Media

Posted this afternoon to OAN’s website: OAN today has retracted its March 27 article entitled “Whistleblower: Avenatti Alleged Cohen­ Daniels Affair Since 2006, Pre-2016 Trump Extortion Plan,” and is taking it down from all sites and removing it from all social media. This retraction is part of a settlement reached with Michael Cohen. Mr. Avenatti has denied making the allegations. …

Deadline reports: Smartmatic has reached a settlement with One America News Network over claims that the news outlet amplified false claims that the voting systems company rigged the results of the 2020 election. “Smartmatic has resolved its litigation against OANN through a confidential settlement,” said attorney Eric Connolly, who is representing the voting company in the lawsuit. An attorney for …

The New York Times reports: In an unusual move, the five major broadcast and cable news networks have prepared a joint open letter that urges President Biden and former President Donald J. Trump to participate in televised debates ahead of Election Day, according to two people with direct knowledge of their plans. The letter — endorsed by ABC, CBS, CNN, …

Politico Playbook reports: The ramifications of NBC’s decision yesterday to part ways with contributor Ronna McDaniel just two days after her paid network debut on “Meet the Press” are just starting to shake out. But they could be expensive. McDaniel expects to be fully paid out for her contract, two years at $300,000 annually, since she did not breach its …

Media Matters has the transcript: ERIC BOLLING (HOST): So Victor, I don’t mean to say that because Maersk has this new DEI push, people likely died in Baltimore this morning. But I do mean to say there’s a pattern here. VICTOR DAVIS HANSON (GUEST): We don’t know the exact relation to cause and effect, but we do know this — …

CNN Business reports: NBC News on Tuesday ousted former Republican National Committee chair Ronna McDaniel, just days after her hiring as a paid political analyst sparked intense backlash from the network’s top television anchors over McDaniel’s role in subverting the 2020 election and attacks on the press. “There is no doubt that the last several days have been difficult for …

The New York Post reports: NBC News plans to drop former Republican National Committee boss Ronna McDaniel as a paid contributor after network stars including MSNBC primetime headliner Rachel Maddow and the co-hosts of “Morning Joe” blasted the decision to bring the Trump-backing politico on board. The network has not made an announcement, but one is pending, according to Puck …

The Washington Post reports: A member of the Qatari royal family invested roughly $50 million in Newsmax, according to documents and representatives for the media company and the royal, in a moment of acute Middle East tensions during the Trump administration. The investment bolstered a key conservative media outlet at a time when Qatar was facing intense diplomatic pressure from …

The Hill reports: MSNBC prime time host Rachel Maddow blasted her own network over its recent decision to hire former Republican National Committee Chair Ronna McDaniel as a political commentator. “If you care what I think about this, the fact that McDaniel is on the payroll at NBC News, to me that is inexplicable,” Maddow said on her show Monday. …

“Lying about the 2020 election results culminated in Donald Trump encouraging his supporters to stop the peaceful transfer of power. Allowing one of the key architects of that shameful period in our country the platform to whitewash her role in what happened, and then provide ongoing ‘commentary’ about American politics, does a disservice to the journalists who put themselves in …

Politico reports: NBC chief political analyst Chuck Todd on Sunday publicly slammed the company’s decision to hire Ronna McDaniel in a stunning on-air moment immediately following the former RNC chair’s network debut. “Let me deal with the elephant in the room. I think our bosses owe you an apology for putting you in this situation,” Todd told “Meet the Press” …

The Wrap reports: MSNBC president Rashida Jones told employees that the liberal-leaning news network has no plans to put new NBC News contributor Ronna McDaniel on the cable outlet, the Wall Street Journal reports, citing an internal memo. The news comes after NBC News hired former Republican National Committee chair McDaniel as an on-air contributor, leading to rage among members …

The New York Times reports: Ronna McDaniel, who stepped down as chairwoman of the RNC this month, is joining NBC News as an on-air contributor, the network said on Friday. The hire adds a reliably conservative voice to NBC’s stable of political analysts. Ms. McDaniel is also expected to provide commentary on MSNBC, NBC’s left-leaning cable cousin and a network …

USA Today reports: Wendy Williams’ temporary guardian has filed a lawsuit against A&E Television Networks, the parent company of Lifetime, which is set to release a staggering documentary about the former television host this weekend. The documentary trailer teases harrowing behind-the-scenes footage of Williams struggling with her health, as well as candid new interviews with her, marking a rare public …

Mediaite reports: Major hard-right media outlets saw their online traffic plummet in January of 2024 when compared to January 2020, according to new data from The Righting. Townhall, Washington Free Beacon, and Breitbart have seen their digital traffic plummet a whopping 87% in the two years, according to the Comscore data set. Other major drops were registered by the Daily …

ABC News reports: Wendy Williams has been diagnosed with primary progressive aphasia and frontotemporal dementia, according to a press release from the former talk show host and her medical team. Williams, 59, who hosted her eponymous talk show “The Wendy Williams” show for more than a decade, has been open in the past about her prolonged health struggles, which included …

Mediaite reports: Newsmax staffers received a memo on Monday morning alerting them to a mandatory and company-wide sexual harassment training, just months after a sexual harassment scandal involving a top executive rocked the conservative cable news outlet. The training, which will run for an entire week in February, comes after Mediaite reported in November on allegations against Newsmax vice president …

CNN reports: In the wake of the 2020 election, the president of the far-right network One America News sent a potentially explosive email to former Trump campaign lawyer Sidney Powell, with a spreadsheet claiming to contain passwords of employees from the voting technology company Smartmatic, according to court filings. The existence of the spreadsheet was recently disclosed by Smartmatic, which …

The Washington Post reports: Maryland’s largest daily newspaper, the Baltimore Sun, has been acquired by David D. Smith, the executive chairman of Sinclair Broadcast Group, a family-controlled TV station company headquartered outside Baltimore, for an undisclosed sum. Union representatives and staff expressed surprise at the sale. Some said they learned of the deal only shortly before it was publicly announced. …

Mediaite reports: CNN anchor Sara Sidner wrapped up the 11 am ET hour of CNN News Central with an emotional announcement, her voice cracking several times as she shared with her viewers that she had been diagnosed with Stage 3 breast cancer. Sidner asked viewers to “take a second to recall the names of eight women who you love and …