The MS NOW logo unveiled on Monday. (Image courtesy of Versant)
On Monday morning, a little after 9 a.m. ET, Joe Scarborough delivered an unexpected jolt to MSNBC’s viewers. “We have breaking news as it pertains to our network: This morning, a new name of the network,” the “Morning Joe” host announced. “By the end of the year, we will become MS NOW, which stands for my source for news, opinion, and the world.” The surprise decision unsurprisingly drew instant cheers from Scarborough, who hailed the network’s bold new logo as “very sporty,” and cheered the name change as proof that “we’re independent.”
But behind the scenes in recent weeks, the decision to change MSNBC’s name after nearly 30 years on the air was not initially met with the same excitement. In the wake of Comcast breaking off its cable networks, Mark Lazarus, the chief executive of the new spinco Versant, initially reassured nervous MSNBC staffers earlier this year that the network would be able to keep its name even as it separated from the NBC mothership.
The ground, however, started to shift beneath Versant’s feet in recent weeks as the reality of MSNBC’s complicated breakup with NBC News became apparent, according to two people familiar with the matter….
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The Newsmax logo. (Photo by Patrick T. Fallon/AFP via Getty Images)
Newsmax Pays The Price: Newsmax is reckoning with the consequences of pushing election lies. The pro-MAGA cable outlet has agreed to pay Dominion Voting Systems $67 million to settle a defamation lawsuit after the network promoted bogus claims its voting machines rigged the 2020 election for Joe Biden. The deal—revealed in an SEC filing—follows a Delaware judge’s ruling that Newsmax did, in fact, defame Dominion. Internal documents showed the network knew those fraud claims pushed by Donald Trump and his allies were baseless, yet aired them for business gain. The settlement figure marks another high-stakes payout for right-wing media after Fox News settled with Dominion for a record $787.5 million in 2023 and OAN settled with Smartmatic last year. But five years on, right-wing media outlets are still facing the repercussions for their promotion of election lies, with Fox News staring down a $2.7 billion lawsuit from Smartmatic.
Brian Stelter and Liam Reilly wrote that Donald Trump's Oval Office Q&A with Volodymyr Zelensky "shows how the White House has remade the press corps to [his] liking." [CNN]
MAGA Media personality Brian Glenn, who questioned Zelensky's attire during the last Oval Office meeting, praised the Ukrainian leader for wearing a "fabulous" suit this time around. Meanwhile, Zelensky jabbed Glenn for wearing "the same suit" as last time. [NY Post]
Matt Drudge openly wondered: "IS THE DON BEING BLACKMAILED?" [Mediaite]
Right-wing conspiracy theorist and misogynist Andrew Tate filed a lawsuit against Meta and TikTok for deplatforming him. [NBC News]
Megyn Kelly continues to go further and further down the right-wing rabbit hole, announcing to her audience she will host Marjorie Taylor Greene for an interview this week. [Instagram]
Nicolle Wallace fired back at Trump after he went on a deranged Truth Social rant against her, noting the president gets "furious at anyone that covers the truth." [Daily Beast]
CNN anchor Brianna Keilar mocked Trump’s claim his friends are too scared to eat out in Washington, D.C.: “That is more indicative of a marital problem than a crime problem” [Daily Beast]
Exiled Russian journalist Tikhon Dzyadko said on Fox News that Trump is “speaking in Putin's narratives” following the Alaska meeting. [MMFA]
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