DeSantis, down in the polls, lashed out at conservative news outlets for not holding GOP frontrunner Donald Trump to account. Email not displaying correctly?
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** OPINION
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** Ron DeSantis’ heel turn now criticizes conservative media
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Republican presidential candidate Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis speaks at a campaign event on Sunday in Ankeny, Iowa. (AP Photo/Charlie Neibergall)

Well, ain’t this something.

Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, who is fighting an uphill battle to stay a contender for the Republican presidential nomination, lashed out at Fox News and other conservative media outlets for how they have treated GOP frontrunner Donald Trump.

Late last week, DeSantis told reporters, “He’s got basically a Praetorian Guard of the conservative media — Fox News, the websites, all this stuff. They just don’t hold him accountable because they’re worried about losing viewers and they don’t want to have their ratings go down, and that’s just the reality. That’s just the truth.”

Whether or not DeSantis is actually right — and there’s plenty there to suggest he is — it just seems curious that a guy who has spent most of his recent political career clashing with (and cutting off) all nonconservative media is now complaining about conservative media. This is a guy who once used to be a Fox News regular while basically shunning all other media because his interviews with Fox used to resemble campaign ads instead of serious interviews. One time, DeSantis signed Florida's restrictive voting bill live on Fox News ([link removed]) , while banning all other news outlets because he knew Fox wouldn’t grill him with questions. That’s just one example.

And now he’s complaining?

Well, technically, he said it wasn’t a “complaint,” but an “observation.” But the timing of his observation is telling. He once was a darling of Fox News, and now he’s not. And, of course, once he seemed a legitimate presidential contender and now he’s getting trounced by Trump in the polls.

It also should be noted that DeSantis still does business with Fox News. He has done multiple interviews with Fox News in recent weeks, as well as an hourlong town hall last week and an interview with Fox prime-time host Sean Hannity.

But, as I said, his observations regarding Trump and conservative media, including Fox, aren’t wrong.

NBC News’ Steve Benen wrote ([link removed]) , “What made DeSantis’ rhetoric so notable had less to do with the accuracy of his assessment, and more to do with his willingness to tell the truth out loud. Most fair-minded observers, including those in Republican politics, would agree with everything the Floridian said on Friday, but they’re generally reluctant to present such an indictment on camera.”

In a piece for The New Yorker ([link removed]) , Jonathan Chait wrote, “If you corner a professional Republican, they will admit Fox News is not a news network as it is traditionally defined, but mainly a partisan messaging vehicle in the guise of a traditional broadcast format. What they will say is that the mainstream media is also biased, so it’s fair. That belief is heavily exaggerated — the mainstream media may suffer implicit bias from the overwhelmingly left-of-center cast of its staff, but it is trying to follow traditional norms of objectivity. There’s no executive at CNN or the New York Times deciding which candidate to promote and then planning coverage together.”

Chait went on to write, “In public, Republicans will pretend that conservative media is fair and balanced, or maybe is just finding stories the liberal media ignores. They won’t admit that Fox News will never admit to its audience when Republican leaders lie and cheat. Maintaining that pretense is a core element of conservative-movement discipline. It’s a measure of DeSantis’s anger and humiliation that he finally broke the Republican omerta.”

Again, well, he’s losing.

CNN’s Oliver Darcy said on air ([link removed]) , “When you see Republican candidates start losing to Trump in the polls and they know they’re losing, it’s like truth serum or something. They get very honest about the right-wing media apparatus that protects Trump at any cost, does not honestly cover him, and shields him from criticism.”

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** Standing by its reporting
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Earlier this month, billionaire Bill Ackman made a big stink over Business Insider writing two stories about plagiarism accusations against former MIT professor Neri Oxman — who happens to be married to Ackman. Many found Ackman to be hypocritical considering he was quite vocal that Harvard president Claudine Gay should be removed, in part, because of plagiarism. (Ackman is a Harvard alum.)

Ackman complained enough that Axel Springer, the parent company of Business Insider, said it would look into the matter. That rankled many at Business Insider because the facts in the stories were never in question — Oxman even acknowledged she didn’t properly cite some of her work. In addition, Oxman is a public enough figure to make the story worthwhile.

Still, Axel Springer said it would look into Ackman’s allegations that the coverage was unfair and not warranted.

Over the weekend, Barbara Peng, chief executive of Business Insider, put out a note ([link removed]) standing by the stories. Peng wrote, “There was no unfair bias or personal, political, and/or religious motivation in the pursuit of the stories.

The stories were newsworthy and Neri Oxman, who has a public profile as a prominent intellectual and has been a subject of and participant in media coverage, is a fair subject.”

Peng added, “The process we went through to report, edit, and review the stories was sound, as was the timing. Through their representative, Oxman and Ackman responded that they had made the decision not to comment. The stories are accurate and the facts well documented.”

It appeared that Axel Springer had no cause to do such an investigation to begin with and to make it so public. Just because someone — albeit someone powerful — complained about coverage isn’t cause for such a review. It’s good that Axel Springer is standing behind Business Insider’s reporting, but there’s likely to be some leftover hard feelings.


** Late breaking stunner: Baltimore Sun sold
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In a surprise move announced Monday, The Baltimore Sun was sold to David D. Smith, executive chairman of TV station owner Sinclair Inc. Smith said he acquired Baltimore Sun Media on Friday from investment firm Alden Global Capital. The Baltimore Sun’s Lorraine Mirabella wrote ([link removed]) it marks “the first time in nearly four decades that The Sun will be in the hands of a local owner.”

The deal means Smith, who grew up in Baltimore, also acquires several other papers, including the Capital Gazette in Annapolis, Carroll County Times, Towson Times and several other Baltimore-area weeklies and magazines. Smith told Mirabella, “I’m in the news business because I believe … we have an absolute responsibility to serve the public interest. I think the paper can be hugely profitable and successful and serve a greater public interest over time.”

It’s not known how much Smith paid in the acquisition, but he said he wants the Sun to focus more on local and community news and investigations. That sounds good, but Mirabella noted that Sinclair “has been criticized for requiring its (TV) affiliates nationwide to air conservative programming and editorial content, though many conservatives argue that most newspapers are too liberal.”

Mirabella added, “While Smith has been an active political backer of Republicans, he said he’s focused on good government.”

You would think that the Sun getting out from under Alden would be a good thing, but already there’s trepidation about how Smith’s conservative politics might influence coverage.

Sinclair, according to Axios’ Sara Fischer ([link removed]) , put out a statement that said, “The acquisition was consummated with Mr. Smith’s personal assets. Sinclair, Inc. has no involvement with the transaction. Mr. Smith will continue to be our Executive Chairman and Chairman of the Board.”

Check out Mirabella’s story for more details. And we’ll have more on the move in the coming days.


** Dumbest comments of the day
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Sports broadcaster Pat McAfee, shown here last November. (AP Photo/Zach Bolinger)

After a couple of controversial weeks, you’d think Pat McAfee would try to lay low and just talk sports. Even after all the Aaron Rodgers-Jimmy Kimmel-Jeffrey Epstein-blah blah blah junk, McAfee said he hated being all over the news and social media for anything negative.

So what does McAfee go out and do? Somehow he turned Martin Luther King Jr. Day into a bizarre little speech about himself.

On his show, which he owns but which airs daily on ESPN, McAfee said, ([link removed]) “Obviously it’s Martin Luther King Jr. Day. He had a dream. … So let’s realize that as we look around and that we’re maybe more close than we’ve ever been. And there’s an election about to take place (this) year where we need to remember that we are more close than we have ever been. And people could potentially try to drive us apart from the outside looking in. Now, as somebody who was canceled by both parties last week — both of them canceled me; two political parties canceled me last week and we are still alive — let’s remember we don’t need all the outside noise. All we need is a little bit of love. Which is what we have for all the people who have good intentions every single day when they wake up, just like us. Now with that being said, football is awesome.”

First off, how inappropriate and tone-deaf to turn MLK Day into how his world is impacted by things he and his guests say on air. And then the other part: Did he actually say he was canceled by both political parties?

McAfee said this while on Disney-owned ESPN — one of the most popular and most watched TV networks in the country. If he thinks that is being “canceled,” we need to get rid of the word “canceled” because it doesn't mean the same thing anymore.

The Big Lead’s Kyle Koster wrote ([link removed]) , “​​Republican, Democrat, independent, apolitical, whatever your personal persuasion, we can all agree that showing up to work on a holiday by being permanently canceled and being placed on the most prominent real estate in sports television is impressive work.”

Look, I actually respect how McAfee was an NFL punter who worked hard to turn himself into one of the most watched (and richest) sports commentators on TV. But at some point, he needs to realize (or someone close to him needs to tell him) that he’s getting over his skis. Yes, his style is loose and free-flowing and a tad dangerous. That’s a lot of his appeal. He’s not a polished broadcaster. He’s the dude at the bar. But there’s a fine balance between that and not crossing lines.

Lately, McAfee is having a tough time striking that balance. If he keeps it up, at some point, he really will be canceled.


** Media tidbits
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* In an opinion piece for The Guardian, Trevor Timm with “Elon Musk has become the world’s biggest hypocrite on free speech.” ([link removed])
* Los Angeles Times columnist Brian Merchant with “The AI industry has a battle-tested plan to keep using our content without paying for it.” ([link removed])
* Semafor’s Max Tani with “The incredible shrinking podcast industry.” ([link removed])
* Favorite photo of the weekend: Check out this superb photo ([link removed]) taken by The Kansas City Star’s Emily Curiel. Taken during Saturday night’s brutally cold playoff game between the Kansas City Chiefs and Miami Dolphins, it shows a piece of the helmet of Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes snapping off after being hit by Dolphins safety DeShon Elliott. The temperature at kickoff was minus 4 degrees, making it the fourth-coldest game in NFL history. The wind chill was minus 27.
* Speaking of that Chiefs-Dolphins game, many NFL fans were furious that the game was aired exclusively on Peacock — NBC’s streaming service. But it was a smart business decision. According to Nielsen, the game averaged 23 million viewers, and was the most livestreamed event in U.S. history. To note, those 23 million viewers also included those who watched on the local NBC affiliates in Miami and Kansas City and on the NFL+ mobile app.
* Wall Street Journal sports columnist Jason Gay weighed in on the NFL taking a playoff game to a streaming network in “‘Peacock Game’: The NFL’s Digital Buttfumble.” ([link removed]) Gay wrote, “On The Peacock Game, I hate to say it but: expect more. Television, you may have read, is in decline, at least the old way of watching: the cable ‘bundle’ is dwindling, replaced by streamers like Amazon, Max, Peacock, Netflix etc. These companies need to grow, and it makes sense that they’d explore weaponizing the one thing on television everyone still watches: the NFL.”


** Hot type
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* A few days old, but powerful work in The Washington Post from Lizzie Johnson and Kamila Hrabchuk: “She’s 16. The war in Ukraine wrecked her city — and her childhood.” ([link removed])
* Video from NBC News: “Dr. Martin Luther King III on why volunteering serves his father’s legacy” ([link removed])


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