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Wednesday, October 25, 2023

Al Jazeera grieves, House Republicans elect a hardline Speaker, Ari Emanuel announces Endeavor will evaluate whether to sell assets, Meta posts strong earnings report, Threads nears 100M monthly users, NBC News reveals GOP debate moderators, SAG-AFTRA delays meeting with studios, and more. But first, the A1.

THE A1

Massacre in Maine

CNN Photo Illustration/Robert F. Bukaty/AP

America's newsrooms are — yet again — being forced to confront a familiar and unrelenting evil.

Special reports. Banner headlines. Push alerts. They were all activated Wednesday night as news organizations found themselves suddenly tasked with covering the monstrous sickness of mass shootings that continue to plague American society, resulting in staggering losses of innocent life.

Coverage of both the Israel-Hamas war and the new election-denying Speaker of the House was swiftly supplanted with rolling images of a prime time manhunt after a suspect opened fire in multiple locations in the small town of Lewiston, Maine.

"We have some breaking news to report," Chris Hayes said on MSNBC following a segment on the war in the Middle East, adding to viewers that "it is our understanding the situation is serious."

It quickly became apparent just how serious the situation was. CNN's chief law enforcement analyst John Miller raced to air, telling Kaitlan Collins at the top of the 9pm ET hour that at least 16 people had been killed, with many dozens more wounded.

That gruesome death toll, unfortunately, kept growing. It currently stands at 22 fatalities, with scores more wounded, according to officials. But the number is expected to continue swelling in the hours ahead.

As the scale of the violence became more clear, television news outlets adjusted their programming. ABC News broke into regular programming with a special report. MSNBC dipped into coverage from its local affiliate. And Fox News pre-empted Greg Gutfeld's right-wing comedy show for breaking updates.

All the while, authorities hunted the suspect, enlisting the news media in their efforts. Police released multiple images of the alleged gunman, asking the public for help identifying him. The photographs were chilling, showing a middle-aged man carrying an assault-style weapon.

News organizations usually resist airing images and even the names of the gunman who carry out sickening acts of violence. The worry is always that doing so will make celebrities out of mass shooters, potentially inspiring others to mirror their inhumanity and stage similar acts of barbarism. But in this case, with the suspect at large, the reverse was true.

Images of the alleged gunman were plastered everywhere. The name of the person of interest were spread far and wide. And, as a result, millions of Americans will become familiar with him, the unsettling pictures of another gun-wielding man seared into the national consciousness.

Weeks after seeing disturbing images of Hamas terrorists gunning down and slaughtering innocents in Israel, the cameras will now be trained on a reprehensible act of violence here at home. A weapon of war used to intentionally and indiscriminately gun down civilians in a senseless atrocity.

MASS SHOOTING MAINE

The banner headline on the homepage of the Portland Press Herald: "LEWISTON IN LOCKDOWN." (Press Herald)
Drudge Report: "SLAUGHTER AT BOWLING ALLEY." (DRUDGE)
CNN said Laura Coates would stay on the air with live coverage until at least 2am ET; MSNBC said Stephanie Ruhle would remain live until at least 2am; and Fox News said Trace Gallagher would be live until at least 1am ET.
Newsmax once again showed that the word "news" doesn't belong in its name: The right-wing cable channel ignored the violence and stuck with taped programming in prime time.

——— BELOW THE FOLD ———

CNN Photo Illustration/Ashraf Amra/Anadolu/Getty Images

Grief in Gaza: Al Jazeera is grieving. The Qatari-funded news network said Wednesday that an Israeli air strike had killed the family of its Gaza bureau chief, Wael Al-Dahdouh — a devastating reality that Dahdouh learned on-air while reporting on the Israel-Hamas war.

"The Al Jazeera Media Network extends its sincere condolences and sympathy to our colleague Wael Al-Dahdouh on the loss of his family in an Israeli airstrike," the channel said in a statement, adding that it is "deeply concerned about the safety, and well-being of our colleagues in Gaza and hold the Israeli authorities responsible for their security."

It should be stressed that CNN could not independently confirm the cause of the blast. It has been exceptionally challenging for news organizations to obtain accurate, real-time information during the conflict in the Gaza Strip. But a spokesperson for the Israel Defense Force told me Wednesday night, "Regarding this specific case, the IDF targeted Hamas terrorist infrastructure in the area."

Regardless of the cause, the deaths of Dahdouh's wife, daughter, son, and grandson underscore the ongoing humanitarian crisis in Gaza as innocent civilians find themselves caught in the middle of a brutal war between Israel and Hamas. Like many others, Dahdouh's family was reportedly sheltering in a refugee camp when a blast reduced a house on the property to rubble.

The distraught look on Dahdouh's face as he walked into the morgue on Wednesday to view the bodies of his family — a heart-wrenching moment broadcast by Al Jazeera to the world — was reflective of what scores of Gaza residents have been going through as Israel carries out air strikes in retaliation for Hamas' savage attack on the Jewish state earlier this month. Thousands of people living in Gaza have lost their lives since the onset of the war, according to the Hamas-controlled health authorities.

Dahdouh, overcome with emotion, was seen kneeling before the body of his 15-year-old son, Mahmoud, who Al Jazeera reported had hoped to grow up to become a journalist like his father. Additional footage showed the shattered father holding the body of his seven-year-old daughter.

Dahdouh's visible pain, and unimaginable grief, offered the world a glimpse of the horrors taking place each day in Gaza amid the ongoing conflict. Western news organizations do not have correspondents on the ground inside the narrow and densely populated strip that millions call home. As a result, global audiences often see sanitized video of the air strikes from afar, not the immense human suffering that those strikes give way to.

Al Jazeera correspondent Youmna Elsayed, described Dahdouh as a "big brother" type figure in the bureau, stressing too that he was committed to staying in the region and reporting on the war.

"He didn't leave Gaza City," Elsayed said. "He stayed despite all the threats and warnings and didn't stop for 19 days in a row. He said, 'I must be here in Gaza City to report about these people who are getting bombed every day.'"

"He didn't give up on them," Elsayed added. "He didn't want to leave."

CNN's Correction: CNN has issued a correction to its story published last week reporting on the Gaza hospital explosion, joining the BBC and The NYT in conceding mistakes in early coverage of the blast. The correction, which came after the outlet initially declined to comment on the matter, acknowledged that an early iteration of the story declared Israel to be responsible for the blast, a claim that the network made at the outset without attribution to any third party. The mea culpas from some of the world's biggest news organizations highlight the paramount challenge that journalists are facing as they race to confirm high-stakes claims made by questionable sources. Mediaite's Ken Meyer has more here.

► "This article on the Gaza hospital blast initially did not clearly attribute claims about Israel's responsibility to the Hamas-controlled Ministry of Health in Gaza," the correction said. "Israel later said a 'misfired' rocket by militant group Islamic Jihad caused the blast and produced evidence to support its claim. US President Joe Biden said the Israeli position is backed by US intelligence. CNN's forensic analysis of images and videos suggests a rocket fired from within Gaza caused the blast, not an Israeli airstrike."

ISRAEL AT WAR

Secretary of State Antony Blinken "told a group of American Jewish community leaders on Monday that he asked the Qatari prime minister less than two weeks ago to tone down Al Jazeera's rhetoric about the war in Gaza," Barak Ravid reported. (Axios)
Brian Stelter described four challenges of war coverage — "dangerous conditions, factual disputes, distortions and disinformation" — and cited how Clarissa Ward's work has been twisted by trolls. (THR)
"Don't blame social media for the fog of war," Peter Kafka writes, saying the platforms "aren't entirely to blame for misinformation around the Israel-Hamas conflict." (Vox)
Tom Bennett writes about how journalists in Gaza have "turned to radios and generators to keep the news moving." (WIRED)
"Tents in a hospital courtyard have become their newsroom by day and dormitory at night," writes Khan Yunis. "Some work for local media outlets and others for international news organisations. But all suffer the same ordeal as they try to do their jobs amid the violence and suffering caused by the Israel-Hamas war." (AFP)

THE INDUSTRY

THE FOURTH ESTATE

Jeff Bezos is in the final stretch of deciding who to crown as The WaPo's next chief executive, Dylan Byers reports. Per Byers, Bezos "is expected to make his selection in a matter of days." (Puck)
Byers also reported that Chris Licht's former CNN communications chief, Kris Coratti Kelly, will head up a New York office for Invariant, a PR firm founded by Heather Podesta. (Puck)

IN THE MARKET

Ari Emanuel said Wednesday that Endeavor will undergo "a formal review to evaluate" whether it should sell some of its assets. "Given the continued dislocation between Endeavor's public market value and the intrinsic value of Endeavor's underlying assets, we believe an evaluation of strategic alternatives is a prudent approach to ensure we are maximizing value for our shareholders," Emanuel said. (CNN)
Apple raised the price tag on its monthly TV streaming service by 30% — to $9.99 from $6.99 — while also raising subscription fees on several other offerings. (The Verge)
SiriusXM inked a renewal deal with Fox News. (Talkers)

MEDIA MOVES

Vox announced its editor in chief, Swati Sharma, will take on an expanded role as publisher, replacing Melissa Bell; Nisha Chittal was named chief of staff. (Vox)
The NYT hired Laura Stevens as a deputy technology editor. (NYT)
The Associated Press named Carlos Mureithi its Africa climate correspondent. (AP)

THE INFO WARS

CNN Photo Illustration/Alex Brandon/AP

Speaker of the Deniers: Surprise! House Republicans on Wednesday elected hardline conservative Louisiana Rep. Mike Johnson as Speaker after weeks of chaos. Johnson was a key figure in Donald Trump's failed and unprecedented attempts to overturn the 2020 election — an important fact that major news organizations, most notably CNN, prominently pointed out. It is also a fact that Johnson and Republicans would like to brush aside. When asked at a press conference about his past election subversion efforts, Johnson shook his head while his GOP colleagues jeered at the reporter. While Johnson may not enjoy fielding those questions, he certainly should. Johnson promoted lies about the legitimacy of the 2020 vote, peddling some of the very Dominion Voting Systems conspiracy theories that ultimately led to Fox News forking over a historic $787 million settlement. NY Mag's Jonathan Chait put it like this in the headline for his latest: "New House Republican Speaker Mike Johnson was the mastermind of the January 6 plot."

IN THE BATTLEFIELD

MSNBC's 8pm banner: "GOP ELECTS SPEAKER WHO HELPED BID TO STEAL ELECTION."
He's "not just a garden variety election denialist," Charlie Sykes pointed out, but "somebody who was in fact spreading the kinds of lies that cost Fox so much money, and that Jenna Ellis and Sidney Powell are now admitting in Georgia courtrooms were lies, were part of a criminal conspiracy to overturn the election." (MMFA)
Sean Hannity praised Johnson, but added, "I still would've liked Jim Jordan, but Hannity never gets his way. Nobody listens to Hannity and Hannity never gets his way in life." (MMFA)
Hannity will have the first television interview with Johnson, Fox News said in a press release Wednesday evening. The interview will air Thursday on his program.
NBC News officially said Lester Holt and Kristen Welker will moderate the third GOP debate with Salem Radio's Hugh Hewitt. The Peacock network is hosting the face-off with Salem, the right-wing media company that has a history promoting extreme political rhetoric. One of Salem's hosts, for instance, recently said Joe Biden should either be imprisoned or killed over supposed "crimes against America." (Deadline)
The right-wing outlet, The Blaze has rebranded to Blaze Media. The site has ditched "big tech" advertisements to "avoid the censorship," opting instead for a $5 per month subscription model. The company said it is the first in the right-wing online space to shift to such a model. (Variety)
Bret Baier "has come under fire for amplifying the voices of climate change doubters and renewable energy critics," Maxine Joselow reports. "But parts of his D.C. mansion are covered in solar arrays." (WaPo)

THE VALLEY

CNN Photo Illustration/David Paul Morris/Bloomberg/Getty Images

Meta's Might: Meta's stock surged more than 4% in after-hours trading Wednesday after the company reported better-than-expected Q3 earnings. Meta saw an incredible rebound of its digital advertising business, with revenue increasing a healthy 23% to more than $34 billion. The company also doubled year-over-year profits. Meta told investors that it has now "substantially completed" the restructuring it had announced last year. Speaking to investors on the earnings call, Mark Zuckerberg said that A.I. will be the company's "biggest investment area in 2024, both in engineering and compute resources." CNN's Clare Duffy has more here.

TOO MANY TABS

Mark Zuckerberg announced on the earnings call that Threads has "just under" 100 million monthly users, Alex Heath reports. Zuckerberg said he is "very happy with the trajectory" of the X competitor, which is on track to hit its 1 billion user goal "if we keep at this for a few more years." (Threads)
Already, however, Threads is generating more engagement for some news publishers than X, despite the platform's smaller user base, according to an analysis from the Boston Globe's Matthew Karolian. (Threads)
"The banks that financed Elon Musk's $44 billion purchase of Twitter are still struggling a year later to contain the damage to their balance sheets," Alexander Saeedy and Cara Lombardo report. (WSJ)
Musk has made the social media platform "smaller in almost every way," Aisha Counts writes, arguing that it is "rapidly losing its relevance as a lively source of real-time information and debate." (Bloomberg)
Microsoft is raising capital for A.I. at a faster rate than rival Alphabet, sparking investor concerns that Google's parent could lag in the cloud-computing market race, Aditya Soni and Krystal Hu report. (Reuters)
Paresh Dave explains the five core features at the heart of 42 states' lawsuits against Instagram that allege the platform is addictive for children. (Wired)
Amanda Mull has an excellent story about the perils of TikTok Shop and how the company's "experiment in shopping" has "quickly become another place to hawk products." (The Atlantic)
TikTok is heading into the real world, hosting a concert with Cardi B and Charlie Puth. It's the "natural progression to the company's seismic impact on the music industry," Mia Sato writes. (The Verge)
To make the event happen, TikTok has partnered with Tickets.com for ticket sales. (TechCrunch)

CURTAIN CALL

CNN Photo Illutration/John Nacion/Getty Images

SAG Delays Discussions: The striking actors and major Hollywood studios delayed a scheduled Wednesday meeting until Thursday to give the union more time to respond to the AMPTP's latest offer. The talks this week are the first since negotiations were suspended earlier this month over key differences that led to the more than 100-day strike. Variety's Gene Maddaus reported Wednesday that the studios had sweetened their offer, improving on minimum rates and bonuses for the most-watched streaming shows. But, Maddaus added, the studios had notably not offered a sliver of total streaming revenue, which had led to the talks breaking down. "Though the two sides continue to negotiate," Maddaus wrote, "there remains frustration on both sides that more progress has not been made." Read Maddaus' fulls story here.

OFF STAGE

France's Musée Grévin called the white-washing of its Dwayne Johnson wax figure an "honest mistake." (THR)
Fewer than 35% of television jobs went to diverse writers in 2022, the Writers Guild of Canada found. (THR)
Nicki Minaj postponed her upcoming album "Pink Friday 2," yet again. (Pitchfork)
A spokesperson for Daft Punk denied rumors of a reunion during the Paris 2024 Olympic and Paralympic Games. (Pitchfork)
The domestic abuse trial of Jonathan Majors has been set for November 29. (TheWrap)
"The Bear" creator Christopher Storer have secured the rights to Sarah Harman's upcoming book "All the Other Mothers Hate Me" for a series on FX, Lesley Goldberg and Lacey Rose report. (THR)
Peter Morgan, the man behind Netflix's "The Crown," discusses the show's past — and possible future. (Variety)
The trailer for "Fargo" season five has dropped. (YouTube)
Amazon MGM Studios is working on a sequel to "Samaritan." (THR)
In India, the much-anticipated "Tiger 3" will occupy IMAX screens, blocking Disney's "The Marvels" from the coveted spot. (TheWrap)
RIP: Richard Roundtree, best known for playing the titular detective in "Shaft," has died at 81. (CNN)

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. You can follow us on Instagram and Threads. We will see you back in your inbox tomorrow.