Media News

News about the media.

TV Networks Not Valuable Now?

by

Article in MSN by Peter Kafka, 11/20/24

Headline: “Comcast doesn’t want its cable TV networks anymore”

“Cable networks used to be incredibly valuable. But in the streaming and cord-cutting era, they’re in decline.

“That’s why Comcast is ditching almost all its cable networks into a new stand-alone company.
It would like to persuade other cable-TV owners to join in.

“One of the country’s biggest cable TV companies doesn’t want its cable networks anymore. Would you like them?

“That’s the pitch Comcast is making Wednesday as it announces plans to split off almost all its cable TV networks into a new company. It’s the same pitch Comcast floated as a possibility back in October, and most of the details are the same.”

https://www.msn.com/en-us/entertainment/news/ar-AA1uqTTV

—————————————–

Article in Slashdot by BeauHD, 11/20/24

Headline: “Comcast Spins Offf Cable Networks”

“Comcast plans to spin off several of its cable TV networks into a standalone company as it shifts focus to streaming and other profitable ventures like Peacock, theme parks, and broadband services. The Associated Press reports:

“Those one-time stars for Comcast’s NBCUniversal cable television networks include USA, Oxygen, E!, SYFY and Golf Channel, as well as CNBC and MSNBC. Movie ticketing platform Fandango and the Rotten Tomatoes movie rating site would also become part of the new company. Peacock will remain with Comcast, as will Bravo, which provides significant content for the Peacock streaming service.”

https://entertainment.slashdot.org/story/24/11/20/2142254/comcast-spins-off-cable-networks

New FCC Head Proposed

by

Article in Slashdot by Msmash, 11/18/24

Headline:  “Trunp Picks Carr to Head FCC to Fight ‘Censorship’ Cartel’ ”

“Donald Trump has named FCC Commissioner Brendan Carr to chair the U.S. communications regulator when he takes office in January 2025, citing Carr’s stance against what Trump called ‘regulatory lawfare.’ Carr, a lawyer and longtime Republican who has served at the FCC under both Trump and Biden administrations, has emerged as a vocal critic of major social media companies’ content moderation practices.

” ‘Humbled and honored’ by the appointment, Carr pledged on X to ‘dismantle the censorship cartel.’ As the FCC’s senior Republican commissioner, Carr has advocated for stricter oversight of technology companies, pushing for transparency rules on platforms like Google and Facebook.”

https://news.slashdot.org/story/24/11/18/1445208/trump-picks-carr-to-head-fcc-with-pledge-to-fight-censorship-cartel

Looking for White House Job? Apply at Fox News

by

Watch your chickens!

Article in Media Matters Written by Media Matters Staff, 11/18/24

Headline:  “Donald Trump is using Fox News as a staffing agency”: Matt Gertz discusses with On The Media the revolving door between Fox and the second Trump administration”

“GERTZ: This is how Trump gets his news. This is how his worldview is changed. It’s one segment at a time.

“GLADSTONE: He has a certain set of skills, certainly as a Fox News host, right? But secretary of defense needs a different set of skills.

“GERTZ: Right. The set of skills that you need for being a Fox News host is understanding how to push the buttons of the MAGA faithful. And the way that Fox hosts traditionally do that is by making those viewers afraid, making those viewers angry.

“GLADSTONE: You’ve also noticed that this revolving door also works the other way. Several Trump staffers signed on with Fox News after Trump left office.

“GERTZ: During or after his term, yes. Tom Homan was previously the head of ICE. After he retired from ICE in summer of 2018, he got a job at Fox News. He would denounce Democrats for standing against Trump’s border policies. He would call for evermore draconian measures. He would say the things that Donald Trump wanted to hear.”

https://www.mediamatters.org/fox-news/donald-trump-using-fox-news-staffing-agency-matt-gertz-discusses-media-revolving-door

 

Traditional Media vs. Social Media

by


Article in Mediaite by Zachary Leeman , 11/19/24

Headline:   “Morning Joe’s Mike Barnicle Fears for Cable News After Social Media Poll: ‘I Don’t Know How We Make Ourselves Relevant Again’ “

“Barnicle admitted he doesn’t have a clue how cable news and mainstream media can compete with quick snippets on social media.

“ ‘I don’t know how we make ourselves relevant again because we can’t compete with 20 second snippets on an iPhone, walking up the street and getting your entire news digest of the day in less than a minute on your phone as you’re walking in a crowd with coffee in one hand and your phone in the other. I don’t know how we catch up to that,’ he said.”

https://www.mediaite.com/media/morning-joes-mike-barnicle-fears-for-cable-news-after-social-media-poll-i-dont-know-how-we-make-ourselves-relevant-again/

Media Properly Acknowledge the Leader

by

Article in Mediaite by Colby Hall, 11/18/24

Headline:  “Bitterly Divided Mediasphere Unites To Destroy Joe and Mika Meeting With Trump: ‘Annals of Shamelessness…’ “

Subhead:  “The most vocal critiques came from Trump’s most loyal media surrogates and past advisors:”

“The political media ecosphere has been bitterly divided over Donald Trump, but an effort by Morning Joe’s co-hosts to bridge the divide and ‘restart communications’ has ushered in a harmonic convergence of the chattering class, though not in the manner Joe Scarborough and Mika Brzezinski may have intended.”

“. . . the stated goal of the MSNBC morning show hosts as “time for a new approach” was viewed less laudably by nattering nabobs. Instead, it was derided as evidence that Scarborough and Brzezinski seemed to not believe in the conviction of their previous criticisms. The criticism came from provocateurs and thought leaders from both ends of the political spectrum.”

https://www.mediaite.com/news/bitterly-divided-mediasphere-unites-to-destroy-joe-and-mika-meeting-with-trump-annals-of-shamelessness/

——————————————–

Article in The Hill by Dominick Mastrangelo, 11/18/24

Headline:  ” ‘Morning Joe’ Scarborough, Brzezinski say they traveled to Mar-a-Lago to meet Trump”

Headline:  “Nikki Haley says ‘Morning Joe’ hosts met Trump for ratings “

“Former GOP presidential candidate Nikki Haley suggested Joe Scarborough and Mika Brzezinski, co-hosts of MSNBC’s “Morning Joe,” met with President-elect Trump at Mar-a-Lago as a ploy to maintaining ratings.

“Let’s be clear, Joe and Mika didn’t suddenly see the light, they saw their ratings,” Haley wrote on the social platform X on Monday. “They realized they needed Trump for their survival.”

https://thehill.com/homenews/media/4995692-morning-joe-scarborough-brzezinski-say-they-traveled-to-mar-a-lago-to-meet-trump/

——————————————–

Article in Huff Post by Graeme Demianyk, 11/18/24

Headline:  “JOE & MIKA KISS THE RING AT MAR-A-LAGO!AT MAR-A-LAGO!
… BUT CLAIM THEY WON’T ‘NORMALIZE’ TRUMP”

“In a prepared monologue on their Monday show, Brzezinski explained they decided to reach out to Trump’s team to see if they could have “the opportunity to speak with the president-elect” after being dismayed by his Cabinet picks.”

https://www.huffpost.com/entry/morning-joe-trump-scarborough-mika-brzezinski_n_673b4621e4b0f7e185133c89

 

Where People Get Their Fake News

by


Article on AP by Haleluya Hadero, 11/18/24

Headline:  “About 20% of Americans regularly get their news from influencers on social media, report says”

About one in five Americans – and a virtually identical share of Republicans and Democrats – regularly get their news from digital influencers who are more likely to be found on the social media platform X, according to a report released Monday by the Pew Research Center.

The findings, drawn from a survey of more than 10,000 U.S. adults and an analysis of social media posts posted this summer by influencers, provide an indication of how Americans consumed the news during the height of the U.S. presidential campaign that President-elect Donald Trump ultimately won.

https://apnews.com/article/influencers-election-trump-harris-news-eacd42bce73d6e11cbc760caf28c993a

——————————————-

Article in The Hill by Joanne Haner

Headline:  “1 in 5 get news from social media influencers: Pew poll “

https://thehill.com/policy/technology/4996144-news-influencers-social-media/

Media Using Facts Too Liberal?

by


Article in The Washington Post by Megan McArdle, 11/18/24

Headline:  “Opinion: Liberal media bias is hurting Democrats. Really.”

Subhead:  “Diminishing trust in media shows Democrats should not rely on friendly referees.”

“Democrats got good at working friendly media refs in the era when most voters got their political news from three networks, one or two local papers and a handful of political magazines. But the old gatekeepers no longer have those monopolies; now they control access to a much smaller walled garden, full of nice liberals talking to each other. Outside, the messages they don’t want to hear are racing through the untamed jungle of new media: podcasts, YouTube streams and social media sites.

“The gatekeepers know this, hence all the complaints about ‘misinformation’ and ‘disinformation.’ Unfortunately, the only people who can hear their denunciations are the folks at the garden party.”

https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2024/11/18/media-bias-democrats-harris/

More of the Incredible Shrinking Media

by


Article in The Guardian by Anna Betts, 11/18/24

Associated Press to cut 8% of staff through layoffs and buyouts

Agency president says fewer than half of cuts should affect news division as 121 people reportedly given buyout offers

“The Associated Press announced on Monday that it plans to reduce its workforce by 8% through a combination of voluntary buyouts and layoffs.

“In an internal email obtained by the Guardian, AP’s president, Daisy Veerasingham, informed staff that adapting to industry challenges requires “making some difficult changes so we can invest more fully in our future”.

” ‘We all know this is a time of transformation in the media sector,’ the email said. “Our customers – both who they are and what they need from us – are changing rapidly.”

https://www.theguardian.com/media/2024/nov/18/associated-press-layoffs

War on the Media?

by


Article in Common Dreams by Julia Conley, 11/15/24

Headline:  ” ‘Potentially Ominous Trend’ for Press Freedom as Trump Wages Legal War on News Outlets”

Subhead:  ” ‘Governments and powerful figures threatening journalists and media outlets with costly legal battles and bankruptcy is a common tactic against press freedom in repressive countries,’ said one journalist.”

” ‘The press freedom fire is at our door step now,’ said one Washington Post journalist on Thursday night after news broke that two months before President-elect Donald Trump is set to take office, he has already begun to wage legal warfare against on the news media.

“The Columbia Journalism Review (CJR)reported that days before the election, a lawyer for Trump, Edward Andrew Paltzik, sent a letter to The New York Times and Penguin Random House demanding $10 billion in damages for publishing articles and a book that were critical of the president-elect, who was convicted of 34 felony counts earlier this year”

https://www.commondreams.org/news/new-york-times-trump-unfit

Bad Media? Ban ‘Em From the Press Room

by

Article in Daily Kos by News Corpse, 11/13/24

Headline: “HUH? Fox News Asks Biden’s Press Sec if He Apologized to Trump for Saying He’s a Threat to Democracy”

Subhead:  “America needs to prepare itself for what’s to come in the White House Press Briefing room. Axios is reporting that Trump is expected to ‘shake it up.’ “

“Trump’s first administration tried to ban outlets it saw as unfavorable from off-camera press briefings. That included the New York Times, Politico, CNN and BBC.” […]

“Any efforts to expand access to daily press briefings to pro-Trump outlets, such as Steve Bannon’s War Room, would need to come at the expense of existing outlets.”

“So get ready for briefings that feature folks like Bannon, Alex Jones, and Laura Loomer. The ‘mainstream’ media reporters from the New York Times and CBS and NPR will all be banished as ‘fake news.’ And Trump’s press secretary is likely to be someone like his former attorney Alina Habba or his daughter Tiffany. Which means the rest of the media had better grow a spine and be prepared to protect the very notion of a free press.”

https://www.dailykos.com/blogs/Media%20Watch