Oliver Darcy here at 10:30pm ET Tuesday. Conservative pundits are vying to fill Rush Limbaugh's spot, Ezra Klein is chatting with Bernie Sanders about deplatforming, and Reporters Without Borders is suing Facebook. Plus, Medium pivots (again), right-wing sites see a traffic dive, and SPJ demands transparency at the border. But first...
"It was crushing"
Lee Ann Colacioppo, the editor of The Denver Post, was on an afternoon planning call with her staff when news broke that that newspaper would have to cover yet another mass shooting. Matt Sebastian, the managing editor, "saw it on Twitter," Colacioppo recalled to me during a phone call Tuesday evening. "It was like, 'Oh my God.' You know? It was that crushing feeling," she said, pausing briefly as she considered her word choice. "Crushing is the right word. It was crushing."
The Denver Post has had the unfortunate task of covering some of the most horrific acts of gun violence in modern American history. It was there for Columbine. For Aurora. For the Colorado Springs Planned Parenthood shooting. For other shooting sprees you may have never heard of. And, now, the King Soopers shooting.
Covering a shooting during a pandemic
When I asked Colacioppo about what the last day has been like, she replied, "It's been a strange 24 hours because we still aren't back in the office." This, she explained, had been the first mass-shooting the Post has covered with pandemic-era restrictions. "So we haven't even been like a newsroom where we can see each other and talk to each other and support each other and communicate in a normal newsroom way," Colacioppo said. "It has all been over video chat and chaotic Slacks. You don't have any of the normal interactions."
Similar reporting process – different reception
While covering this shooting has been different because of the pandemic, Colacioppo acknowledged that it has followed a similar pattern — one the paper has grown all too familiar with — as other acts of violence. In fact, she said that she believes the staff who have covered previous shootings are likely struggling the most because of that. "They have a sense of what lies ahead," she explained. "And I think it can be, in some ways, harder because they just know the next steps: seeing the pictures of the victims and talking to the families of the victims."
But while the process for covering mass-shootings has not changed much, Colacioppo pointed out that America's attitude toward them has. "With Columbine everyone was riveted on that one story," she said. "And now you have a shooting a week ago and it's just like one after another."
Putting victims first
Colacioppo said that on Tuesday her staff spent "quite a bit of time" working on a plan to emphasize the lives of victims. "It changes over time as the story progresses," she said. "Our strategy for tomorrow's newspaper is – we are going to have a story about the suspect and a nuanced piece about him — but we won't be putting out his photo on the front page. Our centerpiece on the front page is going to be the photos of the victims. So we are highlighting them and their stories."
"At the end of the day, the killer is also a part of the story," Colacioppo added. "We try to be sensitive about highlighting the killer's name. We are cautious about giving their photo a lot of high-profile play because it is hurtful to the victims and the news value of that is less and less."
Advice for other outlets
During our conversation, I asked Colacioppo what advice she would give other outlets that might have to cover a mass-shooting. "My message is to make sure that your staff is ready," she said. "Because sadly, it is probably coming."
"You have to have the right policies and procedures in place," Colacioppo added. "Be aware of the people that are getting burned out during the process. And, first and foremost, remember you are there to serve your community."
FOR THE RECORD, PART ONE
-- "The children of Columbine and Aurora are now the parents of Boulder," Anderson Cooper said as he remembered the victims in a poignant tribute..." (CNN)
-- “An unbearable normal. An avoidable normal. An all-too-American normal,” commented Chris Hayes... (MSNBC)
-- Tucker Carlson seemed like he could have been describing himself here: "Barack Obama is a racial arsonist. He emerges at our most vulnerable moments to deepen the wounds that divide us. He sows hate..." (Twitter)
-- “After a deadly pandemic year, the country is again facing an enemy within: gun violence and mass murder," Lester Holt noted... (NBC News)
-- "CNN anchor Brianna Keilar and correspondent Stephanie Elam were momentarily overcome while talking about the emotional toll of covering mass shootings..." (Mediaite)
-- "A dreadful normalcy has returned," Robin Givhan writes. "Muscle memory demands that we lament it — even as all evidence suggests that many of us are unmoved by death. It doesn’t cause behavior to change. It doesn’t shake people from their moorings at the center of their own universe. Death is not a deterrent..." (WaPo)
-- "How can we break the cycle of gun violence? Why is this allowed to be accepted?" Dan Rather asked. "There are so many answers to that last question. None of them are acceptable..." (Twitter)
-- "This Onion tweet has become a tragic, gut-wrenching tradition," the AP's Jonathan Lemire commented after the satirical outlet posted, yet again, its article about mass shootings in the US... (Twitter)
-- "YouTube says the platform will not remove a controversial live-streamed video of a mass shooting in Boulder, Colorado, despite criticism of the streamer’s tactics and commentary..." (Verge)
-- "Korean-language local media outlets including Atlanta K, the Korea Times Atlanta, and Korea Daily were uniquely positioned to cover the [Georgia] shooting," Shinhee Kang writes. "Unencumbered by language barriers and culturally attuned to the tight-knit community, they quickly acquired details of the events and gave readers a nuanced picture of the victims..." (CJR)
-- Kyung Lah's essay is a must-read: "My daughter's simple words remind me why Asian Americans should be proud..." (CNN)
SPJ demands more border transparency
The Society of Professional Journalists on Tuesday joined a growing chorus and demanded that the Biden admin show greater transparency on the US-Mexico border. "Biden promised both a more humane approach to immigration and more transparency than his predecessor, SPJ national president Matthew T. Hall said in a statement. "His administration’s refusal to let journalists fully observe and assess the growing humanitarian crisis at the border involving unaccompanied migrant children shows he is failing on both promises..."
>> BTW: While journalists and press advocates have been demanding more transparency since last week, Ted Cruz went on Fox and claimed otherwise. Perhaps he needs to expand his media diet beyond Fox?
Handouts released as WH finalizes access plans
While the Biden admin still hasn't permitted journalists access to the facilities holding unaccompanied migrant children, the US Customs and Border Protection on Tuesday provided newsrooms handout video and images showing the conditions inside two Texas centers. (Handouts are never sufficient.) Meanwhile, Jen Psaki promised "more details soon" about the WH's plans to give access to news orgs. "Our plan is to make access available, likely through a pool," Psaki said, "and we're working to finalize those details."
FOR THE RECORD, PART TWO
-- Daniel Engber summing it all up: "America Is Now in the Hands of the Vaccine-Hesitant..." (The Atlantic)
-- Whoa: The DOJ has referred "Michael Sherwin's unapproved interview with CBS' '60 Minutes' on Sunday about the Capitol riot cases to its Office of Professional Responsibility..." (CNN)
-- Of note: that "60" telecast averaged 7.9 million viewers, making it the No. 3 prime time program in viewers last week... (CBS)
-- Variety's Ramin Setoodeh, whose first book was about "The View," is tackling "The Apprentice" next, for HarperCollins... (Variety)
Who will fill Limbaugh's time slot?
"Dana Loesch has signed a new three-year deal with Radio America, a conservative talk radio network," Axios' Sara Fischer reported Tuesday. "Loesch's new contract will keep the ‘The Dana Show’ at the 12 p.m. to 3 p.m. time-slot, where she used to directly compete with the late Rush Limbaugh." Loesch told Fischer, "I do feel that I'm well-positioned to fill the void. I've been in this slot for years and if there's any program positioned to do it, it's mine."
Other right-wing voices strongly disagree. Westwood One is offering Dan Bongino's show for the hours formerly filled by Limbaugh. And Premiere Networks, Rush's longtime partner, says Premiere "will continue to provide millions of loyal listeners with the voice of Rush for the long term." That means dipping into the archives and playing his highlights with the help of guest hosts. On Tuesday, Premiere played clips of Rush defending Second Amendment rights in the wake of past mass shootings...
Conservative sites see traffic dive
"Sixty percent of top conservative websites posted year-over-year declines in unique visitors last month," Howard Polskin's The Righting said in a Tuesday report. "Of the twenty websites listed in TheRighting’s February top conservative websites chart, 12 showed decreases in YOY traffic. YOY unique visitors to Foxnews.com dropped by 25 million, the largest slide of any conservative website. It represented a 24% YOY drop. Other major conservative websites experiencing February declines included the Washington Examiner, the Washington Times and National Review." That said, Newsmax "registered triple-digit YOY gains in traffic." Read the full report here...
FOR THE RECORD, PART THREE
-- "The crisis at the border has proven to be a prime post-Trump topic online, particularly for conservative media," Sara Fischer and Neal Rothschild note... (Axios)
-- "Fox News would be in trouble without 'actual malice' standard," Erik Wemple writes... (WaPo)
-- Speaking of Fox: Jeryl Bier noticed the outlet has pretty much stopped running online stories about Sidney Powell... (Twitter)
-- "Experts on extremism are warning about a troubling shift in the right-wing QAnon movement toward a new vein of conspiracy that blends anti-Chinese and anti-Jewish tropes with fears of vaccines and a global plot to take over the world," Anita Chabria reports... (LAT)
Ezra Klein talks with Bernie Sanders about deplatforming
This was an interesting part of Ezra Klein's interview with Bernie Sanders. Klein asked whether Sanders believes that "liberals have become too censorious." Sanders replied, "Look, you have a former president in Trump, who was a racist, a sexist, a xenophobe, a pathological liar, an authoritarian, somebody who doesn’t believe in the rule of law. This is a bad-news guy. But if you’re asking me, do I feel particularly comfortable that the then-president of the United States could not express his views on Twitter? I don’t feel comfortable about that."
Sanders continued, pointing out how complicated the situation is. "I don’t know what the answer is," the senator said. "Do you want hate speech and conspiracy theories traveling all over this country? No. Do you want the internet to be used for authoritarian purposes and an insurrection, if you like? No, you don’t. So how do you balance that? I don’t know..."
Reporters Without Borders files lawsuit against Facebook
"Reporters Without Borders has filed a lawsuit against Facebook in France, accusing the platform of failing to provide a 'safe' environment for users in violation of its own terms and conditions," CNN's Charles Riley reported Tuesday. "The media advocacy group, which is considering filing similar lawsuits in other countries, said France's consumer law is especially well suited to the issue. ... The suit filed with prosecutors in Paris on Monday argues that Facebook has engaged in 'deceptive commercial practices' by allowing disinformation and threats to flourish despite promising users that it will 'exercise professional diligence' to create 'a safe, secure and error-free environment.'"
FOR THE RECORD, PART FOUR
-- "YouTube videos are a critical source of online misinformation, yet they often get a pass in broader discussions about the dangers of social media. Even in Congress," Cat Zakrzewski writes, noting that Susan Wojcicki again won't be testifying at the next Big Tech hearing on Thursday... (WaPo)
-- "The co-founder and former CEO of Parler has sued the conservative social media platform over his firing earlier this year. John Matze claims Parler leadership took away his 40% stake in the company in an 'arrogant theft,'" Bobby Allyn reports... (NPR)
-- "Facebook will bring back F8 on June 2 as a pared-back, single-day, virtual-only conference for developers," Ingrid Lunden reports... (TechCrunch)
-- David Pierce asks: "Can the clones beat Clubhouse?" (Protocol)
Medium pivots... again
Kerry Flynn writes: "There's perhaps no person more associated with pivots in the media industry than Ev Williams. The tech billionaire announced Tuesday he would once again pivot Medium. In a Medium post that claims to be a six-minute read but took me much longer to process, Williams said he is offering voluntary exits to all editorial staffers, which will include a five-month salary. Siobhan O'Connor, vp of editorial, is also leaving..."
>> Flynn adds: "Medium's pivot seems to be once again a move back toward being a blogging platform for anyone. Medium is focusing on supporting 'independent writers' rather than staff writers. Williams writes, 'Trust is more important than ever and well-established editorial brands still have meaning. But today, credibility and affinity are primarily built by people — individual voices — rather than brands.' (That renewed focus aligns with Substack, a competitor Williams and I spoke about in January.)"
... A month after unionizing
Flynn continues: "Medium's strategy shift comes only a month after staffers announced their intention to unionize. The reason for unionizing is prescient to Tuesday's news: 'Tech and media companies alike are constantly changing direction, dissolving and reforming, pivoting and refocusing. This often creates business advantages, but it also upends workers' lives.' The union lost their official recognition vote by one..."
FOR THE RECORD, PART FIVE
By Kerry Flynn:
-- "Yahoo is the future of our consumer facing brand," Joanna Lambert, Verizon Media's head of consumer, told Sara Fischer. Verizon is investing in "Yahoo Plus," a rebranded subscription portfolio... (Axios)
-- Speaking of Verizon Media... Videos from all of its properties, including Yahoo, will soon include closed captioning as part of ongoing accessibility initiatives... (AdAge)
-- Gannett, McClatchy and other newspaper orgs have been outsourcing or consolidating their printing operations. "But what does it cost readers?" Rick Edmonds asks... (Poynter)
-- LAT received a $10 million PPP loan after losing "tens of millions of dollars" in ad revenue, Meg James reports... (LAT)
-- Joyce Tang is joining NYMag as editorial director, audience. She was previously exec managing editor at Gizmodo Media Group... (NYMag)
NYT issues new newsletter rules for staff
Reporters at NYT will have to receive approval from a committee if they would like to start a newsletter — regardless of whether they are offering it for free, Caesy Newton scooped Tuesday. A spox for the paper confirmed this to me, saying, "Today we announced a new process for news and opinion staff to follow when obtaining approvals to engage in outside projects including newsletters on other platforms. The process is intended to help manage the growing number of requests in a quicker more consistent fashion." The spox added, "It’s important to note that just because we are asking journalists to bring projects to us for approval doesn't mean they aren't allowed, it just means they need to be considered fairly within the context of our policies."
FOR THE RECORD, PART SIX
-- "Willie Nelson teams up with pro sports leagues in new PSA for Covid-19 vaccine..." (Today)
-- Inching toward normalcy: Jimmy Fallon welcomed a live (but reduced) studio audience for the taping of "The Tonight Show" Monday night... (Deadline)
-- Demi Lovato has broken her silence on her overdose in her new YouTube docuseries "Dancing With the Devil..." (THR)
-- "Halle Berry is set to take on 'Our Man from New Jersey,' starring opposite Mark Wahlberg in the upcoming spy movie for Netflix..." (Variety)
Is Disney giving up on movie theaters this summer?
Frank Pallotta writes: "In its biggest shift to streaming yet, Disney is releasing 'Black Widow' on Disney+ at the same time it hits theaters. The latest film from Marvel will be released simultaneously in theaters and on Disney+ for $29.99 on July 9 -- two months later than its expected May 7 date. It cannot be overstated how big this is. Marvel is the studio in Hollywood and the biggest franchise Disney has. It is tied to the cinematic experience. But now audiences will have the choice on where they want to watch it. This move would have been unthinkable pre-pandemic..."
>> Pallotta adds: "'Cruella' will release May 28 both in theaters and on Disney+ with Premier Access, and Pixar's 'Luca' will now debut exclusively on Disney+ on June 18..."
>> NYT's Brooks Barnes with the big picture Q's: "Will enough of the world box office be open by June 25, when 'F9,' the next 'Fast and Furious' movie, is supposed to arrive in theaters? What about 'Top Gun: Maverick,' which is scheduled for July 2?"
But there's this...
Tuesday's news "was not all grim for theaters, however: It followed a development earlier in the day in which Warner Bros. signaled that, beginning in 2022, all of its films will have a 45-day exclusive window in U.S. theaters," WaPo's Steven Zeitchik wrote, "as the company sharply changed course from a decision to release all its 2021 movies on HBO Max simultaneously..."
About that $30 price point...
Brian Lowry writes: "I must confess, I’m constantly puzzled when people act like $30 is an outlandish sum to pay for the opportunity to watch a major theatrical title like 'Black Widow' at home, given what those same people would otherwise pay if four (or even two) of them had to schlep out to a theater, park and possibly ante up for a babysitter. Frankly, I have no idea (and I don’t think studios do either) exactly what the right price point is, and it probably varies from title to title. Certainly, the cost has to be high enough so as not to completely undermine the theatrical component. But $30 to watch something like 'Black Widow' in the comfort of home – and to a lesser degree 'Cruella,' especially if you have kids who might want to join in – doesn’t on its face sound unreasonable."
FOR THE RECORD, PART SEVEN
By Lisa Respers France:
-- Kylie Jenner thinks criticism over her support of a GoFundMe campaign isn't fair...
-- Bobby Brown Jr.'s autopsy reveals he died from alcohol, cocaine and fentanyl...
-- Riley Keough says she completed “Death Doula training..."
SAVING THE BEST FOR LAST...
Dog of the day!
Reader Darlene Warner emails: "This is my Boston Terrier, Cooper, from the Napa Valley, California. He just turned 2 years old, and absolutely loves his sunshine time!"
Thank you for reading! Email us your feedback and send us submissions for Pet of the Day. Brian is at the helm tomorrow... Wish him luck...
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