Good morning.
- A post-Indiana look ahead, not behind
Even with Ted Cruz smartly suspending his campaign after losing in Indiana, the only real political surprise yesterday may have been The National Enquirer (“Ted Cruz father linked to JFK assassination!”) and Donald Trump connecting Cruz’s father and Lee Harvey Oswald. (POLITICO)Kudos to CNN’s Jake Tapper for skewering the whole thesis as shameful. “Now, that’s not an anti-Trump position or a pro-Cruz position, it’s a pro-truth position.” (@brianstelter) After ditching that unseemly matter, it was on to a night of opining and Republican elite self-flagellation over Trump’s win, which basically clinches his party’s nomination. Even Charles Krauthammer, who describes himself as non-elite and a participant in the Washington journalist-politician cocktail circuit, told Bill O’Reilly (albeit with stoic melancholy), “One of the major American parties is changing its ideology radically.”
Tapper colleague John King was on point early about “the hostile takeover of the Republican Party” and how Trump wiped the floor of a pretty talented field. And then there were the Republican elite insiders, such as Jeff Lord, who harrumphed on CNN about the insidious “web of donors, consultants and lobbyists” who came to Washington as revolutionaries and got fat and happy. The night’s overriding conventional wisdom: an “historic” Trump win, lots of men hate Clinton, lots of women hate Trump, Trump’s demographic challenges are more complex in what beckons. Lots of GOP bigshots seemed “scattered, unsure and mostly silent.” (MSNBC)
On Fox, Bret Baier pointed out how Donald Trump has blown up up so much of the conventional wisdom about a politician dealing with the media. With a few exceptions, it seems as if he says yes to every interview request, whether he’s on camera or in the prone position in bed for the early-morning shows. And he’s spent virtually zilch on paid media. All you Jeb Bush, Scott Walker, Marco Rubio, John Kasich and Chris Christie donors, eat your hearts out as you mull your wasted contributions.
As far as any media self-analysis, it must have been overridden by the ads that represent an unexpected cable windfall amid heightened ratings. Remember the case made for the inevitability of Bush, the likely surprise of Walker, the “new generation” candidacy of Rubio or the best-bet-to-beat-Hillary Kasich? All wrong. Once again, the press was far more given to speculating on the road ahead, not checking rear view mirror, as it digested the now-completed battle for Indiana.
- The drip, drip, drip of consolidation
The Poynter-owned Tampa Bay Times announced Tuesday afternoon that it had acquired The Tampa Tribune, ending a 29-year competitive battle in the bay region and creating the fifth-largest Sunday circulation newspaper in the nation. “‘The continued competition between the two newspapers was threatening to both,’ said Times chairman and CEO Paul Tash. ‘There are very few cities that are able to sustain more than one daily newspaper, and the Tampa Bay region is not among them.’” (Poynter) Terms weren’t revealed. An investment group bought the Tribune from the previous owner for $9.5 million in 2012. At least 100 jobs will be cut. (USA TODAY) - VICE and ESPN team up
“VICE Media and ESPN are teaming up to take on the world of sports programming, just a few months after Walt Disney, the parent of the sports-media juggernaut, made a second investment in the youth-media upstart. VICE said it will produce new original sports series that will air exclusively on ESPN’s TV digital and mobile outlets. Meanwhile, select documentaries from ESPN’s “30 for 30,” will air on Viceland, the new cable network from VICE that is co-owned by A+E Networks, which is co-owned by Disney. (Variety) - Suing the AP
“Sonya Ross, the race and ethnicity editor at the Associated Press, filed a discrimination lawsuit Monday that accuses the news organization of marginalizing her and denying her opportunities for promotion because of her race, age and gender.” (National Law Journal) The AP declined to comment. - Zuckerberg takes after Brazil
“Mark Zuckerberg took Brazilian officials to task again for temporarily blocking WhatsApp, the Facebook Inc. messaging service that’s the lifeblood of communication for much of the nation’s smartphone-savvy population. ‘The idea that everyone in Brazil can be denied the freedom to communicate the way they want is very scary in a democracy,’ Zuckerberg, Facebook’s chief executive officer, said in a blog post Tuesday.” (Bloomberg) - Instagram ads
Instagram has been pushing users to create more video content. Now it’s pushing advertisers to create more video ads. Instagram announced Tuesday that it will soon roll out video carousel ads, a move that will let advertisers share up to five separate videos with one single ad purchase. Each video can be up to 60 seconds long.” It’s already got some of these ads, which let you swipe between different pages. Now, there will be video functionality for them. (Re/code) - Laremy Tunsil and the press
The big “news” at the NFL draft last week was late word that the Twitter account of a University of Mississippi star posted a video showing him taking a hit from a bong that was attached to a gas mask. But, “What’s more troubling than the specific allegations against Ole Miss, however, is the way that the university, the N.C.A.A., the media, and fans chose to portray them. Following his suspension, Tunsil’s acceptance of favors was framed as a poor decision by a young man, made entirely on his own, and in violation of the rules of amateurism that his university said it fully endorses.” It was all too damn facile. (The New Yorker) - Oops
From The Washington Post:
7:25 p.m.: “Establishment-backed Rep. Todd Young easily won Tuesday’s GOP Senate primary to replace retiring Sen. Dan Coats (R), delivering a critical win for anxious party leaders.7:29 p.m.: “Correction: Indiana Senate race remains uncalled.”
8:20 p.m.: “As expected, Rep. Todd Young (R-Ind.) easily won his Senate primary with Rep. Marlin Stutzman (R-Ind.) on Tuesday, with Young up 64-36 with 44 percent of precincts reporting. It’s the latest evidence that Trump’s effect on the GOP primary hasn’t really filtered downballot this primary season, as the establishment keeps winning.”
- Deploying social media personnel
“Just to prepare for Snapchat Discover, magazine publishers have built newsrooms of up to 10 full-time employees: editors, video editors, and graphic designers. CNN’s team has three members; The Wall Street Journal, five; the Daily Mail, eight; and Refinery29, a magazine for female millennials, 10. Social video operations employ many more: There are 35 people on the video team at Elite Daily, a millennial site, and more than 100 at BuzzFeed.” (Nieman Lab) Got that? A hundred at BuzzFeed. - Greenfield critiques old home
Remember Jeff Greenfield as a CNN stalwart? Well, he felt compelled to play tweeting media critic as he wondered, “Would it be too much for CNN and Co. to note that “winning” Indiana by a few points DOES NOT MATTER. Delegates will be split almost evenly.” (@greenfield64) Well, I heard some of their folks say exactly that amid what came off as at least a mild case of pundit alumnus sour grapes. - FYI on the further decline of Western Civilization
So much for my finding the coverage lame. “The 2016 White House Correspondents’ Dinner delivered impressive Saturday night numbers for CNN. The network’s coverage, led by John Berman, ranked No. 1 in both total viewers and among adults 25-54 throughout the evening. CNN covered the event from 7 – 11:30 p.m. ET. Viewership peaked during the 10 p.m. hour, when Pres. Obama delivered his final WHCD remarks with a follow-up set from entertainer Larry Wilmore. CNN averaged 3 million total viewers and 771,000 A25-54 for that hour.” (Adweek) - Job moves, edited by Benjamin Mullin
Shareen Pathak will be editor at Glossy. Previously, she was a managing editor at Digiday. (Poynter) | Amanda Zamora is now chief audience officer at The Texas Tribune. Previously, she was senior engagement editor at ProPublica. (Texas Tribune) | David Rubin is now head of brand at The New York Times. Previously, he was head of global brand marketing at Pinterest. (The New York Times) | Job of the day: The Texas Tribune is seeking a social media manager. Get your resumes in! (Journalism Jobs) | Send Ben your job moves: bmullin@poynter.org.
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