Hey, another busy morning here. Scroll down for the latest on CBS News, the BBC, Zeteo, The Economist, Clay Travis, Savannah Guthrie and Julian Shapiro-Barnum... |
The election-denial machine revs up again |
As Americans head to the polls for primary elections in four states today, "voter fraud fever on the right" is "back with a vengeance," CNN's Aaron Blake writes.
President Trump is once again leading the charge, baselessly accusing Democrats of rigging last week's California gubernatorial and Los Angeles mayoral primaries, and "MAGA influencers and pundits have rallied behind" Trump's lies, as documented by Mediaite's David Gilmour here.
While it's "not surprising that the president is making baseless claims about voter fraud," Anderson Cooper said last night, it has implications for future elections. Cooper asked David Axelrod, "What do you think this signals for the midterms?"
In a word: Trouble. Trump has slotted "election deniers" into key positions, Axelrod said, and "there are no guardrails" in the administration anymore. "As the Republican Party becomes more and more imperiled in November, and right now they are headed for a real lashing at the polls, I think he's going to become more and more venturesome," Axelrod said. "So I think we ought to pay a lot of attention to what the president is saying."
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Recognizing the media's role in debunking 'fraud' lies |
Trump's "rumormongering" should be met with "repudiation,"
Richard L. Hasen wrote in an essay for MS NOW.
"Election officials, the media and even the public all play roles in assuring voters about the fairness and integrity of the process. California election officials have been quite transparent about their processes all along the way, and that should continue," he wrote.
And "in response to charges of 'voter fraud,' ordinary people can share media, such as the two-minute exchange between Trump and [Kristen] Welker, which show the emptiness of the president's claims."
Newsrooms are doing a thorough job of debunking the "fraud" claims, though I'm kind of tired of hearing TV talking heads in NYC and DC opine about California elections. Conversely, I've been turning up the volume every time CNN's Elex Michaelson appears from L.A.
There are lots of "legitimate questions" to ask about the state's voting methods, he said last night, "but that's the law, right now. And so it's one thing to say, 'We need to change the law going forward.' It's another thing to allege that somebody is breaking the law, without providing any evidence of that. That's what's happening right now from President Trump, without any evidence."
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Scrutinizing how Spencer Pratt was covered |
Spencer Pratt came up short in L.A. His candidacy was a big, interesting story, not just because of his reality TV history. But he was also "propelled by MAGA and the Murdochs" in a way that warrants some retrospection, Status editor Jon Passantino commented on Bluesky.
Passantino wrote that "Bari Weiss' Free Press built an entire fantasy around the idea that Pratt was actually a serious candidate, promoting a bogus narrative that Republicans were ascendant in an 'angry' California revolting against the left leaving the 'far-left' Raman in ruins..."
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BTW, Paramount will be a topic in the L.A. mayoral runoff... |
The L.A. mayoral candidate who bested Pratt and will now face Karen Bass in the general election, Nithya Raman, has vocally opposed the Paramount-WBD merger.
"I have real worries," she told Deadline, about "a combined company that's going to carry that much debt, like over $75 billion, while simultaneously trying to produce content, retain employees... Something will have to give..."
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YOU HEARD IT HERE FIRST... |
The Economist's names first American as US editor |
Today, The Economist is naming executive editor Charlotte Howard as its US editor, "the first time in The Economist's history that the US editor is an American," the publication says. John Prideaux, who currently holds that job, will assume the role of executive editor, and defense editor Shashank Joshi "will move from London to Washington to become the DC Bureau Chief starting this August..."
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Trump plans to ask SCOTUS to revive dismissed CNN case |
Trump wants this legal show to go on, even though courts have rejected his "meritless" case: His legal team has "told the US Supreme Court" that he "intends to ask the justices to revive his $475 million defamation lawsuit against CNN over use of the term 'Big Lie' in reporting on his claim that the 2020 election was rigged against him," Bloomberg's Erik Larson reported yesterday.
Specifically, Trump's lawyers have asked for "a 60-day extension to Aug. 15 to file his petition for review of the lower court’s dismissal of the case." When I asked, a CNN rep declined to comment...
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BBC subpoenas Trump's inner circle |
I missed this one from Larson the other day: The BBC has "issued a wave of subpoenas" to dozens of members of Trump's inner circle "as part of its defense in his $10-billion defamation lawsuit." Larson counted 47 subpoenas to "members of Trump's family and Cabinet, as well as the Department of Justice and other federal agencies," specifically to probe "the president's intent and state-of-mind" before his infamous January 6, 2021, speech at the Ellipse. This is what happens in discovery: the plaintiff gets scrutinized, too.
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Paramount's news search 👀 |
There are new and seemingly competing leaks from Paramount this morning about Bari Weiss and CBS News.
First, Axios raised eyebrows with an item that says Paramount wants to hire a "business-side counterpart" for Weiss and is "eyeing several top news executives" for the role.
Sara Fischer and Mike Allen say "the search implies that" in a combined Paramount-WBD, "Weiss would oversee all news editorial across both CBS News and CNN" while "her potential counterpart would manage business operations across both companies."
They also say "hiring a business-side counterpart to Weiss could alleviate some of the public relations pressure around the deal." Would it, though? Star journalists are calling the newsroom boss incompetent. CBS viewers are losing trust in the brand. Adding another "business-side" exec wouldn't change that.
As I reported on "The Arena" yesterday, Weiss has detractors internally at Paramount, where some execs say she's made wise changes in unwise ways, causing unnecessary harm.
Perhaps that explains the competing leaks today. Variety's Brian Steinberg followed up on the Axios report with four sources saying the discussions "have been going on for weeks," adding, "one of these people says Weiss has been involved with them."
Steinberg says "the new executive, if hired, would not likely enjoy any editorial or creative control greater than Weiss, two of these people say, which has been a turn off for some people who have met for discussions."
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'A potential stabilizing force' |
This is a good chance to remind everyone that while I'm covering this Paramount saga from inside the company that Paramount is trying to acquire, I have total autonomy to do so. No one is influencing the reporting or reviewing what I say on TV. (My live shots are usually unscripted, anyway!)
By virtue of working at CNN, I know that CNN CEO Mark Thompson said in a network-wide town hall on June 1 that he and other key executives have had constructive meetings with Paramount ahead of the potential merger.
Thompson said Paramount leaders asked "smart" questions. He also acknowledged the corporate uncertainty — and the worries many in the newsroom have — and said the best path forward for CNN is to keep owning big stories and growing its subscription businesses.
In contrast to the leaky atmosphere at CBS, Thompson's comments to 3,500+ CNN employees did not leak.
But given that town hall, this line from the Axios report seemed odd: "While Paramount awaits regulatory approval to acquire WBD, no Paramount executives are allowed to have conversations with any WBD executives, which would include Thompson."
In fact, the pre-merger transition meetings are well underway. The FT reported last week that Paramount executives and advisers "are increasingly open" to the prospect of Thompson "remaining in a senior role after the merger closes," adding that "some insiders view Thompson, the British former BBC boss, as a potential stabilizing force, according to people familiar with the discussions."
But Thompson is not just the CEO of CNN; he is editor-in-chief, and CNN is a much larger operation than CBS. Just like the other executives mentioned by Axios for a post-merger role, there is little chance Thompson would agree to losing editorial oversight of the newsroom he has led for several years...
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British regulators launch merger inquiry |
As the WSJ, Status and other outlets reported, Paramount executives were talking internally about wanting the WBD deal to take effect in July. But a July "close" may now be out of reach. British regulators at the Competition and Markets Authority have "launched a formal investigation" of the merger, Deadline's Jake Kanter reported this morning.
This "Phase 1" probe was expected, and it comes with an August 7 deadline. If regulators decide to "move to a deeper Phase 2 investigation," that phase "can last for more than five months," Kanter added.
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A few more Paramount notes |
>> In a new letter to US regulators, Paramount chief legal officer Makan Delrahim accuses Netflix of engaging in a "scorched-earth campaign to try and poison regulators and other stakeholders" against Paramount-WBD. Politico's Daniel Miller has details here...
>> Lulu Garcia-Navarro's interview with Scott Pelley gets a two-page spread in today's print edition of the NYT. Meanwhile, the video version of the interview has topped 1.5 million views on YouTube, making it Garcia-Navarro's third-most-watched interview overall, behind John Oliver and Miley Cyrus...
>> View from the right: Gerry Baker said "Pelley's hysterical self-indulgence illustrates what's gone wrong with the American news media."
>> View from the left: Margaret Sullivan praised Pelley's "display of intelligence and righteous indignation about what's going on at CBS News."
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Savannah Guthrie opens up |
"It's really hard to come back," Savannah Guthrie tearfully said to Jenna Bush Hager yesterday. It was one of Guthrie's first times talking about her return to the "Today" show while her mom Nancy is still missing.
"It brings me a lot of joy to be with everybody, but, no, it's not easy," Guthrie said in a visit to the 10 a.m. hour of the show. Watch the very emotional segment here...
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>> Trump's name has officially been removed from the Kennedy Center website, Kit Maher writes. (CNN)
>> Mehdi Hasan's Zeteo is "launching Zeteo UK, a standalone site that will begin publishing this week," Max Tani reports. (Semafor)
>> Right-wing sports site OutKick "is being integrated into Fox News Digital," Alex Weprin reports. The site's founder, Clay Travis, is exiting the site but "will remain with Fox, however, having inked a new deal as a Fox News contributor." (THR)
>> In the UK, Ofcom "has written to social media companies to remind them of their responsibilities regarding online abuse and said it will monitor measures taken against 'illegal hate content' during the World Cup," Paul MacInnes writes. (The Guardian)
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>> OpenAI "has confidentially filed for an initial public offering, setting it up for what may be the most highly anticipated market debut in recent history and a massive payday for early investors," CNN's Lisa Eadicicco and Clare Duffy write. (CNN)
>> Also: Perplexity "is planning to go public in 2028 regardless of how the market receives the listings of Anthropic and OpenAI," Arjun Kharpal reports. (CNBC)
>> Speaking of IPOs: Bending Spoons, the Italian holding company that now owns AOL, Eventbrite, and Vimeo, has filed for a US IPO, Dan Primack reports. (Axios)
>> Eadicicco recaps Apple's unveiling of an "all-new version" of Siri. (CNN)
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'Mario Galaxy' crosses $1B threshold |
"After nine weekends in theaters, Universal/Illumination's 'The Super Mario Galaxy Movie' became the first release of 2026 to cross $1 billion in global grosses," TheWrap's Jeremy Fuster reports. "While it won't reach the $1.36 billion total of its 2023 predecessor, 'The Super Mario Bros. Movie,' the Nintendo sequel has shown the theatrical staying power of the most famous video game character of all time," Fuster writes, adding that "Galaxy" now "stands among the top 10 highest grossing animated franchises worldwide."
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YouTube's late-night show has a premiere date |
"YouTube's answer to late night has no studio walls — but it does now have a launch date," LateNighter's Jed Rosenzweig reports. "Outside Tonight with Julian Shapiro-Barnum," which was announced late last year, will premiere next Wednesday, June 17. As Rosenzweig notes, with this new show, "YouTube appears to be testing whether the genre can be rebuilt from the platform outward..."
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