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Thursday, April 25, 2024

Hello from Washington, where the annual White House Correspondents' Dinner festivities are officially getting underway. Please do say hi and save all your tips for us (ignore all those other pesky media reporters)! On the other hand, if I have managed to hurt your feelings over the last 12 months, please direct those complaints to editor Jon Passantino, who will also be making the rounds.

In this edition: David Pecker reveals more sleazy details about how the National Enquirer conducted "catch and kill" operations, a Politico piece about tension between the White House and The NYT exasperates those very tensions, G/O Media sells The Onion to a mysterious new owner, 1A experts say TikTok has a strong case, a New York appeals court overturns Harvey Weinstein's conviction, and more. But first, the A1.

THE A1

Rupture on the Right

CNN Photo Illustration/Francis Chung/Politico/AP

Marjorie Taylor Greene has exposed the fault lines in right-wing media.

As the extremist Republican congresswoman threatens to oust House Speaker Mike Johnson's over his support for Ukraine aid, a rift has ruptured wide open in the MAGA Media landscape, separating the hardline and absolutist faction from the establishment wing.

On one side are outlets controlled by media mogul Rupert Murdoch. His powerful media properties — Fox News, The Wall Street Journal, and the New York Post – have spent the last two weeks leveling blistering criticism against Greene and those who support challenging Johnson's authority over the House leader's move to pass funding for Kyiv.

While The Journal has showered Johnson in glowing praise, Fox News and the Post have gone different routes. Fox News published a scathing editorial on its website last week, referring to Greene as an "idiot" and contending "she is trying to wreck the GOP." The Post went further, putting Greene on its cover over the weekend and blasting her as "MOSCOW MARJORIE."

All the while, the insurgent bloc of the right-wing media universe have taken the opposite approach. They've subjected Johnson to an onslaught of ugly attacks and portrayed Greene as one of the only members of the Republican Party who dares to stand on principle.

Steve Bannon, host of the influential "War Room" podcast and Donald Trump's former chief political strategist, has leveled some of the harshest attacks against the embattled House speaker. Earlier this week, he referred to the Ukraine aid package as "a desecration" and urged listeners to call their representatives to voice support for firing Johnson.

Bannon is far from alone. Charlie Kirk, the MAGA personality and radio host who has a close relationship with the Trump family, accused Johnson of having "lied in the name of God" and wondered, "Where's the evidence that this guy's actually a Christian?" Meanwhile, Tucker Carlson questioned if Johnson is "being blackmailed to do the bidding of the left." Over at Breitbart, the outlet published a hit piece on a member of Johnson's staff, characterizing her as a RINO turncoat. And The Gateway Pundit has slung untold amounts of mud at Johnson, with one headline this week exclaiming, "WHAT A SNAKE."

Greene, a savvy information warrior, has leveraged the platforms wielded by media allies to make her case against Johnson to the conservative base — a strategy that has further fueled their attacks and underscored the division in right-wing media. Over the last few weeks, she has made appearances on the programs hosted by Bannon, Kirk, and Carlson. And she has granted interviews to other supportive outlets, including the far-right One America News.

Yet, it's unlikely she will emerge from this battle victorious — a reality that has underscored the importance of Murdoch's right-wing media empire. While its influence has unquestionably waned in recent years, the power of Murdoch's outlets — Fox News in particular — is still great. If not for Murdoch's blessing, Johnson would find himself in much hotter water and in far greater jeopardy of losing his position as speaker.

That said, the coverage of Johnson from the hardliners in MAGA Media has certainly hurt his reputation amongst much of the base, with many now surely under the belief he is a squishy D.C. swamp creature. He may exit alive, but he has been badly wounded by the fight.

And his opponents are not only left unvanquished, but continue to see their powers balloon each and every day — all while the legacy media model that crowned Murdoch GOP kingmaker continues to erode. Greene might not prevail in her battle against Johnson this time around, but it has served as a harbinger of things to come amid a larger war for the soul of the Republican Party. While the winds might not entirely favor Greene and the MAGA Media hardliners in this very moment, they do appear to be shifting.

The Murdoch-influenced GOP empowered Trump. That could very well pale in comparison to what the rising, more extremist wing of right-wing media delivers in the years ahead.

——— BELOW THE FOLD ———

CNN Photo Illustration/Jane Rosenberg

Exposing the Enquirer: Former National Enquirer boss David Pecker was back on the stand Thursday, spending more than five hours delivering testimony outlining how the tabloid's infamous "catch and kill" schemes worked to protect then-candidate Donald Trump. Pecker spoke at length about how he helped facilitate the hush-money deal with adult actor Stormy Daniels. And he spoke about helping other notable public figures kill stories, name dropping Ari Emanuel, who he said contacted him to suppress a story about his brother Rahm. (A spokesperson for Ari declined comment.) Pecker also offered a deeper look into the sleazy world of tabloids, exposing how the sausage is made. For instance, at one point in his testimony, Pecker detailed how the Enquirer would purchase negative stories about celebrities and leverage them to score interviews/access. "The testimony in court today has been like a tabloid come to life," commented The NYT's Kate Christobek. The CNN team has more here.

THE TRUMP TRIALS

How is the National Enquirer doing these days? "It limps along," Dave Bauder reports, noting its sales have plummeted in recent years. (AP)
Bauder also quoted Lachlan Cartwright, the THR media reporter and former Enquirer executive editor: "It just has zero credibility. Whatever sort of credibility it had was totally damaged by what happened in court this week."
It was a high-octane, split screen day, with news outlets not only focused on the New York hush-money trial, but also delivering audiences news on two other Trump-related cases. Trump's lawyers were before the Supreme Court, making their high-stakes arguments over presidential immunity. And a federal judge upheld E. Jean Carroll's defamation victory and denied Trump a new trial.
Pecker will be back on the stand Friday as Trump's lawyers continue to cross-examine him.

THE INDUSTRY

A Weekend in Washington: It's White House Correspondents' Dinner weekend in D.C. This year, NBC News is in the spotlight with Kelly O'Donnell head of the White House Correspondents' Association and "Saturday Night Live" comedian Colin Jost the entertainer. I'm told NBCU News Group boss Cesar Conde is hosting a Thursday night dinner to celebrate O'Donnell, who is also marking her 30th year at the Peacock network. Parties, however, will be hosted by everyone. And they are plentiful this year, with events hosted by CNN, Comcast-NBCU, CBS News, TIME/Amazon MGM, Axios/Live Nation, Puck/WME, CAA, UTA, Semafor, POLITICO, ABC News, Crooked Media, and many more. Axios has a helpful guide to the 2023 events here.

► Bill Carter outlines Jost's challenge: "It's a long-standing love/hate relationship: Late-night TV and the White House Correspondents Dinner. It's love because the reporters want to juice the event with laughs; but the romance sometimes goes sour because they often have trouble deciding: 'Is that funny?'"

► First in Reliable | The Biden campaign is using the opportunity to blast Trump: "We hope everyone has a good time this weekend, because if Donald Trump wins in November, this Saturday could also be known as the last White House Correspondents' Dinner," a spokesperson told me in a scathing statement. "To state the obvious: Trump is a thin-skinned narcissist who – despite spending seemingly every waking moment glued to his seat consuming cable news – is constantly attacking the free press and unable to handle a little good-natured ribbing. He skipped the White House Correspondents' Dinner every single year he was in office because of his deep-seated insecurities and pathetic desperation to be liked by the same people he rails against – and that was before he outright banned members of his administration from attending at all. Fun and jokes aside this weekend, Saturday is also a reminder of what's at stake with an angry, vengeful Trump on the ballot. He may be a punchline, but he is also a sad, vindictive wannabe authoritarian who shows no respect for the First Amendment – or the Fourth Estate."

THE FOURTH ESTATE

G/O Media has sold The Onion to a new company calling itself Global Tetrahedron. Its owner is Jeff Lawson and Ben Collins — yes, the Ben Collins who most recently worked as a reporter at NBC News — will be CEO. Katie Robertson has more. (NYT)
Collins: "We're keeping the entire staff, bringing back The Onion News Network, and share the wealth with staff. Basically, we're going to let them do whatever they want. Get excited." (Threads)
Dan Rather will appear on "CBS Sunday Morning" for an interview on his life and career, the first time the former "Evening News" anchor has appeared on the network's air in the 18 years since his exit. (THR)
Escalating tensions: Condé Nast's union will visit Anna Wintour's neighborhood to distribute leaflets as the union continues to protest management amid its contract bargaining. (The Wrap)

ON THE FIELD

Let the bidding games begin! The NBA "is advancing toward a series of major media deals, with Amazon and Google's YouTube vying for a new streaming package and NBCUniversal trying to grab one of the main TV deals held by Disney's ESPN and Warner Bros. Discovery's TNT," Joe Flint and Isabella Simonetti report. (WSJ)
Prime Video has added NHL hockey games in Canada after the company signed a two-year deal with the league. (THR)

TINSELTOWN TALK

Paramount Global and David Elilson's Skydance "are making progress on a deal that would merge the media companies and buy out controlling shareholder Shari Redstone," Alex Sherman reports. Per Sherman, the sides are "close to agreeing" on a deal that would value Skydance at about $5 billion. (CNBC)
Peacock added three million subscribers in Q1 and saw a 54% year-on-year increase in revenue, which rose to $1.1 billion. (Yahoo Finance)
Josef Adalian spoke to Netflix stand-up boss Robbie Praw ahead of next week's Netflix is a Joke Festival, talking to him about why the streamer is making a big push with live programming. (Vulture)

MEDIA MOVES

The WaPo named Suzi Watford chief strategy officer. (WaPo)
NPR named Regina G. Barber as a full-time co-host on "Short Wave" and announced Berly McCoy and Rachel Carlson are permanent producers for the podcast. (NPR)
"The Daily Show" named Josh Johnson, Troy Iwata, and Grace Kuhlenschmidt correspondents. (Deadline)

THE INFO WARS

CNN Photo Illustration/Alexandra Schuler/picture-alliance/dpa/AP Images

The NYT v. The White House: On Thursday morning, a 4,000-word piece written by Politico's Eli Stokols was published under the headline, "The Petty Feud Between the NYT and the White House." The story immediately caught fire online, exasperating tensions between the two parties. Much of the attention focused on a blind quote from a journalist at The NYT who alleged that publisher A.G. Sulzberger "is pissed [that] Biden hasn't done any interviews" with the Gray Lady and "quietly encourages all the tough reporting on his age" as a result. The explosive allegation from a single unnamed source generated public pushback from NYT reporters Jonathan Swan and Peter Baker.

The newspaper also aggressively pushed back, with a spokesperson saying in a lengthy statement, "The notion that any line of coverage has been ordered up or encouraged in retaliation for declining an interview, or any other reason, is outrageous and untrue." The spokesperson, however, then went on to zing the White House for granting fewer press interviews with President Joe Biden than his predecessors. "For anyone who understands the role of the free press in a democracy, it should be troubling that the President has so actively and effectively avoided questions from independent journalists over the course of his term," The NYT spokesperson said, in part. "The president occupies the most important office in our nation and the press plays a vital role in providing insights into his thinking and worldview, allowing the public to assess the president's record and hold him to account."

IN THE BATTLEFIELD

🔌 "MisinfoNation: The Trump Faithful": Donie O'Sullivan's look at how misinformation and conspiracy theories have warped politics and society airs Sunday on CNN at 8pm. O'Sullivan, noting millions of Americans still don't trust the 2020 election results, told us he was inspired to make the documentary because he believes newsrooms "struggle" to "really show how misinformation is infecting the mainstream." (CNN)
Meanwhile, over on HBO, Bill Maher will sit down with conspiracy theorist and presidential hopeful Robert F. Kennedy Jr.
Former OAN host and current RNC "election integrity" chair Christina Bobb has been indicted in Arizona over efforts to subvert the vote. (Mediaite)
Mehdi Hasan to Justin Baragona: "The American mainstream media's coverage of the [Israel-Hamas] conflict has been, in many ways, shameful. We have failed to humanize Palestinians." (Daily Beast)

THE VALLEY

CNN Photo Illustration/Will Lanzoni

Taking Down TikTok?: One day after President Joe Biden signed into law divest-or-ban TikTok legislation, the Beijing-headquartered ByteDance is signaling that it may not be open to a sale after all. Reuters' Kane Wu and Julie Zhu cited sources to report that the company "would prefer to shut down its loss-making app rather than sell it if the Chinese company exhausts all legal options to fight legislation to ban the platform from app stores in the U.S." Of course, it is very possible — perhaps even likely — that TikTok will prevail in court on First Amendment grounds. But if it doesn't? The duo reported that the "algorithms TikTok relies on for its operations are deemed core to ByteDance's overall operations, which would make a sale of the app with algorithms highly unlikely." Read their full report here.

TOO MANY TABS

"Although the details of TikTok's legal case are not yet public, legal scholars say the government only has a very narrow argument to stand on to force the sale," Hadas Gold reports. (CNN)
If TikTok, however, lost in court: "The challenges of unbundling it from its China-based parent ByteDance could make [a ban] inevitable," Alexandra Levine reports. (Forbes)
Switching gears: Elon Musk "is set to be deposed on Monday as the first arbitration hearings get underway involving thousands of former Twitter employees who say they were cheated out of severance pay when the bill," Edward Ludlow and Kurt Wagner report. (Bloomberg)
As X continues to die a slow and hard-to-watch death, Meta's competitor continues to grow. Threads now has more than 150 million monthly active users, up about 20 million from February. (TechCrunch)
Threads is testing a feature that will let users manually or automatically archive their old posts. (The Verge)
Speaking of the Meta app, the platform's boss Adam Mosseri posted a photo of him sitting on the Threads throne. Why won't Mosseri sit for an interview with a journalist? (Threads)
Meta's stock ended Thursday down 11% after the weak outlook offered during its earnings report. (CNBC)

CURTAIN CALL

CNN Photo Illustration/Etienne Laurent-Pool/Getty Images

Weinstein Court Shocker: In an astonishing decision, the New York Court of Appeals on Thursday overturned the sex crimes conviction of Harvey Weinstein. The decision to throw out the case against the disgraced Hollywood filmmaker was handed down by a split court, 4-3. The court ruled that "prior bad acts" witnesses detailed in court against Weinstein should not have been admissible. The Manhattan district attorney said it "will do everything in our power to retry this case." Weinstein, however, isn't a free man. He was convicted in California on a separate rape charge and sentenced to 16 years in prison for that crime. CNN's Eric Levenson has more here.

OFF STAGE

Rebel Wilson's autobiography has been published in the U.K., though the section broaching her allegations against Sacha Baron Cohen were redacted. (BBC)
Zendaya's "Challengers" is looking to debut at about $15 million this weekend. (Variety)
Paramount's Ryan Reynolds-led and John Krasinski-directed "IF" is looking at a $40-million-plus opening in May. (Deadline)
Disney will roll out "Inside Out 2," "Moana 2," and "Bob's Burgers," among others, at the 2024 Annecy International Animation Film Festival. (The Wrap)
Peter Jackson's "Lord of the Rings" trilogy will return to theaters in all its remastered, 683-minute glory thanks to Fathom Events, marking the first time the extended versions have graced the silver screen. (THR)
Audible will re-record all seven of J.K. Rowling's "Harry Potter" books, featuring a cast of over 100 actors. (Variety)
Looking back on 10 years of "Last Week Tonight," John Oliver says he is prone to "sporadic acts of journalism." (THR)
The Ryan Gosling-hosted episode of "SNL" on April 13 was the show's most viewed on Peacock. (Variety)
Jennifer Aniston will produce a reimagining of "9 to 5." (THR)
Pierce Brosnan will star in the romantic thriller "A Spy's Guide To Survival." (Deadline)
CBS renewed "Equalizer" for a fifth season. (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. You can follow us on Instagram, Threads, and LinkedIn. We will see you back in your inbox next week.

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