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| Presented By Facebook |
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| Axios AM |
| By Mike Allen ·Feb 03, 2022 |
| Happy Thursday. Smart Brevity™ count: 1,315 words ... 5 minutes. Edited by Zachary Basu. |
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| 1 big thing: Media men misbehaving |
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| Wolf Blitzer and Brian Stelter report on their former boss. Screenshot: CNN |
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| The leaders of CNN, CBS Corp., Fox News and others have all been forced to resign in public scandals over the past six years, pointing to the media's struggle with its own accountability. - Staffers weren't surprised by the conduct — but that their seemingly invincible bosses were brought down by behavior that was an open secret, Axios Media Trends author Sara Fischer writes.
CNN boss Jeff Zucker's resignation, prompted by a relationship with a longtime senior colleague, shocked even top executives. - Zucker's relationship with Allison Gollust, CNN EVP and chief marketing officer, was common knowledge among many media insiders. RadarOnline published a story on it in early January.
Zoom out: Zucker's resignation follows other scandals that have rocked the TV industry in recent years. - Roger Ailes resigned as chairman and CEO of Fox News in 2016 after a sexual harassment lawsuit by former anchor Gretchen Carlson.
- Les Moonves stepped down as chairman, president and CEO of CBS in 2018 after reports revealed multiple allegations of misconduct.
- John Skipper resigned as president of ESPN and co-chair of Disney Media Networks in 2017 following an extortion plot related to his cocaine use.
Reality check: Zucker's failure to disclose his relationship with a subordinate — while a leadership and judgment failure — wasn't a crime. ⚡ The latest: Zucker said he resigned. If he hadn't, he would have been terminated, two sources involved in the matter told CNN's Reliable Sources newsletter. - "He proposed to stay through the WarnerMedia spin-off, or through the launch of CNN+, or through the end of this week." But WarnerMedia CEO Jason Kilar said his exit had to happen immediately, the newsletter reported.
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| 2. Long COVID adds to labor shortage |
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| Illustration: Maura Losch/Axios |
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| Long COVID is likely keeping a lot of Americans out of the workforce, experts tell Axios' Tina Reed and Emily Peck. - 1.6 million workers could be missing from the labor market because of long COVID, accounting for 15%+ of unfilled jobs, estimates Katie Bach, a nonresident senior fellow at the Brookings Institution.
What's happening: Long COVID isn't confined to older patients, and its symptoms can vary. The U.S. doesn't have particularly strong support systems for people who need long-term COVID treatment. - Studies estimate long COVID hits anywhere from 5% to 60% of COVID patients.
"Many of the patients we're seeing are in the 40-year-old range. They're people who are still working ... then they got COVID," Monica Verduzco-Gutierrez, director of the COVID Recovery Clinic at University Health in Texas, told Axios. - She testifies today before a House subcommittee about the debilitating impacts of long COVID.
Researchers still don't understand what causes long COVID. - Verduzco-Gutierrez said she's seen a wide range of symptoms. Some patients had strokes, some required amputation, some developed asthma, and others developed POTS, which causes their heart rate to rise every time they stand up, she said.
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| 3. COVID deaths rise as Omicron wanes |
 Data: N.Y. Times. Cartogram: Kavya Beheraj/Axios Omicron is finally on its way out, but it's leaving behind a death toll that's still rising, Axios' Sam Baker and Kavya Beheraj report. - New cases are plunging. The U.S. is averaging just under 425,000 new cases per day, down from over 750,000 per day just two weeks ago.
- And for the first time since the Omicron wave set in, almost the whole country is sharing in that improvement.
But deaths are still on the rise — the virus is killing roughly 2,600 Americans per day. That's a function of two things: - Deaths are the last number to move, in any wave.
- The overwhelming majority were unvaccinated people. The risk of dying from COVID is 60x higher for unvaccinated people than it is for people who are vaccinated and boosted, according to CDC data.
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| A message from Facebook |
| Facebook puts your safety and security front-and-center |
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Since July, Facebook's safety and security teams have taken action on: - 1.8 billion fake accounts.
- 9.8 million terrorism-related posts.
But our work to stop bad actors is never done. Learn more about how we're working to help you connect safely. |
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| 4. Mapped: Russia squeezes Ukraine |
Map, satellite image: ©2022 Maxar TechnologiesMaxar satellite images show an expansion of Russia's buildup near Ukraine's border, with troop tents and shelters now visible at "virtually every deployment location in Belarus, Crimea and western Russia." Satellite image: ©2022 Maxar TechnologiesEvidence of new housing and live-fire exercises suggest pre-positioned units "have increased their overall readiness level." |
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| 5. Civilians reported killed in U.S. raid |
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| Syrians gather today at the scene of an overnight raid by U.S. special operations forces. Photo: Aaref Watad/AFP via Getty Images |
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| U.S. special forces today carried out what the Pentagon called a "successful" counterterrorism raid in northwestern Syria, near the Turkish border, with civilians reported killed. - Rescuers at the scene said 13 people were killed, including six children and four women, AP reports.
Syrian sources believe the target was a jihadist but it wasn't clear who, Reuters reports. Northwestern Syria is haven for several jihadist groups. - Pentagon press secretary John Kirby said: "U.S. Special Operations forces under the control of U.S. Central Command conducted a counterterrorism mission this evening in northwest Syria. The mission was successful. There were no U.S. casualties. More information will be provided as it becomes available."
Get the latest. |
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| 6. Meta-reverse |
 Recreated from Meta. Chart: Axios Visuals Meta said the Facebook app lost roughly 1 million daily active users in the most recent quarter — its first-ever drop, Axios' Sara Fischer reports. - Why it matters: The numbers reinforce the sense, inside and outside the company, that the Facebook social network is now a legacy product for Meta, where the focus has shifted to newer realms like messaging, Instagram video and the metaverse.
While Facebook's core app still produces much of the company's revenue, new features — like Facebook's TikTok copycat Reels — are the primary drivers of growth, not the basic News Feed. - On a call with investors, CEO Mark Zuckerberg said there's been a shift of engagement within its apps toward video products like Reels. Those are harder for the company to monetize compared to video products in the News Feed and in Stories (strings of video and text).
- Zuckerberg conceded the company expects continued headwinds from increased competition for people's time. He cited TikTok as a big competitor to Reels.
Meta's stock plunged in after-hours trading Wednesday in response to weak revenue-growth forecasts for the first quarter. - Those weak forecasts, attributable to continued headwinds from Apple's privacy changes, show the vulnerability of Facebook's business model being tied to targeted advertising against social networking, as opposed to search.
Google parent Alphabet posted a huge earnings beat, mostly tied to growth of search-based ads + YouTube ads. 🔮 What's next: Meta is betting its future on the metaverse. But that vision is still many years away. |
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| 7. NFL audit: Washington cleaned up its act |
Washington yesterday unveiled its new team name. Go deeper. Photo: Patrick Semansky/AP The NFL believes its Washington franchise, now called the Commanders, has solved many of its toxic workplace problems, according to a third-party audit obtained by Axios' Dan Primack. - The House Oversight Committee will hold a fact-finding hearing today on sexual harassment, intimidation and other misconduct that came to light last year.
Those revelations cost the team $10 million in fines, and prompted owner Dan Snyder to step down from day-to-day operations. - The NFL never released a full report on its investigation into the team — a decision criticized as letting Snyder dodge accountability.
🔮 What's next: The audit tells a very positive story about what happened after Snyder stepped back — making it less likely he'll be allowed to resume control. |
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| 8. 🏈 Charted: NFL coaches of color |
 Data: Pro Football Reference. Chart: Kavya Beheraj/Axios 70.7% of NFL players are people of color, but only three active head coaches of the league's 32 teams (< 10%) are non-white, Axios' Emily Peck and Kendall Baker write. - The three: Pittsburgh's Mike Tomlin, Washington's Ron Rivera and the Jets' Robert Saleh.
Only once in NFL history has a team replaced a Black head coach with another Black man: Jim Caldwell succeeded Tony Dungy in Indianapolis when he retired in 2009. - The NFL has zero Black owners and just two owners of color, one of whom is a co-owner with her husband.
What's happening: The NFL's Rooney Rule, which requires teams to interview minority candidates for head coaching jobs, is criticized as a sham. A lawsuit filed against the NFL this week by former Dolphins head coach Brian Flores has explosive details to bolster the claim. |
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| A message from Facebook |
| Facebook is committed to your safety and security online |
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| We've invested more than $13 billion in teams and technology to stop bad actors and remove illicit content. Since July, we've taken action on: - 1.8 billion fake accounts.
- 26.6 million violent and graphic posts.
- 9.8 million terrorism-related posts.
Find out how we're working to enhance safety. |
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