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Wednesday, May 01, 2024

Event at Columbia Journalism School gets called off, PEN America sounds alarm on imprisoned journalists, David Zaslav reportedly bumps into Don Lemon at Porter House, House Republicans call on NPR boss Katherine Maher to testify, Google lays off more staffers, Dan Schneider sues over "Quiet on Set," and so much more. But first, the A1.

THE A1

Godwin Works in Mysterious Ways

CNN Photo Illustration/Monica Schipper/Getty Images

ABC News President Kim Godwin is skating on thinner and thinner ice.

Deborah OConnell, the well-liked and respected media veteran who was tapped by Burbank in February for a newly created position that oversees the news network, has spent the last few months evaluating the state of affairs at the Disney-owned property. Having immediately made it clear that she holds the real power at ABC News, OConnell has solicited an unyielding stream of input from a large swath of the organization. And, suffice to say, she has been less than impressed about what she has found.

OConnell, according to people familiar with the matter, has been astonished by Godwin's management — or lack thereof — at the network. In private conversations, OConnell has pointed to a slew of problems that have materialized on Godwin's watch, faulting the embattled ABC News chief for her hands-off leadership style, which she believes has allowed problems to fester.

OConnell, for example, has been astounded by the fact that a year after Godwin dismissed the network's head of talent, Galen Gordon, the important position has yet to be filled. She was not pleased to see ABC News lose its Washington bureau chief, Jonathan Greenberger, to POLITICO just months before a historic presidential election, leaving that crucial seat vacant. And the fact that "CBS Mornings" has been knocking on the ratings door of "Good Morning America" has been yet another source of discomfort.

Most of all, OConnell is not blind to the fact that Godwin's leadership has helped produced palpable anxiety and frustration among staffers who are wondering about the network's longterm game plan as the linear television business continues to crumble. Network staffers are especially apprehensive in the wake of Disney boss Bob Iger publicly floating that he could sell off ABC, comments he has since tepidly walked back.

"She has to take swift moves," a person familiar with the inner workings of ABC News candidly told me of OConnell. "People there are restless. They are extremely frustrated."

To that end, I'm told that OConnell is conducting a leadership review that could impact the executive suite, including some of Godwin's top lieutenants. Those lieutenants include Stacia Deshishku, executive editor and senior vice president; Derek Medina, executive vice president; and Jose Andino, vice president of the office of the president and process management.

As OConnell's not-so-subtle evaluation has played out at ABC News, Godwin has privately voiced displeasure about being layered away from Iger and bemoaned Disney's micromanagement, I'm told.

Spokespeople for Disney and ABC News declined to comment.

But as each day passes, it is increasingly difficult to see how the situation is sustainable for the long haul. And while Godwin did renew her contract when OConnell was appointed in February, the Magic Kingdom is haunted by the ghosts of executives who have been axed shortly after inking new deals with the company. It is, after all, the Disney way.

——— BELOW THE FOLD ———

CNN Photo Illustration/Michael M. Santiago/Getty Images

First in Reliable | Canceled at Columbia: With unrest gripping Columbia University, at least one event scheduled to be hosted in partnership with the Columbia Journalism School has been called off, I've learned. The Ankler and Pure NonFiction were set to host an event later this month with Columbia Journalism School Dean Jelani Cobb about the power of documentaries. That event was set to include James Carville, Amy Entelis, Matt Tyrnauer, Thom Powers, Raney Aronson, and Andrew Jarecki. But I'm told that it was canceled over concerns about safety and whether some guests would feel comfortable attending an event on campus, given the recent chaos.

► The cancellation of the event puts a brighter spotlight on the 2024 Pulitzer Prize announcements, set to take place at Columbia on Monday. The Pulitzer Prize board did not respond to requests for comment. But it's slightly awkward, to say the least, for Columbia to hand out the prestigious journalism awards while the campus has been closed to the press during the disorder.

CAMPUS CHAOS

"Journalists tasked with covering violent unrest on college campuses across the US have been arrested and barred access as police moved in to crack down on pro-Palestinian protesters who have set up encampments and barricaded themselves inside buildings," Hadas Gold reported. (CNN)
UCLA Daily Bruin news editor Catherine Hamilton recalled being assaulted to Colleen Shalby: "We expected to be harassed by counterprotesters. I truly did not expect to be directly assaulted." (LAT)
Heather Hollingsworth reported on how student journalists at Columbia University have kept their classmates and larger campus community informed amid the chaos. (AP)
Reporters are getting "a cold shoulder from activists" as they cover the demonstrations, Laura Wagner added. (WaPo)

THE INDUSTRY

THE FOURTH ESTATE

339 writers were imprisoned across the globe in 2023, PEN America reported in its annual Freedom to Write Index, the largest number since the nonprofit began tracking the figure. (NYT)
ABC News meteorologist Rob Marciano "was fired this week after he got into a 'heated screaming match' with one of the producers of 'Good Morning America,'" Justin Baragona reported. (Daily Beast)
David Zaslav bumped into Don Lemon and his husband at Porter House, prompting the Warner Bros. Discovery boss to extend an olive branch to the former CNN host by sending his table a $1,600 bottle of wine, Dylan Byers reported, among other things in his latest. (Puck)
Paul Farhi won a battle with The WaPo over the paper's decision to suspend him without pay for five days in 2022. (Mediaite)
A new study from the American Press Institute and The Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research found that just over half of Americans are extremely or very concerned about news organizations reporting inaccurate information. (AP)
Four BBC hosts, all of whom are women, are suing the broadcaster, alleging they were forced off the air for a year and harassed following a "rigged" hiring process. The BBC has denied the claims. (Deadline)
🙏 Bret Baier's 16-year-old son Paul is recovering after yet another open-heart surgery. (People)
MSNBC boss Rashida Jones will be The University of the District of Columbia's 47th annual commencement speaker. (UDC)

ON THE FIELD

Tom Friend reports on how Warner Bros. Discovery is "contemplating its next move after NBC's pricey NBA bid." (SBJ)
Does Comcast also want to snag WBD's NBA rights in hopes of making it a better acquisition target? Craig Moffett believes that could be at play. "If Comcast were to further weaken WBD by stealing away one [of] its marquee properties, they would only make the speculation louder that a combination, now on more advantaged terms, makes sense," Moffett tells James Faris. (Business Insider)
📈 WBD's stock recovered some of the losses it suffered Tuesday, ending Wednesday at $7.62 a share, or up 3.5%.

TINSELTOWN TALK

Television writers are struggling as Hollywood "locks into austerity mode and jobs still seem scarce," Elaine Low reports. (The Ankler)
"It's harder to find work," Gene Maddaus reports. (Variety)
✂️ Cuts, cuts, cuts: DNEG, the VFX firm behind "Dune" and "Oppenheimer," is preparing to lay off hundreds of staffers, Max Goldbart reports. (Deadline)
Tyler Perry Studios created a joint venture with Endeavor-backed Asylum Entertainment Group, furthering its foray into unscripted television. (Deadline)
"Apple has been making the rounds at agencies and law firms sharing its plans for a new backend model for Apple Studios productions," Ashley Cullins reports. (The Ankler)

MEDIA MOVES

The Atlantic hired Ali Breland as a staff writer to report on disinformation and extremism; promoted Matteo Wong to staff writer covering A.I.; and named longtime editors Julie Beck and Ellen Cushing staff-writer positions, covering culture and family. (The Atlantic)
Vox hired Naureen Khan as a senior editor. (Vox)
The WSJ hired Claire Brown as a reporter. (TBN)
Reuters promoted Hatem Maher to deputy breaking news editor. (TBN)
BBC News hired Charlotte Edwards as a reporter. (TBN)

THE INFO WARS

CNN Photo Illustration/Pedro Nunes/Reuters

NPR's House Call: NPR's problems are not going away. House Republicans are calling for the radio broadcaster's chief executive, Katherine Maher, to appear before Congress on May 8 for a hearing. The hearing, of course, comes after now-former senior editor Uri Berliner penned a piece accusing the outlet of harboring a left-wing bias. "The Committee has concerns about the direction in which NPR may be headed under past and present leadership," the House Republicans wrote. NPR declined to comment. But information available to the public on NPR's website indicates that the outlet has a board of directors meeting all day May 8. In other words, there is a schedule conflict. Deadline's Ted Johnson has more.

IN THE BATTLEFIELD

The Steve Bannon-led hardline faction of MAGA Media cheered on Marjorie Taylor Greene Wednesday as she pushed forward with her far-flung attempt to oust House Speaker Mike Johnson.
Bannon ranted — yet again — against Johnson, saying he "bald-faced lied to everybody to their face." (Mediaite)
Robert F. Kennedy Jr.'s "frequent appearances on conservative media platforms are beginning to raise alarms at Mar-a-Lago," Natalie Allison, Alex Isenstadt, and Brittany Gibson report. (POLITICO)
Tucker Carlson is facing more criticism for his recent interview with Alexander Dugin, the ultranationalist ideologue and Vladimir Putin ally. (Newsweek)

THE VALLEY

CNN Photo Illustration/Tayfun Coskun/Anadolu/Getty Images

The Gutting at Google: It seems the layoffs will never cease at Google, once a company where the very notion of layoffs was unthinkable. CNBC's Jennifer Elias reported Wednesday that the Silicon Valley titan will lay off at least 200 staffers who work on its "Core" teams. The reorganization will include shipping some of the jobs to India and Mexico, Elias reported. Executives at Google, which is working to relocate resources as A.I. threatens its dominance, have been conducting layoffs across the company for months. A spokesperson for Google said, in part, "As we've said, we're responsibly investing in our company's biggest priorities and the significant opportunities ahead." Elias has more here.

TOO MANY TABS

Sarah Perez argues that LinkedIn is the Twitter/X rival "no one is talking about." (TechCrunch)
Ashley Stewart reports that despite Bill Gates' having publicly left Microsoft in 2021, insiders believe he is "still pulling the strings" at the technology giant. (Business Insider)
Meta and Google "are betting on a renaissance for voice assistants, many years after most people decided that talking to computers was uncool," Brian Chen reports. (NYT)
Amazon's audiobook service, Audible, will pilot using Prime Video data for bespoke recommendations in response to Spotify's decision to beef up its book-on-tape offering. (TechCrunch)
Snapchat will allow users to edit sent messages. (The Verge)
Twitch is rolling out its discovery feed for all users. (TechCrunch)

CURTAIN CALL

CNN Photo Illustration/Matt Sayles/Invision/AP

Getting Loud About 'Quiet': Embattled producer Dan Schneider on Wednesday filed a lawsuit against Investigation Discovery's "Quiet on Set," calling the five-part series that explored the dark side of Nickelodeon a "hit job." The suit named a number of defendants, including Warner Bros. Discovery (CNN's parent company), which streamed the series on its Max platform. It accused the docuseries of defaming him, saying, he would "be the first to admit that some of what they said is true," but that "one thing he is not — and the one thing that will forever mar his reputation and career both past and present — is a child sexual abuser." The NYT's Julia Jacobs and Matt Stevens have more here.

OFF STAGE

Harvey Weinstein appeared in a Manhattan court Wednesday after the New York Court of Appeals overturned his rape conviction. (Variety)
🦌 "Baby Reindeer" is back on top of Netflix's Top 10 list and has raked in 22 million views in its second week. (The Wrap)
The reviews for "Hacks" season three are out. The show is boasting a 100% Rotten Tomatoes score, albeit with only nine reviews thus far. (RT)
Searching for Emily: The fourth season of Netflix's "Emily in Paris" will be partially shot in Italy. (Variety)
Melissa McCarthy addressed Barbra Streisand's Ozempic comment: "The takeaway, Barbra Streisand knows I exist. She reached out to me, and she thought I looked good! I win the day." (CNN)
Ryan Gosling and Mikey Day attended the premiere of "Fall Guy" adorned in the Beavis and Butt-Head attire from their viral sketch. (AP)
Jessica Biel and Elizabeth Banks will executive produce and star in Prime Video's new thriller series, "The Better Sister." (Deadline)
Linkin Park is mulling a reunion tour that would feature a new vocalist to follow the band's late frontman, Chester Bennington. (Billboard)

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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