Forward

EXEC SUMMARY: Here's why Rachel Maddow likened the Mueller report to a "really good ragu…" Here's why Chris Cuomo said the report's timing is "perfect…" And here's why Sarah Sanders has a serious problem. But first:

Remembering Lyra McKee

Lyra McKee was one of a kind. She was a 29-year-old journalist based in Northern Ireland. She was one of the main editors of Mediagazer. She was an author whose first book, "Angels With Blue Faces," is about to be published. She was under contract to write two more books.

McKee was killed "during a night of rioting in Londonderry on Thursday, in what police in Northern Ireland have described as a 'terrorist incident,'" CNN reported. "She is the first journalist to be killed in the United Kingdom since 2001," according to CPJ. Prime Minster Theresa May said McKee was "a journalist who died doing her job with great courage." Police are investigating the shooting...

Her many contributions

If you don't use Mediagazer, you're missing out on one of best ways to keep track of media news. McKee was a key member of the team since 2011. Gabe Rivera, the founder of Mediagazer and sister site Techmeme, tweeted that this was "the hardest and saddest headline we've ever written:"

Rivera told me Friday night, "Lyra was precisely the passionate, earnest, courageous, and kind-hearted person we all read about in today's tributes. We were privileged to have her with us for over seven years, and we're moved to see how many people were touched and inspired by her work."

Here are just a few of the tributes. McKee's friend Mike Harris wrote one for CNN.com. "Having worked with journalists across the world, who continue to be murdered for seeking the truth, you come to hear about friends from Azerbaijan or Belarus going missing, being jailed, or worse," he wrote. "I didn't expect this to happen in Northern Ireland in 2019. I didn't expect this to happen to a 29-year-old friend who had her entire life ahead of her."

The "daisy chain of kindness"

Rivera mentioned McKee's kindness. And that's what stood out to me the most. We only had a virtual friendship -- via email and Twitter and the like. On Friday I dug up the message she sent me on the day David Carr died. "I keep thinking of the time you helped this young reporter out and how David helped you out when you were getting started. It's like a daisy chain of kindness, with all these reporters paying it forward because of what he did for them," she wrote.

The daisy chain will continue... With so many people paying it forward because of what McKee meant to them...

Weekend reads...

-- The 2019 World Press Freedom Index by Reporters Without Borders "shows how hatred of journalists has degenerated into violence, contributing to an increase in fear..."

-- Saturday is the 20th anniversary of the Columbine killings. The 74's Mark Keierleber writes: "Researchers are calling on media outlets to rethink coverage of mass shootings to prevent future tragedies. Will it work?"

-- Ken Doctor's latest: "The newspaper industry is thirsty for liquidity as it tries to merge its way out of trouble..."

-- Joe Pompeo's latest is about the sale of the National Enquirer to Hudson News heir James Cohen: "With a New Owner, Can the Enquirer Leave Trump and Bezos Behind?"

-- Former Fox reporter Diana Falzone, who is subject to an NDA herself, wrote a stark story about "the media's #MeToo blacklist" for VF. The summary: "Former TV hosts and network personalities say they are persona non grata after settling high-profile lawsuits against serial sexual harassers. Is blacklisting the next legal battleground?"

-- What does "Game of Thrones" look like when it's subjected to Chinese censorship? "A mundane medieval documentary," The Verge's Shannon Liao writes...

-- BBC presenter Ros Atkins struck up an odd friendship with Keith Olbermann. Atkins turned it into a podcast. Lloyd Grove explains it all here...

-- ICYMI: Nicholas Thompson and Fred Vogelstein's WIRED cover story about Facebook's deepest issues. Stay for the kicker...

-- NYT Mag's Jason Zengerle on the Dem primary: "Out are bundlers and endorsers. In are ears and eyeballs..."

-- NBC sitcom fans, I guarantee this will make you laugh: "Is Pete Buttigieg Literally Parks and Rec's Ben Wyatt?" by Margaret Hartmann...

What "Trackback" is all about

BuzzFeed News is taking some of the money it receives from Google... and using it to debunk hoaxes on Google-owned YouTube.

"Trackback is a new YouTube video series from BuzzFeed News that digs into conspiracies, hoaxes, and misinformation spreading online. It brings deeply reported, fact-checked videos to the place we all know sketchy and false information spreads rapidly, while offering tips and tools so viewers can learn how to do it for themselves," BF's Patrick McMenamin wrote in a Friday night memo. The first "Trackback" video addresses the hoaxes that spread during the Notre Dame fire...

>> The funding comes from the Google News Initiative... BF has also used the $$ to build its membership program...

THE MUELLER REPORT

The big lies

Lying is the throughline of the Trump presidency. Robert Mueller's report reaffirms this, providing even more examples of the problem. One of the banners on "AC360" Friday night read "Pres. Trump fumes after his lies are exposed."

Over on MSNBC, Rachel Maddow likened the report to "a really good ragu," or perhaps Chinese food takeout: "Better the second day." What did you notice about the news coverage? How is the report being processed? Here's some of what I noticed on Friday...

"Then what?"

Anderson Cooper: "Even when the president is caught in what's obviously a lie, he doesn't back down; he doesn't admit that he's lying; nor does anybody in the White House. If the president doesn't acknowledge his lies, and his supporters don't care -- then what?"

John Dean's answer: "We're in trouble."

Sarah Sanders has a problem

Sarah Sanders awkwardly tried to defend herself on Friday after admitting under oath that she lied from the podium of the White House press briefing room. She is "seemingly unfazed by blows to her credibility," per the NYT's summary of this story by Annie Karni and Maggie Haberman. They quoted her deputy Hogan Gidley, who said, "the White House staff will never be lectured on truth-telling from the media that pushed a flat-out lie about Donald Trump for two years."

Sigh.

Sanders told Mueller's team that her false claim about FBI agents wanting James Comey fired was just a "slip of the tongue." But as Anderson Cooper asked Friday night, "why didn't she correct herself a minute later or an hour later or a day later or a week later?"

--> NYT's Michael Barbaro tweeted about Sanders' TV interviews: "These appearances now raise complex questions. Henceforth how does press treat Sarah Sanders? Does it rely on her less? Remind listeners / readers / viewers she is a proven dissembler every time we quote her? Or what?"

Lowry's take

Brian Lowry emails: The renewed talk about Sanders' credibility -- and the lack thereof -- reminded me of an exchange early in my career with a publicist, who said something like "I never know when to lie to you." My response, as I recall, was "Make it a good one, because it'll be the last time I ever trust you."

And the media bashing continues...

Here's a really clear example of how Trump allies have mixed up NEWS with OPINION while slamming the media as a single unit. Steve Guest, the RNC's Rapid Response Director, emailed reporters on Friday and said "Mueller's investigation revealed the great lengths at which the media went to report false stories about President Trump throughout the past two years."

The first "False Story" he listed was "Trump colluded with Russia." So who "reported" that Trump colluded? Guest linked to a piece by the WaPo editorial board that accused Trump of colluding "openly." The editorial board, of course, publishes opinion content!

Guest's list also included three individual stories that have been disputed or debunked. Three stories out of... let's be honest... thousands. But the right-wing narrative has been set in cement: "The media lied to you, and you can't trust anything they say."

FOR THE RECORD, PART ONE

-- John Avlon summing up the report in one sentence: "It paints a picture of the president as a serial liar, with no respect for the rule of law, but not a traitor..."

-- Marshall Cohen's latest: "There is a widening divide between what A.G. William Barr has said publicly about the special counsel's investigation and Mueller's actual report..."

-- About the 🤯 tweets: Josh Campbell wrote: "The President spent Friday tweeting profanity, retweeting the description of a sexual act, retweeting distortions about the conclusion of law enforcement, and a note of religious encouragement to people around the world."

-- Ratings for the broadcast network coverage of the Mueller report roll-out won't be in until Monday... But here are the cable ratings via Deadline...

-- Via "AC360," what former Fox News analyst Ralph Peters still wants to know: Why is Trump so "slavishly subordinate to Vladimir Putin?"

Holy holiday lessons for dark political times

"Ironically, Barr released this report now to let it be lost in our vacations and holy days, but I think it is perfect," CNN's Chris Cuomo said. "This is the time we get with family, and we examine our deepest articles of faith. I argue it is time to do the same about our politics."

Watch his four-minute monologue here...

"The Mueller Report" is No. 1

Skyhorse Publishing's version of "The Mueller Report" ranked No. 1 on both Amazon and Barnes & Noble's best-seller charts. The Washington Post's version, from Scribner, is No. 2 on Amazon and No. 8 on B&N. A third version, by Melville House, is No. 4 on Amazon and No. 6 on B&N. The print copies will start to ship in the coming days...

-- A Skyhorse rep told me that the company is printing 200,000 copies...

-- "There's a solid history of such books -- the Starr Report and the 9/11 Commission Report were bestsellers; the latter was a National Book Award Finalist," said Robin Lenz, the managing editor of Shelf Awareness...

-- Correction: Yesterday I accidentally called Skyhorse "Skylark." D'oh!

Lozada's review

WaPo's Carlos Lozada (fresh off his Pulitzer Prize win this week!) wrote an excellent review of the Mueller report. It's "a little longer than necessary" and "the writing is often flat," but "as an authoritative account, the Mueller report is the best book by far on the workings of the Trump presidency. It was delivered to the attorney general but is also written for history. The book reveals the president in all his impulsiveness, insecurity and growing disregard for rules and norms..."

My favorite line: "Mueller doesn't just have receipts — he seems to know what almost everyone wanted to buy." Read on...

Who will green-light the Mueller miniseries?

Brian Lowry emails: Lawrence O'Donnell -- who, it's worth remembering, was a writer and producer of "The West Wing" before settling into his regular MSNBC gig -- described the Mueller Report like a drama, picturing various "scenes." Regarding the president reportedly saying "I'm f**ked:" "When the miniseries is made, that line will be the end of an episode." Surely, he's not the only person already envisioning the report in cinematic -- and given the length and detail, miniseries -- terms.

How late night reacted

Here's Frank Pallotta with a few of the highlights from Thursday night's shows:

-- Jimmy Kimmel: "Say what you will about this president, he has Americans reading again."

-- Stephen Colbert: Until Thursday morning, "no one knew what was in this thing... Congress hadn't read it and evidently Bill Barr hadn't read it either because there's some insane s*** in here."

-- Seth Meyers: "My god, halfway through that press conference I started expecting Barr to rip off his mask and reveal it was Trump the whole time."

-- As for "SNL," the NBC variety series will have to wait until its new episode on May 4 to talk about it all...

FOR THE RECORD, PART TWO

-- Kara Scannell's brand new analysis for CNN.com: "Mueller's report leaves open possibility of post-White House criminal exposure for Trump..."

-- Programming note: Rudy Giuliani is on CNN's "State of the Union" and "Fox News Sunday..."

-- Vox's Ezra Klein tweeted: "This report has obvious implications for how the press and public need to treat Trump administration denials of damaging stories in the future. Putting aside the Barr macro-spin, the report is *full* of the Trump admin lying to reporters..."

-- And on a lighter note, if that's possible, CNN's Leigh Munsil tweeted: "Getting cited in the Mueller Report footnotes is the newest DC bragging right..."

The lineup for Sunday's "Reliable"

Along with the aforementioned Ezra Klein and April Ryan, I'll be joined by Katie Rogers, Tim Naftali, Katelyn Polantz, Jay Rosen, and Nicole Hemmer... Email me with your thoughts ahead of the show... See you Sunday at 11 a.m. ET!

This weekend's topic: Impeachment

Rachel Maddow interviewed Elizabeth Warren on Friday night and introduced her as "the first Democratic presidential candidate who is calling for the start of impeachment proceedings."

"Look," Warren said, "this is not something I want to do. That's not the point. It's a point of principle."

--> This may or may not be the right path for Congress. But I just want to re-up this quote from Politico Playbook nearly 48 hours ago. The writers asked, "Can you name one Republican who seems ready to oust the president?"

Brother of Seth Rich calls on those who pushed conspiracy theory to "take responsibility"

Oliver Darcy emails: Aaron Rich, the brother of slain DNC staffer Seth Rich, on Friday called on media figures who peddled conspiracy theories about his family to own up to what they did. The plea from Aaron Rich came one day after the release of Mueller's report, which said that Julian Assange "made several public statements" that implied Seth Rich leaked him the trove of DNC documents "apparently" in an effort "designed to obscure the source of the materials" the website was releasing. Moreover, the report indicated that WikiLeaks was communicating with Russia's GRU officers about the stolen DNC documents after the death of Rich.

"The special counsel has now provided hard facts that demonstrate this conspiracy is false," Aaron Rich said in a statement. "I hope that the people who pushed, fueled, spread, ran headlines, articles, interviews, talk and opinion shows, or in any way used my family's tragedy to advance their political agendas -- despite our pleas that what they were saying was not based on any facts -- will take responsibility for the unimaginable pain they have caused us." Sean Hannity and Newt Gingrich were two of the most prominent people who pushed the theory. They declined to comment on Friday...

Would a Mueller interview have been "kryptonite" for Trump?

Oliver Darcy emails: Back when Alex Jones was forced to sit down for an hours-long deposition, NYT's Charlie Warzel wrote last month about how it was "kryptonite" for Jones. Warzel explained that "shock jocks lose their power when forced to tell the truth, the whole truth." Warzel observed that going under oath turned "an excitable conspiracy theorist into a man subdued, deferential and humbled."

All day Friday, I couldn't help but wonder if the same would have been true with Trump, had he been compelled to give an interview to the Special Counsel. We observed how Sarah Sanders, for instance, confessed to a "slip of the tongue" while facing the penalty of perjury. Trump and Jones have a lot in common. Both are entertainers at their core, spinning conspiracy theories and saying outlandish things to satisfy their base. So, under oath, would Trump have behaved similarly to Jones? My gut tells me yes, but we'll never know...

IN OTHER NEWS...

FOR THE RECORD, PART THREE

-- McClatchy's Katie Glueck is jumping to the NYT... (Twitter)

-- Outgoing Condé Nast CEO Bob Sauerberg sent a farewell note to staffers on Friday... (WWD)

-- Happy anniversary to Robert Costa, who just marked his second year hosting "Washington Week..." (PBS)

-- And happy birthday to Emily Kuhn, the CNN PR comms director for CNN Digital and "Reliable Sources," who is superhuman 💪 🎉

Sinclair in line to buy Fox's regional sports networks?

This could be a big win for Sinclair following its failure to buy Tribune Media last year: Sinclair "appears to have emerged as the leading candidate to win the auction of the 21st Century Fox's Regional Sports Networks, having placed what people close to the deal call the top bid to acquire the properties," Fox's Charlie Gasparino and Lydia Moynihan reported Friday.

Per Gasparino, the months-long auction "came to an end earlier in the week... Sinclair is said to have bid around $10 billion... Sources add that bankers are continuing to work the deal heading into the Easter and Passover holiday weekend, looking for a better offer from other bidders, so it's possible another player could step up with a higher price..."

FOR THE RECORD, PART FOUR

-- Ava DuVernay's four-part series about the Central Park Five, "When They See Us," is coming out May 31 on Netflix... This new trailer came out on Friday... (YouTube)

-- The Post has launched a monthly Press Freedom Partnership newsletter... (WaPo)

-- WarnerMedia, "a founding member of the audience-targeting media alliance known as Open A.P., said Friday it would withdraw from the group, citing its desire to pursue its own strategy under owner AT&T..." (Variety)

Some stories I missed on Thursday...

...While consuming so much Mueller news:

-- WaPo's Tony Romm reported: "Federal regulators investigating Facebook for mishandling its users' personal information have set their sights on the company's chief executive, Mark Zuckerberg, exploring his past statements on privacy and weighing whether to seek new, heightened oversight of his leadership."

-- Pride Media CEO Nathan Coyle left his post "amid ongoing editorial pay issues," WWD's Kali Hays reported. Pride Media owns magazines like Out and The Advocate...

Disney is having an amazing April. Now here comes "Avengers: Endgame"

Frank Pallotta emails: We're a week away from what will likely be movie history. "Avengers: Endgame" opens next Thursday night and analysts believe that it will be the biggest opening of all time. "We have every reason to expect a new record at this point," Shawn Robbins, chief analyst at Boxoffice.com, told me.

We did all of this just last year when "Avengers: Infinity War" crushed box office records, but "Endgame" is set to blow by those staggering numbers. If it does, it' will cap off a remarkable month for Disney. The company unveiled Disney+, had its best day on Wall Street in nearly a decade and released the first look of "Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker," which lit up social media. Not a bad April for the House of Mouse...

Lowry's analysis

Brian Lowry emails: With "Avengers: Endgame" a week away, I gave some thought to Marvel's efforts on behalf of Disney+, and what a conspicuous step up in class they appear to be -- raising the TV portion of its "cinematic universe" to a higher power. The amped-up ambitions also reflect, not particularly well, on Marvel's previous strategy, which included its shows for Netflix as well as other networks, among them Disney-owned ABC and Freeform. Read on...

FOR THE RECORD, PART FIVE

By Lisa Respers France:

-- Kanye West's Sunday Service is coming to Coachella for Easter... but what is it?

-- Oprah Winfrey will not spend money on avocados. She just grows her own. Seriously!

-- Jimmy Kimmel's live "All in the Family" and "Jeffersons" special will air in May and star a pair of Oscar winners...

-- Comedian Lil Dicky got serious about Earth Day with an all-star music video...

Natalie Morales out at "Access"

"Natalie Morales is bowing out of NBC's 'Access Hollywood' and 'Access Live' after three years as co-host of the daily entertainment news programs," Variety's Cynthia Littleton scooped on Friday.

This exit has been rumored for a while... "Access" boss Rob Silverstein left the show last month... And further changes are expected. "Morales will continue working for NBC News as West Coast anchor for 'Today' and as a correspondent for 'Dateline.'"

Thank you for reading. Email me anytime. See you Sunday...