National Public Radio last week announced it was beefing up its disinformation reporting and this week, Fox News Channel host Greg Gutfeld popped off on the move.

What began as an NPR pop-up beat last year, manned by Brett Neely, will now be a team of at least four, Lisa Hagen, Huo Jingnan and Shannon Bond, with Neely as supervising editor.

Disinformation and misinformation has been a hot topic given the echo-chamber power of the internet and the attempts by groups, foreign and domestic, to use such campaigns to affect elections and foment violence.

Also: ‘Gutfeld!’ Makes Mark in Late Night

On his nightly show Gutfeld! Monday (July 18), which is among the most-watched nighttime talkers, Gutfeld ripped into the noncom network. ”[I]t’s good to see NPR finally realizing the necessity of policing fake news,” he said. “Sort of like a drug addict checking himself into rehab. You know, admitting you have a problem, NPR, is the first step. So good for you.”

Gutfeld and numerous Fox News hosts have opined on what they have said was the mainstream media's, including NPR's, lack of coverage of the troubles of first son Hunter Biden.

Gutfeld cited a tweet during the flap over Hunter Biden’s laptop from NPR explaining why it was not dogging the story the way, say, Fox News has. “We don't want to waste our time on stories that aren't really stories,” the Twitter post read. “And we don't want to waste listeners’ and readers’ time on stories that are just pure distractions.”

Fox News has been giving a promotional push to the second part of its Fox Nation streaming service’s two-part series Who Is Hunter Biden.

That did not sit well with Gutfeld, who has called the story the most consequential one of the 2020 presidential election season. “Apparently, NPR was doing people a favor by filtering out stories that might disturb them, but they really weren't filtering at all. They were blocking, cherry-picking, censoring, then acting as if it was a favor to you. Pulling that tote bag over your head and saying it's for your own good, sister.” ▪️

The Radio Television Digital News Foundation has announced its latest First Amendment award winners, including the Leonard H. Zeidenberg First Amendment Award, named after the former Broadcasting+Cable senior Washington correspondent.

There will be a March 9 dinner in Washington where the 2021 recipients — as well as 2021 recipients who did not get an in-person gala — will be recognized.

The 2022 Zeidenberg Award winner is Mary Louise Kelly, host of NPR's All Things Considered and a former national security correspondent for the noncommercial news outlet. The award is for a "major contribution to the protection of First Amendment freedoms."

FCC chairwoman Jessica Rosenworcel has been tapped for the First Amendment Leadership award for "champions" of "First Amendment and press freedoms." Rosenworcel was tapped for promoting "greater opportunity, accessibility, and affordability in our communications services." 

The 2022 First Amendment Service Award, for “professionals in local or network news who work in an off-air, management, largely behind-the-scenes capacity,” is going to ABC News president Kim Godwin.

The First Amendment Award is going to CBS’s Face the Nation with Margaret Brennan. The award is for “a business, government or other leader who has made a significant contribution to the protection of the First Amendment and freedom of the press.” The show is being hailed as the most-watched Sunday public affairs show and the second-longest-running TV show of any kind.

The First Amendment Clarity Award recognizes a journalist or journalists who put complex stories in context. The winner is NBC News and MSNBC national political correspondent Steve Kornacki for his political reporting.

The RTDNF Citation of Courage is being given posthumously to Kevin Nishita, who worked as an armed security guard and was killed while protecting a TV news crew from an armed robbery in Oakland, California. 

The RTDNF Lifetime Achievement Award will go to Jayne Miller, a reporter at WBAL Baltimore for more than 35 years. ■

Former Fox News Channel and CNN White House correspondent Ed Henry has filed suit against CNN and NPR, as well as a number of journalists employed by each, alleging defamation and invasion of privacy.

The suit followed one filed earlier last week by Henry against Fox News and its CEO, Suzanne Scott, alleging defamation.

Fox News fired Ed Henry in June 2020 after it received a complaint from a former employee involving "willful sexual misconduct in the workplace" in the past. They did not say what that misconduct was. Henry has said the allegations were false and he was "blindsided" by the firing.

Henry conceded that he had a sexual relationship with his accuser, Jennifer Eckhart, also a Fox employee (Fox Business Network), but that it was consensual. Eckhart sued Henry alleging rape.

Also Read: Ex-News Corp. Exec Padden: Fox News Is Damaging America

In the suit, Henry alleges NPR and CNN made false or misleading statements about him.

"NPR stands behind David Folkenflik’s reporting and will vigorously defend it against this meritless claim," said Isabel Lara, NPR executive director of media relations. "Millions of Americans trust NPR to provide accurate information about the world and their communities every day; we take this responsibility very seriously."

Noncommercial educational (NCE) TV stations want the FCC to end the mandatory three-year satellite election of most-carry status by noncommercial TV stations, saying it is both unnecessary and that DBS providers have used it as a loophole through which to drop carriage.

That came in comments to the FCC on its ongoing effort to modernize media regs.

In those comments, PBS, NPR, the Corporation for Public Broadcasting and America's Public Television Stations said that given that noncommercial TV stations can't, unlike commercial stations, elect retransmission consent--and obviously want DirecTV and Dish to carry them--the election is simply a rote process.

They point out that there is no similar three-year election for cable carriage, which simply continues indefinitely unless there is a change in circumstance that modifies the must-carry agreement.

"The DBS rules should be aligned with the cable rules to permit a one-time election that continues for as long as the station remains qualified for carriage," they said.

In addition, they argue that, in at least a "handful of cases, each three-year cycle, the requirements "turn out to be a trap for the unwary NCE-TV station, resulting in the loss of DBS carriage in the station’s market for the next three years."

Adding another OTT option to the mix, Comcast will soon start to offer content from National Public Radio on its X1 set-top box platform.

Comcast, in the "coming weeks," plans to offer a TV-optimized version of the NPR One app, along with its mix of local and national news and podcasts, to X1 customers. About 60% of Comcast’s 21.3 million residential video subs are on X1.

The app via X1 will be available for free, though users have the option to login and create accounts (also free) that can personalize the experience.

As part of the integration, customers can use the X1 voice remote to launch the NPR One app (by saying “NPR” or “NPR One”), and NPR content will also be searchable and integrated with the X1 VOD menus, appearing along with other related content. Comcast said customers can also access content from their local NPR Member Station via the NPR One app on X1.

Further out, X1 customers will also be able to find specific NPR programs or podcasts by name or topic by saying, for example, “Show me Ask Me Another on NPR One.”

RELATED: Comcast Adds iHeartRadio to X1 Boxes

NPR One will be streamed over the internet to X1 boxes, making that content subject to Comcast’s internet data usage policies. Examples of other OTT services that have been integrated with X1 include Netflix, YouTube, Pandora, and iHeartRadio.

RELATED: Comcast Deploys 1-Terabyte Data Plan 

“We continue to focus on putting people’s favorite content and experiences on a single platform, Xfinity X1,” Nancy Spears, VP of strategy and execution, Comcast Cable, said in a statement.  “NPR has created a very personal listening experience with the NPR One app and we look forward to giving longstanding and new fans the ability to access the public radio programming they want directly on the TV, with just the sound of their voice.”

RELATED: OTT Becomes A-OK on the STB

“Every day, people are finding new ways to listen to public radio,” added Joel Sucherman, senior director of digital products at NPR. “NPR One feels right at home on X1, bringing the best local and national news, along with your favorite podcasts, in a personalized experience that gets smarter the more you listen.”

The Cable Center announced its 2018 Cable Hall of Fame class, a list of industry luminaries from the cable programming and operations  sectors that will be inducted during the 21st annual Cable Hall of Fame celebration on April 4 at New York City’s Ziegfeld Ballroom.

RELATED: Cable Center picks NYC site for Hall of Fame ceremonies

The honorees are: 

• Nomi Bergman, Senior Executive, Advance/Newhouse
• John Bickham, President and Chief Operating Officer, Charter Communications
• Jarl Mohn, President and CEO, NPR
• Richard Plepler, Chairman & CEO, HBO
• Neil Smit, Vice Chairman, Comcast Corporation

The honorees were chosen based on their leadership, entrepreneurship and innovation in media. Since 1998, 127 leaders have been inducted into the Cable Hall of Fame.

“We are thrilled to roll out the red carpet for our 2018 inductees at our first Cable Hall of Fame celebration in New York at the phenomenal Ziegfeld Ballroom,” said Penthera Partners CEO and chairman of The Cable Center’s board of directors Michael Willner in a statement “This year’s honorees are some of the most respected leaders in our industry, and they have helped to shape the face of cable for future generations.”

The ceremony will be held at the recently renovated Ziegfeld Ballroom, which opened this fall in the former Ziegfeld Theater building. The Ziegfeld hosted Hollywood's top blockbuster movie premieres for decades, earning acclaim as one of the most celebrated venues in the world. The Ziegfeld Ballroom will be the home for the Cable Hall of Fame through at least 2020.

“The dedication, hard work and entrepreneurial spirit shown by this year’s inductees has helped to guide the successful development of our industry. We look forward to honoring this stellar class on April 4,” said The Cable Center CEO Jana L. Henthorn in a statement

For more information on the celebration and to secure sponsorships, visit www.cablehalloffame.com, or call 720-502-7513.

Fox on Wednesday (Dec. 14) will launch its music-themed series Star, the latest entry in a genre that so far this year has hit several sour notes.

The series, which takes over the prime time timeslot of Fox’s hit music series Empire, will look to strike a chord with viewers who tuned out of several cable-based music shows this year.

After much fanfare and a second season green light, HBO’s Martin Scorsese/Mick Jagger ’70 s executive-produced rock ‘n’ roll drama Vinyl failed to hit with viewers, and was canceled four months after it premiered this past February.

Showtime hoped viewers would dance to the beat of its drama Roadies, which followed the lives of crew members for major performers. But the network canceled the Cameron Crowe-produced show before it opened for a second season.

FX’s Denis Leary-helmed comedy Sex&Drugs&Rock&Roll was silenced this past September after two seasons of so-so ratings.

While Empire continues to deliver big ratings for Fox, the task of developing a successful scripted series around the music business is not an exact science, according to Eric Deggans, the media and TV critic for National Public Radio, who is also a musician. While music has broad appeal, Deggans said viewers tend to gravitate to shows that weave music themes into otherwise dramatic, soap opera-esque storylines rather than shows that focus on the nuts and bolts of the music industry itself.

 “I think the way to have a successful show has been shown by Empire and [FX freshman series] Atlanta — you have to figure out ways in which the music is paired with some other attraction so that you get a wide range of viewers,” he said. “When you do feature the music, it has to be strong and authentic.”

Indeed, the Donald Glover-created Atlanta, which focuses on two cousins trying to navigate the ATL’s rap scene, has found an audience. The series’s Sept. 6 premiere drew the network’s second-biggest audience for a series debut, with 3 million viewers. Atlanta has already been renewed for a second season.

CMT is singing the praises of ABC’s cancelled country music-themed Nashville. The cable network will offer an early preview of its season-five premiere on Dec. 15 and  will officially launch the season on Jan. 5.

Star will get its chance to serenade television viewers with the hopes of making beautiful ratings music within a genre that’s delivered mixed results in 2016.

Pictured (from left):Jude Demorest, Ryan Destiny and Brittany O'Grady, the stars of Fox's new series Star, premiering Dec. 14.

Just shy of a year since leaving NBC Universal to take a top post at social media juggernaut Twitter, Vivian Schiller said she is stepping down so new Global Media head Katie Stanton can reorganize the unit.

According to reports, Schiller will be replaced by Adam Sharp, who previously ran Twitter’s government unit, in a new position that will include government and news partnerships. 

Schiller left NBCU, where she was chief digital officer, in late October  2013 to become Head of News for Twitter, in charge of developing relationships with more traditional news outlets in cable, broadcast, newspapers and radio.

Her departure is one of several at the social media company this year, including chief operating officer Ali Rowghani and North American media head Chloe Sladden, who was replaced by Stanton earlier this year. In a memo obtained by technology website Re/Code, which first broke the story, Stanton said the reorganization is being made to streamline the media team and make operations more efficient.

In a trio of tweets Wednesday night, Schiller said she was “stepping down so new global media lead @katies [Stanton] can reorganize as she sees fit. Wish everyone at twitter nothing but the best.”

Schiller had a long history in the cable business. She served as a top executive at CNN productions in 2000 and joined the New York Times in 2002 as senior vice president and general manger for its Discovery Times Channel. Schiller later rose to SVP television and radio for the Times and EVP and GM for the network in 2005. In 2006, Schiller was named SVP and GM of NYTimes.com, heading up the paper’s digital initiatives and in 2009 joined National Public Radio as CEO, resigning in March 2011 after a series of political missteps at the public broadcaster. She was named chief digital officer at NBC News in July 2011, responsible for leading the digital strategy of the broadcast network as well as cable properties like MSNBC.

NPR said its board of directors has chosen Jarl Mohn to become its next president and CEO. He is currently chairman of Southern California Public Radio and has had a life-long career in media, including serving as founding president and CEO of Liberty Digital and president and CEO of E! Entertainment Television.

“We are delighted to welcome Jarl, whose background as a successful media executive and innovator makes him ideally suited to lead NPR as it continues to expand its reach and play a unique role in public service journalism and cultural programming,’’ NPR board chairman Kit Jensen, the chief operating officer of ideastream in Cleveland, Ohio, said in a release. “Jarl has a deep commitment to the public radio system, love of radio and passion for quality journalism.  He has demonstrated throughout his career a keen ability to identify media and consumer trends. He has exhibited a strong track record on diversity and fairness.”

The 62-year-old Mohn, who for years went by his radio name Lee Masters, starts at NPR in July and will succeed Paul G. Haaga Jr., who has been acting CEO since last year, the organization said.

"This is not a job for me. It is a mission. I love public radio and NPR. It is a national treasure and more important now than ever,” Mohn said in the release. “I want to make sure the staff of NPR, the Member Stations and the others who make it happen have everything they need to do their best work."

Before creating and serving as CEO at E! Entertainment Television (January 1990-December 1998) he executive vice president and general manager of MTV and VH1 (1986-1990). He began his career as a disc jockey in 1967 and was on the air on WNBC-AM in New York in the 1970s. Most recently he has divided him time between being a corporate director and advisor to a number of media companies, making direct early stage angel and seed investments in digital media/technology ventures. He and his wife Pamela created The Mohn Family Foundation in 2000.