Jen Psaki, the former White House press secretary, continues to shine as the host of her own Sunday show on MSNBC. She produces at least one or two must-see moments every week, whether it’s through her commentaries or interviews or both. It typically takes a new host a couple of dozen shows, at least, to settle into the job, but Psaki seems to be more than comfortable after only six weeks on the air.
On Sunday, her strongest moments came talking about the firing of Tucker Carlson at Fox News. Psaki played some of Carlson’s, ahem, greatest hits, such as Jan. 6 conspiracy theories and the great replacement theory.
Psaki said, “Throughout it all, Fox backed Tucker. When asked in 2021 to comment on Carlson’s long record of lies and bigotry — and you just heard a lot of them there — Fox News plainly said, ‘We fully support him.’ And for years they did. But if you think Tucker’s firing means Fox has seen the light? Don’t hold your breath. Don’t judge them on why they fired Carlson. Judge them for all the times they didn’t and judge them for what they’re still putting on the air this week. Since his exit on Monday, it’s been business as usual for their prime-time lineup.”
The show then played a clip of Fox News’ Laura Ingraham talking about immigration, saying, “American citizens see that Biden’s team isn’t focused on raising their standard of living. Instead, the Biden team is focused on remaking the country where illegal immigrant Dreamers are valued over native-born Americans.”
Psaki said, “Sounds pretty familiar, right? Fox News may have had a problem with Tucker himself, but his ideas, the conspiracies, the lies, his explicit white nationalist views were never the total problem for the network. They endorsed all of that and continue to do so. This is simply who they are.”
Mediaite’s Tommy Christopher has the video of Psaki’s segment.
Speaking of Carlson …
Associated Press media reporter David Bauder checked in on Fox News’ ratings at the 8 p.m. Eastern spot since Tucker Carlson was fired. Carlson’s show aired at 8.
The bottom line: Ratings are down.
On Wednesday — three shows into the post-Carlson era and with Brian Kilmeade guest hosting — Fox News drew 1.33 million viewers. That’s down from the 3.05 million viewers from the previous Wednesday with Carlson hosting. That’s a 56% drop.
Oh, one more Carlson item. Jason Zengerle, a contributing writer for The New York Times Magazine, is working on a book about Carlson and wrote this for the Times Magazine: “Fox News Gambled, but Tucker Can Still Take Down the House.”
Remembering the good old days
In her latest column, New York Times columnist Maureen Dowd pines for the pre-COVID days when newsrooms were buzzing with activity and chaos from talented and occasionally strange characters and personalities. She writes what she calls “the final obituary for the American newspaper newsroom” in “Requiem for the Newsroom.”
As Dowd writes, “Newsrooms have been shrinking and disappearing for a long time, of course, due to shifting economics and the digital revolution. But now I’m looking for proof of life on an eerie ghost ship.”
Dowd understands the appeal for many to work remotely, while also acknowledging that many reporters always work out in the field, including political reporters and, I would add, sportswriters, whose office is usually a press box.
Some might read Dowd’s column and roll their eyes at nothing more than an older person talking about how things were better in the good old days. And there’s no question that remote work has worked out for many journalists, allowing them to produce outstanding reports and live a more fulfilling life. In addition, remote work has allowed news outlets to hire the best people without the restraints of requiring them to live in the city where the news outlet is based.
But I’m on board with Dowd’s sentiment. Bustling newsrooms provide spontaneous conversations that produce stories and support and camaraderie. A newsroom is where you can find mentors and inspiration and maybe even more — I, like many in journalism, met my future spouse in the newsroom.
And, yes, there’s a great romance to the old newsroom. Dowd quotes The Atlantic’s Mark Leibovich, who says, “I can’t think of a profession that relies more on osmosis, and just being around other people, than journalism. There’s a reason they made all those newspaper movies, ‘All the President’s Men,’ ‘Spotlight,’ ‘The Paper.’”
I encourage you to read Dowd’s column. It’s what many of us who have been in the business for a while are thinking.
James Corden says goodbye to late night
James Corden, host of CBS’s “The Late, Late Show,” hosted his final show last Thursday. Corden announced last year that he would do the show for one more year before stepping down. That year — his ninth as host — came to an end last week. Corden has said stepping away was a difficult decision, but was mostly about his family and their desire to return to his native England. There were many reports that CBS tried to entice him to stay.
The past couple of weeks have been a celebration of Corden’s time as host, including the return of Adele for another Carpool Karaoke, as well as jumping out of a plane with Tom Cruise.
Then came this interesting nugget from media reporter Brian Stelter in a column for Los Angeles Magazine: “But beneath all this hoopla and hyperbole and well-deserved celebration, there’s one essential bit of information that nobody at CBS or on ‘The Late Late Show’ is daring to say out loud (at least, not on the record). And that is, Corden’s show was wildly unprofitable and may well have been heading to the chopping block whether he stayed or not.”
Stelter reports that “The Late Late Show” was costing $60 million to $65 million a year to produce but was netting less than $45 million. And a TV executive told Stelter, “It was simply not sustainable. CBS could not afford him anymore.”
Stelter writes that if Corden had stayed, he might have faced a significant pay cut and/or seen major layoffs to the show’s staff.
“No wonder he wanted to move back home to England,” Stelter wrote.
Dinner plans
President Joe Biden wears sunglasses after making a joke about becoming the “Dark Brandon” persona during the White House Correspondents’ Association dinner in Washington on Saturday. (AP Photo/Carolyn Kaster)
The White House Correspondents’ Dinner — the social gala of the year inside the Washington Beltway for politicians, media and celebrities — was held this past Saturday.
It’s a chance for all the insiders to kick back, gossip and roast one another. President Joe Biden appeared and delivered plenty of verbal jabs, including poking fun at himself and his decision to run for another term at his age. (He is 80 now.)
Biden said, “Call me old, I call it being seasoned. You say I am ancient, I say I’m wise. You say I’m over the hill, Don Lemon would say, ‘That’s a man in his prime.’” That’s a play on the former CNN anchor who said female presidential candidate Nikki Haley, who is 51, was no longer in her prime.
Biden also took plenty of jabs at others, including Fox News. He told the audience, “I’d call Fox ‘honest, fair and truthful.’ But then I’d be sued for defamation.”
Biden also had serious moments, saying he was working to secure the release of Wall Street Journal reporter Evan Gershkovich, who is being jailed in Russia.
To the cheers of those in the room, Biden said, “Tonight our message is this: Journalism is not a crime.”
Biden also spoke out against misinformation in the media, calling it “poison” while mentioning bans on books and abortion, as well as anti-transgender laws, saying, “Lies told for profit and power. Lies and conspiracy and malice repeated over and over again, designed to generate a cycle of anger, hate and even violence.”
(Here is Biden’s complete speech.)
Comedian and “The Daily Show” correspondent Roy Wood Jr. was the featured speaker. (Here is his speech.) Among his top lines:
- “Tucker Carlson is out of the job. Some people are celebrating. But to Tucker’s staff I want you to know that I know what you’re feeling. I work at ‘The Daily Show’ so I, too, have been blindsided by the sudden departure of the host of a fake news program.”
- “Fox claimed Dominion conspired with the Democrats to rig the election. The Democrats should be flattered that they thought that y’all was smart enough to rig an election.”
- “Yes, Don Lemon was a diva and he said a couple of women are raggedy in the face. But that’s a promotion at Fox News.”
- “Ask any Republican (to) try to explain CRT, they sound like a Democrat trying to explain the charges against Trump.”
We need a free press
Wednesday is World Press Freedom Day. Paul Tash, the chairperson of the Poynter Institute board of trustees and the retired chairman and CEO of the Tampa Bay Times, recently talked about the importance of a free press in a speech made to the St. Petersburg Bar Foundation. The Times published his remarks in “Here’s why we need a free press to be a free people.”
Tash said, “This is still a mostly free country. The rule of law is generally strong. Individuals can still turn to the courts for protection of their fundamental liberties. You may suffer on social media, or in the workplace or in the court of public opinion, but you will almost certainly not lose your life or your liberty for speaking up, or speaking out, for having the courage of your candor. Here, our boundaries of free expression and public discourse are still relatively generous.
“And yet, you need not look far for signs of trouble. At some of our great universities … speakers are shouted down for holding views that the crowd decides are not acceptable. In Florida, while our governor pushes to expand Second Amendment rights, he also keeps pushing to restrict the freedoms under the First Amendment. Meanwhile, the former president of the United States may be leading the Republican field for another turn in office. When he had the job last time, he described people in my line of work as ‘enemies of the people,’ a phrase that would be familiar to Stalin, Mao and Goebbels.”
Tash added, “As I look around the world, I see many places where the space for free expression has collapsed, and yet heroes have the courage of their candor. With their voices, they push against corruption. They push against brutality and tyranny. In our country, in our state, in our community, I wonder: Will we defend free speech? Will we challenge the powerful? Will we uphold the vigor of dissent and debate? The alternative is that we remain quiet and compliant as the vise continues to close around us. Will we wait until candor requires the extraordinary courage of those Cuban dissidents, or Armando Linares, or Pham Doan Trang, or Alexei Navalny?
“And I ask myself: Will we be so brave?”
Media tidbits
- The Washington Post’s Naomi Nix with “How Mark Zuckerberg broke Meta’s workforce.”
- John Underwood, a longtime writer at Sports Illustrated from the early 1960s to the mid-1980s, died earlier this month. He was 88. Aside from his superb work at Sports Illustrated, Underwood also wrote books, including two collaborations with baseball legend Ted Williams. Underwood worked with Williams, who could be prickly with sportswriters, on Williams’ autobiography, “My Turn at Bat: The Story of My Life.” That came out in 1969. Underwood and Williams also combined on the legendary “The Science of Hitting,” which was published in 1971 and is considered the best book ever written about hitting. It was widely studied by major leaguers. The New York Times’ Richard Sandomir has the obituary and more on Underwood’s stellar career.
- For Andscape, Justin Tinsley writes about the new FX docuseries with “‘Dear Mama’ is Tupac and Afeni Shakur’s beautiful, tragic opus.”
Hot type
Actor Michael J. Fox, being interviewed on “CBS Sunday Morning.” (Courtesy: CBS News)
- Actor Michael J. Fox talks to “CBS Sunday Morning” anchor Jane Pauley about his battle with Parkinson’s.
- What should we think of controversial chess champion Magnus Carlsen? The Ringer’s David Hill with “The King in the Endgame.”
- The Washington Post’s Chuck Culpepper is on the short list of the best sportswriters in America. His latest: “Fifty years after his Triple Crown, Secretariat remains an immortal wonder.”
More resources for journalists
- Subscribe to Local Edition by Poynter faculty Kristen Hare, to find out what’s working in local news and fresh opportunities for local reporters.
- Editorial Integrity and Leadership Initiative — (Sept. – April, 2024) (Hybrid) — Apply by May 15.
- Save the date! Poynter’s Bowtie Ball is Nov. 18 at the JW Marriott in Tampa, Florida. Get tickets.
- Sign up for Beat Academy (Now-Oct. 19) (Webinar series) — You’ll get tips, sources, inspiration and ideas to cover emerging newsroom beats. Enroll now.
Have feedback or a tip? Email Poynter senior media writer Tom Jones at tjones@poynter.org.
The Poynter Report is our daily media newsletter. To have it delivered to your inbox Monday-Friday, sign up here.
