Media at a flashpoint: 2019 year in review - CNN

Media

Media at a flashpoint: 2019 year in review – CNN

Published

4 years ago

December 24, 2019

Here is a very incomplete look back at the year in media, especially when it intersected with government, business, culture, and entertainment.

News about the news

In year three of the Trump presidency, journalists reached for new ways to describe the tumultuous times — I noticed “the victim president,” “the Infowars president,” “the conspiracy theory president,” “the ‘say anything’ president,” and “the grifter president,” just to name a few. In Foxland, Lou Dobbs called him “the greatest president in our history.” At the end of the year, of course, it was “the impeached president.”

Trump’s mendacity and his propaganda machine’s complicity hit new heights during the impeachment inquiry. Washington Post fact-checker Glenn Kessler reported at the end of the year that “Trump said more false or misleading claims in 2019 than he did in 2017 and 2018 combined.” There were signs of exhaustion and numbness — the ever-present “Trump fatigue.”

The president’s near-daily complaints about the news media almost faded into the background, but there were times when the extreme nature of his rhetoric was newly shocking. In June he accused the New York Times of a “virtual act of treason” and threatened a Time journalist with prison over a Kim Jong Un letter. In September he tweeted that two Washington Post reporters “shouldn’t even be allowed on the grounds of the White House.” That same month, a federal judge ruled that the White House had to restore press access to Playboy columnist Brian Karem, who had been suspended for 30 days.

Trump also complained about Fox News more than a dozen times, usually when news anchors were reporting fact-based news or when Democratic politicians were speaking on the channel. He griped about Fox’s scientific polls and occasionally promoted OANN, a far-right channel that wants to reach Fox’s viewers. But despite the barbs, Trump leaned heavily on support from the channel’s right-wing commentators and took his cues from their shows. Fox’s chief news anchor Shep Smith suddenly resigned in October, the most high-profile example of news being squeezed out by opinion on the channel.

Back in DC, the Mueller probe came and went; on-camera White House press briefings were scrapped; and Stephanie Grisham took over as press secretary. Sanders accepted a Fox News contributor gig.

Arguably the most shocking media/politics story of the year broke in February when Amazon founder Jeff Bezos alleged that the National Enquirer attempted to extort and blackmail him. Bezos — the owner of the Washington Post and a longtime Trump target— implied that it was a political hit job.

Entertainment’s new world order

The Disney-Fox deal took effect in March, creating a media company of unparalleled scale, and a slimmed-down Fox Corp focused on live news and sports. Disney dominated the year at the box office and launched a flagship streaming service, Disney+, that will define the company’s future.

All the talk about Disney+ and other streaming launches reflected the fact that Netflix is the pace setter, establishing the model for the new streaming world order. Netflix tripled down on its original content bets, competing with the likes of Apple and Amazon.

Richard Plepler stepped down at HBO and Bob Greenblatt joined WarnerMedia (CNN’s parent company) in a top content job that included oversight of HBO. The company’s top priority became the HBO Max streaming service, which will launch in April. WarnerMedia CEO John Stankey was promoted to president and COO of AT&T, putting him in line to succeed Randall Stephenson. AT&T fended off an activist shareholder campaign. Verizon continued to shrink its digital media footprint while focusing on 5G. Sprint and T-Mobile tried to merge.

At NBCUniversal, the top priority was Peacock, which will launch in May. NBCU CEO Steve Burke will step aside on January 1, making way for Jeff Shell.

Apple launched new subscription products in both news and entertainment. (Reminder: I’m a consulting producer on one of Apple’s shows.) Analysts predicted that an Apple bundle is on the way. Other bundles launched in other categories: For instance, Luminary launched in the ever-more-crowded podcast space.

Spotify acquired podcasting companies like Gimlet Media and inked deals with programmers like Barack and Michelle Obama. Sometimes it seemed like everyone had a podcast. But companies kept betting that the ecosystem has room to grow.

Media business stories, meantime, kept giving inspiration to Hollywood storytellers: Look no further than “Succession,” “The Loudest Voice,” “Bombshell,” and, yes, “The Morning Show…”

Business interrupted

Upheaval in digital media continued: A private equity firm acquired a set of beloved websites — including Gizmodo, Kotaku, Deadspin, Jezebel, and The Onion — from Univision. By the end of the year Deadspin was a figment of its former self. Vice bought Refinery29, Bustle Media Group bought multiple brands, and more and more websites put up pay walls to spur subscriber revenue. More and more digital newsrooms pushed to unionize.

While losses accumulated in local news, big tech companies said they would do more to support the fragile news ecosystem that has suffered from digital disruption. For the first time, Facebook started to directly pay publishers for opening up their content to the social network. Google’s support came in the form of grants and partnerships. Critics said the efforts were just a relative drop in the bucket, given the overwhelming size of the tech giants.

Despite the hardships and headwinds, news organizations produced ambitious work, from “The 1619 Project” and “The Privacy Project” at The New York Times to “The Afghanistan Papers” and “The Opioid Files” at the Washington Post. Miami Herald reporter Julie K. Brown was celebrated for her intrepid reporting about Jeffrey Epstein’s crimes. “We were assisted by some excellent investigative journalism,” prosecutors said when announcing Epstein’s arrest.

Newspapers explored new models to stay in business. Consolidation continued, with Gannett and Gatehouse coming together in a takeover deal that immediately led to further layoffs. In Utah, the Salt Lake Tribune became the first metropolitan daily paper in the United States to file with the IRS and turn into a nonprofit enterprise.

Speaking of not-for-profit media, John Lansing became the new chief executive at NPR, succeeding Jarl Mohn.

In other transitions, Kevin Tsujihara stepped down amid controversy and Ann Sarnoff became the new CEO of the Warner Bros studio. Adam Moss retired from New York Magazine and David Haskell took over.

Changing of the guards

In the television news world, Susan Zirinsky took charge at CBS News, signed Gayle King to a new contract, and moved Norah O’Donnell to the “Evening News.” Tony Dokoupil and Anthony Mason joined King on “CBS This Morning.” Steve Kroft retired from “60 Minutes.”

At NBC, Andy Lack and Noah Oppenheim weathered the “Catch & Kill” storm, and Oppenheim signed a new contract, putting him in line to succeed Lack after the 2020 election.

At Vice, news boss Josh Tyrangiel left when HBO’s “Vice News Tonight” was canceled. Vice hired Jesse Angelo to be the new news and entertainment chief.

Executives in newsrooms and Hollywood boardrooms increasingly came to believe that their competitors weren’t just down the street or across the country, but across platforms and around the world. The short-form video sharing app TikTok was a sensation, and it originated in China. Esports consumed more and more viewing time. The massive multiplayer game “Fortnite” collapsed into a black hole, reinvented itself and, in the words of the Los Angeles Times, “remained a massive force.”

Attention was the currency, whether people were recording a funny video on a phone or buying tickets for a live taping of a podcast or getting news alerts on a smart watch or riding a connected bike. What captured your attention in 2019?

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Jon Stewart Slams the Media for Coverage of Trump Trial – The New York Times

Published

8 hours ago

April 23, 2024

Harry Miller

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.

Media Circus

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.”

The Punchiest Punchlines (Insano Edition)

The Bits Worth Watching

Jimmy Kimmel’s sidekick, Guillermo Rodriguez, took the stage with Madonna in Mexico City over the weekend.

What We’re Excited About on Tuesday Night

The economist Stephanie Kelton will chat with Jordan Klepper and Ronny Chieng, the guest co-hosts, on Tuesday’s “Daily Show.”

Also, Check This Out

In “Under the Bridge,” Hulu’s chilling new series, Riley Keough and Lily Gladstone investigate the murder of a teenager.

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Jon Stewart lampoons media’s coverage of Trump’s first day at trial – CNN

Published

9 hours ago

April 23, 2024

Harry Miller

‘Decisive, definitive and regretful’: Iran’s foreign minister issues warning to Israel

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Jon Stewart rips media over coverage of ‘banal’ Trump trial details – The Hill

Published

10 hours ago

April 23, 2024

Harry Miller

Jon Stewart blasted the media for covering the “banal” details of former President Trump’s first of four criminal trials, which began with opening statements Monday following a week of jury selection.

In his Monday night broadcast of “The Daily Show,” Stewart poked fun at the TV news media for tracking Trump’s traffic route from Trump Tower to the courtroom, compiling footage from various outlets, as they tracked each turn his car made.

“Seriously, are we going to follow this guy to court every f‑‑‑ing day? Are you trying to make this O.J. [Simpson]? It’s not a chase. He’s commuting,” Stewart said. “So the media’s first attempt — the very first attempt on the first day — at self-control failed.”

Media outlets have closely covered Trump in recent days, as he makes history as the first U.S. president to stand trial on criminal charges. Trump is also the presumptive GOP nominee for president this year.

Trump currently faces 34 criminal counts of falsifying business records in connection to reimbursements to his then-fixer, Michael Cohen, who paid adult film actress Stormy Daniels $130,000 ahead of the 2016 election to stay quiet about an alleged affair she had with the former president a decade prior. It is the first of four criminal trials Trump will face, and perhaps the only one that will go to a jury before the November election.

Stewart, in his broadcast, took aim at TV news outlets, suggesting they were covering small news alerts as significant breaking news developments.

Stewart pretended a producer was talking in his earpiece and paused midsentence, saying, “Hold on. We’re getting breaking news,” and cut to a clip from an earlier interview conducted by CNN’s Jake Tapper, who similarly cut off his guest momentarily to identify a photo displayed on screen to his audience.

“I’m sorry to interrupt. Just for one second. I apologize,” Tapper said in the clip. “We’re just showing the first image of Donald Trump from inside the courtroom. It’s a still photograph that we’re showing there. Just want to make sure our viewers know what they’re looking at.”

Stewart shot back, saying, “Yes, for our viewers who are just waking up from a 30-year coma, this is what Donald Trump has looked like every day for the past 30 years. Same outfit.”

Stewart ripped CNN again for analyzing the courtroom sketches so closely, saying, “It’s a sketch. Why would anyone analyze a sketch like it was — it’d be like looking at the Last Supper and going, ‘Why do you think Jesus looks so sad here? What do you think? It’s because of Judas?’”

“Look, at some point in this trial, something important and revelatory is going to happen,” Stewart said. “But none of us are going to notice, because of the hours spent on his speculative facial ticks. If the media tries to make us feel like the most mundane bullshit is earth-shattering, we won’t believe you when it’s really interesting.”

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