⁛ NewsSolidarity forever: The premier U.S. journalists’ union wants my emails. Specifically, in response to a critic’s defamation lawsuit, The NewsGuild filed a motion seeking a critic’s correspondence with The New York Times — in this case, with me. They’re also seeking the correspondence of a woman who sought to tip that reporter to sexual misconduct inside the union. The legal motion represents a strange coda to a Times column I wrote in 2020, which revealed how both the union and newsroom management were slow to respond to complaints of a Pittsburgh union leader’s sexual misconduct. “We are always troubled when litigants use discovery to seek communications between sources and journalists, and it is especially concerning coming from a union that represents journalists,” Times spokeswoman Danielle Rhoades Ha said. But the Guild makes no apologies: Its president, Jon Schleuss, cast the intrusion as a fight “against any attempts to undermine our growing power and solidarity.” Media lawyers, however, see it as a dangerous precedent and a bizarre move by an institution representing journalists. Also bizarre: The union put out a press release front-running my story, an annoying and pointless tactic that’s also loathed by many of its members. -- Ben Smith Velshi back on: Semafor reported Friday that MSNBC had quietly shifted three Muslim hosts out of the anchor chair last week following external criticism of their coverage for being overly critical of Israel in the wake of last week’s attack. The network gave various logistical and programming reasons for their absence from the anchor chair, and pointed out that anchors Ali Velshi and Ayman Mohyeldin both appeared frequently throughout the week and weekend as part of the network’s live coverage. After Semafor’s story published on Friday, MSNBC reversed a decision to use a replacement host for Velshi on his weekend show. -- Max Tani Chelsea Guglielmino/Getty ImagesUygur 2024: The Young Turks founder Cenk Uygur is launching a bid for the Democratic presidential nomination, our David Weigel scooped last week. Uygur, 53, has been sharply critical of President Joe Biden, and hopes to position himself as a progressive alternative to an incumbent who “is definitely going to lose” if he makes it to the general election. Uygur’s signature YouTube channel has some 5.6 million subscribers. But the Turkish-born pundit’s history of brash on-air comments hampered his last campaign for public office, when he ran for a California House seat in 2020. ✦ MarketingMediaLinked: The no-conflict-no-interest folks at MediaLink, who unofficially run Cannes Lions, are now looking to buy the festival. Nobody was asking: “The McDonald’s universe is in a state of disarray,” the Twitch streamer Hasan Piker noted, with McDonald’s Israel providing free food to the IDF while the brand’s outlets in Muslim countries tweet statements supporting Gaza. McDonald’s HQ didn’t respond to an inquiry about the tweets. ✰ HollywoodRebundling watch: Comcast and Disney have hired bankers to value Hulu, a necessary step toward the expected sale of Comcast’s stake in the service to its competitor. Netflix IRL: Netflix will open a set of retail storefronts under the brand Netflix House, where you can try your hand at a “Squid Game themed obstacle course.” Pass!
Correction: An earlier version of this newsletter’s introduction said that Al Jazeera’s oped had no mention of dead Israeli civilians. The op-ed did reference “the killing of at least 100 Israelis,” and so we’ve changed the text to reflect that. |