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From the Beast’s media desk

Welcome to this week’s edition of Confider, the media newsletter that pulls back the curtain to reveal what’s really going on inside the world’s most powerful navel-gazing industry. Subscribe here and send your questions, tips, and complaints here.

BALL BUSTER: Far-right cable channel One America News Network has been going through a talent exodus these past few months, largely due to the uncertainty over its future after satellite provider DirecTV dropped the channel from its lineup this spring. But not everyone who’s left OAN is a casualty of the existential crisis the network currently finds itself in. According to four current and former staffers, OAN host Dan Ball’s workplace behavior prompted at least one person to bolt the network. Sources tell us that earlier this year Ball hurled a phone at a producer during a heated newsroom confrontation. That incident, the culmination of a volatile feud with the producer, saw the employee part ways with OAN shortly afterward. According to Confider’s sources, Ball would make casual sexual jokes in front of everyone, occasionally scream obscenities in the newsroom, and even air his personal drama with his much-younger fiancee—who was hired alongside Ball as his booking producer—in front of the newsroom. “He was like a habitual line-stepper you know, he would just always try to say things and try to get a rise out of people,” one insider said. These allegations don’t exactly come out of left field. Ball, who bounced around local news before landing at OAN in 2020, was ousted from a Las Vegas station in 2012 after a “sometimes-turbulent 21-month stay,” according to the Las Vegas Review-Journal. Sources told the newspaper that Ball “was suspended at least once” and “got in trouble for screaming an obscenity at a co-worker,” resulting in Ball being “greeted with packed boxes and escorted out of the station” when he arrived at work one day. When Confider reached out to one of his OAN show’s staffers a few weeks ago, Ball—who has called on OAN viewers to dig up “dirt” on the network’s supposed enemies—immediately called Confider to chastise us. He declared there had been no human resources complaints made about his behavior internally, but did concede that there was “one disgruntled employee” who may have a grievance. The ex-producer who dodged the thrown phone asked that their name not be made public and declined to comment any further on the matter. “Go ahead and print your lies. My attorney will be in touch. Have a great day,” Ball responded to Confider via text, alongside emojis of the American Flag and a thumbs-up. One America News did not respond to repeated requests for comment.

THEY HAVE RESERVATIONS: Someone on The Wall Street Journal editorial board seems to be obsessed with a 2020 Supreme Court ruling that decided much of eastern Oklahoma is a Native American reservation. The paper has published 10 editorials in 10 months, many of them focusing on the implications for criminal justice and name-checking Gov. Kevin Stitt, whose administration has filed a slew of lawsuits in an attempt to get the ruling overturned. Cherokee Nation Principal Chief Chuck Hoskin Jr. says the Journal has never contacted him to discuss the matter. “It's mystifying and it shows a disconnect between the facts on the ground and the rhetoric being peddled by the governor,” Hoskin told Confider. “To see so much effort to amplify the critics of tribal sovereignty is really discouraging and it’s not good for the country or for the region.” Hoskin added, “I can't explain why they are fixated on his narrative as opposed to the facts.” Confider cannot explain it either since the Journal did not respond to a request for comment.

DECK CHAIRS SHUFFLED: The Washington Post has made another move following the internal drama around a story by star reporter Taylor Lorenz. Deputy Features Editor David Malitz, who reportedly lost a promised promotion to the top features gig after he added a line to a Lorenz story that falsely said she reached out two people, has instead been bumped up to senior culture editor—a “new position” that will oversee enterprise stories on the culture desk. Lorenz, meanwhile, has already been moved off the features desk to the technology desk, and her stories will now be personally approved by Senior Managing Editor Cameron Barr, according to The New York Times.

UPON CLOSER EXAMINATION: Staffers at right-wing outlet The Washington Examiner are grumbling about editor-in-chief Hugo Gurdon’s decision to OK a lucrative contract with MarketMuse, an SEO content strategy company, though employees complained about the company’s “buggy” product during a trial run. According to three sources, the staff’s frustration only increased when they discovered that new Managing Editor Chris Irvine’s wife is the VP of marketing for MarketMuse. This comes as the Examiner recently went outside the company and hired two of Irvine’s former Fox News colleagues, Liam Quinn and Marisa Schultz, as his deputies. “So yeah, big raises for Chris, his best friend Liam and his other Fox friend Marisa,” one insider said. “Now, Chris' wife's company will also profit heavily.” Confider reported last month that employees were upset that Hugo essentially reneged on a promise to hire internally for these editorial positions after former Managing Editor Greg Wilson bolted for conservative media giant The Daily Wire. A representative for the Examiner did not respond to a request for comment.

ZIPPED LIPS: British filmmaker Alex Holder, who had access to former President Donald Trump’s family for a docuseries, claims they were forthcoming about all but one issue: the Capitol riots. “After January 6, I interviewed Ivanka [Trump] and wanted to discuss with her the events of January 6, and she did not want to talk about that particular event,” Holder told Confider. “When I asked Eric that question, he, on camera, said that he didn’t want to talk about it, as well,” he continued. “The kids did not want to talk about January 6, was the position.” Donald Trump Jr., meanwhile, avoided a post-Jan. 6 interview, according to Holder—although a source close to Junior says he also rejected sitdowns before the riots. Despite reports that the Trump family was under the impression they would have some sort of editorial control, Holder insists he always maintained full control. A Trump organization representative didn’t return The Daily Beast's request for comment.

A HILL TO DIE ON: Management at The Hill has been bombarding staffers with emails urging them to vote no on forming a union through the Communications Workers of America. The D.C. outlet’s corporate overlord, Nexstar, nixed voluntary recognition of the union last month—and also rolled back benefits when it bought The Hill last year. Multiple staffers told Confider that the company removed three paid holidays—Martin Luther King Jr. Day, Presidents’ Day, and Juneteenth—and pared back parental leave from eight weeks to six. It also threw out a generous PTO policy, which gave workers with four years or more of tenure 20 vacation days. Instead, those who work between one and four years get 10 days, and you have be on staff for 16 years to get 20 days. In the daily emails, management is trying to sell employees on the idea that they should “attack these problems together.” General Manager Jason Jedlinski asked in one newsroom-wide email: “Wouldn’t you rather we give it a shot ourselves first?” Representatives for The Hill and Nexstar declined to comment.

WE HEAR WHISPERS: CNN has temporarily pulled the plug on hiring for a disinformation team that was slated to have an editor and two reporters; the move follows a hiring freeze.... The D.C. Court of Appeals granted an extension for ex-Washington Post reporter Felicia Sonmez to file an appellate brief in her discrimination lawsuit against the paper, dragging this story through at least October… Some Fox News higher-ups are apparently not thrilled that star Tucker Carlson is taking part in Ben Smith’s new Semafor event next month. It was just a few months ago that Smith reported that Carlson was one of media’s biggest gossips… Rupert Murdoch may have broken up with Wife No. 4 Jerry Hall via—gasp!—email or text message, the Daily Mail reports…

Tips? We're all ears: confider@thedailybeast.com

More from the Beast’s Media Desk

—You know you’re in the Upside Down when Barstool head bro Dave Portnoy, reviled by feminists, starts to make sense. The right-leaning media macho man lit into Republicans after the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade. Read about his diatribe here.

—White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre found herself on the hot seat on The View, of all places. Host Sunny Hostin quizzed the Biden mouthpiece about the bungling of an arranged call between WNBA star Brittney Griner, imprisoned in Moscow, and her wife. You can read about KJP’s response here.

—MSNBC finally announced the successor to top star Rachel Maddow on Monday, and it’s former daytime host Alex Wagner. Maddow will continue to pop up on Monday nights while Wagner, whose last MSNBC show was canceled in 2015, will take over the 9 p.m. slot Tuesday through Friday. Check out the details here.

—Details about plans for Semafor, the news startup from Ben Smith and Justin Smith, continue to dribble out, most recently in a story from Ben’s last employer. The New York Times reports that when the enterprise is finally up and running, bylines will be as big as headlines and reporters will be encouraged to hold forth on social media in “a fair, analytical way”—which had us wondering if anyone at Semafor has ever been on social media. Read the rest here.

—Newly single Rupert Murdoch is now newly interested in talkTV, his right-wing channel fronted by professional outrage fluffer Piers Morgan. The Guardian reports that guests are being offered thousands of dollars to appear on Morgan’s show as talkTV faces dismal ratings. But fear not, Piers stans, Jerry Hall’s soon-to-be-ex was in London last week, attempting to set things right. More here.

**WHAT ARE WE OUTRAGED ABOUT NOW?**

It’s like 2003 all over again. With a number of female and liberal celebrities using their platforms to blast the Supreme Court for overturning the federal right to abortion, Fox News hosts raged against these famous leftists and called on them to love it or leave it. “Don’t let the door hit you on the way out,” anchor Julie Banderas said on Monday, reacting to Green Day frontman Billie Joe Armstrong yelling “Fuck America” during a London show and vowing to leave the U.S.. Banderas and Fox & Friends host Brian Kilmeade also groused about the “vulgarity” at performances over the weekend by Green Day and other artists, such as Olivia Rodrigo. “These concerts are dumbifiying our youth, our youth are going to concerts and listening to the messages and why do you think schools are the way they are, they are being raised by liberals and celebrities,” Banderas grumbled.

Confider will be back next week with more saucy scooplets. In the meantime, send us questions, complaints and tips and subscribe here.

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