Welcome back to the “Media Front.”
New York Magazine set out this week to document a cultural shift in its city. By Friday, choices about how to document that shift had become a media story of their own.
“Habibi City,” New York’s package on the growing cultural and political influence of New Yorkers with roots in the Middle East and North Africa, explored everything from restaurants and nightlife to comedy and politics. Its centerpiece described a community that has become more visible and interconnected in recent years, particularly amid the war in Gaza and the rise of Mayor Zohran Mamdani.
But much of the reaction focused less on the trend New York was documenting than on how the magazine framed it.
Those choices quickly became the focus of a broader media debate. The New York Post published multiple pieces attacking the package, while The Free Press published a response from Liel Leibovitz arguing that New York’s portrayal of the city and its Middle Eastern communities was fundamentally misguided. The Washington Free Beacon also weighed in repeatedly, including with a follow-up criticizing New York’s response to the controversy.
The reaction shows how quickly an ambitious piece of cultural journalism can turn the lens back on the publication itself and the editorial choices behind its portrayal.
New York defended its approach while acknowledging the criticism. In a statement to TheWrap, representatives from the magazine described the cover story as an exploration of a subculture “making its presence felt, both culturally and politically, in new ways,” and said any coverage of communities shaped by conflict carries an “irreducible political dimension.” The magazine said it sought to capture tensions within those communities, including their relationship to Israel, and that it was taking criticism from some in the Jewish community seriously.
There’s a larger editorial question underneath the fight. Magazines have always tried to identify cultural shifts before everyone else does. That requires making choices: deciding which people represent a movement, which experiences bind them together and which terminology best describes what’s happening. Those decisions can make a piece provocative and illuminating. They can also become the focus when readers believe the framing leaves something important out.
New York Magazine presented “Habibi City” as a portrait of a community finding greater cultural and political power in the city. Its critics saw something else: a portrait whose treatment of Israel and Jewish identity reflected an editorial point of view they believed deserved scrutiny.
The debate isn’t likely to settle the underlying disagreements about Israel, Zionism or identity. But it does demonstrate something about journalism in a polarized moment: Sometimes the framing isn’t merely the vehicle for telling the story.
It becomes part of the story itself.
Now, onto this week’s installment of The Media Front column. If you want this directly in your inbox every Sunday, check your WrapPRO settings.
Read my full piece: New York Mag Draws Ire for ‘Erased’ Jewish Identity in ‘Habibi City’ Feature on Mideast Communities
Matt Gutman’s Complicated CBS Moment
Matt Gutman has quickly become one of the most visible faces of the new CBS News. Since joining the network in January as Bari Weiss’ first major on-air hire, the former ABC News correspondent has landed roles across “60 Minutes” and “48 Hours,” covered major breaking stories and recently turned heads filling in for Tony Dokoupil on “CBS Evening News.”
That momentum now has an unexpected complication. Former ABC News producer Samira Said accused Gutman of sexual harassment in a lawsuit filed Friday against ABC News and Disney, alleging that he made inappropriate sexual comments while the two worked together. Gutman and CBS have not addressed the substance of the allegations, saying they had not yet reviewed the complaint.
The allegations date to Gutman’s time at ABC, where he spent nearly two decades before making the jump to CBS. His tenure there was not without controversy: ABC suspended him in 2020 over erroneous reporting following Kobe Bryant’s death and again in 2021 for violating the network’s COVID safety protocols. But the new allegations arrive as his profile at his new network has been moving in the opposite direction: up.
His recent “Evening News” stint only added to that momentum. With Gutman filling in for Dokoupil, the broadcast delivered its strongest weekly audience in 17 weeks, fueling some industry chatter about whether CBS had found an even bigger role for him. For a network still working to rebuild its flagship newscast — and for Weiss as she puts her stamp on the broader news division — Gutman was beginning to look like an early personnel win.
That makes the timing particularly awkward for CBS. The allegations have not been adjudicated, and the network has yet to address them beyond saying it needs to review the complaint. But they give CBS a new personnel issue to navigate just as one of Weiss’ earliest and most visible bets was beginning to pay off.
Read our full piece: Matt Gutman Accused of Harassment in Former ABC Producer’s Wrongful Termination Lawsuit
What Iger’s $12.5 Billion Lakers Bet Says About Sports
Bob Iger spent decades betting on entertainment franchises, Disney front and center. His latest investment suggests he sees another kind of franchise with enormous upside: the Los Angeles Lakers.
Iger and Thrive Capital founder Josh Kushner agreed this week to acquire the team from Mark Walter at a record $12.5 billion valuation, ESPN reported. That’s particularly striking because Walter only acquired control last year at a $10 billion valuation — and the NBA’s massive new media-rights agreements were already known then.
Sports business consultant Marc Ganis told us this week that the premium reflects, in part, the scarcity of an asset like the Lakers. There are only 30 NBA franchises, and very few combine the Lakers’ global fan base, Los Angeles market and cultural reach.
That’s worth watching as traditional entertainment becomes more fragmented. Live sports remain capable of assembling enormous audiences, while the best franchises increasingly operate as media, entertainment and consumer brands in their own right.
For Iger, who spent decades managing Disney’s most valuable franchises, the underlying proposition is one he’s embraced as a CEO: Buy something culturally irreplaceable and figure out how to make it even more valuable.
Read our full piece: How Bob Iger Bought the Lakers for $12.5 Billion
Janai Norman Turns the Lens on ABC News
Janai Norman has spent the past week doing something unusual for a recently departed network news anchor: publicly critiquing the journalism of her former newsroom.
The former “Good Morning America Weekend” host, whose ABC News contract was not renewed earlier this year, has posted a series of videos criticizing how ABC and other news organizations have covered the death of Mississippi teenager Nolan Wells. Her sharpest criticism was directed at “GMA” co-anchor Michael Strahan, arguing that he should have more aggressively challenged the account of the teenagers who were with Wells before his death.
But Norman’s criticism goes beyond one interview. She has questioned how news organizations cover stories involving race and accused ABC and other outlets of being “complicit in upholding white supremacy.” ABC, meanwhile, strongly defended Strahan, telling TheWrap it has “complete confidence in his editorial judgment, integrity and professionalism.”
It makes for an unusual public newsroom critique: a former anchor using the work of her onetime colleagues to make a broader argument about how television news practices journalism — putting debates that typically stay behind newsroom doors directly in front of viewers.
Read our full piece: Ex-‘GMA’ Anchor Janai Norman Takes Aim at ABC News Over ‘Insensitive’ Coverage
CNN Is Not for Sale, Paramount Says
CNN spent another week at the center of the fight over Paramount’s $110 billion acquisition of Warner Bros. Discovery — including some confusion over whether David Ellison might ultimately be willing to part with the network.
Paramount chief legal officer Makan Delrahim suggested this week that divestitures could be considered as the company looks for a potential settlement with California Attorney General Rob Bonta, who is challenging the deal. That fueled speculation that CNN itself could be on the table.
But Paramount pushed back Thursday. A source with knowledge told TheWrap there was “zero truth” to the notion that Ellison was considering CNN as part of a settlement.
At the same time, Paramount has considered creating an independent oversight board at CNN to address concerns about the network’s editorial independence under Ellison’s ownership.
The back-and-forth underscores CNN’s unusual place in the deal: Paramount insists it wants the network, even as CNN remains at the center of many of the political and legal questions surrounding the merger.
Read the full piece: Paramount Unwilling to Sell CNN as Industry Pushes for Settlement Concessions
This Week: Why Fox Is Holding the Line on the NFL
Fox has made clear that it isn’t interested in reopening its NFL deal early, even as football has arguably never been more important to the company’s business.
I recently spoke with sports media executives and analysts about the economics behind Fox’s NFL relationship, how football fits into the company’s broader strategy and what could happen when the two sides eventually return to the negotiating table.
Look for that story this week on TheWrap!
Also on TheWrap
From Lucas Manfredi: “$34.5 Billion Charter-Cox Merger Approved by California Regulator“
From A.J. Katz: “Forbes Fired Top Editor Over Secret $6 Million Payment“
From Tess Patton: “Mark Zuckerberg Says AI May Shrink Companies — but Won’t Kill Jobs“
On my radar
“Meet the Media Industry’s Nerd-in-Chief” (Alexandra Bruell, Wall Street Journal)
“In TV Ad Market’s Swing to Streaming, Cheap Inventory Is in Demand” (Tim Peterson, Digiday)
“YouTube Now Requires Creators to Have Twice as Many Watch Hours to Start Earning Money” (Aisha Malik, TechCrunch)
The post New York Magazine’s ‘Habibi City’ Problem appeared first on TheWrap.
