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.

EXCLUSIVE — POST PUTTERS INTO 2023: Last week’s dramatic announcement of impending layoffs at The Washington Post enraged—and unified—a newsroom unlike any episode in recent memory, multiple staffers told Confider. But the announcement also highlighted fractures within the historic paper, including between its publisher and his choice of editor, and its editor with her staff. Staffers have acknowledged that Executive Editor Sally Buzbee’s power has only come across as more limited as the year has gone on, with multiple employees believing she has become siloed as Publisher Fred Ryan makes sweeping decisions. She told staffers early last week that she did not anticipate further mass layoffs following the Sunday magazine shuttering, according to multiple staffers—days before Ryan announced there would be. Buzbee later acknowledged she only found out a day before, according to The New York Times, while managing editor Liz Seymour acknowledged she found out on Wednesday. “The way he rolled out the layoff info has been very humiliating for Sally,” one staffer told Confider. “This has caused the newsroom staff to seriously question whether she has any influence or control over what’s going on, even if we’re rooting for her.” Ryan’s seemingly unfettered influence has rankled staffers, about 30 of whom have joined the paper’s union since Wednesday, according to PostGuild leadership, including some top stars. Some also feel the Post has not capitalized strongly on the newsroom’s success. They liken Ryan’s layoff decision to panic, even as he said during a Wednesday town hall that he wanted to build better content to drive subscriptions. Ryan did tout one product during the town hall: NewsPrint, which measures a reader’s news diet in a feature similar to Spotify’s “Wrapped.” “It does feel a little bit like throwing spaghetti against the wall in a number of ways,” another staffer told Confider. “It does feel like the Post has lost a little bit of its swagger after [former executive editor] Marty Baron.” Guild members have discussed the possibility of a vote of a no-confidence letter against Ryan, but there are no formal plans as of now. The Post and Buzbee did not respond to requests for comment.

A LESS PERFECT UNION: Andrew Yang and Christine Todd Whitman, co-chairs of the centrist Forward Party, were quietly removed as speakers at DC insider rag The Hill’s A More Perfect Union 2022 three-day festival earlier this month. The prominent politicians were originally scheduled to appear on a Dec. 9 “The Consensus Builders” panel, which was advertised as addressing “extreme polarization” and finding “the missing middle” in American politics. Sources told Confider, however, that Whitman and Yang pulled out after finding out that the event was sponsored by Altria, the big tobacco company formerly known as Philip Morris. The fact that The Hill’s much-ballyhooed conference—hosted by editor-in-chief Bob Cusack and ex-CSPAN anchor Steve Scully—was paid for by a cigarette maker wasn’t lost on staffers, who noted that news organizations shy away from tobacco ads. “Nexstar is destroying our journalistic integrity and Bob should have known better than to participate in this,” one reporter said, referencing the outlet’s parent company. Nexstar, of course, isn’t the only one to face such accusations. Climate writer Bill Spindle said earlier this month that he departed media startup Semafor over oil and gas company Chevron’s sponsorship of his newsletter and climate change stories, calling it a form of “greenwashing.” (Semafor disputed Spindle’s characterization.) Whitman and Yang were unable to attend The Hill’s festival “due to a last minute scheduling conflict,” a Forward Party spokesperson said. A Nexstar representative did not respond to a request for comment.

EXCLUSIVE — S.O.S.: The New York Times is hoping that bringing in a federal mediator will jumpstart gridlocked contract negotiations. In a note to staffers Friday, obtained by Confider, outgoing deputy managing editor, Cliff Levy, admitted the bargaining “process obviously isn’t working.” “Today, in an effort to get things unstuck, we asked the NewsGuild to agree to bring in an impartial federal mediator. Our hope is that a neutral third party can help get both sides to a deal as quickly as possible,” Levy wrote. “Federal mediators are experienced negotiators who focus on helping both sides to identify areas of compromise, which is what we believe is needed to get to an agreement on a new contract.” It wouldn’t be the first time the Times has looked to a mediator to resolve messy contract negotiations—in 2011, a mediator worked to land a contract both parties agreed on. As we first reported last week Levy has been named deputy publisher of The Atlantic and Wirecutter.

EXCLUSIVE — KELLY’S COMEBACK: Legendary newshound and former media columnist Keith Kelly is “unretiring” to become editor in chief of New York weekly newspapers Our Town, The West Side Spirit, Chelsea News and Our Town Downtown. Kelly, who wrote the Media Ink column for the New York Post until retiring last year after 23 years at the Post, takes on the new role Jan. 1. “Hyper local media is more important than ever because a lot of other outlets are cutting back on it. Schools, police, fire, community boards are getting neglected,” Kelly told Confider. Quizzed if he will be giving his former employer a run for their money, Kelly said, “We will beat them on some stories.”

MONEY, MONEY, MONEY!: Last week, The Daily Beast’s Roger Sollenberger exclusively reported that right-wing website The Daily Caller’s non-profit arm has received substantial donations from conservative entities that then received favorable coverage from the Tucker Carlson-founded outlet. Judicial activist Leonard Leo’s group CRC Advisors, for instance, donated $10,000 to the Daily Caller’s news foundation before the site published a piece based on a CRC poll, raising questions about the separation between fundraising and editorial content. The Daily Caller, however, is far from alone. The 85 Fund, a non-profit organization that contracts with CRC, donated $310,000 to the National Review Institute in 2021, according to tax filings flagged by watchdog group True North Research. The National Review magazine and website is now a “wholly owned subsidiary of the Institute,” which was created by William F. Buckley in 1991 as a charitable organization. The mag, meanwhile, exclusively reported on a “new CRC Research poll conducted for the 85 Fund” in September that found that the majority of likely voters support busing migrants to “sanctuary cities.” The piece did not disclose The 85 Fund’s donation. “NRI funds writers who are NRI fellows. NRI does not direct editorial content for National Review,” a NRI spokesperson told Confider. “Everyone is very conscientious about adhearing [sic] to the separation.”

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

More from the Beast’s Media Desk

—Even as Elon Musk went on a blocking-turned-reinstatement spree late last week, one notable journalist is still blocked without any explanation: Insider columnist Linette Lopez, a dogged chronicler of Musk’s business empires. Read her thoughts on the revenge block here.

—British TV outcast Jeremy Clarkson claimed he was “horrified” Monday to learn that a hate-filled newspaper column he penned on Meghan Markle had landed like a lead balloon. Even his daughter joined the pile-on after Clarkson seethed that he hated Markle “on a cellular level” and wanted to see her paraded naked through the streets while people threw “lumps of excrement at her.” Read Clarkson’s bizarre mea culpa here.

—Monday started on a sobering note for CNN as CNN This Morning anchor Don Lemon broke down while announcing the death of award-winning investigative reporter Drew Griffin, who died on Saturday after a battle with cancer. Watch his emotional tribute to Griffin’s legacy here.

Recent Reads

—CNN chief Chris Licht has had a tough run since taking over the cable news pioneer earlier this year. Mass layoffs? Check. Disgruntled staff? Yep. Plummeting ratings and revenue? You bet. The New York Times dove in this week with an extensive profile of the former Late Show with Stephen Colbert producer’s “education” as a network president, which includes some juicy revelations. Read it here.

—The Wall Street Journal published a must-read inside look at the Disney coup that saw former chief executive Bob Iger supplanting his hand-picked successor Bob Chapek after less than a year. Read the detailed account here of how Iger eventually undermined his protégé before pushing out the embattled exec amid calls for Chapek’s head.

—Calling out “selective outrage” after Chief Twit Elon Musk suspended a slew of journalists and critics, Mediaite’s newest conservative writer Isaac Schorr sparked online mockery for his description of one banned account. After writing that “John Mastodon” was “the founder of a competing social media company named after himself,” Schorr’s “original characterization of the Join Mastodon Twitter account” was corrected with an editor’s note. John Mastodon “is not a person as far as we know,” the note concluded. Check out the update here.

**WHAT ARE WE OUTRAGED ABOUT NOW?**

John Fetterman is famous (or notorious) for his dressed-down style of hoodies, shorts and black Skechers. Therefore, when The New York Times included him on its year-end list of most stylish people, noting the Democratic senator-elect is “going to bring Carhartt to the Capitol,” it was no surprise that Fox News would go on a multi-day ragefest. “Because Democrats think the everyman doesn't own, like, a button-up shirt,” former NRA spokesperson Dana Loesch groused on Jesse Watters’ show. “You assumed John Fetterman was wearing his hoodie to hide the bulge in his neck,” Tucker Carlson sneered, keeping it classy as always. “No, it was a fashion statement… They hate beauty, they hate truth. It's deep. That's exactly what they're doing. The ugly is beautiful.” Over on gabfest The Five, the majority of the panel took shots at Fetterman’s mental competence and physical appearance—something they’ve relentlessly been doing since his stroke—while fuming over the Times’ piece. “Give him credit, you're not going to forget that face. That's a face you see in nightmares,” Fox News’ resident “comic” Greg Gutfeld cackled. “I also think he's done a service for us. As comfortable as hoodies and shorts are, he looks terrible. Makes him look like a big dumb goon.”

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

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