Russia keeps Evan Gershkovich detained, Scripps News welcomes ex-Vice News staffers, Mitch McConnell finds a spine and gets candid about Tucker Carlson, TikTok divest-or-ban nears Senate vote, Spotify shares rocket after record profits, Taylor Swift breaks a record about records, Jon Stewart retains his audience, and more. But first, the A1. |
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Confessions of the Tabloid King |
CNN Photo Illustration/Michael DiVito Photography |
Donald Trump and his allies like to complain at length about imagined "collusion" between the Democratic Party and the media. But on Tuesday, former National Enquirer boss David Pecker lifted the curtain on the actual media collusion that took place in the 2016 election. Pecker revealed in granular detail how Trump worked hand-in-hand with the infamous national tabloid to boost his candidacy and, perhaps far more importantly, simultaneously smear his political opponents with shameful lies and innuendo.
"I said what I would do is I would run or publish positive stories about Mr. Trump and I would publish negative stories about his opponents," Pecker said under oath at Trump's historic hush-money trial in New York. "I said I would be your eyes and ears because I know that the Trump Organization has a very small staff."
The highly-anticipated court appearance from Pecker, who was granted immunity in exchange for his candid testimony at the trial, put a floodlight on the dark underbelly of the Enquirer, with the tabloid portrayed in open court as a tawdry publication willfully serving as a political weapon for Trump — truth and basic ethics be damned.
Pecker spoke at length about how he worked with former Trump attorney Michael Cohen to "catch and kill" stories that could have damaged the then-candidate, such as former Playboy model Karen McDougal's allegations of an affair, which the Enquirer paid $130,000 to bury. Pecker said that at the outset of the campaign he believed "there would be a lot of women who would come out to try to sell their stories" about Trump because he was "well known as the most eligible bachelor."
To that end, Pecker said he served as Trump's eyes and ears, alerting the then-candidate's camp to potentially embarrassing stories that hovered on the horizon. In fact, Pecker was so determined to protect Trump that he even purchased a story from Manhattan doorman Dino Sajudin, despite believing it to be bogus. That story, which the Enquirer paid $30,000 for, alleged Trump had fathered an illegitimate child, prompting the tabloid to deploy a team of reporters to chase down the truth. While Pecker eventually determined the story was false, his publication paid five figures for the story anyway. "If there was any rumors in the marketplace about Mr. Trump or his family or any negative stories that were coming out or things that I heard overall that I would go through, I would call Michael Cohen directly," Pecker said. Meanwhile, Pecker worked with Cohen to smear Trump's Republican rivals in the 2016 primary, including Ben Carson, Ted Cruz, and Marco Rubio. Pecker testified that the Enquirer would "communicate what we were doing at the direction of the article from Michael Cohen," even sending the then-Trump lawyer PDF copies of the stories in advance.
"He would comment on them, so we would add content based on the information Cohen provided them," Pecker said.
At times, Pecker said that Cohen went as far as to contact him and direct the Enquirer to attack Trump's GOP rivals.
"Michael Cohen would call me and say, 'We would like you to run a negative article on a certain — let's say for argument sake — on Ted Cruz, then he — Michael Cohen — would send me information about Ted Cruz or Ben Carson or Marco Rubio, and that was the basis of our story and then we would embellish it from there," Pecker told the courtroom.
When the Enquirer published negative stories about Bill and Hillary Clinton, Pecker said that Trump was elated.
"He was pleased," Pecker recalled.
The relationship, however, between Trump and Pecker was kept secret from staff. Pecker, who revealed in court he operated a clandestine email account that his assistant did not have access to or know about, said he feared leaks and didn't want "anyone to know" about the pact he had with Trump. Paranoid about the mutually beneficial relationship making its way to the press, Pecker only told select people about it, including then-top editor, Dylan Howard. "I told him we're going to try to help the campaign, and to do that, I want to keep this as quiet as possible," Pecker said.
While the days of the Enquirer boosting Trump while publishing false and sleazy stories about his opponents are over, the habit remains prevalent in right-wing media. Far more powerful outlets, such as Rupert Murdoch's Fox News, continue to debase themselves in service of Trump, acting as his propaganda vehicles.
Case in point: While MAGA Media would be apoplectic if President Joe Biden were being tried in criminal court, coverage has been scant and/or bent in favor of Trump in right-wing media. Fox News on Tuesday barely covered the explosive revelations from Pecker. And when the outlet did offer its audience coverage of the trial, it was through an unmistakable pro-Trump lens. Meanwhile, Fox News and other right-wing outlets continue to launch ugly — and often dishonest — attacks on Biden.
As it turns out, there will always be grossly unethical behavior among those in partisan media. And Trump knows precisely how to exploit that fact to his advantage — a reality that the hush-money case is underscoring for the sect of the public not locked in his warped propaganda universe. |
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- Brian Stelter joined CNN for the network's special coverage, saying Trump must view Pecker's testimony as "a profound betrayal." (CNN)
- Kim Masters told Jake Tapper it was "nauseating" to hear all the details of Pecker's deal with Trump. (CNN)
- MSNBC deployed another one of its prime time hosts to the courthouse on Tuesday, this time sending Joy Reid to watch the trial in person.
- CNN and MSNBC once again carried Trump's lie-filled and deceptive post-court remarks in which he continued to inject poison about the trial into the public discourse. CNN carried Trump's comments in their entirety; MSNBC cut out early. Both networks did fact checks afterward.
- Kaitlan Collins noted how ridiculous it is for Trump to whine about supposedly being silenced while speaking to the cameras: "Is there any greater irony?" (Mediaite)
- 😴 MAGA Media are sleeping on Dozing Don, spinning the former president's soporific courtroom demeanor as rational, with Sean Hannity going so far as to say "fall asleep if I was there." (MMFA)
- Trump is clearly quite angry at Maggie Haberman, who has led the way reporting on the Trump snooze spectacle (which almost all major outlets still continue to strangely ignore). Trump attacked Haberman in a particularly vicious and reprehensible manner, dehumanizing her on Truth Social as a "maggot." A spokesperson for The NYT declined to comment.
- Back to MAGA Media: Justin Baragona has a great roundup of the "looniest Trump trial takes on Fox News," including Newt Gingrich who said the trial is "literally like some of the civil rights" issues seen in the 1960s. (Daily Beast)
- "This coordinated attempt to use chaos to undermine public confidence in Trump's trial should be understood as part and parcel of Trump and his supporters' attack on democracy — and their media allies are fully on board," John Whitehouse argues. (MSNBC)
- What is Reuters doing? The outlet published an absurd story, falsely equating Fox News with MSNBC. No, the two outlets are not opposite signs of the same coin. How on Earth in 2024 does a major newsroom play into that delusional, both-sides reality?
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CNN Photo Illustration/Natalia Kolesnikova/AFP/Getty Images |
Russia Rejects Evan's Release: No surprise here, but Russia on Tuesday rejected another motion by Evan Gershkovich to exit pre-trial detention. That means The WSJ reporter will remain in a Moscow prison until at least June 30. According to journalists in the room, the 32-year-old appeared relaxed, smiling at times from inside a glass box and making thumbs-up and heart-shaped gestures to fellow reporters. "It continues to be outrageous that Evan has been wrongfully detained by the Russian government for more than a year," The WSJ said in a statement. "Evan's freedom is long overdue, and we urge the administration to do everything in their power to secure his release." The WSJ's Ann M. Simmons has more here. |
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CNN Photo Illustration/Scripps News |
First in Reliable | Scripps Scoops Up: Since the downfall of Vice News, more than a dozen of the outlet's journalists have set up shop at Scripps News, which has made a deliberate push to hire the talent, I'm told. The push to bring on the ex-Vice journalists comes as Scripps News works to add Vice's trademark style of unfiltered and raw reporting to its "In Real Life" docu-series program. "We've taken the immersive storytelling of our 'In Real Life' series up a notch this season by adding many excellent journalists from VICE News and across the industry," Zach Toombs, the show's executive producer, explained to me. The first episode of season six, which was created almost entirely by former Vice journalists, premieres this Sunday at 8pm ET. Watch the trailer here. |
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- This piece is worth spending some time with: E. Alex Jung chronicles Mehdi Hasan's rise and fall at MSNBC, which also takes a critical look at the progressive news network and how it has covered the Israel-Hamas war. Hasan, who just launched his own outlet Zeteo, said regardless of the circumstances that led to the canceling of his show, it turned out to be a "blessing" in disguise. (NY Mag)
- Andrew Neil, the former GB News chairman, said the channel won't "ever be profitable" if it remains on its current path. (Press Gazette)
- John Dickerson officially expanded "The Daily Report," the anchor's "CBS News 24/7" streaming show, to a 90-minute broadcast. "We're thrilled to get more time," Dickerson commented. (Threads)
- Sam Dolnick talks to Alex Weprin about The NYT's forthcoming podcast, "The Interview," hosted by David Marchese and Lulu Garcia-Navarro: "We didn't have the really big flagship audio show that interviewed the biggest names in culture, and a place like The New York Times should." (THR)
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- Alex Weprin reports on how Charter and Comcast, understanding that consumers prefer streaming, have introduced streaming TV packages cheaper than the competition — they just don't include live sports. (THR)
- An audio network focused solely on women's sports? iHeartMedia and Deep Blue Sports + Entertainment is launching one. (Axios)
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- 📈 Spotify shares ended Tuesday up more than 11% after the music streamer reported record quarterly profits. (Billboard)
- Rohan Goswami notes that the record profits for Spotify do come "after a year marked by deep layoffs." (CNBC)
- Spotify also "reeled in fewer new users overall than it expected in the first quarter of 2024," Todd Spangler points out. It now boasts 239 million paid global subscribers and 615 million monthly active users. (Variety)
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- Emily Smith and Lucas Manfredi ask: "David Ellison may be a daredevil. But is he ready to run Paramount?" (The Wrap)
- Netflix is faring "better than other streamers as strike-related content gaps emerge," Christofer Hamilton reports. (The Wrap)
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- First in Reliable | Semafor elevated Max Tani to media editor: "The scoops aren't going to stop, but he's also going to be doing a bit more of what Dave Weigel likes to call Thought Leadership, and will play a bigger role across what we do at Semafor – shaping both our media coverage and our strategy more broadly," Ben Smith said in a memo. Smith also added that Tani "will be playing a big role producing and appearing in our media summit and other public-facing projects you'll hear more about soon."
- UTA elevated Ryan Hayden and Marc Paskin to co-heads of news and broadcasting, reporting to Jay Sures. (THR)
- Puck hired John Heilemann as its chief political columnist. (Axios)
- NOTUS hired Matt Fuller as its first congressional bureau chief and hired Anna Kramer a reporter. (POLITICO/TBN)
- Bloomberg News named Mario Parker managing editor of economy and government, overseeing coverage of the 2024 election, the White House, Congress, and international economics and security. (TBN)
- Scripps News added Asa Hutchinson as an analyst. (POLITICO)
- Slate hired Scaachi Koul as a senior writer. (Slate)
- The WaPo promoted Laura McGann to senior editor. (POLITICO)
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CNN Photo Illustration/Andrew Harnik/Getty Images |
Meek McConnell: Where was this Mitch McConnell when it mattered? While Tucker Carlson used his powerful perch on Fox News to lie about Ukraine and peddle propaganda beneficial to Russian authoritarian Vladimir Putin, McConnell stood by silent. But now that Carlson no longer has the same power, McConnell, as he prepares to exit Senate leadership, has suddenly found a spine. The Senate Minority Leader blasted Carlson on Tuesday for the "demonization of Ukraine." McConnell said the online vlogger ultimately "ended up where he should have been all along, which is interviewing Vladimir Putin." And he, accurately, noted that the right-wing extremist warped the Republican Party while at Fox News. "He had an enormous audience, which convinced a lot of rank and file Republicans that maybe this was a mistake," McConnell said. Of course, Carlson would not have been able to deform the GOP had its leaders **cough, cough McConnell** remained silent throughout. Speaking out after the fact is not a profile in courage – it's an affirmation of cowardice. |
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- While Donald Trump's campaign is denying press credentials to some outlets in the press, it is simultaneously handing them out to far-right propagandists, Jack Winstanley reports. (MMFA)
- Some right-wing outlets are turning on Marjorie Taylor Greene, writes Molly Jong-Fast. (MSNBC)
- Republican campaigns have a new smear tactic to thwart reporters: Publicly sharing emailed questions, sometimes with their contact information, Evan McMorris-Santoro and Katherine Swartz report. (NOTUS)
- Nina Jankowicz has launched a non-profit organization to fight online disinformation. (NYT)
- "When did Katy Perry become Elon Musk's go-to PR shill?" Laura Bradley wonders. (Daily Beast)
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CNN Photo Illustration/Dado Ruvic/Reuters | Time Runs Out for TikTok: TikTok is truly running out of time. The short-form video app is about to watch as the Senate passes divest-or-ban legislation and sends it to President Joe Biden's desk, where he is expected to sign it into law. The Senate voted Tuesday to advance the bill, which is attached to a larger foreign aid package, to the floor. Once the bill becomes law, TikTok is expected to immediately file a legal challenge. NBC News' Sahil Kapur and Frank Thorp V have more here. 🔎 Zooming in: "Let's talk about how that legal fight is likely to play out," Casey Newton writes in Platformer. "Interviews with legal scholars suggest that the government will have a difficult time proving that its effort to ban TikTok is constitutional. But First Amendment cases are often unpredictable, they say — and it's possible that the government's appeals to national security could ultimately lead the Supreme Court to uphold the law." |
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- "In the United States, TikTok's fate appears to be all but sealed," Casey Newton writes. "In Europe, the company still has a bit more room to maneuver." (Platformer)
- "As a TikTok divestment law races to passage, TikTok's parent company ByteDance must reckon with the legislation across all of its apps, many of which are growing rapidly in the U.S.," Sara Fischer, April Rubin, and Maria Curi report. (Axios)
- Threads has dethroned Elon Musk's X in daily U.S. users, Kali Hays reports, citing data from Apptopia. (Business Insider)
- Who is actually going to use this? X, which has struggled to keep basic features working since Musk's takeover, announced X TV. (THR)
- Not everyone is thrilled with Meta's decision to put A.I. at the fore of Instagram, Facebook, and WhatsApp. (NBC News)
- Apple announced a May 7 event as reports circulate the company is poised to finally reveal updated iPads. (Reuters)
- Google fired at least 20 more employees connected to the April 16 protests of the tech giant's Project Nimbus. (The Verge)
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CNN Photo Illustration/Lafargue Raphael/Abaca/Sipa USA |
Swift's Vinyl Victory: Taylor Swift is breaking records — about records. In just three days, Swift's "The Tortured Poets Department" has sold more vinyl copies in a single week than any previous album in the modern era, shattering the previous record, which she of course held. According to initial numbers released from Luminate, Swift managed to sell more than 700,000 copies of her latest album, pushing past the previous 693,000 copies she sold for "1989" in seven days. The vinyl sales make up a big portion of Swift's overall 1.5 million copies of "TTPD" sold across both physical and digital formats. As Variety's Chris Willman noted, Swift is a vinyl-selling machine. More from Willman. |
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- Jon Stewart's "The Daily Show" ratings are still well ahead of its average last year, with the comedian retaining much of the audience since his return and continuing to draw viewers in for his trademark no holds barred comedy. (THR)
- "Civil War" crossed $70 million at the global box office. (Variety)
- Zack Snyder's "Rebel Moon – Part Two: The Scargiver" dominated Netflix's charts, though the film pulled in a smaller audience than its predecessor. (Deadline)
- Warner Bros. Pictures released the trailer for M. Night Shyamalan's "The Watchers." (YouTube)
- Alec Baldwin's lawyers alleged a "stunning abuse of prosecutorial power" in the "Rust" case as it nears trial. (Variety)
- A former cameraman for Megan Thee Stallion sued the rap star, alleging she forced him to watch her have sex in a movie vehicle. (NBC News)
- "Songwriter," a posthumous album by Johnny Cash cobbled together from previously unreleased material, will be released June 28. (Pitchfork)
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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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