The Los Angeles Times has aggressively covered #MeToo sexual harassment charges against powerful figures in Hollywood.
Now the company that owns the newspaper is investigating its publisher and CEO, Ross Levinsohn, after a report uncovered two sexual harassment lawsuits in which he was a defendant and past complaints of inappropriate conduct toward women, according to USAToday.
Tronc said the publishing company became aware of the allegations this week and launched an investigation.
"At Tronc, we expect all employees to act in a way that supports a culture of diversity and inclusion," the media company said in a statement. "We will take appropriate action to address any behavior that falls short of these expectations."
Tronc declined to say if Levinsohn would be placed on leave or suspended during the investigation.
Levinsohn, a longtime digital media executive who held positions at Yahoo and News Corp., has been publisher of the Tronc-owned newspaper since August.
The news landed one day before federal labor officials are scheduled to announce the results of a union vote taken by the Los Angeles Times newsroom earlier this month. The Los Angeles Times guild organizing committee called for Levinsohn's immediate ouster, saying he's not "fit to lead our newspaper."
The committee also urged Tronc to conduct an independent investigation to determine whether Levinsohn acted inappropriately toward Los Angeles Times employees during his tenure as publisher.
A top staffer on Megyn Kelly’s show has been fired after claiming there is a “toxic and demeaning” environment on set, rife with bullying and “abusive treatment.”
The NYPost reports Kevin Bleyer was fired as a writer from “Megyn Kelly Today” this week after complaining that Kelly’s two top execs, Jackie Levin and Christine Cataldi, were bullying lower level members of staff.
Bleyer — a multiple Emmy-winning former writer for “The Daily Show” and speechwriter for President Barack Obama — on Tuesday sent the email to NBC News human resources, and was fired shortly after.
He wrote in the memo, “I’m sad to say … the executive incompetence continues — as does the dysfunctional management, abusive treatment, maddening hypocrisy, staggering inefficiencies, acidic and deficient communication, and relentless scapegoating. Jackie Levin persists in creating a toxic and demeaning environment, and Christine Cataldi enables and reinforces it.”
He continues: “It is a special absurdity — and what some find a hard-to-swallow injustice — that as a team we’ve been lauded for covering harassment stories daily on air, while the staff producing those stories feels so embattled and bullied themselves. As a result, veteran staffers are looking for the exits … Others have told me they’d ask to be reassigned elsewhere within NBC. I should add that many of those who have confided in me have made it plain: sensitivity training will not suffice. Their feeling is you can’t change these tigers’ stripes.”
There is no suggestion Kelly, who has used show to speak out against harassment and workplace bullying, is involved in the “toxic” bullying on her show.
Westwood One is the official radio broadcast partner of the Recording Academy and Music’s Biggest Night, taking place at Madison Square Garden on January 28, 2018. As a celebration of Music’s Biggest Night and the Recording Academy’s return to New York City for the 60th Annual GRAMMY Awards, Westwood One will produce a diverse menu of exclusive multi-format programming and a live musical performance series.
“Westwood One’s partnership with the Recording Academy and the GRAMMY Awards spans across two decades, and I could not be more excited to welcome the Recording Academy and the GRAMMYs 60th Anniversary Awards back to our hometown NYC,” said Suzanne Grimes, EVP Corporate Marketing, Cumulus Media and President, Westwood One. “Our #1 goal is to engage and entertain our listeners across the country, so this year we created a month-long programming line-up that brings the GRAMMYs to life – everything from a chance to win a trip to NYC to attend the Awards, three format specific GRAMMY Nomination specials, red carpet reports from the hottest and most exclusive events, and for the first time this year, 10 live musical performances during the week leading up to Music’s Biggest Night®.”
"The Recording Academy is pleased to extend its partnership with Westwood One as the official radio broadcast partner of the 60th Annual GRAMMY Awards," said Evan Greene, Chief Marketing Officer at the Recording Academy. "Westwood One's dedicated efforts will provide fans various opportunities to engage with the GRAMMYs and play an important role in building excitement and anticipation for Music's Biggest Night."
The month-long celebration is dedicated to music fans and listeners across the country with a GRAMMY 60th Anniversary VIP sweepstakes, offering a trip to NYC and can’t-buy tickets to the 60th GRAMMY Awards. Westwood One also will create a two-hour GRAMMYs 60th Anniversary Nomination Special and distribute the broadcast across three key music formats airing January 20 and 21st, each hosted by New York City on-air talent. The Top 40/Rhythmic, Hot AC, and AC versions will be hosted by Jayde Donovan from Todd & Jayde Mornings on WPLJ-FM/New York and the Urban/Urban AC version will be hosted by La Loca from WNBM-FM/New York.
New to the programming line-up this year, Westwood One will bring the excitement of GRAMMY week to life for music fans and listeners with multiple daily special reports featuring exclusive artist interviews, the hottest red carpets, and the most exclusive parties and events, all to capture the buzz and excitement from around town while New York City prepares for Music’s Biggest Night®.
Finally, there will be a week-long series of musical performances and interviews, live from Hackensack Meridian Health Stage 17, in the heart of the action at Penn Plaza, next door to the world famous Madison Square Garden and home of the GRAMMYs 60th Anniversary Award Show. Pop station 95.5 WPLJ and New York’s only country station, NASH FM 94.7, will be hosting private performances all week by Bleachers, Marshmello, and this year’s GRAMMY-nominated artist Midland, just to name a few. A complete list of performances will be announced shortly.
The 60th GRAMMY Awards will take place at Madison Square Garden in New York on January 28, 2018, airing live on CBS from 7:30 – 11 pm ET/4:30 – 8 pm PT and will be hosted by The Late Late Show’s James Corden.
The Media Rating Council (MRC) Thursday issued its Digital Audio Measurement Standards as final. This first-of-its-kind standard outlines measurement and reporting requirements for digital audio advertising and content in either browser or application environments that require a software-based audio player. The principles noted in these Standards apply to digital audio ads and content regardless of whether they are delivered through a digital audio streaming environment or through a progressive download approach, including podcasts.
The document was developed in collaboration with a large working group of organizations involved in the digital audio industry, including digital audio ad buyers and sellers, digital audio content distributors, measurement services and others. Notably, the Radio Advertising Bureau (RAB), the National Association of Broadcasters’ Committee on Local Radio Audience Measurement (COLRAM), and the Interactive Advertising Bureau (IAB) participated in the project working group and as sponsoring association partners. A preliminary draft of the standard was previously issued for public comment in June 2017.
George Ivie
“These new standards will advance the state of digital audio measurement, and make it more comparable with measurement of other media types,” said George W. Ivie, Executive Director and CEO of the MRC.
He went on to add, “As measurers step forward to be audited and ultimately accredited against these standards, buyers of digital audio advertising will be able to gain assurance that the measurements on which they evaluate their digital ad investments—whether those ads appear in streaming audio, audio podcasts, or other relevant digital audio environments—serve as a true reflection of the exposure of these ads to audiences.”
Among some of the most important provisions of the MRC's Digital Audio Measurement Standards are:
A description of the approaches that should be applied to the measurement and reporting of digital audio under a variety of different content and advertising distribution models. These can include both reporting digital audio metrics on a standalone basis, as well as in combination with over-the-air audio simulcasts.
A requirement that measurements occur on the client side. Server side transaction records are generally not considered acceptable for measurement of digital audio activity because they are subject to overstatement and significant inaccuracy, and are never permitted as a basis for digital audio metrics that rely on longitudinal data observations.
A definition of an "Audio Ad Impression" that requires the ad to have been played with the digital audio player in a non-muted state and at a non-zero volume. In addition, these ads must be filtered for invalid traffic using methods that comply with the requirements of the MRC's Invalid Traffic Detection and Filtration Guidelines Addendum's provisions for General Invalid Traffic (GIVT). The use of additional Sophisticated Invalid Traffic (SIVT) detection processes is strongly encouraged, and is required for audience metrics for digital audio.
The introduction of the concept of an "Audible Ad Impression"-in a sense, the audio equivalent of a Viewable Ad Impression. While the standard puts forward certain requirements for this new metric (the ad also must play for a minimum duration of two continuous seconds, in addition to satisfying the requirements for qualification as an Audio Ad Impression), the standard also specifies that additional research will be conducted to determine the parameters by which an Audible Ad Impression will be defined on a permanent basis.
The MRC's Digital Audio Measurement Standards will serve as a primary assessment criteria for those digital audio measurers that seek to have their services independently validated through the MRC accreditation process. The Standards document is available through a link at www.mediaratingcouncil.org.
French activist and former actress Brigitte Bardot said many actresses sexually provoke film producers to win roles and then complain about harassment to get attention.
Reuters reports her comments come a week after fellow French actress Catherine Deneuve sparked an outcry by saying a backlash against men following the Harvey Weinstein scandal had gone too far. She referred to the #Metoo campaign against sexual harassment as puritanism.
Back In The Day
Bardot, one of France’s most famous figures, was quoted by weekly magazine Paris Match as saying that most complaints of sexual harassment by actresses - not by women in general - were “hypocritical, ridiculous and pointless”.
“There are many actresses who are coming on to producers just to get a role,” the 83-year-old one-time model was quoted as saying. “Then, just so people will talk about them, they say they have been harassed.”
Bardot, who became famous in the 1950s, marrying film director Roger Vadim when she was 18, said talk about harassment was getting in the way of more important topics and said she had never been the victim of sexual harassment.
“I was quite charmed when they told me I was beautiful or that I had a nice little ass,” the magazine quoted her as saying. “That kind of compliment is nice.”
Often referred to by her initials “BB”, Bardot appeared in more than 40 films and was named as one of the five sexiest female stars of the 20th century by Playboy magazine.
After giving up cinema in 1973, she took up the cause of animal rights and later became an increasingly controversial figure with outbursts against gays, Muslim immigrants and the unemployed.
The Eagles have settled a lawsuit to stop a Mexico hotel from using the name “Hotel California,” arguably the country-rock band’s most famous song, after the hotel’s owners withdrew their application to trademark the name in the United States.
Reuters reports a joint dismissal of the band’s lawsuit against Hotel California Baja LLC, which runs the Todos Santos hotel in Baja California Sur, was filed on Wednesday with the U.S. District Court in Los Angeles.
“This case has been settled by mutual agreement of the parties,” Thomas Jirgal, a lawyer for the Eagles, said in an interview on Thursday.
The dismissal came on the same day the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office accepted Hotel California Baja’s request to permanently abandon its trademark application.
“Hotel California” is the title track from the 1976 Eagles album of the same name, and won the 1977 Grammy award for record of the year.
Hotel California Baja was accused of wrongly encouraging guests to believe the Eagles authorized using the song’s name, such as by playing the band’s songs throughout its property.
The Eagles said this was done in part to spur sales of T-shirts, posters, refrigerator magnets and other merchandise for guests to take home after they check out and leave.
Located about 1,000 miles south of San Diego and 48 miles north of Cabo San Lucas, the hotel had been called Hotel California when it opened in 1950.
➦In 1903..the first Transatlantic Radio broadcast took place. King Edward VII and President Theodore Roosevelt spoke with one another in a coded radio transmission between Cape Cod, Massachusetts and Cornwall, England.
➦In 1905...pioneer radio writer/producer, Anne Schumacher Hummert, was born. With her husband Frank she produced some of radio’s most memorable melodramas, including Our Gal Sunday, The Romance of Helen Trent, Mr Keen Tracer of Lost Persons, Betty & Bob, and Backstage Wife. The Hummerts also produced several simple down-home musical series, like Waltztime and The American Album of Familiar Music. Their “radio factory” produced as many as 125 series, 61 of them soap operas. Anne Hummert died July 5 1996 at age 91.
➦In 1908...comic singer Ish Kabibble was born Merwyn Bogue in rural Pennsylvania. He sang and played trumpet with Kay Kyser’s Kollege of Musical Knowledge on radio & record in the 30’s and 40’s. His dim witted characterization was said to be a later inspiration for Jerry Lewis. He died June 5, 1994 at age 86.
➦In 1922...actor Guy Madison was born Robert Ozell Moseley in Bakersfield Calif. He is best remembered as western hero Wild Bill Hickok on radio & TV in the 1950’s. He died of emphysema Feb 6, 1996 at age 74.
George Klein
➦In 1923...WMC 790 AM in Memphis, Tennessee began broadcasting. The station currently airs Fox Sports Radio.
In addition to sports talk shows, WMC-AM features longtime Memphis disc jockey George Klein's weekly tribute program to Elvis Presley. Klein and Presley were close friends and confidantes during the latter's lifetime and the former's long stint on WHBQ-AM.
The station's license is currently held by Entercom Communications, which it purchased from CBS in September 2006.
➦In 1943...the FCC endorsed Restricted Radio Operator Permits.
➦In 1943...Rock singer Janis Joplin was born. She died of a heroin overdose on October 4, 1970 at 27.
➦In 1967…At EMI's Abbey Road Studios in London, the Beatles began recording "A Day In The Life," which had the working title "In the Life of..." The basic track was refined with remixing and additional parts added at recording sessions the next day and on February 3. The track was completed with the recording of the orchestral part on February 20. The total length of time spent recording "A Day in the Life" was 34 hours. By comparison, their first album, "Please Please Me," was recorded in its entirety in just 10 hours.
➦In 1998...Hall of Fame rockabilly singer Carl Perkins died. He was 65.
➦In 2000...Actress Hedy Lamarr died at age 85. Lamarr was also the co-inventor of the technology for spread spectrum and frequency hopping communications, used by the U.S. military during World War II to control torpedoes, and more recently incorporated into Wi-Fi, Bluetooth and Code Division Multiple Access (CDMA) technology.
➦In 2005...Clear Channel Radio began its rollout of HD Digital Radio Multicasts in 28 Markets.
NBC announced it would bring back Katie Couric to co-host the opening ceremony of next month's Winter Olympics, a surprise move following the network’s announcement that new NBC News star Megyn Kelly wouldn’t travel to South Korea for the Pyeongchang Games.
“The announcement certainly raised my eyebrow,” Mediaite columnist Joseph A. Wulfsohn told Fox News. “I think it’s ideal for any network to rely on in-house talent, but NBC has faced lots of inner turmoil in recent months.”
Couric will work alongside Mike Tirico, who is replacing Bob Costas as prime-time host of the games, for the opening ceremony on Feb. 9. She has hosted three previous opening ceremonies with Costas, with the most recent dating back to 2004.
NBC passing over Kelly has not gone unnoticed in the halls of Rockefeller Center. An industry insider who did not want to be named because of a relationship with NBC said the move is “definitely a slap in the face to Megyn.”
Megyn Kelly
“It was already bad enough that they weren't sending the star they're paying $23 million a year to Pyeonchang. But now they're bringing in a nonemployee to fill a vacancy,” the insider told Fox News. “Yeah, one wonders what's up with that and how Kelly feels about all of this.”
NBC traditionally sends its entire panoply of news stars to the games, and true to form, both the “Today” show and “Nightly News” will broadcast live from Pyeongchang for the duration of the competition, focusing their news programs almost entirely on Olympics coverage.
NBC News stars heading to South Korea include Guthrie, Kotb, Al Roker, Natalie Morales, Willie Geist, Craig Melvin, Lester Holt and Dylan Dreyer. NBC News is also sending at least eight on-air correspondents including legendary foreign correspondent Richard Engel, and even NBCNews.com is sending a correspondent, Eric Ortiz, to report for an exclusive SnapChat show.
During the Olympics, “Today” will broadcast from South Korea from the legendary “Portable Olympic Pavilion,” which has been used in multiple previous games.
The eagerly awaited Fake News Awards are in, with The New York Times heading the list.
First place in Trump’s touted awards went to the Times’ Paul Krugman, who “claimed on the day of President Trump’s historic, landslide victory that the economy would never recover,” according to the list of awards posted on the RNC’s website.
ABC News placed second for Brian Ross’ error that caused a brief stock market crash, and CNN placed third, sixth, seventh and ninth.
President Trump announced in a tweet Wednesday night that the winners have been chosen.
"The New York Times' Paul Krugman claimed on the day of President Trump’s historic, landslide victory that the economy would never recover." Mr Trump frequently takes credit for what he calls a booming economy.
"ABC News' Brian Ross CHOKES and sends markets in a downward spiral with false report". Ross incorrectly reported in early December last year that during the 2016 presidential campaign, the president had told Michael Flynn to make contact with Russian officials before the election. Ross later read a “clarification”, saying Mr Trump had actually asked Mr Flynn to make contact with Russia after the election, when he was president-elect.
"CNN FALSELY reported that candidate Donald Trump and his son Donald J. Trump, Jr. had access to hacked documents from WikiLeaks". In December 2017, CNN corrected an exclusive report that said Mr Trump, when he was a candidate, and his son Donald Trump Jr. had received an email providing a web address and decryption key allowing them to access hacked documents from WikiLeaks before such documents were publicly available. The story said the email was sent to the Trumps on September 4, 2016. It was corrected to say the email was actually sent on September 14, a day after WikiLeaks made the documents public.
"TIME FALSELY reported that President Trump removed a bust of Martin Luther King, Jr. from the Oval Office". Time said at the time: "On the evening of January 20 (2017) TIME White House correspondent Zeke Miller incorrectly reported that the bust of Martin Luther King Jr. had been removed from the Oval Office. Zeke quickly issued a correction."
"Washington Post FALSELY reported the President’s massive sold-out rally in Pensacola, Florida was empty. Dishonest reporter showed picture of empty arena HOURS before crowd started pouring in." The Washington Post reporter apologised for his “bad tweet” in early December after Mr Trump called him out by name. “It was a bad tweet on my personal account, not a story for Washington Post,” the reporter, Dave Weigel, tweeted. “I deleted it after like 20 minutes. Very fair to call me out.”
"CNN FALSELY edited a video to make it appear President Trump defiantly overfed fish during a visit with the Japanese prime minister. Japanese prime minister actually led the way with the feeding". The Washington Post noted that CNN and others did "hyperventilate over President Trump’s perfectly fine fish-feeding" in Japan in November.
"CNN FALSELY reported about Anthony Scaramucci’s meeting with a Russian, but retracted it due to a 'significant breakdown in process.'" Three CNN journalists, including the executive editor in charge of a new investigative unit, resigned in June 2017 after the publication of the Russia-related article that was retracted. The story reported that Congress was investigating a "Russian investment fund with ties to Trump officials," and cited a single anonymous source.
"Newsweek FALSELY reported that Polish First Lady Agata Kornhauser-Duda did not shake President Trump’s hand". In July 2017, Mr Trump shook hands with Polish President Andrzej Duda and then appeared set to shake hands with his wife, Agata Kornhauser-Duda, who went to shake Melania Trump's hand first. According to Duda, his wife shook the president's hand afterwards.
"CNN FALSELY reported that former FBI Director James Comey would dispute President Trump’s claim that he was told he is not under investigation". CNN later corrected a story and headline in June 2017 to reflect that Comey did not directly dispute that Trump was told multiple times he was not under investigation.
"The New York Times FALSELY claimed on the front page that the Trump administration had hidden a climate report". The Times issued a correction in August 2017: "While it was not widely publicized, the report was uploaded by the nonprofit Internet Archive in January."
"And last, but not least: "RUSSIA COLLUSION!" Russian collusion is perhaps the greatest hoax perpetrated on the American people. THERE IS NO COLLUSION!" There are currently four separate investigations into the Trump campaign's links with Russia.
Critics have seen the "awards" as another attempt by Mr Trump to undermine the free press and shout down broadcasters and newspapers who have broken revelations about him.
However, The Telegraph notes, supporters see it as a tongue-in-cheek attempt to call out inaccurate reporting and challenge a media landscape that they believe is tilted against his presidency.
Mr Trump tweeted on Wednesday: "Despite some very corrupt and dishonest media coverage, there are many great reporters I respect and lots of GOOD NEWS for the American people to be proud of!"
Trust in the institutions that have been the pillars of U.S. politics and capitalism is crumbling.
That is one finding from the latest NPR/PBS NewsHour/Marist poll, which shows that Americans have limited confidence in its public schools, courts, organized labor and banks — and even less confidence in big business, the presidency, the political parties and the media.
The only institution that Americans have overwhelming faith in is the military — 87 percent say they have a great deal or quite a lot of confidence in the military. That is a striking change from the 1970s during and after the Vietnam War.
In 1977, according to Gallup, 57 percent had that level of confidence in the military, 30 points lower. There have been some big changes in the last 40 years, including the draft being abolished and fewer and fewer Americans knowing someone serving in the military.
Particularly worrisome for the media is that a majority of Republicans, a 53 percent, have no confidence in them at all. Combined with those who said not very much confidence, 90 percent of Republicans expressed a lack of confidence in the media.
Forty-two percent of Democrats felt the same, as did three-quarters of independents. Fairness and objectivity are tenets and pillars of a free press, but those have been eroded in the eyes of many Americans.
At the same time, however, a solid majority said they trust their favorite news source more than President Trump by a 29-point margin, 58 percent to 29 percent. That included 85 percent of Democrats and 53 percent of independents. However, 63 percent of Republicans still trust the president more.
Trump has taken on the media, calling it "fake news" and even attacked the conservative media juggernaut Fox News Channel.
Entercom announced Wednesday that Jennifer Seelig has been elevated to Director of News and Programming for All News simulcast KCBS AM/KFRC FM in San Francisco.
“I’m incredibly excited that Jennifer will be leading KCBS’s strong team and very important brand. KCBS has a legacy of success serving our community and I’m certain that with Jennifer’s talent and direction, we will take it to the next level,” Susan Larkin, Entercom’s Regional President and Market Manager in San Francisco.
“I am honored to lead the KCBS team of award-winning journalists,” said Seelig. “KCBS is justly celebrated for its incisive news stories and coverage. The station has always provided timely news to the public and we will continue and enhance that tradition. We are committed to providing the best news product to both our on-air listeners and digital audience.”
Seelig has been with KCBS All News since 2001, most recently as Acting News Director and prior to that, as Assistant News Director. Seelig is a graduate of the University of California, Davis with a degree in Political Science.
Saga Communications has announced that Crash Poteet as Brand Manager/Program Director for Country WPOR 101.9 FM.
Poteet will also handle afternoon drive duties to fill the vacant rule created when Mark Jennings left in September.
"I'm beyond excited to join the WPOR team and its legendary bran," said Poteet. "Thanks to Saga for allowing me the opportunity to share in the 'POR passion for creating fun and compelling Country radio. I can’t wait to get started." Added Portland Radio Group GM Bob Adams, "WPOR is one of our most important brands, and we are thrilled to have somebody with level of experience leading the team."
WPOR 101.9 FM (32 Kw) Red=Local Coverage Area
Poteet was most recently PD for West Virginia Radio Corp. at WKWS, 96.1 The Wolf/Charleston before leaving in 2016. Previous programming jobs include KSCS/Dllas, iHeartMedia Country WTST, 101.9 Teh Twister/Oklahoma City, and Scripps Media Country KVOO/Tulsa.
Marc Alghini, the program director and morning host at Rock WWCT 99.9 FM, was not heard on his customary early morning time slot Wednesday after departing from the radio station. Alghini did not comment beyond saying that the separation was mutual over “philosophical differences.”
Mike Rea, general manager of Advanced Media Partners, which runs several radio stations in Peoria, also declined to comment on Alghini’s departure apart from confirming that he was no longer with the station, reports The Star-Journal.
Chris Watters has stepped in as the interim morning host alongside Roxy Baker, who co-hosted with Alghini for the last several years.
Under Alghini’s tenure as program director, WWCT billed its programming as “world class rock,” broadcasting rock tunes from the past and present while showcasing up-and-comers. It also initiated a variety of unique live performances around the Peoria area, including intimate shows at bars such as The Fieldhouse, Pour Bros. and W.E. Sullivan’s as well as multi-act bills for the annual Snowball concert in the winter.
Alghini arrived in Peoria in the summer of 2013 after a stint at Chicago’s renowned rock station WXRT.
Rea said that the search for Alghini’s replacement as the program director is already underway.
