News Information and Media Site: Byers Market: Mark Zuckerberg vs. the world, again

June 29, 2020

By DYLAN BYERS in Los Angeles &

AHIZA GARCÍA-HODGES in San Francisco

Good morning. 😷 More than 500,000 people have died from COVID-19, while at least 10 million have tested positive for the disease, according to the most recent tallies (it may be far higher). The U.S. accounts for more than 25 percent on both fronts.

⛵ Something good, via NYT: An Argentine man stuck in Portugal because of the pandemic traveled 85 days by sailboat to reach his 90-year-old father in Argentina. He made it home by Father's Day.

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The wringer

Mark Zuckerberg vs. the world, again

Moving the Market: For a few, fleeting months this year, Mark Zuckerberg got a reprieve from being public enemy No. 1. Facebook was credited for its principled approach to the pandemic, the CEO was lauded for his donations to medical research, small businesses, and even his own employees. His biggest announcement in May wasn't about politics or harmful content, but an ambitious plan to transition half his company to remote work.

• Then President Donald Trump published his infamous "looting... shooting" posts. Twitter labeled them "violent", Zuckerberg elected not to interfere. In so doing, he invited a torrent of criticism that was kerosene to longstanding liberal antipathies toward Facebook and its purveyance of hate speech and misinformation — all of which has culminated in a sizable advertising boycott that is dealing yet another blow to Facebook's brand, if not its bottom line.

The latest: Starbucks, Coca-Cola and Diageo said they will pause advertising on all social media platforms until they take greater steps to curb hate speech. Unilever is halting ads on Facebook and Twitter. Verizon, Levi's, REI and Patagonia have all joined the "Stop Hate for Profit" campaign that specifically targets Facebook. (As CNN's Brian Fung notes, the highest-spending 100 brands account for $4.2 billion, or 6 percent, of Facebook's overall $70 billion in annual ad revenue).

• On Friday, Zuckerberg announced some content policy changes, including a ban on posts that incite violence or attempt to suppress voting, as well as a ban on ads that claim people of a specific race, ethnicity, nationality, caste, gender, sexual orientation or immigration origin are a threat to physical safety. These steps did not satisfy the organizers of the boycott, nor stem the boycott's momentum.

• Meanwhile, Recode's Teddy Schleifer reports that some employees at the Chan Zuckerberg Initiative "have found it difficult to work for the philanthropy that — although legally distinct from Facebook — is inextricably linked to a business empire they find disreputable." In a company town hall, one engineer asked Zuckerberg to moderate the Trump posts, resign from Facebook, or resign from CZI.

Top talker: The Washington Post's Elizabeth Dwoskin, Craig Timberg and Tony Romm report that Facebook has spent five years trying "to accommodate the boundary-busting ways of Trump. The president has not changed his rhetoric," they write, "but the company has continually altered its policies and its products." (The piece includes some new details on how Facebook wrestled with Trump's 2015 video calling for a ban on Muslims entering the U.S.)

• Facebook's Andy Stone told us the Post's "insinuation that we developed policies intended to please the Trump administration is wrong. While many Republicans think we should do one thing and many Democrats want us to do just the opposite, our job is to create one common set of rules that applies equally to everyone."

What's next: Facebook has enlisted Nick Clegg, its head of global affairs and communications, to make the media rounds and advocate for the company's content policies. Clegg appeared on CNN on Sunday and will appear on MSNBC today.

• Look for Clegg to stress Facebook's commitment to curbing hate speech while arguing that social media companies should not pick sides. "From the Arab Spring to local candidates challenging political incumbents, social media has... helped to open up politics, not favor one side over the other," he told the Post.

🌍 Boycott: World Tour 🌍

"The 'Stop Hate for Profit' campaign will begin calling on major companies in Europe to join the boycott," part of an effort "to take the battle global," Reuters' Sheila Dang reports.

"The next frontier is global pressure," Jim Steyer, chief executive of Common Sense Media, said in an interview.

Desiree Navarro/Getty

Old habits

Marty Baron vs. the moment

Big in the Beltway: Marty Baron, the executive editor of The Washington Post, and a man with a "steadfast adherence to the longstanding rules of newspaper journalism," is facing pushback from staff, and particularly Black staff, who say "they have felt pushed aside or pushed out" during his tenure, NYT's Ben Smith reports.

• The big picture: "The revival of The Post by Mr. Baron and its owner... Jeff Bezos... is perhaps the greatest news business success story of the past decade. But that journalistic revival has in some ways masked a messier story, one of many contradictions."

• "The Post [is] a top-down institution whose constrained view of what journalism is today has frustrated some of the industry's creative young stars." It has also "lost some people any newsroom would want to keep, including [Kimbriell] Kelly... Wesley Lowery... [and] Soraya Nadia McDonald."

Top talker: During Brett Kavanaugh's contentious nomination to the Supreme Court in 2018, Baron persuaded Bob Woodward not to publish a story that would have exposed Kavanaugh as a source for his 1999 book and raised questions about his integrity.

• "Mr. Baron and other editors persuaded Mr. Woodward that it would be bad for The Post and 'bad for Bob' to disclose a source, one of the journalists told me. The piece never ran."

Market Links

• Emmett Shear faces a Tencent threat (Bloomberg)

• Satya Nadella permanently closes retail stores (CNBC)

• Lucian Grainge works to boost diversity in music (Variety)

• Charlie Collier recasts animated characters of color (THR)

• Bob Iger delays 'Mulan' release date, again (Verge)

Bloomberg/Getty

🏀 Sports report

Adam Silver pushes ahead

Talk of TV Land: "It's on to phase two for the National Basketball Association's reopening after the league finished the first phase by finalizing comeback plans for a season suspended by Covid-19," CNBC's Jabari Young reports.

• The latest: "NBA commissioner Adam Silver spoke to media members on Friday and discussed how the league would continue if Covid-19 cases spread inside the bubble. He said if cases reach a certain point, 'that ultimately might lead us to stopping' season."

The big picture: "The NBA is headed to Orlando to save some of its lost revenue, which is projected to reach $1 billion if remaining games are canceled, with players missing out on more than $600 million in salary."

• "In addition to the pandemic-related revenue losses, the NBA still has an unresolved issues with China, which Silver said in February could cost the league $400 million."

What's next: ESPN's championship odds:

• Milwaukee Bucks: 42.5%

• Los Angeles Lakers: 19.9%

• Toronto Raptors: 12.2%

• LA Clippers: 9.3%

• Boston Celtics: 7.8%

Etc...

⛰️ What's next: The Aspen Ideas Festival is underway, virtually. Talks start at 7 p.m. ET each night. Tonight's speakers: Maria Ressa and Lulu Garcia Navarro, William McRaven and Andrea Mitchell (!) and Kai-Fu Lee and Nick Thompson.

See you tomorrow.