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Thursday, November 9, 2023

News outlets deny a misleading report about the Hamas attack, Vice takes another slice out of news, G/O Media shuts down Jezebel amid broader restructuring, Fox Corp. appoints a new top lawyer, NewsNation nabs a debate with Megyn Kelly, SAG-AFTRA readies to release details of its tentative deal with the studios, and more. But first, the A1.

THE A1

Murdoch's Succession Moment

CNN Photo Illustration/Victoria Jones/PA Images/Getty Images

Rupert Murdoch's time is almost up. His time as chairman of his powerful media companies, Fox Corporation and News Corporation, that is.

Next week, Murdoch is stepping aside, setting into motion the previously announced and highly-anticipated succession plan that will have him transition to chairman emeritus status. Next week also happens to be when Brian Stelter is launching his new book, "Network of Lies," with Murdoch's face on the cover.

I obtained an early copy of the book, much of which, naturally, focuses on

the right-wing media titan. Here are a few sneak peeks at Stelter's months-long reporting effort on the longtime Republican kingmaker:

► On the future of Murdoch's businesses: Stelter reports that Murdoch's new position as chairman emeritus "was the ultimate signal that he wanted" his son Lachlan to be left in charge. Now, to dethrone Lachlan, "James would have to get two siblings who know their late father's wishes to completely ignore those wishes," an insider noted to Stelter. But, of course, the carefully planned succession doesn't rule out a fight over Fox News when Murdoch passes. As one source said to Stelter, "Rupert's death will change politics more than Trump's descent down the escalator."

► On Lachlan's management style: Stelter describes Lachlan, who has spent a considerable amount of time in Australia, as a landlord who is "often several time zones away" from his properties and "dependent on the property managers to keep tabs on things." In terms of management style, Stelter quotes an insider who told him, "Lachlan is protecting profits and minimizing headaches."

► On Murdoch's view of Donald Trump: In the book, Stelter reports that Murdoch recalled Trump once told him, "You're 90 percent good. That's not enough. I need you 100 percent." Murdoch claimed he replied, "Well, you can't have it." Stelter writes extensively on how Murdoch harbored feelings of strong disdain for the disgraced former president. One Murdoch family friend told Stelter, the billionaire media mogul "hates Trump" and "can't believe we're going to end up back with Trump."

► On the impact of Murdoch's new role: Stelter writes that Murdoch's transition to chairman emeritus means "that the loudest Trump critic inside Fox had shifted into a lower, less influential gear." And, Stelter continues, "Lachlan, his chosen successor, cared more about campaign ad spending at his stations than antidemocratic conduct by his favorite candidate. Maybe Fox would now be '100 percent good' as Trump faced four criminal cases."

► You heard it here first: Stelter will make his first appearance back on CNN since signing off in 2022. He is slated to be a guest on "The Source with Kaitlan Collins" Friday night.

——— BELOW THE FOLD ———

CNN Photo Illustration/Fatima Shbair/AP

Shooting Down a Smear: Four news outlets strongly denied on Thursday having had prior knowledge of Hamas' Oct. 7 terror attack, after the Israeli government demanded answers from the press and stoked questions about their credibility over a thinly sourced report from an agenda-driven group that insinuated news organizations knew about the looming assault. The Associated Press, Reuters, The New York Times, and CNN all swiftly issued statements strongly pushing back against the report from the staunchly pro-Israel media watchdog, HonestReporting, that claimed photographers for the news outlets were present during the initial attack. Two of the outlets, the AP and CNN, however, said they had severed ties with the freelance photographer Hassan Eslaiah after he was identified in the report as having been present with Hamas militants during the heinous attack on the Jewish state. Here's my full story.

► The AP's David Bauder reported that by Thursday evening HonestReporting's executive director "admitted ... the group had no evidence" to back up the assertion journalists were in cahoots with Hamas and "said he was satisfied with subsequent explanations from several of these journalists that they did not know" about the attack in advance.

► Nevertheless, the damage had already been done. The Israeli government, led by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who has been combative with the press, used HonestReporting's story to give credence to the false notion that newsrooms were aware of the terror attack prior to it taking place. "These journalists were accomplices in crimes against humanity; their actions were contrary to professional ethics," the PM's office said. A member of Israel's war cabinet, Benny Gantz, added, "Journalists found to have known about the massacre, and still chose to stand as idle bystanders while children were slaughtered - are no different than terrorists and should be treated as such."

► The Committee to Protect Journalists denounced the rhetoric, warning it could put media workers in harm's way. "Attempts to smear, delegitimize and criminalize journalists who are doing their job, are outrageous and irresponsible, and they put journalists at further risk," Gypsy Guillén Kaiser, CPJ's advocacy and communications director, said in a statement. "Targeting journalists with disinformation only endangers them."

IN THE WAR-ZONE

Meanwhile: "Pro-Palestinian demonstrators occupied the lobby of The New York Times on Thursday, accusing the media of betraying a bias toward Israel in its coverage of the Israel-Hamas war and demanding an immediate cease-fire in Gaza," Jake Offenhartz reports. (AP)
"More than 750 journalists from dozens of news organizations have signed an open letter published Thursday condemning Israel's killing of reporters in Gaza and criticizing Western media's coverage of the war," Laura Wagner and Will Sommer report. (WaPo)
"The Israel-Hamas war is taking an unprecedented and deadly toll on journalists," Astha Rajvanshi reports. (TIME)
"Palestinian journalists say they face rolling blackouts, spotty communications, daily trauma and constant airstrikes while covering the bombardment of the streets and neighborhoods where they grew up," Omar Abdel-Baqui reports. (WSJ)

THE INDUSTRY

CNN Photo Illustration/Mario Tama/Getty Images

Vice Makes Another Slice: "Vice Media, the one-time digital media darling that has seen its value and influence greatly diminish in recent years, moved on Thursday to further hollow out its once prestigious news division, shutting down several shows and laying off dozens of staffers," CNN's Liam Reilly reported. It wasn't clear which specific shows would be shut down, but a person familiar with the matter told Reilly that "less than 100" staffers would be laid off as a result of the cost cutting. Read Reilly's full story here.

🔎 Zooming in: Vice bosses Bruce Dixon and Hozefa Lokhandwala insisted that "Vice News is not going away." But a former senior Vice employee, who spoke on the condition of anonymity, described the cuts in brutal terms to me, saying that the notion the company is still committed to news is simply "not true" and that "it's all a facade."

THE FOURTH ESTATE

✂️ Cuts, cuts, and more cuts: Jezebel, the punchy feminist blog with an outsized influence on internet culture, has shut down and laid off its entire staff as parent G/O Media implements restructuring across its portfolio of digital news outlets. (CNN)
Dozens of Condé Nast union members marched to chief executive Roger Lynch's office on Wednesday to deliver a petition protesting the announced job cuts. (Instagram)
Hearst has asked all staff to report their colleagues' "controversial" social media posts to the company's HR department, which could result in termination, Will Sommer reports. (WaPo)
"In private meetings, both [Jeff] Bezos and Patty Stonesifer, the interim C.E.O. who led the executive search, have intimated that [Executive Editor Sally Buzbee's] future at the paper is an open question," Dylan Byers reports. New boss William Lewis has said he is "100 percent" committed to Buzbee. (Puck)
KTUL, the Sinclair-owned ABC affiliate in Tulsa, announced that all news the station airs will be produced out of Oklahoma City. (Tulsa World)

IN THE MARKET

Verizon "is planning to offer the ad-supported versions of both Netflix and Warner Bros. Discovery's Max streaming services for about $10 a month combined instead of about $17," Jessica Toonkel and Patience Haggin report, citing sources. (WSJ)
Vince McMahon will sell 8.4 million shares in TKO, valued at more than $700 million, Alex Weprin reports, adding Ari Emanuel was expected to buy a chunk. (THR)

MEDIA MOVES

Fox Corporation named Adam Ciongoli as its chief legal officer. (THR)
The NYT hired Alissa Wilkinson as a critic covering movies. Yan Zhuang and John Yoon joined The NYT's breaking news hub in Seoul. (NYT/NYT)

THE INFO WARS

CNN Photo Illustration/Mandel Ngan/AFP/Getty Images

Nonsense on NBC: "It was unavoidable from the moment that NBC News agreed to host the third Republican presidential debate on Wednesday night that it would be a conduit for misinformation," The WaPo's Philip Bump wrote Thursday. Bump acknowledged the network's position "was not helped" by its right-wing media partners, Salem Radio and Rumble, two companies that have histories pushing extremist rhetoric. But, Bump noted that the rhetoric used by the GOP candidates was also rife with "misinformation piped from right-wing media." And, Bump argued, by airing such claims, NBC was "a conduit for those claims," a reality he described as "inevitable from the moment it agreed to host the debate." Read the full piece here.

IN THE BATTLEFIELD

"Although the three moderators did try to preside over a dignified, issue-focused discussion, this in itself revealed them as out of touch with the prevailing trends in Republican politics," Justin Peters writes. (Slate)
"NBC said that [an] average of 7.51 million viewers watched the third Republican debate Wednesday night across the broadcast network, streaming and digital, marking a drop from the previous two GOP debates this cycle," Ted Johnson reports. (Deadline)
A fourth GOP debate, slated for Dec. 6, will be hosted by NewsNation. It will be moderated by former Fox News anchor-turned-right-wing podcaster Megyn Kelly, NewsNation anchor Elizabeth Vargas, and Free Beacon Editor-In-Chief Eliana Johnson. (NYT)
The fourth debate is also being streamed online by Rumble, the right-wing video sharing platform that has become a haven for extremism. (WaPo)
Switching gears: Hunter Walker and Josh Kovensky report that Roger Stone used a Telegram channel to gin up harassment against The Daily Beast's Zachary Petrizzo: "Please feel free to email this little jerk off right now and tell him what a complete piece of s**t he is." (TPM)
Steve Bannon's "War Room" is the seat of an undertaking known as Project 2025, which is anticipating policy and personnel for a Republican White House following 2024's election, John Knefel reports. (MMFA)
The Trevor Project, a suicide prevention group for LGBTQ+ youth, announced it is exiting Elon Musk's social media platform X, citing "increasing hate & vitriol on the platform targeting the LGBTQ community — the group we exist to serve." (CNN)

THE VALLEY

CNN Photo Illustration/Pavlo Gonchar / SOPA Images/Sipa USA/AP

Briefly Blocking the Bot: Microsoft and OpenAI are close partners in the A.I. space. But on Thursday the Windows-maker temporarily restricted employees from using ChatGPT, citing "security and data concerns," CNBC's Jordan Novet reported. Microsoft later said that the brief restriction was an "error" and that access to the app was restored. Regardless, the incident drew a lot of attention, with OpenAI boss Sam Altman personally smacking down rumors the company had started blocking Microsoft 365 "in retaliation." Read Novet's full story here.

TOO MANY TABS

More pressure on TikTok: Rep. Josh Gottheimer called on the Justice Department to register TikTok as a foreign agent. (The Hill)
An E.U. tribunal will review the $14-billion tax order that Apple is trying to avoid. (Reuters)
The E.U. also gave YouTube and TikTok until November 30 to detail their child protection measures. (Reuters)
OpenAI said recent outages users trying to work with ChatGPT were caused by a targeted attack. (CNBC)
Drew Harwell writes that OnlyFans empires have helped usher in a new American Dream. (WaPo)
Steve Wozniak, who, alongside Steve Jobs, co-founded Apple, is in the hospital in Mexico City. (CNN)

CURTAIN CALL

CNN Photo Illustration/David Livingston/Getty Images

Lights, Camera, Back to Action: The SAG-AFTRA board will meet Friday to vote on whether to send the tentative agreement ending their strike against the studios to its full membership base for ratification. At a 4pm ET press conference afterward, union leadership will also unveil specific details of the tentative agreement, offering the public its first real look at the deal the actors' union negotiated with the AMPTP. While the ratification process plays out, SAG-AFTRA notified its members that "effective immediately" they "should fulfill their contractual obligations and return to work." TheWrap's Jeremy Fuster has more.

HOLLYWOOD HEALING

"The A.I. protections are really focused on informed consent and fair compensation," Duncan Crabtree-Ireland told CNN's Poppy Harlow and Phil Mattingly. (CNN)
Fran Drescher told CNN's Kate Bolduan that the contract "broke so much ground" and that the union's lowest paid members "got an unbelievable deal." (CNN)
"The SAG-AFTRA strike is over, but few expect Hollywood to quickly bounce back," Meg James, Wendy Lee, and Christi Carras reported. (LAT)
"Even before the strikes, entertainment companies were cutting back on the number of television shows they ordered, a result of severe pressure from Wall Street to turn money-losing streaming services into profitable businesses," Brooks Barnes, John Koblin, and Nicole Sperling noted. (NYT)
Late night is already feeling the impact of the deal: "NBC has adjusted its guests for Friday night's 'The Tonight Show' with Marvel stars Tom Hiddleston and Brie Larson being added at the last minute," Peter White reports. (Deadline)

OFF STAGE

Disney has delayed "Deadpool 3" to July 2024 and "Captain America 4" to February 2025. (TheWrap)
Britney Spears' memoir, "The Woman in Me," remained the top-selling book in the U.S. for a second week in a row. (AP)
Beyoncé released the trailer to her highly anticipated "Rennaissance" concert film. (YouTube)
The cost of animated films will be cut by some 90% thanks to A.I., DreamWorks co-founder Jeff Katzenberg said during a Bloomberg New Economy panel. (Bloomberg)
A judge ruled that rapper Young Thug's lyrics can be used as evidence in his RICO trial. (NYT)
Pixar dropped the trailer for "Inside Out 2." (YouTube)
AppleTV+ dropped the trailer for its upcoming series, "Masters of the Air." (YouTube)
The first episode of Trevor Noah's weekly Spotify podcast, titled "What Now? With Trevor Noah," was posted Thursday. (THR)
"The Super Mario Bros. Movie" hits Netflix on Dec. 3. (TheWrap)
"Star Trek: Prodigy" will also land on Netflix on Dec. 25. (Variety)
Frank Ocean shared a one-minute teaser of a new song. (Pitchfork)

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. You can follow us on Instagram, Threads, and LinkedIn. We will see you back in your inbox next week.