All eyes on the Facebook Oversight Board; Gutfeld's admission about Fox; New York Post's vaccine message; Snap sees world 'beginning to open up'; HBO Max adds 2.7M subs

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Oliver Darcy here at 10.15pm ET Thursday. Rupert Murdoch's New York Post is encouraging vaccinations after fear-mongering about them for weeks, President Biden is on the cover of Bloomberg Businessweek, Times Up is calling for there to be "no comeback" for Mark Halperin, Snap says it sees the world "beginning to open up," and HBO Max is reporting a gain of 2.7M subscribers. But first...

All eyes on the Oversight Board

Anticipation is building for the Facebook Oversight Board's looming decision on whether to keep or reverse a ban on former President Trump's account. The board has said the decision will be announced "in the coming weeks." And Axios added fuel to the speculation Thursday when it published a story about how world leaders are bracing for the announcement.

"This is going to be a global moment," NYU journalism professor Jay Rosen commented. Indeed, Axios' Sara Fischer and Jonathan Swan pointed out, "the decision will set a historic precedent for how the tech giant treats accounts of world leaders, and could be a litmus test for the board's power."

And yet, amid the high level of interest and the suspense, neither Facebook nor the Oversight Board are commenting. I checked in with both parties about the forthcoming decision and mum is the word...

A big test

The decision from the Facebook Oversight Board could, first and foremost, serve as the biggest demonstration of the board's power and independence. There are quite a few critics who are skeptical that the board is truly independent from Facebook. And there have also been concerns from critics about whether Facebook will abide by the board's recommendations. If the board were to buck Facebook and issue a decision that rebukes that of Facebook's, it would be quite the moment and could solidify the board's power or reveal it to be what some critics have suggested...

What we still don't know

In addition to not knowing when the actual decision will come down or what it will be, there are still several other unanswered questions. If the board does reinstate Trump, how soon might we see his account reactivated? Could Facebook agree to follow such a recommendation, but not allow him on back until some more time has passed since the insurrection? Could Trump's profile be reactivated, but in a more limited fashion? Might Facbeook implement additional restrictions on the account? And will the decision be less clear than simply saying whether Facebook should allow him back or not? Could the board make a decision in a more grey area that could be left open to interpretation?

How it could impact the GOP and news cycle

Donie O'Sullivan writes: "The decision from the board could change Trump's behavior and the entire dynamic of Republican politics. Right now, Trump's shadow looms large, but we normally only hear from him a few times a week through statements. Having the ability to post on Facebook could mean we are back to seeing Trump weighing in hourly, or multiple times an hour — whether it is what he sees on Fox or if it is armchair quarterbacking every move made by senior Republicans. Of course the question will be how much attention the GOP, the media, and voters, pay to what he says -- but this decision could dramatically impact the daily political conversation and the power dynamic in the party."

The potential political loophole

Donie adds: "Trump is no longer an elected official or a declared candidate, so if he were to be allowed back on Facebook, he would be subject to the company's fact-checks where he was not before. So you could potentially — again, if you were to be permitted back on the site — expect a lot of friction between Facebook and Trump as they label his posts false or misleading. What would be quite interesting is if Trump were to decide to declare 2024 candidacy early just to get around Facebook's fact-checking rules..."

FOR THE RECORD, PART ONE

-- "As the tech world waits to see whether Facebook kicks Donald Trump out for good or lets him back in, lawmakers are following along, seeing the case as a milestone in the fraught relationship between Big Tech and free speech," Caleb Ecarma writes... (Vanity Fair)

-- Rep. Ro Khanna: "I'm less concerned about the fate of Donald Trump as much as I am about the precedent that this is setting for the removal and de-platforming of everyone else..." (Axios)

-- HuffPost's S.V. Dáte: "Facebook is going to decide whether it believes in democracy as a core value, or if it's a neutral observer in the both-sides struggle between democracy and authoritarianism..." (Twitter)

-- Latest scoop from Craig Silverman, Ryan Mac, and Jane Lytvynenko: "An internal task force found that Facebook failed to take appropriate action against the Stop the Steal movement ahead of the Jan. 6 Capitol insurrection, and hoped the company could 'do better next time...'" (BuzzFeed)

-- Susan Glasser's warning: "The Trump administration is over, but the Trump crisis is not..." (New Yorker)

"We are hypocrites"

As critics — myself included — have pointed out, while Fox hosts sharply criticize coronavirus restrictions, their own company continues to mandate strict precautions. On Thursday's episode of "The Five," Greg Gutfeld conceded, "We are hypocrites." He called on the show to return to in-person filming. "We have the vaccines and we have the rapid testing," Gutfeld pointed out. "There is no reason for us to be doing this all the time, unless it's legal B.S., which is probably the case for everything in life. We're controlled by lawyers. Sorry!"

>> Buried nugget here: Gutfeld said during his comments that "all of us, I believe, have been vaccinated..."

"GET VAXXED!"

Brian Stelter writes: "Rupert Murdoch's New York Post made a clear statement on Thursday: 'GET VAXXED!' It is a laudable message — or at least it would've been if the Post hadn't been exerting so much energy with fear-mongering web stories about the vaccines. Some commenters criticized the Post for this contradiction while others said 'better late than never.' Here's my full story..."

Stelter adds: "It seems to me that Murdoch's outlets try to 'have it both ways' or play all sides -- making money through sensational stories and TV segments that mislead folks about vaccines, while also making money with 'GET VAXXED!' front pages and 'VAXXED AF' ballcaps in its online store. Full disclosure, I ordered one last week..."

FRIDAY PLANNER

Biden will deliver remarks at 9:15am for the virtual climate summit...

"Mortal Kombat" hits (pun intended) theaters and HBO Max...

"The Falcon and the Winter Soldier" finale arrives on Disney+...

FOR THE RECORD, PART TWO

-- Political parties are raising money off media personalities. The DNC sent a recent email asking whether or not its supporters watch Rachel Maddow's show. NYT's Nick Confessore added that he received an email last week from a Republican committee asking him to stand up for Tucker Carlson... (Twitter / Twitter)

-- "Having Republican voters come to see you as out of line with the party because of Fox News coverage or tweets from Dan Bongino is a whole different threat" than Trump endorsing an opponent, Philip Bump writes, "and one that's harder to manage..." (WaPo)

-- Joe Walsh says Tucker Carlson and Sean Hannity's "sea of disinformation and conspiracy" is a "real problem" for the US... (Mediaite)

-- Speaking of Hannity: The Fox propagandist has purchased a $5.3 million beachfront mansion near Mar-a-Lago... (Daily Beast)

-- "For at least the third time, One America News is letting MyPillow CEO Mike Lindell use its network to spread lies about Dominion Voting Systems and the 2020 election -- even as Dominion is suing Lindell for defamation and reportedly considering other lawsuits against entities pushing or hosting these false narratives..." (MMFA)

-- Another Fox contributor is getting a tryout: Tammy Bruce will host the 7pm hour next week... (AdWeek)

Cover of the week

The new issue of Bloomberg Businessweek has a masked Biden on the cover. The headline: "Move Fast and Fix Things." The story's theme: "Now comes the hard part." Josh Wingrove and Nancy Cook authored the cover story...

FOR THE RECORD, PART THREE

-- Responding to backlash from its recent "VACCINATED TEST POSITIVE" headline, St. Louis Post-Dispatch tweeted, "A Post-Dispatch story about local officials urging caution after a small number of vaccinated people contracted COVID-19 was thorough and fair. The main headline missed that point..." (Twitter)

-- The NYT will not voluntarily recognize the Times Tech Guild, a recently announced union effort of tech and digital staffers, per a memo from Meredith Kopit Levien... (NYT)

-- In Substack drama: Charlie Warzel responds to Glenn Greenwald's retort about his newsletter's "very slow start" with more insight on why he left NYT... (Galaxy Brain)

-- "Do newsrooms have to be in … newsrooms?" Kristen Hare asks, exploring alternatives to big buildings such as coffee shops, libraries or universities ... (Poynter)

-- Kristen Hare also spoke with Minnesota journalists covering Derek Chauvin's trial including Minnesota Public Radio's new ME Sarah Glover... (Poynter)

-- Dow Jones has appointed Robert Hayes as Chief Business Officer, New Ventures... (Dow Jones)

Times Up: "There should be no comeback for Mark Halperin"

Amid news that Mark Halperin has been hired by the bipartisan policy group No Labels, Times Up said Thursday "nothing" the org has seen gives it "confidence" that doing so "is doing anything other than opening the door for him to continue to mistreat his colleagues and cause more pain." Times Up wrote on Twitter, "It's not enough for Halperin to publicly apologize -- he must take steps to redress the harm he caused. Any org that would empower someone who has yet to show basic remorse, empathy, and responsibility for his actions should be ashamed. There should be no comeback for Mark Halperin. The women who bravely told their stories deserve better..."

>> Related story via WaPo's Paul Farhi and Sarah Ellison: No Labels "is facing blowback from its employees" after hiring Halperin...

Court ruling in Dr. Luke v Kesha case could impact journalism

"In a setback not only for pop star Kesha Rose Sebert but also for many news organizations that took her side in a huge libel battle, a New York appeals court has ruled that Lukasz 'Dr. Luke' Gottwald is not a public figure," THR's Eriq Gardner reported Thursday. Gardner wrote that "the ruling that someone as famous as Dr. Luke didn't qualify as a public figure was concerning to the Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press which, along with news organizations like The Daily Beast, Dow Jones, New York Public Radio, and others, filed an amicus brief in Kesha's favor..."

FOR THE RECORD, PART FOUR

-- Apple plans to expand its ad business, adding a second ad slot in its App Store, Hannah Murphy and Patrick McGee report... (FT)

-- Twitter's comms chief, Brandon Borrman, says he's leaving the company in June... (Twitter)

-- Facebook is testing ads in Instagram Reels. Carolyn Everson spoke about the new formats and concerns over its video metrics... (TechCrunch)

-- Expect more ads in Clubhouse. Clubmarket is a new app for connecting brands and influencers on the app... (Digiday)

Snap sees "world beginning to open up"

"Snap's stock rose as much as 6% in after-hours trading on Thursday after the company reported its first-quarter results, in which it beat Wall Street's expectations on earnings, revenue and user growth," CNBC's Salvador Rodriguez reported. One interesting aspect of the company's earnings report: Snap said it sees "the world beginning to open up" through its data trends. For example, "As things began to open up in the US in late February, we saw inflection points in key behaviors like Story posting and engagement with the Snap Map..."

HBO Max adds 2.7 million subscribers

Shares in AT&T (CNN's parent) jumped more than 4% on Thursday after the company reported Q1 earnings that showed substantial HBO Max subscriber growth. "Over all, AT&T counted 44.1 million subscribers to HBO and HBO Max in the United States at the end of March, a gain of 2.7 million from the previous quarter," NYT's Edmund Lee wrote, noting that HBO Max "likely got a boost from an unorthodox strategy" of releasing the 2021 slate of Warner Bros. films simultaneously on the platform. CNBC's Sarah Whitten wrote that "in a crowded streaming world, HBO Max is holding its own" against Netflix and Disney+. She added, "The biggest difference between HBO Max and other players is that it currently only operates its streaming video on-demand service in the US." That service will launch internationally in June...

>> AT&T's WarnerMedia reported $8.5 billion in revenue, "up 9.8% versus the year-ago quarter, driven by higher subscription, advertising and content revenue," Variety's Todd Spangler wrote. He noted that "ad revenue was up 18.5%, to $1.75 billion, with return of sports, including the NCAA March Madness tournament..."

Earth Day edition of our Reliable Sources podcast

Brian Stelter writes: "To mark both Earth Day and National Parks Week, let me introduce you to Keith Repanshek, the founder and EIC of National Parks Traveler. His publication is America's only media outlet dedicated to covering national parks and protected areas. We talked about his nimble operation, the significance of its nonprofit status, and the challenges of such a sprawling beat. Climate change is also an urgent part of the parks story, he pointed out: From Acadia to the Grand Canyon, "just about everywhere you look in the national park system, there is a climate change story." Check out our convo via Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Stitcher, TuneIn, or your favorite app...

FOR THE RECORD, PART FIVE

-- "Sports media company Overtime has secured an $80 million fundraising round with investors including Jeff Bezos' investment firm," Drake, Alexis Ohanian and several NBA players, Jabari Young reports... (CNBC)

-- In case you missed the past few days: Here's "how the Super League fell apart," a story that involves TV networks and sponsors, as told by Tariq Panja and Rory Smith... (NYT)

-- CNN Audio has premiered the first two episodes of "Behind The Desk: The Story of Late Night" – a new podcast hosted by Bill Carter... (CNN)

Lowry reviews "Stowaway" and "Tiny Tim"

Brian Lowry writes: "Netflix adds to its mission-to-Mars queue (which includes the series 'Away') with 'Stowaway,' a low-key, four-person exercise that's really more of a moral dilemma than a thriller. You won't be missing much if you wait for the next shuttle. More worthwhile, meanwhile, is the documentary 'Tiny Tim: King For a Day,' a look back at the life and career of the androgynous singer who briefly went from novelty act to becoming a pop-culture sensation in the late 1960s and early '70s, including his appearances on 'Laugh-In' and wedding on 'The Tonight Show.'"

A pandemic anomaly or sign of progress?

Brian Lowry writes: "In his THR column, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar makes a case for the significance of the Oscars, ratings or no ratings. He argues it is 'a good year for cultural diversity and the Oscars,' pointing out that the nominees 'are a choir of diverse voices — a song that celebrates the soul of who we want to be.' Yet he also asks, appropriately, to what extent that is due to this unorthodox year, with theaters closed, making streaming services 'the great equalizer among viewers.' Were the nominations a 'pandemic anomaly,' he asks, or a sign of genuine progress?"

FOR THE RECORD, PART SIX

-- Vulture spoke with "33 former assistants and interns of Scott Rudin Productions who worked for him from 1994 to 2020. While the date and length of their time there varies ... all shared memories of a workplace culture predicated on bullying and physical intimidation..." (Vulture)

-- "The Producers Guild of America has broken its silence over workplace bullying claims in the wake of The Hollywood Reporter's April 7 cover story on allegations made against Scott Rudin..." (THR)

-- "While the angst level is high going into Sunday's Academy Awards given overall viewership trends, Disney Advertising Sales says it has sold out ad inventory for the telecast..." (Deadline)

-- Jake Paul is "facing allegations of sexual misconduct from other influencers," Taylor Lorenz reports... (NYT)

-- "George Gershwin, the noted composer of 'Rhapsody in Blue' and 'An American in Paris,' will be the inspiration for a new musical drama from Martin Scorsese and John Carney..." (Variety)

SAVING THE BEST FOR LAST...

Dogs of the day!

Robert Janyk emails a pic of his two canines, Jack and Mini. He says they "get so tired" as they listen to him talk about the news, "especially if the sun is out..."