MEDIA
Dylan Byers
•
January 16, 2025
Kingdom Kutler
Rebecca Kutler, Jeff Zucker’s onetime heir apparent at CNN, is now the big boss at MSNBC, where she’ll lead the company into the SpinCo wilderness—managing talent, decline, and anxieties along the way. And yet, she’s not only the best person for the job, but perhaps the only one who can do it.
Dylan Byers
•
January 9, 2025
A Matter of Life & Jeff
Yes, we’re all grossed out by billionaires and C.E.O.s genuflecting to the incoming president, even if much of it is cynical lip-service. But the agony and angst of it all has overly simplified a much more complex challenge.
Dylan Byers
•
January 3, 2025
Politico, Brother, Where Art Thou?
More news and notes on the traditional inter-administration employment musical chairs within the D.C. media scene.
Dylan Byers
•
December 27, 2024
The Ghosts of The Washington Post’s Past
News, notes, and H.R. updates on a series of significant fin de siècle leadership changes at Jeff Bezos’s constantly transmogrifying paper.
Eriq Gardner
•
December 26, 2024
Murdoch v. Prince Harry: “They’re Going to Try to Destroy Him”
It’s been nearly 30 years since Rupert Murdoch’s News Group tabloid empire allegedly first hacked Prince Harry’s voicemail messages. But rather than settle, like Hugh Grant and Sienna Miller, the Duke of Sussex is putting The Murdoch Machine on trial. I spoke with a U.K. lawyer for a preview of the legal drama.
Dylan Byers
•
December 20, 2024
And Then There Was Matt…
After six excruciating months, Washington Post C.E.O. Will Lewis is naming acting executive editor Matt Murray as his new editorial leader—a fitting capstone to a lackluster search effort that never quite came to fruition.
Dylan Byers
•
December 19, 2024
Stephanopoulos’s Renewal & Will’s Plan B
News and notes on the most pressing topics at the intersection of the D.C. media axes of intrigue: Stephanopoulos’s sloppy electronics, and Washington Post top editor contingency planning.
Dylan Byers
•
December 14, 2024
Zaz’s CNN Situation Room
The restructuring of Warner Bros. Discovery, designed to cleave the company’s declining cable assets from its studio and streaming business, has left CNN insiders and executives wondering where the network fits into WBD’s future—or if it does at all.
Dylan Byers
•
December 12, 2024
Mrs. Burns Goes to Washington
News and notes on the recruitment of Dasha Burns, raided from the increasingly gloomy halls of 30 Rock, as Politico seeks their new Maggie. Plus the latest updates on Jeff Bezos’s narrowing talent search for a “change agent” to transform The Washington Post.
Dylan Byers
•
December 5, 2024
Rashida Revisionism & Will’s Editor-Hunting
News and notes on the yuletide fixations of legacy media and its stalwarts as corporate holiday party season beckons: Rashida Jones’ impending MSNBC exit, SpinCo spin, and the denouement of the Washington Post (first newsroom!) executive editor sweepstakes.
Dylan Byers
•
November 29, 2024
Politico vs. Punchbowl & The Daily Wire’s Future Payday
News, notes, frontline observations, and confessions from a smattering of new-media-age entrepreneurs, all of whom have much to be thankful for this time of year. (And some gripes too…)
Eriq Gardner
•
November 27, 2024
A New Murdoch Suit & R.F.K.’s Cable Bomb
A group of angry investors is suing Fox News, claiming that its pandering to right-wing conspiracies saddled the company with legal costs they should have avoided. Murdoch is claiming free speech outweighs fiduciary responsibility, and many in the media are hoping he wins.
Dylan Byers
•
November 23, 2024
Maddow Money
News and notes on the latest anxieties inside MSNBC in its SpinCo singularity: questions about the Maddow deal, looming Stamford realities, and much more.
Dylan Byers
•
November 21, 2024
Mika & Joe’s Excellent Adventure
News and notes on the real ulterior motive behind the Mar-a-Lago pilgrimage. Plus, all the nail-biting and agita unleashed at 30 Rock in the wake of the Comcast spinco news.
Dylan Byers
•
November 15, 2024
The Mark-est Hour
A gloomy company-wide meeting revealed Mark Thompson’s CNN is still caught between the linear past and the digital future, and nonpolitical news versus 24-hour Trump TV. Insiders wonder who’s paying attention to the content while others wonder if a more sinister fate beckons.
Dylan Byers
•
November 14, 2024
How Chris Wallace Cut the Cord
The backstory of Wallace’s self-defenestration at CNN—the latest shoe to drop in an era that won’t stop ending.
Dylan Byers
•
November 8, 2024
CNN’s Existential Post-Election Season
With the election in the rearview, C.E.O. Mark Thompson will finally implement his true transformation plan at the network—including the culling of hundreds of jobs. Many of CNN’s own journalists, plenty of whom were blinded by Trump’s significant victory, have evinced similar naiveté about their own fates.