Vanity Fair UK - 11.2019

THE

FOURTH ESTATE

Broadcast, print, and digital media barons 

ghting

to make journalism at scale

1

SUSAN ZIRINSKY

President of CBS News AGE: 67

Zirinsky’s rst moves as president

of the news division were locking

down Gayle King at CBS This

Morning and elevating Norah

O’Donnell to the anchor chair of

the Evening News. But, she

says, “We’re nowhere near done.”

2

BARACK & MICHELLE OBAMA

Former president and first lady,

nonprofit leaders, and

Netflix producers AGES: 58, 55

With seven- and eight-gure

deals with Net ix, Penguin

Random House, and Spotify,

the Obamas have o†cially

gone multiplatform—and, soon,

multiplatinum. “They are very

ambitious in terms of the impact

they want to have,” says longtime

friend and adviser Valerie Jarrett.

3

JULIE K. BROWN

Miami Herald journalist,

Jeffrey Epstein exposer, voice

for victims AGE: 54

If it weren’t for Brown’s stunning

Miami Herald investigation,

JeŒrey Epstein’s sex crimes

might not have landed

back in the national spotlight.

“Julie did a great job publicizing

how we battled through

many obstacles and ultimately

prevailed,” said Brad Edwards, an

attorney working on the case.

4

JOHN STANKEY &

JEFF ZUCKER

CEO of WarnerMedia; chairman

of WarnerMedia news

and sports AGES: 56, 54

Stankey’s ascent, from little-

known telecom exec to media

power player, coincided with

an exodus of top talent from the

Time Warner rmament,

with one key exception: Zucker.

5

DANIEL EK

Spotify CEO; podcasting

empire builder AGE: 36

With podcasting journalism’s

current frontier, Ek has expanded

his streaming audio empire

with a series of acquisitions:

Gimlet ($230 million),

Anchor ($110 million), and

Parcast ($56 million).

6

MARTY BARON &

DEAN BAQUET

Rival editors in chief of the

Washington Post and the New

York Times AGES: 64, 62

Both men are considering

exits after 2020 but

remain the two most important

editors in America, having led

their institutions to new heights

(and, in some cases, lows)

during the Trump era. Let the

succession drama begin.

7

BOB BAKISH &

JOE IANIELLO

CEOs of Viacom and CBS,

corporate stepsiblings

AGES: 55, 51

Bakish has emerged as king

of the corporate media

reunication that almost wasn’t.

Ianiello didn’t get the

top job, but he did manage

to retain stewardship

of CBS. In the words of one of

Ianiello’s colleagues, “He

checked his ego at the door to

make this deal work.”

8

LACHLAN MURDOCH

CEO of Fox Corporation,

Rupert’s heir apparent AGE: 48

Rupert Murdoch’s chosen

successor has control of

the Fox broadcast network, 28

local a†liates, Fox Sports,

and of course, Fox News. “We

continue to be obviously

number one,” Lachlan recently

boasted of the network’s

ratings, “and expect to continue

that run for quite some time.”

9

RACHEL MADDOW &

TUCKER CARLSON

The most influential names in

cable news AGES: 46, 50

Maddow remains queen bee at

MSNBC despite a slip in the

ratings. Carlson is hemorrhaging

advertisers but might

have stopped a war with Iran.

10

PATRICK SOON

SHIONG

Aspiring savior of the

Los Angeles Times AGE: 67

“There’s denitely a perception

in town that the L.A. Times is

back,” says a seasoned Hollywood

journalist, referring to the new

regime of Patrick Soon-Shiong,

the relatively enigmatic new

money man behind the struggling

paper. But, says one editor, “Does

he really realize how much it

will take to turn the place around?”

Cable News

Wars

Top prime-time anchors’ ratings

(millions of viewers)

APRMAYJUNJULAUG

2

3

2.5

Sean Hannity Tucker Carlson

Rachel Maddow

Courtesy of Nielsen and TVNewser

“Fake News” Mentions

in Trump Tweets

January–August 2019

21

34

1813172122

6

Ê

Bubble Goes PopThe Digital Media

NOVEMBER

Mic

goes bust

DECEMBER

Rookie

magazine

shuts down

JANUARY

BuzzFeed

announces layoffs

MARCH

Refinery29

and

Group

Nine Media

discuss merger

MAY

Disney slashes

Vice

valuation

“

Susan

Zirinsky

–

Barack &

Michelle

Obama

NOVEMBER 2019 VANITY FAIR 91

PHOTOGRAPHS: TOP, BY MANNY CARABEL/WIREIMAGE; BOTTOM BY MATT M

CCLAIN/

THE WASHINGTON POST

/GETTY IMAGES