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Monday, March 04, 2024

Media execs gather for the annual MSTMT conference, CNN completes its vacating of the CNN Center, MSNBC tries its hand at live events, Chris Cuomo defends his chat with a notorious conspiracy theorist, Elon Musk gets sued by Twitter's former top executives, and "Dune: Part Two" brings an intense sandstorm to theaters. But first, the A1.

THE A1

Tumultuous Times

CNN Photo Illustration/Spencer Platt/Getty Images

The New York Times is facing a sustained wave of backlash.

The Gray Lady has for several weeks been in the crosshairs of a vocal set of critics and readers who believe that Donald Trump poses a grave threat to American democracy and that the influential news organization isn't adequately conveying those stakes to the public. Criticism of The Times is nothing new, but as it appears with each passing day that Trump has a real shot of recapturing the White House, the expressions of disapproval have become particularly pronounced.

In the view of its critics, The Times has been far too distracted as of late by worries over President Joe Biden's age, allowing it to steal attention away from the larger and far more serious danger posed by a second Trump administration. Critics have also argued that The Times covers Biden and Trump with disproportionate standards, placing false equivalence on issues surrounding the current president to those of the former president, who is facing 91 criminal counts and fantasized about being a dictator on "day one."

The latest salvo in the now weeks-long stream of criticism against The Times burst into view over the weekend when the newspaper published a poll it conducted with Siena College that found a majority of Biden voters believe he is too old to be an effective president. That poll touched off a torrent of angry commentary directed at the outlet, with some readers even declaring on social media that they had decided to cancel their subscriptions.

"That they even asked this question is evidence of the bias — the agenda — in their poll," Jeff Jarvis, the Leonard Tow Professor of Journalism Innovation at the CUNY Craig Newmark Graduate School of Journalism, posted on Threads. "Who made age an 'issue'? The credulous Times falling into the right-wing's projection. This is not journalism. Shameful."

"NY Times, did you ask your random voters whether Trump is too insane, doddering, racist, sexist, criminal, traitorous, hateful to be effective as President?" Jarvis asked, adding, "This is not a poll. It is your agenda."

The Times is, of course, far from the only news organization that has faced criticism over how it has covered the 2024 race. But given the influence it casts over American journalism, and the fact that it serves as something of an avatar for the entire news media, it has found itself at the center of the storm.

Some of the complaints against The Times and other news organizations are certainly valid. At we have noted before, it is apparent that the U.S. media is still struggling immensely over how to cover Trump and the ongoing threats to American democracy. Years after Trump ascended to political power and started drowning the political discourse in dangerous lies and conspiracy theories, news executives remain confounded on the most effective approach to combat the deceit. CNN and MSNBC can't even seem to arrive at a firm policy over how to cover Trump's live remarks (at times, both networks have boasted about how they don't air his lie-filled speeches live, and at other times, such as on Monday, they both did just that).

To be fair, however, not all of the conundrums confronting newsrooms are easy to solve for. There is a mountain of thorny issues at the doorstep of outlets like The Times — and often there is no clear answer. For example, after the 2020 election, the conventional wisdom was that the press should largely ignore Trump's antics. Now, in the run up toward the election, that line of thinking has changed, with Biden campaign aides even privately encouraging newsrooms to place more of a spotlight on his unhinged behavior, various gaffes, and chilling vows to seek political retribution should he win in 2024.

Moreover, some of the more well-founded criticism against The Times has been misguided. For instance, when complaining about the poll The Times conducted with Siena College, some critics skewered the paper's sample size of 980 registered voters, ironically echoing complaints that Trump and his supporters have previously made against political polls. But as Harry Enten, CNN's senior data reporter, told me, such a sample size is "well within the norm" for a scientific poll. And The Times/Siena College poll, as Enten put it, is "one of the best in the business."

"People are upset today with the NYT because of…a poll?" Clara Jeffery, the editor-in-chief of the progressive Mother Jones news outlet, posted on Threads. "There's sometimes reasons to be upset at the NYT. There's reasons to doubt polling is still always/often accurate. But don't conflate these things."

A spokesperson for The Times on Monday stood by its polling and coverage, telling me that its "polling and associated reporting captures and conveys public sentiment at a given moment in time." The spokesperson also addressed the greater backlash the paper has received as of late.

"Our commitment to readers is to report on the world as it is, without fear or favor," the spokesperson said. "Anything less, or advocacy in favor of one candidate, would run directly against the practice of independent journalism."

Bill Carter, a media critic who spent the bulk of his career as a media reporter for The Times, suggested to me on Monday that the newspaper is, of course, imperfect. Carter conceded that "there are occasions when the paper's coverage seems less attuned to the changing realities of our political dynamic" and that "not enough is made of the fact that one side treats things like truth and science as opponents to be fought and denounced."

But Carter argued that The Times and other news organizations have thoroughly covered Trump's many scandals at length, devoting significant coverage to fact-checking his lies, highlighting his ugly comments on a wide range of subjects, and perhaps most importantly, spotlighting his anti-democratic behavior.

"There might be some point to the accusation that the media have not sufficiently rung the alarms to alert the nation to an existential threat to democracy," Carter said. "But if Democrats lose to Trump after all THAT coverage, the fault will not be in the media, but in themselves."

——— BELOW THE FOLD ———

Morgan Draws the Media Moguls: The annual Morgan Stanley Technology, Media, and Telecom conference is upon us! Monday's agenda featured Fox Corporation's Lachlan Murdoch, News Corporation's Robert Thomson, Netflix's Spencer Neumann, and Warner Bros. Discovery's JB Perrette. Some highlights:

► Murdoch said that he expects the upcoming joint Fox-Disney-WBD sports super-streamer to hit 5 million subscribers in five years. Murdoch said he believes there has been "a lot of hyperventilation" around the venture and that he does not expect any significant regulatory hurdles.

► Murdoch said Fox is not planning on launching its own streamer to compete with companies like Netflix. "In the entertainment streaming wars, the arena is like a sea of blood," he said. "Everyone's bled out and we're happy not to engage in it." (Easy to say when you no longer have a major film studio.)

► Thomson praised OpenAI, while blasting Meta for moving out of news. "When you look at Facebook suggesting, for example, that 3% of usage with relates to news, well that's obviously preposterous figure," he said.

► Neumann praised Scott Stuber, Netflix's outgoing film chief, saying that he deserves "a lot of credit" for "what he has built over the last years." Neumann said that executives are "feeling really good about the film business" and that Stuber's exit is "not a change in strategy, per se."

► Perrette said that Max plans to initiate a password crackdown. "We think, relative to the scale of our business, it's a meaningful opportunity," he said. Perrette also announced that "House of the Dragon" season two will hit HBO in June.

THE INDUSTRY

CNN Photo Illustration/Kevin D. Liles

End of an Era: It's official: CNN has departed the CNN Center in Atlanta. The giant CNN sign which untold numbers of people have posed with as they visited the network's one-time world headquarters was removed from the premises on Monday, the last vestige of the network's presence at the site. A CNN spokesperson additionally said that all of the network's staff have moved over to its new Ted Turner Techwood Campus. The iconic CNN sign, the spokesperson added, will be refurbished before finding its new home on the new campus. TVNewser's Mark Mwachiro has more here.

MSNBC Goes Live: MSNBC on Monday hosted the first of its new live-events series, MSNBC Live. The event, which took place in Washington, featured some of the progressive network's star talent, including Jen Psaki, Stephanie Ruhle, and Steve Kornacki. Host and creative director Luke Russert told me the Monday launch was the "culmination of a two month team effort." Russell added, "From here we'll keep the momentum going and continue to highlight important issues around the country with a solutions based approach."

🔍 Zooming in: Getting into live events makes sense for MSNBC, which boasts a roster of personalities who have the star power to draw their legions of fans to in-person events. Monday's event was invite-only, but it's easy to see a future in which MSNBC grows its events business and sells tickets as an added revenue stream for the company. As one source put it to me, "Think Bravo Con for the MSNBC audience."

THE FOURTH ESTATE

Semafor broadened its Microsoft sponsorship with a new global election hub. (Press Gazette)
Speaking of Semafor: Ben Smith offered his thoughts on The NYT and how it "stumbled" on its high-profile story about Hamas' use of sexual violence during the October 7 terror attack. (Semafor)
Scott Nover interviewed Max Tani about covering the industry. (Slate)
🪳 Uh oh. "An apparent bed bug infestation at MSNBC's Manhattan headquarters has caused staffers to scatter just hours ahead of the left-leaning network's Super Tuesday coverage," Alexandra Steigrad reported. (NY Post)
CNN and The Guardian were the news organizations with the fastest growing news sites in January. (Press Gazette)
Samir Shah, the BBC's incoming chair, said the broadcaster's finances and independence are his top priorities. (Variety)
Ofcom warned it has "significant concerns about GB News' editorial control of its live output" after the media watchdog scrutinized a misogynistic rant that it aired. (Deadline)
Will Shortz, The NYT's longtime crossword editor, disclosed that he's recovering from a stroke. (NYT)
RIP: Chris Mortensen, ESPN's NFL reporter, died at 72. (ESPN)

IN THE MARKET

"As part of its ongoing proxy fight with Disney, Trian published a 130-page whitepaper, accusing Disney's current board of directors of being 'the root cause of Disney's underperformance' in recent years," Alex Weprin reported. (THR)
Crystal Tse breaks down what is in the lengthy white paper. (Bloomberg)

MEDIA MOVES

The Verge promoted Jake Kastrenakes to executive editor, upped Alex Cranz to deputy editor for tech, and named Kara Verlaney managing editor. (The Verge)
The WaPo announced Jeff Dooley is returning to its sports team as a senior editor, promoted Michael Errigo to assistant editor, and promoted Spencer Nusbaum to beat reporter. (WaPo)
The NYT named Ilaria Parogni a senior staff editor and promoted Zach Montague to associate reporter. (NYT/NYT)
Bloomberg News hired Serena Ng as a senior editor. (TBN)

THE INFO WARS

CNN Photo Illustration/The Chris Cuomo Project

Cuomo and the Conspiracist: Chris Cuomo apparently thinks it is perfectly fine to host conspiracy theorists for chummy interviews. The NewsNation anchor on Monday defended his chat with Jackson Hinkle, a far-right conspiracy theorist with a history of making ugly comments on a number of issues, including Israel. Cuomo, attacking Mediaite's Isaac Schorr for writing a supposed "hit piece" about the interview, framed critics as advocates of censorship. "I get that some in the media want to say what can and can not be said," Cuomo said. "People can make quick work of why Hinkle has such a robust following, and how they feel about his ideas." Schorr has more here.

🔍 Zooming in: It would have been a different story if Cuomo had executed a hard-hitting interview with Hinkle. But that wasn't the case. Instead, Cuomo helped legitimize the dishonest and dangerous figure, allowing him to recruit followers. In fact, Cuomo went as far as to vouch for Hinkle, introducing him to his audience as a "young" and "relevant" pundit who is "at the head of the next generation ... and political thought in the country."

IN THE BATTLEFIELD

While CNN and MSNBC fact-checked Donald Trump after carrying his remarks reacting to the Supreme Court ruling live, Fox News showed it is happy to serve as his propaganda network. (Mediaite)
Meanwhile, Keith Olbermann called for the Supreme Court to be "dissolved." (Mediaite)
Axios faced criticism for a story about Trump supposedly showing some signs he is becoming more disciplined in his message. (Mediaite)
Matt Gertz: "No, Donald Trump hasn't stopped lying that the 2020 election was 'rigged.'" (MMFA)
Newsguard unveiled a suite of new tools that will track election misinformation. (Digiday)
What's going on here? Robert F. Kennedy's misinformation spreading OpenAI-based chatbot vanished Sunday after inquiries from Makena Kelly, only to go back online a day later. (WIRED)

THE VALLEY

CNN Photo Illustration/Kirsty Wigglesworth/Pool/Reuters

Execs Take on Elon: The four top executives who led the company once called Twitter (RIP 🙏) filed a lawsuit against owner Elon Musk on Monday, alleging that the unhinged billionaire brazenly violated contractual agreements to pay them severance worth $128 million. The group of executives — Parag Agrawal, Ned Segal, Vijaya Gadde, and Sean Edgett — alleged in their lawsuit that Musk withheld the severance payments as "revenge" for taking legal action to force him to acquire the company, a $44 billion deal he tried desperately to back out of. "Because Musk decided he didn't want to pay Plaintiffs' severance benefits, he simply fired them without reason, then made up fake cause and appointed employees of his various companies to uphold his decision," the lawsuit stated. The lawsuit further added, "Musk's refusal to pay Plaintiffs is part of a larger pattern and practice of failing to comply with his payment obligations." X did not immediately comment. CNN's Brian Fung and Clare Duffy have more here.

TOO MANY TABS

"Unfortunately, Elon Musk has a point with his OpenAI lawsuit," argues Tony Ho Tran. (Daily Beast)
OpenAI signed an open letter emphasizing "collective responsibility" to "maximize A.I.'s benefits and mitigate the risks" to mankind. (Fortune)
Ouch. The E.U. hit Apple with a $1.95 billion fine, saying the company abused "its dominant position on the market for the distribution of music streaming apps." (THR)
Speaking of which: Adam Satariano and David McCabe write about how "for years, Apple, Google, Meta, and others operated unfettered," but "new laws and regulations have finally compelled them to make major shifts to their products and businesses." (NYT)
Google has been settling "smaller lawsuits as it prepares for more antitrust fights," Nico Grant reports. (NYT)
Bailey Lipschultz on how WallStreetBets forum users on Reddit are boosting criticism against the social media company. (Bloomberg)
Threads will make its API available to developers by June. (TechCrunch)
TikTok is also introducing a data portability API. (TechCrunch)
Instagram users can now edit their DMs up to 15 minutes after sending. (TechCrunch)

CURTAIN CALL

CNN Photo Illustration/Warner Bros. Pictures

Sandstorm Hits Theaters: All hail the Shai-Hulud! Movie theaters across the country rode the sandworms to box office success over the weekend, with Denis Villeneuve's "Dune: Part Two" earning a strong $82.5 million in domestic receipts. That figure puts the dark sci-fi space epic ahead of Christopher Nolan's "Oppenheimer," which nabbed $82.4 million at last summer's box office, but which notably received a heavy assist from the "Barbenheimer" craze. The strong performance from "Dune," which earned $178.5 million globally, is sure to continue in the weeks ahead, given the positive word-of-mouth from audiences. Meanwhile, a third "Dune" film is already in the works, Villeneuve told CNN's Elizabeth Wagmeister. "I think it would make sense to me to totally finish Paul Atreides' arc by doing 'Dune Messiah,' and it's in the works right now," he said.

🔍 Zooming in: The success of adult-oriented, epics like "Dune" and "Oppenheimer" also seem to point to somewhat of a trend at the box office. As superhero fatigue sets in, audiences seem to be yearning for more weighty movies, willing to head to the theaters in droves to see three-hour long films that showcase arresting visuals and captivating storylines.

🎞️ The "Reliable" Review: Rarely do we offer film recommendations, but if you have not yet seen "Dune," get yourself to a Dolby Cinema or IMAX theater stat. The film not only lived up to all the hype, it far surpassed it. Villeneuve masterfully crafted a sci-fi desert opera on the grandest of scales — all to an epic score by none other than Hans Zimmer. This is what cinema is all about! Do yourself a favor and see this one on the silver screen. I've already seen it twice, once in Dolby and once in 70mm IMAX! (And for those wondering, I prefer Dolby. Sorry Villeneuve!)

OFF STAGE

Nick Bilton tackles A.I.'s future impact on Hollywood: "New platforms and tools may allow a person to create a feature-length film from their living room. But can they really compete with the studios?" (Vanity Fair)
Jeremy Fuster writes about how voice actors' race against A.I. has already started. (The Wrap)
After a bidding war, Amazon MGM Studios nabbed the rights to a Natalie Krinsky thriller that will star Kim Kardashian. (Deadline)
Dick Wolf will work with Netflix on two true crime documentary series, "Homicide: New York" and "Homicide: Los Angeles." (THR)
Jamie Foxx will return to "Beat Shazam" after he was forced to exit the previous season over health issues. (THR)
Kumail Nanjiani joined the cast of season four of "Only Murders in the Building." (The Wrap)
Rebecca Ferguson will star opposite Chris Pratt in Amazon MGM's "Mercy." (Deadline)
CBS renewed "Tracker" for a second season. (Deadline)
A "Baywatch" reboot has landed at Fox. (The Wrap)
Selena Gomez said that she "hopes" to have a new album out in 2024. (Rolling Stone)
Netflix released the official trailer for "Ripley." (YouTube)

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.

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