by tyler | Jun 7, 2023 | CNN, media
Prince Harry choked up in court as he concluded an eight-hour testimony in his lawsuit against a major British newspaper publisher, admitting he would feel an “injustice” if his claims of phone hacking were dismissed by the judge.
Asked by his lawyer how the experience of giving evidence had been, the Duke of Sussex became emotional and, after a long pause, said “it is a lot.”
“For my whole life, the press misled me, covered up the wrongdoing, and sitting here in court knowing that the (respondents have) the evidence in front of them and for (opposition lawyer) Mr. Green to suggest I’m speculating… I’m not sure what to say about that,” the duke said.
The flash of emotion came at the end of testimony – the first by a senior royal since 1891 – that stretched over two days and touched on extensive coverage of Harry’s childhood, teenage years and early 20s.
The duke is suing Mirror Group Newspapers (MGN), accusing its titles of phone hacking and using other illicit means to gather information about his life between 1996 and 2009.
Green, the barrister for MGN, pressed Harry on Tuesday on the specifics of his phone hacking allegations, saying there is “not a single item of call data at any time” between Harry’s phone and any Mirror Group journalist.
“If the court were to find no evidence of phone hacking, would he be relieved or disappointed?” Green challenged the duke during a tense exchange towards the end of the two-day cross-examination.
“That would be speculating – I am not sure if I would be relieved or disappointed,” Harry responded. The duke told the court he believes undoubtedly that phone hacking was at an “industrial scale” across “at least three papers” so he added that it would be an “injustice” if his claim was not successful.
“You want to have been phone hacked,” Green asked, to which the duke replied: “No one would want to be phone hacked.”
Harry at times appeared nervous and uncomfortable during the cross-examination but grew in confidence as the session wore on, clashing at times with Green and volleying back questions of his own towards the lawyer.
Overall, the prince alleges that about 140 articles published in titles belonging to Mirror Group contained information gathered using unlawful methods. Thirty-three of those articles were considered at the trial and discussed in detail by Green and the prince.
On Tuesday, Harry told the court that “every single article has caused me distress.”
He added on Wednesday that an article headlined “Hooray Harry’s dumped,” which reported the ending of his relationship with Chelsy Davy, was “hurtful.”
The 2007 story “does seem to suggest that people are celebrating” the end of the relationship, Harry said, adding it “is a little bit mean.”
He added that on another evening, when he went for dinner with the late TV presenter Caroline Flack, he “was so shocked – and livid” to find that two photographers from agency IKON Pictures were already there hiding under a car, “waiting for us to arrive.”
Harry said Flack was “always of great interest to the tabloids, she was often hounded by them.” The former presenter of “Love Island” died by suicide in 2020 while awaiting trial for alleged assault, in a case that had attracted intense media interest.
After a brief questioning from his own lawyer, David Sherborne, Harry’s stretch in the witness box came to an end on Wednesday afternoon. Sherborne then began quizzing former Daily Mirror royal editor Jane Kerr, the author of some of the stories considered.
The courtroom saga has been unprecedented in modern times; a senior royal has not given evidence in court since Harry’s great-great-great grandfather, the future King Edward VII, took the stand over a game of baccarat that went awry in the late 19th century.
But Harry has been unapologetic in his efforts to force reform in Britain’s tabloid media, which he has long insisted subjected him to intrusion and wrecked many of his personal relationships.
The trial started on May 10, and is expected to last seven weeks.
MGN is contesting most of the allegations, arguing in its court filings that some claims have been brought too late and that in all four cases there is insufficient evidence of phone hacking.
In court documents published last month, the publisher did apologize for one instance of unlawful information gathering nearly 20 years ago. That incident involved a private investigator, who was paid £75 ($95) in 2004 by the Sunday People, a tabloid owned by the same group, to gather information about the Duke of Sussex while at a London nightclub.
by tyler | Jun 7, 2023 | CNN, media
Chris Licht, the embattled chief executive and chairman of CNN, whose brief one-year tenure at the network was stained by a series of severe missteps, departed the company on Wednesday.
“I met with Chris and he will be leaving CNN,” David Zaslav, the chief executive of parent company Warner Bros. Discovery, told CNN employees at the start of the network’s daily editorial meeting.
Licht’s departure capped a tumultuous year for CNN, marked by layoffs, shrinking profits, historically low ratings, the firing of two anchors, and rock-bottom employee morale. The chaos that defined the last year also followed several other gut punches to the organization, including the ouster of previous leader, Jeff Zucker, and shuttering of nascent streaming service CNN+.
Licht, who became network chief last May after most recently leading “The Late Show With Stephen Colbert” to much success, saw his tenure dogged by fierce criticism in the press, often the result of leaks from employees around him who never fully trusted his leadership skills or editorial vision.
The final death knell was a devastating 15,000-word profile in The Atlantic that published on Friday. The blistering piece, in which author Tim Alberta spoke to more than 100 CNN employees, called into serious question Licht’s ability to lead the organization into the future.
In the wake of The Atlantic article, Licht attempted to regain his footing. He apologized to staffers and vowed to “fight like hell” to win over the trust of employees.
But it became increasingly clear that Licht’s tenure as the chief executive was not tenable and quickly coming to an end. High-profile anchors and correspondents, in addition the the rank-and-file staff, had hit the wall with Licht. The CNN chief had, in effect, lost the room.
The picture quickly became clear to Zaslav, who installed his top lieutenant, David Leavy, as CNN’s chief operating officer last week. On Wednesday morning, Licht was informed that he was being relieved of his duties as CNN’s top executive, a person familiar with the matter said. The top two leaders of CNN’s communications department, Kris Coratti Kelly and Matt Dornic, as well as Licht’s chief of staff, Devan Cayea, will also depart the company, the person said.
Licht was notably not present in the Wednesday meeting in which Zaslav announced his departure. The press release issued by Warner Bros. Discovery about his exit did not include a comment from Licht and he also did not immediately return requests for comment.
Zaslav, who took responsibility for the chaos that has gripped CNN in recent months, said that Licht’s job was “never going to be easy” and praised his “amazing career,” wishing him well on his future endeavors.
“For a number of reasons, things didn’t work out and that’s unfortunate,” Zaslav said. “It’s really unfortunate. And ultimately that’s on me. And I take full responsibility for that.”
Zaslav told CNN employees that the company is “in the process of conducting a wide search,” both internally and externally, for a new network chief, cautioning that the search will “take a while.”
In the interim, Zaslav said the leadership team will be comprised of three veteran network executives: Amy Entelis, executive vice president of talent and content development; Virginia Moseley, executive vice president of editorial; and Eric Sherling, executive vice president of U.S. programming. Leavy will continue overseeing the company’s commercial activities.
“We have great confidence in this group and will fully support them until a new CEO is named,” Zaslav said in an emailed statement to CNN staff. “We are in good hands, allowing us to take the time we need to run a thoughtful and thorough search for a new leader.”
Licht’s brief and rocky tenure as the head of the network came after he found tremendous success in morning news, producing MSNBC’s “Morning Joe” before he revamped “CBS Sunday Morning.”
Most recently, before joining CNN, Licht led Colbert’s program while it became the highest-rated late-night show on television.
Licht was never able to recreate that magic at CNN, stumbling soon after taking the job and facing enormous criticism.
Licht’s first task was dismantling CNN+, which had been hailed by CNN’s previous leadership as the network’s streaming future. Staffers knew that the decision to axe the streamer wasn’t Licht’s own decision, but, nevertheless, the shuttering of the much-hyped service dealt him a difficult opening hand.
Employees, however, kept an open mind. Many were excited by Licht’s appointment, given that he had experience as a producer and a record of success at other networks.
But Licht quickly squandered much of that goodwill through a series of blunders, many of his own making. Unlike Zucker, who held an office on a newsroom floor in CNN’s Hudson Yards office in New York, Licht separated himself from the network’s journalists, a move that isolated the chief from his staff.
Licht then moved to fire Brian Stelter, the network’s revered chief media correspondent and anchor of “Reliable Sources.” He also dismissed other key CNN journalists, raising the eyebrows of staff.
But Licht saw his standing inside the organization further dissipate when he announced that there would be significant layoffs last year, despite having suggested to staff that cuts were not on the horizon. Hundreds of CNN employees were laid off in late November and early December.
The programming changes that Licht made were also troubled. His first big move was to revamp the network’s morning show. Licht launched “CNN This Morning,” featuring anchors Don Lemon, Poppy Harlow, and Kaitlan Collins. The show never grew the ratings from its predecessor and became entangled in tabloid drama. Lemon, who apologized for sexist comments he made during an episode, was ultimately ousted from the network earlier this year.
Licht, however, faced the most pronounced programming criticism for his handling of a town hall with former President Donald Trump. The event last month, which veered into chaos at times, was widely panned as a mistake.
The criticism of the event came from not only from observers, but from staffers inside CNN. Iconic anchor Christiane Amanpour made headlines when she dissented from Licht during a Columbia Journalism School commencement speech.
The rocky episode, which generated a storm of negative media coverage for Licht and CNN, set the stage for The Atlantic’s damning profile. Alberta, the author of the piece, had been granted unprecedented access to Licht for about a year and portrayed the CNN boss as unfit for the job. Licht didn’t help himself either, making a number of comments to Alberta that did not sit well with CNN staff, including remarks that disparaged the network’s journalism prior to his appointment.
In the final days, Licht seemed to understand that he had alienated staffers. But it was all too late.
This story has been updated from the original.
by tyler | Jun 7, 2023 | CNN, media
Chris Licht, the embattled chief executive and chairman of CNN, whose brief one-year tenure at the network was stained by a series of severe missteps, will depart the company.
“I met with Chris and he will be leaving CNN,” David Zaslav, the chief executive of parent company Warner Bros. Discovery, told CNN employees at the start of the network’s daily editorial call Wednesday.
Licht’s departure, which came days after a devastating 15,000-word profile in The Atlantic, capped a tumultuous year for CNN, marked by layoffs, historically low ratings, and rock-bottom employee morale.
In the wake of The Atlantic article, Licht apologized to staffers Monday, telling the global news organization in a somber tone that he did not recognize himself when reading portions of the story and that he was sorry for having distracted from the newsroom’s work.
Licht, who described the experience as “tremendously humbling,” vowed to “fight like hell” to win over the trust of employees.
But it became increasingly clear that Licht’s tenure as the chief executive was quickly coming to an end. Licht has not commented on his departure and he did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
Zaslav said Licht’s job was “never going to be easy” and praised the “amazing career” he has had, wishing him well on his future endeavors.
“For a number of reasons things didn’t work out and that’s unfortunate,” Zaslav said. “It’s really unfortunate. And ultimately that’s on me. And I take full responsibility for that.”
Zaslav told CNN employees that the company is “in the process of conducting a wide search,” both internally and externally, for a new network chief. He cautioned that it will “take a while.”
In the interim, Zazlav said the leadership team will be comprised of Amy Entelis, executive vice president of talent and content development; Virginia Moseley, executive vice president of editorial; and Eric Sherling, executive vice president of U.S. programming. David Leavy, who was recently installed as chief operating officer, will continue overseeing the company’s commercial activities.
“We have great confidence in this group and will fully support them until a new CEO is named,” Zazlav said in an emailed statement to CNN staff. “We are in good hands, allowing us to take the time we need to run a thoughtful and thorough search for a new leader.”
Licht’s brief and rocky tenure as the head of the network came after he found tremendous success in morning news, producing MSNBC’s “Morning Joe” before he revamped “CBS Sunday Morning.” Prior to joining CNN, Licht was the executive producer of “The Late Show with Stephen Colbert,” leading the program as it became the highest-rated late-night show on television.
But at CNN, Licht stumbled and quickly faced criticism. Replacing Jeff Zucker, the former CNN leader who was beloved by staff, Licht’s first action at the network was to dismantle CNN+, which had been hailed by previous network leadership as the streaming future of CNN. Zucker was ousted in February 2022 for failing to disclose a relationship with a subordinate.
Unlike Zucker who held an office on a newsroom floor in CNN’s Hudson Yards office in New York, Licht separated himself from the network’s journalists, a move that isolated the chief from his staff.
Licht announced mass layoffs at CNN in December. But the town hall with former President Donald Trump last month that Licht orchestrated was widely criticized as a mistake. Licht faced a fury of internal and external criticism for the town hall, including from iconic anchor Christiane Amanpour during a Columbia Journalism School commencement speech.
by tyler | Jun 5, 2023 | CNN, media
Prince Harry’s years-long battle against Britain’s tabloid media reaches its most dramatic stage so far this week, as the royal prepares to face questions in a London court as part of his case against a major newspaper publisher.
The latest hearing in the Duke of Sussex’s case against Mirror Group Newspapers (MGN) began Monday at the High Court. Harry will give evidence in person Tuesday, his lawyer told the court.
The appearance of a British royal in a witness box will be an exceptionally rare event. But Harry has long railed against the tactics of the tabloid media in covering his life, and he will now have the opportunity to lay out his arguments, under oath, during cross-examination from MGN’s lawyers.
It’s likely to be a tense and defining appearance for the Duke as he forges his own path further from the rest of the royal family.
Here’s what you need to know about the trial.
The Duke of Sussex and three other claimants representing dozens of celebrities are suing MGN, accusing its titles of obtaining private information by phone hacking and through other illicit means, including private investigators, between 1991 and 2011.
The trial started on May 10, and is expected to last seven weeks.
MGN is contesting most of the allegations, arguing in its court filings that some claims have been brought too late and that in all four cases there is insufficient evidence of phone hacking.
In court documents published last month, the publisher did apologize for one instance of unlawful information gathering nearly 20 years ago. That incident involved a private investigator, who was paid £75 ($95) in 2004 by the Sunday People, a tabloid owned by the same group, to gather information about the Duke of Sussex while at a London nightclub.
Harry’s lawyer David Sherborne has said his claim against MGN, which covers incidences from 1995 to 2011, is “significant not just in terms of time span but in the range of activity it covers.”
Harry was subject to the most “intrusive methods of obtaining personal information,” Sherborne said, arguing that “no one should be subjected to that.” The “unlawful methods” were “habitual and widespread” among the journalists, Sherborne added.
When Harry enters the witness box on Tuesday he can expect a tough examination from the publisher’s lawyers.
The prince alleges that about 140 articles published in titles belonging to the group contained information gathered using unlawful methods, and 33 of those articles have been selected to be considered at the trial, according to PA Media news agency.
It’s likely that details of those stories will be parsed over at great length.
And while this is Harry’s first appearance in a court case against the British media, it may not be his last.
The case against MGN is one of several lawsuits filed by Harry and his wife, Meghan, in their long-running battle with British tabloids, which they have accused of breaches of privacy and publishing false stories.
The pair has filed at least seven lawsuits against British and US media organizations since 2019, including Rupert Murdoch’s News Group Newspapers (NGN), according to Reuters. NGN publishes the Sun and used to produce News of the World, which was shut down in 2011 over a phone hacking scandal.
In March, Harry appeared at a court hearing in his case against Associated Newspapers Limited (ANL) over allegations of unlawful information gathering, which that group has denied.
Harry’s appearance in court is extremely rare. This is thought to be the first time a senior British royal will personally appear since 2002, when Princess Anne pleaded guilty after her dog bit two children in a Windsor park, according to PA Media.
It is more than 130 years since a senior member of the royal family gave evidence in court, when Edward VII was a witness in a slander trial over a card game in 1891, before he became king, Reuters reported.
It’s not yet clear whether Harry’s testimony will touch on other royals or his relationships with members of the family. But his brother and heir to the throne, Prince William, has recently been brought into the fray in another of Harry’s cases.
Documents published in April as part of Harry’s lawsuit against NGN allege that the publisher privately reached an undisclosed settlement with Prince William over historical phone hacking claims. It is unclear how Prince Harry is aware of his brother’s settlement, but in his court response he writes that his information is based on a redacted document through which he is inferring that Prince William signed onto the agreement.
Officials at Kensington Palace, which represents Prince William, told CNN it does not comment on legal proceedings. Buckingham Palace reiterated that same position. Prince Harry states that his late grandmother, Queen Elizabeth II, was aware of settlement talks.
Whether this week’s case will similarly bring questions for other members of the royal family remains to be seen. But it marks a watershed moment in Harry’s efforts against major players in Britain’s media, and his appearance is likely to dominate headlines in the days to come.
by tyler | Jun 2, 2023 | CNN, media
Prepare yourself for a Pride Month imbued with callous intolerance.
Fueled by right-wing media personalities and institutions like Fox News, conservatives are waging a ferocious war on companies that express support for the LGBTQ community, with hostilities against the celebration of gay rights swelling to levels not seen in many years. In effect, the supposedly anti-cancel culture crowd is leading the summer’s biggest cancel culture campaign.
In recent weeks, right-wing media has smeared and incited boycotts against Bud Light and Target, two jumbo American brands that have been thrust into the center of the toxic culture wars. Both companies have been relentlessly attacked over their show of public support for the LGBTQ community. In recent days, The North Face, Kohl’s, and Chick-fil-A have also come under assault in the expanding war. And Disney, of course, has been an endless punching bag since it spoke out against the so-called “Don’t Say Gay” bill in Florida last year.
In the right-wing media universe, in which millions of Americans firmly reside, these companies have been portrayed as “woke” and evil corporations seeking to groom children with radical — even Satantic — gender ideology that will corrupt their brains and ultimately lead to the destruction of society.
The attacks have put companies in the uncomfortable position of standing up for the values of their own employees and the public writ large against a relentless volley of threats of mass boycotts, lost revenue, and ultimately, long-term brand harm. With each offensive — and claimed victories — the activists wielding the pitchforks have become more emboldened and the business atmosphere more chilled.
Written in black and white, the attacks look deranged. But it is precisely what some of the loudest and most influential right-wing media figures are promoting to their large followings, with new self-generated outrage cycles generated daily. It isn’t quite QAnon, but it’s close — and it is being fed to the GOP base in broad daylight. You don’t have to go to the dark corners of the internet to find this style of crazed commentary; it’s available each day via mainstream right-wing outlets.
In many cases, prominent personalities are not even trying to be secretive about their end goal as they perhaps would have been done in years past. In fact, they are saying the quiet part aloud. The Daily Wire’s Matt Walsh, one of the leading purveyors of anti-LGBTQ rhetoric in the US, has explicitly stated that the aim is to make the open embrace of the LGBTQ community harmful to brands.
“The goal is to make ‘pride’ toxic for brands,” Walsh tweeted. “If they decide to shove this garbage in our face, they should know that they’ll pay a price. It won’t be worth whatever they think they’ll gain. First Bud Light and now Target. Our campaign is making progress. Let’s keep it going.”
It is important to remember that a not-so-insignificant portion of the American populace takes this rhetoric to heart. For the conservative news organizations and businesses that promote it, the rhetoric is profitable because it resonates with and excites their audiences. The articles generate clicks, videos attract eyeballs, and the content in general prompts significant engagement — the lifeblood of the internet.
Which is to say that this burgeoning facet of the culture wars, which is now unquestionably the most dominant strain, is not going away any time soon. In fact, with Pride Month about to get underway, and more brands showing their support for the LGBTQ community, expect more fronts to open up. As the right-wing media personalities leading this campaign have said: Bud Light and Target were just the beginning.
The Human Rights Campaign released a statement Wednesday, signed by more than 100 advocacy organizations and allies, condemning the right’s use of the “extremist playbook of attacks.”
“Their goal is clear: to prevent LGBTQ+ inclusion and representation, silence our allies and make our community invisible,” the coalition said. “These attacks fuel hate against LGBTQ+ people, just as we’ve seen this year with more than 500 anti-LGBTQ+ bills that restrict basic freedoms and aim to erase LGBTQ+ people.”
by tyler | May 18, 2023 | CNN, media
Disney on Thursday upped the ante in its battle with Florida’s Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis, and it cost his state 2,000 white-collar jobs.
Disney is scrapping plans to build a $1 billion office complex in Florida, citing “changing business conditions,” according to a memo provided by a Disney spokesperson.
The decision comes at a time when the company is openly feuding with DeSantis, who is expected to officially enter the 2024 GOP presidential race next week, CNN reported Thursday.
A spokesperson for DeSantis said it was “unsurprising” that Disney would cancel the project “given the company’s financial straits, falling market cap and declining stock price.”
Disney, along with the broader media industry, is grappling with a difficult advertising environment and a massive writers strike. Earlier this year it announced it would be cutting 7,000 jobs as part of a cost-cutting effort.
Separately, the company confirmed Thursday that it would shut down its Star Wars: Galactic Starcruiser resort at Disney World just over a year after it opened.
The popular attraction “will take its final voyage” at the end of September, Disney said, adding that it is working with guests to rebook reservations for later in the year.
The campus in Lake Nona, Florida, in the greater Orlando area, was expected to add 2,000 jobs, many of which were set to be relocated from California.
“It is unfortunate that Disney will not be moving forward with construction of the Lake Nona campus,” Orange County Mayor Jerry L. Demings said in a statement. “However, these are the consequences when there isn’t an inclusive and collaborative work environment between the state of Florida and the business community. We will continue to work closely with our valued partners at Disney.”
The head of the state’s Democratic party slammed the governor’s “unhinged personal vendetta against Disney” for costing Florida 2,000 jobs and millions in additional revenue.
“DeSantis has single-handedly and decidedly made Florida an anti-business state,” said Florida Democratic Party Chair Nikki Fried in a statement. “Unfortunately, today’s news isn’t a shock for those of us who have been living through his reign of terror, and Floridians are already paying a high price.”
Disney
(DIS) and DeSantis have been sparring for over a year about controversial legislation the governor signed that restricts the teaching of sexual orientation and gender identity in schools. Critics have labeled the law “Don’t Say Gay.”
The fight has intensified in recent months after DeSantis moved to take over the company’s special tax district setting rules for Disney World and surrounding areas. DeSantis has tried to install a hand-picked board to oversee the district. Before the Florida government selected the board in February, Disney had reached agreements with the outgoing board that limited the power of DeSantis’ appointees.
The two sides are now locked in a legal battle, with Disney arguing in its federal lawsuit that the actions by DeSantis and the state of Florida were a violation of its First Amendment rights to free speech.
Last month, Disney CEO Bob Iger told shareholders at its annual meeting that he believed DeSantis’ actions to punish Disney, one of the state’s largest employers, were “anti-business” and “anti-Florida.”
And on a call with investors following its quarterly earnings report last week, Iger suggested that DeSantis and Florida’s legislature was putting at risk the company’s plans to invest $17 billion in Florida, and create 13,000 jobs, over the next 10 years.
“Does the state want us to invest more, employ more people and pay more taxes or not?” Iger asked rhetorically during that investor call.
Following those comments, Disney did not respond to inquires as to whether it was changing those Florida investment plans. Thursday’s announcement was perhaps a first step in changing those plans.
Disney’s stock rose slightly after its announcement.
– CNN’s Steve Contorno and Chris Isidore contributed reporting.
