Good morning.
- A Nevada sweep across all lines
It was all about “anger” last night as he won the latest Republican clash. (The Washington Post) Ted Cruz was “subdued” and Marco Rubio split before the results came in as they continued their hunt for second. (The Los Angeles Times)MSNBC’S “Morning Joe” traded experience for youth with a seniors-dotted panel this morning that underscored inadvertently how its co-hosts remain sensitive to being derided as sympathetic to Trump. That was clear right after former Republican Party chairman Michael Steele stated the obvious in talking about voters who are “railing against the system” this year. ABC’s Cokie Roberts interjected, “White people. That’s what White people want. White people want railing against the system.” But when Bloomberg’s estimable Al Hunt said that despite saying some “vile things,” Trump has appeal to him “when he rails against the campaign system and lobbyists,” that prompted co-host Mika Brzezinski to offer this sarcastic admonition: “Well, get ready to get killed in the media for that. You’re ‘in the tank.'” As for co-host Joe Scarborough, he again reiterated weaknesses of Rubio and Cruz as “pre-packaged,” contrasting them of course with the the man he reflexively calls “Donald.”
CNN’s Chris Cuomo looked dog-tired doing his morning duties after moderating the Democratic town hall which didn’t break much news. Bernie Sanders sought to underscore issues of race, knowing that Hillary Clinton may cream him among Black voters. (CNN) But no harm, no foul, generally, in their generally decorous face-off. The GOP debates tomorrow on CNN. Meanwhile, there’s a good piece by Thomas Edsall on anger, or at least numbers crunchers concluding that surface similarities aside, there’s a lot of research “documenting the incompatibility of Trump and Sanders supporters.” (The New York Times)
- The campaign’s most outrageous comment?
“The biggest bowl of nonsense we’ve been fed during the campaign?” Consider everything that’s played out, including the racist and xenophobic remarks and unrelenting media bashing. But that’s all secondary, said commentator Lisa Kennedy Montgomery, who goes by the cable stage name Kennedy, on last night’s edition of “The O’Reilly Factor.” According to her, it’s John Kasich saying “women left their kitchens” to elect him to the Ohio state Senate in 1978. Fine, not the brightest comment — and he apologized. But Kennedy was in alignment with her ideological confrere O’Reilly when she declared (apparently seriously) that this was the most outrageous statement of the campaign. - A David mulling bid for troubled goliath
Time Inc. is thinking of going up against big guys such as Verizon Communications Inc. and AT&T Inc. in going after beleaguered Yahoo. As Amy Poehler and Seth Meyers used to say on “Saturday Night Live’s” Weekend Update, “Really?!” The odds would seem slim, but it “may see it as a worthwhile effort, because it could pursue a structure with Yahoo called a Reverse Morris Trust, a tax-free transaction in which one company merges with a spun-off subsidiary.” (Bloomberg) But you knew about Reverse Morris Trusts, right? And you saw “The Big Short,” so you can rattle off a definition of collateralized debt obligations, correct? - The media’s slowpoke ways with Peyton Manning
Allegations of sexual harassment by him during his college days have resurfaced. It’s even brought attention to a 2003 USA TODAY column by Christine Brennan. (Poynter) Now an analysis of what’s up concludes, “Manning, whose fame, image, and success might have suggested he was beyond scrutiny and reproach, perhaps seemed untouchable at this point in his career, but current circumstances would suggest that that’s not the case.” (The Atlantic) - Finding your favorite snippets from a podcast
Ira Glass and the Knight Foundation are trying to figure how to come up with a gizmo “to snip short selections of audio, convert them into video with word-for-word transcription, and share them on social media.” But the current status of the project remains unclear. (Observer) - What’s it like to moderate a Republican debate?
John Dickerson of CBS News explains all, but you need to pay up to get the answer since it’s quality content behind a paywall. But you’d find out and get behind that paywall for a year for a lot less than your monthly cable bill. (Slate) - China’s lapdog media
If you missed it, check out this opus on President Xi Jinping’s growing control of the Chinese media. (The New York Times) The other day he visited three Communist Party and news organizations and “The blanket coverage reflected the brazen and far-reaching media policy announced by Mr. Xi on his choreographed tour: The Chinese news media exists to serve as a propaganda tool for the Communist Party, and it must pledge its fealty to Mr. Xi.” Alas, the totalitarian impulse when it comes to the press is not really very new and was there for all to see during a joint Obama-Xi press conference back in 2014. (New York Daily News) - Question-filled path to media success?
I love STAT, the new health and medicine site bankrolled by Boston Globe and Red Sox owner John Henry and edited by Rick Berke, a former terrific New York Times political writer. (STAT) And it’s now getting some nice press, including the thesis that’s it’s the media start-up to envy. (CJR). Well, perusing it again I found a certain tactical modus operandi at play. “Christmas suicide surge is a myth, but what about the January rebound?” Or “Do antidepressants during pregnancy increase baby’s autism risk?” Or “Does acupuncture work for chronic pain in the neck?” Well, questions do need answers, right? But does STAT have an answer to a lot of media startup challenges? And, finally, does my penchant for bourbon on the rocks, pizza and German beer counteract any and all time on the elliptical? - Jack Griffin’s hasty exit
Jack Griffin lasted less than six months as head of Time Inc. He wound up as CEO of Tribune Publishing when the company spun off its declining newspaper assets into one operation, its more robust TV assets into another. After presiding over a steady decline in the company’s stock price, he’s shown the door after less than two years by the very healthcare tech entrepreneur he sold 17 percent of the company to. The company’s papers, notably the former flagship Chicago Tribune, were more unfettered in covering his ignominious departure than the de facto press releases published during his actual, highly centralized reign (Chicago Tribune), with The Los Angeles Times reiterating the hasty nature of it all. (The Los Angeles Times)Perhaps the hoopla speeds a move that Griffin resisted, namely finding local buyers for the 11 papers. (Poynter) The new CEO is a lawyer-turned-healthcare executive for a firm that provides imaging technology.
- Guantanamo? Where’s that?
The prison camp at Guantanamo Bay will probably go down in history as an American shame that really did provide a rallying cry and recruitment tool for terrorists. So even though President Obama’s announcement of a new (and, politically, dead as a doornail) push to close it was notable, cable television’s coverage was modest and quickly overtaken by far greater interest in the campaign to find Obama’s successor. (Poynter) - Job moves, edited by Benjamin Mullin
Greg Howard will be a David Carr fellow at The New York Times. Previously, he was a staff writer at Deadspin. (Poynter) | Elizabeth Bruenig will be an assistant editor at The Washington Post. She is a staff writer at the New Republic. (@MaxEhrenfreund) | Justin Dearborn is now CEO of Tribune Publishing. Previously, he was CEO of Merge Healthcare. (Chicago Tribune) | Job of the day: The Seattle Times is looking for a staff photographer. Get your resumes in! (Journalism Jobs) | Send Ben your job moves: bmullin@poynter.org.
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