Fox News dominated cable news ratings once again in 2021, for the sixth year in a row. Speaking of conservative media, as a whole the ecosystem quickly retrenched this year after President Trump’s departure from the White House — and found a winning formula in latching on to recurring themes in stories that ranged from parental involvement in schools to crime statistics, inflation, the supply chain, the Let’s Go Brandon movement, and the Biden administration’s response to Covid.
Meanwhile, 2021 was also a year of high-profile departures and firings in media. Plus deal-making, Covid-themed news reports dominated by Delta and Omicron, and networks like CNN preparing to dramatically ramp up their investment in streaming. The first year of the Biden administration drawing to a close also finds the networks most allied with his message and policies — CNN and MSNBC — scrambling to reverse a big ratings slump this year. It was a year during which Jon Stewart also returned to TV, via Apple TV+, and Joe Rogan had the #1 podcast on Spotify. As far as what’s next? Below, meet some of the people who will shape, choose, broadcast, write and define a broad swath of the media and news-related content that we consume in 2022, starting with the often incendiary Fox News commentator who also happens to be the biggest single ratings draw for the network.
2021 marked the 25th anniversary of Fox News, which also this year continued its impregnable reign atop the cable news ratings for a sixth year in a row. Largely responsible for that performance is the host of “Tucker Carlson Tonight,” who also produces original programming for Fox’s streaming platform — and who closed out the year as the most-watched host in cable news. The audience for Carlson’s primetime show easily dwarfs the combined primetime ratings for both MSNBC and CNN. And the fact that his commentaries, his productions like “Patriot Purge” and interactions with guests often feed the media’s daily cycle of outrage after snippets of them go viral It seems to only make him stronger. And more watched among conservatives.
Things could not have been more different, in so many ways, at the start of 2021. For a time in January, Donald Trump was still the president, still on Twitter, and more viewers were tuning in to CNN than Fox. Branding himself as the “sworn enemy of lying, pomposity, smugness, and groupthink,” Carlson spent 2021 railing against vaccine mandates, raging that public officials are overreacting to Covid, promoting alternative theories about the January 6 Capitol riots — and there doesn’t seem to be a thing his critics can do about it.
Fox News CEO Suzanne Scott attends the new All-American Christmas Tree lighting outside News Corp. … [+]
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While we’re on the subject of Fox News, the network attributes its current state of affairs — ratings dominance, plus an extension of the brand via things like Fox Weather as well as Greg Gutfeld’s new late-night comedy show — to Fox News Media CEO Suzanne Scott. As noted, Fox came back in a major way from a ratings slump earlier this year, and in addition to a programming revamp that’s added more opinion content that juices ratings and launching Fox Weather as an alternative to mainstays like the Weather Channel, Scott and Fox also already have the drop on CNN as the latter prepares to launch CNN+. Fox got there first with its streaming service Fox Nation that’s been live for a few years now and already boasts, per the estimate of one analyst, at least 1 million subscribers.
In addition to being one of the most influential women in media, Forbes recently included Scott on its list of the 100 “most powerful women” in the world for 2021 — a list that includes Queen Elizabeth II, Vice President Kamala Harris, Oprah Winfrey, and Facebook’s Sheryl Sandberg.
From Fox News, we turn next to its favorite punching bag, CNN.
We’re just a few months out from the launch of the latter’s new streaming service CNN+, which will mark one of the most ambitious new chapter’s in the network’s story since the day it went it live. Andrew Morse is the CNN executive in charge of the forthcoming product, which will launch in the first quarter of 2022 and be packed with exclusive original programming. As well as boasting a roster of high-profile talent like ex-Fox News anchor Chris Wallace and actress Eva Longoria. Morse has promised in interviews that this won’t be CNN 2.0. That the service will be its own complementary offering, aimed at superfans and especially aficionados of long-form storytelling, of the sort that made, for example, the late Anthony Bourdain such a draw at CNN. CNN+ will also offer an archived trove of CNN programming, and much more.
I put New York Times
NYT
media columnist Ben Smith on this same list of mine about a year ago, but there’s really no way to leave him off this latest (admittedly, totally subjective) roundup. Smith’s writing about this profession and the larger media ecosystem, to me, are just as unmissable as the late David Carr’s were. But whereas the latter was a sort of cartographer mapping out the New World of 21st century journalism with the breathtaking prose of a novelist, Ben’s must-read work delivers an enviable impact-fulness that, over and over again, moves the needle. Or gets people fired. Often both. And with delicious scooplets sprinkled throughout, like the anecdote about the Ozy Media executive impersonating someone from YouTube in one of his earliest bits of reportage that led to Ozy’s swift flameout.
His work over 2021 has also grappled with everything from Let’s Go Brandon (interviewing the Brandon in question), plus the resurrection of Gawker, sexual impropriety at the leadership of German media giant Axel Springer, and much more.
Joe Rogan introduces fighters during the UFC 269 ceremonial weigh-in at the MGM Grand Garden Arena … [+]
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Spotify reportedly inked a deal worth $100 million to bring Joe Rogan exclusively to its platform. And whatever else you might think about the controversial podcast host or his views, it’s hard to dispute that Spotify got their money’s worth.
In revealing the platform’s most popular podcasts for 2021, there was The Joe Rogan Experience at #1. The last word in the title of the podcast is particularly apt, because it attests to the ubiquity of the host. Or at least, his brand. Once again this year, one after another, a cavalcade of newsmakers, prominent guests, celebrities, interesting people, and controversial people sat down across from Rogan for a multi-hour-long conversation. The resulting content from which drives headlines — and juices Spotify’s ad- and subscriber-reliant business model.
During 2021, Rogan has sat down with everyone from CNN’s Dr. Sanjay Gupta to Covid vaccine skeptic Alex Berenson, the singer Jewel, journalist Matt Taibbi, political commentator Blaire White, and former Google design ethicist Tristan Harris.
He commands a large enough reach, that even people who might greet his views with trepidation — the unvaccinated Rogan recently cancelled a show in Vancouver, because of the pandemic rules in the country — still seek him out. Gupta told him, during his conversation with Rogan: “I thought to myself — if there’s one person, really, that I would have a conversation (with) and say, ‘Hey man, just listen to how I think about these things, and I want to hear about how you think’ … who would that one person be in the United States? And it was Joe Rogan.”
“Mmmm,” a dubious Rogan replied.
“It was you.”
“… How weird,” the host continued, during episode #1718 of the show. An episode that went on to generate a slew of headlines, this time for the way Rogan blasted CNN’s coverage of the host admitting he took ivermectin after recently contracting the coronavirus.
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VICTORIA — Premier David Eby has pushed the pause button on a contentious bill that would have allowed the province to recover health care and other costs attributed to the marketing of risky products in B.C.
Two dozen business and industry groups had called for the New Democrats to put the bill on hold, claiming it was so broadly drafted that it could be used to go after producers, distributors and retailers of every kind.
“It is safe to say that we got the attention of these major multinational companies,” the premier told reporters on Tuesday, citing the deal with Meta, Snapchat, TikTok and X, the major players in the field.
“They understand our concern and the urgency with which we’re approaching this issue. They also understand the bill is still there.”
The New Democrats maintain that the legislation was never intended to capture the many B.C. companies and associations that complained about it.
Rather it was targeted at Facebook owner Meta and other social media companies and the online harm done to young people. A prime example was the suicide of a Prince George youth who was trapped by an online predator.
Still, there was nothing in the wording of Bill 12, the Public Health Accountability and Cost Recovery Act, to indicate its application would be confined to social media companies or their impact on young people.
Some critics wondered if the bill’s broad-based concept of harms and risks could be used to prosecute the liquor board or the dispensers of safer-supply drugs, products with proven harms greater than any sugary drink.
Perhaps thinking along those lines, the government specifically exempted itself from prosecution under the Act.
This week’s announcement came as a surprise. As recently as Monday, Attorney General Niki Sharma told reporters the government had no intention of putting the bill on hold.
Tuesday, she justified her evasion by saying the talks with the social media companies were intense and confidential.
She said the pause was conditional on Meta and the other companies delivering a quick response to government concerns.
“British Columbians expect us to take action on online safety,” she told reporters. “What I’ll be looking for at this table is quick and immediate action to get to that better, safety online.”
A prime goal is addressing online harassment and “the online mental health and anxiety that’s rising in young people,” she said
“I want to sit down with these companies look at them face to face and see what they can do immediately to improve the outcomes for British Columbians.”
Meta has already committed to rectifying Eby’s concern that it should relay urgent news about wildfires, flood and other disasters in B.C. Last year, those were blocked, collateral damage in the company’s hardball dispute with the federal government over linking to news stories from Canadian media companies.
Eby says he was very skeptical about the initial contact from the companies. Now he sees Meta’s willingness to deliver emergency information as a “major step” and he’s prepared to give talks the benefit of the doubt.
Not long ago he was scoring political points off the social media companies in the harshest terms.
“The billionaires who run them resist accountability, resist any suggestion that they have responsibility for the harms that they are causing,” said the premier on March 14, the day Bill 12 was introduced.
Given those characterizations, perhaps the big, faceless billionaires will simply direct their negotiating team to play for time until the legislation adjourns as scheduled on May 16.
“The legislation is not being pulled and we’re not backtracking,” said Sharma. “We can always come back and bring legislation back.”
The government could schedule a quick makeup session of the legislature in late May or June or even in early September, before the house is dissolved for the four-week campaign leading up to the scheduled election day, Oct. 19.
More likely, if the New Democrats feel doublecrossed, they could go back to war with the faceless billionaires with a view to re-enacting Bill 12 after a hoped-for election victory.
Even if the New Democrats get some satisfaction from the social media companies in the short term, they have also framed Bill 12 as a way to force the marketers of risky products to help cover the cost of health care and other services.
B.C.’s attorney general says the province can bring the online harms legislation back but it will first seek remedies through negotiations with social media companies.Michael M. Santiago/Getty Images
The British Columbia government has agreed to shelve proposed legislation that would have allowed it to sue social-media companies for online harms after Meta, TikTok and others agreed to work with the province to put voluntary protections in place.
The social-media companies have not agreed to anything other than talks, but Attorney-General Niki Sharma credited the proposed legislation with bringing the key players to the province’s door.
“Our bill was able to get the attention of some pretty big companies out there and get them to the table with us, and I’m pleased with that,” she told reporters Tuesday.
The government can bring the bill back, she said, but it will first seek remedies through negotiations. “We could be locked in litigation for years, but at this stage it’s my obligation to see if we can come to some kind of improvements,” Ms. Sharma said.
Premier David Eby said the agreement was hammered out after Meta reached out to the province. A spokesperson for the company could not immediately be reached for comment.
Danielle Morgan, a spokesperson for TikTok, said her company is committed to developing new safeguards. “We look forward to joining Premier Eby and working with industry counterparts … to discuss best practices towards our shared goal of keeping young people safe online.”
The province introduced Bill 12, the Public Health Accountability and Cost Recovery Act, in March with the promise that it would allow government to recover costs associated with the promotion, marketing and distribution of products that are harmful to adults and children in the province.
But while the bill received the support of researchers who study the impact of some platforms on mental well-being, particularly in teenagers, the broad scope of the legislation alarmed business leaders who warned it could be used to target companies well beyond social-media platforms.
“The net spread so widely, it could capture just about anything you could imagine,” said Bridgitte Anderson, president and chief executive officer of the Greater Vancouver Board of Trade. She said the provincial government heard the concerns of many different sectors when it withdrew the bill from this spring’s legislative agenda. “We’re delighted the government is going to hit pause on this.”
The B.C. bill was tabled just weeks after Ottawa introduced Bill C-63 to create a new Online Harms Act, which is meant to hold tech platforms accountable for the content they host.
Kaitlynn Mendes, a professor of sociology at Ontario’s Western University, is an expert on the impact of online harms on youth, including sexual exploitation, self-harm, anxiety and anti-social behaviour.
She said the B.C. government is being optimistic in thinking it can bring social-media giants into line without a legal cudgel.
“I think that is wishful thinking. Industries don’t want to be governed. They’d rather have codes of conduct but that relies on them being good faith actors – ultimately, they are going to act in their best interests. I’d be skeptical that it’s going to change anything,” she said in an interview.
“I really hope the Canadian government doesn’t try to rely on deals. We need to have structures in place to hold these companies accountable.”
Mr. Eby issued a joint statement on Tuesday with representatives from Meta, TikTok, Snap and X, saying they have reached an agreement to work to help young people stay safe online through the new BC Online Safety Action Table.
“Digital platforms are powerful tools, which can connect family members and loved ones and are places where we find like-minded people. Places where community is built and sustained. But the internet is also a place where criminals and scammers are constantly seeking new ways to find and extort potential victims,” the joint statement said.
Mr. Eby championed the pursuit of tackling social-media harms after meeting with the grieving parents of Carson Cleland, a 12-year-old who killed himself last October after being sexually victimized online.
“Carson was deceived by an online predator, tormented and sexually extorted. He took his own life before his parents were aware of what was happening,” the statement continued. “Premier Eby made a promise to Carson’s parents that his government would find ways to make sure Carson left behind a legacy that will help protect other young people.”
The province will place Bill 12 on hold while the parties meet to discuss how to protect youth from online harms before they happen.
Ms. Sharma said there are three areas B.C. wants addressed: sexual exploitation of youth online; rising mental-health issues and anxiety among young people; and online harassment and bullying.
B.C.’s bill was modelled on its efforts to seek damages from major tobacco companies over tobacco-related health costs. The province was the first Canadian jurisdiction to launch such a lawsuit, in 1998, but that case is not yet resolved – underscoring the lengthy process involved in reaching a resolution.
Welcome to Best of Late Night, a rundown of the previous night’s highlights that lets you sleep — and lets us get paid to watch comedy. Here are the 50 best movies on Netflix right now.
Opening arguments began in former President Donald Trump’s criminal trial on Monday, with much of the news media coverage homing in on as many details as possible about the proceedings.
Jon Stewart called the trial a “test of the fairness of the American legal system, but it’s also a test of the media’s ability to cover Donald Trump in a responsible way.”
Jimmy Kimmel’s sidekick, Guillermo Rodriguez, took the stage with Madonna in Mexico City over the weekend.
The economist Stephanie Kelton will chat with Jordan Klepper and Ronny Chieng, the guest co-hosts, on Tuesday’s “Daily Show.”
In “Under the Bridge,” Hulu’s chilling new series, Riley Keough and Lily Gladstone investigate the murder of a teenager.
Remnants of bird flu virus found in pasteurized milk, FDA says
Mayor's youth advisory council seeks submissions for art gala – SooToday
"Hi, It's Me": NASA's Voyager 1 Phones Home From 15 Billion Miles Away – NDTV
Some Canadians will be digging out of 25+ cm of snow by Friday – The Weather Network
Bird flu virus found in grocery milk as officials say supply still safe
Jon Stewart Slams the Media for Coverage of Trump Trial – The New York Times
Taxes should not wag the tail of the investment dog, but that’s what Trudeau wants
Auston Matthews turns it up with three-point night as Maple Leafs slay Bruins in Game 2 – Toronto Sun
