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Monday, July 10, 2023

Hello there! It is great to be back in your inbox after our brief summer break. We have an early — but jam-packed — edition for you, as I'm about to head out to the New York premiere of "Mission: Impossible."

Scroll down for the latest on the BBC scandal, why Jake Tapper researched Rupert Murdoch's rise in the 1970s, what The NYT said about disbanding its sports desk, details on Fox News' new ad promo, and so much more. But first, the A1.

THE A1

Threadening Twitter

CNN Photo Illustration/Stefani Reynolds/AFP/Getty Images

Twitter is facing competition like never before.

In just five days, the Mark Zuckerberg-launched Threads has amassed more than 100 million users, an astonishing and unprecedented feat that has even taken Meta executives by surprise.

"I'm not sure I can wrap my mind around that fact," Instagram boss Adam Mosseri, who is overseeing Threads, said on Monday as he reacted to the news. "It's insane; I can't make sense of it."

The staggering volume of users who have already signed up for the app indicates the platform will have real staying power and represent a significant threat to Twitter's years-long hegemony in the real-time, text-based social media space. While similar new platforms like the Jack Dorsey-backed Bluesky and Mastodon have seen recent surges in interest, Meta has both the resources and scale to put the bird's once-secure nest into serious jeopardy.

It's clear that Elon Musk himself is worried, with the unhinged Twitter owner repeatedly assailing Zuckerberg over the last few days, calling him a "cuck" and challenging him to a "literal dick measuring contest." (You really cannot make any of this up.)

But the rapid growth of Threads is largely a problem of Musk's own making. The platform's record success in attracting users illustrates the degree to which Musk has alienated the Twitter-verse. Since taking over, the billionaire has radically upended the company, ordering a number of extreme changes that have led to the once-indispensable real-time platform's deterioration. The moves directed by Musk, including the decimation of its verification system, have led to reliability issues and anarchy-like chaos gripping the platform.

Had Musk not estranged a large chunk of Twitter's user base, it would be hard to imagine that Threads would be enjoying the success it currently is. In fact, you could see a world in which loyal Twitter users would have fiercely rejected Zuckerberg shamelessly copy and pasting the Twitter model. Instead, Threads is largely being welcomed with open arms because Musk has ruled over Twitter in such an unabashedly manic way.

In effect, Musk has effectively managed to do the impossible: get people to openly cheer for Zuckerberg, who has been largely resented by the public since the Cambridge Analytica scandal following the 2016 presidential election.

But before people get over their skis in praise for another mega billionaire's social platform, it is worth remembering that there are plenty of unanswered questions about Threads and what Zuckerberg intends to do with it.

Mosseri has already signaled that those in the news business might be disappointed, saying Friday that Threads "won't encourage" news and politics content. That comment earned Mosseri swift backlash and left some journalists wondering whether they should expend the energy of working to build an audience on a platform that won't encourage their work. (But while Threads might not promote journalism, Musk is actively undermining and smearing it.)

More broadly speaking, Threads has launched during a moment in which Meta is not on the best footing with news publishers. The company, which has historically contributed to turmoil in the news industry as it whiplashed between strategies, is now threatening to block news content in Canada over a new law requiring it to pay publishers.

What does this all mean for Threads? That, so far, is unclear. Regardless of what Zuckerberg and Mosseri want, they are building a platform that allows for the real-time flow of information. Inevitably, news and politics are going to play a major role — whether they want it to or not.

News organizations are taking note of that. Most major outlets are already publishing content to Threads. And top journalists have also staked out positions on the platform, posting news and analysis to the app's audience.

But Threads is still very much in its early days. The platform still lacks basic features, such as a desktop website and chronological feed — all of which the company has said it is working on. It won't replace Twitter overnight. But given the breakneck pace at which Meta executives appear to be pushing ahead, and how wildly unstable Twitter has become under Musk, that day might not be too distant in the future.

THE SIDEBAR

Threads' speed in crossing 100 million users dethroned ChatGPT as the fastest-ever growing platform. (Reuters)
"Haven't seen this kind of energy on a social media product since Snapchat did Stories," Alex Kantrowitz says. (Threads)
"Multiple internet traffic analysts reported noticeable declines in Twitter usage in just the past few days," Brian Fung reports. (CNN)
Cloudfare chief executive Matthew Prince put it candidly like this: "Twitter traffic tanking." (Threads)
"Concerning": Mark Zuckerberg has taken glee in hitting Elon Musk where it hurts, trolling him on Threads over the weekend. (Insider)
Alex Kirshner argues Threads' "killer feature" is its integration with Instagram: "That linkage to Instagram offers a nice head start in building a community on Threads. It lets users skip the thankless task of typing into a void for a while as they build a following on a new platform." (Slate)
"It's like buying a pre-fab house, or getting one of those overpriced and overpackaged meal kits in the mail," writes Anne Helen Petersen. "Your meticulously tailored feed is there waiting for you. All you need to do is scroll." (Culture Study)
Rebecca Jennings contends the Instagram link has drawbacks: "By replicating your follower list from Instagram to Threads, you're not necessarily seeing posts by interesting or funny people. Instead you're seeing posts from acquaintances, brands, and influencers." (Vox)
Charlie Warzel zooms out on social media: "There's a little bit of me that really resents the fact that not only am I having to build this over again ... You are leasing all the furniture on social-media platforms, and one day, the company is going to come by and say, 'You have to take it back now.' And you're left sitting on your floor ... Ultimately, we are serving at the pleasure of internet boy-kings. These are not our spaces." (Atlantic)
🔌 Reliable is on Threads: Follow our official "Reliable Sources" account right here. You can also follow me here, editor Jon Passantino here, and news assistant Liam Reilly here.

——— BELOW THE FOLD ———

CNN Photo Illustration/Hollie Adams/Reuters

Benched at the BBC: A well-known BBC anchor has been suspended at the news organization amid explosive allegations the on-air presenter paid a teenager for sexually explicit photos. The allegations against the unnamed anchor, reported by The Sun, were thrown into doubt on Monday when a lawyer for the young person disputed the claims made. "For the avoidance of doubt, nothing inappropriate or unlawful has taken place between our client and the BBC personality and the allegations reported in the Sun newspaper are 'rubbish,'" a letter from the young person's lawyer said. The Sun responded in a statement that said, "We have reported a story about two very concerned parents who made a complaint to the BBC about the behavior of a presenter and the welfare of their child." The BBC has the latest here.

► Kudos to the BBC: Like it always does, the Beeb has been covering itself in an unflinching way. "With stories like this one, BBC News journalists treat the BBC in the same way as any other organisation the news service reports on," the news outlet disclosed on Monday.

THE BUSINESS

CNN Photo Illustration/CNN

Collins in the Chair: For the first time in nearly two years, CNN is going to have a permanent 9pm anchor. On Monday, the network will debut "The Source With Kaitlan Collins." Collins, who has hosted the all-important hour in recent weeks, will bring her reporting muscle to prime time, where CNN is betting it will position the network for the future, particularly as it heads into the 2024 campaign. Collins will face stiff competition. 9pm is ultra-competitive, with Collins facing off against progressive star Alex Wagner on MSNBC and right-wing propagandist Sean Hannity on Fox News.

🔎 Zooming in: The promotion to 9pm continues the warp speed in which Collins' career has advanced. In a span of just seven years, Collins has ascended from White House reporter to chief White House correspondent to "CNN This Morning" co-host and now, ultimately, 9pm anchor.

Sign of the Times: The NYT's sports desk is no more. The Gray Lady on Monday announced that it will shutter its sports desk and instead direct readers to The Athletic, which it acquired last year, for sports coverage. The paper, which said that there would be no layoffs as a result of the decision, contended the move positions it to provide a "greater abundance of sports coverage than ever before." Publisher A.G. Sulzberger and chief executive Meredith Kopit Levien said in a joint statement that The NYT's goal is to "become a global leader in sports journalism." Regardless, the move didn't go over well with The Guild which put out a statement blasting The NYT's leadership. "As members of the New York Times Guild, we are baffled and infuriated by the Times proposal to dissolve our storied and award-winning Sports department," The Guild said in a blistering statement. "This announcement is a profound betrayal of our colleagues and of Times values." CNN's Liam Reilly has more here.

IN THE INDUSTRY

Billionaire Los Angeles Times owner Patrick Soon-Shiong sells the San Diego Union-Tribune to the MediaNews Group. (LAT)
Sun Valley, also known as the "summer camp for billionaires," is set to begin on Tuesday. Lucas Manfredi and Scott Mendelson write about how "attendees from Hollywood are facing profit pressures and thorny questions around A.I., cord-cutting and consolidation." (The Wrap)
"It's hard to say which Sun Valley visitor has it worse these days," writes Andrew Wallenstein. (Variety)
Jake Tapper appeared on Kara Swisher's podcast as he promotes his new book, "All the Demons Are here," which is due out Tuesday. The two discussed the book and the improvement in morale at CNN since the departure of former network chief Chris Licht: "Morale hasn't been better in years," Tapper said. (Mediaite)
Tapper also spoke to Ben Smith about a Rupert Murdoch-like character in "All the Demons Are Here," saying that he "researched Murdoch and his rise in the 1970s quite a bit" for the novel. (Semafor)
Former CNN reporter Saima Mohsin sued the network, alleging she was unfairly dismissed and discriminated against. CNN declined to comment on the lawsuit. (Guardian)
Ed Henry "is facing a drunk-driving charge in Palm Beach County, Fla., after police spotted him on June 20 driving on a flat tire," Rachel Bade, Eugene Daniels, and Ryan Lizza report. (Playbook)

MEDIA MOVES

The WaPo promoted Johanna Mayer-Jones to chief advertising officer. (WaPo)
CBS News hired Jo Ling Kent as senior business and technology correspondent. (THR)
The NYT hired Alice Callahan as a reporter covering nutrition. (NYT)

THE INFO WARS

CNN Photo Illustration/Matias J. Ocner/Miami Herald/Tribune News Service/Getty Images

Ron's Media Relationship: Ron DeSantis on Sunday complained to Maria Bartiromo on Fox News that "the media" is effectively to blame for the poor state of his campaign. "The media does not want me to be the nominee," he said. But, behind the scenes, DeSantis is apparently preparing to soon engage with the mainstream press, which he has shunned during his campaign. The WSJ's Alex Leary and John McCormick cited sources to report over the weekend that DeSantis is "planning to do interviews around a series of policy proposals he will lay out in the coming weeks." Which make sense, given his current approach is not working. It's just rich that, as he assails the news media, he is getting ready to use those very platforms to better get his message out.

IN THE BATTLEFIELD

Fox News is rolling out a fresh marketing campaign for its new prime time lineup: "The right voices at the right time." (THR)
Meanwhile: The network appears to be distancing itself from Charlie Kirk's Turning Point USA, skipping the group's event this weekend that is set to feature former Fox personalities, Confider reports. (Confider)
Uh oh. Wells Fargo analyst Steven Cahall on Monday downgraded Fox Corporation, citing in part "Fox News risks," given the right-wing channel is "facing viewership and share pressures." (THR)
Speaking of Fox risks: Lawyers for Ray Epps are "proceeding with plans to sue Fox News for defamation," Jeremy Peters and Alan Feuer report. (NYT)
Maria Bartiromo will interview Donald Trump and the resulting chat will air on her show next Monday. The fact Bartiromo will interview the election-denying president is notable given that she was a star figure in Dominion Voting Systems' lawsuit against Fox News. (The Hill)
"The LGBT community is hunting our children for grooming purposes and dismemberment": That's just one recent comment from a Blaze TV host, but representative of the type of extreme anti-LGBTQ rhetoric running rampant in right-wing media. (MMFA)
Joe Rogan is really upset at YouTube after the platform took down a video of Roseanne Barr over her holocaust comments. (Mediaite)

THE VALLEY

TOO MANY TABS

"A deal to ensure that data from Meta, Google and scores of other companies can continue flowing between the United States and the European Union was completed on Monday." (NYT)
Sarah Silverman sued both Meta and OpenAI citing copyright infringement after the companies allegedly used the comedian's content to train their respective A.I. platforms. (Reuters)
Taylor Telford and Pranshu Verma report on fears that ChatGPT could steal company secrets. (WaPo)
"Snap's push to tempt creators seems to be working," Lindsey Choo and Meghan Bobrowsky write. (WSJ)
Snap is working with Linktree to introduce a feature allowing users to add links to their profiles. (TechCrunch)

CURTAIN CALL

CNN Photo Illustration/Paramount

'Mission's' Moment: The box office is about to be rocked — once again — by Tom Cruise. "Mission: Impossible — Dead Reckoning Part One," drops on Wednesday. The film, which boasts a stunning 99% on Rotten Tomatoes, promises to be the blockbuster of the summer, perhaps the year. Paramount — which released the final trailer for "Dead Reckoning" on Monday, is pushing audiences to see it in the cinema, hyping the film as a must-watch in theaters. We'll soon see how it performs in its opening days, but the real question is how it continues to resonate after opening weekend. Will positive word of mouth send it to runaway success? Or will stiff competition from "Barbie" and "Oppenheimer," both due out just weeks later, steal some of the movie's thunder? We'll see.

► Speaking of "Barbie," the first reactions from the film's premiere are in — and they're stellar.

OFF STAGE

Madonna said she's "on the road to recovery" after being hospitalized last month for a "serious bacterial infection." (CNN)
Jamie Foxx waved to his fans in the actor's first appearance since he was hospitalized due to medical complications in April. (Variety)
Harry Styles became the latest artist to be struck on stage when an unknown object hit him in the eye during a show in Vienna. (Vulture)
Lana Del Rey apologized to her fans after she had to cut her Glastonbury show short. (BBC)
Ryan Reynolds shared a first look at "Deadpool 3" on Twitter, showing a photo of the sarcastic red-costumed superhero with Hugh Jackman's Wolverine sporting a retro look. (THR)
The official trailer for Ridley Scott's "Napoleon," starring Joaquin Phoenix and due out Thanksgiving, dropped. (YouTube)
Director Michael Mann's Formula One drama starring Adam Driver and Penélope Cruz — titled "Ferrari" — has been picked up by Neon with a Christmas Day theatrical release on the horizon. (The Wrap)
Woody Harrelson and Owen Wilson will star in Brantley Gutierrez's upcoming crime thriller, "Lips Like Sugar." (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.