| | | | | Exec summary: Are there Friday news dumps on the way? Leonard Lopate and Jonathan Schwartz have been fired... Steve Bannon has some sharp criticisms of President Trump... And our year-ender podcast is out... | | | Every newsroom is rolling out end-of-the-year specials... and while I was working on mine, I was struck by how much I'd forgotten. How many shocking and strange and sometimes just funny moments have already faded from consciousness. | | Looking back at year one of the Trump presidency, we all remember "alternative facts" and "covfefe" and "enemy of the American people." But do you remember "Holocaust centers" and "last night in Sweden" and the GIF of CNN being hit by a train? Do you remember these moments from earlier in the year?:
-- While speaking to members of the U.S. military, Trump alleged that the press intentionally downplays terrorist attacks...
-- Kellyanne Conway cited a nonexistent "massacre" in Bowling Green, Kentucky to justify the administration's temporary travel ban...
-- At the National Prayer Breakfast, Trump said Arnold Schwarzenegger's version of "The Apprentice" was a "total disaster," and "I want to just pray for Arnold, if we can, for those ratings, OK?"
-- I hafta admit I forgot about this until recently: In late February, the W.H. blocked CNN, NYT and several other outlets from attending one of Spicer's off-camera briefings...
-- I forgot about this one too: In early January, Trump saw me on CNN talking about the network's book about his election victory, then tweeted that he didn't like the photo on the cover...
-- We all remember Sean Spicer saying "that was the largest audience to witness an inauguration, period." But do you remember that during crowd-gate, Trump even misstated the inauguration weather? He said the skies became "really sunny" after his speech, when in fact it remained cloudy...
-- Trump to Salena Zito: "Why was there the Civil War? Why could that one not have been worked out?"
-- Conway stood in the briefing room and told Fox viewers to "go buy Ivanka's stuff..."
-- "You should all send your kids to Lego Batman," said Steven Mnuchin, an exec producer of the movie...
-- David Clarke declined an interview request from KFILE by saying "Trump has labeled CNN as fake news. When Pres. Trump says CNN is ok again, then I might..."
-- There used to be "Skype seats" at the W.H. briefings. (Whatever happened to those?)
-- Last but not least: You're gonna think I'm making this up, but I'm not. Trump told "Fox & Friends" that "I don't like tweeting." He said it un-ironically! | | A new analysis of Trump's tweeting | | | "Since declaring his presidential candidacy in 2015, Donald Trump has posted nearly 1,000 tweets critical of the press, CJR's Jonathan Peters writes. This data comes from NYU master's student Stephanie Sugars... Details here... | | | Now, in light of all that anti-media venom, try to imagine Trump or his press secretary saying what State Department spokeswoman Heather Nauert said on Thursday. Wrapping up the year, Nauert thanked beat reporters for "your professionalism" and "your dedication to the facts," calling it "so impressive..." | | Hey, watch out for Friday news dumps! | | | DCN's Jason Kint tweeted Thursday night: "Tomorrow is the ultimate day to dump an announcement. The last Friday before a major holiday, Facebook cryptically purged millions of fake accounts and the press never really noticed it -- to this day. Keep your eyes open..." | | What about a presidential presser? | | Nope, not on Thursday... What about Friday, once Trump lands in Florida? "You never know," Sarah Sanders told Fox's Bill Hemmer when he asked her on Thursday morning. "We like to keep you guys guessing!"
Maybe he'll hold a gaggle, but not a formal presser, when he signs the tax bill? 🔌: Bill Carter and I will be talking about this on CNN's "New Day" in the 8am hour on Friday...
--> For what it's worth, Sanders said "the president loves taking questions." If he does take Q's, he'll surely be asked about Robert Mueller... | | A reminder about Trump's credibility crisis | | Remarkable new CNN poll #'s: Only one-third of Americans approve of Trump's handling of Robert Mueller's Russia investigation. "Most Americans say President Donald Trump's public statements on the probe have not been truthful." There's quite a bit of skepticism of Mueller as well... Read the rest here...
And speaking of the special counsel... | | Why Mueller has remained MUM | | | Robert Mueller "hasn't uttered a single word in public since he was appointed in May," Bloomberg points out in this new story. "It's an intentional strategy meant to convey the investigation's credibility and seriousness... Instead of press conferences, Mueller has spoken loudly through a series of indictments and plea deals..." | | How long does it take to read the entire GOP tax bill out loud? | | | Casey Neistat's Beme News team wanted to find out, so they set up a YouTube live stream on Thursday morning... And writer/producer Lou Foglia started to read it aloud... He finished in 10 hours, 19 minutes. Smart stunt! Want to re-live it? Here's the video... | | WNYC hosts Leonard Lopate, Jonathan Schwartz fired following investigation | | Frank Pallotta writes: WNYC hosts Leonard Lopate and Jonathan Schwartz have been fired after being put on "indefinite leave" earlier this month over accusations of inappropriate behavior. The station's parent, New York Public Radio, said on Thursday that it terminated their employment "following two separate investigations overseen by outside counsel."
"These investigations found that each individual had violated our standards for providing an inclusive, appropriate, and respectful work environment," NYPR spokesperson Jennifer Houlihan Roussel said. Read the full story here...
-- More: Schwartz declined to comment. Lopate called the decision "unjust" and told WNYC that he was "really sad and shocked..." | | -- In his final floor speech on the way out the Senate door, Al Franken said "it feels like we're losing the war for truth..." (WashPost)
-- The Washington City Paper, which has been up for sale for two months, now has a local owner for the first time in three decades. "Local venture capitalist and philanthropist Mark Ein has reached an agreement to purchase Washington City Paper from SouthComm," the paper reports... (WCP)
-- Sean Hannity's self-own: He "slammed NBC News coverage while citing NBC News story in same tweet..." (The Hill) | | | Janet Elder, a beloved editor at The New York Times, died Wednesday. She was 61. Quoting from the NYT's obit: In a three-decade career, Elder became "one of the highest-ranking women in the Times newsroom, in charge of the administrative side of the news operation. But colleagues cited an unofficial role as well, as chief counselor, hand-holder, fixer and sympathetic ear to the rest of the staff." Matthew Purdy: "It was really her humanity that made her a central part of the newsroom..." | | Plaintiff's lawyer in Russia dossier suit says they've discovered BuzzFeed's source | | | Oliver Darcy has the latest: The legal team for Aleksej Gubarev, the Russian tech exec who sued BuzzFeed in February, said on Thursday that it has identified the person who provided the now-infamous Trump dossier to the website. Gubarev's attorney disclosed this after a federal judge ruled that BuzzFeed IS a news organization and that it thus qualifies under a law that shields journalists from revealing their sources. This case is complicated... Here's the full story... | | Hadas Gold emails: At one of the bi-monthly status hearings for the DOJ vs AT&T case, Judge Richard Leon asked on Thursday that the two sides speak with their communications team and try to tamper down on the "chatter" about the case, where the Justice Department is suing to block AT&T's merger with Time Warner, CNN's parent company.
"This court is fully appreciate of the public nature of this case," Leon said, "but this case will be tried in court… I want to keep the chatter in the press to an absolute minimum." Leon said he won't be issuing any sort of gag order and that he will always reserve space in the court room for the media. The next hearing is Jan. 5...
--> On a related note, Leon also denied Carter Page's unusual friend-of-the-court brief in the case. DOJ lawyers had previously said that Page's submissions were not "meaningfully relevant" to the issues in the case... | | By Julia Waldow:
-- Eric Schmidt is stepping down as exec chairman of Alphabet... (CNNMoney)
-- Instagram is upping its live-video game with a special feature for Direct Messaging... (TechCrunch)
-- Thought-provoking read: "Ad buyers struggle to navigate Amazon's client services teams..." (Digiday)
-- The Freedom of Information Act isn't only limited to documents and records -- it's applicable to social media, too. That's why ArchiveSocial, the startup responsible for President Obama's social media archive, is helping numerous government agencies document posts on platforms like Facebook and Twitter... (Forbes) | | 🎧 "Reliable" pod: recapping 2017's media stories | | | The final "Reliable Sources" podcast of 2017 is a special edition about the year's unforgettable media stories. The guests are four of my media reporting colleagues: Oliver Darcy, Chloe Melas, Tom Kludt, and Frank Pallotta. We talked about the biggest media stories of 2017, from the #MeToo movement and Trump's war on the media to the Disney-Fox deal and late-night TV drama. Listen to the podcast here via iTunes! It's also available through Stitcher and TuneIn... | | POTUS must have been watching Kellyanne Conway's chat on "Fox & Friends" Thursday morning: Shortly after she congratulated the hosts for being #1 on Mediaite's new list of media influencers, he tweeted, "You deserve it -- three great people! The many Fake News Hate Shows should study your formula for success!"
Erik Wemple had this to say about Conway's Fox promo... | | Gabe Sherman's must read about Bannon | | | If you haven't read it yet, here it is... Gabriel Sherman goes into detail about Steve Bannon's use of Breitbart to promote himself, and about Bannon's "canny ability to cultivate mainstream journalists..." | | These are some of Bannon's criticisms of Trump | | | Quoting from Sherman's piece: "I asked Bannon how the presidency had changed Trump. 'He's much more moderate,' Bannon said, sipping a Fiji water. 'He's an accommodationist. Trump's tendency is to always get Maggie Haberman in there. He reads The New York Times. To him that's the paper of record.' For a presidency defined by Twitter, Bannon said Trump has a limited grasp of new media. 'He doesn't go online. That's a huge thing. I mean Orrin Hatch' -- who's 83 -- goes online! Trump reads printouts.'" | | "The scandal of our time" | | | WashPost's Carlos Lozada, in this book review about histories of past presidential scandals, says Trump stands alone: "With expectations of integrity eroding and tolerance for deceit strengthening, the myth of presidential behavior is punctured beyond repair. As much as anything Mueller uncovers, this is the scandal of our time." | | "Royals" creator Mark Schwahn fired | | | Sandra Gonzalez reports: "The Royals" creator and showrunner Mark Schwahn has been fired from the series following a suspension in November after colleagues accused him of sexual harassment. Read more... | | Bob Bowman was "forced out after alleged misconduct" | | | Why did Bob Bowman leave MLB Advanced Media last month? Because of "years of troubling workplace behavior that former baseball executives were said to be made aware of at least a decade ago." The WSJ's Rachel Bachman and Brian Costa broke the story on Thursday. One of the final straws was an incident in October when "Bowman verbally abused a coworker in October." Bowman told the WSJ that he is "truly sorry" for his "inappropriate behavior..." | | Two organizations rescind Charlie Rose honors | | | Hadas Gold emails: Charlie Rose has lost another two honors: One, a 2008 honorary degree from Fordham University, the other, a 2014 lifetime achievement award from the National Press Club (the first time the Press Club has rescinded such an award). | | | For the record, part three | | | -- Two Fox Newsers, Kristin Fisher and Jackie Ibanez, gave birth on the same day! Congrats to both families... (TVNewser)
-- Joe Flint's latest is about the Fox broadcast network: "Whither Fox? Disney Deal Raises Questions About the Network's Future..." (WSJ)
-- Jose Antonio Vargas is writing a memoir for HarperCollins: "Dear America: Notes of an Undocumented Citizen..." (LAT)
-- This is an awesome NYT feature: "It began with a keyboard riff, then a brainstorming session. Watch how Ed Sheeran's 'Shape of You,' 2017's most-streamed track, came to life..." (NYT) | | | Chloe Melas emails: It's been nearly a decade since Zac Efron sang and danced his way into our teenage hearts in the "High School Musical" franchise... but now he's making his musical movie return in this weekend's "The Greatest Showman" alongside Hugh Jackman, Zendaya and Michelle Williams... He spoke to me about why he dusted off his dancing shoes for the role... | | Lowry reviews "All the Money in the World" | | | Brian Lowry emails: "All the Money in the World" became a lot more interesting when director Ridley Scott and co. decided to replace Kevin Spacey at the eleventh hour due to sexual-misconduct allegations. While Christopher Plummer is terrific in the role despite the high degree of difficulty, this movie inspired by the Getty kidnapping springs leaks on other fronts... Read Lowry's full review here... | | | More from Lowry: One more holiday release, "Hostiles," which stars Christian Bale as an army officer, taking a Native-American chief on a mercy mission to die on his tribal lands... | | Sandra interviews "The Post" screenwriters | | Steven Spielberg's new film "The Post" is many things, but it's not a "liberal movie," screenwriter Josh Singer says.
CNN's Sandra Gonzalez interviewed Singer recently -- He said, "The [Pentagon] Papers were non partisan. They were about a functioning democracy, and that's how we feel about the movie. I think a functioning democracy needs institutional journalism, needs a strong Fourth Estate to serve as a check on power." Read her full story here...
-- Hey, +1 to this from Splinter: "For God's Sake Stop Whining About The Post" | | "Last Jedi" on the way to $1 billion | | | Brian Lowry emails: For those keeping score, projections are that "Star Wars: The Last Jedi" will hit $600 million worldwide today. North America accounts for nearly half of that. The interesting question will be how far the second weekend drops compared to its $220 million opening frame, with predecessor "The Force Awakens" declining just 40% two years ago... | | | For the record, part four | | | By Lisa Respers France:
-- The trailer for the "Mamma Mia!" sequel is here, and it's the origin story we didn't even know we needed...
-- Val Kilmer has gone from denying he had cancer to talking about his battle with it... | | | 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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