Meteorologist Matt Laubhan of WTVA in Mississippi was live on the air Friday night as a devastating storm was rushing across the state. In a moment that has since become viral, Laubhan was stopped cold when he saw the radar and what was headed toward a town called Amory.
“Oh man,” Laubhan said as he slumped elbow-first onto his news desk. “Dear Jesus, please help them. Amen.”
Not only was it a real moment of humanity, but it was a stark warning to viewers as to what was happening.
The tornado killed at least 26 people, injured dozens more and flattened entire blocks. The mayor of Rolling Fork said his town is “gone.” Winds there are estimated to have reached 170 mph.
Here’s more from CNN’s Aya Elamroussi, Joe Sutton, Rebekah Riess, Sharif Paget, Mallika Kallingal and Alaa Elassar.
A Texas stunner
After 68 years, The Texas Observer is closing down and laying off all of its 17-person staff. In an all-encompassing piece by The Texas Tribune, Sewell Chan and Brandon Formby called the Observer a “storied progressive publication known for its feisty, combative and often humorous investigative journalism.”
Former staffer Olivia Messer, in a story for The Daily Beast, called it “the great incubator of national industry talent and Lone Star State muckraker.”
Messer added the news was met with “a wave of fury, sadness, and hopelessness washed over the state’s press corps. Nationally recognized journalists called the closure everything from an ‘ego-driven tantrum’ to a ‘damn shame,’ and it seems they’re just getting started. Some aren’t ready to give up on the historic magazine.”
Chan and Formby wrote, “The closing of the Observer raises questions about whether small progressive publications can survive the digital transformation of journalism and the information ecosystem during a time of rapid social, demographic and technological change.”
The Tribune reported that the Observer’s board considered moving to an online-only news outlet. That, along with a few layoffs, would have reduced the annual budget from $2.1 million to $1.5 million. The Observer does not accept advertising and because there was a struggle to increase donors and subscribers, the decision was made to close operations altogether.
Robert R. Frump, who left the board last summer to run the magazine’s business operations as a special adviser, resigned in protest last week when informed of the board’s decision. He told the Tribune, “The editorial quality of the Texas Observer is excellent, and it deserves to live on in some format. It has a unique voice that’s progressive but hews to the truth. I‘m hoping some version of it can still survive.”
Be sure to check out the Tribune’s story for more details on the closing of the Observer, as well as its rich history.
Fox News producer fired
Last week, I wrote about the Fox News producer who accused lawyers at Fox of pressuring her into giving misleading testimony in Dominion Voting Systems’ $1.6 billion defamation lawsuit against Fox News. Abby Grossberg, a producer for Maria Bartiromo and then later Tucker Carlson, also described a toxic environment of misogyny and antisemitism.
She has now been fired by Fox News. According to her lawyers, Fox News’ official reason for firing her was she “improperly disclosed information regarding the Dominion/Fox Lawsuit that the Company purportedly believed was privileged.”
In a statement, Fox News said, “Like most organizations, Fox News Media’s attorneys engage in privileged communications with our employees as necessary to provide legal advice. Last week, our attorneys advised Ms. Grossberg that, while she was free to file whatever legal claims she wished, she was in possession of our privileged information and was not authorized to disclose it publicly. We were clear that if she violated our instructions, Fox would take appropriate action including termination. Ms. Grossberg ignored these communications and chose to file her complaint without taking any steps to protect those portions containing Fox's privileged information. We will continue to vigorously defend Fox against Ms. Grossberg's unmeritorious legal claims, which are riddled with false allegations against Fox and our employees.”
As we move closer to a possible trial in mid-April, Jim Geraghty — a National Review senior political correspondent — wrote in The Washington Post: “Why the Dominion lawsuit against Fox News isn’t a slam dunk.”
Geraghty wrote, “The news network sounds like a pit of vipers. You could get the impression from the lavish media attention paid to these revelations that the internal communications were just the sort of smoking-gun evidence Dominion needed to clinch its case.”
“But,” Geraghty continued, “at issue in the lawsuit is not whether you like Fox News, or whether you think it did a good job of covering Trump’s claims that the election was stolen, or whether Fox employees thought their co-workers belonged in an asylum. At issue is whether any of the potentially defamatory statements about Dominion came from Fox News employees, rather than guests such as Trump, Giuliani and Powell, and whether Fox hosts’ comments were knowingly false statements of fact, rather than expressions of opinion.”
Actually, Dominion could — and likely will — argue that Fox News put guests on the air knowing that they would spread false information about the 2020 election, and that they could have done more to stop election lies from being said on their network.
Fox has claimed all along that Donald Trump and those close to him were saying the election was rigged, that it was news that they were saying this, and it was their job to cover that news.
Does Dominion have a slam dunk case? No. Should Fox News be worried? They certainly have reason to be.
An eyebrow-raising departure
Jim Trotter is one of the most respected NFL reporters. Even though he worked for the league at NFL Media Group, that didn’t stop him from doggedly reporting on the league, including its lack of diversity, particularly in leadership positions. At this year’s Super Bowl for the second year in a row, Trotter asked tough questions to NFL commissioner Roger Goodell.
On Monday, Trotter tweeted, “Some personal news: This will be my final week with the NFL Media Group. I was informed over the weekend that my contract is not being renewed. I thank NFL Network and NFL.com for the lessons learned and affirmed over the last five years.”
New York Post sportswriter Ryan Glasspiegel reported earlier this month that NFL Media was in “the midst of a strategic review that will result in major cost cuts.”
Hard to believe for a league that seemingly prints money and has one of the most successful TV products of all time. But the NFL also is reportedly freezing pay raises for some executives.
Still, there is some buzz that Trotter’s no-holds-barred journalism rubbed the NFL the wrong way and led to his contract not being renewed.
Deadspin’s Carron J. Phillips wrote, “Only a fool would think this a coincidence.”
ProFootballTalk’s Mike Florio, who is plugged into the league, wrote, “It will be interesting to hear whether Trotter believes his departure arises from being too journalistic for the league’s liking. While the NFL surely isn’t foolish enough to articulate to its in-house reporters the existence of a line that can’t be crossed, the NFL should be going the other way, repeatedly reminding on-the-payroll reporters that they can cover freely and aggressively any aspect of league business, no matter how embarrassing it may be to Big Shield.”
Media tidbits
