Vanity Fair’s uncertain future, Netflix holds stead for now.
CBS’ esteemed but battered “60 Minutes” scored an Emmy nomination yesterday for its 2024 interview of then-Vice President Kamala Harris. The nod carried some irony as it fell under the category of Best Edited Interview for a segment whose editing stoked the wrath of, and eventual $20 billion lawsuit against CBS News by, President Donald […]
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Baker’s Dozen
The White House Correspondents’ Dinner cuts the comedy, Disney’s rut continues and more.
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Greenland on the Rocks
On importing the purest ice in the world to Manhattan.
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The Last Paycheck
The “tough guy” manager may win for the short term, but never for the long haul.
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Baker’s Dozen
The media stories that shaped the month, from a shakeup at MSNBC to a Washington Post op-ed section focused on free markets.
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TV Makes a Comeback, and more
Our weekly roundup of the best media commentary on media.
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January’s Baker’s Dozen
Trump sues CBS, Mark Thompson shakes up CNN and more.
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Red Ink and an Exodus at WaPo
Standout commentary on the TikTok ban, Facebook ditching fact checkers and more.
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2024 in Review
A special Baker’s Dozen on Bluesky rising, cable news waning, editorial boards chickening out and more.
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Public Media’s Uneasy Domain
A potentially huge boon to struggling local public stations could rest in nostalgia.
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November’s Baker’s Dozen
Comcast spins off MSNB, Chris Wallace leaves CNN for podcasting, the box office shows signs of life, and more.
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Media on Media
Get me on Rogan!, combatting deepfakes.
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How Trump Leveraged Passive News Audience
For another look at my opinion piece and reflections on the “ambient news” that helped shape the 2024 election, head to Hearst’s CT Insider, which has published this and previous columns of mine.
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Media on Media
The inescapability of ambient “news,” public and private media can get along
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Media on Media
Political media, excluding Fox, grapples with lost relevance.
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Mistimed Cowardice
If driven to its logical conclusion, this rationale for editorial reticence could extend to editorials on every hot-button topic
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Time and Life
The Daylight-Saving Time change we are going through this week is a nonscientific enacted political change that benefits no one. It may even harm some people.
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October’s Baker’s Dozen
Amazon streams live TV news, Substack names some big gets, and more.
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Media on Media
Murdoch turmoil, election debate coverage and more.
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The State of 2024 Election Coverage
The current tone of election coverage is surprising. It’s anyone’s guess as to how long it will last. And the Harris campaign should be gearing up for a much tougher news cycle.
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July’s Baker’s Dozen
Murdoch succession infighting, a streaming music slump and more.
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Media on Media
A prescient piece by The Atlantic
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June’s Baker’s Dozen
Debate ratings dwindle, the Post continues to reel, and more.
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Media on Media
A new British invasion, media transparency in Spain and more.
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Turmoil at the Post
Lewis’ actions leading to a top editor’s departure have disturbed the DC newsroom.
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May’s Baker’s Dozen
Open AI News Corp Reddit News Corp became the latest publishing giant to ink a deal with OpenAI allowing the company to mine its content for chatbot training. This gives OpenAI access to the Wall Street Journal, New York Post and Barron’s, among other outlets under the Murdoch-owned company’s big umbrella. News of the pact, […]
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Media on Media
The revenge of the homepage, a dilemma for NBC News and more.
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Streaming Hasn’t Killed the Radio Star
Explaining the medium’s impressive endurance.
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April’s Baker’s Dozen
The Paramount saga continues, FT’s good deal with OpenAI and more.
In media, as in life, everything old is new again.
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The New Shards of Media Glass
The proliferation of small media shards means that common ground will be ever harder to find among American voters.
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Media on Media
Lamentation and petty thievery.
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March’s Baker’s Dozen
A revolt at NBC News, Reddit goes public after growing up, and more.
Plutocrats may not be the old media saviors they were briefly hyped to be.
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Media on Media
Could the US ban TikTok?
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The European AI Act, Explained
The stubborn question of whether regulation strangles innovation has greeted the act.
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Media on Media
Kara Swisher dishes on Silicon Valley, China ditches Hollywood and more.
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February’s Baker’s Dozen
Facebook turns 20, CNN shakes up mornings, the Super Bowl scores big.
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Remembering Charles Osgood
The radio and TV newscaster Charles Osgood died this week at 91 years old. A Fordham graduate, a longtime friend and a real mensch, Charles was a professional hero of mine and a towering inspiration for broadcasters.
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January’s Baker’s Dozen
A brutal month for the US media.
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Media on Media
The effects of war, on the ground in Gaza and in US newsrooms.
From AI to Disney, the stories defining media.
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Media on Media
A former NYT editor on how the Paper of Record lost its way, and more.
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An Interview with Norman Lear
Some highlights of my conversation with Lear in 2012 at Fordham.
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December’s Baker’s Dozen
Univision’s news coverage raises eyebrows, Europe confronts AI and more.
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Media on Media
A roundup of recommended takes on the media, by the media.
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2024: The Year of AI Elections
A novel factor in the coming year’s elections is how AI, which has improved with startling speed over the past 12 months, will upend political campaigns and voting processes.
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Western Coverage of the Israel-Hamas War
Media treatment of the events has generated its own bitter controversies.
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Media on Media
A roundup of recommended takes on the media, by the media.
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October’s Baker’s Dozen
Good and bad news for tech regulation, the end of the time signal and a resolution to one Hollywood strike.
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Media on Media
A roundup of recommended takes on the media, by the media.
An impasse revives thorny questions about the corrosive relationship between news outlets and tech giants.
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August’s Baker’s Dozen
Europe (maybe) reins in TikTok, streaming triumphs, Disney struggles and more…
Diversity takes many forms. And Affirmative Action as it functioned at the University of North Carolina and Harvard, the two schools named in the case, deserved tough questioning.
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July’s Baker’s Dozen
A monthly roundup of media winners and losers.
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Free Speech in the Digital Age
The government must be more transparent about its dealings with social media platforms regarding harmful content.
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June’s Baker’s Dozen
A monthly roundup of media winners and losers.
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What US Media Can Learn from Canada
There’s a sturdy commitment in Canada to journalism’s mission to serve the public by telling the truth that has abated in America.
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How to Fix CNN
Leading with kindness may be key to a comeback for the troubled network.
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Artificial Information
What worries me more than the season’s social media snafus, and even more than its crude culture war battles, is the destabilizing and misleading role that Artificial Intelligence is likely to play in the long, muddy march to the White House.
A monthly roundup of media winners and losers.
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How CNN Can Restore Primetime
It may involve dismantling primetime as we know it.
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March’s Baker’s Dozen
A monthly roundup of media winners and losers.
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Chat Boom
AI in journalism is here to stay. Humans must ethically deploy it.
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January’s Baker’s Dozen
A monthly roundup of media winners and losers.
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The Year to Come in Media
What to expect in cable news, journalism preservation and more.
University rankings are likely here to stay. The Financial Times could serve as a model for improving them.
“Wisdom Keepers” explores the timeless questions of who we are and where we are going. These fundamental questions feel especially urgent in the current context of rapid scientific innovation, thorny moral quandries and political unrest. “Wisdom Keepers,” on PBS, offers you a chance rarely found in our fast-paced lives for deep introspection through piercing interviews […]
