominion of cherrypicking quotes. But the comments from Firth are part of a larger pattern at Fox, as exposed by the Dominion filing. Behind the scenes, executives and hosts had harsh words for the election fraud conspiracy theories, despite allowing some of them to take hold on the network's air.

THE VALLEY

CNN Photo Illustration/Drew Angerer/Getty Images

Have Seen Meta Days: "Meta is preparing for a fresh round of job cuts, deputizing human resources, lawyers, financial experts and top executives to draw up plans to deflate the company's hierarchy, in a reorganization and downsizing effort that could affect thousands of workers," The WaPo's Naomi Nix reported Wednesday. The paper reported that as part of the reorganization, Meta "plans to push some leaders into lower-level roles without direct reports, flattening the layers of management between Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg and the company's interns." More here from Nix.

TOO MANY TABS

Brian Fung has takeaways from the Supreme Court's hearing that focused on its liability for terrorist use. (CNN)
More headaches for Twitter's pay-for-verification system: Joseph Mean reports accounts that have pushed Russian propaganda are buying blue checks. (WaPo)
Amazon employees are expressing dissatisfaction at the company's return-to-office policy. (CNBC)
Sebastian Mallaby argues Big Tech critics "were wrong," contending that the recent AI race has shown "trustbusting isn't the way." (WaPo)
Snapchat has partnered with Cartier — yes, the jeweler — to integrate its AR lens in the designer's iconic Tank watch. (WWD)

CURTAIN CALL

Adam Amengual for Variety

'HBO's Leading Man': HBO boss Casey Bloys is on the cover of the latest issue of Variety. "He's managing the jewel in the crown here, the single most important piece of real estate in media," WME President Ari Greenberg told the mag. "It's the most important job in media," Warner Bros. Discovery CEO David Zaslav added. The cover story, by Michael Schneider, included some news. A few highlights:

► On the possible name of WBD's forthcoming super streamer: Bloys said execs are conscience of attaching the HBO name to a service that has a lot more reality and lifestyle programming. "How much more do we want the HBO brand to take on?" Bloys asked. "That's a legitimate concern. And that's what we're talking about right now. What I think we all agree on is that we need to do is preserve and protect the HBO brand."

► On three hit shows: "House of Dragon" fans, you'll have to be patient. Bloys said that "a good guess" for the release of the next season is sometime in 2024. Meanwhile, the forthcoming season of "Succession" could be its last and Bloys isn't entertaining a spinoff. Meanwhile, Bloys said "Watchmen" won't be back unless Damon Lindelof thinks there's an additional story "that he wants to put his heart and soul into."

OFF STAGE

On the topic of "Succession": Brian Cox says Jeremy Strong's method acting is "f***ing annoying." (Town & Country)
The Writers Guild will begin contract negotiations on March 20 amid the possibility of a strike. (THR)
"Rust" will complete filming at Montana's Yellowstone Film Ranch this spring. (THR)
The man convicted in the 2019 fatal shooting of rapper Nipsey Hussle has been sentenced to 60 years to life in prison. (CNN)
People mag will host the official SAG Awards afterparty. (THR)
Sam Smith will make an appearance in the second season of "And Just Like That..." (Deadline)

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