March 31, 2020 ![]() By DYLAN BYERS in Los Angeles & AHIZA GARCÍA-HODGES in San Francisco Good morning. 🗣️ Top talker: Jared Kushner enlisted his brother's company to build a government website for coronavirus information, The Atlantic's Robinson Meyer reports. The site was never built, but the Kushners may have violated federal ethics laws.
• The latest: More than 3,000 people have now died from COVID-19 in the United States — more than the number of people who died in the attacks of September 11, 2001.
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![]() Bloomberg/Getty Bad Times in Burbank Bob Chapek cuts executive pay
Moving the Market: Disney chief Bob Chapek has informed his fellow executives that they will take significant pay cuts until the business starts to recover from the coronavirus outbreak, the latest sign of how vulnerable the Magic Kingdom is to the pandemic.
• "We are going to be implementing a variety of necessary measures designed to better position us to weather these extraordinary challenges," Chapek, who took over as CEO of Disney last month, wrote in an email to executives that was obtained by the Market.
• "Effective April 5, all VPs will have their salaries reduced by 20%, SVPs by 25%, and EVPs and above by 30%," Chapek wrote. He said he would take a 50% reduction in his own salary, while Bob Iger, who now serves as chairman, had "chosen to forgo 100% of his salary."
• "This temporary action will remain in effect until we foresee a substantive recovery in our business," Chapek wrote.
The big picture: Disney's entire business is vulnerable to the pandemic, as I reported earlier this month. Film production and distribution, theatrical shows, theme parks, cruises, live sports — "no part of the business is untouched," as one Hollywood executive put it.
• The executive pay cuts are a sign of how urgent Disney's crisis has become, and it portends future cost cutting measures both at Disney and at other media companies that are similarly exposed.
What's next: Many large American corporations, from retailers like Macy's and Gap to the newspaper giant Gannett (see item below), have started to furlough employees to curb the financial impact of the pandemic. Similar measures could be in store for Disney.
![]() Bloomberg/Getty State of the Media Gannett, Vice hit by pay cuts
Moving the News: Gannett, Vice Media and other national news organizations will implement staff-wide furloughs or pay cuts to curb the financial damage brought on by the coronavirus pandemic — the latest blow to an industry already under siege.
• Gannett chief Paul Bascobert says employees at the company's 100-plus newspapers will all be forced to take a week of unpaid leave in order to keep the newspaper giant afloat. Executives will take a 25 percent pay cut; Bascobert will forego his salary.
• Vice chief Nancy Dubuc is imposing a 90-day pay cut for employees who make over $100,000 per year and will also freeze 401k matching for 60 days. Executives will take a 25 percent cut; Dubuc will take a 50 percent pay cut.
• Maven chief James Heckman is laying off 31 employees, or 9 percent of staff, and cutting senior management compensation by 30 percent. Maven, the owner of Sports Illustrated, said it expects to see a $30 million reduction in revenue this year.
The big picture: The ad-supported media business, which was already in decline, has gone into full-blown crisis as businesses and brands cut their advertising budgets to cope with the pandemic.
• What's next: As we wrote last week, journalists across the industry should be bracing for pay cuts — or worse.
📺 TV Guide 📺
Appointment viewing: NBC News will air a series of live primetime specials on the coronavirus pandemic every Tuesday at 10 p.m. ET.
The first, which takes place tonight, will be hosted by Today's Savannah Guthrie and Hoda Kotb.
![]() Bloomberg/Getty Zoom Under Fire Eric Yuan faces NY A.G.
Tele-Trouble: Eric Yuan, the founder and chief executive of the Zoom teleconferencing app, is under scrutiny from the New York attorney general over its data privacy and security measures, NYT's Danny Hakim and Natasha Singer report.
• New York A.G. Letitia James has "sent Zoom a letter asking what, if any, new security measures the company has put in place to handle increased traffic on its network and to detect hackers."
The big picture: Zoom has surged in popularity and traffic during the coronavirus pandemic. At the same time, internet trolls have hijacked meetings, interrupting educational sessions or posting hate speech — a phenomenon called "Zoombombing."
• What's next: Zoom says it takes "users' privacy, security and trust extremely seriously" and has been working to keep hospitals, schools and other businesses "connected and operational." It also says it will provide the necessary information to the AG's office.
Market Links
• Mark Zuckerberg gives $25m fight coronavirus (Recode)
• Tim Cook tries to manage a remote workforce (Information)
• John Henry sees a major jump in traffic to Stat News (NYT)
• Bob Pittman forgoes salary, furloughs employees (Variety)
• America's CEOs abandon their projections (Recode)
![]() Bloomberg/Getty Against Misinformation Jack Dorsey cracks down
Big in the Bay: Twitter chief Jack Dorsey removed coronavirus-related tweets from both Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro and Fox News host Laura Ingram on Monday as part of his ongoing effort to fight misinformation on the platform.
• The move follows similar actions on tweets from Rudy Giuliani and The Federalist, a conservative news site, that promoted false information or harmful recommendations related to the disease.
The big picture: Social media networks have taken aggressive action against misinformation related to COVID-19, but Twitter has been especially proactive in going after prominent accounts.
![]() Mike Coppola/Getty Do It Live Jeff Zucker on W.H. pressers
Talk of TV Land: CNN President Jeff Zucker is defending his decision to air President Trump's coronavirus press conferences live, despite criticism that the broadcasts enable the spread of misinformation, The Daily Beast's Max Tani reports.
• The big picture: CNN and MSNBC have been grappling with how to handle the briefings, which tend to contain important information about the pandemic alongside incorrect and potentially harmful statements from the president. (MSNBC is owned by NBCUniversal, the parent company of NBC News.)
• On an internal staff call, Zucker said it's important for viewers to hear critical info from public-health experts and hear Trump respond to tough questions from journalists.
What's next: Zucker said it's a "difficult decision" but for now CNN will continue to air the briefings. CNN has also started pushing back on inaccuracies in the briefings with chyrons.
📺 What's next: "Prime-time pandemic." NYT's James Poniewozick notes that the coronavirus briefings have given Trump "a regularly scheduled reality show again — or, rather, a create-your-own-reality show."
See you tomorrow.
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