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Wednesday, March 15, 2023

You've made it over the hump! Axios fires a reporter after he criticized Ron DeSantis "propaganda," Rashida Jones hosts an intimate dinner celebrating Jen Psaki, BBC apologizes for programming disruptions amid walkout, "Ant-Man" takes on Google and Reddit, James O'Keefe previews his next venture, James Gunn says he'll direct the next "Superman," and so much more. But first, the A1.

THE A1

Bye Bye ByteDance?

CNN Photo Illustration/Adobe Stock

Tension between the U.S. and TikTok is reaching a crescendo that is years in the making.

The latest — and perhaps most consequential — development comes by way of a report from The WSJ's John D. McKinnon who scooped Wednesday that the Biden administration "is demanding that TikTok's Chinese owners sell their stakes in the video-sharing app or face a possible U.S. ban of the app."

The effective threat from the Democratic administration, which my colleague Brian Fung confirmed, represents a notable increase in friction between the two sides as the ByteDance-owned app faces mounting pressure from lawmakers.

With more than 100 million users in the U.S. alone, the disruptive vertical video app, which first emerged as a social platform saturated with dancing teens that ultimately spawned a new generation of online influencers, has raised fears of serious national security risks and growing concerns that its sophisticated algorithm poses a "poisonous influence" to its young users.

And while some of those concerns are more hyperbole than fact, the app has quickly found itself a political football amid deepening US-China tensions, representing the Communist regime's powerful surveillance state.

"A big Chinese balloon in the sky and millions of Chinese TikTok balloons on our phones," Sen. Mitt Romney tweeted last month. "Let's shut them all down."

Despite the rhetoric, a ban on the app that's become a key — and for some, beloved — communications platform for millions in the U.S. would represent the nuclear option in the years-long battle against its Beijing-based owners. But it seems like a growing possibility.

Bloomberg reported on Tuesday that TikTok's leadership has discussed severing ties with ByteDance — but only as "a last resort, to be pursued only if the company's existing proposal with national security officials doesn't get approved."

TikTok has been the subject of a years-long review from the Committee on Foreign Investment in the U.S., most commonly referred to as CFIUS. As it has faced growing pressure from lawmakers, the short-form video company has repeatedly urged CFIUS to complete its review.

But McKinnon reported Wednesday, and TikTok appeared to acknowledge, that CFIUS was the arm of the U.S. government demanding the sale, perhaps leaving less wiggle room for TikTok.

The Treasury Department, which oversees CFIUS, declined to comment. But TikTok issued a statement, asserting that the request from CFIUS would do nothing to address U.S. national security concerns that have been expressed over the app, mainly data privacy.

"If protecting national security is the objective, divestment doesn't solve the problem," TikTok spokesperson Maureen Shanahan said. "A change in ownership would not impose any new restrictions on data flows or access."

"The best way to address concerns about national security is with the transparent, US-based protection of US user data and systems," Shanahan added, "with robust third-party monitoring, vetting, and verification, which we are already implementing."

Regardless of what TikTok says, Wall Street isn't looking favorably at the Chinese-owned app. Shares in both Meta and Snap surged in after-hours trading Wednesday after The WSJ's report.

——— BELOW THE FOLD ———

Axios Drops the Axe: Axios reporter Ben Montgomery said he was fired by the outlet this week after responding to Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis' Department of Education, criticizing a press release that had been sent out supposedly "exposing the diversity equity and inclusion scam" in higher education. "This is propaganda, not a press release," Montgomery wrote in response. The email was then tweeted by Alex Lanfranconi, the department's communications director. The tweet ultimately led to Montgomery receiving a call from an Axios executive who terminated his employment, Montgomery told me, saying it was communicated to him that he had irreparably tarnished his reputation as a journalist in Florida. Axios confirmed he is no longer with the outlet. The WaPo's Dan Rosenzweig-Ziff and Sonia Rao have details here.

🔎 Zooming in: The firing of Montgomery over his email comes as news outlets prepare to head into the 2024 presidential season where hopefuls, such as DeSantis, are almost certain to level attacks against the press. "Reporters are trying to do their jobs and get information from people who are weaponizing every misstep against those they target," Montgomery told me. "I feel like it's incredibly important for news organizations to have the backs of their reporters and to hold up those f***ing intense ideals of speaking truth to power. That's what we do."

CNN Photo Illustration/NBC News

First in Reliable | Party for Psaki: MSNBC boss Rashida Jones hosted a private dinner on Wednesday night to celebrate Jen Psaki, who premieres her show on the progressive cable news network this Sunday. "We're not introducing you, Jen, to our audiences for the first time," Jones said, adding however that viewers will see her "in a different light" as she transitions from White House press secretary to cable news host. At the dinner — which was attended by a number of luminaries, such as Secretary of Homeland Security Alejandro Mayorkas, Deputy Treasury Secretary Wally Adeyemo, Ambassador of France Laurent Bili, Andrea Mitchell, Kara Swisher, and others — Psaki also addressed transitioning from working behind the podium to behind a prompter. "People often say, 'It'll be so different working in government and working in media.' And, yes, there are a lot of differences," she said. "But the thing that I have found in common ... is that in both there are a lot of people who are smart, curious, interested in learning more and telling the world about it and trying to make the world a better place in some way. And, that's what I come to this job doing and hoping to do."

THE BUSINESS

CNN Photo Illustration/Press Association/AP

The BBC's Big Strike: The BBC on Wednesday apologized to viewers for programming disruptions as hundreds of its workers staged a walkout over job cuts and other disputes. Journalists picketed outside the outlet's offices, holding signs such as "STOP THE CUTS." A BBC spokesperson told me that the company "tried to minimize disruption as much as possible," adding that it was "disappointed" that the strike occurred. "We have a plan to modernize local services across England - including more news journalists and a stronger local online service – which will see no overall reduction in staffing levels or local funding," the spokesperson continued. "Our goal is a local service across TV, radio and online that delivers even greater value to communities." The BBC spokesperson added, "We will continue to engage with the trade union and do everything possible to minimise the impact on staff." Deadline's Jake Kanter, who has been all over this story, has details here.

IN THE INDUSTRY

Charlotte Klein writes about how the leaked BBC messages have intensified the outlet's "political impartiality crisis." (Vanity Fair)
"There's not a playbook for Chris' job": Warner Bros. Discovery boss David Zaslav emphatically threw his support behind CNN chief Chris Licht in an internal network meeting earlier this week, Alexandra Steigrad reports. (NY Post)
Will Bob Iger sell Hulu or ESPN? Anna Nicolaou and Christopher Grimes report on how he is debating their futures. (Financial Times)
Heidi Chung writes about BuzzFeed stock's decline. (Variety)
Doing More With Less: BuzzFeed News Editor-In-Chief Karolina Waclawiak has encouraged the outlet's staffers to publish more stories as the company grapples with the weak digital advertising market. (WSJ)
Clay Travis' sports and culture website Outkick "has grown into a successful Nashville-based media business," Nate Rau reports. (Axios)
Kyler Alvord profiles "Face the Nation" anchor Margaret Brennan. (People)

MEDIA MOVES

Fox News offered some promotions to those in its senior ranks. (THR)
The NYT promoted Josh Haner to deputy of the photo dept. (NYT)
Puck hired Lauren Sherman to run its new fashion newsletter. (Puck)
Bloomberg News added Kayla Sharpe as deputy team leader for its government newsletters. (Twitter)
Bloomberg News also added Kate Ackley as a reporter on its Congress team. (Twitter)

THE VALLEY

CNN Photo Illustration/Marvel Studios

Silicon Valley and the Stolen Script: "Ant Man: Quantumania" not only took on Kang the Conqueror, but is also engaged in a fight with Silicon Valley titans Google and Reddit. That's because Marvel Studios is trying to determine the identity of who may have leaked the script of the movie ahead of its premiere. The WSJ's Alyssa Lukpat reported Wednesday that a "federal court in California this week granted Marvel's request to subpoena Google and Reddit for information behind the leak. Per Lukpat, the companies must submit the information, including certain users' names, addresses and phone numbers, to Marvel's lawyers by next week." Reddit said it is "committed to protecting" user privacy and has "rigorous processes in place to assess legal requests and object when appropriate." Google didn't respond to The WSJ's request for comment. Read Lukpat's story here.

TOO MANY TABS

"GPT-4 is exciting and scary": Kevin Roose takes a look at the next iteration of OpenAI's tech. (NYT)
Benjamin Hart lays out five "incredible, frightening things" that GPT-4 can do. (NY Mag)
One of the scary things it has already done: Fool a human into helping it solve a CAPTCHA. (Futurism)
Why didn't Siri, Alexa, or Google Assistant win the AI race with their massive head starts? Brian X. Chen, Nico Grant, and Karen Weise explain. (NYT)
"Mark Zuckerberg ends the tech party": Smart story from Lucy Olinga on how the old days of lux tech life are coming to a close. (The Street)
"Who is still inside the Metaverse?" Paul Murray wonders. (NY Mag)
Meanwhile, Google workers in Switzerland staged a walkout after employees were laid off as that tech titan's cuts hit Europe. (Reuters)
Google announced Wednesday it has stopped selling Glass Enterprise smart glasses. (CNBC)

THE INFO WARS

CNN Photo Illustratin/Joe Raedle/Getty Images

O'Keefe's Offering: On Wednesday afternoon, I received a text from James O'Keefe, the right-wing media figure who was recently ousted from Project Veritas, the organization he founded that specialized in sting operations targeting politicians and newsrooms. "Let me know what you think," O'Keefe said, sending a link to a video announcing his next venture, O'Keefe Media Group. In the video, O'Keefe shows off his dance moves ("real journalism can be fun," he told me) and talked about an army of citizen journalists, not unlike the message he used to sell at PV. In an interview with Charlie Kirk, O'Keefe described the idea as "Uber for journalism." So what's the difference between PV and O'Keefe Media Group? That's unclear. I asked O'Keefe twice and didn't get much of an answer. But it appears a major distinction is that the latter is a for-profit subscription-based venture, whereas the former was reliant on donors who could receive tax write-offs for sending money to O'Keefe's organization. Mediaite's Candice Ortiz has more.

IN THE BATTLEFIELD

Right-wing media star and "War Room" host Steve Bannon's friend, Chinese billionaire Pal Guo Wengui, has been charged by federal prosecutors in a $1 billion fraud scheme. (CNN)
Researchers say that "conspiratorial narratives" promoted by Russian media, right-wing media, and others are causing more panic after the SVB collapse. (Bloomberg)
Mike Lindell has bankrolled dozens of online shows that support the QAnon conspiracy theory while offering discounts on MyPillow using codes containing pro-QAnon content, Alex Kaplan reports. (MMFA)

CURTAIN CALL

CNN Photo Illustration/Kevin Winter/Getty Images

Gunns Blazing: James Gunn is hitting the ground running fast. The DC Studios co-head will direct his own script for "Superman: Legacy," the film that will push the new DC Universe into motion as the first official feature of the Gunn-Peter Safran era. The much-anticipated film is set to hit theaters in the summer of 2025, followed by Matt Reeves' "The Batman Part II" later in the fall. Deadline's Anthony D'Alessandro has more here.

► Speaking of the DC Universe, pre-release projections for "Shazam! Fury of the Gods" indicate the film will gross less at the domestic box office in its debut weekend than its predecessor. That said, Zachary Levi told THR that he hopes the film is not his last in the DC Universe.

OFF STAGE

Thomas Buckley reports on how Hollywood is "bracing for a strike" as the Writers Guild demands more from streamers. (Bloomberg)
"To me, the lack of streaming ratings data — which hurts writers and other talent— is a collective action problem," the anonymous former streaming executive who goes by "Entertainment Strategy Guy" writes. (Ankler)
Brooke Shields will speak out against a Hollywood executive she alleges sexually assaulted her in a new two-part documentary due out next month on Hulu. (LAT)
As Disney looks to cut back on content costs, Disney+ has announced it will cancel Lucasfilm's "Willow" after just one season. (THR)
Kevin Hart signed a multiyear deal with SiriusXM, allowing his production company, Hartbeat, to put out radio shows, podcasts, and on-demand video across the platform. (THR)
Brian May, lead guitarist for rock icon Queen, was knighted by King Charles. (CNN)
The SXSW audience got a taste of Sydney Sweeney's next film, "Americana." (Deadline)

Thank you for reading! This newsletter was edited by Jon Passantino and produced with the assistance of Liam Reilly. Have feedback? Send us an email here. We will see you back in your inbox tomorrow.