| | | | Hey, everyone! Welcome to the Reliable Sources newsletter. Frank Pallotta here, in for Brian Stelter, who is wrapping up his vacation. Let's get started.
Just when you thought it was safe to head into the weekend, we have a Friday night bombshell... | | The tribe has spoken... Reince is out | | | There are a dozen stories about White House chaos right now, but one story will dominate this weekend's newscasts: Reince Priebus' resignation. Or was it a firing? Or something in between? | | Priebus' first interview is with Wolf, not Hannity | | | What a booking war this must have been: Priebus gave his first post-resignation TV interview to Wolf Blitzer on "The Situation Room." CNN started teasing it half hour ahead of time, and the interview started in the final few minutes of Blitzer's show. Why was this so intriguing? Because Fox had already announced that Preibus would be on Sean Hannity's 10pm show. Hannity is presumably steamed... When asked how he was feeling following the departure, Priebus simply said that he was "doing great" and that he felt it was "a good time to hit the reset button."
Priebus stayed away from specifics about his resignation, and declined to comment on that now-infamous Anthony Scaramucci interview with The New Yorker.
Pressed for details about his resignation and what exactly President Trump wanted to do differently, Priebus said, "Professional people don't discuss private conversations in public." | | Brian Stelter emails from his last day of vacation: Lucky guess or a smart inside source? Trump advisor Roger Stone, who recently linked up with Alex Jones' Infowars, tweeted this on Tuesday: "@infowars Exclusive - @realDonaldTrump considering Homeland Security Sec John Kelly for WH CoS."
Stone and another far-right web personality, Mike Cernovich, seemed to have a jump on Friday's announcement, as well. Cernovich tweeted this at 3:29pm, more than a full hour before the presidential tweet: "Source close to POTUS: Reince has been told he's out." That doesn't quite square with Reince's own account, which is that he chose to resign.
Either way, as BuzzFeed's Charlie Warzel tweeted Friday afternoon, when it comes to fringe Trump supporters saying they called this, "this particular victory lap is going to be long." Jones celebrated Stone's Tuesday "scoop" on Friday afternoon, adding, "MSM is scared!" | | An "Apprentice-style presidency" | | Dylan Byers emails: This is what happens when you run an Apprentice-style presidency, pitting your deputies against one another for sport: At some point, one of the contestants has to go.
Baker/Haberman in NYT: "The president became convinced that Mr. Priebus was not strong enough to run the White House operation and that he needed a general to take charge. Mr. Kelly, who has demonstrated strong leadership at the Department of Homeland Security, had become a favorite of Mr. Trump's." | | -- Zeke Miller: "White House staff found out the same way we all did: Twitter"
-- Joe Weisenthal: "I, too, think of a lot of tweets while I'm midair on a plane and then tweet them as soon as I land."
-- Kelly O'Donnell: "Just a handful of days when I ran at full speed from our WH booth to North Lawn camera...today a sprint through rain."
-- Noah Rothman: "Too early for 'Trump is mad at John Kelly' stories?"
-- Jared Yates Sexton: "Priebus is gone and so the Trump administration is now running completely outside the boundaries of the traditional GOP. Heaven help us."
-- Stephen Miller: "Can't wait to see who is fired next Friday on White House Apprentice." | | CNN's Marshall Cohen summed up Trump's week in less than 140 characters:
7/21 -- Spicer quits
7/24 -- Kushner's Russia interview
7/25 -- BCRA fails
7/26 -- Repeal-only fails
7/28 -- Skinny repeal fails
7/28 -- Priebus fired | | Dancing with the Trump Stars | | | The answer is certainly no, but Ana Navarro (among others) couldn't resist asking: "So does this now mean Reince Priebus will be competing against Sean Spicer on Dancing with the Stars??" | | Sunday on "Reliable Sources" | | | Stelter emails: On Sunday morning I'll be back in NYC, joined by W.H. correspondent April Ryan, historian Douglas Brinkley, columnist Richard Wolffe, conservative blogger Jennifer Rubin, conservative radio talk show host John Phillips, military analyst Lt. Gen. Mark Hertling, media critic David Zurawik, and CNN host Alisyn Camerota. Set your alarm clock or DVR! Sunday, 11am ET, CNN... | | Katie Couric to end Yahoo interview show | | | Tom Kludt reports: Katie Couric is leaving the role she has held at Yahoo News since 2013. Couric was brought on as Yahoo's "global anchor," and a splashy hire for then-company CEO Marissa Mayer. But Couric's star faded in the digital space, with many of her interviews going overlooked.
Her departure from the company is not a total shock. Mayer, whose tenure as CEO was marred by shaky business deals and alarming data breaches, left the company last month after the merger was finalized.
Tom has more details here... | | Couric leaves CAA for WME | | | Couric has been repped by CAA super-agent Alan Berger for more than 20 years. But she left CAA a couple of months ago, and now she's joining "arch rival agency WME," TVNewser's A.J. Katz reports. "Her new team at WME will consist of Ari Emanuel, Jon Rosen, Bradley Singer, Maggie Pisacane, Suzanne Gluck and Ben Davis..." | | John Stankey to run Time Warner media businesses | | Brian reports: John Stankey, one of the top lieutenants to AT&T CEO Randall Stephenson, will oversee Time Warner's media businesses after AT&T's acquisition of the company is complete.
Stankey knows AT&T inside and out, having worked there for three decades in a number of leadership positions, including chief strategy officer, CEO of business solutions, and CEO of operations. Soon he will have oversight of some of the best-known media brands in the world, including HBO, Warner Bros., and CNN.
Read Brian's full story here... | | What this move is all about | | | More from Brian: AT&T said Friday that Stankey will lead AT&T's "Time Warner Merger Integration Planning Team," working with outgoing Time Warner CEO Jeff Bewkes, and then become "CEO of AT&T's media company once the merger is complete." Stankey is currently the CEO of AT&T Entertainment Group. He is based in southern California. When the changes take effect on August 1, another one of Stephenson's top deputies, John Donovan, will take oversight of AT&T Entertainment Group along with business solutions and operations. His new title will be CEO of AT&T Communications. The restructuring means that the media businesses, including brands like CNN and HBO, will be operated separately from the company's wireless business. Bloomberg reported earlier this month that "AT&T sees the split structure as a way to protect Time Warner's Hollywood culture, where creativity is prized, from the more bureaucratic traditions" of the Dallas-based AT&T... | | Jobs' Emerson Collective buying The Atlantic | | | Tom reports: An organization founded by Laurene Powell Jobs, the widow of Steve Jobs, will assume a majority stake in The Atlantic. David Bradley, the chairman and owner of Atlantic Media, informed staff today that he has sold a majority stake in the magazine to Powell Jobs' Emerson Collective.
The company said the "acquisition includes its flagship magazine, digital properties, live events business, and consulting services," but Bradley will retain a minority stake and continue running the magazine "for at least three to five years." Read Tom's full story... | | Low morale as the Times says goodbye to big names | | More from Tom: It's been a rough couple months at the New York Times. One reporter who's been at the paper a few years told me morale is the lowest it's been since he arrived.
The announcement in late May of more buyouts and a restructuring of the copy desk prompted anger, even protests, from Times staff.
That tense period culminated this week with the departure of some high-profile staffers. The latest big name to accept the buyout was revealed Friday: Michael Gordon, the national security correspondent who will leave in September. When the entire process ends, around 100 staffers are expected to depart.
Here's Tom's story about the mood inside the paper... | | A running list of NYT buyouts | | | Poynter's Daniel Funke is keeping a running list of NYTers taking the buyout... including Bruce Headlam, Charles Duhigg, Fernanda Santos, Barry Meier, and more... | | By Francesca Giuliani-Hoffman:
-- Since video is where it's at with Facebook right now, there's a new trend in town: people have started turning static images into videos to game the system. (BuzzFeed News).
-- Twitter is testing a $99 per month ad subscription service for automatic promoted tweets. (TechCrunch).
-- Choire Sicha will be the next editor of the Styles section at the NYT, Joe Pompeo reports (Vanity Fair).
-- "It was super graphic": Reporters reveal stories of online harassment in the age of Trump (CJR). | | At least according to The Weather Channel.
TWC apologized on Friday for sending out for breaking news alerts about weather events like Winter Storm Jonas that were sent obviously in mistake because, again, it's the middle of July. "A technical issue resurfaced several of the articles on which breaking news alerts were sent in the past few years, and you received them as if they were happening now," a post on the site said. "We hope you noticed the dates didn't match up, and wrote it off as an honest mistake." | | An Atomic and Emoji box office weekend | | This weekend's box office has something for everyone. Seriously, we've even got emojis!
For starters, it's the second weekend for the acclaimed World War II drama "Dunkirk." The Christopher Nolan epic is already getting some Oscar buzz. It's likely to add to its solid opening last weekend with a projected weekend of roughly $25 million.
Then there's "The Emoji Movie," an animated film about, well, emojis. It currently has a dismal a 3% score on Rotten Tomatoes -- but it's projected for around $25 million too so it could actually win the weekend over "Dunkirk" and its 92%.
And finally, there's "Atomic Blonde," starring Charlize Theron as a killer spy. That film is projected to take in roughly $20 million, but it has a lot of good buzz so it could exceed expectations. | | Who needs Bond? We've got Charlize! | | Lisa France writes: It's hard not to want to discuss Theron and James Bond in the same breath.
Her moves as a spy in "Atomic Blonde" lend themselves to the comparison, not to mention her "Snow White and the Huntsman" co-star Chris Hemsworth endorsing her to W Magazine to become the first female Bond.
"She's embodies every sort of ounce of strength and nobility and dignity and integrity that that character should have," Hemsworth said. Lisa breaks down why Theron would make for a good 007... | | | For your reading (and later viewing) pleasure, reviews from our Brian Lowry: | | "The Sinner," a whydunit mystery | | Lowry writes: Jessica Biel joins the list of prominent actors producing and starring in their own limited series with "The Sinner," which drops the customary whodunit for a "whydunit."
Although clunky in places, the first few episodes conjure enough mystery and intrigue to initially overcome those minor sins.
Read his full review here... | | "Manhunt: Unabomber," a gripping hunt | | Lowry writes: A feature-film-quality effort from the casting on down, "Manhunter: Unabomber" easily represents Discovery Channel's best foray into scripted TV -- a taut, gripping account that touches upon aspects of the investigation many have doubtless forgotten or, more likely, never knew.
At first blush, this fact-based production threatens to be a tad too familiar -- seeming like the real-life version of Michael Mann's "Manhunter," in which the brilliant profiler pays a price for his ability to look into the mind and soul of a killer, while chafing at bureaucratic blindness.
Stick with it, though, and this eight-part limited series becomes an engrossing deconstruction of the Unabomber case. Read the full review... | | -- Simon & Schuster calls Milo Yiannopoulos' lawsuit a "publicity stunt." (The Hollywood Reporter)
-- A great read: The Rise and Fall of Liz Smith (New York Times)
-- An interesting podcast on the possible future of fake news. (RadioLab) | | | What do you like about this newsletter? What do you dislike? Email us... we're at reliablesources@cnn.com... we appreciate every email. | | | Get Reliable Sources, a comprehensive summary of the most important media news, delivered to your inbox every afternoon. | | | | | |
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