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** OPINION
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** The Tucker-Russia relationship draws intense media scrutiny
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Russian President Vladimir Putin, shown here last December. (AP Photo/Alexander Zemlianichenko, Pool, File)

I wrote in Wednesday’s newsletter ([link removed]) that Tucker Carlson is in Russia and now it has been confirmed: He has, indeed, interviewed Russian President Vladimir Putin. That interview is expected to air today, most likely on Carlson’s streaming site and on X.

In teasing the interview, Carlson took a shot at other journalists by saying, “… not a single Western journalist has bothered to interview” Putin since Russia invaded Ukraine in February 2022. CNN’s Christiane Amanpour snapped back on X ([link removed]) , saying that it’s “absurd” to think Western journalists haven’t tried to interview Putin.

Even the Russians called out Carlson’s ridiculous claim.

Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters, “Mr. Carlson is wrong. We receive many requests for interviews with the president.”

Peskov said the Kremlin has denied interview requests from large Western outlets, but it granted Carlson’s request because “his position is different” from what the Kremlin calls “Anglo-Saxon media.” Peskov said of Carlson, “It’s not pro-Russian, not pro-Ukrainian, it’s pro-American.”

Oh, so now the Kremlin wants to cooperate with someone because they are “pro-American?”

The Washington Post’s Robyn Dixon and Natalia Abbakumova wrote ([link removed]) , “The Kremlin’s decision to allow the interview demonstrated Putin’s interest in building bridges to the disruptive MAGA element of the Republican Party, and it seemed to reflect the Kremlin’s hope that Donald Trump would return to the presidency and that Republicans would continue to block U.S. military aid to Ukraine.”

Meanwhile, back here in the United States, Carlson has very little, if any, credibility among real journalists or media observers.

Political commentator Steve Schmidt — a strategist who worked on campaigns for John McCain, George W. Bush and Arnold Schwarzenegger and helped found The Lincoln Project — wrote on Substack ([link removed]) , “Why is Tucker Carlson in Russia? The answer is simple. Carlson despises America as much as Putin does, though for different reasons. Tucker Carlson is what the Russians call a ‘useful idiot.’”

Schmidt added, “He is a vessel for foreign poison to reach our free society, in which he seems to delight, undermining with lies, omissions and utter nonsense. It is important to remember that Tucker Carlson is not engaged in an act of dissent or speech. He is a propagandist carrying water for a Russian war criminal who hates the United States, and is committed to conflict with the west. He is a purveyor of racial malice, election denialism and dozens of conspiracy theories. He is being covered in Russia by state TV like the NFL covers Taylor Swift at a Chiefs game. It is a sickening display. Tucker Carlson has become a dangerous demagogue in recent years. His actions and conduct are reprehensible. He is no journalist. He is a very bad American. Tucker Carlson is a stooge, and specifically he is Putin’s stooge. What a disgrace.”

During his show on NewsNation, anchor Chris Cuomo said, “Tucker Carlson is getting exactly what he wants: attention. Now, frankly, I don’t care. His explanation of why he’s doing it — that he’s a journalist and he needs to inform people; he can call himself whatever he wants. I think his work is demonstrable as not being just about giving people information. He has a point of view and often it’s not aligned with the facts.”

Anne Applebaum, the staff writer for The Atlantic and Pulitzer Prize-winning historian, tweeted ([link removed]) , “Many journalists have interviewed Putin, who also makes frequent, widely covered speeches. Carlson's interview is different because he is not a journalist, he's a propagandist, with a history of helping autocrats conceal corruption.”

Yaroslav Trofimov, chief foreign affairs correspondent of The Wall Street Journal, took a jab at Carlson for claiming no Western media bothered to interview Putin, tweeting ([link removed]) , “Poor, poor Vladimir Putin. Until now, nobody in the West has had the chance to hear him explain all the excellent reasons for why he had to invade Ukraine. Not in the speech that was broadcast live on every global network the morning of the invasion, and not in countless others.”

It should be noted that Trofimov is a colleague of the Journal’s Evan Gershkovich, who has been imprisoned in Russia on trumped-up charges of espionage since March 2023.

I wonder if Carlson grilled Putin about that?

Finally, there is this tweet from Russian journalist Yevgenia Albats ([link removed]) about Carlson’s bragging that he is the only one with a journalist’s determination to interview Putin: “Unbelievable! I am like hundreds of Russian journalists who have had to go into exile to keep reporting about the Kremlin's war against Ukraine. The alternative was to go to jail. And now this SoB is teaching us about good journalism, shooting from the $1000 Ritz suite in Moscow.”

A MESSAGE FROM POYNTER
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** Enter your work in the 2024 Poynter Journalism Prizes
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You have until Feb. 16 to enter your work or nominate others for these prestigious awards, formerly run by the News Leaders Association and ASNE. The prizes honor distinguished writing, local accountability reporting, innovation, and more.

Enter now ([link removed]) .


** Bundling thoughts
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Some leftover thoughts from Tuesday’s major announcement that Disney, Fox Corp., and Warner Bros. Discovery are starting a joint streaming platform that will make all of their sports programming available under one roof.

The Athletic’s Andrew Marchand writes ([link removed]) , “One day, the brilliant TV executives are all going to unite and put their programming under one roof. It will solve all your sports viewing problems. They will call it cable. This new ESPN, Fox, Warner Bros. Discovery venture is not it. At least not yet.”

There’s a lot to like about this new venture, Marchand writes, and it very well could be the future of how everyone eventually watches sports.

Marchand writes, “So what does that mean for you? The estimated price for the new venture when you add ESPN, Fox and WBD Sports together likely will be around $50 per month. There probably are some sports fans who would like to save a little money with this arrangement, but it is hard to believe there are a lot.”

For now, there still are other good options, including regular cable and YouTube.

This is my take. In the end, fans care about two things: price and the ability to watch everything. And for the diehard sports fan, the latter is still more important than the former.

The part that needs exploring is how this will impact networks bidding on the broadcast rights of various leagues. Does an arrangement like this mean ESPN, Fox and TNT/TBS could come together to bid on the rights for, say, the NBA or Major League Baseball?

Alexandra Canal, a senior reporter at Yahoo Finance, writes ([link removed]) that the deal “could have serious implications on the entire sports ecosystem. In other words, future deals could be a lot cheaper while Wall Street watchers say the partnership tilts the power away from Big Tech as prices skyrocket across multiple professional and collegiate leagues.”

Mark Boidman, partner and global head of media at Solomon Partners, told Yahoo Finance Live ([link removed]) , “The cost (of sports) continues to go up and so you bring these companies together, it takes the competitive tension out of the mix.”

He added, “In the medium term, it's going to allow them to … better compete for this content, which is extremely expensive. … It's also going to allow them to absorb the cost together as a group as opposed to each of them individually going after the same type of content.”

Canal quoted MoffettNathanson analyst Michael Nathanson, who wrote to clients this week, “If this joint venture evolves over time into a different form and eventually bids as a combined entity for sports rights, that would clearly limit the number of +1 bidders critical to maintaining the inflation in future negotiations that the entire sports ecosystem is built around.”


** But wait, there’s more …
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(AP Photo/David Kohl, File)

Just as sports fans were trying to figure out how this new bundle is going to work, it was learned Wednesday afternoon that ESPN will launch a direct-to-consumer service sometime around fall 2025. Disney CEO Bob Iger announced the news in an interview with CNBC's Julia Boorstin.

This is something industry types have been anticipating for a while. In other words, if sports fans just want ESPN and only ESPN without purchasing anything else, it will be made available to them. For a price, of course. Those details of a standalone product will be announced later.

On Disney’s earnings call Wednesday, Iger said, “Ultimately, our mission is to make ESPN into the preeminent digital sports brand, reaching as many sports fans as possible and giving them even more ways to access the programming they love in whatever way best suits their needs.”

It almost seems anticlimactic after Tuesday’s big bundle news, but this is a major move by ESPN. We’ll have more on this in the days and weeks ahead.


** Murdoch’s reaction
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Fox Corp. CEO Lachlan Murdoch talked about the new sports bundle venture during the company’s quarterly earnings call on Wednesday, and said he sees the sports package as an “additive” and not a competitor to Fox’s traditional TV business, which includes the Fox Network and Fox News.

“The key market, the market that we will be driving toward, is currently outside the traditional pay-TV bundle today,” said Murdoch, who was talking about those who have never had traditional cable TV. He added, “There’s tens of millions of them. This is a very large market and a large opportunity that we can address without undermining the traditional bundle.”

Murdoch reminded everyone that this new sports partnership with Disney and Warner Bros. Discovery would not have exclusive rights to sporting events. The bundle is for those who are, say, without cable. But those with cable can still watch all the games that the new service will show.

“We’ve done lots of sensitivity analysis and we would not be launching this product if we thought it was going to significantly affect our pay-TV affiliate partners,” Murdoch said. “That’s really important to us. For the consumer who wants to get it all at an affordable price, the big bundle is still the best way to get that programming. … We are confident that this product will be additive.”

Meanwhile, Fox saw revenue drop 8% last quarter to $4.23 billion. Deadline’s Jill Goldsmith has the details ([link removed]) of Fox’s quarterly update.


** New York Times adds 300,000 subscribers as advertising revenue declines
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For this item, I turn it over to my Poynter colleague Angela Fu.

The New York Times added 300,000 digital-only subscribers last quarter to earn an adjusted operating profit of $154 million despite flagging advertising revenue, the company announced ([link removed]) Wednesday.

The Times ended fiscal year 2023 with nearly 10.4 million subscribers and saw engagement (measured by the share of subscribers on the Times’ products each week) reach its highest point in nearly three years, president and CEO Meredith Kopit Levien said during an earnings call Wednesday. For the first time, the Times earned $1 billion in digital subscription revenue.

“We drove this performance amidst a tough year for the news industry in which we and others faced persistent headwinds. We continue to see lower levels of casual news audiences, due in part to the ongoing shifts from the largest tech platforms, and our ad business grapples with the heightened market volatility impacting publishers,” Kopit Levien said. “Our strategy is designed to both counterbalance these headwinds and position us to be a category-leading global media subscription business.”

The Times has found success in pushing subscriptions to its “bundle,” which includes journalism from its flagship site, Wirecutter and The Athletic, as well as the company’s Cooking and Games verticals. Bundle subscribers made up 41% of the Times’ subscriber base at the end of 2023. The company wants to increase that figure to 50% in the coming years since bundle subscribers tend to stay longer and accept price increases better than news-only subscribers.

Though the Times grew its adjusted operating profit by 8.5% year-over-year, it saw declines in advertising revenue. Print advertising revenue dropped 16.2% year-over-year while digital fell 3.7%, which Kopit Levien attributed in part to “marketers avoiding some hard news topics like the Middle East conflict.”

The Athletic, the sports site the Times bought in January 2022 for $550 million, showed signs of improvement despite continuing to lose money. It ended the last quarter with a $4.4 million loss, down from the $9.6 million loss it reported during the same period last year. Higher revenue drove that improvement; the Athletic ended the last quarter with $38.5 million in revenue, up 31.3% from the same period last year. Audience growth has been “particularly strong,” Kopit Levien said.

Investors on the earnings call took particular interest in the Times’ relationship with Big Tech. The Times signed a deal ([link removed]) with Apple in December to add Wirecutter content to Apple News and coverage from The Athletic to Apple News+. That month, the company also sued OpenAI and Microsoft ([link removed]) for copyright infringement, alleging that its articles had been used to train chatbots.

When evaluating deals with tech companies, the Times considers whether the agreement will help it build “direct relationships” to grow audience awareness of its brands and whether its intellectual property rights will be “appropriately respected and used in a responsible way,” Kopit Levien told investors.

Kopit Levien also shared that the company is beginning to experiment with generative artificial intelligence in its advertising products and that it has other AI initiatives in the works for its content. That includes an experiment that started last quarter to augment the Spanish language translation of the paper’s content with AI and an upcoming project on “synthetic voice” to give people the ability to listen to written New York Times content.


** Awww
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Wanna see a young polar bear taking a nap on an iceberg? Of course you do. Click here ([link removed]) .

The photo, taken by British amateur photographer Nima Sarikhani, won the Wildlife Photographer of the Year People's Choice Award.

The link above also has four other finalists that were considered “highly commended.”


** Saban’s next move
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Recently retired football coach, Nick Saban, shown here last July. (AP Photo/George Walker IV, File)

This is no surprise at all. Nick Saban — arguably the greatest college football coach of all time who recently announced he was stepping down at Alabama — is joining ESPN and its signature college football show “College GameDay.”

As soon as Saban announced he was retiring from coaching, the assumption was he was going to TV. And “College GameDay” always seemed like the perfect fit. This is hardly going out on a limb, but look for him to kill it on TV. He has tremendous knowledge, tons of experiences to draw upon and a sense of humor that is perfect for TV.

In a statement ([link removed]) , Saban said, “ESPN and ‘College GameDay’ have played such an important role in the growth of college football, and I’m honored to have the opportunity to join their team. I’ll do my best to offer additional insights and perspectives to contribute to ‘College GameDay,’ the ultimate Saturday tradition for college football fans.”

ESPN chairman Jimmy Pitaro called Saban “a singular, iconic presence in college football.”

The ESPN release indicated that Saban will join the existing cast of “GameDay” as opposed to potentially replacing someone. The show includes host Rece Davis, analysts Lee Corso, Kirk Herbstreit, Desmond Howard and Pat McAfee, who joined the show before the 2022 college football season. That’s a lot of people on a set, so we’ll see if that will hold up in the long run.

Saban will do more than “GameDay.” He also will be a part of ESPN’s NFL Draft coverage, and make appearances on various programs, including those on the SEC Network.


** Media tidbits
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* Good work here from my Poynter colleague Angela Fu: “Facing outrage, Northwestern student newspaper publisher will attempt to intervene in ‘vandalism’ case.” ([link removed])
* And this NPR story from my Poynter colleague, Kelly McBride, will warm your heart: “Toby Keith never knew it, but he helped my brother make a big life change.” ([link removed])
* Wired’s Kate Knibbs with “Confessions of an AI Clickbait Kingpin.” ([link removed])
* I’m not on board with the headline on this story, but Variety’s Brian Steinberg does a good job pointing out how CBS broadcaster Nate Burleson is going to be busy on Super Bowl Sunday in “Nate Burleson Faces a Super Bowl Tougher Than Any Football Player’s.” ([link removed])
* Speaking of Super Bowl week, “CBS Mornings” and the “CBS Evening News” will be broadcast live from Las Vegas today and Friday. The game is in Las Vegas and CBS is the host network.
* The Radio Television Digital News Association announced its class of 2024 First Amendment Award honorees, recognizing 13 individuals and organizations “for their efforts to promote responsible journalism and preserve the constitutionally guaranteed rights to do so.” The 13 are Gio Benitez (ABC News); Lauren Chooljian (New Hampshire Public Radio); Ingrid Ciprián-Matthews (CBS News); Evan Gershkovich (The Wall Street Journal); Dylan Lyons (Spectrum News 13); Joan and Eric Meyer (Marion County Record); ProPublica; Rep. Jamie Raskin (D-Md.): Jesse Walden (Spectrum News 13); Clarissa Ward (CNN); Kristen Welker (NBC News); and Phil Williams (WVTF-TV).


** Hot type
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* Good hustle here by NBC News’ David Ingram in “After Libs of TikTok posted, at least 21 bomb threats followed.” ([link removed])
* The Associated Press’ Mae Anderson and Wyatte Grantham-Philips with “From Uber Eats’ ‘Friends’ reunion to Bud’s Clydesdales, here are the buzziest Super Bowl ads so far” ([link removed])
* This is fun: Uproxx’s Steven Hyden with “The Singers On ‘We Are The World,’ Ranked.” ([link removed])


** More resources for journalists
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* The 2024 Poynter Journalism Prizes ([link removed]) are now open for entries. To enter, go to the contest website. ([link removed]) The deadline for entries is Feb. 16.
* Empower your storytelling skills with Beat Academy 2024 ([link removed]) (Webinar series) — Feb. 1-Sept. 26. Enroll now. ([link removed])
* Essential Skills for Rising Newsroom Leaders (Seminar) (May) — Apply by March 26 ([link removed]) .

Have feedback or a tip? Email Poynter senior media writer Tom Jones at [email protected] (mailto:[email protected]) .
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