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Wednesday, January 31, 2024

Mark Zuckerberg and Evan Spiegel apologize to families on Capitol Hill, The Messenger shutters, Byron Allen throws his hat into the Paramount ring, TikTok and Universal Music Group fail to strike a deal, a judge tosses out Disney's lawsuit against Ron DeSantis, Larry David insists "Curb Your Enthusiasm" is actually ending, and so much more. But first, the A1.

THE A1

Radicalizing the Right

CNN Photo Illustration/KYW

Far-left woke mobs ravaging the country. Hordes of illegal immigrants invading the southern border. Gender ideology warping young minds in schools. Sinister globalists plotting in the shadows.

These are the toxic themes espoused in right-wing media, delivered each day through a mix of internet pipelines and broadcasts to millions of homes across the country. They are also the perturbed views of a 32-year-old man who police say decapitated his father, a federal employee, and then uploaded a highly disturbing video to YouTube showcasing the grisly murder while spewing a toxic potpourri of conspiratorial grievances.

It's part of a larger trend of right-wing violence afflicting the country. Over the course of the last several years, America has witnessed a spate of such incidents: the Charlottesville car attack, the Charleston church shooting, the Buffalo supermarket shooting, the El Paso Walmart shooting, and, of course, the January 6 insurrection at the U.S. Capitol, among others.

"In recent years, violent and alarming actions by far-right extremists, from seditious plots to interfere with election results to white supremacist mass killing attacks, have thrust the issue of right-wing extremist violence into the headlines on a regular basis," the Anti-Defamation League, which tracks such incidents, said in a November report. "In today's America, such terrorism is not merely a threat, it's a fact of life."

The ADL noted in its report that "right-wing extremist terror incidents in the U.S. have been increasing since the mid-2000s," but stressed that "the past six years have seen their sharpest rise yet."

The timing coincides with Donald Trump's arrival on the national political scene, seizing control of the right-wing media machine and refashioning it into his personal propaganda mouthpiece that pollutes the country's information environment.

Prior to Trump's ascension, conspiracy-laden messages were largely confined to the seedy cesspools of the web like 4chan and Infowars, where fringe hosts such as Alex Jones ranted to marginalized audiences. But the media landscape has deteriorated considerably in recent years. Now, extremist commentary airs regularly on Fox News. It is dispersed on A.M. radios from coast to coast. It is commonplace on conservative news and commentary websites. And it proliferates on social media platforms, where right-wing extremists maintain a loud presence and boast millions of followers.

"To tap into these ideas, you [once] had to be literally on mailing lists from extremist groups like the Klan," Andrew McCabe, the former deputy FBI director turned CNN law enforcement analyst, told me Wednesday. "By virtue of logistics, that limited the number of eyeballs consuming this stuff."

"Then you have the internet age dawn and outlets like Stormfront bring these views to more audiences. Now, take that times one thousand," McCabe continued. "You don't have to go to the fringes. You can just turn your cable news outlet to Fox News or Newsmax or OAN and you're getting the same kind of content. The same ideas of the Great Replacement Theory. The same ideas of vilifying immigrants. It's the same messages. It's a little slicker and better produced. But these messages have the same corrosive effect on people."

Millions of people have been trained to distrust credible news organizations and only put their faith in the dishonest voices feeding them a diet of radical rhetoric. And while not everyone who hears such messages will resort to violence, the charged language can suck some people in and eventually lead to real-world action.

"This act of violence represents the threat posed by mainstreaming hateful and dehumanizing rhetoric," Luke Baumgartner, a research fellow at the Program on Extremism at George Washington University told me when I asked about the views the suspect in the decapitation recited.

"This shared belief that a 'cabal of global elites' run by Jews and the left are conspiring to steal white America from Christians allows for a tangled web of conspiracies to connect: anti-government extremists, white supremacists, fascists, and everyone in between, sometimes forging unlikely alliances," Baumgartner added. "This, in turn, allows grievances like a border crisis or a global conflict to inspire a range of ideologically disparate extremists in the name of violence against the other."

Too often, however, the public — and journalists whose job it is to shine a bright light on it — turn a blind eye to the dangerous propaganda machine motivating these actors and operating in plain sight.

Reporters, in particular, very often fail to connect the obvious dots between words and actions. They will note that trees have been cut down in the forest, but shy away from pointing out those who are holding the chainsaws in their hands. Media reporting largely is viewed as niche; not vital. Rarely will you see a segment about the information crisis on the evening news, or delivered prominently via other vessels of mainstream media. The symptoms of the cancer are discussed at length (election denialism, Trump's firm grip on the Republican Party, etcetera), but rarely is the underlying disease confronted with the vigor it demands.

"Top media outlets too often separate political coverage and reporters from incitement/violence/election denialism coverage," Juliette Kayyem, the faculty chair of the Homeland Security and Security and Global Health Projects at Harvard's Kennedy School of Government, told me via email.

The media figures who peddle extremism to the public, Kayyem added, employ sly tactics to shield themselves from accountability when a perpetrator acts on their words. The language they use, she said, "winks at," "nurtures," and "flirts with violence," but also offers them just enough "plausible deniability" when things go south.

"The only way to defeat it," Kayyem said, "is to call it out."

——— BELOW THE FOLD ———

CNN Photo Illustration/Evelyn Hockstein/Reuters

Mark in the Middle: I've spent a great deal of time watching tech executives appear for grillings on Capitol Hill. But never have I ever seen anything like what transpired on Wednesday, when Meta boss Mark Zuckerberg was effectively pressured into apologizing directly to parents who said that their children suffered or died as a result of their use of social media. Facing brutal questioning from Republican Sen. Josh Hawley, Zuckerberg stood up from his chair, turned around, and told the families in the room that he is "sorry for everything" that they had been through. Later in the hearing, Snapchat chief Evan Spiegel also apologized to the families, telling them he is "so sorry that we have not been able to prevent these tragedies." Those raw, emotional, and very human moments distinguished the hearing from the many others that have occurred in the past. Whether it will ultimately lead to a change in policy? Well, that's another story. CNN's Brian Fung has more here.

► During the hearing, Republican Sen. Tom Cotton asked TikTok boss Shou Zi Chew about his citizenship. The Verge's Ari Robertson wrote that Chew "can't catch a break from xenophobia in Congress."

► Meanwhile, as Business Insider's Katie Notopoulos pointed out, X's Linda Yacccarino "got off easy" at the hearing.

THE INDUSTRY

CNN Photo Illustration/TheMessenger

Killing The Messenger: Less than a year after Jimmy Finkelstein vowed to upend the entire news industry with a new centrist outlet, The Messenger is closing its doors and leaving hundreds of journalists unemployed. The collapse of the outlet marks one of the largest and swiftest failures of a media outlet in recent memory. The Messenger's closure comes just eight months after its debut that was built on a strategy of generating gobs of internet traffic from social media platforms and search engines despite broader industry headwinds. Staffers at The Messenger first learned about the fate of the outlet via The NYT's Benjamin Mullin, who broke the news before employees had heard from Finkelstein, I'm told. "Over the past few weeks, literally until earlier today, we exhausted every option available and have endeavored to raise sufficient capital to reach profitability," Finkelstein later wrote in a memo to staff. "Unfortunately, we have been unable to do so, which is why we haven't shared the news with you until now." Just hours later, the entire site was wiped from the web, leaving in its place only the page above with a logo and generic email. Liam Reilly and I have the full story here.

🔎 Zooming in: To be frank, the business model behind the outlet was questionable, at best. It resembled an internet news site of yesteryear, not one cut out to survive — nevertheless, thrive — in the modern media landscape. The upstart outlets succeeding today are lean and niche. They deliver the news with a clear mandate and voice to audiences that brands want to advertise their products in front of. The Messenger, however, went the opposite route. It took a broad, generalist approach to news, covering everything from politics to celebrities, yet didn't give readers a reason to return to its not-so-aesthetically pleasing homepage. Its business strategy, built on publishing a constant flurry of articles was even more perplexing, drawing bewilderment from industry observers. Which is to say, while unfortunate, it is anything but a shock that The Messenger did not work out.

🔥 Jim VandeHei was more blunt to Puck's Dylan Byers: "No one who knew anything would think you can make money off traffic and hit the dumbass numbers he put out there. I was pissed the moment I heard about this dumb idea. It was business malpractice and human cruelty at an epic scale. Anyone who knew anything about the economics of media knew it would die quickly, spectacularly, and sadly. I am pissed on behalf of the journalists sold snake oil."

THE FOURTH ESTATE

Strike averted: The Onion Union reached a tentative agreement with G/O Media at the eleventh hour. ( Deadline)
Staffers at seven newsrooms — including The Chicago Tribune, The Orlando Sentinel, and The Virginian-Pilot — will stage walk-offs to protest cuts by Alden Global Capital, Laura Wagner reports. (WaPo)
Mark Stenberg explains why so many outlets are closing their D.C. bureaus in an election year. ( Adweek)
Charlie Sykes announced that he will depart The Bulwark: "There's a season for everything, and this seems a good time to get off the daily hamster wheel of crazy." ( Threads)

IN THE MARKET

Byron Allen is making a splashy offer – once again — for another media property. This time, he's eying Paramount Global, offering $14.3 billion. (Bloomberg)
The headline on Peter Kafka's story: "Wait. This guy wants to spend $14 billion on … Paramount?" ( Business Insider)
Meanwhile, Paramount+ will scrap some international content and not launch certain planned programming as the streamer looks to manage costs, Georg Szalai reports. (THR)
Hulu is the latest streamer to crack down on password sharing. (THR)
The popular "Call Her Daddy" podcast, hosted by Alex Cooper, is no longer a Spotify exclusive. ( THR)
Radio broadcaster Audacy will cut 25% of its podcast staff, or some 12 positions, Ashley Carman reports, adding to her endless list of podcast-related scoops. ( Bloomberg)

MEDIA MOVES

POLITICO named Sonia Fernandes global chief human resources and diversity officer. ( POLITICO)
Vox promoted Bridgett Henwood and Cath Spangler to co-executive producers of Vox Video and announced Natalie Jennings will oversee the video and audio teams. ( Vox)
The LAT promoted Maria L. La Ganga to deputy managing editor for California and Metro. ( LAT)
Bloomberg named Tom Giles senior executive editor of tech. (TBN)

THE VALLEY

CNN Photo Illustration/TAS2023/Getty Images

TikTok Without Taylor: "Music armageddon" is upon us, as Rolling Stone's Ethan Millman put it. Universal Music Group, unable to strike an agreement with TikTok over royalty payments, has vowed to pull its music catalog from the short-form video platform — a move that is sure to have major implications for the social media company and music industry. UMG artists include Taylor Swift, Drake, Ariana Grande, Justin Bieber, Coldplay, and countless other music superstars. It's hard to imagine a TikTok without music from these artists. In a fiery statement, TikTok accused UMG of putting its "own greed above the interests" of its artists. UMG, meanwhile, called TikTok a "bully" that uses "intimidation" tactics in a bid to pressure it to sign an agreement that would not come "close to a market-rate deal." CNN's Anna Cuban has details.

TOO MANY TABS

Threads is working on a Trends feature, Adam Mosseri confirmed. Still, where is ThreadsDeck?! ( TechCrunch)
Don't worry! OpenAI says GPT-4 poses little risk of helping users create bioweapons. 😅 ( Bloomberg)
Gerrit De Vynck details how A.I. catapulted Microsoft back "on top again." ( WaPo)
More than $100 billion in value was wiped from Google on Wednesday after the company's disappointing earnings results. ( Business Insider)
As Big Tech navigates how to comply with Europe's Digital Markets Act in a way that best benefits them, there's been fierce debate about what does or doesn't adhere to the act, Ryan Heath writes. ( Axios)

THE INFO WARS

CNN Photo Illustration/oe Burbank/Orlando Sentinel/TNS/Getty Images

DeSantis Defeats Disney: In a big win for Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, a federal judge on Wednesday tossed out the blistering lawsuit Disney filed against him and the state of Florida, which claimed the entertainment behemoth's First Amendment rights had been violated by a weaponized government. A Disney spokesperson said that the House of Mouse will "press forward" with its case, calling it an "important" one with "serious implications for the rule of law" and vowing it will "not end here." The Disney spokesperson added, "If left unchallenged, this would set a dangerous precedent and give license to states to weaponize their official powers to punish the expression of political viewpoints they disagree with." Meanwhile, DeSantis' camp celebrated the judge's decision. CNN's Samantha Delouya has details here.

IN THE BATTLEFIELD

Barstool Sports boss Dave Portnoy called Business Insider, which he lost a lawsuit against last year, "scumbags," adding that he believes "they all deserve great bodily harm." (Mediaite)
"What's been missing are the voices of top Republicans denouncing the conspiratorial fantasies," Calder McHugh and Mia McCarthy write about the attacks on Taylor Swift. "Attacking America's biggest musical icon, one with an enormous following among young people, is no path to victory in November. And yet few have stepped in to stamp out the fires or call out the madness." ( POLITICO)
Rich Lowry lays some of the blame for the acceptance of such theories at the feet of right-wing media outlets: "The Epoch Times has built a media empire on conspiracies. Gateway Pundit is a top conservative website. Alex Jones has gone from embarrassing nutjob with a WWE affect to getting a strange new respect from figures on the right with large followings, including Charlie Kirk and Tucker Carlson." (POLITICO)
Just another day on Fox News: Harris Faulkner — someone who the network bills as a news anchor, not commentator — questioned if DHS Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas is guilty of "treason." ( MMFA)
"The bogus premise that migrants entering the United States in search of a better life are conducting an 'invasion' of the country has moved from the fringes of the right-wing media to its core over the past decade," Matt Gertz writes. (MMFA)

CURTAIN CALL

CNN Photo Illustration/Jeff Kravitz/FilmMagic/Getty Images

Larry 'Not Lying': Larry David says he is serious. The actor on Tuesday attended the premiere of the final season of "Curb Your Enthusiasm" and insisted that the show is, in fact, coming to a close. "I'm not lying," David told THR's Kirsten Chuba. "People think I'm lying — I'm not a liar." When David took the stage ahead of the screening of the first two episodes from season 12 of the acclaimed HBO program, he received a standing ovation. "If I were a different person, I might have been touched by that," he joked to the audience, according to CNN's Elizabeth Wagmeister, who was in attendance. Wagmeister later observed that after his brief speech on stage, in a scene that could have been out of an episode of "Curb," David couldn't find his seat.

OFF STAGE

"Obviously I think Greta should be nominated as a director, because what she did is a once-in-a-career, once-in-a-lifetime thing," Margot Robbie said of "Barbie" director Greta Gerwig. (Deadline)
No "Children of Dune"?! Denis Villeneuve said he won't make another "Dune" movie after finishing out his cinematic trilogy despite there being more books in Frank Herbert's bestselling series. (Variety)
Apple TV+'s "Hijack," which stars Idris Elba, was renewed for a second season. Maybe I should try once more to get into it? (TheWrap)
Paramount+ OK'ed a second season of the widely-successful "Colin From Accounts." ( Deadline)
The Julia Roberts-led thriller "Leave the World Behind" has joined Netflix's list of the most popular films of all time. ( TheWrap)
AMC Theaters will exclusively screen the upcoming U2 documentary "Kiss the Future" starting on Feb. 23. ( TheWrap)
A group of 88 visual effects artists working to realize James Cameron's vision for his "Avatar" franchise voted to unionize. ( THR)
Russell Brand, who has been accused of rape, assault, and emotional abuse, told Tucker Carlson he denies the allegations and called them "very, very painful." ( BBC)
Pink Floyd's Roger Waters was dropped by BMG, the music rights company, over his comments on Israel. ( Variety)

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 tomorrow.

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