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Thursday, April 6, 2023

The weekend is near. Fox News wants to omit talk about the 1/6 attack on the U.S. Capitol at the Dominion trial, WSJ reporter Evan Gershkovich receives the National Press Club's highest honor, NPR continues abstaining from Twitter, Disney taps its first-ever chief brand officer, Sean Spicer exits Newsmax, Emily Ratajkowski talks about why she quit acting, Jeremy Renner opens up to Diane Sawyer, and more. But first, the A1.

THE A1

The Journalists and the Justice

CNN Photo Illustration/Olivier Douliery/AFP/Getty Images

It all started with a little curiosity.

A team of ProPublica reporters earlier this year began looking into the travel of various Supreme Court justices, not entirely sure what they would find, if anything. But after a little digging, the trio of journalists stumbled upon something that piqued their interest.

In fact, what they uncovered raised their eyebrows to such a degree that they believed the discovery was an explosive story in its own right: a trip that Clarence Thomas had taken aboard billionaire Harlan Crow's private jet between Connecticut and Washington, D.C.

But their editors encouraged the team to keep working the story, Justin Elliot, a member of the three-person reporting team, told me by phone on Thursday. "So we started grinding," Elliot explained.

From there, the story quickly grew in size and scope. "It snowballed," Elliot said. Elliot and his co-authors, Joshua Kaplan and Alex Mierjeski, assembled a spreadsheet comprised of hundreds of people, methodically contacting potential sources as they built the story.

"The progress was gratifyingly steady," Elliot told me, cautioning, however, that "it was not easy."

Easy or not, the final product that published on Thursday morning was unquestionably worth the effort. The bombshell report included stunning details that accuse Thomas of having accepted ultra- luxury vacations and private jet travel from a Republican mega donor for decades.

Even worse? "These trips appeared nowhere on Thomas' financial disclosures," the ProPublica team wrote. "His failure to report the flights appears to violate a law passed after Watergate that requires justices, judges, members of Congress and federal officials to disclose most gifts, two ethics law experts said."

The story landed with a bang, shaking the political world and immediately eliciting statements of serious concern from legal experts and Washington lawmakers. Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Dick Durbin, a Democrat, said in a statement that the report was "a call to action." Durbin added that "the Senate Judiciary Committee will act."

What ultimately happens remains to be seen. But the immense fallout has already underscored the importance of journalism produced by non-profit newsrooms like ProPublica.

"From my perspective as a reporter," Elliot told me, "I feel so lucky to have the reporting resources and time resources to do a heavy lift like this. There are not that many places where you can do that anymore. So we are grateful to have jobs at Propublica.

"If there are any rich people reading," Elliot added, "give your money to nonprofit journalism."

——— BELOW THE FOLD ———

CNN Photo Illustration/Mark Lennihan/AP

Ridding References of the Riot: Fox asked a judge in court filings made public Thursday to prohibit references to the January 6 attack, as well as threats directed at employees of Dominion Voting Systems, when the monster defamation lawsuit goes to trial this month. "Any reference to the Capitol riot will only unfairly prejudice the jury against Fox, inflame passions, prevent a fair trial, and taint any resulting verdict," Fox argued. Fox added that while threats against Dominion staffers "were horrific and absolutely inexcusable," allowing the company "to discuss specific threats and their effect on employees is virtually guaranteed to arouse the jury's sympathy and provoke a desire to punish Fox for the actions of unrelated third parties." Here's my full story with Marshall Cohen and Liam Reilly.

🔎 Zooming in: The documents made public were "motions in limine," which are pretrial efforts to block certain evidence and arguments from being used during the trial. These motions are common. Fox also asked the judge to bar references to its financial records and the state of mind of its employees. Dominion strongly disagreed with Fox's requests. Dominion argued the 1/6 attack "is central to almost every element of this case." Dominion also argued references to threats its employees faced after 2020 are relevant, contending it is "evidence that Fox's lies destroyed Dominion's reputation and enterprise value." Dominion said that "people are unlikely to want to work for, contract with, or acquire a business that is besieged by death threats and harassment."

🦊 What Fox is saying: "Fox's motions attempt to narrow Dominion's kitchen sink legal approach and return focus to the core issues," a spokesperson said, in part. It's also worth noting that the judge said at a Wednesday hearing related to jury questions that he does not "see January 6 as relevant in this case," perhaps signaling how he could rule on Fox's motion in limine.

IN THE FOX HOLE

Don't miss Jim Rutenberg's big story on "how Fox chased its audience down the rabbit hole." Rutenberg writes, "Rupert Murdoch built an empire by giving viewers exactly what they wanted. But what they wanted — election lies and insurrection — put that empire ... in peril." (NYT)
Smartmatic, another election tech company suing Fox News, has subpoenaed now-fired producer Abby Grossberg in its case. (NBC News)

THE BUSINESS

CNN Photo Illustration/Wall Street Journal

Gershkovich Honored: The National Press Club on Thursday awarded imprisoned Wall Street Journal reporter Evan Gershkovich with the John Aubuchon Award, its highest honors. "Journalism is not a crime and Evan should not be jailed for his profession — he should be honored for it," NPC President Eileen O'Reilly said. WSJ Editor-In-Chief Emma Tucker thanked the organization for recognizing the outlet's reporter, saying the newspaper "deeply appreciates" it "standing with Evan."

► A Moscow court said Thursday it will hear Gershkovich's case on April 18.

► More than 200 Russian journalists and activists signed a letter demanding Gershkovich's release.

► The NYT Editorial Board on Thursday published a scathing column about Vladimir Putin: "Russia has a rich history of imprisoning people on bogus charges for no purpose other than to help keep a dictator in power."

IN THE INDUSTRY

NPR continues to abstain from tweeting after Elon Musk labeled the outlet "state-affiliated media." Musk told an NPR reporter that the labeling might not be accurate in email exchanges with the outlet. (NPR)
Just a reminder: While Musk continues to attack and smear the press (this time NPR), several news organizations continue to send him ad dollars. The first ad I saw when I just opened the Twitter app was for The WaPo.
Chris Brooklier writes about the bankruptcy of Bally Sports: "The real question though is if the long-lasting impacts will accelerate live sports rights moving to streaming or if Diamond Sports will lose its rights all together." (The Current)
Cinemark CEO Sean Gamble's compensation package climbed to nearly $6 million in 2022. (THR)
The Guardian's head of innovation, Chris Moran, announces the outlet will "in the next few weeks ... be publishing a clear and concise explanation of how we plan to employ generative AI." (Guardian)

MEDIA MOVES

Disney promoted Asad Ayaz to its first-ever chief brand officer. (THR)
The WaPo hired Harper's Bazaar fashion news director Rachel Tashjian as a Styles writer. (WaPo)
Food publishing veterans, Andrew Cotto and Richard Martin, launched Appetito, an online publication devoted to Italian food. (Appetito)

THE INFO WARS

CNN Photo Illustration/Sarah Silbiger/Reuters

Spicer Exits Newsmax: Former White House press secretary turned Newsmax host Sean Spicer is leaving Newsmax. "Today is a bittersweet one," Spicer said at the end of his Thursday broadcast. "It will be my last day on 'Spicer & Co.' and my last day with Newsmax." Spicer said he was "grateful for the opportunity" the right-wing channel had given him and that he was "proud of the work" he had done. "But now it is time to turn the page to the next chapter," Spicer said. In a subsequent YouTube video, Spicer said, "I'm really excited about what's to come and I think you will be too."

► Spicer told me on Thursday night, after his sign off, that he has ruled out actively working on any 2024 presidential campaign, but that he will be working on several other projects in the coming months.

IN THE BATTLEFIELD

"It's just error after error, Matt?": Mehdi Hasan takes on Matt Taibbi over his Twitter Files reporting. (Twitter)
The National Inquirer's new owner said the publication will not use hush money payments for so-called catch and kill practices. (NYT)
Candace Owens takes the Daily Wire's anti-trans rhetoric to the next level, declaring "transgenderism" to be "worse than Jim Crow laws." (MMFA)
Regular "Tucker Carlson Tonight" guest Jason Whitlock went on the highly rated Fox News show and argued in an unhinged rant that "secession" was effectively necessary because liberals and conservatives can supposedly no longer co-exist. (Mediaite)
"The Little Mermaid" changing lyrics to a song to incorporate consent is providing more fodder for cultural wars, with one Fox News segment declaring that the movie has received a "woke" update. (Daily Beast)

THE VALLEY

TOO MANY TABS

Elon Musk published Twitter's algorithm. But "anyone hoping this public code would produce new insights into the inner workings of Twitter will likely be disappointed," Karissa Bell reports. (Engadget)
Twitter has apparently restricted Substack users from embedding tweets in their stories. (The Verge)
"To watch a platform used by hundreds of millions run in such a slapdash manner has been fascinating, and no doubt troubling to the companies that saw themselves spoofed when previous verification standards fell away," Peter Manseau writes. (WaPo)
Twitter is finally rolling out a promised feature that gives its paid subscribers fewer ads. (TechCrunch)
Chinese officials flooded Twitter in the days surrounding the TikTok hearing, defending the ByteDance-owned app and trashing critical lawmakers, a report found. (NYT)
"TikTok's campaign for survival in the U.S. runs through Montana," Stu Woo and Georgia Wells report. (WSJ)
Tech giants like Apple and Google are finding it difficult to carry out layoffs in Europe as they navigate labor laws. (Bloomberg)

CURTAIN CALL

CNN Photo Illustration/LA Times

Ratajkowski's Reason: Emily Ratajkowski is on the April digital cover of The LAT's "For Real With Amy Kaufman." In the piece, Ratajkowski told Kaufman that she effectively quit acting. "I didn't feel like, 'Oh, I'm an artist performing and this is my outlet,'" Ratajkowski said. "I felt like a piece of meat who people were judging, saying, 'Does she have anything else other than her [breasts]?'" Ratajkowski added that she fired her acting agent because she had grown tired of making herself "digestible to powerful men in Hollywood" and "didn't trust them." Read the full piece here.

OFF STAGE

Jeremy Renner talked about his snow plow accident with Diane Sawyer: "I've lost a lot of flesh and bone in this experience. But I've been refueled with love and titanium." (NYT)
CBS inked a two-year deal with the National Academy of Television Arts & Sciences to broadcast the Daytime Emmys. (The Wrap)
Amazon's first African crime-thriller "Gangs of Lagos," will premiere in the titular Nigerian capital. (Bloomberg)
Every Check You Ink: Diddy said he's been paying Sting $5,000 a month for the last 26 years after he sampled the artist's song, "Every Breath You Take," in his 1997 single "I'll Be Missing You." (CNBC)
Roku OK'ed wrestler-turned-actor John Cena's "WWE: Recruits." (The Wrap)
Chris Rock's live special on Netflix amassed 1.2 billion minutes of viewing in the nine days after its March release. (THR)
The Cannes Film Festival announced Michelle Yeoh will be presented with a Women in Motion Award during this year's festival. (THR)
Priyanka Chopra Jonas will star in Amazon's "Heads of State" alongside John Cena and Idris Elba. (Deadline)
Domhnall Gleeson will join the cast of Apple's "Echo Valley" alongside Julianne Moore and Sydney Sweeney. (THR)
Bella Ramsey — of "The Last of Us" and "Game of Thrones" fame — will star in the upcoming drama, "Monstrous Beauty." (Deadline)
Amazon acquired the rights to the BBC's "Wild Isles," a docuseries by Sir David Attenborough. (The Wrap)

Thank you for reading! This newsletter was edited by Penelope Patsuris who filled in for 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 next week.