Forward

Welcome to the Reliable Sources newsletter. This is Oliver Darcy, writing from a frigid New York City. Brian Stelter is off, having headed south for a warmer climate. As always, I love to hear your feedback and field your tips. Email me or find me on Twitter. Now, let's get to the news...

NEW THURSDAY NIGHT:

Trump grants NYT an Oval Office interview

President Donald Trump on Thursday afternoon sat down with NYT's Peter Baker, Maggie Haberman, and publisher A.G. Sulzberger for a wide-ranging interview touching on a number of topics. NYT's story posted Thursday night... Some highlights...

-- On border wall negotiations: Trump called negotiations with Congress a "waste of time." Seemingly hinting at a future declaration of a national emergency, Trump said, "I've set the table. I've set the stage for doing what I'm going to do."

-- On the Russia probe: Trump said Rod Rosenstein "told the attorneys that I'm not a subject, I'm not a target" of the investigation.

-- On Roger Stone: Trump said he "never" spoke with Stone about WikiLeaks, and "never" directed anyone to make contact with Stone about WikiLeaks.

-- On the emerging Democratic field: "I would say the best opening so far would be Kamala Harris." Trump said some of the others "were very flat."

There's a lot more in the NYT story, so I'd encourage you to read it in full for yourself...

How the interview came about

Trump initially reached out to Sulzberger, according to NYT's Thursday story, inviting him for an off-the-record dinner. But Sulzberger said no. Instead, Sulzberger said he would prefer an on-the-record interview with a couple of Times reporters. Trump agreed.

>> Haberman on CNN after the interview posted online: Trump was "in a very personable and good mood..."

Friday's edition of "The Daily"

Get ready for more of NYT's Oval Office interview Friday on "The Daily." A NYT spokesperson told me it will feature a conversation between Sulzberger and Trump on the "role of a free press." It goes online at 6 a.m. ET...

Trump claims intel chiefs' televised testimony was "misquoted"

Before NYT's interview dropped, the focus was on how Trump is again trying to create his own reality -- this time by claiming that his intel chiefs told him they were "misquoted and totally taken out of context" when media outlets reported that they had contradicted him on a host of national security matters during public testimony Wednesday. "They said it was fake news," Trump claimed. Trump later repeated the claim on Twitter, and in his NYT interview.

It's, of course, not true that the intel chiefs were misquoted during their testimony. Television news programs spent much of Wednesday airing VIDEO of what they said. Anyone who wants to watch the testimony can go ahead and do so. But Trump's attempt to deceive underscored yet again how, when he gets in a bind, he misleads and works to sow confusion...

In other words, Trump tells America: Do not believe your eyes and ears

Erin Burnett summed things up nicely with the opening line in her Thursday program: "The tapes don't lie, but the president?"

The chyron on Anderson Cooper's "Keeping Them Honest" segment was surreal, saying, "WE'LL LEAVE THE GASLIGHT ON FOR YOU, PART 17." Cooper said, "We begin tonight...with the president once again telling you not to trust your eyes and ears, not to believe what you see and hear, but to believe only him."

FOR THE RECORD, PART ONE

-- Will Sommer's latest looks at how some far-right media personalities have peddled a conspiracy theory that suggests Ruth Bader Ginsberg is hiding or dead... (Daily Beast)

-- Attendees at the Television Critics Association panel got to see how Russell Crowe was transformed into Roger Ailes for Showtime's upcoming series... (THR)

-- Media Matters' Parker Malloy explains "how a myth about journalists telling miners to 'learn to code' helped people justify harassment against journalists last week... (Media Matters)

-- News Media Alliance CEO David Chavern writes about that "tech giants are the world's best distribution platforms and could be an answer for journalism instead of a grave threat..." (NYT)

-- Jerome Corsi's lawyer Larry Klayman threatens to sue Gateway Pundit contributor Cassandra Fairbanks after she calls Corsi "deranged..." (Mediaite)

Facebook & Twitter remove thousands of accounts tied to Russia, Venezuela and Iran

Facebook and Twitter announced on Thursday that they had removed thousands of fake accounts linked to foreign influence campaigns from their platforms. Facebook said the accounts it removed engaged "coordinated inauthentic behavior on Facebook and Instagram" that was "directed from Iran." Twitter said the accounts it removed were suspected of being connected to Iran Venezuela, and Russia. Donie O' Sullivan has the full story here...

>> Key point from Donie: "For anyone hoping that foreign operations are no longer using social media to try to meddle in and influence debate and policy in the US and all over the world, Thursday should be a wakeup call..."

CBS, Viacom, and Discovery?

The CBS board met on Thursday in Los Angeles... the company still has an interim CEO and an uncertain M&A path forward...

Ahead of the meeting, CNBC's Alex Sherman reported that the board had determined CBS needs to grow larger, but that a merger with Viacom "is not enough" for Shari Redstone. "If the CBS-Viacom deal gets done, Redstone's National Amusements would like to move quickly with a second deal, the people said. Discovery Communications is interested in selling to CBS or a combined CBS-Viacom," Sherman wrote, citing two sources. Sherman added that Redstone is open to the idea, but "would also consider buying other companies, including Sony Pictures and MGM..."

"Discovery is not for sale"

The CNBC report received pushback from Discovery, with chief corporate operations officer David Leavy saying in a statement that it was "inaccurate." Leavy added, "Discovery is not for sale. We remain extremely confident in our growth strategy in the U.S. and globally as we continue to build the leading portfolio of superfan brands in every market around the world."

FOR THE RECORD, PART TWO

By Katie Pellico:

-- Taylor Lorenz charts the race to monetize the world-record Instagram egg... (Atlantic)

-- David Leonhardt names "six forms of media bias..." (NYT)

-- Wired is extending to the Middle East. The dual-language website will launch this spring, "following in the footsteps of Vogue Arabia..." (Vogue)

Howard Schultz's venti-sized media coverage

Tom Kludt emails: Howard Schultz thinks there's too much partisanship in the political discourse; others are starting to wonder if there's too much Howard Schultz. Does the billionaire coffee tycoon deserve as much media coverage as he's gotten? Since he announced that he's president-curious last Sunday, Schultz has gotten the type of earned media that most candidates can only dream of, making the rounds on the cable news circuit, tweeting (and deleting) along the way.

But it's all starting to be a bit much. Sure, there's inherent news value in a billionaire CEO of an iconic company wading into the election. But has the amount of coverage been commensurate with his electoral prospects? And does someone who hasn't committed to a White House bid (or seemingly put much thought into his platform) merit all this attention?

>> Related: NYT's David Leonhardt offered up a good litmus test for journalists approaching the Schultz beat...

RedState writers resign from website in protest

Kimberly Ross and Andrea Ruth announced on Thursday that they had resigned from RedState, writing in an article for The Bulwark that they believed "the allure of Trumpism has left the once great site a shell of its former self." Last year, several Trump critics were dismissed from the website by Salem Media Group, which said its decision was rooted in financial, not ideological, reasons.

But Ross and Ruth, citing reporting Hadas Gold and I did last year, didn't seem to buy that. They wrote in their Thursday piece that they "can no longer support Salem" and felt that "remaining at RedState gives the impression we do." Ross and Ruth added that they "no longer feel as though we can adequately counteract Salem's pro-Trump stance."

>> Key line from Ross and Ruth's piece: "A toxic, poisonous conservative media is like a parasite for the conservative movement— and, make no mistake, it will eventually kill it..."

Former RedState editor: We were barred from criticizing Trump in 2011

In light of the resignations from Ross and Ruth, former RedState editor Ben Howe revealed in a Twitter thread that in 2011 the website's former owner, Eagle Publishing, was negotiating a book deal with Trump and, as a result, staffers "were instructed that while the book deal was underway our front page disdain for [Trump] was not welcome." Howe tweeted Thursday, "Shoulda seen the writing on the wall all the way back in 2011 about conservative media."

FOR THE RECORD, PART THREE

By An Phung:

-- A US court has ruled that the regime of Bashar al-Assad is liable for the death of American journalist Marie Colvin, ordering the Syrian government to pay $300 million in punitive damages... (The Guardian)

-- Joe Pompeo reports that Jay Penske has bought the remaining 49% of Rolling Stone he didn't already own... (Vanity Fair)

Christie: Trump "looked embarrassed" after Access Hollywood tape was released

Chris Christie, continuing on his media tour promoting his book, told SiriusXM on Thursday that he believed Trump "looked embarrassed" after the release of the Access Hollywood tape.

"It was one of the few times in the 17 years I've known him that I actually saw the president genuinely embarrassed," Christie said, adding that Trump "acted embarrassed." Mediaite has the details...

AOC dunks on Gateway Pundit publisher Jim Hoft

Members of the right-wing media love to go after Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, and she loves to go right back at them. Thursday was no different. Jim Hoft, publisher of the far-right Gateway Pundit blog, criticized Ocasio-Cortez for her green initiative, bizarrely suggesting solar panels would be ineffective during the polar vortex. (As many people pointed out, there is still plenty of sunshine in the affected areas, it's just cold.) Ocasio-Cortez then mocked Hoft, writing on Twitter, "The Republican Party's best and brightest is back at it today, I see."

A symbiotic relationship?

The trading of barbs between Hoft and Ocasio-Cortez was another good example of how the progressive congresswoman and her right-wing media critics have a bit of a symbiotic relationship going on. Members of the right-wing media excite their audience by attacking her, and Ocasio-Cortez excites her base by dunking back on them. Both sides walk away winners with their bases.

FOR THE RECORD, PART FOUR

-- A new start-up called Locust allows users to stream broadcast channels for free. NYT's Edmund Lee takes a look at the app, and its mission... (NYT)

-- Katie Pellico emails a related item: Why "free TV streaming services like Tubi help make cord cutting make sense..." (FastCo)

-- McClatchy's readers have donated more than $5 million to help veterans and their families pay medical bills... (McClatchy)

"The Daily" tackles the disputed BuzzFeed report

The Thursday edition of NYT's "The Daily" focused on BuzzFeed's explosive Michael Cohen story that was disputed by Robert Mueller. For the episode, Michael Schmidt sat down with Bob Woodward who told Schmidt about the big error he and Carl Bernstein made during their Watergate reporting, and the lessons he took away from it. It's well worth the listen...

Speaking of "The Daily"...

"The Daily" announced Wednesday that it would provide transcripts of all its episodes. Michael Barbaro explained the reasoning behind the move in a Thursday tweet, writing, "1) For the hearing impaired who have asked for transcripts since we launched 2) News consumers who prefer reading to listening 3) Teachers who want to assign episodes."

Hulu hopes "non-disruptive" banner ads will do more with less

Katie Pellico emails: Come Q2, the slap of a spacebar could initiate an ad break... Hulu will start testing "Pause Ads" in place of traditional ad breaks on some of its on-demand content. The idea is that a few seconds after pausing, a translucent banner ad will appear on the right side of the screen. A Hulu exec tells TechCrunch this is "better for the brand, because it allows them to get their message across in a quick and simple way."

Hulu hopes "non-disruptive" ads like these will account for half its ad revenue within three years. "Coca-Cola, which once used the slogan 'the pause that refreshes' to great effect, and Charmin, the Procter & Gamble toilet tissue that offers succor during many breaks in TV viewing, will both take part in Hulu's effort," according to Variety's Brian Steinberg. More simply, in the words of Gizmodo's Melanie Ehrenkranz, "Hulu is experimenting with a Charmin bear chilling on your pause screen..."

Netflix nearing deal on "Knock Down the House"

Thursday passed with no news on whether Netflix had secured the rights to "Knock Down the House," the documentary directed by Rachel Lears that features Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and other progressives who ran against Democratic incumbents in 2018.

Deadline reported on Wednesday that Netflix was "near a deal." Variety said "rumor has it that the sale could be for as much as $6 million." I checked in with a Netflix spokesperson Thursday night to see if there was an update, but was told there was not. Perhaps there will be one on Friday..

Super Bowl Countdown

This week on the "Reliable" podcast

Daniella Emanuel emails: The Athletic's Richard Deitsch, AdWeek's Sara Jerde and Sports Business Journal's John Ourand join Brian Stelter to preview this year's Super Bowl broadcast. They discuss the NFL's ratings recovery, recent controversies involving the league, and what's different about this year's game. Plus: The halftime show, the ads, and expected viewership numbers. Listen on Apple, Stitcher, or TuneIn...

By Lisa Respers France:

-- Ariana Grande fixed her misspelled palm tattoo after online mockery...

-- Kevin Hart has responded to criticism of his Jussie Smollett support...

"Velvet Buzzsaw" mashes up L.A. art scene, horror into strange picture

Brian Lowry emails: Netflix's latest movie, "Velvet Buzzsaw," is an amusing satire of the L.A., art scene, mashed up, rather awkwardly, with a "Twilight Zone"-type plot that doesn't entirely pay off. Jake Gyllenhaal and Rene Russo headline the ensemble cast.

Read Lowry's full review here...

Late night gears up for the State of the Union

Lowry sends one more: NBC's Seth Meyers will join CBS' Stephen Colbert in going live after the State of the Union address, with Ana Navarro as one of his guests. Jimmy Fallon will also feature a post-SOTU monologue and discussion with "Today's" Savannah Guthrie on "The Tonight Show."

Watch "The Walking Dead" before it airs on AMC

Justin Freiman emails: A Smart way to promote the $5-a-month AMC Premiere service: Subscribers can watch "The Walking Dead" ninth season's midseason return episode starting the afternoon of February 3, a week before it airs on AMC. IGN has details here…

That concludes this edition of the newsletter. Shoot me an email with your thoughts. I'll be back tomorrow. See you then!