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** OPINION
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** Former President Joe Biden hit the interview trail and didn’t hold back
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Former President Joe Biden, speaking at an event in Chicago last month. (AP Photo/Nam Y. Huh)

Former President Joe Biden, along with his wife Dr. Jill Biden, will appear on today’s episode of “The View.” It will be his first in-depth interview with an American television outlet since leaving office in January.

However, it won’t be his first interview since leaving the White House. Biden sat down with the BBC’s Nick Robinson ([link removed]) for an interview published on Wednesday. And he did not hold back.

Biden was highly critical of President Donald Trump, especially when it came to the combative meeting Trump had in the Oval Office with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy in February.

Biden said, “I found it sort of beneath America in the way that it took place.”

Biden said the U.S. proposal to have Ukraine cede territory to Russia is “modern-day appeasement.” Biden also had harsh words for Russian President Vladimir Putin, saying, “He can’t stand the fact that the Russian dictatorship that he runs, that the Soviet Union has collapsed. And anybody thinks he’s going to stop — it’s just foolish. I just don’t understand how people think that if we allow a dictator, a thug, to decide he’s going to take significant portions of land that aren’t his … that’s going to satisfy him. I don’t quite understand.”

Traditionally, former presidents are hesitant to criticize current presidents. And while Biden only mentioned Trump by name a few times, he did address some of Trump’s rambling and chaotic calls to rename the Gulf of Mexico, take back the Panama Canal and acquire Greenland.

Biden said, “What the hell is going on here? What president ever talks like that? That’s not who we are. We’re about freedom, democracy, opportunity, not about confiscation.”

Biden was also asked about the decision to drop out of last year’s presidential election race and if he waited too long.

“I don’t think it would’ve mattered,” Biden said. “We left at a time when we had a good candidate. She (was) fully funded. I meant what I said when I started. That … I’m preparing to hand this to the next generation. It’s a transition government. But things move so quickly that it made it difficult to walk away.”

But he had no regrets, saying, “No, I think it was the right decision.”

For more, the BBC’s Anthony Zurcher has “Five takeaways from Biden's BBC interview.” ([link removed]) And here’s more ([link removed]) from The New York Times’ Lisa Lerer and Isabella Kwai.

A MESSAGE FROM POYNTER
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** Celebrating 50 years: NABJ, Poynter look ahead in special webinar
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The National Association of Black Journalists and the Poynter Institute are each turning 50 in 2025. As we celebrate decades of impact, we’re also looking ahead.

Join us for a special webinar ([link removed]) featuring influential leaders in news, education and media strategy as they tackle the real issues shaping journalism today.

Register now. ([link removed])


** Don’t do it
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Don’t do it, Paramount. Don’t settle your lawsuit with Donald Trump.

That’s the message from a group of U.S. senators, including Vermont Independent Sen. Bernie Sanders, to Shari Redstone, Paramount’s lead shareholder. Trump is suing the corporate owner of CBS News for $20 billion over a “60 Minutes” interview last year with then-presidential candidate Kamala Harris. Trump claims CBS News purposely edited Harris’ answers to help her win the election.

Legal experts say that Trump has no case, and yet there are reports that Paramount, led by Redstone, is open to settling the case for, some reports say, $75 million. They would like to see the case go away because they need Federal Communications Commission (i.e., Trump) approval for a looming merger with Skydance.

In the letter to Redstone, the senators said it would be a “grave mistake” to settle with Trump, adding, “Rewarding Trump with tens of millions of dollars for filing this bogus lawsuit will not cause him to back down on his war against the media and a free press. It will only embolden him to shakedown, extort and silence CBS and other media outlets that have the courage to report about issues that Trump may not like.”

Repeating what legal experts are saying, Sanders wrote Trump’s lawsuit “absolutely has no merit.” The letter went on to say, “We urge you and the board of directors at Paramount to make it clear to President Trump today that Paramount will not surrender to his attack on the First Amendment. Stand up for freedom of the press and our democracy. Do not capitulate to this dangerous move to authoritarianism. Do not settle this case.”

In late February, The New York Times’ Benjamin Mullin and Lauren Hirsch reported ([link removed]) that Redstone told Paramount’s board that she was in favor of resolving the case with Trump. The Washington Post’s Jeremy Barr reported on Wednesday ([link removed]) , “A source with knowledge of the situation, who spoke on the condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to comment, said that Redstone has recused herself from discussions about a potential settlement …”

The letter was written by Sanders, and co-signed by Sen. Richard Blumenthal (D-CT), Sen. Dick Durbin (D-IL), Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse (D-RI), Sen. Peter Welch (D-VT), Sen. Chris Murphy (D-CT), Sen. Jeff Merkley (D-OR) and Sen. Ed Markey (D-MA).


** Meanwhile …
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Trump continued his attacks on CBS and “60 Minutes” in a Truth Social rant ([link removed]) on Wednesday, once again saying that Harris’ answers in the interview were “unlawfully fixed, manipulated, and doctored throughout by CBS, in order to try and make Kamala appear at least somewhat coherent.”

To be clear, CBS News and “60 Minutes” released a full transcript of the interview.

Trump continued to lob more insults and unproven claims in his post, and said that is why he is taking them to court.

What set Trump off was that the “60 Minutes” interview with Harris was nominated for an Emmy in the category of … Outstanding Edited Interview.


** NYT says business is resilient amid ‘geopolitical uncertainty’
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(AP Photo/Mark Lennihan)

For this item, I turn it over to my Poynter colleague, Angela Fu.

Fresh off a solid quarterly report, New York Times CEO and president Meredith Kopit Levien wanted to make one thing clear to investors: The Times would not be hindered by the ongoing economic turmoil.

“Our strategy is working and our business is growing and demonstrating resilience amidst the current economic and geopolitical uncertainty,” Kopit Levien said during an earnings call Wednesday. She cited three factors: the Times’ multiple revenue streams, its ability to generate “significant” free cash flow, and its diverse portfolio, which includes both journalism and lifestyle offerings like its Cooking and Games verticals.

“Taken together, these points mean we see running room in every direction, and we’re confident we’re continuing to build a larger and more profitable New York Times,” Kopit Levien said.

As a couple of investors asked questions about the newspaper’s ability to navigate the current economic environment — which has been in a tailspin since Trump unveiled an extensive plan for tariffs on dozens of countries — Times leaders remained adamant that the outlet’s strategy was working. At one point, chief financial officer Will Bardeen said the impact of the tariffs on the Times’ business has been “immaterial.”

The Times reported ([link removed]) an adjusted operating profit of $92.7 million during its first quarter, up 21.9% from the same period last year. It also grew its total revenue 7.1% to roughly $636 million. That growth included a 12.4% increase in digital advertising revenue — the Times’ highest growth rate in that category in three years.

The Times also reported that it spent $4.4 million last quarter on its generative artificial intelligence lawsuit ([link removed]) against Microsoft and OpenAI, alleging copyright infringement.

For the third quarter in a row, sports site The Athletic posted a profit. Its adjusted operating profit for the last quarter was $2.9 million, up from a loss of $8.7 million during the same period last year.

The Athletic’s total revenue increased nearly 30% year-over-year to $47.6 million. That included increases in subscription, affiliate, licensing and other revenues. It also included an 82.5% increase in advertising revenue to $10.4 million.


** OAN to VOA?
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Things keep getting stranger with the Voice of America.

President Donald Trump has essentially tried to dismantle (or at least whack away at) the longstanding and well-respected media outlet that has promoted democracy and transparency across the globe since World War II. Now, it appears that it will air the one thing it has always fought against: propaganda.

Kari Lake — a senior adviser to the U.S. Agency for Global Media, which oversees VOA — announced it will offer the pro-Trump, pro-conservative One America News to Voice of America's foreign audiences.

In a social media post Tuesday night ([link removed]) , Lake said the idea came about after a suggestion by the Office of Cuba Broadcasting, which is a part of USAGM. Lake said OCM suggested “we explore OAN as a newsfeed option for the Miami-based, U.S. Government-funded news operation broadcasting to Cuba. At their suggestion, I reached out to OAN, and they offered to provide their newsfeed and video service free-of-charge.

“This is an enormous benefit to the American taxpayer, who is the sole-source of funding for USAGM's news outlets, which broadcast only to international audiences.”

Lake added, “In my current role as Senior Advisor to USAGM, I don't have editorial control over the content of VOA and OCB programming, but I can ensure our outlets have reliable and credible options as they work to craft their reporting and news programs.”

As you would expect, the news that VOA would offer a right-wing, biased network such as OAN did not go over well with VOA staffers.

Steve Herman, chief national correspondent for VOA, was quoted by The Washington Post’s Jeremy Barr ([link removed]) as saying, “VOA is not to be the voice of left America nor the voice of right America. USAGM cannot dictate (that) VOA run OAN content. It would be a violation of our fire wall and our charter, which are laws.”

VOA White House bureau chief Patsy Widakuswara and press freedom editor Jessica Jerreat, who are suing the government over the executive order to dismantle VOA, said in a statement, “Congress mandated VOA to report reliable and authoritative news, not to outsource its journalism to outlets aligned with the president’s agenda. VOA already has talented and professional journalists ready to tell America’s story in line with the VOA Charter, but we are blocked from our own newsroom. That is why we will continue fighting for our rights in court.”

Former U.S. Agency for Global Media chief financial officer Grant Turner told NPR’s David Folkenflik ([link removed]) , “Kari Lake providing One America News Network to our global audiences makes a mockery of the agency's history of independent non-partisan journalism.”

Speaking of Voice of America, check out this story from The Guardian’s Lauren Gambino: “‘Maduro did not close our bureau – Trump did’: Voice of America journalists speak out.” ([link removed])


** Name your price
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We will soon find out the name of ESPN’s soon-to-be-offered director-to-consumer product. More importantly, we’ll find out how much it will cost.

Disney CEO Bob Iger said during an earnings call Wednesday that a new name is expected to be revealed by ESPN chairman Jimmy Pitaro next week. Up until now, it had just been called “Flagship.”

Iger said on the call, “By the way, it will not be called that, and next week, Jimmy Pitaro plans to reveal not only the name, but he’ll also talk about it, our pricing strategy. But the plan would be to basically be somewhat agnostic from a subscriber perspective, so that we can still do our best to preserve the multi-channel ecosystem.”

Awful Announcing’s Daniel Kaplan notes ([link removed]) that Disney’s annual programming showcase is scheduled for May 13, so that likely would be the perfect time for Pitaro to announce the direct-to-consumer name and pricing.

Kaplan added, “The soon-not-to-be-named flagship app is expected to cost between $25 and $30 a month, and is touted as boasting features like betting and fantasy integration not available to the linear consumer. That price would place the new ESPN app in the higher range of sports app prices, though definitely not exorbitant. Iger did not mention a launch date, though it is widely expected sometime before the start of the college football and NFL regular seasons.”


** Kelly’s big jump
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Interesting numbers from TheRighting ([link removed]) and its look at how right-wing podcasts performed in the first quarter of 2025.

“The Ben Shapiro Show” (749,742 subscribers) and “The Jordan B. Peterson Podcast” (436,002) lead the way. But coming up fast in third is Megyn Kelly. Her 134,590 subscriber count is a stunning 176% jump from the first quarter of 2024.

Howard Polskin, president of TheRighting, said in a statement, “Since endorsing Donald Trump the night before the November 2024 election, the popularity of Megyn Kelly’s podcast has soared exponentially and it shows in hockey stick growth on the Castbox platform. There’s clearly a growing audience for her MAGA-friendly point-of-view and she has ridden the Trump wave perfectly since his January 20 inauguration. It’s no wonder that she is extending her brand and creating an entire podcast network with like-minded voices.”

A MESSAGE FROM POYNTER
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** Media tidbits
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* The Associated Press’ Rio Yamat with “Nevada hearing may give first public view into legal spat over control of Murdoch media empire.” ([link removed])
* NBC’s “Meet the Press” attracted 2.76 million viewers last Sunday for its interview with Donald Trump. That’s a healthy 19% “Trump bump” from the 2.32 million that watched the previous Sunday, and a 22% from the Sunday before that — which was Easter Sunday.
* The Golden Globes announced Wednesday that it will add a category for best podcast starting in 2026. Deadline’s Patrick Hipes has more ([link removed]) .
* Nieman Lab’s Sarah Scire with “Swing state journalists were trained to avoid the worst kinds of political coverage. Did it work?” ([link removed])
* The Wall Street Journal’s Meghan Bobrowsky with “Zuckerberg’s Grand Vision: Most of Your Friends Will Be AI.” ([link removed])


** Hot type
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* This is New York-centric, but still a pretty cool package. The New York Times with “25 Years of Dining in New York City.” ([link removed])
* If you’re a fan of “Saturday Night Live” like I am, you’ll enjoy reading this breakdown by Deadline’s Peter White about who might and might not be returning to the show next season: “Who’s Leaving ‘SNL’? Rumor Mill Heats Up As Season 50 Heads To A Close.” ([link removed])


** More resources for journalists
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* Update your immigration policy expertise with Poynter's Beat Academy. Enroll now ([link removed]) .

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