To:
Jackson, Ryan[jackson.ryan@epa.gov]
From: Joe Pompeo - POLITICO Media
Sent: Wed 6/21/2017 9:47:19 AM
Subject: Morning Media, presented by American Optometric Association: Hardest job to fill in
Washington? -- Media investments of the moment -- Cryptocurrency journalism takes flight
By Joe Pompeo | 06/21/2017 05:45 AM EDT
With Cristiano Lima, Hadas Gold and Alex Weprin
TAKE IT AWAY, MAGGIE HABERMAN AND GLENN THRUSH: "The opportunity to take over behind the White House briefing room lectern would be the apex of a political operative's career in any other presidency, a path to riches, fame and power. But after weeks of fitful efforts to sell a job that for decades people have plotted to get, no one has jumped at the chance to become President Trump's new press secretary, leaving the president -- at least for now -- with his beleaguered frontman, Sean Spicer. ... Mr. Spicer conceded what has been known for weeks: that the White House has solicited interest from a range of people, sometimes approaching them repeatedly even when they've said no. ... Yet few have been a good fit -- and most Republicans in Washington said it would be among the hardest jobs to fill in the Trump administration.
"The biggest shift Mr. Trump is discussing is a dramatic change to the briefing room schedule, including limiting briefings that he has described as a "spectacle" to once a week and asking reporters to submit written questions. Some of Mr. Trump's outside advisers, including the Fox News host Sean Hannity, have urged him to curtail the freewheeling -- and often embarrassing -- barrage of questions. Mr. Trump has been particularly irked by CNN, and other allies such as former House Speaker Newt Gingrich have suggested banning the cable network." More in today's New York times: " Tm Right Here!1 Sean Spicer Says While Toiling to Find Successor"
RELATED: P.R. PROS WANT NO PART OF THE WHITE HOUSE COMMS TEAM - A vast majority of public relations professionals say they would turn down a hypothetical position in the administration, according to a new survey out of the University of Southern California's Annenberg School. Nearly 9 out of 10 in the field said they'd reject offers for the press secretary, counselor to the president and deputy press secretary positions currently filled by Spicer, Kellyanne Conway and Sarah Huckabee Sanders. In fact, a "majority of PR practitioners believe" those three "have made a negative impact on the perception of their profession." Here's Fred Cook, director of USC Annenberg's Center for Public Relations: "It's clear from the results ... that the PR industry would prefer to distance itself from the current White House communications team, whose practices are not reflective of the values of the broader industry." Full results.
** A message from the American Optometric Association: More than 5,000 Doctors of Optometry and students from all 50 states are in DC to spotlight Optometry's expanding role in the health care system and key advancements in patient-centered care. For more information on the essential primary care being provided by optometrists -- America's family eye doctors - in communities across the country, visit www.aoa.org. **
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TIPS AND COMMENTS: jpompeo@politico. com / @joepompeo. Morning Media is edited by Alex Weprin (@alexweprin / aweprin@politico.com) and produced with writing/reporting help from Cristiano Lima. ( clima@politico.com / @ludacristiano). Hadas Gold contributed to today's column. Archives. Subscribe.
CNN'S 'GREAT BIG' INVESTMENT - CNN raised eyebrows yesterday with news that the network is pouring $40 million -- one of the largest investments ever for CNN Digital -- into its "Great Big Story" platform for offbeat videos, and turning it into a 24-hour streaming channel with a mix of live programming and longer, feature length films. It's the "latest example," as Bloomberg noted, "of a fast-moving convergence in television, where traditional channels are pouring money into online startups to make shows for a younger, cord-cutting generation."
The cynical take, per a TV exec who was chatting with Hadas Gold but wouldn't let her use
their name: "Sounds like the latest trend at Cannes" -- the annual ad-industry bonanza on the French Riviera where big shots like Shane Smith and Jeff Zucker are sipping flutes of sparkling ros this week -- "is an investment measurement contest. Vice announces a massive infusion of cash and a valuation of nearly $6 billion and within 24 hours there's an aggressive investment [from CNN] that feels a bit like bringing a knife to a gunfight."
SPEAKING OF THAT S450M VICE INFUSION - Is the company really worth $5.7 billion? "At first glance, it looks like big number," one astute media analyst tells the FT . "But Vice has been gradually building up to this valuation. ... They have been around for a long time and have diversified into a lot of areas that they need to be in. They have made intelligent expansion decisions and they understand the millennial audience they are trying to reach. ... A lot of companies that have tried to talk to millennials do it in a very clumsy or pandering way. But with Vice it feels very genuine and comes from the ground up whereas other companies approach millennials from the top down."
WHILE WE'RE ON THE GENERAL SUBJECT, WHAT ABOUT THE BUZZFEED
IPO? From Variety's cover story this week : "CEO Jonah Peretti ... may find his work cut out for him if an IPO is what he pursues to bring liquidity to investors, including NBCUniversal, that have been with the company for varying lengths over its decade-long history. Going public would be met with considerable skepticism among BuzzFeed watchers, including current and former employees who spoke with Variety about the company's ability to achieve a successful IPO. ... At a time when an unusual number of media companies are considering IPOs ... they all may find that being in the content business is a knock against them on Wall Street."
Peretti: "It's one possible path for us. We certainly wouldn't IPO until we feel we're ready to IPO. The goal is to build a company for the long term, and build a strong, independent company. And one natural path would be to IPO. But we're not under any pressure to IPO. Full Q&A is here.
MUST READS:
-- "Despite Concerns About Blackmail, Flynn Heard C.I.A. Secrets" [NYT]
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-- "Is North Carolina the Future of American Politics?" [NYT Mag]
-- "How An Entire Nation Became Russia's Test Lab for Cyberwar" [Wired]
-- "She was the town's leading heroin dealer. She was 19 years old" [The Guardian]
TV'S TRUMP EFFECT - Also in Variety : "President Donald Trump has roiled everything from national politics to environmental policy. Now he could be reworking the norms of TV advertising. Advertisers are lining up in TV's upfront negotiations to make advance commitments in news and late-night programs that are focused on the nation's current stormy, politics-driven news cycle. In some cases, advertisers are chasing these shows even ahead of primetime fare, according to three people with knowledge of the discussions. These people say programs including 'Today,' 'Good Morning America,' 'CBS This Morning,' 'The Late Show with Stephen Colbert,' 'The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon,' 'Jimmy Kimmel Live' and others are getting more emphasis from Madison Avenue than in previous years. There is a 'Trump carryover effect,' said one media buying executive with knowledge of current talks."
MANNING LEAKS NOT SO HARMFUL AFTER ALL? - After years of the government stressing the supposed national security impact of former Army private Chelsea Manning's massive disclosure of military documents, a secret report obtained by BuzzFeed has cast serious doubt on how much harm the leaks actually caused: "Regarding the hundreds of thousands of Iraq-related military documents and State Department cables provided by the Army private Chelsea Manning, the report assessed 'with high confidence that disclosure of the Iraq data set will have no direct personal impact on current and former U.S. leadership in Iraq.' The heavily redacted report also determined that a different set of documents published the same year, relating to the US war in Afghanistan, would not result in 'significant impact' to US operations." Read on here.
BILL O'REILLY AND ONE AMERICA NEWS NETWORK WEREN'T MEANT TO BE "We are pulling offer to @billoreilly, it could have paid him more than he made at Fox," Robert
Herring, CEO of the conservative TV channel, tweeted yesterday afternoon. "We wish him luck." Whafs the deal? "Very simple. No Drama," Herring told Hadas when she asked him about it. "We contacted him in April, he sent us to his Agent. They were to take a meeting in late May. We sent them a solid proposal first week in June. They have not responded, so we pulled our offer so that we can pursue other talent. He has been talking about starting his own endeavor and we wish him luck and would help him if we can." So really, who rejected who?
REVOLVING DOOR:
-- The New York Times has named a new deputy editorial page editor, Kathleen Kingsbury, who's leaving her job as The Boston Globe's managing editor for digital. Kingsbury previously served on the Globe's editorial board, where she won the 2015 Pulitzer Prize for editorial writing. Announcement.
-- As Hadas reported first yesterday, NBC News has snagged Wall Street Journal White
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House correspondent Carol Lee. The former WHCA president (and POLITICO alumna!) will be a national political reporter for the network, appearing across all platforms.
-- "Hardball" producer Michael LaRosa is leaving MSNBC to join the Senate Energy and
Natural Resources committee as the communications director for the minority under Sen. Maria Cantwell.
-- Congratulations to our colleague Hanna Trudo, a senior web producer who is joining National Journal's Hotline to cover national political stories about the midterms and beyond.
FIRST IN MORNING MEDIA: NEXT-LEVEL-FUTURISTIC JOURNALISM PROJECT -
Are you well-versed in cryptoeconomics? Blockchain technology? Token funding? Neither are we! Which is why we should probably just play it safe and let the press release speak for itself: "Civil today announced plans to raise funds to build the first truly decentralized platform for journalism. A whitepaper ... details Civil's plans to build the blockchain-powered marketplace on Ethereum, the cryptocurrency that is becoming widely popular for launching new businesses that disrupt old internet business models. ...
"Civil's whitepaper details plans to create 'newsrooms' -- blockchain-based marketplaces where citizens and journalists can form communities around a shared purpose and set of standards. Civil will be powered by its token, CVL. Funding for the effort... will largely come from distributing the first batch of tokens later this year, in a process that will focus on broad and diverse public participation among future users, particularly journalists." Intrigued? Click here to read the whitepaper.
Sidenote: Helping Civil get this thing off the ground on the journalism side are none other than our former colleagues Tom McGeveran, Josh Benson and Katherine Lehr, who previously launched POLITICO'S state bureaus. Per the release, they're "currently working together on a new media endeavor" (news!) and "will be bringing together a team ofjournalists to launch the network."
SOUNDTRACK: Gary Glitter, "Do You Wanna Touch Me"
EXTRAS:
-- "The New York State Division of Human Rights is investigating Fox News for allegations of sexual harassment and discrimination, according to attorney Lisa Bloom." [Variety]
-- Salena Zito profile: "Drive-by journalism in Trumplandia" [CJR]
-- Today: "Members of Congress and the Washington, DC Press Corps battle it out on the softball field to raise funds and awareness for young women with breast cancer." [congwomensoftball.org]
-- Looks like Axios is launching a "Media Trends" newsletter. [Axios]
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-- Take a tour of Bloomberg's new European headquarters in London -- soon to be completed.
** A message from the American Optometric Association: Through the delivery of personalized care and comprehensive eye exams, doctors of optometry help ensure precise and healthy vision, identify and treat glaucoma and serious infections and provide early diagnosis of threats to overall health, including hypertension, stroke and diabetes, which may have no obvious symptoms. The doctor-patient relationship is at the heart of optometry practices serving thousands of communities across the country. With health care legislation a priority, AOA member doctors and students are asking Senators and House members to: Co-sponsor the AOA & ADA-backed bi-partisan Dental and Optometric Care Access Act (HR 1606). Vote to eliminate the health insurance industry's anti-trust exemption (bi-partisan HR 372, passed the House 416-7, March 22nd). Demand that Federal bureaucrats withdraw their scheme to impose costly mandates targeting eye doctors. Keep primary eye health and vision care a priority for the VA. Require patient health safeguards and quality care standards on remotely attempted care.
For more information, visit www.aoa.org. **
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