Latest news with #AndyBorowitz
The Independent
24-06-2025
- Business
- The Independent
Life on the other side: Refugees from 'old media' flock to the promise of working for themselves
Six months ago, Jennifer Rubin had no idea whether she'd make it in a new media world. She just knew it was time to leave The Washington Post, where she'd been a political columnist for 15 years. The Contrarian, the democracy-focused website that Rubin founded with partner Norm Eisen in January, now has 10 employees and contributors like humorist Andy Borowitz and White House reporter April Ryan. Its 558,000 subscribers also get recipes and culture dispatches. In the blink of an eye, Rubin became a independent news entrepreneur. 'I think we hit a moment, just after inauguration, when people were looking for something different and it has captured people's imaginations,' she says. 'We've been having a ball with it.' YouTube, Substack, TikTok and others are spearheading a full-scale democratization of media and a generation of new voices and influencers. But don't forget the traditionalists. Rubin's experience shows how this world offers a lifeline to many at struggling legacy outlets who wanted — or were forced — to strike out on their own. Tough business realities, changing consumer tastes The realities of business and changing consumer tastes are both driving forces. YouTube claims more than 1 billion monthly podcast views, and a recent list of its top 100 shows featured seven refugees from legacy media and six shows made by current broadcasters. Substack, which launched in 2017 and added live video in January, has more than doubled its number of paid subscribers to participating content creators to 5 million in less than two years. Almost immediately after he was cut loose by ABC News on June 10 for an anti-Trump tweet, Terry Moran headed for Substack. Two former hosts of NBC's 'Today' show — Katie Couric and Hoda Kotb — announced new media ventures on the same day last month. 'I think you've seen, really in the last six months for some reason, this whole space explode with people who are understanding that this is a really important way to convey information,' says Couric, who's been running her own media company with newsletters, interviews and a podcast since 2017 and recently joined Substack. Among the most successful to make transitions are Bari Weiss, the former New York Times writer whose Free Press website celebrates independent thought, the anti-Trump Republicans at Bulwark and ex-MSNBC host Mehdi Hasan, who champions 'adversarial journalism' on Zeteo. Television news essentially left Megyn Kelly for dead after her switch from Fox News to NBC went bust. She launched a podcast in 2020, at first audio only, and SiriusXM picked it up as a daily radio show. She added video for YouTube in 2021, and gets more than 100 million viewers a month for commentary and newsmaker interviews. This year, Kelly launched her own company, MK Media, with shows hosted by Mark Halperin, Maureen Callahan and Link Lauren. While they thrive, the prospect of layoffs, audiences that are aging and becoming smaller and constant worry about disappearing revenue sources are a way of life for legacy media. Moving to independent media is still not an easy decision. Taking a deep breath, and making the leap 'If I'm going to jump off a cliff, is there water or not?' former 'Meet the Press' moderator Chuck Todd says. 'I didn't know until I left NBC. Everybody told me there would be water. But you don't know for sure until you jump.' It takes some adjustment — 'At first I was like, 'do you know who I used to be?'' Couric jokes — but some who have made the jump appreciate the nimbleness and flexibility of new formats and say news subjects often respond to the atmosphere with franker, more expansive interviews. Jim Acosta, who traded a CNN anchor desk for a video podcast he does from his home after deciding not to make a move he considered a demotion, says he's been surprised at the quality of guests he's been able to corral — people like Hakeem Jefferies, Pete Buttigieg and Sean Penn. Many podcasters succeed because they communicate authenticity, former Washington Post editor Marty Baron said in an interview at the George W. Bush Presidential Center. Traditional journalists trade on authority at a time people don't trust institutions anymore, he said. Couric has seen it in some of the feedback she gets from subscribers. 'There's some disenchantment with legacy media,' she says. 'There are certainly some people who are frustrated by the capitulation of some networks to the administration, and I think there's a sense that when you're involved in mainstream media that you may be holding back or there may be executives who are putting pressure on you.' Is there an audience — and money — on the other side? Substack says that more than 50 people are earning more than $1 million annually on its platform. More than 50,000 of its publishers make money, but since the company won't give a total of how many people produce content for the platform, it's impossible to get a sense of the odds of success. Alisyn Camerota isn't making money yet. The former CNN anchor left the broadcaster after she sensed her time there was running out. Blessed with a financial cushion, she's relishing the chance to create something new. She records a video podcast, 'Sanity,' from her basement in Connecticut. A former Fox colleague who lives nearby, Dave Briggs, joins to talk about the news. 'It's harder than you think in terms of having to DIY a lot of this,' Camerota says, 'but it's very freeing.' Different people on the platform have different price points; some publishers put everything they do behind a pay wall, others only some. Acosta offers content for free, but people need to pay to comment or discuss. Zeteo charges $12 a month or $72 a year, with a $500 'founding member' yearly fee that offers access to Mehdi. The danger for independent journalists is a market reaching a saturation point. People already stress over how many streaming services they can afford for entertainment. There's surely a limit to how many journalists they will pay for, too. 'I hope to make a living at this,' Acosta says. 'We'll see how it goes. This is a bit of an experiment. I think it's a valuable one because the stakes are so high right now.' A strong point of view is one route to success To succeed in independent media, people need a strong work work ethic, self-motivation and an ability to pivot quickly to deal with changing markets, says Chris Balfe, founder of Red Seat Ventures. He has created a thriving business ushering conservative media figures into the new world, including Kelly, Bill O'Reilly, Tucker Carlson and Piers Morgan. Balfe's clients all have strong opinions. That's a plus for consumers who want to hear their viewpoints reflected back at them. 'I think you need a point of view and a purpose," Rubin says. "Once you have that, it helps you to organize your thinking and your selections. You're not going to be all things to all people.' That's one of the things that concerns Acosta and Todd. They're looser, and they certainly say what they think more than they felt free to do on television; a remark Acosta made on June 17, while appearing on Rubin's podcast, about Trump marrying immigrants was criticized as 'distasteful' by the White House. But at heart, they consider themselves reporters and not commentators. Is there enough room for people like them? Todd has a podcast, a weekly interview show on the new platform Noosphere and is looking to build on an interest in improving the fortunes of local news. He believes that opinion can help someone build an audience quickly but may ultimately limit growth. As Rubin did, they will find out soon enough. 'As it turned out," she says, 'what was on the other side was much more exciting and successful and absorbing than I could ever have imagined.' ___ David Bauder writes about the intersection of media and entertainment for the AP. Follow him at and
Yahoo
03-06-2025
- General
- Yahoo
Opinion - The Constitution strikes back against Trump
Early in President Trump's first term, humorist Andy Borowitz wrote a New Yorker piece that imagined Trump's frustration with court rulings blocking his executive orders on constitutional grounds. 'There's something going on,' Trump says about how 'very unfairly' the Framers of the Constitution have treated him. 'I don't have their names yet but that's something I'm looking into. These jokers are not going to get away with this.' Those 'jokers' who wrote the Constitution are really getting under Trump's skin in his second term. By one count, 180 judicial rulings have partly or wholly blocked Trump's executive orders and initiatives — many on constitutional grounds — which led to his attacks on 'radical left' judges and calls for their impeachment. Trump cannot grasp that his fundamental problem is with the Constitution, not the judges. His executive orders are too much for some of his own judicial appointees, one of whom, Judge Timothy Reif joined — 'Et tu, Brute?' — in the unanimous opinion of the U.S. Court of International Trade that Trump lacked constitutional authority for his global tariffs. The judicial setbacks have apparently pushed Trump into the 'eat your young' phase of his second term. After the tariff ruling, Trump blamed the conservative Federalist Society, attacking Leonard Leo, its long-time leader, as a 'sleazebag' for giving him 'bad advice' in his first term on judicial nominations. Talk about petulance — the Federalist Society helped Trump put three justices on the Supreme Court who provided the key votes for two of the conservative movement's greatest victories: the end of affirmative action and the overruling of Roe v. Wade. The Framers designed the Constitution as a bulwark against monarchy, yet within hours of swearing an oath to support and defend the Constitution, Trump began governing as a monarch. He issued more executive orders in his first 100 days than any president in American history. Trump's executive orders were not written on parchment and sealed with crimson wax, but in their scope and cruelty they have the feel of royal decrees. His orders launched a worldwide tariff war, punished individuals and organizations for exercising their right of free speech and, by halting foreign food aid and HIV-prevention programs, according to one calculation, may have already caused the deaths of thousands of children in the developing world. As if to underscore his monarchical impulses, Trump, after issuing an order to cancel congestion pricing in New York City, proclaimed on Truth Social, 'LONG LIVE THE KING!' Thanks to the Framers, presidential executive orders are subject to judicial review because our system of checks and balances was designed so that each branch of government restrains the other two. Trump has so neutered the GOP Congress that James Madison's famous phrase in Federalist No. 51 describing checks and balances — 'Ambition must be made to counteract ambition' — needs to be displayed in 10-foot letters in both chambers to remind Republicans why they are there. But the judicial branch, including Trump's own appointees, is still loyal to the Constitution, and this infuriates Trump. In fact, Trump has won significant rulings from what he calls a 'judicial tyranny.' At least preliminarily, federal courts have upheld his right to fire the heads of independent agencies with apparently limited exceptions, stripped (for now) hundreds of thousands of immigrants of temporary legal protections and paused the Court of International Trade's tariff ruling. But since Trump claims the right to 'run the country and the world,' he finds any judicial setback intolerable. Trump's rage against judicial rulings putting the Constitution, and not him, first is the best evidence that the system designed by the Framers endures — at least so far. Gregory J. Wallance was a federal prosecutor in the Carter and Reagan administrations and a member of the ABSCAM prosecution team, which convicted a U.S. senator and six representatives of bribery. He is the author of 'Into Siberia: George Kennan's Epic Journey Through the Brutal, Frozen Heart of Russia.' Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
The Hill
03-06-2025
- General
- The Hill
The Constitution strikes back against Trump
Early in President Trump's first term, humorist Andy Borowitz wrote a New Yorker piece that imagined Trump's frustration with court rulings blocking his executive orders on constitutional grounds. 'There's something going on,' Trump says about how 'very unfairly' the Framers of the Constitution have treated him. 'I don't have their names yet but that's something I'm looking into. These jokers are not going to get away with this.' Those 'jokers' who wrote the Constitution are really getting under Trump's skin in his second term. By one count, 180 judicial rulings have partly or wholly blocked Trump's executive orders and initiatives — many on constitutional grounds — which led to his attacks on 'radical left' judges and calls for their impeachment. Trump cannot grasp that his fundamental problem is with the Constitution, not the judges. His executive orders are too much for some of his own judicial appointees, one of whom, Judge Timothy Reif joined — 'Et tu, Brute?' — in the unanimous opinion of the U.S. Court of International Trade that Trump lacked constitutional authority for his global tariffs. The judicial setbacks have apparently pushed Trump into the 'eat your young' phase of his second term. After the tariff ruling, Trump blamed the conservative Federalist Society, attacking Leonard Leo, its long-time leader, as a 'sleazebag' for giving him 'bad advice' in his first term on judicial nominations. Talk about petulance — the Federalist Society helped Trump put three justices on the Supreme Court who provided the key votes for two of the conservative movement's greatest victories: the end of affirmative action and the overruling of Roe v. Wade. The Framers designed the Constitution as a bulwark against monarchy, yet within hours of swearing an oath to support and defend the Constitution, Trump began governing as a monarch. He issued more executive orders in his first 100 days than any president in American history. Trump's executive orders were not written on parchment and sealed with crimson wax, but in their scope and cruelty they have the feel of royal decrees. His orders launched a worldwide tariff war, punished individuals and organizations for exercising their right of free speech and, by halting foreign food aid and HIV-prevention programs, according to one calculation, may have already caused the deaths of thousands of children in the developing world. As if to underscore his monarchical impulses, Trump, after issuing an order to cancel congestion pricing in New York City, proclaimed on Truth Social, 'LONG LIVE THE KING!' Thanks to the Framers, presidential executive orders are subject to judicial review because our system of checks and balances was designed so that each branch of government restrains the other two. Trump has so neutered the GOP Congress that James Madison's famous phrase in Federalist No. 51 describing checks and balances — 'Ambition must be made to counteract ambition' — needs to be displayed in 10-foot letters in both chambers to remind Republicans why they are there. But the judicial branch, including Trump's own appointees, is still loyal to the Constitution, and this infuriates Trump. In fact, Trump has won significant rulings from what he calls a 'judicial tyranny.' At least preliminarily, federal courts have upheld his right to fire the heads of independent agencies with apparently limited exceptions, stripped (for now) hundreds of thousands of immigrants of temporary legal protections and paused the Court of International Trade's tariff ruling. But since Trump claims the right to 'run the country and the world,' he finds any judicial setback intolerable. Trump's rage against judicial rulings putting the Constitution, and not him, first is the best evidence that the system designed by the Framers endures — at least so far. Gregory J. Wallance was a federal prosecutor in the Carter and Reagan administrations and a member of the ABSCAM prosecution team, which convicted a U.S. senator and six representatives of bribery. He is the author of 'Into Siberia: George Kennan's Epic Journey Through the Brutal, Frozen Heart of Russia.'
