Reporting on the media industry for the
@washingtonpost
. Please send story ideas, tips and memos to jeremy.barr
@washpost
.com or text/call me at 240-812-1893.
Mark Cuban to Sean Hannity: "Donald Trump can't answer your questions. You and every Fox News interviewer gives him the easiest questions, and he can't answer them. Why is that, Sean?"
A lot of chatter on Fox about Biden being partisan for signing a bunch of executive orders today.
Sandra Smith: "What message does it send?"
Chris Wallace: "It sends that he won."
CNN's Jake Tapper, who says he doesn't normally talk about competitors: "The Murdochs and the people at Fox have an obligation to put their country above their profits. It is very important that people make it very clear -- that there is no credible evidence of widespread fraud."
Inbox: MSNBC announces that Rachel Maddow beat Sean Hannity in both total viewers and the advertiser-friendly demo for the month of January. Lawrence O’Donnell also beat Laura Ingraham in the same metrics.
NEW - Internal memo for Fox staff: "All workers in NYC who perform in-person work at an office location, including Fox employees, must show proof of receiving at least one dose of a COVID-19 vaccine" by Dec. 27.
Testing will no longer be alternative to getting vaccine in NYC.
In addition to condemning his comments about Greta Thunberg as “disgraceful,” Fox News told me that it has “no plans” to book Michael Knowles again as a guest.
It remains a challenge to figure out what Trish Regan said about coronavirus that was meaningfully different than what Sean Hannity, Jeanine Pirro and Laura Ingraham have said
Strange moment on Fox. Brit Hume says that the COVID situation isn't that bad and is heading in the right direction. Then you can quietly hear Chris Wallace saying, "Really? 100,000 people dead?" and then the audio breaks up...
After Bob Woodward says on CNN that journalists should be patient and not complain about a lack of info, Gloria Borger says: “I want to respectfully disagree, because I think we could be getting more information than we’re getting.”
Autistic Self Advocacy Network executive director Julia Bascom: "It's absolutely unconscionable to attack someone for their disability, especially when that person is a child."
!!! — Liz Cheney, re: urging Trump Jan. 6 action: "According to the records, multiple Fox News hosts knew the president needed to act immediately. They texted Mark Meadows, and he has turned over those texts."
She reads texts from Laura Ingraham, Sean Hannity, and Brian Kilmeade
Ronan Farrow to crowd of media executives in journalists at Mirror Awards: "I see some people here who have lied to protect power in the way we're all decrying today. People who have lied to The New Yorker."
(Rudy Giuliani is literally waiting for the results of a COVID test)
Martha MacCallum: "I hope that cough is not anything bad. You're waiting for your test to come back.
Rudy Giuliani: "I hope so too. I'll let you know tomorrow."
Very important: During Fox News appearance, Trump recommends that people get the vaccine — "I would recommend it. And I would recommend it to a lot of people who don't want to get it, and a lot of those people voted for me, frankly."
Maria Bartiromo will get a tryout as Fox's new 7 pm host
A news staffer tells me: "It is ludicrous and disheartening that we are rewarding her with a primetime spot, knowing fullwell she is among the most responsible for propagating the big election lie'
"Smartmatic and Dominion are seeking communications from Fox Corp Chairman Rupert Murdoch and his son Lachlan ... to help prove that Fox News either knew statements it aired were false, or acted with reckless disregard for whether they were true or false."
Some context on the Mick Mulvaney hiring:
According to an audio recording I obtained, CBS News co-prez Neeraj Khemlani told staff earlier this month that CBS needed to hire more Republicans for "access" reasons because the GOP would likely win midterms.
Fox News Channel sent a memo today reminding staffers who come to the office to follow CDC guidelines on masks: “We’d like to remind all employees to also don a face covering in Fox News Media shared spaces, particularly when you’re not at a socially distanced workstation.”
NEW - Fox News rejected a national ad for the anti-Nazi documentary short "A Night At The Garden" that was going to run during Hannity's show. The reason? A Fox account executive told the ad-buyer: "Our CEO said that it was not appropriate for our air."
Multiple people on Fox have been lamenting that the pandemic hurt Trump's chances and asking "what could have been."
But, Chris Wallace says: "That's not just bad luck. It's a question of how a president responds to that situation."
My niece is trying to get her bearded dragon's Instagram account cooking. I told her that people want creative, compelling content that sets your pet apart. She responded by spending 3 hours making a very chaotic custom red carpet & costume for her dragon.
Wow -- Texas state rep James Talarico (D) to Fox host Pete Hegseth: "You have made a lot of money personally and you've enriched a lot of corporations with advertising by getting on here and spewing lies and conspiracy theories to folks who trust you."
Here’s ABC’s response to a Project Veritas video of Amy Robach expressing frustration that her Jeffrey Epstein piece didn’t run.
Robach: “I was caught in a private moment of frustration. ... In the years since no one ever told me or the team to stop reporting on Jeffrey Epstein”
Pacific Life insurance, which has advertised on Tucker Carlson's show for a year, said they "strongly disagree" with his comments last night about immigration and are pausing their ads on his show for the next few weeks as they "reevaluate" relationship
Hannity (speaking metaphorically about Biden): “You keep banging your head against the wall — why would you expect a different result?”
Trump (speaking literally): “So, we would have the wall completed in 3 weeks. It was largely completed. We did almost 500 miles of wall.”
As far as I know, Maria Bartiromo is still considered to be a member of the News division at Fox, which makes her sharing her Trump questions with Mark Meadows ahead of time particularly noteworthy. From CNN's new report:
News: The Washington Post has terminated reporter Felicia Sonmez, according to a source close to the situation.
It happened this afternoon. Post PR is declining to comment, citing privacy issues.
Story coming.
I keep thinking about the 1.75 billion that was invested in Quibi, which could have like singlehandedly kept the entire small/medium-sized media industry afloat during a pandemic
If you are a Fox News Channel or Fox Business Network employee unhappy with your network's coverage of the virus, please DM me or Signal message me at 240-812-1893.
CBS News' decision to hire Mick Mulvaney as a contributor has NOT been popular with many rank-and-file employees.
"I know everyone I talked to today was embarrassed about the hiring,” one said.
"Everyone is baffled," said another.
CNN's Don Lemon reveals at FT conference that someone came up to him while he was filming in a park and said, "We built this country. I can't wait for CNN to fire your black ass, you faggot."
New: Fox Corp. CEO Lachlan Murdoch announced in a memo to employees today that the company expects that non-production staffers who have been working remotely "will continue to do so for the remainder of the calendar year."
Statement responding to this from NYT spokesperson: “While we do not confirm what may or may publish in future editions, The Times has not and does not plan to expose any residence of Tucker Carlson’s, which Carlson was aware of before tonight’s broadcast”
Joe Scarborough today on the coronavirus briefings: "The president lies so much in these press conferences, I still for the life of me don’t understand why the networks, including our own, allow Donald Trump to lie for two hours to the American people."
In a statement, The Autism Society called out the comments made by Knowles on Fox tonight: "To intentionally demean any person, regardless of neuro-diversity, is both cruel and wrong. ... It is shameful to issue a derogatory statement to a youth advocate."
Laura Ingraham asks ex CIA director James Woolsey if the U.S. has meddled in foreign elections. He responds: "Oh, probably, but it was for the good of the system, to avoid communists from taking over." Asked if the U.S. is still doing it, Woolsey says "only for a very good cause"
NEW: Two NYC-based CBS News employees have tested positive for coronavirus, according to memo just sent to employees. President Susan Zirinsky says: “We have been planning for this possibility and want everyone to be assured that we are taking all necessary measures.”
NEW - BOWFLEX (
@Bowflex
) is pulling ads from Tucker Carlson's show: "We have requested that Fox News remove our ads from airing in conjunction with Tucker Carlson Tonight in the future."
Tucker Carlson called Jill Biden "illiterate" on last night's show. A
@butcherbox
ad ran.
"Carlson's views and comments are in no way a reflection of ButcherBox’s beliefs," a rep says, "and we will be evaluating how we can restrict this particular time slot from future ad buys"
Recent political contributor additions:
CNN: John Kasich, Andrew Gillum, Mia Love, Luis Gutierrez
CBS News: Jeff Flake
NBC News/MSNBC: Claire McCaskill
Fox News: Dan Bongino
Asked about the resignation of Jonah Goldberg and Stephen Hayes, a Fox News executive said that the network did not plan to re-sign them as contributors when their contract came up next year:
Text from Laura Ingraham to Mark Meadows: "Mark, the president needs to tell people in the Capitol to go home. This is hurting all of us. He is destroying his legacy."
From Brian Kilmeade to Mark Meadows: "Please, get him on TV. Destroying everything you have accomplished."
.
@margarettalev
reports on CNN that Trump campaign is concerned that Fox News might be the first network to call the election for Biden -- "the feeling is: if it were Fox to call it, it would be tremendously bad for optics, which as we know is really important to the president."
S.E. Cupp on CNN: "Fox News used people like Shepard Smith and Chris Wallace and Bret Baier to say, 'Look, we have a news division. Yes, we have our entertainment side, but we also have news people."
I reviewed two years of emails between Fox News/Fox Business employees and Treasury Department employees (obtained via FOIA) and wrote up examples of coziness and requests for "talking points":
Sarah Huckabee Sanders on the Fake News Awards: "We'll keep you guys posted. There will be something later today. I know you are all waiting to see if you are big winners."
New statement from Newsmax: "As a result of the Electoral College vote Joe Biden is the president-elect and will be referred to as such on Newsmax. We also recognize Pres Trump continues to contest the results and we will cover aspects of that news story."
NEW - NERDWALLET (
@NerdWallet
) is pulling advertising from Tucker Carlson's show and "will also be reevaluating any ongoing advertising with this program," a spokesperson just told me.
James O'Keefe says in email that Project Veritas' source still works at ABC: "The video from our insider speaks for itself, they are still at ABC, and we are in contact!"
A very quiet December on the media beat:
- Chris Cuomo fired
- Brian Williams leaves MSNBC
- Chris Wallace leaves Fox News
- Fox host texts to Mark Meadows
- BuzzFeed goes public
- Massive digital media merger between Vox and Group Nine
And, of course, the Fox Christmas tree
"Autism is not an illness and, in fact, we consider neurodiversity to be something worth celebrating," says Dania Jekel of the Asperger/Autism Network. "All people, regardless of any mental health challenges they may face, should be treated with respect"
Many Fox News personalities have rightly criticized Chris Cuomo for interviewing his brother. Here is Steve Doocy interviewing his own son this morning
When Mick Mulvaney appeared on CBS, the host called him a former OMB director but did not initially specify which administration he worked for.
The Standards department then sent around a note reminding folks to specify which admin a guest worked for.
CNN panelist yesterday, on the Dan Crenshaw comment: "You can't complain about Donald Trump and his indecency and then think jokes like that are funny."
Are we saying that the president of the United States and Pete Davidson have the same role and responsibility in society?
The Wall Street Journal is declining to comment on their rationale for publishing this letter-to-the-editor from Donald Trump, which claims that "the election was rigged."
Dan Crenshaw on Jesse Watters: "Watters is a tool, making millions to push conspiracies on tv and bash veterans like me who are barely a fraction of his net worth. Wake up America. The political entertainment industry is almost always lying to you."
I've spent the last weeks working on this print magazine profile of MSNBC's Chris Hayes, who was early in covering the spread of the coronavirus and is one of the most deeply Normal people hosting a cable news show right now: