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Legend Status: John Legend, Elena Allbritton, and Robert Allbritton attend "An Evening With John Legend" hosted by POLITICO to kick-off White House Correspondents' weekend on April 24, 2015, in Washington, DC. (Photo by Brad Barket/Getty Images for POLITICO)
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, we speak with POLITICO co-founder Robert Allbritton about his vision for the new NOTUS as the D.C. media landscape faces a shakeup. We reveal the latest in the race to succeed John Harris as Global Editor-in-Chief of POLITICO with a last-minute shock – as one top contender has dropped out of the race. Plus, first in Breaker, details on the future of CEO Goli Sheikholeslami.
Also tonight, a follow-up to our Thursday scoop about the Tarbell Fellow who penned TIME’s recent cover story on Anthropic, the Murdoch Netflix docs’ bizarre animations, and both Vox and The Guardian descend on SXSW.
Plus, a bumper reading, listening, and watching list to ensure you can shut your laptop on a Friday and not miss a media beat.
Finally, tonight, after months of employing a "velvet glove” approach to stem the mass forwarding of Breaker (shout-out to the subscriber who “opened” our Tuesday Murdoch world exclusive photos newsletter 3239 times, and the subscriber who “opened” Thursday's Breaker 711 times), we are implementing a user agreement to ensure the sustainability of Breaker moving forward. You can read our user policy here.
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Mentioned tonight: Robert Allbritton, Peter Spiegel, James Bennet, Goli Sheikholeslami, Tucker Carlson, Piers Morgan, Rashida Jones, Ted Sarandos, David Ellison, Kara Swisher, Lachlan Murdoch, Jim Bankoff, James Murdoch, Marc Benioff, Elisabeth Murdoch, Prudence Murdoch, Liz Garbus, David Zaslav, Fraser Nelson, Juleanna Glover, Lukas Alpert, Alex Vadukul, Jeff Bezos, Katie Drummond, Casey Wasserman, Lynn Forester de Rothschild, Michael Grynbaum, Joanna Stern, Juliegrace Brufke, Esther Perel, Brené Brown, Adam Grant, Tefi Pessoa, Astead Herndon, Alex Heath, Vivian Tu, Seth Matlins, Robin Arzón, Pam Wasserstein, Geoff Schiller, Nishat Kurwa, Lauren Starke, Dan Clancy, Jim Lanzone, Ben Cave, Lauren Kern, Will Lee, Joe Weisenthal, Tracy Alloway, Liz Plank, Sara Fischer, Maxi Tani, Betsy Reed, Kai Wright, Carter Sherman, Max Rushden, Katie Robertson, Barry Glendenning, Brendan Hunt, Mark Stenberg, Phil Noble, Elton John, Harry Booth, Jess Testa, John Herrman, and more.
A NOTUS About This Town
(Exclusive.) "Never let a good crisis go to waste" is a famous maxim widely attributed to Winston Churchill. Robert Allbritton, the co-founder of POLITICO, has seen the current state of the D.C. media landscape as an opportunity to expand and rebrand NOTUS, his two-year-old start-up.
In recent days, the publication has announced a slew of hires that is just the beginning of an effort to double its newsroom and give incumbents, including The Washington Post, Axios (which experienced a round of layoffs on Tuesday), and POLITICO, a run for their money.
“I’m very worried about the long-term health of The Washington Post as a Washingtonian,” Allbritton told Breaker Tuesday from NOTUS’ HQ, which is located opposite POLITICO’s Rosslyn, VA newsroom.
“I think there is a need for the journalism of The Post. I think there is a need for the mission of The Post. I’m very concerned about the business model of The Post going forward,” he added.
But it’s clear, Allbritton, coming up on five years since POLITICO was sold to Axel Springer, has seen a weak herd in his hometown.
And he has big plans on creating an outlet that will cater to what he believes D.C. is now missing (including local and sports coverage), but without the infrastructure and costs of a legacy outlet or a union to contend with.
“Can we effectively create the essence of what The Post had traditionally been doing?” Allbritton asked.
It comes at a pivotal moment for D.C. media. Breaker has learned that the search for POLITICO’s new Global Editor-in-Chief has entered its final stretch.
After diverting their attention to buying the Telegraph, Axel’s ace headhunters at Spencer Stuart are now running reference checks on the remaining candidates.
We can tonight reveal that one of the top contenders for the POLITICO job has pulled out of contention. This person is…
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⁘ As credited in The New York Times, CNBC, Axios, The New York Post, CNN, Bloomberg, The Guardian, and more.
Tarbell Intelligence
(Exclusive.) On Thursday, we revealed how the lead author of a recent TIME cover story on Anthropic, AI reporter Harry Booth, completed a Tarbell Fellowship in 2024, “a one-year program for journalists interested in covering artificial intelligence.”
Successful candidates secure a nine-month newsroom placement, participate in a course covering AI and journalism, all the while receiving mentorship and guidance from their senior colleagues (and a handy $60,000 to $80,000 stipend).
It’s a promising foot-in-the-door opportunity for early-career journalists hoping to cover AI while immersed in some of the nation's leading newsrooms, including Bloomberg, The Guardian, and NBC News.
The Tarbell Centre is funded by numerous Effective Altruist philanthropies, including Coefficient Giving (formerly Open Philanthropy) founder Dustin Moskovitz, who was a Series A investor in Anthropic. While what appears to be an honorable opportunity on the surface has led to a pattern of Tarbell Fellows producing content that leans favorably towards Anthropic and less so to their direct competitor, OpenAI.
Most notable is Booth and colleague Billy Perrigo’s cover story, “The War For AI.” Embedded at Anthropic HQ for three days, Booth’s observations and interviews championed Anthropic while highlighting competitor OpenAI’s links to the Trump administration and perceived issues of safety and security with their product ChatGPT.
Booth’s involvement in the piece fails to disclose his status as a former Tarbell fellow (TIME told us they do disclose current – not past – Tarbell fellows), nor does it acknowledge a prospective conflict of interest. And, as Breaker has learned this week, Booth’s connection to…
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⁘ As credited in The New York Times, CNBC, Axios, The New York Post, CNN, Bloomberg, The Guardian, and more.