| | | | The election is over, but "fake news" isn't | | Wherever there's a polarizing news story, there's "fake news," articles that are made up and designed to deceive people. The post-election panic about "fake news" has come and gone, but I still see new examples of insidious hoaxes and tricks. This is a parallel problem to the Russian meddling problem. Many different kinds of malicious actors, not just Russian computer whizzes, are continuing to use Google, Facebook, and Twitter to spread misinformation and sow discord.
Friday's example: BuzzFeed, Snopes and PolitiFact debunked a sad fake photo claiming to show Seahawks player Michael Bennett burning a flag with his teammates in the locker room. No one could possibly believe that, right? Wrong. "Conservative social media accounts are sharing a photoshopped image," BF wrote. The good news is that a Google search for "NFL player burns flag" shows lots and lots of fact-checks...
-- A left-wing example: "Hyperpartisan liberal FB page got 59k shares for meme saying Trump got lifetime ban from the NFL," Craig Silverman tweeted. Trump was not banned... | | Other reasons why disinformation is in the news right now:
-- The Russia investigations. The WSJ reported Friday that "Google is conducting a broad internal investigation to determine whether Russian-linked entities used its ads or services to try to manipulate voters ahead of the U.S. election..." (WSJ)
-- This subject is covered in Sunday's NYT Mag. Don't miss this: "How Fake News Turned a Small Town Upside Down" (NYT)
-- Craig Silverman's latest must-read: Overseas content farmers are making money off of gullible Americans, targeting them with false info on social... (BuzzFeed News)
-- New from Claire Wardle and Nic Dias at First Draft: A useful list of 10 questions news orgs should ask themselves as they cover mis- and dis-information... (First Draft) | | The Pope wants people to reflect on the "consequences of misinformation" | | Hadas Gold emails: The next expert on fake news? The pope! Pope Francis announced on Friday he will focus on fake news against journalism for peace in his message for World Communications Day on January 24. He tweeted John 8:32: "The truth will set you free."
A Vatican spokesperson said "the Church would like make its contribution by proposing a reflection on the causes, logic and consequences of misinformation in the media and helping to promote professional journalism, always seeking the truth, and thus a journalism of peace that promotes understanding among people..." | | Hadas Gold emails: An article from Spain's largest newspaper says an external fake news and social media campaign -- which the paper claims is run by Russians -- is using the crisis over the Catalonia independence referendum in Spain as "a way to deepen divisions within Europe and consolidate its international influence." According to El Pais, it entails hoax stories, bots, Julian Assange, and RT...
--> The story was buzzy but there's a lot of skepticism about it... As Charlie Warzel suggested, the story "feels rushed" as an attempt to blame Russia... | | | My two cents: Newsroom bosses and media company owners still aren't doing enough to combat mis/disinformation and promote media/tech literacy... | | | "Bad headlines" doomed HHS secretary Tom Price. "You're never going to survive with this president if you're clogging up cable with bad headlines," a senior GOP aide told CNN's Phil Mattingly after Price resigned under pressure Friday morning. Trump himself said it to the press corps less than an hour before Price was out: "I certainly don't like the optics..." | | A big moment for Politico | | Former Politico staffer Hadas Gold emails: Shoutout to Rachana Pradhan and Dan Diamond, the Politico reporters who broke the news that Price had taken private flights at taxpayer expense. This is the perfect example of beat reporters (Pradhan and Diamond report for the Politico Pro Healthcare policy vertical) who know the beat inside and out and are able to land these scoops that matter and lead to real action. Without this real news, without journalists, Price would've likely continued the pricey practice...
-- Joanne Kenen, Politico's exec editor for health coverage, tweeted: "Someone just said 'your reporters brought price down.' I said no -- Tom Price's poor judgment and costly travel brought him down..."
--> Kyle Cheney tweeted a pic of the duo "still reporting" a few minutes after the resignation... | | -- CNN's Jeff Zeleny at the W.H.: "ANOTHER Friday night firing here..."
-- Related to the Price resignation? One hour after the news broke, Mike Huckabee tweeted that his daughter Sarah Sanders had cancelled on Fox's "Watters World" at the "last minute..." so he's going to be on the show instead...
-- Daniel Dale commented: "In the Trump era, it's kind of weird to see a normal political scandal play out in the normal way..."
-- Olivia Nuzzi: "Price is a rare example of improper behavior having any consequences at all in the Trump administration..." | | "Is this the end of plane-gate?" | | | Richard W. Painter's answer when Anderson Cooper asked: "I doubt it." Also on "AC360," CNN's Amanda Carpenter praised this example of "accountability journalism" and said the journos saved taxpayers "millions of dollars." She also said "Trump's administration does have a plane problem..." | | Tara Palmeri "is leaving Politico for ABC News," VF's Joe Pompeo scooped Friday afternoon. Palmeri "will be an on-air White House correspondent" alongside Jonathan Karl and Cecilia Vega. "Palmeri signed a multi-year deal and will also write for abcnews.com."
She confirmed the news to me. The ABC move means she'll no longer be a CNN political analyst... But she'll make one last appearance this weekend on "Reliable Sources..." | | Also on this Sunday's show... | | | Along with Palmeri, I'll be joined by CNN's Leyla Santiago, who filed an incredible report about returning to her hometown in the mountains of Puerto Rico... Plus Edwin Melendez, the director of the Center for Puerto Rican Studies at Hunter College... And Dylan Byers, Julia Angwin, Wesley Lowery, Jason Gay, the husband and wife duo of Seth and Bethany Mandel, and Steve Warren. Join us on CNN Sunday at 11am ET... | | -- Erik Wemple's latest: "On 'Fox & Friends,' Jeanine Pirro slanders Black Lives Matter's DeRay Mckesson." Mckesson says he's considering his legal options... (WashPost)
-- Who is anti-ESPN radio host Clay Travis and how's he "riding the Trump wave?" This excellent Ben Strauss piece has all the answers... (Politico Mag)
-- Happy 20th anniversary to Pat Kiernan, who started hosting NY1's morning show on this day in 1997... My wife and the rest of the NY1 team celebrated "the most trusted man in NYC" on Friday morning... (Newsweek) | | Anderson anchoring from Puerto Rico | | | CNN's Anderson Cooper arrived in Puerto Rico on Friday and anchored "AC360" from San Juan. The mayor Carmen YulÃn Cruz joined him, wearing a "HELP US, WE ARE DYING" shirt. Earlier in the day she appeared on "New Day" with Alisyn Camerota, and she rebutted the acting DHS secretary's comments about the response effort: "Dammit, this is not a good news story. This is a 'people are dying' story. It's a life or death story." | | How about fewer tweets, more help? | | Jake Tapper's blunt message on "The Lead" Friday afternoon: "Our fellow Americans there need much more focus on getting them the supplies, the diesel, the generators, the medical supplies, the food, the water. And they would like less focus from the administration on tweets or cable news appearances insisting that all is well and everything is going great, when it clearly is not."
-- Important WashPost story: "Lost weekend: How Trump's time at his golf club hurt the response to Maria"
-- Chris Cillizza's latest: "From Puerto Rico to Russia, Donald Trump is living in an alternate universe"
-- Bottom line: "White House statements on Puerto Rico clash with ground reports" | | Trump's latest tweetstorm... | | | On Friday night @realDonaldTrump retweeted a batch of promotional posts, including his son Eric's message celebrating Sean Hannity's ratings. (Scroll down for more on that.) NBC's Dafna Linzer tweeted: "The president has shared 3 tweets in the last hour promoting Fox News..." | | Thursday's Packers-Bears game averaged 15.1 million viewers on CBS, NFL Network and Amazon Prime... Of the 15 million a small sliver, 372,000 were streaming it on Amazon... Which reaffirms that most football fans are happy to watch via traditional TV. (Peter Kafka wrote all about the Amazon #'s here.)
But I want to focus on the TV #'s, since we're heading into a weekend full of anxiety about whether Trump's criticism of the NFL will affect viewership. Per the NFL, Thursday's game "scored increases in ratings and viewership from last year's comparable game..." a 3% gain despite the fact that there was a long weather delay... | | Eye on 9pm: Hannity beats Maddow | | Sean Hannity pulled out all the stops, including Bill O'Reilly and Rush Limbaugh, for his first week back at 9pm -- and it worked. Through Thursday, Hannity is averaging 713k in the 25-54 demo, while Rachel Maddow is averaging 599,000. He's got 3.5 million total viewers versus her 2.65 million. CNN is averaging 416k in the demo and 1.17 million viewers in the time slot...
Speaking of Hannity... | | NEW POD: Media Matters president Angelo Carusone | | | "I think you'll see them together more." That's what Angelo Carusone told me when we talked about Bill O'Reilly's recent visit to Sean Hannity's show. On this week's "Reliable Sources" podcast, we talked about criticisms of Carusone's group Media Matters; the future of Fox News; and much more. Here's the podcast... Subscribe via iTunes... | | By Julia Waldow:
-- When Hurricane Harvey made landfall, Texas Monthly mag decided to scrap its existing feature plans and create an oral history project called "Voices from the Storm." One little problem? They only had 10 days to turn the whole thing around. In this new article, CJR takes readers behind the scenes on how a 19-person team churned out an impressive 13,000-word piece... (CJR)
-- This is "pretty, pretty, pretty, good," and kind of my favorite thing ever -- a new Netflix documentary called "Long Shot" reveals how one episode of "Curb Your Enthusiasm" ended up saving a man from death row... (The Guardian)
-- Jerrod Carmichael of "The Carmichael Show" has signed a two-year, overall deal with 20th Century Fox Television to create, develop, and possibly act in new projects for the company... (THR) | | Frank Pallotta emails: As if there wasn't enough for President Trump to comment on, here comes one of his favorite Twitter targets. "SNL" returns for its 43rd season premiere this weekend with host Ryan Gosling and musical guest Jay Z.
The show is coming off one of its most-watched and award-winning seasons in decades, so what's in store for this year? Will Alec Baldwin take his iconic impression of Trump to even crazier levels? Without Hillary Clinton, which role will Kate McKinnon fully embrace? Will Aidy Bryant's Sarah Sanders own the fake press room in the way Melissa McCarthy's Sean "Spicy" Spicer did? Will there be surprise guests? And, of course, will Trump react? The show will be live from coast to coast... and I'll have you covered for all the live moments on CNN.com...
-- Related: Sandra Gonzalez's preview: "SNL is coming back, but can it keep its momentum?" | | Oprah's spokeswoman says "she is not running for office" | | | This news cycle was triggered by the NYPost's John Podhoretz, who wrote about Oprah's "60 Minutes" debut, said she was "dazzling," and called her the Dems' best hope for 2020. Oprah RTed him and said "Thanks for your VOTE of confidence!" So TheWrap inquired, and a publicist responded, "She was just thanking the reporter, she is not running for office." (So... do you believe her?) | | "Facebook loses attention as publishers shift focus to other platforms" | | | Francesca Giuliani-Hoffman emails: Lucia Moses says some notable publishers are shifting their attention away from Facebook and towards other platforms like Google News, Apple News and Snapchat, which have offered better hope for monetization, or larger audiences, or better UI... (Digiday) | | | Brian Lowry emails: No, you haven't missed reviews for the new season of "Curb Your Enthusiasm," which begins Sunday. HBO hasn't made any of the episodes available, fueling anticipation that series creator Larry David might have some surprises in store... | | "American Idol" cast is set | | | Sandra Gonzalez writes: Say hello (is it me you're looking for?) to your new "American Idol" judges. Luke Bryan and Lionel Richie will officially be joining the judges table when "American Idol" makes its debut on ABC, the network has confirmed. The two join previously announced judge Katy Perry and returning host Ryan Seacrest. Read more... | | Lowry reviews "American Made" | | | Brian Lowry emails: Tom Cruise had a major flop over the summer with "The Mummy," but rebounds creatively -- with his best star vehicle in years -- in director Doug Liman's "American Made." The darkly satiric film is about Barry Seal, a truth-is-stranger-than-fiction figure in the Iran-contra scandal. Read more... | | Kroll and Colbert's Puerto Rico fundraiser | | | Lisa Respers France emails: Nick Kroll and Stephen Colbert are daring celebs to go #PuberMe for Puerto Rico. It all started with Kroll promoting "Big Mouth," his new animated series on Netflix about the challenges of puberty, and now stars are posting their awkward teen and tween pics to raise funds for the citizens of the island that was devastated by Hurricane Maria. Here's how it works... | | Big debut for "Will & Grace" | | Brian Lowry emails: More good premiere-week news for the major networks: NBC's "Will & Grace" revival attracted more than 10 million viewers Thursday, the network's best numbers for a new (or in this case, returning) comedy -- excluding previews pumped up by the Olympics -- in six years. Those results gave a boost to the entire Thursday lineup...
But lots of other broadcast debuts have flopped... So let's see what week two brings... | | Marvel's Midas touch missing in "Inhumans," "The Gifted" | | | One more from Lowry: Marvel's expansion in television lags behind its Midas touch in movies (and not incidentally, DC and Warner Bros.) with two new series premiering in the next few days: "Inhumans," the company's first true superhero show for ABC; and the somewhat more promising "The Gifted," a Fox drama spun out of the "X-Men" franchise, about a family with mutant teenagers forced to go on the run from a government that would oppress them. Details... | | | For the record, part three | | | By Lisa Respers France:
-- Vice presidents have to stick together and that's just what former VP Joe Biden wanted to convey to "Veep" star Julia Louis-Dreyfus after she revealed her breast cancer diagnosis. He sent her a super sweet tweet, and here's how she responded...
-- James Cameron has doubled down on his comments about "Wonder Woman" that had some folks calling him a sexist and it didn't sit well with the original superhero. Lynda Carter took to her Facebook page to tell the director to "stop dissing" "Wonder Woman..."
-- Go ahead and stomp your Manolo Blahniks in frustration. Sarah Jessica Parker has confirmed that "Sex and the City 3" has been scrapped...
-- Ariel Winter says paparazzi totally ruined her first day of school at UCLA...
-- Serena Williams just gave birth on September 1, but someone forgot to tell her physique that. The superstar athlete is showing off her incredible post-baby body just weeks after delivering her first child, daughter Alexis Olympia Ohanian Jr... | | | Email brian.stelter@turner.com... I appreciate every message. The feedback helps us craft the next day's newsletter! | | | Get Reliable Sources, a comprehensive summary of the most important media news, delivered to your inbox every afternoon. | | | | | |
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