Say hello to your new favorite sourdough chocolate chip cookie recipe! It’s easy, flexible, and downright delicious. As a unique twist, we love to add optional warm spices to the batter along with a sprinkle of flaky sea salt on top. Can you say, sugar and spice and everything nice? Yet if you prefer classic sourdough chocolate chip cookies, keep it simple and skip the spices. Either way, these soft and chewy cookies are divine!Note: This post was originally published in December 2020. Disclosure: Homestead and Chill is reader-supported. When you purchase through links on our site, we may earn an affiliate commission.Same Day vs OvernightThe timing for this sourdough chocolate chip cookie recipe is very flexible. You can bake the cookies an hour after you mix the dough, several hours later, or the next day. The longer the dough is allowed to rest and thereby ferment, the more gut-healthy and easy to digest the cookies will be!You could probably even refrigerate the dough for two to three days before baking – though we’ve never waited quite that long, so I can’t personally vouch for how it may impact the texture. See tips for freezing cookies and dough at the end of this post.Using Active vs Discard StarterYou can make sourdough chocolate chip cookies using discard or active starter. Since the recipe also calls for baking soda, the starter won’t play a huge role in the rise. However, keep in mind that using very old, neglected starter will make the cookies exceptionally sour-tasting, and could also impact the final texture. Therefore, I recommend using discard that was fed within the last few weeks – not months ago. RELATED: Looking for more sourdough discard recipes? Don’t miss our easy sourdough discard crackers or this delicious chunky sourdough granola.IngredientsThis recipe makes approximately 30 sourdough chocolate chip cookies (2 to 3 dozen) depending on the size cookie balls you make.1 ¾ cup flour (all-purpose or bread flour, see flour notes below) ¾ cup sourdough starter, discard or active (100% hydration) ½ cup granulated white cane sugar ½ cup brown sugar. We love to use dark brown sugar for its deeper, robust molasses flavor! If you use light brown sugar instead, add an additional tsp of vanilla extract (use 1 Tbsp instead of 2 tsp vanilla) 1 large egg, room temperature 13 Tbsp butter, unsalted and softened 2 tsp vanilla extract 1 tsp kosher salt or sea salt 1 tsp baking soda 2 cups (16 ounces) of chocolate chips. We’re huge dark chocolate lovers, and like to use organic dark chocolate chips in the 63-75% cocoa content range. Optional ingredients to make spiced sourdough chocolate chip cookies:1.5 tsp cinnamon 1/2 to 1 tsp ground ginger (sliding scale based on your affinity for ginger) A pinch of nutmeg Coarse sea salt to sprinkle on topAll Purpose Vs Bread Flour You can use either all-purpose flour or bread flour to make sourdough chocolate chip cookies. If you happen to have both, I suggest using 1 cup all-purpose and ¾ cup bread flour. Comparison baking trials show that using all-purpose flour will result in a slightly flatter cookie with a soft, chewy center and crisp outer edges. Higher in protein, bread flour creates a taller, fluffier, more cake-like cookie with less spread and crunch.Instructions1) Mix Wet IngredientsFirst combine both types of sugar and the softened butter in a bowl. For the best results, use butter that has softened at room temperature or is otherwise barely melted, but not liquid. Mix well. In a small separate bowl, whisk the egg. Then add the egg and vanilla to the butter and sugar mixture. Beat until thoroughly combined. Finally, add the sourdough starter to the wet ingredients and mix well.2) Dry IngredientsIn a separate bowl, combine all of the dry ingredients: the flour, salt, baking soda, and optional spices. Mix well. Next, add the dry ingredients into the wet ingredient bowl. Fold and stir until everything is just incorporated, but do not over mix! Last but not least, mix in the chocolate chips.3) Chill DoughNow, chill your sourdough chocolate chip cookie dough in the refrigerator for at least one hour, or until the next day. If you plan to let it chill for more than an hour, cover the bowl to prevent the dough from drying out – such as with a damp tea towel, DIY beeswax wrap, or plastic wrap.4) Portion on Cookie Sheet Preheat the oven to 350°F. Scoop or pinch about 2 to 3 tablespoons of cookie dough and roughly form into balls. I don’t measure, but shoot for ping pong ball to golf ball size. Place them about 3 inches apart on an un-greased baking sheet, or one lined with parchment paper or a silicone baking mat (one dozen per sheet). Do not grease your baking sheet! Optional: Sprinkle a pinch of coarse flaky sea salt on the top of each raw cookie before they go into the oven. The salt will spread out as the cookie does too.5) BakeBake for approximately 10 to 12 minutes, or until the top has set and they turn golden brown around the edges. You could also bake for a shorter time (8-9 minutes) for extra soft, gooey sourdough chocolate chip cookies. The longer they bake, the more fluffy and cake-like they will become. If the cookies look a tad gooey right out of the oven, keep in mind they will continue to set up and cook slightly on the pan after baking. Allow the cookies to cool for several minutes on the baking pan, and then transfer them to a wire cooling rack. Now dig in and enjoy your delicious fresh sourdough chocolate chip cookies!Storage and FreezingStore leftover cookies at room temperature in an airtight container, such as a glass food storage container with lid. They’ll have the best texture if consumed within 4 to 5 days. Otherwise, you could also freeze excess cookies to enjoy within a few months. The Kitchn shares some great tips on freezing whole baked cookies.FAQ: Can I freeze sourdough chocolate chip cookie dough? Absolutely! Raw sourdough cookie dough will last for about 3 months in the freezer when wrapped in a sealed, air-tight package or container. Before baking, simply allow the dough to sit at room temperature for 15 to 30 minutes before portioning it onto cookie sheets to bake. I hope you love this spiced sourdough chocolate chip cookie recipe as much we do, and I can’t wait to see y’all make your own! Please come back to leave a review, and tag me on Instagram (@deannacat3) to share your creations. Let me know if you have any questions, and feel free to spread the cookie love by sharing or pinning this article. Thanks for tuning in!Don’t miss these related recipes:Simple Sourdough Focaccia Bread Sourdough Cornbread Recipe (vegan and GF options) Healthy Sourdough Spiced Pumpkin Bread (or muffins) Delicious Sourdough Zucchini Bread (or muffins) with optional nuts, seeds, chocolate or dried fruit Simple No-Knead Sourdough Bread Recipe Cast Iron Whole Wheat Sourdough Pizza Crust Print Sourdough Chocolate Chip Cookies (Optional Cinnamon Spices) Please enjoy our easy sourdough chocolate chip cookies (discard or active starter) with optional spiced cinnamon, ginger, nutmeg, and flaky sea salt. Bake them the same day or as an overnight sourdough discard recipe! Course Dessert, SourdoughKeyword sourdough chocolate chip cookies, Sourdough cookies, spiced sourdough chocolate chip cookies Prep Time 20 minutes minutesCook Time 12 minutes minutesChill Time 1 hour hour Servings 30 cookies (approximately) EquipmentMixing bowlsBaking sheetsOptional: parchment paper or silicone cookie sheet liner Ingredients1 3/4 cups flour (all-purpose or bread flour, or a combination – see notes below*)1/2 cup white granulated cane sugar1/2 cup brown sugar (dark preferred, if using light brown sugar add 1 extra tsp of vanilla)3/4 cup 100% hydration sourdough starter, discard or active1 large egg, room temperature13 Tbsp unsalted butter, soft at room temperature 2 tsp vanilla extract (3 if using light brown sugar)1 tsp kosher salt or sea salt1 tsp baking soda2 cups chocolate chips, dark chocolate preferred (16 ounces)Optional "Spiced" Ingredients 1.5 tsp ground cinnamon.5 tsp ground ginger (up to 1 tsp)1 pinch nutmegcoarse flaky sea salt, to top cookies before baking InstructionsFirst combine both sugars and the slightly softened butter. Mix well in a bowl.In a small separate bowl, whisk the egg. Then add the egg and vanilla to the butter and sugar mixture. Beat until thoroughly combined.Add the sourdough starter to the wet ingredients and mix well. In a separate bowl, combine all of the dry ingredients: the flour, salt, baking soda, and optional spices. Add the dry ingredients into the wet ingredient bowl. Fold and stir until everything is just incorporated, but do not over mix!Stir in the chocolate chips. Chill dough in the refrigerator for at least one hour, or until the next day. Cove the bowl to prevent the dough from drying out. Preheat the oven to 350F.Scoop or pinch about 2 tablespoons of cookie dough and roughly form into balls (about golf ball size). Place them 2 to 3 inches apart on an un-greased baking sheet, or one lined with parchment paper. Sprinkle a pinch of flaky sea salt on the top of each raw cookie before they go into the oven.Bake for approximately 10 to 12 minutes*, or until the top has set and they turn golden brown. (See "bake time" notes below)Allow the cookies to cool for several minutes on the baking pan, and then transfer them to a wire cooling rack. Enjoy!Store leftovers at room temperature in an air-tight container for several days (up to a week) or freeze extras. NotesFlour notes: Either all-purpose flour or bread flour work for this recipe. If you happen to have both, I suggest using 1 cup all-purpose and ¾ cup bread flour. Using all-purpose flour will result in a slightly flatter cookie with a soft, chewy center and crisp outer edges. Bread flour creates a taller, fluffier, and more chewy cookie with less spread and crunch. Baking time notes: Bake for a shorter time (8-9 minutes) for extra soft, gooey spiced sourdough chocolate chip cookies. The longer they bake, the more fluffy and cake-like they will become. If the cookies look a tad gooey right out of the oven, keep in mind they will continue to cook and set up slightly on the pan even after they come out of the oven. Did you enjoy this article? Want to hear more? Stay in touch! Sign up below to receive weekly updates on new posts from Homestead and Chill. The post Sourdough Chocolate Chip Cookies (Optional Cinnamon Spices) appeared first on Homestead and Chill.

The Real Lie of the Year

Trump to Johnson: If You Want to Remain Speaker ...

Snakes can disarticulate their mouths, making an opening up to five times larger than their own heads to accommodate unusual prey – but where does it all go once it's digested?

Bubble butt is caused by air trapped in the shell, which makes swimming difficult.

"I want to just find secrets and go through all the rooms and tombs and that kind of stuff."

Giant rivers in the sky seem to be associated with hot weather, as well as rain and snow.

Leave it to a show as woke as CBS’s FBI: Most Wanted to come up with a fall finale where an entire “sundown town’s” police force is a “racist” “gang” of murderers out killing innocent black people to supposedly clean up the county’s drug problem. But it gets even worse. The episode was titled “The Electric Company” because the police are using tasers to murder their victims and proudly call themselves by that name. Yes, seriously. The episode opens in fictional Archer County, Maryland, where two, white intruders attack a black man, Emanuel “Manny” Birdsong (Apollo Levine) in front of his wife and child and tase him to death when he won’t tell them where his supposed drug stash is. They dump his body in a Virginia swamp where other bodies from the same county end up being found. When FBI Agent Ray Cannon (Edwin Hodge), who is black, learns the victim is from Archer County, he remarks, “Archer County was once referred to as a ‘sundown town.’ Probably still is. It's home to the Eastern Shores' most rabid bigots. My father said they were burning crosses there till the early '70s.” The team sets out to investigate and first attempts to question Manny’s wife, who is white, but she flees. When Ray catches her and asks why she ran, she tells him, “I don’t like cops.” “I get that,” he replies. The team eventually learns Manny was killed with a Taser which they trace to Archer County Deputy Eli Nelson (Andy Favreau). They interview Sheriff Blake (John Bedford Lloyd) who turns out to be a perfect caricature of a corrupt, racist cop covering for his team of equally corrupt officers: Sheriff: Look, we got a lot of bad actors in this county who would like nothing more than to pin a charge on one of my boys. Nina: Well, let's just take a look at your Taser logs, then. You know, I'd like to see if Eli used his device on the night that's in question. Sheriff: We don't keep logs on our Tasers. Nina: How come? Sheriff: Because I trust the men who work for me. Nina: Convenient. Remy: Electric Company. What's this? Sheriff: Well, that's kind of an inside joke around here. That's my anti-crime unit. They collared a murderer who, you know, eventually got the chair. Nina: So, who's everyone in the picture with you? Sheriff: That's Dobbs, Harvey, and Eli Nelson. So, now that we have cracked the case of the missing Taser cartridges, I'll be taking over this murder investigation. We like to clean up our own garbage here in Archer County, so you guys can just go home. Remy: Take a look at these faces, because we're sticking around here for a while. Sheriff Blake can barely stand being in the same room with us. That means we're onto something. Nina: Yeah, but it wasn't his department that requested our assistance. It was Virginia. So, do we need to run this by Isobel? Remy: Already did. By the way, no one's ever gotten the chair in Maryland. That whole "Electric Company" story? Bunch of caca. Nina: Okay. Update from Quantico Forensic Lab. All three victims in the Virginia swamp died of cardiac arrest. Remy: Consistent with being lethally tased by the Electric Company. Nina: There's also evidence of blunt-force trauma on all three victims, and Manny Birdsong had fractured ribs and a broken jaw. Remy: They roughed him up and electrocuted him before they dumped him in that swamp. This profiles as renegade cops who believe they're doing the right thing by taking matters into their own hands- judge, jury, and executioner. Let's deconflict with the county D.A. before we track them down. I don't want this dumbass sheriff mucking things up. The county D.A., also white, ends up defending the cops because the county’s lowered drug crime rate reflects well on her. Meanwhile Eli and his partner, Deputy Logan Dobbs (Shane Patrick) boldly plant the Taser used in Manny’s murder in the car of another innocent black man, Ronnie, who they refer to as “a real piece of trash.” They then force a black, male teen to call in a “tip” about the Taser’s location by threatening to arrest him for the pot he’s smoking. Logan chastises the teen’s white, female friend, who was also smoking pot, for hanging out with a “loser.” “You should know better,” he admonishes her. FBI agents Sheryll Barnes (Roxy Sternberg) and Ray Cannon (Edwin Hodge), both black, are pulled over in the county for speeding, and the scene is astoundingly absurd, even for a woke Hollywood drama: Ray: Is there a problem, Officer? Sheriff: Hands on the wheel, son. Ray: First of all, I'm not your son. Sheryll: Ray. Just so you know, we're both FBI agents, and we're here on official business, and we're both carrying sidearms. Sheriff: Is that so? Does that give you the right to do 80 on a 45? Ray: This is an emergency vehicle. I'm authorized. Sheriff: Not in Archer County, you don't. Ray: Right. Look, we'll slow it down, all right? Sheriff: All right. Why don't you exit the vehicle? You too, ma'am. Sheryll: Is that really necessary? Deputy: Are you telling us how to do our jobs? Sheryll: No, I'm not telling you how to do your job. Deputy: Get out of the car! Ray: Well, I need you to de-escalate. Sheryll: Ray, let's get out the car. Ray: I'm not getting out the car, Sheryll. Sheryll: Let's get out the car. Ray: I'm not getting out the car. Sheryll: Ray, let's get out the car. Come on. Deputy: Move. Ray: What is this really about? Sheryll: I am moving. Don't tell me to move. Ray: We've already identified ourselves, all right? Sheryll: I'm moving, okay? So, you don't need to tell me to move. Ray: This ain't right. Deputy: Turn around. Ray: Don't tell me to turn around, man. Sheryll: I don't need to turn around. I didn't do anything. Deputy: You really wanna do this right now? Sheryll: Do I wanna do what? Deputy: Turn around! Ray: Get your hands off of her! Deputy: Stay back! Sheryll: Hey, hey, hey, hey, hey, hey, hey, hey! Hey, what the hell are you doing? He didn't do anything! Deputy: Stay down! Stay down! Sheryll: He didn't do anything! Deputy: Stay down! Sheryll: He didn't do anything! Sheriff: Welcome to Archer County. I mean, technically, they weren’t following orders and Ray lunged at the officer, but yeah, it was obviously targeted racism knowing they were FBI agents. Agents Remy (Dylan McDermott) and Nina (Shantel VanSanten) meanwhile interview Ronnie’s son James (Denzel Rodriquez) who warns how deep the county’s corruption runs: James: All right, the night that guy Manny got killed, I was at home with my pop watching the Wizards play on the West Coast. Remy: Wizards fan. Woof. That's rough. James: Not as rough as being framed for murder. Thing is, I crashed out on the sofa after the game. My pop never left the house. Nina: So, that's a strong alibi. Does his public defender know? James: Yeah, I told him, but that doesn't matter. Nobody's gonna believe us. Nina: Why not? James: It's just the way it is out here. Remy: Why are you so worried, James? James: My father wouldn't do something like this. Never. Everybody I know thinks that Manny was killed by the Electric Company. Remy: And? James: Word on the street was that Manny was dealing. Whether that's true or not, I can't say. But Sheriff Blake and his Electric Company crew, that's how they roll with that situation- Tasers and beat-downs. They say that they're cleaning up the drug problem in this county? Yeah, maybe. But there's a trail of dead and broken bodies along the way. Last year, I got stopped by Nelson and Dobbs. Said they were looking for meth. They tore apart my car and they tased me. Nina: Did you tell anybody about this? James: You kidding me? The last person to complain to Sheriff Blake disappeared. Yeah, that was him sending a message. You open your mouth, The Electric Company crew will bust down your door in the middle of the night on some anonymous tip. Remy: Like what happened to Manny. James: Yeah. I know five, six people. Same thing. Look, I can't talk to you anymore. I gotta get back to work. Remy: This whole damn county is going to the dark side. We need to talk to the U.S. Attorney in Baltimore. As the episode’s end nears, the U.S. Attorney thankfully believes the FBI’s suspicions and takes them seriously: Attorney: I’ve heard rumors of law enforcement corruption in Archer County from time to time, but nothing we could verify. Remy: Corruption is one thing, but this is a systematic policy of intimidation, brutality, and murder. There's an entire community living in fear of a handful of deputies who operate like a street gang. Hana: And a county DA who turns a blind eye in the name of a drug war. Attorney: Other than the case you're working, is there any criminal activity you could substantiate? Remy: We just spoke with someone who might be willing to break the ice. He has a list of other victims. Nina: Plus, we may have eyewitnesses and medical records to corroborate his story. Attorney: And why might this brave soul be willing to come forward now? Remy: His father is being framed for murder committed by these cops. Attorney: So, he has a bone to pick? Remy: No, no, no. This young man is absolutely credible. Attorney: If that's the case, I'm on board. Give me the name of your targets, and I'll have arrest warrants within the hour. Then I'll need to talk to your informant myself. Remy: It's not gonna be easy to round up these hooligans in their own back yard. They have a network of co-conspirators and nothing to lose. Nina: We need to speak with James Mccaffrey. We need to make sure that he's willing to cooperate with us before things get ugly. Remy: Barnes and Ray will scoop him up at his job and bring him here. The FBI attempts to persuade James into becoming a witness, but as he steps into his car, it immediately explodes. You can probably figure out who the culprit was: Ray: This has the Electric Company written all over it, Remy. Look, he was innocent, and they lynched him! Nina: Look, somebody had to have found out that he was talking with us, Remy. Hana: We can use this to get justice for James McCaffrey's father. Sheryll: Well, how's that gonna work now that they murdered his son? Remy: We still have the arrest warrants, and the U.S. Attorney can convene a grand jury. Let's go round up these sons of bitches. Hana: I've got bolos on their personal vehicles. Sheryll: What the hell does he want? What the hell does he want? Sheriff: Hey! Why wasn't I notified about this? Remy: You know exactly why. Sheriff: Oh, you think I had a hand in this? Remy: Damn right, I do. Sheriff: Oh, I should have put down your candy ass when I had the chance. Now, clear your people off of my crime scene so I can get to work here. Remy: Your deputies murdered a witness in a federal prosecution. They have 24 hours to surrender. In the meantime, if you don't turn around and get back in your vehicle, I'm gonna arrest you for obstruction, you racist pig. That's right. You heard me. Get him out of here! Deputy: Come on, boss. Sheriff: Let's go home! Remy: We're not waiting until tomorrow. Let's split up and get these dirtbags before they rack up even more bodies to cover their tracks. In the end, the FBI gets enough evidence against The Electric Company to take them all into custody, minus one who shot himself. It seems quite unfair that one hit CBS procedural drama that always respected blue lives just aired their series finale after being canceled by the network while this woke garbage of a show gets to continue on. But sadly, that’s Hollywood’s priorities for you.

While polling demonstrates a majority of Americans approve of President-elect Trump’s handling of the transition process, the coverage by broadcast networks ABC, CBS, and NBC has been almost uniformly negative. In addition to a whopping 96 percent negative tilt across their flagship evening newscasts, these networks also appear to have paid the most attention to cabinet nominees who appeared to have the highest chances of sinking. MRC analysts examined all coverage of Trump’s cabinet appointees on ABC, CBS, and NBC’s evening newscasts from December 1 through December 14. The study primarily focused on Trump’s intended Defense Secretary (Pete Hegseth), FBI Director (Kash Patel), and Director of National Intelligence (Tulsi Gabbard), though it also included the other sparsely-discussed appointments. Throughout the two week period, Trump’s nominees earned a combined total of just over one full hour: 60 minutes and 47 seconds. Networks Were Uniformly Negative On All But The Most-Covered Nominee Across all three networks, the coverage of Gabbard, Patel, and the handful of other nominees mentioned was entirely negative. Only Pete Hegseth, who received the lion’s share of the airtime, enjoyed a scant four positive evaluative statements, all of which cited his mother describing him as “redeemed” and “a changed man.” To reiterate: the only positive commentary any Trump nominee received on the broadcast networks was from his own mother. CBS spent the most time on both Trump’s nominees overall (24 minutes and 40 seconds), and on Hegseth specifically, with 14 minutes and 32 seconds (58%). While CBS had the most negative overall coverage of the Trump transition (96.7%), they actually were softer on Hegseth than their counterparts: 88 percent negative, making them the only network of the three not to cross the 90 percent negative barrier. The second-most transition coverage came from NBC (21 minutes and 3 seconds, 94.7% negative), who, despite spending the least amount of time on Hegseth (11 minutes and 29 seconds), were also the only network to have 100 percent negative coverage of him. ABC, meanwhile, spent 19 minutes and 25 seconds on Trump’s nominees, 90 percent of which was negative. The network devoted 13 minutes and 33 seconds of that time to Hegseth, with a 91 percent negative slant. While Hegseth was a distant first in terms of total minutes of coverage, Patel was an almost equally-dominant second. He was the only other nominee to receive more than a full minute from each network: 380 seconds from CBS, 361 seconds from NBC, and just 339 seconds from ABC. Evaluative statements about Patel across all three networks were uniformly negative. Coverage Followed Whichever Nominee Appeared Least Likely To Be Confirmed Although the majority of the reports about Hegseth centered around the handful of salacious allegations against him, the networks abruptly lost interest once his chances of being confirmed started to look more promising. On December 10, Republican Senators like Joni Ernst began to express their willingness to support Hegseth’s nomination, despite previously having appeared skeptical. Incidentally Hegseth received 37 of his total 39 minutes of coverage from the three broadcast networks on or before December 10. In other words, once his confirmation appeared probable, the broadcast networks abruptly lost interest in the scandals with which they had inundated their airwaves for the previous week and a half. Meanwhile, Trump announced Patel’s nomination on November 30, and the following night he dominated the evening newscasts with a combined 18 minutes of immensely negative coverage. NBC senior Capitol Hill correspondent Garrett Haake dubbed Patel a “controversial,” “long-time loyalist” to Trump who threatened to produce a “tectonic shakeup” at the FBI. But when key Republican Senators who had expressed uncertainty about other nominees publicly indicated that they would support Patel’s confirmation, he quickly became an afterthought. Then like clockwork, on December 11 — the day after Hegseth received that much-needed public support — Patel was back to being the most interesting cabinet appointee, earning 193 seconds of airtime that evening, compared to just 21 seconds for Hegseth. This pattern of focus suggests that the broadcast networks were budgeting their coverage of cabinet appointees based on whose nomination they felt they had the best chance of sinking. When Patel looked relatively safe, they began hammering the various scandals plaguing Hegseth. Then when Hegseth’s odds improved, they immediately lost interest and returned to slamming Patel as a “controversial” and “concerning” pick. The networks’ transition reporting seems designed to keep their coverage steady at a 90 percent-negative pitch. Liberals watching at home can rest assured that the media are doing their part to hamper Trump’s second term. Though without a years-long Special Counsel investigation to help them this time around, they’ll have their work cut out for them.

On Wednesday, Puck’s Dylan Byers revealed that – in a complete coincidence – ABC’s Good Morning America and This Week co-host George Stephanopoulos “Stephanopoulos has just signed a new, multiyear contract with the network, unrelated to the timing of” the network’s $15 million donation Saturday to President-Elect Trump’s future presidential library as settlement for a defamation suit stemming from Stephanopoulos’s false comments about Trump and the E. Jean Carroll case on March 10. “Several insiders speculated that Stephanopoulos’s new deal includes a pay cut, and noted that he is likely to eventually take on a more limited role, after already ceding pole-anchor position on special event coverage to David Muir,” Byers added. For ABC, Byers cited reports that “Stephanopoulos and his co-anchors Robin Roberts and Michael Strahan have historically made around $25 million a year—a gross misalignment of funds, given the declining audience for morning television[.]” Who would replace Stephanopoulos on Good Morning America, perhaps in the near future? NewsBusters wasn’t surprised to see Byers scoop it’d likely be weekend co-host, Saturday World News Tonight anchor, and frequent weekday fill-in Whit Johnson: Presumably, Stephanopoulos’s heir apparent, Whit Johnson, would deliver similar ratings and cost a lot less.  Indeed, that is where things seem to be headed—albeit with the discretion and diplomatic finesse befitting a revered network veteran who, despite his slip-ups, has earned the right to an elegant exit. Also, as you all know, television news is a business wherein executives and talent air kiss each other at lunch but complain ceaselessly about one another in private…George may be headed toward his next act as a public figure, but no one wants to be the person responsible for it. The pay cut speculation seems plausible, given the impending departures of Norah O’Donnell from the CBS Evening News and Hoda Kotb NBC’s Today as, while both will stay with their networks, they were likely to be asked to take hefty pay cuts as networks are forced to trim costs in this new media age. Byers’s scoop was tucked inside an item that was largely a kvetching about ABC settling. Byers griped it triggered “a predictable shitstorm over the weekend among First Amendment advocates, legal scholars, and Chuck Todd types, who rightly noted that Disney would have been in a strong position to win the case had it not caved, and thus expressed fear over the precedent this might set for the media in the Age of Trump II.” He whined ABC caved despite what he felt was an “error” that “seemed to fall well short of the high bar for defamation of a public figure as established 60 years ago by The New York Times Co. v. Sullivan” and quoted a “one media executive” as having felt “it’s a terrible sign for the news media.” Referring to Disney’s legal counsel, Byers said they settled because any trial “would have been overseen by an unfavorable judge and a potentially biased jury in the largely pro-Trump Southern District of Florida” and could have ended up before a conservative Supreme Court. To his credit, at least Byers pointed out the real reason for a settlement: discovery. “[]There was extremely high concern among leadership over the release of Stephanopoulos’s correspondence and how it might expose the anchor, the news network, and the parent company to greater scrutiny. “He is sloppy electronically,” one source said of Stephanopoulos. ‘They didn’t want the phone going into discovery’” he said.