| | | | | Hello there! Oliver Darcy here, in for Brian Stelter, who's hanging with cowboys and journalists at SXSW. I'm your media guide tonight as we get ready to head into the weekend... | | Pat yourself on the back. Have a drink. Relax at home. You have made it to Friday after one hell of a week. Things really unfolded at a breakneck pace these last few days...
The week kicked off on Monday with ex-Trump aide Sam Nunberg hitting the interview circuit to publicly say he would defy a Mueller subpoena, taunting the special counsel to arrest him .... on Tuesday The New York Times broke the news chief economic adviser Gary Cohn would resign while House Speaker Paul Ryan urged the president to "be more surgical" on tariffs.
On Wednesday, White House press secretary Sarah Sanders conceded the existence of a non-disclosure agreement with porn actress Stormy Daniels. Meanwhile the Times broke news that Trump had asked key witnesses what they discussed with the special counsel. The Washington Post had a story the same night reporting that Mueller has gathered evidence a secret 2017 Seychelles meeting was an effort to establish a Kremlin back channel ... on Thursday Trump moved forward with steel and aluminum tariffs. Later that night, the president announced he would meet with North Korea dictator Kim Jong Un.
And so here we are on Friday. The Wall Street Journal broke news that Trump's lawyers are seeking a deal with Muller that would allow the special counsel to interview the president if it might "spur a conclusion" with the Trump-related portion of the investigation. And of course Nunberg, the man the week started with, testified before a grand jury.
>> Yes, it's been crazy. So crazy that NYT's Matt Flegenheimer asked an almost unthinkable question in a lede for his story: "If a porn-tinged hush payment falls in a news din already torqued to maximum volume, does it make a sound?" | | "Could this be the 'Trumpiest' week ever?" | | That's what Chuck Todd asked Friday evening on "Meet the Press Daily" as he summed up the week in news: "Is there anything more Trump than all of these stories happening in the same week? Folks, this is the Trump presidency. This is normal -- for Trump." Watch the clip here...
>> Todd concluded his two-and-a-half minute monologue: "And after a week like this you might ask: this is the Trump presidency? And after a week like this, you've got your answer. And you might also ask, 'What does Trump think of such a Trumpy week?' Well, after a week like this, you probably know that answer. He loves it. Why? It's all about Trump." | | Reminder: It's not quite over. Trump is holding a Saturday night rally | | Trump is set to appear in western Pennsylvania on Saturday to help Rick Saccone, a Republican state lawmaker whose bid for a House seat is not going so well. As CNN's Eric Bradner wrote, "He'll also be trying to save himself and his party from an embarrassing defeat in a district he won by 20 points in 2016 and one filled with the white, blue-collar voters who led him to victory."
That said, this week has offered Trump plenty of material to riff on, should he choose to deliver a freewheeling speech. And at a rally, it's hard to see him sticking entirely to a script.
>> I asked one White House reporter what might be expected to happen on Saturday night at the rally. The person replied, "Something insane." | | Court filings suggest AT&T will not argue political bias in trial | | Hadas Gold reports: AT&T indicated Friday that it no longer intends to make allegations of political bias as part of its defense against the Justice Department's lawsuit to block its purchase of Time Warner, CNN's parent company. A filing by AT&T does not mention arguing political bias by the government and a separate DOJ filing says the government does not expect AT&T to argue selective enforcement. Read Gold's full story here...
More details from Hadas: AT&T had initially been expected to argue that political bias played a part in the government's decision to bring the case, based on Trump's animus toward CNN, his pledge as a candidate to block the merger, and the DOJ's antitrust head saying in 2016 he initially saw no antitrust issues with the merger. Now the case will likely focus solely on whether the merger will raise prices, stifle competition and harm consumers... | | Sunday's "Reliable" guest list | | | Brian Stelter emails: The WSJ published this almost two months ago: "Trump Lawyer Arranged $130,000 Payment for Adult-Film Star's Silence." Now Stormy Daniels is a household name. This story has been building slowly but surely... On Sunday's "Reliable Sources," I'll talk with WSJ reporter Michael Rothfeld, plus April Ryan, Salena Zito, John Avlon, David Zurawik, and new USA Today editor Nicole Carroll... Plus, NYT gender editor Jessica Bennett... See you Sunday at 11am ET... | | -- Megyn Kelly's interview with Vladimir Putin aired on Friday night. You can watch part one of that interview here, in which Kelly confronts Putin about Russia's role in 2016 election meddling... (NBC News)
-- Variety's Andrew Wallenstein asks: "Will Jimmy Pitaro Be Out of His League at ESPN?" (Variety)
-- TNR's Graham Vyse writes: "Why (Almost) Everyone Likes Jake Tapper..." (TNR)
-- NPR's David Folkenflik reports: "Startups, Deals, Parties And Pals: Will News Exec Levinsohn Repeat The Past?" (NPR)
-- Poynter's Alexios Mantzarlis offers some critique of the MIT study that found fake news travels faster than true news on Twitter... (Poynter)
-- Oprah offers some advice for those feeling discouraged by the current political climate: "You've got to stay in the light." Her full interview with Van Jones airs on CNN this Sunday at 8pm ET... (CNN)
-- HuffPost's Ryan Reilly writes, "Trump's Latest Pardon Shows The Best Way To Get One: Go On Fox News..." (HuffPost) | | The NYT's Amy Chozick published a story on Friday evening that answered the question a lot of people has been asking: "Where's Harvey?"
Associates familiar with Harvey Weinstein's circumstances told Chozick that the former Hollywood mogul "has been waking up early, checking in with his East Coast lawyers and then going down to a juice shop where he orders coffee and a green detox mix with kale and cucumber." Weinstein, Chozick reported, also lived with a roommate during his time in sex rehab and has spent "much of his time in purgatory in Scottsdale, Ariz." Check out the must-read story here... | | Newsweek spokesperson taunts Daily Beast reporter | | On Friday morning, The Daily Beast's Maxwell Tani revealed Newsweek spokesperson Ken Frydman had berated him on the phone and in text messages when Tani asked for a comment on the magazine's financial situation. "How old are you if you don't mind me asking," Frydman said in one exchange, Tani reported. "Are you 20? Are you even 20? You're not covering Watergate here. You want a comment, here's your comment: You need a new beat." You can read Tani's full article about Newsweek's financial health here...
>> Tani said Frydman later called back and apologized. But it's worth noting the comment Newsweek CCO Dayan Candappa made about Frydman in a meeting Tani obtained a recording of: "You don't have to like him, but he knows how to do this, he knows how to mess with the heads of editors and reporters." | | | Brian Stelter emails: Gretchen Carlson has an episode in the new season of the Epix series "America Divided..." And "there will be more news to come," she told THR's Jeremy Barr on Thursday night. "Carlson wouldn't specify whether her forthcoming gig is in cable news, where she worked for decades, or in broadcast TV," but she said, "Stay tuned..." | | HBO wins with "Westworld" activation | | HBO pulled out all the stops for SXSW, partnering with Giant Spoon to recreate Sweetwater, the town at the center of its hit show "Westworld." And judging by all the photos flooding my social media feeds, it has been a wild success. As Caroline McCarthy tweeted, "The #SXSWestworld activation from @WestworldHBO is pretty much the coolest thing I've ever seen a brand do at SXSW in my 10 years of attending."
Indeed, Giant Spoon co-founder Trevor Guthrie told Adweek, "We literally built a Western town in the middle of Texas." According to Adweek, the town is complete with taverns, horses, and live music. It's safe to say, I'm quite jealous of everyone down in Texas able to experience it in person. | | Facebook: "Everything is on the table" | | Selena Larson writes: "At a panel discussion at the SXSW conference, Facebook's head of news product, Alex Hardiman, said Facebook is 'redefining its relationship' with publishers... 'As we are making the shift to quality, everything is on the table,' Hardiman said... 'We're having active conversations with a lot publishers, academics, and experts in the space.'"
But: "She fielded some criticism from CNN's Brian Stelter, who said at times it feels like Facebook doesn't really understand the news business. People in the audience -- many of whom were journalists -- cheered when Stelter raised the prospect of Facebook paying more directly for journalism." Read Larson's full story here... | | Stelter's POV as a panelist | | Brian Stelter emails: Hardiman deserves credit for showing up and taking Q's... especially since the ballroom seemed to be full of FB skeptics...
-- Hardiman said FB wants to "minimize the bad" and "promote quality" so News Feed users see reliable information...
-- When I said, paraphrasing here, "Shouldn't we have a bigger conversation about Facebook paying more directly for some of the quality journalism that's out there?" Hardiman said everything is up for discussion, but didn't go into detail...
-- When asked about the looming midterm elections, and the potential for viral misinformation, Hardiman said "We've got our work cut out for us," but "we're making good progress..." | | TV networks and movie studios aim to build buzz | | | Frank Pallotta emails, noting he has just wiped BBQ sauce off his fingers to type: Away from panels, there's a full force of TV networks and movie studios on the scene that are trying to build buzz for upcoming projects. That includes Warner Bros.' VR extravaganza activation for Steven Spielberg's "Ready Player One" and obviously HBO recreating "Westworld." | | | By Julia Waldow and Daniella Emanuel: --Digiday lays out "how the New Yorker plans to double its paid circulation to 2 million..." (Digiday)
-- Politico reports on a town taken over by bitcoin miners... (Politico) -- Wired notes Russian propaganda remains on Reddit... (Wired) | | Trump's 'lit' dinner with Fox News personalities | | The Daily Beast's Asawin Suebsaeng reported on Friday night that Trump dined earlier this week with Fox News host Jesse Watters and network contributor Sebastian Gorka (who was of course previously ousted from the White House). "It was so lit," one source told Suebsaeng.
>> Jake Tapper's take: "So you're the president of the United States of America. You can dine with literally anyone you want to. Titans of industry. Geniuses of the arts. Tech wizards changing everything. World leaders and humanitarian saints." | | Facebook strikes deal with MLB | | | Get ready to see Major League Baseball games in your Facebook news feed. Bloomberg's Scott Soshnick reported on Friday morning that the social media giant has inked a deal to stream 25 afternoon games in the US. "It's the first time a major U.S. league has agreed to show regular season games exclusively on Facebook, which has been building a portfolio of live sports," Soshnick reported. Read his full story here... | | This week's "Reliable" pod | | | Brian's sit-down with Discovery CEO David Zaslav is this week's "Reliable Sources" podcast. Zaslav talks about "superfans," streaming services, content ownership, and more. Check it out via Apple Podcasts, TuneIn or Stitcher... Or read a recap on CNNMoney... | | | For the record, part three | | | -- Missed this yesterday: Showtime has ordered seven more episodes of "Our Cartoon President..." (THR)
-- Time Inc. VP of comms Kerri Chyka is joining Bloomberg... She'll be the lead of comms for Bloomberg Editorial & Research, reporting to Mia Carbonell...
-- Will Twitter let everyone eventually be verified? Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey said in a Periscope this week that Twitter is working to make it happen... (The Verge)
-- The National Review's Rich Lowry is now a CNN political commentator... | | Woodward on journalism in the Trump-era | | Bob Woodward gave a wide-ranging interview to Newsweek that was published Friday. The interview covered a lot of ground, but one part in particular made some headlines. The legendary WaPo journalist was asked about the state of journalism in the Trump-era, and he said he does not think "journalism is failing at all in the Trump era."
But Woodward offered up a critique: "A number of reporters have at times become emotionally unhinged about it all, one way or the other. Look at MSNBC or Fox News, and you will see those continually either denigrating Trump or praising him. I think the answer is in the middle, and in this class I talk about how it's important to get your personal politics out. It's destructive to become too politicized." Woodward's full interview with Newsweek is worth a read... | | Why "Morning Joe" is being broadcast from DC these days | | | Hats off to Politico Playbook for noticing that "Morning Joe" has been broadcast often out of DC as of late, and finding out why. Joe Scarborough told the authors of the morning newsletter, "Mika and I love doing the show from Washington. Spending more time in DC gives us one-on-one time with our sources and allows us to interview newsmakers on set instead of by remote. On a personal note, Mika gets to spend more time with her mother after the passing of Dr. Brzezinski. The two are also excited to be preparing for Mrs. Brzezinski's upcoming art show in New York March 15th." | | | Chryon that sums up the week | | | "A Wrinkle in Time" is in theaters | | | Will the movie starring Oprah and Reese Witherspoon put a ~wrinkle~ in the crazy box office run of "Blank Panther"? We won't know until later this weekend, but it seems possible. "A Wrinkle in Time" is off to a "decent start," according to CinemaBlend, which reported that it raked in $1.3 million in Thursday showings. Deadline added, "The Ava DuVernay-directed film is looking to win Friday with $12M-$14M over Black Panther which will turn in $8M-$9.5M." | | 'The Bachelor' under fire | | | Brian Lowry emails: Writing in the Hollywood Reporter, novelist Allison Winn Scotch dubs "The Bachelor" "a firmly anti-woman embarrassment," one that's basically incompatible with the Time's Up moment. The Los Angeles Times' Amy Kaufman, meanwhile, is out with a new book that, among other things, explores the show's behind-the-scenes manipulation. At the risk of sounding cynical, though, these franchises appear to enjoy a kind of immunity to bad publicity, and often clearly embrace it. | | About that possible Obama-Netflix deal | | | Lowry emails: One afterthought on the possible Obama-Netflix deal: Like HBO, Netflix is heavily in the image business -- namely, creating excitement around the service that convinces people to keep subscribing. While there's been some debate over how involved the Obamas might be with any actual programming, this is one of those deals you make more for the sizzle that surrounds the announcement than whatever tangibly comes out of it. | | | Email brian.stelter@turner.com... the feedback helps us improve this newsletter every day... Thanks! | | | | | | |
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