| | | | | Exec summary: Lawmakers are all over TV talking about the tax bill... Catt Sadler says she's leaving E! due to a pay disparity... PBS has a new program at 11:30pm... and we're all being reminded about "the power of a single vote..." | | Will POTUS hold a year-end presser? | | We left "normal" a long time ago, I know. But presidents normally hold an end-of-the-year news conference to tout accomplishments and share seasons greetings before Christmas. Will President Trump meet the press before flying south to Mar a Lago? Maybe on Thursday?
John Berman brought up the possibility on CNN on Tuesday night. "One of the things we often see before the end of the year is a news conference," he said. "It's very possible the president will answer questions before the press in a very public way. This could be interesting, this time. There's a whole lot of Russia to ask about. There's a whole lot of Roy Moore you could ask about. There's a whole lot of sexual harassment stuff to ask about. I'm very curious to see how he handles that."
"If he does do it," Maggie Haberman responded, "I think he will probably handle it the way we have seen him handle similar lengthy news conferences." She recalled that Trump loved February's solo presser, which went on for over an hour. But solo pressers have been few and far between since then... | | | AWAITING THE TAX CUT VOTES... | | GOP on the verge of a big victory... | | | Banner on Fox in the 9pm hour: "House Passes Tax Reform, Awaiting Senate Vote." Banner on MSNBC at the same time: "Tax Bill Is Least Popular Major Legislation In 30 Years." A little later on MSNBC, another one: "GOP Tax Cut Adds $1.5 Trillion To Debt." Here's how the Post web site is playing it: "Republicans on verge of passing tax bill despite late snag." Celebratory photo op coming Wednesday? | | The bill is "a huge accomplishment" for Trump, "topped off with a lie," Don Lemon said on "CNN Tonight." The lie? "That he'll take a big financial hit himself."
Sarah Sanders continued to defend the assertion at Tuesday's briefing, but reporters like Jim Acosta pushed back. Trump biographer and financial expert Tim O'Brien tweeted: "The tax bill is a financial boon for POTUS. Sanders has entered Spicerland in terms of her credibility."
--> Here's how John Berman put it earlier in the evening: "The president says he is not going to see a dime from the tax bill he is about to sign. That might be true, but only if he keeps his eyes closed..." | | Did newsrooms cover the tax bill fairly? | | This was an AP news alert on Tuesday afternoon: "BREAKING: House passes first rewrite of nation's tax laws in three decades, providing steep tax cuts for businesses, the wealthy." This framing was ridiculed by some prominent conservative commentators. Ben Domenech's reaction: "Nice tweet from the DNC wait what."
I asked former RNC comms director Doug Heye to weigh in. He wrote: "Tax reform is a huge, complicated and even nuanced thing. But from the beginning the media painted this bill in big broad strokes of 'tax cuts for the rich' while screaming that the bill was unpopular. This reporting has an accumulating, negative effect on the bill, because -- despite all the talk about fake news -- what the media says has enormous influence. That becomes even more true when the line between reporting and editorializing is hard to distinguish, and the headlines criticizing the bill fall neatly into the Democratic talking points. All of which makes it easier for the GOP to cry 'fake news' and cycle continues ad nauseum." | | My favorite quote of the day | | | "God made Republicans to cut taxes," Rep. Tom Cole of Oklahoma "quipped to reporters," per The Atlantic... | | | Paul Ryan is booked on NBC, ABC, CBS, and Fox's morning shows on Wednesday... | | -- Headline of the day: "In Virginia, a 11,608-to-11,607 Lesson in the Power of a Single Vote" (NYT)
-- Carlos Slim is "planning to sell more than half of his 17 percent stake in the New York Times Co. to U.S. hedge fund investors, reducing his sway over one of the world's most influential publishers..." (Bloomberg)
-- TV critic Hal Boedeker was impressed by Wolf Blitzer's "tough, straightforward" interview with Sen. Bob Corker on Tuesday... (Orlando Sentinel)
-- Speaking of compelling interviews: Nicolle Wallace started interviewing Chris Christie on her show at 4:23pm... and kept going all the way til 5pm... (Mediaite) | | Is there a connection between Trump's low approval rating and late night TV's high ratings? | | | ☝ I'll be talking about this on "CNN Tonight" in the 11pm hour... | | Colbert has most-watched week since his CBS premiere | | | Brian Lowry emails: Last week marked another milestone for "Late Show With Stephen Colbert," which averaged 3.38 million viewers, its most-watched week in same-day viewing since the show premiered in 2015. Per Nielsen data, CBS topped "The Tonight Show" by more than 800,000 viewers, and the latter's lead among adults age 18-49 narrowed... | | Bodenheimer on the job in Bristol | | Tuesday was the beginning of the post-John Skipper era at ESPN. His predecessor George Bodenheimer is now back in charge as the acting chair of the network for the next 90 days. Bodenheimer was on campus in Bristol on Tuesday...
-- From my latest story: Skipper has asked for privacy regarding his substance abuse problem, but followup stories are inevitable. So far, there's been no indication that his resignation is linked to any other sort of scandal... | | Tuesday was also Skipper's birthday. He turned 62. Jim Miller noted the timing on Richard Deitsch's SI Media podcast.
Just how unexpected was Skipper's resignation? "If you tell me tomorrow that the Pope is Jewish, I'd still be more surprised yesterday," Miller told Deitsch. Miller reported that Skipper had his "end of the year review" on Thursday and "things went well," no hint about resigning. So "clearly Friday was a big day," he said. "A very very small group of people found out on Sunday afternoon," ahead of Monday's announcement... | | | On the podcast, SBJ's John Ourand added: "Calling around Bristol yesterday was one of the most surreal moments of my reporting career, because NOBODY KNEW ANYTHING. Skipper, on Saturday, was still emailing [about] business with some of my sources. He was still fully engaged! Nobody saw this coming." The podcast conversation turned to ESPN's future... And what might happen to some of the brands Skipper had championed, like "SC6," 538 and Undefeated... Here's the audio... | | New HBO Documentary leaders | | | Megan Thomas emails: With Sheila Nevins stepping down in the new year, Nancy Abraham and Lisa Heller have been named executive vice presidents of HBO Documentary and Family Programming. Abraham has been with HBO since 1995, Heller since 2000. Both women were previously SVPs. Here's the press release... | | -- Funny moment on "Hannity" Tuesday night: Gregg Jarrett accidentally called Kim Guilfoyle "Hillary." Jarrett recovered and said "I've got Hillary on the brain..."
-- My wife flagged this unique look back at 2017: "7 facial expressions from reporters that sum up the ludicrous year..." (The Cut)
-- What's Jimmy Wales trying to create with Wikitribune? Christiane Amanpour asked him... Here's the video... | | Christiane Amanpour's CNNI program has been airing at 11pm ET on PBS stations, filling part of the time slot left open by the cancellation of Charlie Rose's show. What about 11:30pm ET?
Hadas Gold emails with the answer: PBS announced on Tuesday that the BBC newscast "Beyond 100 Days" will premiere on January 2 and air Mondays through Thursdays. The program is hosted by Katty Kay in the U.S. and Christian Fraser in the UK. On Friday nights, a rebroadcast of "BBC World News" will be offered to stations... | | Rolling Stone auction update | | | At Monday's Rolling Stone staff holiday party, "EVERYONE was talking about rumors of the sale and what they'd heard or hoped for. It was literally the only thing people were discussing," an attendee told Joe Pompeo. The Rolling Stone auction "has entered its concluding stage," Pompeo reports. Penske Media, BandLab founder Kuok Meng Ru, and an investment group including James Dolan and Irving Azoff are all still in the mix. Here's Pompeo's full story... | | -- "Ta-Nehisi Coates has had enough." After a Twitter battle with Cornel West, he "deleted his widely followed Twitter account, writing 'peace, y'all. I'm out...'" (AP)
-- Charlie Warzel's latest scoop: "Internal emails show Twitter struggled to interpret its own verification rules while hunting trolls..." (BuzzFeed)
-- Today in "the future:" Facebook "will send alerts when it sees you in untagged photos..." (CNN Tech)
-- "The Room," which "inspired" James Franco's "The Disaster Artist," will play "for one day in 600 theaters nationwide..." (THR) | | Why Catt Sadler is leaving E! | | Catt Sadler has left E! after more than a decade there. Page Six initially said she would sign off on Wednesday, but it turns out Tuesday was her last day. What happened? She just published a damning blog post that says she found out "there was a massive disparity in pay between my similarly situated male co-host and myself." (TheWrap: "Sadler appeared to be referring" to Jason Kennedy.)
Sadler says E! wanted to extend her deal, but "how can I operate with integrity and stay on at E if they're not willing to pay me the same as him? Or at least come close?" She says she wanted to stay, but the network refused to pay. No word on what's next for her... | | Trump disputes report about rescinding Gorsuch nomination | | Trump called it "fake news..." But the WashPost obviously disagrees... "We stand by our reporting wholeheartedly," Josh Dawsey said on "AC360" after Trump tweeted his denial of this story.
The most troubling part of Trump's tweet was his claim that the Post's "unnamed sources don't exist!" He likes to say that when he's angry, but it implies that news organizations are full of liars... | | Irresponsible talk by a Fox contributor | | Chris Hayes on MSNBC: "A Fox News contributor actually floated the idea of an FBI plot to assassinate President Trump." Hayes is not exaggerating. Kevin Jackson said it on "Outnumbered" -- and when Harris Faulkner challenged him, Jackson said "it's been floated" on "social media." Hayes played the clip and added: "This is the network the president is evidently GLUED TO."
Jake Tapper highlighted the Fox clip on "The Lead" too. Kevin Madden called it "highly irresponsible" talk by Jackson... | | Oliver Darcy emails: Fox News host Howard Kurtz wrote a column published Tuesday that said Trump allies should be "cautious" about using "inflammatory language" when "going after the special counsel." Of course, it's an ironic warning coming from the host of a show on the network leading the charge to derail Robert Mueller's investigation.
Kurtz acknowledged Fox's own role in this in his column, but dismissed those criticizing the right-leaning network as "liberals and media rivals." He cited provocative language used by hosts Jesse Watters and Jeanine Pirro over the weekend, before defending it as opinion coming from commentators. "They are paid for their opinions," Kurtz wrote. "They are not part of the news division."
What Kurtz fails to note is that a very large chunk of Fox's lineup is opinion programming which has recently been laser-focused on discrediting Mueller. It's also peculiar to see people from Fox -- not just Kurtz -- use this kind of defense, and on top of that to dismiss criticism as coming from rivals. It's as if, sometimes, Fox is almost willfully ignorant of the reason observers are paying attention to it: The massive influence it wields now. Of course, confronting that would mean dealing with an unpleasant question: Does being an opinion host on Fox News give a person the license to misinform millions of viewers? | | How Trump revived the "War" on Christmas | | | That's the subject of Tom Kludt's latest video and piece. He emails: Trump has managed to revive a quintessential conservative media storyline, but one that faded from the public consciousness years ago. Even Fox News -- the front line of the "war on Christmas" -- had relegated the controversy to the periphery. But for Trump, it was the perfect wedge issue, one that he wrapped up and gave to his base. Read and watch more here... | | | For the record, part four | | | -- "Google Chrome will start natively blocking ads that do not comply with Coalition for Better Ads guidelines on February 15..." (VentureBeat)
-- "Titanic" was released in theaters 20 years ago this week... The anniversary has spawned all sorts of nostalgic coverage... Including this look at the "insane true story" of how the movie was made... (BuzzFeed)
-- Debatable: Vulture ranked all 29 Steven Spielberg movies from worst to best... (Vulture) | | -- "Silicon Valley" star T.J. Miller stands accused of sexual assault and punching a woman, Asawin Suebsaeng reported Tuesday. Miller denied the allegations...
-- Former NFL Network employee Diana Moskovitz writing for Deadspin: "You Survived At NFL Network By Staying Silent"
-- NYT's latest: "How tough is it to change a culture of harassment? Ask women at Ford" | | Meryl Streep targeted with "she knew" posters | | Megan Thomas emails: "In posters that appeared in several locations in Los Angeles on Tuesday, Meryl Streep was seemingly depicted as a Harvey Weinstein enabler by anonymous street artists," THR reports...
-- Lisa Respers France reports: Meryl Streep says she would like to have a chat with Rose McGowan... | | Meet Weinstein's P.R. firm | | The Daily Beast's Amy Zimmerman profiles Sitrick and Company -- "the firm fighting tooth and nail to defend Harvey Weinstein." The PR firm has been issuing statements on Weinstein's behalf since the first days of the scandal.
"While some relatively recent Weinstein statements continue to categorically deny any and all non-consensual contact, there have been a number of specific responses as of late," Zimmerman observes... | | Strong ratings for Lauer-less "Today" show | | | "With Savannah Guthrie and Hoda Kotb at the anchor desk, the NBC morning show was the most-watched morning newscast for the third consecutive week, and it continues to reign supreme when it comes to attracting younger news viewers, including adults 25-54," TVNewser's A.J. Katz reports... | | 🎺 for "Reliable Sources" | | The year after a presidential election is usually a down year for cable news. But not this year. Cable news #'s are strong across the board, including at CNN... So if you'll allow me a bit of horn tooting... "Reliable Sources" on Sunday mornings "was up +27% in the demo and +12% in total viewers vs. last year," per CNN PR. "MSNBC was a distant third at 11am on Sundays. Since taking over in 2013 as host, this is Stelter's best yearly performance on record among both the demo 25-54 and total viewers."
Thank you for tuning in, and thanks to the staff in NYC and Atlanta that make the show possible... | | "Narcos" to star Michael Pena and Diego Luna | | | Chloe Melas reports: Michael Peña and Diego Luna will star in the upcoming fourth season of "Narcos." Production of the new season is already underway in Mexico City. No word on a release date yet... | | | Megan Thomas emails: Lady Gaga will have a two-year Las Vegas residency starting in December 2018. It'll be at the Park Theater at the Park MGM. "It has been a life-long dream of mine to play Las Vegas," Gaga says. "I am humbled to be a part of a historical line-up of performers, and to have the honor of creating a new show unlike anything Vegas has ever seen before..." | | John Legend cast as Jesus Christ | | | Chloe Melas emails: John Legend has been cast as Jesus Christ in the upcoming live action NBC musical concert of "Jesus Christ Superstar..." Here's her full story... | | Lowry's take on Hollywood's uncertain year | | | Brian Lowry emails: Trying to distill the past year in Hollywood into a single column felt like a nigh-impossible task. But suffice it to say that the usual forces besetting the entertainment industry -- including technology threatening its business models -- were exacerbated by mergers, sharp declines in traditional businesses and, of course, the sexual-harassment allegations unleashed after the Harvey Weinstein story. Read the column here... | | | For the record, part five | | | By Lisa Respers France:
-- The first trailer for "Ocean's 8" is out...
-- Jamie Lynn Spears is thanking the "angels" who saved her daughter's life...
-- Here's why Sophia Bush says she left "Chicago P.D..." | | | 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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