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☆ UChicago Says Free Speech Is Sacred. Some Students Sees Hypocrisy.
▼ + stars: | 2024-05-06 | by ( Jeremy W. Peters | Jamie Kelter Davis | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

The University of Chicago has built a brand around the idea that its students should be unafraid to encounter ideas or opinions they disagree with. To drum that in, the school provides incoming students with copies of its 2014 free-speech declaration, known as the Chicago statement, which states that freedom of expression is an “essential element” of its culture. That neutrality, the university argues, allows for a robust, unencumbered exchange of ideas. Many professors swell with pride talking about how the school’s commitment to these principles has endured through two world wars, Vietnam and, more recently, the tumult of the Trump administration. And more than 100 institutions have adopted or endorsed similar principles.

Persons: Trump Organizations: University of Chicago Locations: Chicago, Vietnam

☆ It’s Not Just Gaza: Student Protesters See Links to a Global Struggle
▼ + stars: | 2024-05-01 | by ( Jeremy W. Peters | More About Jeremy W. Peters | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

Talk to student protesters across the country, and their outrage is clear: They have been galvanized by the scale of death and destruction in Gaza, and will risk arrest to fight for the Palestinian cause. But for many, the issues are closer to home, and at the same time, much bigger and broader. In their eyes, the Gaza conflict is a struggle for justice, linked to issues that seem far afield. They say they are motivated by policing, mistreatment of Indigenous people, discrimination toward Black Americans and the impact of global warming. In interviews with dozens of students across the country over the last week, they described, to a striking degree, the broad prism through which they see the Gaza conflict, which helps explain their urgency — and recalcitrance.

Organizations: Black Locations: Gaza

☆ Inside the Crisis at NPR
▼ + stars: | 2024-04-24 | by ( Benjamin Mullin | Jeremy W. Peters | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

NPR employees tuned in for a pivotal meeting late last year for a long-awaited update on the future of the public radio network. After many tumultuous months, marked by layoffs, financial turbulence and internal strife, they signed in to Zoom hoping to hear some good news from NPR’s leaders. What they got instead was a stark preview of the continued challenges ahead. For the past two weeks, turmoil has engulfed NPR after a senior editor assailed what he described as an extreme liberal bias inside the organization that has bled into its news coverage. The editor, Uri Berliner, said NPR’s leaders had placed race and identity as “paramount in nearly every aspect of the workplace” — at the expense of diverse political viewpoints, and at the risk of losing its audience.

Persons: Daphne Kwon, Uri Berliner Organizations: The New York Times, NPR Locations: America

☆ How the Israel-Gaza Protests Could Hurt the Democratic Party
▼ + stars: | 2024-04-21 | by ( Jeremy W. Peters | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: 1 min

Protests over the Israel-Hamas war could also complicate this year’s convention and the Democratic messaging for President Biden, whom Republicans have eagerly cast as too indulgent of chaos and disorder in American society. Last week, Fox News and other conservative outlets repeatedly showed demonstrations that made the country seem on the edge: Columbia University sending in the police to arrest students on campus; protesters shouting “genocide!” at President Biden at a campaign stop; demonstrators chaining themselves to cars to block traffic, creating gridlock. “The whole Republican message is, ‘The world is out of control and Biden is not in command,’” said David Axelrod, the Democratic strategist and adviser to former President Barack Obama. “They will exploit any images of disorder to abet and support it.”

Persons: Biden, ’ ”, David Axelrod, Barack Obama, “, ” Organizations: Democratic, Republicans, Fox News, Columbia University Locations: Israel

☆ Colleges Warn Student Demonstrators: Enough
▼ + stars: | 2024-04-18 | by ( Jeremy W. Peters | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: 1 min

The 100-year-old annual honors convocation at the University of Michigan is typically a decorous affair, with a pipe organ accompanying golf-clap applause. This year’s event was anything but. Protesters rose from their seats, and unfurled banners with “Free Palestine” written in red paint. They shouted, “You are funding genocide!”Unable to continue with the ceremony, university officials cut it short, as hundreds of disappointed students and their parents stood up and walked out. Two days after the honors convocation, the university’s president, Santa J. Ono, issued a stern rebuke: Enough.

Persons: “, Santa J, Ono Organizations: University of Michigan Locations: Santa

☆ The Oscars Now Have D.E.I. Rules, but Some Say It’s Just a Performance
▼ + stars: | 2024-03-08 | by ( Jeremy W. Peters | Brooks Barnes | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

After years of criticism for overlooking female directors and actors of color, the academy announced a torrent of diversity-oriented changes. One high-profile move involved the academy’s most coveted trophy: To qualify for the best picture Oscar, films had to fulfill a new set of diversity and inclusion standards. A checklist of four categories and nine subcategories cover almost every aspect of the filmmaking pipeline. Diversity in hiring — actors, directors, makeup artists, publicists, interns — is considered. To qualify, films must show that they meet two of the four main categories of representation: onscreen (actors, plot), offscreen leadership (set designers, makeup artists), training programs and marketing.

Persons: George Floyd, — Organizations: Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences

☆ Jewish Viewers Find a Refuge in Fox News
▼ + stars: | 2023-11-03 | by ( Jeremy W. Peters | More About Jeremy W. Peters | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +3 min

Since September, Fox News’s audience has grown by a larger percentage than CNN and MSNBC in Los Angeles, Philadelphia, Washington and Miami. And in the New York market — the nation’s largest — Fox has lately beaten its left-leaning rival, MSNBC, by a few percentage points. In September, Fox was drawing 16 percent fewer viewers than MSNBC in New York. Fox News — with the largest audience in all of cable television in recent years — draws a sizable number of Democratic and liberal-leaning viewers. “My Jewish liberal friends will text me and they’ll say, ‘Oh, this is where you go in the afternoon?’ because they never watched Fox before,” she said.

Persons: Israel, Fox, ”, “, Jessica Tarlov, Bill Maher ” Organizations: CNN, MSNBC, Fox News, Fox, Democratic, Nielsen, The Free Press Locations: Gaza, Israel, New York, Miami, Los Angeles, Los Angeles , Philadelphia, Washington, Minneapolis

☆ Dana Perino of Fox News Is About to Face Her Biggest Test as a Journalist
▼ + stars: | 2023-09-24 | by ( Jeremy W. Peters | More About Jeremy W. Peters | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

Dana Perino can punch and parry with the best of them. But she could be better at ducking. In 2008, when Ms. Perino was the White House press secretary for President George W. Bush, she got clocked in the face with a boom microphone in the scuffle that broke out after a journalist threw his shoes at Mr. Bush. “I had a black eye for six weeks,” Ms. Perino, now an anchor for Fox News, said in an interview last week from her sun-dappled Upper West Side apartment. It will be the biggest moment for Ms. Perino at Fox News since she began co-hosting “The Five” in 2011.

Persons: Dana, parry, Perino, George W, Bush, “, ” Ms, —, Donald J, Trump Organizations: White House, Fox News, Bush Republican Locations: Simi Valley, Calif

A new biography of Elon Musk portrays the billionaire entrepreneur as a complex, tortured figure whose brilliance is often overshadowed by his inability to relate on a human level to the people around him — his wives, his children and those on whom he relied to help build the space exploration and electric car businesses that made him the wealthiest man on Earth. Mr. Musk’s life so far — his difficult childhood in South Africa, his stormy romantic relationships, his success as a visionary who created SpaceX and Tesla, and his impetuous decision to buy Twitter — is detailed through scores of interviews with his family, friends, business associates and Mr. Musk himself. The book, which will be released on Tuesday, is by Walter Isaacson, the journalist whose previous works have chronicled the lives of Steve Jobs, Albert Einstein, Leonardo da Vinci and Benjamin Franklin. It opens with a quote from Mr. Jobs, the co-founder of Apple, who once said, “The people who are crazy enough to think they can change the world are the ones who do.”

Persons: Elon Musk, Musk, Walter Isaacson, Steve Jobs, Albert Einstein, Leonardo da Vinci, Benjamin Franklin, Jobs, “, ” Organizations: SpaceX, Tesla, Twitter, Apple Locations: South Africa

The former president has told aides that he has made up his mind not to participate in the debate and has decided to post an online interview with Tucker Carlson that night instead, according to people briefed on the matter. Upstaging Fox’s biggest event of the year would be provocation enough. The decision is a potential source of aggravation for the Republican National Committee chairwoman, Ronna McDaniel, who privately urged him to attend, including in her own visit to Bedminster last month. But Mr. Trump’s primary motive in skipping the debate is not personal animosity toward Ms. McDaniel but a crass political calculation: He doesn’t want to risk his giant lead in a Republican race that some close to him believe he must win to stay out of prison. They spoke on the condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to speak for the campaign.

Persons: Tucker Carlson, Upstaging, Carlson —, Trump, Ronna McDaniel, McDaniel, that’s, Fox —, Rupert Murdoch — Organizations: Republican National, Republican, Fox Corporation Locations: Bedminster

☆ Report on Anti-Gay Slur Could Put Local News Site Out of Business
▼ + stars: | 2023-08-15 | by ( Jeremy W. Peters | More About Jeremy W. Peters | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

Other prominent Republicans have followed his lead, including Devin Nunes, the former Republican congressman Mr. Trump hired to run his social media network, Truth Social. Mr. Nunes has sued several outlets, including The Washington Post and CNN, for publishing stories that were unfavorable to him. For small local news organizations, many of which are barely getting by financially, the suits threaten to put them out of business. This case, he added is not a “he-said/she said” matter but “a ‘three-said,’ and more.”Through his lawyer, Mr. Tomczyk declined to comment on the case. The lawyer, Matthew M. Fernholz, said his client was “categorically denying that he used the word,” or any derivative of it, during the meeting.

Persons: Devin Nunes, Trump, Nunes, Phil Bryant, Tomczyk, ”, Rodney Smolla, Matthew M, Fernholz Organizations: Republican, The Washington Post, CNN, Wausau, Vermont Law School Locations: Mississippi, Wisconsin

☆ Fox General Counsel Will Depart
▼ + stars: | 2023-08-11 | by ( Jeremy W. Peters | More About Jeremy W. Peters | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: 1 min

Fox Corporation’s chief legal officer, Viet Dinh, is departing, the company announced on Friday, in a major shake-up at the company after the landmark $787.5 million settlement it paid to Dominion Voting Systems in April. Mr. Dinh, a former official in the George W. Bush White House who amassed considerable power inside Fox, will stay on through the rest of the year, Fox said. Mr. Dinh gave what some inside the company considered flawed advice during the Dominion suit, which exposed a pattern of deceptive coverage by Fox News after the 2020 election. He insisted that Fox was on firm legal footing and could take the case, if need be, all the way to the Supreme Court, where he believed the company would prevail on First Amendment grounds. Check back for updates.

Persons: Fox, Viet, Dinh, George W, Bush Organizations: Dominion Voting Systems, Mr, Bush White House, Fox, Dominion, Fox News Locations: Viet Dinh

Mr. Smith is not the first special counsel to investigate Mr. Trump. Mr. Smith, by contrast, faces no such limits given that Mr. Trump is no longer in office. Mr. Mueller said little when faced with a barrage of falsehoods pushed publicly by Mr. Trump and his allies about him and his investigative team. During Mr. Trump’s arraignment in Miami in June, Mr. Smith sat in the gallery, closely watching the proceedings. Some in the courtroom suggested he stared at Mr. Trump for much of the hearing, sizing him up.

Persons: General Merrick B, Garland, Jack Smith’s, Donald J, Trump, Smith, Maddie McGarvey, The New York Times “, ”, Ryan Goodman, Trump’s, Robert S, Mueller, Smith —, —, Goodman, Smith “, Edgar Hoover, Mueller III, Anna Moneymaker, Ted Stevens, “, Robert McDonnell, Rick Renzi, James, Smith’s, Jay I, Bratt, Cooney, Robert Menendez, Greg Craig, Obama, Andrew G, McCabe, Roger J, Stone Jr, William P, Barr, Aaron Zelinsky, Thomas P, Windom, Peter Dejong Mr, John H ., Carlos F, legwork, sotto, intently, Alan Feuer Organizations: White, The New York Times, New York University School of Law, Capitol, Washington, Department, Just Security, Trump, U.S, New York Times, Justice Department, Justice, Republican, Supreme, Mr, Department of Justice, Democrats, Robert Menendez of New, Hague, Credit, House Republicans, U.S . Postal Inspection Service Locations: Washington, The Hague, Russia, Alaska, Virginia, Arizona, Robert Menendez of, Robert Menendez of New Jersey, U.S, Netherlands, John H . Durham, ’, Miami

☆ White House Condemns Fox News Over Host’s Holocaust Comments
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-26 | by ( Jeremy W. Peters | More About Jeremy W. Peters | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +2 min

“Did you ever read ‘Man’s Search for Meaning’?” Mr. Gutfeld said. “Vik Frankl talks about how you had to survive in a concentration camp by having skills. You had to be useful. Utility kept you alive.”Ms. Tarlov did not address Mr. Gutfeld’s question directly, instead saying she was concerned about middle school children being taught what Florida had set in its new curriculum. A White House spokesman, Andrew Bates, released a statement on Tuesday condemning Fox News for broadcasting Mr. Gutfeld’s comments, calling them “a horrid, dangerous, extreme lie that insults the memory of the millions of Americans who suffered from the evil of enslavement.” He added, “There was nothing good about slavery; there was nothing good about the Holocaust.”Fox News has not commented on Mr. Gutfeld’s statement.

Persons: Greg Gutfeld, “, Mr, Gutfeld, Ron DeSantis, Jessica Tarlov, Viktor Frankl, “ Vik Frankl, Ms, Tarlov, Andrew Bates, Gutfeld’s, ” Organizations: White, Fox News, Fox, Florida, ” Fox

Mr. Epps can be seen on video encouraging demonstrators to march with him and enter the Capitol at one point. But in May, the lawsuit says, the Justice Department notified Mr. Epps that it was planning to file criminal charges against him related to his role in the Capitol attack. It is difficult to hear what Mr. Epps says in the video. But promoters of the conspiracy theories about him have used that moment to accuse him of uttering some kind of command. Mr. Epps has said he called the F.B.I.’s National Threat Operations Center shortly after the alert went up, and his phone records show he spoke to agents there for nearly an hour.

Persons: Epps, “, Fox, Trump, goad Trump Organizations: Fox, Washington D.C, Justice Department, Capitol, Justice, Threat Operations Locations: Washington, “

He can be seen moving past a line of Capitol Police at the barricades, but never actually goes inside the Capitol. Federal prosecutors have not charged Mr. Epps with a crime, focusing instead on the more than 1,000 other demonstrators who acted violently or were trespassing in the Capitol. The Justice Department’s sprawling investigation into the attack remains open, however, and Mr. Epps could still be indicted. Yet for more than 18 months, Mr. Carlson insisted that the lack of charges against Mr. Epps could mean only one thing: that he was being protected because he was a secret government agent. There was “no rational explanation,” Mr. Carlson told his audience, why this “mysterious figure” who “helped stage-manage the insurrection” had not been charged.

Persons: Tucker Carlson, Donald J, Trump, Ray Epps —, Epps, Carlson, Mr, “, ” Organizations: Fox News, Capitol, Trump, Capitol Police, Federal Locations: Arizona, Washington

The case, though framed as clash between free speech and gay rights, was the latest in a series of decisions in favor of religious people and groups, notably conservative Christians. A Colorado law forbids discrimination against gay people by businesses open to the public as well as statements announcing such discrimination. But when the Supreme Court agreed to hear the case, 303 Creative L.L.C. He was the author of every major Supreme Court decision protecting gay rights under the Constitution. But he was also the court’s most ardent defender of free speech.

Persons: Neil M, Gorsuch, Lorie Smith, Smith, Smith’s, Mary Beck Briscoe, Judge Briscoe, “, ” Judge Briscoe, Timothy M, Tymkovich, George Orwell, ’ ”, ”, Anthony M, Kennedy, Justice Kennedy, Jack Phillips, Ruth Bader Ginsburg, Brett M, Kavanaugh, Amy Coney Barrett Organizations: Supreme, U.S ., Appeals, Circuit, Colorado Civil Rights Commission Locations: Colorado, Denver, “ Colorado

☆ How Fox News (Yes, Fox News) Managed to Beat ‘The Tonight Show’
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-27 | by ( Matt Flegenheimer | Jeremy W. Peters | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

“Funny is hard,” said Ann Coulter, a friend and frequent “Red Eye” guest, accusing liberal hosts of virtue-signaling to “status-obsessed audiences.” “Hating the right people is easy.”But Mr. Gutfeld projects his share of tailored people-hating, too. Off-air, Mr. Gutfeld said he did not want to be a “mirror image” of comedy on the left, adding that “just calling somebody evil” is not effective persuasion. “It seems more mean than joking,” said Amanda Carpenter, a “Red Eye” guest and former Republican congressional aide, lamenting Mr. Gutfeld’s tone now. “Owning the libs is the fun.”His audience has plainly learned as much by now, though even those closest to Mr. Gutfeld can struggle to read him. “You all right, buddy?” Mr. Gutfeld asked.

Persons: ”, Ann Coulter, Gutfeld, Biden, “, Alexandria Ocasio, Cortez, gob ”, Amanda Carpenter, Gus, “ He’s, Kitty Bennett Organizations: Republican

☆ Jesse Watters to Fill Tucker Carlson’s Old Slot as Fox Shuffles Prime-Time Lineup
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-26 | by ( Jeremy W. Peters | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

Fox News shook up its prime-time lineup on Monday in the first major reorganization to its most popular programming since the beginning of the Trump administration. The moves include permanently filling the 8 p.m. slot that has been vacant since the network canceled Tucker Carlson’s show in April. Mr. Gutfeld’s show will now be at 10 p.m.Laura Ingraham, who has hosted a 10 p.m. program since 2017, will move to 7 p.m., occupying the hour that Mr. Watters has been hosting. Sean Hannity, a mainstay at Fox News since its early days, will remain in his 9 p.m. slot. Fox’s prime time ratings have consistently been the highest in cable news but have fallen off by roughly one-third since the network took Mr. Carlson off the air.

Persons: Trump, Tucker, Jesse Watters, Greg Gutfeld, Stephen Colbert, Jimmy Kimmel, Gutfeld’s, Laura Ingraham, Watters, Sean Hannity, Carlson Organizations: Fox News

☆ Fox News Tells Tucker Carlson to Stop Posting Videos on Twitter
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-12 | by ( Jeremy W. Peters | Benjamin Mullin | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

After the discovery of one particularly incendiary text from Mr. Carlson, the Fox Corporation board decided to begin an internal investigation into his conduct. Mr. Carlson’s cancellation — he is still an employee of Fox unless the network decides to let him out of his contract — has upended Fox’s lucrative and popular prime-time lineup. Roughly one-third of its prime-time audience has tuned out since Mr. Carlson was taken off the air. Mr. Carlson’s lawyers have argued that Fox News breached its contract with Mr. Carlson first, in part by failing to prevent his private messages from being disclosed. The former Fox host also believes his Twitter show is protected speech under the First Amendment, according to a person with knowledge of Mr. Carlson’s legal strategy.

Persons: Carlson, —, Fox, Mr Organizations: Fox Corporation, Fox, Fox News, Twitter

The indictment gives the clearest picture yet of the files that Mr. Trump took with him when he left the White House. Mr. Trump is expected to appear in Federal District Court in Miami on Tuesday afternoon. Mr. Trump continued to rail against the indictment on Friday, calling it the “greatest witch hunt of all time,” in a Truth Social post. Two lawyers, James Trusty and John Rowley, have left Mr. Trump’s legal team, and will no longer represent him in the documents case. “I will be represented by Todd Blanche, Esq., and a firm to be named later,” Mr. Trump wrote on Truth Social.

Persons: Donald J, Trump, Jack Smith, “, ”, Waltine, —, Nauta, Trump’s, FVEY, Aileen M, Cannon, Judge Cannon, Biden, James, John Rowley, Todd Blanche, ” Mr, Charlie Savage, Nicholas Nehamas Organizations: White, “ United, Prosecutors, Mr, Court, General Services Administration Locations: “ United States, United States, Florida, Iran, Bedminster, N.J, U.S, Britain , New Zealand, Australia, Canada, Miami, White, Mar, Esq

☆ Tucker Carlson Posts First Installment of New Show on Twitter
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-06 | by ( Katie Robertson | Jeremy W. Peters | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

Tucker Carlson, the sidelined prime-time Fox News host, on Tuesday released the first installment of what he said would be his new show on Twitter, potentially setting up a confrontation with the cable network, where he remains under contract until early 2025. The 10-minute video, Mr. Carlson’s first extended commentary since Fox took him off the air in April, was similar to a stripped-down version of what his roughly three million Fox viewers would have seen on his nightly program. There were no guests or produced segments — only a monologue from Mr. Carlson, in which he hit some familiar themes. He expressed sympathy for President Vladimir V. Putin of Russia and mocked President Volodymyr Zelensky of Ukraine. He wrapped up by declaring that U.F.O.s and extraterrestrial life are “actually real.”“As of today, we’ve come to Twitter,” Mr. Carlson said in the video.

Persons: Tucker Carlson, Carlson’s, Fox, Carlson, Vladimir V, Putin, Volodymyr Zelensky, ” Mr, “ We’re, ” Organizations: Fox News, Twitter, Fox Locations: Russia, Ukraine

In the month since the settlement, Fox has refused to comment in detail on the case or the many subsequent setbacks. That has left a string of unanswered questions: Why did the company not settle earlier and avoid the release of private emails and texts from executives and hosts? How did Fox’s pretrial assessment so spectacularly miss the mark? Repeatedly, Fox executives overlooked warning signs about the damage they and their network would sustain, The Times found. When pretrial rulings went against the company, Fox did not pursue a settlement in any real way.

☆ Carlson, Still Under Contract at Fox, Says He Will Start New Show on Twitter
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-09 | by ( Jeremy W. Peters | Benjamin Mullin | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

The former Fox News host Tucker Carlson, declaring, “We’re back,” said on Tuesday that he was starting a new show on Twitter, a sign that negotiations to reach an amicable separation with the network, where he is still under contract, had broken down. Mr. Carlson offered no details of when his new program would begin or what kind of content it would have — questions that highlight the uncertainties surrounding his departure from Fox News, which ultimately could block any attempt by the host to return to a prominent role in conservative media. A representative for the Fox Corporation, which has been engaged in negotiations over the details of Mr. Carlson’s exit from the network since he was taken off the air last week, had no comment. Mr. Carlson’s remarks, posted on Twitter, consisted of a three-minute monologue delivered directly to the camera. The post itself could violate the terms of his contract with Fox, which prevent Mr. Carlson from hosting a show on an alternate network.

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