Jeff Zucker finally faces the music
His real crime: Giving the world President Donald Trump.
Sree’s newsletter is produced w/ Zach Peterson (@zachprague). Even the dunes of Great White Sands National Park in New Mexico felt the deep freeze last week (pic by Zach).
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JEFF ZUCKER ONCE INVITED ME TO BREAKFAST. He wanted me to meet, along with “some influential New Yorkers,” a promising elected official from California. The invite:
The invite is quintessential Zucker: Using his powerful media perch — head of NBC at the time — to gather folks so he could be a player in politics.
When it was revealed this week that he was leaving CNN as a result of an affair with a CNN colleague, I told multiple people there’s got to be much more to it than that. And there was, as revealed by Rolling Stone’s Tatiana Siegel (@tatianasiegel27) and edited by Noah Shachtman:
As bad as all of this is (and there are many shoes still to drop), to me, Zucker should be held responsible for something else entirely: Giving us President Donald Trump. Margaret Sullivan’s WashPost column on Zucker’s minting of Trump the candidate is dead-on, and you should read the whole thing.
Zucker gave us — or foisted upon us, depending on your view — “The Apprentice,” which is widely credited with saving both Trump’s bank account and his public persona. Through the magic of television, he and Mark Burnett turned a racist, failed businessman into a successful executive worthy of admiration. A friend of mine who worked on the set for a short time said everything there was so fake that no one thought anyone would take Trump seriously. She also said there are outtakes of Trump saying absolutely horrible, outrageous things that she knows Burnett and Zucker could have easily shut him down.
Later, at CNN, Zucker was insistent that the network carry Trump rallies and speeches live, providing him and his and all his deplorable with a level of earned media that a lot of people in the public sphere would cut off a limb for.
The blast radius of all of this was immense, and may yet claim American democracy. The fact that it took some tawdry palace intrigue (between two consenting, divorced adults) to unseat Zucker tells the real story better than any well-sourced reporting could. What Zucker was doing at CNN was journalistic malpractice, and represents everything that’s wrong with news as entertainment.
From the Rolling Stone piece:
The source says the investigation suggests Zucker and Gollust were advising the governor at the beginning of the Covid pandemic in ways not dissimilar to what led to Chris Cuomo’s dismissal. As Andrew sparred on a daily basis with then-President Trump over Covid messaging, the couple provided the governor with talking points on how to respond to the president’s criticisms of the New York crisis. They also booked the governor to appear on the network exclusively, which became a ratings boon for CNN, with Chris Cuomo doing the interviewing.
This will be taught in journalism schools for decades as exactly what not to do, or at least it better be. I suspect the aftermath will also make the syllabus, as commentators opine about Zucker’s extramarital affair instead of his role in creating the Trump universe and giving it a steady supply of momentum at every turn.
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My newsletter last week, on Ross Douthat’s “nothing to see here” NYTcolumns, was the most widely read one in four years of writing these. Thank you for reading, sharing and subscribing. So grateful to you all.
A Word to Syracuse Residents From Armory Square Ventures
We recently learned the City of Syracuse will soon get its first independent bookstore in 30 years.
To commemorate the occasion, we leave you with a contemplative poem by Izumi Shikibu, a Heian-era Japanese poet who lived in the late 10th and early 11th centuries. She frequently wrote love poetry that invoked Buddhist meditations.
Things I Want Decided
Which shouldn't exist
in this world,
the one who forgets
or the one
who is forgotten?
Which is better,
to love
one who has died
or not to see
each other when you're alive?
Which is better,
the distant lover
you long for
or the one you see daily
without desire?
Which is the least unreliable
among fickle things—
the swift rapids,
a flowing river,
or this human world?
We could not be happier to hear the news.
With gratitude,
The team at Armory Square Ventures
Read Something
This is such a good piece. We hear a lot about “the algorithm” and how social media’s core is built to promote engagement for engagement’s sake, but this is a deep dive into exactly what that means and it’s eye-opening.
Tech Tip w/ @newyorkbob: Put a Ring On It—And Monitor Your Health
By Robert S. Anthony
Each week, veteran tech journalist Bob Anthony shares a tech tip you don’t want to miss. Follow him @newyorkbob.
February, the month of Valentine’s Day, can be dangerous if you’re not careful. You could end up with a ring on your finger. But it may not be what you think: There’s always the outside chance your significant other could be teetering on one knee to wish you a long, happy, healthy life—with the gift of a smart ring.
At the recent CES consumer electronics and technology showcase in Las Vegas, a number of companies showed off new high-tech smart rings designed to give wearers new insights into their personal health and daily work, sleep and exercise routines. All incorporate lightweight electronics and multiple sensors and provide feedback via connected mobile apps. All also succeed very well at masquerading as low-tech jewelry.
The Circular smart ring’s sensors, which include red, green and infrared lights, can track heart rate, blood oxygen levels, steps, movement, breathing rate and other data points, all of which are used by the app to provide continuous feedback. The ring has a tiny vibration motor that can quietly send smartphone notifications to your finger and a tiny button that can be used to trigger smartphone features.
According to Circular, a Paris-based startup, the smart ring “…focuses on how the user responds to their activities, daily choices, and rhythms and provides personalized recommendations based on the data it gathers rather than just providing raw metrics and graphs.”
The Movano Ring also incorporates multiple sensors into a finger-worn wearable that tracks sleep, heart rate, respiration, blood oxygen and other variables. Movano, based in Pleasanton, Calif., said the ring is “available to all consumers, however, it is designed for females first.”
Here again, the app’s feedback doesn’t rely on single data points but tries to give a bigger picture, like how the quality of sleep might correlate with data gathered while exercising. Movano said it was working to incorporate its proprietary, radio-frequency-based, non-invasive technologies to add glucose and cuffless blood-pressure monitoring capabilities to the ring.
The Oura Ring Generation 3 builds upon a smart ring ecosystem that has become so popular that it was used by the NBA to monitor players during its pandemic-shortened 2020 season. The new unit includes many of the sleep, activity and health features offered by Circular and Movano units and adds daytime and workout heart rate feedback and much more internal flash memory than was offered by older models by the Finland-based company. The new Oura smart ring also offers access to audio and video guides in addition to the feedback provided by its app.
The Oura Ring Generation 3 smart ring ($299 to $399) is available now, the Circular unit is expected to ship by July and the Movano Ring will be available later this year.
#WorthyThread
This is important, please get the word out. I know no amount of money can ease the pains of discrimination — especially discrimination at the hands of the U.S. government — but it’s something.
Odds & Ends
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🗞 TUNE IN: Our NYT Readalong guest this week is award-winning columnist and bestelling author Ian O’Connor. Watch this episode, and our archives, at http://readalong.link/youtubeplaylist. The Readalong is sponsored by Muck Rack. Interested in sponsorship opportunities? Email sree@digimentors.group and neil@digimentors.group.
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Ive been wondering when the world would turn around to the Apprentice. I watched it maybe 4-5 times, I considered it a satire, a spoof, scripted TV, and of course for the intelligence of a maybe middle schooler. It made me laugh, but in derision. But once T started running for pres, I realized how important that TV program was. That program made T a household word, a presence. People met him thru that program.. Youre fired became a symbol, a watch phrase, a shibboleth . I have friends in RE here so I met T many times, was at dinner parties with him years ago. . A sham from the get go. I could care less who Jeff Zucker sleeps with, married or unmarried. But yes, he abused his position, and we are paying for that. If T runs again in 2024, he will win. No doubt in my mind. Voters in a myriad of states will vote for the man who wont elect Black Women to positions of importance (I am not sure which is "worse" in their eyes, being a POC or a Woman, tossup probably ).. And then vote for the most important issue of, denying abortions, denying choice. I bet marriage is equality is next. I am not gay, and I have money so could get on a plane to go to England for a safe abortion, but what's third. That is sure to affect those of us left standing. I am a firm believer in the words of Pastor Martin Niemoller. Must be stopped now before there is no one left to speak up. The Ironic thing of course is that once CNN saw that T would win, they turned on him. But it was too late. We are in deep trouble here. And the Dems are not facing that. All hail McConnell, he is taking advantage of every position he can, he is the true evil , I wait with baited breath to see how he stops the next SC appointment. And he will..... ( jumbled thoughts, sorry!)
So spot on. He foisted Trump upon us and created a monster.