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Error Apparent: Bari Weiss, with Sarah Haider, Grimes, and Anna Khachiyan backstage at the Ace Hotel, Los Angeles, September 13, 2023. (Francine Orr / Los Angeles Times via Getty Images)
Welcome to the latest edition of Breaker. If this email has been forwarded, you can subscribe here and send your questions and complaints here. If you have a tip contact the 24/7 Breaker Tip Hotline via text or Signal # 551 655 2343. Anonymity guaranteed!
In tonight’s edition, CBS News Editor-in-Chief Bari Weiss is desperate to reset the narrative after her reign of error plunged “60 Minutes” into crisis mode. We reveal below the big-name correspondent she has poached and which former CBS News boss she may have upset in the process.
Also, the lawyer for a D.C. fixer says they are wasting the court's time as they fight back in a defamation battle, Versant hosts a star-studded media shindig, the Atlantic announces some of their festival line-up, and Axios trumpets a string of scoops.
Finally, it’s Thursday, which means Journo (and Comms) Jobs is back. Tonight we have gigs at: Associated Press, Wall Street Journal, The Information, The New York Times, NBC News, and Warner Bros. Discovery.
Mentioned tonight: Bari Weiss, Nick Bilton, Josh Tyrangiel, Anderson Cooper, Brian Stelter, Mark Lazarus, Mariana van Zeller, Gianna Toboni, Matthew Rosenberg, Rebecca Kutler, KC Sullivan, Jim VandeHei, Jonathan Swan, Maggie Haberman, Libby Locke, Tom Clare, Alan Suderman, Sally Donnelly, Andre Pienaar, Kenneth Glueck, Juleanna Glover, Hamish McKenzie, Jessica Toonkel, Stephen Battaglio, Liana Baker, Hannah Miller, Dade Hayes, Sean McNulty, Alex Weprin, Brian Steinberg, John Koblin, Michael Grynbaum, Ed Lee, Sara Salinas, Lillian Rizzo, Alex Sherman, Erin Calhoun, Lauren Skowronski, Keith Cocozza, Hollie Tracz, Richard Hudock, Aaron Sorkin, Sarah Wynn Williams, Ella Creamer, Mark Zuckerberg, Adam Friedland, Scott Nover, Marlow Stern, Kelly Funke, Kathleen Kingsbury, Evan Smith, Clint Smith, Vivian Salama, Ashley Parker, Tom Nichols, Shirley Li, Jonathan Lemire, Mark Leibovich, Jemele Hill, Jonathan Haidt, Sophie Gilbert, Anne Applebaum, Tim Alberta, Jeffrey Goldberg, Liz Melcher, Roy Cho, Celia Kohl, Jess Kurdali, Wylie Collins, Will McIntosh, Matt Hong, Val Boreland, Dave Pietrycha, Jordan Fasbender, Brian Dorfler, Anand Kini, and more.
Breaker Tells All
The tables were turned on Breaker when we sat down with Substack co-founder (and former Breaker columnist) Hamish McKenzie to film an episode of Substack’s Open Table podcast at one of Breaker’s old haunts, Tom and Jerry’s (Ed note: wonder where they got the concept from?)
We told McKenzie about our backstory, from first being accepted into journalism college in Melbourne through to starting Breaker.
After stints at The New York Post, New York Daily News, and Daily Beast, it was encouragement from McKenzie himself that first planted the seed for Breaker.
“You were telling me for years to fucking strike out on my own in independent media. You were at me for fucking years, and guess what? You were right.”
After a false start, Breaker was prepping for a relaunch with a simple three-pronged attack to grow a loyal audience through hard work and saucy scoops.
“I thought, three things. One, you have to put on a fucking killer event. Two, you have to relaunch the pod with a stellar lineup. And three, you have to fucking break stories that are impactful and consequential.”
After a massive first birthday bash and now in the terrible twos, Breaker can finally say the hard work has paid off with a dedicated audience of subscribers, tuning in for scoops like the Air Puck deal and Anderson Cooper’s call to leave “60 Minutes.”
What started as a trickle of hacks penning newsletters has turned into a wave of journalists leaving legacy media to follow an independent path, and Breaker has some advice for anyone thinking of taking the leap.
“I get calls from people in legacy media all the time, oh, this must be a utopia. You don't have a boss. First off, I have more bosses than I've ever had. I have those 40,000 fucking subscribers. And secondly, I've never worked harder, and I've never been more fucking strict.”
Hard work, little sleep, and a phone that just won't stop are all part of the job, but as Breaker told McKenzie, the product is the payoff.
“It's doing that fun, cheeky stuff, which is part of my DNA. And getting back to that mantra in Breaker, you tell the punters something they don't know, and you make them laugh at something they do know.”
Bari’s Global Hire
(Exclusive.) Desperately in need of a win to distract from her reign of error, CBS News Editor-in-Chief Bari Weiss has poached a big-name correspondent, Breaker has learned.
Adding more intrigue to the hire is the fact that Weiss has raided Sky News, where former CBS News President David Rhodes is executive chairman.
Weiss has hired …
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⁘ As credited in The New York Times, CNBC, Axios, The New York Post, CNN, Bloomberg, The Guardian, and more.
D.C. Fixer Fights Back
(Exclusive.) Washington PR fixer Juleanna Glover has moved to dismiss a defamation lawsuit aimed at her and a client who also sits on the Washington Post Intelligence Global Security Council, according to court documents obtained and reviewed by Breaker.
The original complaint by Oracle executive Kenneth Glueck alleged that Glover and C5 founder Andre Pienaar defamed Glueck at a meeting with prominent journalists at Glover’s home in October 2024.
In court documents, Glover’s legal team was quick to suggest …
Support fearless independent journalism.
The rest of this newsletter is for paid subscribers.
⁘ Unlock full access to our twice-weekly newsletter and archive.
⁘ As credited in The New York Times, CNBC, Axios, The New York Post, CNN, Bloomberg, The Guardian, and more.