Psaki’s Promise, Trump Debate Politics, & a CNN Low

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Happy Wednesday. Welcome back to In The Room.

Tonight, we go inside the G.O.P. debate negotiations, and what’s at stake for Fox News, CNN and upstarts like NewsNation and Newsmax. Plus, some observations on Jen Psaki’s impressive first outing at MSNBC.

But first, some other media developments:

On Wednesday, Jimmy Finkelstein’s forthcoming news startup The Messenger announced that it had acquired Grid, the small fellow Washington-based digital news startup. The deal moves Finkelstein & Co. a little closer to their goal of...

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Psaki’s Promise, Trump Debate Politics, & a CNN Low

News and notes from inside the television news business: Jen Psaki’s promising debut, the politics behind hosting the RNC debates, and a CNN ratings nadir.

DYLAN BYERS

Even by the absurd and tragicomic standards of Trump-era American politics, the 2024 presidential race is off to an unconventional start. President Biden’s impending re-election campaign has been overshadowed by Democratic angst over his approval ratings, age, and running mate’s political abilities; Trump, the de facto Republican frontrunner, may effectively start his campaign in handcuffs upon indictment by a Manhattan grand jury; Ron DeSantis, still largely unproven nationally, is only just starting to spar with his aforementioned G.O.P. adversary, and may be more of a donor fantasy than real primary threat. Finally, but for NikkiHaley and Vivek Ramaswamy, most of the would-be candidates have yet to...

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