Google CEO is the latest tech boss headed to Donald Trump’s inauguration

Good morning. A quick note before we start today’s newsletter. There will be no Poynter Report on Monday in observance of Martin Luther King Jr. Day. The newsletter will return to your inboxes on Tuesday — the first full day of Donald Trump’s second presidency.

Speaking of which, Monday is also inauguration day.

And you can add another tech industry big shot to the inauguration guest list. Politico’s Steven Overly reports that Google CEO Sundar Pichai will be attending the festivities.

If you’re keeping score at home, Pichai joins other tech bigwigs such as Elon Musk (X), Mark Zuckerberg (Meta), Jeff Bezos (Amazon/Washington Post) and Tim Cook (Apple) who will be there to see Trump sworn in. So will TikTok CEO Shou Zi Chew.

It signals quite the change. After years of butting heads with Trump, the tech leaders seem to be courting Trump’s favor these days. That especially goes for Musk, who donated a quarter of a billion dollars to Trump’s campaign and, seemingly, has been no more than an arm’s length away from Trump since before the election. 

Google is another matter. Overly writes, “Many tech companies have cozied up to Trump and Republicans recently, but Google may still be in for a rough ride in a GOP-controlled Washington. Some Republicans have taken specific aim at the content moderation policies of Google and YouTube, both owned by Alphabet. Sen. Ted Cruz, new chair of the Commerce Committee, told Politico that in the political fight over political speech online, ‘Google is far and away the biggest player, and their impact on censoring speech is dramatic.’ The company is also fending off two high-profile antitrust lawsuits brought by the Justice Department.”

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An interesting mission statement at the Post

The Washington Post has put out a new mission statement to its employees and one can’t help but raise an eyebrow when you compare it to the paper’s famous slogan of “Democracy dies in darkness.”

The new statement? “Riveting Storytelling for All of America.”

The word that jumps out? “All.” I mean, could the Post be any more obvious?

Many media observers, including The New York Times’ Benjamin Mullin, note that “Democracy dies in darkness” was adopted during the first term of Donald Trump. And the new mission statement — apparently for internal use — about telling stories for “All of America” is unveiled just as Trump is about to take office again.

To be clear, the slogan is not replacing “Democracy dies in the darkness.”

Mullin writes, “The statement is meant to be an internal rallying point for employees, according to two people with knowledge of the decision. Executives are not planning to replace its more strident public slogan.”

The new mission statement comes out just a day after more than 400 Post staffers sent a letter to owner Jeff Bezos, saying they were “deeply alarmed by recent leadership decisions.” And the letter follows internal turmoil that has led to an exodus of several high-profile journalists, with more possibly to follow.

Mullin reports that Suzi Watford, the Post’s chief strategy officer, presented the new mission to executive leadership. Mullin wrote, “A slide deck Ms. Watford presented to executives this week explained the origins of The Post’s new mission statement in greater detail. ‘Storytelling,’ the deck says, should ‘bring a relentless investigative spirit, backed by credible sources, to deliver impactful stories in formats the world wants,’ according to two people who saw the presentation. Reaching all of America will require The Post to ‘understand and represent interests across the country,’ it says, and ‘provide a forum for viewpoints, expert perspectives and conversation.’”

The Post also has a goal of reaching 200 million paying users. Mullin added, “The Post’s new target specifically mentions ‘users,’ not ‘subscribers,’ suggesting that the company may pursue different ways of getting payments from readers. Internal data circulated by The Post shows that the newspaper reaches many millions of consumers on platforms such as Apple News, social media and podcasts. Those audiences tend to be younger, but they’re also much harder to make money from, since the bulk of advertising dollars and subscriber fees go to other platforms.”

Meanwhile …

NPR media writer David Folkenflik has a new piece out this week about the Post: “Will Lewis' first year at Washington Post: Cancellations, red ink and an exodus.”

Folkenflik wrote that he interviewed 10 Post employees who spoke “under condition of anonymity for fear of repercussions inside the paper.” Not all 10, Folkenflik wrote, signed the letter written to Bezos this week.

Folkenflik wrote, “They say the backlash against Lewis encompasses Bezos to some degree, as he has publicly warmed up to President-elect Donald Trump.”

Remembering legends

 

There were two notable media-related deaths announced on Thursday.

Avant-garde filmmaker David Lynch — the director of strange but compelling movies such as “Blue Velvet,” “Mulholland Drive,” the cult-classic “Eraserhead,” as well as the creator of the surreal “Twin Peaks” TV and film series — died at age 78. Last year, Lynch announced he had developed emphysema after years of smoking.

The Hollywood Reporter’s  Stephen Galloway has this excellent remembrance.

The other sad news is the passing of Bob Uecker, a former major-league catcher who poked fun at his mediocre playing career and became a Hall of Fame announcer, while also starring in movies and television. He was 90.

Uecker played only 297 Major League Baseball games over the course of six seasons for four teams, hitting exactly .200. But he became affectionately known as “Mr. Baseball” thanks in part to his legendary self-deprecating appearances on Johnny Carson’s “The Tonight Show.”

Uecker went on to become an announcer for the Milwaukee Brewers in 1971 and ended up in the booth for 54 years. He was named to the Baseball Hall of Fame in 2003. His 18-minute speech had the crowd and fellow Hall of Famers in tears from laughter.

He also starred in the 1980s ABC sitcom “Mr. Belvedere” and might be best known for playing the Cleveland baseball announcer, Harry Doyle, in the comedy “Major League.” His line, “Juuuuuuust a bit outside” is still a favorite saying among baseball fans. For more, check out this piece by Todd Rosiak of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel

Media news, tidbits and interesting links for your weekend review …

• Still waiting to see if and when the Supreme Court rules on TikTok. The Associated Press’ Mark Sherman with “Supreme Court’s decision on a looming TikTok ban could come Friday.”
• And here’s The Washington Post’s Marianne LeVine, Cristiano Lima-Strong, Drew Harwell and Cat Zakrzewski with “TikTok CEO to rally with Trump before inauguration as ban looms.”
• The Los Angeles Times’ Stephen Battaglio with “Defamation case against CNN over Afghan evacuation report goes to a jury.”
• And, on that topic, The Washington Post’s Erik Wemple with “CNN’s really, really dumb messages.”
• CNN’s Brian Stelter with “Outgoing FCC chair rejects high-profile TV petitions as attempt to ‘weaponize’ government.”
• For Vanity Fair, Paul Farhi with “White House Reporters Fear a Return of Fire and Fury.”
• CNN announces its White House and Capitol HIll teams, led by chief White House correspondent Kaitlan Collins.
• The Wall Street Journal’s Callum Borchers with “You Blamed DEI for Hurting Your Career. Now What?”
• The Associated Press’ Jesse Bedayn with “Inside the monumental effort behind LA’s firefight, from strategy to meals and laundry.”
• Also from The AP, Jon Gabrell with “Satellite photos show the Gaza Strip before and after the devastation of the Israel-Hamas war.”
• And, finally, an intriguing story from The Associated Press’ David Bauder: “He is credited with one of history’s most indelible photos. A new documentary questions who took it.”

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

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