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Tuesday, January 02, 2024

Welcome to a new year! It's good to be with you again after a brief break. We've already got plenty to cover! Scroll down for what William Lewis told The WaPo staffers on his first day on the job, news of layoffs at Jimmy Finkelstein's The Messenger, how Donald Trump is snubbing CNN's Iowa debate with help from Fox News, details on Fidelity's slashing of X's valuation, and Mickey Mouse's new house of horrors. But first, the A1.

THE A1

Questions for 2024

CNN Photo Illustration/Lokman Vural Elibol/Anadolu/Getty Images

A great deal can occur within the confines of 365 days — and 2024, in particular, promises to feed us an abundant set of hefty courses to chew on.

The media industry remains enveloped in a transformative and especially disruptive period, technology titans are grappling with the rapid and unsettling rise of artificial intelligence, and the much-anticipated — or, perhaps, much-dreaded — 2024 presidential election is on the menu, offering up a plate full of stomach-turning issues for the American public to digest.

It's in that spirit that we thought it fitting to offer a look at some of the most pressing and consequential questions confronting the media industry and its leaders. So, without further ado, here is our non-exhaustive list of questions for the year ahead:

► Will news organizations supply the public with essential and uncompromising coverage of anti-democratic candidates, such as Donald Trump? Or will the urge to pacify "both sides" cloud stories ahead of the once-in-a-lifetime election?

► Will Fox News settle with Smartmatic? Or will the right-wing channel find itself continuing to answer for its dishonest 2020 coverage amid the 2024 election? And if it does back down, will the cost exceed the already historic settlement it struck with Dominion Voting Systems?

► What will Mark Thompson do to set up CNN for the future? Will he find a way to expand the news outlet's digital portfolio while also restoring the channel's lackluster ratings and overall reach?

► Will William Lewis find a way to restore morale and turn around the sagging revenue and subscriptions at The Washington Post?

► Will The New York Times ever hire a new media columnist?

► What will become of some of the splashy upstart digital news organizations that launched in recent years, such as Semafor and The Messenger?

► Will a court find Catherine Herridge in contempt for refusing to reveal the source(s) she relied on for a years old story? Will Congress pass the PRESS Act, offering journalists federal protections from being forced to reveal their sources?

► Will Shari Redstone find a suitor for Paramount? Perhaps Warner Bros. Discovery? Or will WBD look elsewhere, maybe NBCUniversal, for M&A opportunities?

► Will David Zaslav find a way to breathe some life into WBD's stock? Or will it continue to hover around $10-12 a share?

► How will Bob Iger renovate the House of Mouse? Will he offload some of Disney's linear assets? What details will he offer on ESPN's direct to consumer offering, which is expected to launch in 2025?

► Will Disney and WBD strike new deals with the NBA and retain their lucrative broadcasting rights?

► Will Nelson Peltz get his board seats and end his proxy fight with Disney?

► After hiking the prices of streaming services, will the major streamers join forces in a cable-esque bundle in hopes of staving off cancelations?

► What avenues will Big Tech find to wade further into the live sports arena?

► Will the box office continue to fly even higher in the wake of the pandemic, or will it take a hit after the historic strikes that brought Hollywood to a halt?

► When will the muted advertising market make a full recovery?

► Will governments put into place any meaningful regulations around A.I. to safeguard society from the potentially dangerous technology? Or will elected officials continue to fail the public in governing the technology space?

► What will become of The NYT's lawsuit against OpenAI?

► Will businesses, organizations, and notable public figures finally wake up to the ugly reality of Elon Musk's X and ditch the imperiled social media platform? Will brands ignore the site's embrace of conspiratorial and hateful speech and quietly resume advertising on the site? Will Linda Yaccarino survive? Will X itself make it through the year?

► Will Threads supplant X as the go-to destination for real-time information and conversation? Or will it flounder?

► Will TikTok finally iron out an agreement with the U.S. government to operate in the country? What will become of all the lawsuits filed against the company by various states?

► Will TikTok Shop eat into Amazon's dominant e-commerce business in a substantial way? Or will the Jeff Bezos-founded website remain unscathed?

► Will Apple Vision Pro revolutionize media and tech? Or will consumers reject the pricey headset?

► Will Taylor Swift reign supreme as the world's main character? Or will someone else take her place?

► And an evergreen question we ask every year: What's the biggest unknown in the media and tech business that no one is even thinking about right now?

——— BELOW THE FOLD ———

CNN Photo Illustration/Carlotta Cardana/Bloomberg/Getty Images

First in Reliable | Lewis Takes His Post: The new year brings a new leader for The WaPo, which has seen employee morale decline considerably in recent months. William Lewis officially took over as chief executive and publisher of the newspaper on Tuesday, acknowledging in an afternoon memo to staffers that it has been "a challenging few years" for the storied publication. According to a copy of the memo I obtained, Lewis nodded to the "impact" the recent round of buyouts had on employees, telling his troops, "I appreciate this is day one of coming to work and seeing empty desks where colleagues previously sat."

But Lewis invited staffers to join him in "this next phase of The Post," calling the newspaper "one of the most important institutions in America" and saying the entire workforce is committed "to truth, democracy, and holding the powerful to account." Lewis said that as he looks ahead, he will begin "with an initial phase of listening and info gathering," which he vowed to execute quickly. "After that, I will outline a plan with priorities and measurable goals," Lewis wrote. "We will fix what's broken and get ourselves in shape to build and scale our business. It won't always be easy, but it will be worth it. And I want you to know that I will always level with you and I ask that you do the same with me."

THE INDUSTRY

THE FOURTH ESTATE

That was quick! Richard Beckman, who helmed The Messenger as president since its official May 15 launch, announced he will part ways with the struggling news publisher, Justin Baragona reports. (Daily Beast)
News of Beckman's departure came as The Messenger prepares to slash its workforce by some two dozen employees, Ben Mullin reports. (NYT)
Chaos at Cheddar: Days after Altice USA sold the financial news focused outlet to Archetype, Cheddar furloughed an unknown portion of its staff, Mullin reports. In a note to staffers, Cheddar cited "unforeseen internal and external factors." The outlet has not publicly commented. (NYT)
The student-run Harvard Crimson notably was the first outlet to report that embattled president, Dr. Claudine Gay, had resigned. (Crimson)
ESPN is sorry. The sports broadcaster apologized after it aired footage during the Sugar Bowl of a woman flashing her breast: "We regret that this happened and apologize that the video aired in the telecast." (AP)

IN THE MARKET

AMC Theatres disclosed in a SEC filing that it sold millions in stock to help pay down its debt load. (THR)
"Beyoncé, Jay-Z, and Jeff Bezos purchased some of the country's most expensive homes in 2023," E.B. Solomont reports. (WSJ)

MEDIA MOVES

The New Republic hired Greg Sargent as a staff writer. (POLITICO)
Quartz named Dan Hirschhorn its editor-in-chief. (TBN)
First in Reliable | The WSJ hired Ben C. Solomon as a senior video correspondent.
Fortune hired Jason Del Rey as a technology reporter. (TBN)
Bloomberg Opinion hired Patricia Lopez as a columnist. (TBN)
The NYT announced Mike Rosenwald will join the obituaries desk in February; promoted Maggie Adams to strategy and operations deputy for Express and Live; and named Laura Kim deputy for strategy and operations for international. (NYT/NYT/NYT)

THE INFO WARS

CNN Photo Illustration/Octavio Jones/Reuters

Donald's Debate Dodge: Donald Trump is sticking with his plan to eschew the GOP debates – at least, for now. The disgraced former president will skip next week's CNN Iowa debate at Drake University — which only he, Ron DeSantis, and Nikki Haley qualified for. Instead, Trump will participate in another Fox News town hall, this one moderated by Bret Baier and Martha MacCallum. Trump's decision to keep snubbing the GOP face-offs is starting to earn him more criticism from rivals. Haley said it's time for him to show up and noted that with the field condensing, "it's getting harder for Donald Trump to hide." Meanwhile, a DeSantis spokesperson said in a statement that Trump "is scared to get on the stage" and explain his record. POLITICO's Kelly Garrity has more here.

IN THE BATTLEFIELD

Vivek Ramaswamy tried to save face in a vitriolic tweet by saying that he would pass on CNN's GOP Iowa debate — though he wasn't invited in the first place, having failed to meet the qualification requirements. Despite slamming the network, it looks like he sourced a lot of the information in his tweet from this newsletter. Hello, Vivek! (Mediaite)
Boris Sanchez showed how its done, asking Maine's GOP chair seven times to offer up a substantive explanation for why he believes the decision to remove Donald Trump from the state's ballot was legally incorrect. Suffice to say, Sanchez didn't get an answer. (Mediaite)
Matt Gertz: "In 2024, expect Fox News to return to form as Trump's personal propaganda outlet." (MMFA)
On the topic of Trump propagandists: Sean Hannity announced he is leaving New York for good, setting up shop in Florida: "I am out. I am done. I'm finished. New York, New York. Goodbye." (Daily Mail)

THE VALLEY

CNN Photo Illustration/Guglielmo Mangiapane/Reuters

The Shrinking X: The year might have changed, but the troubles at Elon Musk's X have very much carried over into 2024. The investment firm Fidelity yet again gave a haircut to its valuation of X in its latest securities filing. Fidelity disclosed that it now estimates the struggling social media company is worth 71.5% less than when Musk bought the platform in 2022. It goes without saying that there is a long list of reasons why X's value has shrunk — and they can almost all be traced directly back to Musk's destructive behavior. CNN's Brian Fung has more here.

TOO MANY TABS

X has added headlines back to article links, but the font is so small you may not have noticed it. (The Verge)
In his year-end report, Supreme Court Chief Justice John Roberts shared his thoughts on the use of A.I. within the federal courts, warning the tech is "dehumanizing the law." (CNN)
Google settled a $5 billion class action lawsuit that alleged the tech giant had tracked users using its private "incognito" mode. (AP)
Apple's latest patent offered up some ideas on what the external screen on Vision Pro might be able to display. (The Verge)

CURTAIN CALL

CNN Photo Illustration/Disney/AP

Mouse Out of the House: The mouse is out of Disney's house — and apparently moving into one of horrors. The Magic Kingdom's copyright on the iconic Mickey Mouse character, created by Walt Disney, expired in the new year. That's because U.S. law only allows copyright to be held for 95 years after publication and Mickey first debuted in "Steamboat Willie" in 1928. Immediately upon the copyright lapsing, two horror films starring the famed mouse were announced. "The mouse is out," declared the trailer for one of the films, the Jamie Bailey-directed "Mickey's Mouse Trap." CNN's Samantha Delouya has more here.

OFF STAGE

Richard Rushfield wrote up 10 resolutions for Hollywood to attempt in 2024. (Ankler)
The holiday season, led by "Wonka," helped the 2023 domestic box office pass the $9-billion mark. (TheWrap)
Powered by major hits such as "The Super Mario Bros. Movie" and "Oppenheimer," Universal overtook the once dominant Disney as 2023's highest grossing studio. (Variety)
Jack Black has joined the cast of the "Minecraft" movie, which will also star Jason Momoa. (Variety)
Apple TV+ renewed its Gary Oldman-led espionage thriller "Slow Horses" for a fifth season. (TheWrap)
Rapper Young Thug's racketeering and gang conspiracy trial resumed after several weeks of delay. (Pitchfork)
Carrie Bernans, an actress and stuntwoman known for her work in "The Color Purple" and "Black Panther," was critically injured during an alleged hit-and-run on NYE in Manhattan. (Deadline)
RIP: Ana Ofelia Murguía, the actress who voiced Mama Coco in Pixar's 2017 animated film "Coco," has died at 90. (THR)

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 tomorrow.