Forgetting India; Alden to take over Tribune; fighting QAnon's spread in churches; Diller slams AT&T; Cook takes stand in Fortnite trial; will Axel Springer buy Axios?

View this email in your browser.

Share it on Facebook or Twitter.

Subscribe here.

Oliver Darcy here at 8:30pm ET Friday with the latest on Alden's takeover of Tribune, QAnon spreading in churches, Jedediah Bila's exit from Fox, and Barry Diller's comments on the WarnerMedia-Discovery deal. Plus, Tim Cook takes the stand to defend Apple and The Info reports Axel Springer is in talks to buy Axios. But first...

Forgetting India

The coronavirus crisis in India is far from over. This week, on Wednesday, the country reported 4,529 deaths — or, as the Associated Press put it, "more coronavirus deaths in a single day than any other country at any time during the pandemic, while infections continued to spread through vast rural areas with weak health systems."

Yes, new cases in India do appear to finally be slowing, but deaths have shown no such trend. And many of the problems the country faced weeks ago still persist. But coverage in the US press has subsided...

Decline in coverage

It's not anecdotal. The data shows that the crisis in India is getting less coverage than it was just a few weeks ago. Take a look at the graph above, which documents coverage on cable news. (Apologies for not producing the best line-chart, I do not have Excel and clearly need some more practice in Pages.) Coverage spiked on all three networks – though not as much on Fox — hitting its peak in early May. Since then, coverage has waned considerably.

The situation has been slightly better online. An analysis provided to me by Kinetiq, a firm that offers insights on news coverage, also showed a spike in late April and early May. During 10 of the 12 days between April 26 and May 7, more than 20,000 stories about the crisis were published online, according to Kinetiq. But May 7 was the last day the number of articles published online surpassed the 20K mark. In recent days the number has hovered between about 10,000 and 15,000...

What's behind the loss in interest?

It's hard to say why exactly coverage has dissipated. It is possible that it has subsided, in part, because the number of new cases has started to decrease. But a horrifying number of people are still dying each day — and experts have said they believe the figures India is reporting are actually undercounted. Hospitals are still overrun, oxygen for the sick is still in demand, and criminals are taking advantage of the chaos.

Which is to say that there is plenty to still cover. So perhaps it's something else. Is it that news orgs were interested in the surge early on because it was novel, but now that it's a daily occurrence everyone is numb to the situation? Is it because another international news story — the Israel-Palestine conflict — stole attention from it? Is because newsrooms are simply choosing to prioritize the good coronavirus news here at home? Or, perhaps, it is a combination of each of these things?

FOR THE RECORD, PART ONE

-- "India's mass Covid-19 cremations must be witnessed by the world," writes Kamayani Sharma... (Vox)

-- "India's information technology ministry has written to all social media companies asking them to take down any content that refers to an 'Indian variant' of the coronavirus," Aditya Kalra reports, citing a Friday letter he reviewed... (Reuters)

-- Compounding the coronavirus crisis in India is the spread of "black fungus" that is infecting those "whose immune systems have been weakened by the virus or who have underlying conditions -- most notably diabetes..." (CNN)

-- Meanwhile, in the US: The seven-day case average has fallen below 30,000 for the first time since last summer... (WSJ)

The "vampire" hedge fund will take over Tribune

Kerry Flynn writes: "Tribune shareholders voted in favor of the acquisition by hedge fund Alden. As Stelter wrote, Alden has been called a 'vampire' and a 'corporate strip miner.' The prevailing thought is the company will go in and cut costs without thinking about the impact on the journalism. To me, Friday's news came as a bit of shock even when I wrote a similar headline in February when news broke about the agreement. Maryland business Stewart Bainum and other wealthy individuals inspired hope with their proposals to outbid the hedge fund. There was also talk of Alden's takeover falling apart thanks to the veto power of LAT owner and Tribune shareholder Patrick Soon-Shiong. Neither of those scenarios came through. Media Guild West, which represents LAT staffers, said they 'vehemently disagree' with Soon-Shiong's decision. 'When investors are passive,' the guild said, 'the vultures are active.'"

>> Flynn adds: "But the papers' staff and the NewsGuild, which represents many of Tribune's newsrooms, aren't giving up. NewsGuild President Jon Schleuss wrote, 'I am disturbed and upset. Yet, I cannot help but be optimistic. As journalists, we enter this field with a mission and a purpose to listen and report the truth. That mission has always been under attack, yet we continue to persevere.' Bainum also released a statement that said he was 'evaluating various options' and expects to make an announcement in the coming days..."

This Sunday on "Reliable"

Brian Stelter writes: "Gregory Pratt, the president of the Chicago Tribune Guild, will join me on CNN Sunday morning, along with the BBC's John Ware, Max Foster, Nicole Hemmer, Claire Atkinson, Perry Bacon, Jr., and Edward-Isaac Dovere. See you at 11am ET on CNN..."

WEEKEND PLANNER

-- Season three of "Master of None" drops on Netflix and "In Treatment" lands on HBO. Scroll down below for Brian Lowry's reviews...

-- The NBA Playoffs begin. Games are airing on TNT, ABC, and ESPN...

-- The 2021 Billboard Music Awards, hosted by Nick Jonas, airs on NBC Sunday at 8pm ET...

Jedediah Bila out at "Fox & Friends Weekend"

This came as a surprise: Fox announced via People Mag on Friday that it had "mutually and amicably" parted ways with "Fox & Friends Weekend" co-host Jedediah Bila. Fox said that a new co-host for the show "will be named soon.' For her part, Bila posted a statement thanking her Fox colleagues and viewers. "I'm deeply grateful for you and hopeful you'll join me on my next adventure," she said. "I'm really excited for what's to come." The departure marks the loss of another reality-based conservative for the right-wing talk channel...

As QAnon spreads in churches, some pastors try to stop it

Donie O'Sullivan writes: "As we've seen with the Arizona audit, the Big Lie is not going away. And neither is QAnon. I spent some time with evangelical pastors in North Carolina and rural California who are trying to steer their congregation away from QAnon — a conspiracy theory that invokes a lot of Christian language and imagery. QAnon is more popular among White evangelicals than people of other religions and it ties in to a wider threat of what is known as Christian nationalism. There's a lot to unpack in this one, so take a watch..."

Joan Donovan on this week's Reliable podcast

Brian Stelter writes: "Joan Donovan, the research director for the Shorenstein Center at Harvard's Kennedy School, has become a leading voice in the fight against digital disinfo. On this week's RS podcast, we talked about 'media manipulation,' the meme wars, and how disinfo hijacks free expression. Also: fascinating links between the current media landscape and the Occupy movement ten years ago. Tune in via Apple Podcasts or your favorite app..."

FOR THE RECORD, PART TWO

-- "Glenn Greenwald may have quit the Intercept, but he can't quit the feud," Paul Farhi writes. In the piece, Intercept EIC Betsy Reed says Greenwald has "done a good job of torching his journalistic reputation" while Greenwald insists his ex-colleagues have "been irresponsible..." (WaPo)

-- Dan Bongino's "dogged devotion to Trump made him one of the biggest stars in right-wing media, and his ongoing rise following Trump's 2020 defeat shows the hold the former president still has over his base and the right-wing universe whose content it consumes," Matt Gertz writes... (MMFA)

-- Erik Wemple examines Fox's use of the "both sides" defense in its lawsuit with Dominion. "Balance is a good thing, right?" he asks. "Well, it depends on what you're balancing..." (WaPo)

-- "Obsessed with DC, elite media mostly ignored state-based abortion restrictions," Julie Hollar observes... (Flux)

Will Axel Springer buy Axios?

German media company Axel Springer is in talks to buy Axios, The Information's Sahil Patel and Jessica Toonkel reported Friday, citing sources. According to one of their sources, the valuation is around $400 million. The duo noted that figure "is nearly double the $210 million valuation at which Axios raised money in December 2019." A spox for Axel Springer said the company doesn't comment on "rumors." And Patel and Toonkel noted that the talks could fall apart. But if Axel Springer were to purchase Axios, it would bolster the company's US portfolio, which currently includes Insider and an investment in Group Nine Media...

>> Related: Mark Stenberg writes, "Such a strategy would complement Insider's October acquisition of Morning Brew... Between the two, the German publisher would become an immediate presence in the growing newsletter ecosystem..."

NYT goes inside the Discovery-AT&T deal

This NYT story about the Discovery-WarnerMedia deal is full of nuggets. Reporters John Koblin, Michael M. Grynbaum, Edmund Lee and Lauren Hirsch said they spoke to 18 people who helped make the deal a reality. Some highlights:

>> "Like many a modern romance, the marriage of two of the country's biggest media companies started with an emoji," with David Zaslav texting John Stankey asking if he was around and "adding icons of a golfer and sunglasses..."

>> "Code names were used to ensure secrecy. For AT&T, WarnerMedia was 'Magellan' and Discovery was 'Drake.' The Discovery side had its own cryptic handles, calling the deal 'Project Home Run,' with each company named for baseball greats..."

>> Stankey insisted the new company "have a simple ownership structure ... It would make the company smoother to run. And by eliminating the use of shares with disproportionate voting power, the AT&T leader would ensure that the new company could be an easier takeover target in the future..."

>> Stankey informed Jason Kilar about the deal "at some point during the week of May 3..."

>> News of the deal leaked and hit the Bloomberg Terminal as Zaslav and Discovery execs were aboard a private plane to cement it in Dallas...

"The great escape"

Media mogul Barry Diller — speaking to CNBC's Andrew Ross Sorkin from the island he built off Manhattan's west side — shared his thoughts on the deal Friday, saying the WarnerMedia-Discovery deal amounted to a "great escape" for AT&T. Diller knocked the telecoms giant for its brief foray into and sudden exit from the media industry. And he argued AT&T mistreated Jeff Zucker, but said WarnerMedia as a whole should be in better hands under Zaslav. That said, Diller also commented that Netflix won the streaming wars "several years ago" and contended "they're the only ones who have the scale and momentum to keep making these somewhat lunatic investments in programming..."

FOR THE RECORD, PART THREE

-- "Senior Facebook executives apologized to the Palestinian Prime Minister Mohammad Shtayyeh in a virtual meeting on Tuesday, after officials complained to the company about Palestinian posts being blocked amid the conflict with Israel," Billy Perrigo reports... (Time)

-- Twitter is disclosing more details about Ticketed Spaces. "The company is partnering with Stripe to handle payments, and it says users will receive 80 percent of revenue after Apple and Google's in-app purchase fees are taken," Ashley Carman reports... (Verge)

-- "Canada has produced hundreds of YouTube stars. Why is Trudeau trying to change it?" J.J. McCullough asks... (WaPo)

-- Big news for us Apple TV owners: "YouTube has enabled 4K video playback at 60 frames per second for its Apple TV app, rather than the previously capped 30 frames per second..." (MacRumors)

Cook takes the stand in Fortnite trial

In his first-ever court appearance as Apple's CEO, Tim Cook took the stand to defend the company in the Fortnite trial — specifically, the 30% cut Apple gets from in-app purchases. Fortnight owner Epic alleges Apple operates like a monopoly over a "walled garden" and its lawyer grilled Cook about claims the company doesn't keep specific track of the profits it makes from the App Store. But Cook defended Apple's practices of micromanaging its ecosystem by saying the company's actions are in the best interest of the consumer. CNN's Rishi Iyengar has the details here...

Arguments on both sides

In that CNBC interview mentioned above, Barry Diller contended that Apple overcharges "in a disgusting manner" for transactions made in-app. "The idea that they actually justify it by saying, 'We spend all this money protecting our little App Store,'" Diller said. "I mean, it's criminal. Well, it will be criminal." But, later in the day, Snap CEO Evan Spiegel said his company was "happy" to pay the 30% fee. "We really feel like Snapchat wouldn't exist without the iPhone and without the amazing platform that Apple has created," Spiegel said...

FOR THE RECORD, PART FOUR

-- The AP's David Bauder writes about how the AP "is being criticized for firing a young journalist over her social media activity..." (AP)

-- UNC Hussman professor Seth Noar says that for Nikole Hannah-Jones to "get approved at all levels and then for the university to not grant tenure is just stunning." Noar adds that "it's chilling to academic freedom..." (CNN)

-- "If you've taken recent debates about free speech and censorship at face value, you might find Hannah-Jones's denial of tenure deeply confusing," Adam Serwer writes. "For the past five years, conservatives have been howling about the alleged censoriousness of the American left, in particular on college campuses..." (The Atlantic)

-- Nicole Hemmer argues that the way the UNC Board of Trustees acted "illustrates the way conservatives often wield power in higher education..." (CNN)

FIRST IN RELIABLE

Yahoo partners with NABJ and NAHJ for new fellowship

Yahoo is launching a new fellowship beginning on Monday. The outlet has partnered with the National Association of Black Journalists and National Association of Hispanic Journalists for its inaugural Multimedia Journalism Fellowship Program. The fellowship, a spox says, "is part of the brand's larger commitment to expanding opportunities for diverse talent and elevating content that is representative of diverse perspectives." The 2021 fellows are Dani Romero, Garin Flowers, David Artavia, and Terrance Smith...

FOR THE RECORD, PART FIVE

By Kerry Flynn:

-- Sally Buzbee tells Sara Guaglione that expanding WaPo's global footprint "will certainly be a focus" for her when she takes over as editor... (Digiday)

-- Harvard Law School researchers study "journalistic linkrot and content drift" by analyzing hyperlinks in NYT articles.... (CJR)

-- TV mogul Byron Allen sues McDonald's for $10 billion, alleging discriminating against Black-owned media companies... (Bloomberg)

Weekend Reads

By Katie Pellico:

-- Elisa Lees Muñoz, executive director of the International Women's Media Foundation, asserts: "A culture shift is needed in the media industry to take online violence as seriously as physical violence..." (NiemanReports)

-- Jack Stanton: "Thirty years ago, sociologist James Davison Hunter popularized the concept of culture war. Today, he sees a culture war that's gotten worse — and that spells trouble for the future of the American experiment..." (Politico)

-- Fatima Bahja has a sobering read on "objectivity and Palestine..." (The Objective)

-- NBCU Academy on "why words matter" when covering Israel and Palestine: "When reporters rely on euphemisms, vague phrases or even propagandistic terms, it obscures the power imbalance on the ground..." (NBCU Academy)

-- "Can the news be fixed?" Amanda Ripley details how local news owner Scripps invested millions in a "listening tour" with the lofty aim to "fix local news." Read about their findings, and what that could mean for the future of the industry... (The Atlantic)

-- Read about "how New York City is saving its local news outlets," from Sarah Barlett, the dean of the Craig Newmark Graduate School of Journalism at CUNY, and Julie Sandorf, president of the Charles H. Revson Foundation... (NYT)

-- Marquita K. Harris profiles Sara Sidner: "For decades the CNN correspondent has stoically covered some of the world's most important stories. Thanks to the events of the last year, though, the world got to see the person behind the news..." (Glamour)

-- "The drama in Stacey Abrams' political thriller is unfolding off the page." Nicole Hemmer explains... (CNN)

-- Erica Lenti recounts her "quest to make" her dog internet famous. "I loved Belle, my one-eyed puppy. But could I convince everybody else that she was a star?" (Walrus)

Streaming this weekend

Brian Lowry writes: "The Oprah Winfrey-Prince Harry-produced 'The Me You Can't See' – devoted to de-stigmatizing mental-health issues – is understandably getting most of the attention, and it falls squarely under the host's public-service brand. But Apple TV+ drops a second and considerably better docuseries on Friday as well: '1971: The Year That Music Changed Everything,' a very deep (as in eight part) dive into the songs of 50 years ago and how they're still resonating today..."

>> Lowry continues: "The weekend also brings a third season of Netflix's 'Master of None,' subtitled 'Moments in Love,' which bears little resemblance to the show that preceded it, playing like an independent film diced into five parts; and 'In Treatment,' HBO's timed-to-Covid reboot, with Uzo Aduba taking Gabriel Byrne's spot on the therapist's couch..."

Meanwhile, in theaters...

Lowry adds: "In theaters, a big recommendation for the sobering 'Final Account,' culled from interviews with the last surviving generation of Germans who at worst were complicit in, and at best sat idly by, during the Holocaust. A decade in the making, it was directed by Luke Holland, who died last year..."

FOR THE RECORD, PART SIX

-- You'll want to spend some time with this story from Patrick Brzeski and Tatiana Siegel: "From deal frenzy to decoupling: Is the China-Hollywood romance officially over?" (THR)

-- "Lady Gaga is divulging new details about being raped by a music producer when she was 19..." (THR)

-- "After decades at NBC, Rebecca Marks is moving to become Executive Vice President, Publicity and Communications, Warner Bros. Television Group..." (Deadline)

-- "The long awaited movie adaptation of popular BBC series 'Luther' is gearing up for a September production start, actor and executive producer Idris Elba has revealed..." (Variety)

Building anticipation for "In the Heights"

Brian Lowry writes: "Normally lifting a review embargo three weeks early wouldn't make much sense, but it's clear what Warner Bros. hopes to accomplish with 'In the Heights,' the adaptation of Lin-Manuel Miranda's musical, flogging the rave notices promotionally to build anticipation for its June 11 release. My review will come later, but Variety's Marc Malkin certainly captured the response by calling the film (from CNN's sister studio) 'the movie we need right now. It's a cinematic anti-depressant. See it. Watch it. Bring the family, friends. It's a big screw-you to the pandemic because it's the movie u want to see with other people.' Or, incidentally, stream on HBO Max…"

FOR THE RECORD, PART SEVEN

By Lisa Respers France:

-- Stephen Colbert welcomed John Krasinski as his first in-studio guest since the pandemic caused him to go virtual...

-- Mariska Hargitay felt "honored" that her "Law & Order: SVU" series helped a young girl escape from an alleged attempted abduction...

LAST BUT DEFINITELY NOT LEAST...

Cat of the day!

Dwight Knell — son of NatGeo's Gary Knell — emails in a photo of his cat Cheddar: "As you can see from this photo, his interests are pretty straightforward..."

Anchors, reporters, producers, editors, execs, and all other readers: Submit your pet for Pet of the Day by emailing us a photo with a short caption...