Wednesday, May 31, 2023

June is upon us! Insider's union threatens a strike, the News Media Alliance names a new chief, Project Veritas sues James O'Keefe, Meta protests legislation in California, OpenAI tries to stop "hallucinations," Brian Kilmeade zings Donald Trump for attacking Kayleigh McEnany, "Ted Lasso" appears to end, and more. But first, the A1.

THE A1

The War on 'Woke'

CNN Photo Illustration/Drudge Report

Prepare yourself for a Pride Month imbued with callous intolerance.

Fueled by right-wing media personalities and institutions like Fox News, conservatives are waging a ferocious war on companies that express support for the LGBTQ community, with hostilities against the celebration of gay rights swelling to levels not seen in many years. In effect, the supposedly anti-cancel culture crowd is leading the summer's biggest cancel culture campaign.

In recent weeks, right-wing media has smeared and incited boycotts against Bud Light and Target, two jumbo American brands that have been thrust into the center of the toxic culture wars. Both companies have been relentlessly attacked over their show of public support for the LGBTQ community. In recent days, The North Face, Kohl's, and Chick-fil-A have also come under assault in the expanding war. And Disney, of course, has been an endless punching bag since it spoke out against the so-called "Don't Say Gay" bill in Florida last year.

In the right-wing media universe, in which millions of Americans firmly reside, these companies have been portrayed as "woke" and evil corporations seeking to groom children with radical — even Satantic — gender ideology that will corrupt their brains and ultimately lead to the destruction of society.

The attacks have put companies in the uncomfortable position of standing up for the values of their own employees and the public writ large against a relentless volley of threats of mass boycotts, lost revenue, and ultimately, long-term brand harm. With each offensive — and claimed victories — the activists wielding the pitchforks have become more emboldened and the business atmosphere more chilled.

Written in black and white, the attacks look deranged. But it is precisely what some of the loudest and most influential right-wing media figures are promoting to their large followings, with new self-generated outrage cycles generated daily. It isn't quite QAnon, but it's close — and it is being fed to the GOP base in broad daylight. You don't have to go to the dark corners of the internet to find this style of crazed commentary; it's available each day via mainstream right-wing outlets.

In many cases, prominent personalities are not even trying to be secretive about their end goal as they perhaps would have been done in years past. In fact, they are saying the quiet part aloud. The Daily Wire's Matt Walsh, one of the leading purveyors of anti-LGBTQ rhetoric in the U.S., has explicitly stated that the aim is to make the open embrace of the LGBTQ community harmful to brands.

"The goal is to make 'pride' toxic for brands," Walsh tweeted. "If they decide to shove this garbage in our face, they should know that they'll pay a price. It won't be worth whatever they think they'll gain. First Bud Light and now Target. Our campaign is making progress. Let's keep it going."

It is important to remember that a not-so-insignificant portion of the American populace takes this rhetoric to heart. For the conservative news organizations and businesses that promote it, the rhetoric is profitable because it resonates with and excites their audiences. The articles generate clicks, videos attract eyeballs, and the content in general prompts significant engagement — the lifeblood of the internet.

Which is to say that this burgeoning facet of the culture wars, which is now unquestionably the most dominant strain, is not going away any time soon. In fact, with Pride Month about to get underway, and more brands showing their support for the LGBTQ community, expect more fronts to open up. As the right-wing media personalities leading this campaign have said: Bud Light and Target were just the beginning.

The Human Rights Campaign released a statement Wednesday, signed by more than 100 advocacy organizations and allies, condemning the right's use of the "extremist playbook of attacks."

"Their goal is clear: to prevent LGBTQ+ inclusion and representation, silence our allies and make our community invisible," the coalition said. "These attacks fuel hate against LGBTQ+ people, just as we've seen this year with more than 500 anti-LGBTQ+ bills that restrict basic freedoms and aim to erase LGBTQ+ people."

——— BELOW THE FOLD ———

CNN Photo Illustration/Timothy A. Clary/AFP/Getty Images

Movement in May: Cable ratings are in for May — and they spelled bad news for both Fox News and CNN. Fox News, which angered its audience by firing Tucker Carlson, lost 32% of its total viewers in prime and 44% of its audience in the prime demo from April — a staggering blow to the right-wing network. CNN, which has been suffering from historically low ratings, sunk even further in May, down double digits from April in both total viewers (-16% in prime and -13% in total day) and those in the key 25-54 demo.

MSNBC and Newsmax were there to pick up the pieces from their respective competitors. While MSNBC also slid double digits in viewership from April (-12% in total prime and -10% in total day), it touted that it had beat CNN in total viewers and the key demo across total day and prime. The progressive network said that it had opened up the largest advantage in total day over CNN in its 27-year history. Newsmax also capitalized off of Fox News' decline. In the 8pm hour, which Carlson once helmed at Fox News, Newsmax's Eric Bolling saw his ratings balloon 81% in total viewers and 79% in the demo. AdWeek's AJ Katz has a fuller ratings breakdown here.

THE BUSINESS

Insider Union's Intention: The Insider Union on Wednesday said that workers will strike if a contract with management is not reached by Thursday at 11:59pm. The union, which was angered by recent layoffs and changes to health care, is demanding increased pay for members, among other things. Insider spokesperson Mario Ruiz responded in a statement, telling me, "We respect our team's right to strike. We of course hope they don't. We believe we have put forth a strong proposal and look forward to soon completing negotiations." We'll see what happens.

IN THE INDUSTRY

What the hell happened here?": Charlotte Klein has the inside look at The NYT's internal blowup over its widely criticized Elizabeth Holmes profile. (Vanity Fair)
Klein also tweeted news that The NYT's business editor, Ellen Pollock, told staff she is no longer actively looking for a new media columnist. A spokesperson for the newspaper clarified to me that this doesn't mean the revered position won't eventually be filled. (Twitter)
"CNN keeps feeding the mouths that bite it," Brian Steinberg writes, referring to how the network's rivals are picking up the anchors and producers who have left in recent months. (Variety)
Co-founder and chief executive of Quartz, Zach Steward, announced he is stepping down June 9 after more than a decade with the publication: "I've decided it's my time to move on." (ZMS)
Disney has reached its announced goal of laying off 7,000 staffers, with the last round of cuts concluding on Friday. (Variety)
The chief executive of the Baltimore Banner, Imtiaz Patel, told staff that he will step down next month to take an unspecified senior position at Gannett. (Baltimore Banner)
Sports ratings continue to be the bright spot for cable: Game 7 of the Heat-Celtics series averaged 11.9 million viewers on TNT, peaking at 14.2 million viewers. It was the third-most watched NBA game ever on the network. (The Athletic)
Activision Blizzard was willing to bid on Time Warner if AT&T wasn't able to see through its purchase of the company in 2018, CEO Bobby Kotick announced. (The Wrap)
"Dopesick" author Beth Macy told Jake Tapper she is "disappointed" with a court ruling that shields Purdue Pharama owners from civil rights lawsuits over the company's role in the opioid crisis. (Twitter)

MEDIA MOVES

The News Media Alliance named Danielle Coffey as its new chief executive. (News Media Alliance)
CBS News hired former CNN host Lisa Ling as a contributor. (LAT)
ABC News brought on Brooke Brower, also formerly of CNN, as EP of "This Week with George Stephanopoulos." (THR)
NPR named Scott Detrow the weekend host of "All Things Considered" and "Consider This." (NPR)
The NYT tapped Susan Hopkins for the Page One selection job on Sunday and Monday. (NYT)

THE INFO WARS

CNN Photo Illustration/Joe Raedle/Getty Images

Veritas' Vengeance: The bitter feud between Project Veritas and founder James O'Keefe is heading to court. The right-wing media organization sued O'Keefe on Wednesday, accusing its former leader of violating a non-disparagement agreement and misusing the organization's funds on "lavish" expenses, including $150,000 on luxury black-car services and a helicopter flight. "Being known as the founder of an organization does not entitle that person to run amok and put his own interests ahead of that organization," Project Veritas' complaint said, adding O'Keefe "must be held accountable." The WaPo's Will Sommer has the details here.

IN THE BATTLEFIELD

Coming up: Sean Hannity's taped town hall with Donald Trump is set to air Thursday night.
Kayleigh McEnany did not address Trump's "milktoast" attack on his former press secretary during Wednesday's "Outnumbered."
Brian Kilmeade, however, hit back at Trump for attacking her, calling the behavior "insane." (HuffPost)
Twitter has not only failed to remove 99% of the hate speech published on its platform by Twitter Blue users, but a recent Center For Countering Digital Hate shows it may actually be boosting racist and homophobic content from paid accounts. (Daily Beast)
Europe is similarly concerned about Twitter, with the Dutch parliament's chairwoman expressing "deep concern" for online remarks that targeted her colleagues in parliament, some of which included death threats. (Reuters)
Over 27 years ago, long before he became the divisive figure he is today, 26-year-old Tucker Carlson appeared on C-SPAN. Will Saletan, then of Mother Jones and now of The Bulwark, recalls the time he shared a studio with Carlson during a segment. (Raw Story)

THE VALLEY

CNN Photo Illustration/Dado Ruvic/Reuters

Meta's Threat: Surprise, surprise! Meta is no fan of the California Journalism Preservation Act. The social media titan on Wednesday threatened to "remove news from Facebook and Instagram" in its home state if the proposed legislation becomes law. Meta spokesperson Andy Stone argued that the bill, which would force tech companies to share some of their profits with publishers, would create a "slush fund" that "primarily benefits big, out-of-state media companies." Stone said it was "disappointing that California lawmakers appear to be prioritizing the best interests of national and international media companies over their own constituents." It goes without saying that there is support for the CJPA in California. Reuters' Katie Paul has more on the developing situation.

TOO MANY TABS

About 1,900 Amazon employees plan to stage a walk out on Thursday afternoon to protest the company's return-to-office mandate. (CNBC)
Transactions on Apple's App Store in 2022 increased by 29% on-year, to $1.1 trillion. (Bloomberg)
OpenAI is looking to stop A.I. "hallucinations," those moments where the technology elects to authoritatively pass along false information. (CNBC)
The National Eating Disorder Association unplugged its own A.I., which goes by Tessa, after it advised someone with an eating disorder to engage in unhealthy eating habits. Tessa was slated to take over NEDA's hotline in two days. (Vice)
Snapchat has integrated A.I., with Snapchat+ users now able to send photos to the company's A.I. using the "My AI Snaps" — to which the A.I. will respond with tailored photos. (The Wrap)
Professor Yoshua Bengio, one of the godfathers of A.I., said he feels "lost" about his life's work and would have prioritized safety over practicality if he'd known how quickly the technology would develop. (BBC)
China's Communist Party emphasized the dangers posed by recent strides in A.I. (AP)
Europe's competition commissioner announced a draft of the E.U.'s A.I. code of conduct should be drawn up within weeks. (Reuters)

CURTAIN CALL

CNN Photo Illustration/Apple TV+

Ta Ta 'Ted Lasso': "Although not officially billed as a 'series finale,' 'Ted Lasso' surely reached what felt like the end of something, capping off the least appealing of its three seasons with an episode awash in sentimentality and heart," CNN's Brian Lowry writes. Whether the show goes on in some capacity is unclear, and Apple isn't saying. But it seems evident that this version of the hit series is complete. Read Lowry's full piece here.

OFF STAGE

Danny Masterson has been found guilty on two counts of rape. The actor, who had pleaded not guilty, faces up to 30 years to life in prison. (CNN)
Armie Hammer will not face sexual assault charges, the Los Angeles County District Attorney's office announced. (Variety)
"Sex and the City" shocker: Kim Cattrall "will reprise her iconic role as Samantha Jones in the Season 2 finale of 'And Just Like That,'" Ramin Setoodeh and Elizabeth Wagmeister report. (Variety)
"In a rare situation for a Disney tentpole, particularly a live-action title based on a treasured classic animated musical, 'The Little Mermaid' looks to bank more at the domestic box office ultimately than overseas," Anthony D'Alessandro points out. (Deadline)
Ryan Gosling is on the cover of GQ. For the story, he responds to critics who say he is too old to play Ken in the new "Barbie" film: "It is funny, this kind of clutching-your-pearls idea of, like, #notmyken. Like you ever thought about Ken before this?" (GQ)
"LOST"-gate is growing. Writer Javier Grillo-Marxuach is sharing his experience on the iconic show: "If 'LOST' is so great a work of art as to continue to be a topic of discussion after all these years, then it is cruel to expect those of us who were there to remain silent as to how the show was made." (Deadline)
Amid the writers strike, "executives accustomed to chatting breezily with writers on the phone, over text, and at lunches have found themselves with their feet in their mouths, unsure of what the rules of engagement are with people who, in many cases, aren't just colleagues but friends," Nicole LaPorte and Peter Kiefer report. (The Ankler)
Kim Kardashian crossed the WGA picket line, per a tweet from former "Law & Order: SVU" showrunner Warren Leight. (Daily Beast)
"Unstoppable," a film starring Jennifer Lopez, has halted production amid the strike. (Deadline)
Megan Thee Stallion announced she will take a break from music to focus on "healing." (In Style)
Director Andrés Muschietti, who's behind the upcoming Warner Bros. "The Flash" film, said he would consider having Ezra Miller reprise the movie's main role despite the controversy the actor is embroiled in. (THR)
Shia LaBeouf is apparently writing a film about Auschwitz. (Variety)
Netflix dropped a trailer for the upcoming sixth season of "Black Mirror" that will hit the streamer on June 15. (YouTube)
Amazon released its first trailer for the fourth and final season of "Tom Clancy's Jack Ryan." (YouTube)
At 83, Al Pacino will become a father for the fourth time. (LAT)

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 here. We will see you back in your inbox tomorrow.