The WaPo launches a new marketing campaign, The Atlantic CEO Nicholas Thompson talks about the mag's OpenAI pact, NFL boss Roger Goodell leaves open the possibility the Paramount-Skydance deal will trigger new talks about CBS, Warner Bros. Discovery rebrands "The Penguin" and "Dune: Prophecy" to be HBO Originals, Hollywood remembers Shelley Duvall, and more. But first, the A1. |
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| The President Meets the Press |
CNN Photo Illustration/Jacquelyn Martin/AP |
For nearly an hour Thursday evening, President Joe Biden went toe-to-toe with the press corps — and, perhaps against the wishes of some in his own party, managed to exit the high stakes showdown unscathed.
Fielding a barrage of tough questions, Biden addressed 11 outlets during his closely watched dance with the news media, reiterating again and again that he plans to stay in the 2024 race, while also displaying an impressive command of complex foreign policy matters.
Stylistically, Biden wasn't without flaws. After introducing Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky as Vladimir Putin earlier in the day, Biden accidentally referred to Vice President Kamala Harris as Donald Trump. And throughout the affair, the 81-year-old president mostly spoke in his now trademark low and monotone voice.
But, unquestionably, the Biden that showed up at the conclusion of the NATO summit was not the same Biden that walked onstage at the CNN presidential debate two weeks ago. Did he ace Thursday's test? Probably not. But did he score a passing grade? Most definitely.
Interest in Biden's face-off with the news media had been steadily growing all week as lawmakers and other high-profile figures in the Democratic Party called for him to step aside and abandon his bid for a second term. Since his disastrous debate with Trump, Biden had not appeared unscripted at a public event for such a lengthy period of time. And, stepping further back, Biden had not held a solo press conference since November, making Thursday's his first of 2024.
The press was eager for an opportunity to confront Biden. As my colleague Hadas Gold reported Thursday, journalists who cover the White House were walking into the news conference with a significant amount of pent up frustration. Reporters have felt stonewalled and misled by the White House. They had been earnestly seeking a forum in which they could directly question Biden about his fitness for office and desires to seek an additional four years.
The truth is that, despite their pointed questions, reporters extracted little from Biden on Thursday evening. He stayed on message and was able to keep up with the unrelenting stream of queries directed his way. Outside his early flub referring to Harris as Trump, Biden showed a deep understanding of the issues. It was not the senile, dementia-plagued man that has been at times portrayed to the American public. As Bill Carter, the veteran media critic, pointed out on X, it's curious why Biden did not actually hold such a press conference in the immediate wake of his poor debate performance to assuage concerns and stop the bleeding sooner. It would have mattered a lot more then.
But at this late stage, will it stop naysayers, who have been steadily gaining momentum, from calling on him to withdraw from the race? CNN's Manu Raju reported after the press conference that it is unlikely to. Indeed, Rep. Jim Himes, the ranking Democrat on the House Intelligence Committee, issued a statement after the news conference saying he believed Biden should drop out of the race. But it could get a lot worse. CBS News' Margaret Brennan reported that four Democratic sources told her "they expect dozens of Democratic lawmakers over the next 48 hours to issue statements" calling on Biden to step aside. And CNN's Edward-Isaac Dovere and Jeff Zeleny reported that Barack Obama and Nancy Pelosi have been speaking about their concerns with Biden's campaign. In other words, at this juncture, while the performance Biden delivered at the much-hyped news conference was strong, it may simply be too late. Time will tell. |
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- At the press conference, Biden took questions from Reuters, AFP, CBS News, Financial Times, Associated Press, Polish Radio, The New York Times, NPR, Bloomberg, Scripps News, and NBC News. Notably, Biden did not call on CNN or Fox News.
- Brian Stelter's smart point: "Millions of Democratic voters watched Biden's press conference, and now some of them are wondering, 'why are the chattering classes trying to force this man out of office?'" (Threads)
- Case in point: A CNN focus group in Michigan that watched the press conference was overwhelmingly supportive of Biden afterward. "He should stay in," one member said. "He's the logical choice," said another. (CNN)
- MSNBC's Rachel Maddow, Chris Hayes, Joy Reid, and Nicolle Wallace largely praised Biden's performance. But Maddow did express concern at one point that Biden's inner circle might be giving him data that "may be sunnier than is real."
- Fox News, predictably, battered Biden with more attacks.
- David Bauder pointed to Biden's challenge: "Will he ever satisfy the media's appetite for questions about his ability?" (Associated Press)
- The Washington Post's top headline: "Biden shows foreign policy depth in news conference with few stumbles." (WaPo)
- The Drudge Report: "IS THIS THE END?" (DRUDGE)
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First in Reliable | The WaPo is launching a new marketing campaign playing off its "Democracy Dies in Darkness" slogan: It's called "Switch On." The newspaper's chief strategy officer, Suzi Watford, sent a note to employees on Thursday unveiling the effort. "When asked what is most important in choosing a news source for elections coverage, both untapped audiences and Post subscribers chose: 'A brand that sheds light on what is true,'" Watford wrote. "Our campaign is born of this insight. Democracy Dies in Darkness, we say Switch On." Watford described the new catchphrase as an "active, optimistic build" on the outlet's "Democracy Dies in Darkness" slogan. She added that the team wanted a "scalable creative framework" to "supercharge growth" at the Will Lewis-led newspaper. |
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- Mathias Döpfner and KKR "are negotiating a break-up of media conglomerate Axel Springer, in a deal that would separate the group's media assets from its digital classifieds operation," Laura Pitel, Ivan Levingston, Arash Massoudi, Kaye Wiggins, and Olaf Storbeck report. (FT)
- New Daily Beast boss Ben Sherwood told staffers at an all-hands meeting that the company was almost sold to private equity and was on track to "lose $9 million this year," Lachlan Cartwright reports. (THR)
- The Atlantic boss Nicholas Thompson talks to Nilay Patel about why the outlet signed a deal with OpenAI: "We want to maximize several things, right? We want to maximize the amount of money that comes to serious journalism companies. We want to shape the industry in the best possible direction based on our values, and we think the values that are important. We want to bring in as many readers as we possibly can. And so as we think through the deal, we're weighing all of those things." (The Verge)
- Meanwhile, Matt O'Brien reports on two former journalists, now in their 80s, who have filed a lawsuit against OpenAI. (AP)
- José Jasán Nieves Cárdenas, a journalist in exile from Cuba, said that he suspects Cuban state security is threatening him in the U.S. (CJR)
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- The WaPo named Peter Elkins-Williams head of global partnerships and corporate development. (WaPo)
- Mehdi Hasan's Zeteo welcomed Justin Baragona as a media columnist. Baragona will author a newsletter called "Ragebait." (Zeteo)
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- Paramount Global's so-called go-shop window, the period during which it may look at other offers, will expire on Aug. 21. (THR)
- NFL boss Roger Goodell said the league will look at the Paramount-Skydance merger deal and determine whether to trigger new talks with CBS. (THR)
- While the merger process plays out, the current Paramount leadership cannot enter any Paramount+ joint venture without the approval of Skydance. (Variety)
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- Hallmark is launching a streaming service that will cost $8 a month and go live in September, just ahead of the holiday season. (NYT)
- Some 1,000 employees have not been paid as Redbox collapses. (THR)
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CNN Photo Illustration/Jaque Silva/SOPA Images/LightRocket/Getty Images |
The A.I. Advancement Arc: OpenAI has built a measurement scale to keep a close eye on A.I's advancement. The ChatGPT creator told employees this week that it has "come up with a set of five levels to track its progress toward building artificial intelligence software capable of outperforming humans," Bloomberg's Rachel Metz reported Thursday. Metz reported that OpenAI plans to share the measurement scale with investors and others. Metz added that the tiers "range from the kind of AI available today that can interact in conversational language with people (Level 1) to AI that can do the work of an organization (Level 5)." Read the full story here. |
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- "At least six of Google's top privacy and regulatory officials have left the company in recent months, and a key oversight team was disbanded," Alfred Ng reports, noting it's "leading to concerns among policymakers that one of the world's most powerful tech companies is releasing new artificial intelligence products without sufficient protections." (POLITICO)
- "One year in, is Threads winning the battle to take over from Twitter?" Matthew Ingram asks. (CJR)
- WhatsApp's recent advertisement campaign featuring the cast of "Modern Family" shows that the Meta-owned company is trying to win over more U.S.-based customers, notably in flyover country, Peter Kafka writes. (Business Insider)
- YouTube Shorts will add artificial voiceovers reminiscent of TikTok's. (The Verge)
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| CNN Photo Illustration/Stanley Bielecki Movie Collection/Getty Images |
Remembering Shelley Duvall: Hollywood was in mourning on Thursday, remembering the life of Shelley Duvall. The actress, who starred opposite Jack Nicholson in "The Shining" and was known for her large expressive eyes, died Thursday at 75 after complications with diabetes. "My dear, sweet, wonderful life partner and friend left us. Too much suffering lately, now she's free. Fly away, beautiful Shelley," Dan Gilroy, her partner, said in a statement. CNN's Lisa Respers France has more. |
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- Warner Bros. Discovery is rebranding "The Penguin" and "Dune: Prophecy" as HBO Originals. They were initially under the Max umbrella. (Variety)
- Speaking of "Dune: Prophecy" (which we cannot wait for), HBO released its first official image of Emily Watson from the series. (Deadline)
- James Gunn shared the "Superman" logo for the DCU movie releasing in exactly one year. (Deadline)
- Another spark of hope for cinemas: Consumers are currently more excited about "Deadpool & Wolverine" than Pixar's immensely successful "Inside Out 2." (The Wrap)
- Gladicked? Wickedator? Scottie Andrew wonders whether "Gladiator II" and "Wicked," which share a release date, will be able to reproduce the box office magic wrought by Barbenheimer. (CNN)
- Netflix released the teaser trailer for "The Perfect Couple," starring Nicole Kidman, Liev Schreiber, Eve Hewson, Dakota Fanning, and Meghann Fahy. (YouTube)
- Shrek isn't the only beloved animated character getting yet another follow-up film, with Universal and Illumination announcing a third "Minions" film, slated to hit theaters on June 30, 2027. (The Wrap)
- Brooks Barnes: "Fly Me To The Moon" is Hollywood's litmus test to see whether movies made for adults can still sell tickets. (NYT)
- Amazon OK'ed "The Greatest," a scripted drama about the life of Muhammad Ali with the blessing of the late boxer's estate. (THR)
- Warner Bros. Entertainment dropped the trailer for "Watchmen Chapter 1." (YouTube)
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| 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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