Forward

The "enemy" question

From time to time I like to check in on the polling about public perceptions of the press. President Trump's daily insults are definitely having an effect, but most people reject his anti-media rhetoric -- and that includes many of his voters.

Check out this new data from Quinnipiac, asking if people side with "enemy of the people" or the view that "the news media is an important part of democracy." Only 23% say "enemy" best reflects their POV. 66% reject that and say the press is important. Now, I don't mean to discount the fact that tens of millions of people support the enemy rhetoric. But Quinnipiac pointed out that there's a divide among Republicans on the question: "Republicans say 49 - 36% that the news media is the enemy of the people. Every other listed party, gender, education, age and racial group says the media is an important part of democracy."

Another Q poll finding: "By 52 - 35%, voters trust the media more than Trump to tell the truth about important issues." But "Republicans trust Trump more than the media 82 - 9%." As Jay Rosen has put it, "Trump is their primary source of information about Trump."

Happy World Press Freedom Day...

Wolf Blitzer ended Friday's "Situation Room" by marking the day and quoting broadcaster Dale Hansen's recent statement, at RTDNF's awards ceremony, that "We aren't the enemy of the people. We ARE the people."

"Tonight," Blitzer said, "I hope you'll take a moment to remember those brave journalists who have died and those who are still detained, as well as reporters working at your local newspaper, your TV station just down the street. They are not your enemy. They are working for you because they are you." Blitzer added: "We dedicate tonight to them."

Trump's definition of a "free press"

POTUS was asked to comment about World Press Freedom Day... And he responded by slamming the outlets that cover him "inaccurately." Check out the rhetorical hoops he jumped through:

"I want to see freedom of the press. And I get treated fairly by some press, but I get treated very unfairly by other press. And, frankly, I think that's very dishonest. And I don't consider that -- when you have stories that are purposely written badly -- in many cases, very much on purpose -- I mean, you look at it -- that's not free press, that's the opposite of free press."

Huh. So positive stories are part of a "free" press, and "badly" written stories are "not free press." Got it?

32% don't trust the "media" at all

Take Trump out of it for a minute. The "media" as a whole continues to receive low marks. Marist recently asked, "Do you have a great deal of confidence, quite a lot, not very much confidence, or no confidence at all in the media?" Half of Democrats said they had a lot of confidence. Only 8% of Republicans said the same thing. Overall, only 26% of adults gave the media a thumbs up in the poll. Here's the data in PDF form.

When asked "How much trust do you have in the media to provide accurate and fair coverage of political campaigns?" 8% of adults said a great deal of trust... 29% said "some trust..." 30% said "only a little trust..." and 32% said no trust at all.

All of this hinges on your definition of "media," of course. Almost everyone trusts SOME form of "media," but some trust ABC while others trust AlternativeNews.com. (Yep, that's a real website.) For Fox, of course, this disconnect is a major part of its business model...

1990 versus 2019

Marist provided an interesting comp to a similar question asked in 1990. The big change in the past 29 years has been the shift from "some trust" to "none at all." Back then, only 10% said they had no trust at all in the media's campaign coverage. A whopping 49% said they had some trust in the coverage, and 13% had a great deal of trust. Now those answers have shifted, and people are much more distrustful. Some of this is due to self-inflicted wounds and the advent of the internet... But I think Rush Limbaugh, Sean Hannity and their allies also get a lot of the credit/blame...

This Sunday on "Reliable Sources..."

I'll be joined by Ben Shapiro, Irin Carmon, Kmele Foster, Oliver Darcy, Sara Murray, Randall Lane, and hopefully you! See you Sunday at 11 a.m. ET on CNN...

WEEKEND PLANNER

-- Berkshire Hathaway's annual shareholders meeting will get lots of attention. Yahoo says it has the exclusive live stream. Follow our live coverage from CNN Business here...

-- "Avengers: Endgame" will dominate the box office for a second weekend... Frank Pallotta has details here...

-- MSNBC is adding another weekend show: "Saturday Night Politics with Donny Deutsch" will air Saturdays at 8 ET...

-- Adam Sandler is making his "SNL" hosting debut on Saturday, "almost 30 years after he first joined" the show...

-- Cory Booker and Amy Klobuchar will be on "SOTU" with Jake Tapper...

-- Monday: The Met Gala!

Monday announcement from CBS?

With the cover of NYPost claiming "Gayle of Thrones" is happening at CBS, Norah O'Donnell made an oblique reference to the expected changes on Friday's morning show. "We are reading lots of things with great interest," she said, joined at the table by Vladimir Duthiers and Anthony Mason. "I just want you to know we will address them on Monday when Gayle is back here and John as well."

"Excellent," Mason said. He's expected to join King and Tony Dokoupil on a revamped morning show while O'Donnell moves to the evenings .John Dickerson, who was on assignment on Friday, is likely moving to a new role. CBS is still declining to comment... Here's my story from last night...

Sinclair buying 21 regional sports networks from Disney

Oliver Darcy emails: It's official! After weeks of news reports about a deal, it was announced on Friday that Sinclair will purchase 21 regional sports networks from Disney for $9.6 billion. The deal values the networks at $10.6 billion, after adjusting for minority equity interests. Disney was required to sell the RSNs to proceed with its 21st Century Fox deal...

The acquisition of the RSNs is a major boost for Sinclair, which is mainly known for its local TV assets. It's a jolt in the arm after last year's Tribune disaster...

What's this means for Sinclair

Darcy adds: If approved by DOJ, the deal will make Sinclair the owner of the largest collection of regional sports networks, giving the company the exclusive rights to 42 professional teams from MLB, NBA, and NHL. Sinclair will also acquire Fox College Sports.

But Sinclair's deal with Disney does NOT include the acquisition of YES and those valuable Yankees rights. So what will become of the network that Disney is also required to sell? Citing sources, NYT reported YES is being acquired by the Yankees and Amazon for approximately $3.5 billion...

Cuts coming to the Times-Picayune

Last night I mentioned the New Orleans Advocate's purchase of The Times-Picayune. But there's a lot more to report. As Vice's David Uberti wrote here, the plan calls for a "unified daily newspaper and website — publishing under both organizations' flags — held in local hands." Job losses are imminent. Times-Picayune employees are all being laid off "as part of the deal, according to three staffers," Uberti wrote. "Staffers will have the chance to apply for new jobs in the unified newsroom. But the details of that process, including how many positions might be available, remain thin." There were tears and beers in the hours after this news hit... Read on...

FOR THE RECORD, PART ONE

-- What has WIRED learned after launching a pay wall? Nicholas Thompson shared findings at the one-year mark here... Among other things, he lists "the 11 pieces that drove the most subscriptions this past year," and he says people are particularly likely to pay "if you send them newsletters." Oh hey! (WIRED)

-- "Vice Media said it has raised $250 million in debt from a group of investors including George Soros, a move intended to help the struggling new media company fund its turnaround strategy..." (WSJ)

Trump and Putin back in the headlines

The banner on "AC360" Friday night said "HEAR NO EVIL. AGAIN." The subject: the president's phone call with his Russian counterpart. "As it was during the campaign, as it was in Helsinki, as it's been all along, President Trump simply can not bring himself to confront Vladimir Putin," Anderson Cooper said.

Driving the day: NBC's Kristen Welker repeatedly asked Trump if he warned Putin not to meddle in future elections, and Trump said it didn't come up on the call...

Reacting to FB's recent bans...

Trump's new pinned tweet: "I am continuing to monitor the censorship of AMERICAN CITIZENS on social media platforms. This is the United States of America — and we have what's known as FREEDOM OF SPEECH! We are monitoring and watching, closely!!"

Users don't have government-protected freedom of speech on privately owned platforms... But Trump doesn't operate in the the grays of these incredibly complicated issues. He deals in black and white.

On Friday night he claimed that "Diamond and Silk" have been "treated so horribly by Facebook" and "we're looking into" it. He also said, "So surprised to see Conservative thinkers like James Woods banned from Twitter, and Paul Watson banned from Facebook!" Trump's tweets were also a rallying cry: He said "It's getting worse and worse for Conservatives on social media!"

An "astoundingly" strong economy

Jake Tapper's lead on "The Lead" Friday afternoon: "The last time unemployment in the US was this low, the Beatles were still together and I was 9 months old." So, he asked, "why isn't President Trump's approval rating as high as Nixon's were back then?"

Later, he said, "Does the President get enough credit for the economy? It really is doing astoundingly well." Panelist Seung Min Kim responded: "The economy is by far his best case for re-election. If he's not getting the sufficient credit for the economy it's, a lot of it, because he steps on his own message." (Look up above for evidence of this.)

Moore coverage, more problems?

Brian Lowry emails: Stephen Moore is complaining about how he was treated in the press, but his failed Fed nomination offers a lesson that the Trump admin seems slow to learn: People who make a living as paid pontificators have a habit of saying things that can come back to haunt them when they enter the political sphere. That doesn't mean those writings/utterances are always disqualifying, but it's remarkable that they wouldn't be vetted thoroughly enough to anticipate some of the problems...

Did the DOJ tip off WaPo to screw NYT?

Oliver Darcy emails: Did the Department of Justice hand the scoop about Robert Mueller's Bill Barr letter to WaPo in an effort to screw over the NYT? That seems to be what some Times reporters think. According to a juicy Vanity Fair story from Joe Pompeo, NYT reporters heard from their sources that the DOJ wanted to "teach [Michael] Schmidt a lesson," so WaPo landed the story first.

But Pompeo also reports that WaPo thinks it got the story fairly. The bottom line from Pompeo? "The tiff has only inflamed tensions between the D.O.J. and at least some of the Times reporters who cover it..."

FOR THE RECORD, PART THREE

-- Stephen Collinson and Marshall Cohen's analysis: "Mueller's silence let Trump supporters fill the void..." (CNN)

-- Sorry I missed this yesterday! Steve Riley is the new editor of the Houston Chronicle, succeeding Nancy Barnes, who headed to NPR... (Chronicle)

"Jeopardy!" update

Via USA Today: "James Holzhauer snagged his 22nd 'Jeopardy!' win on Friday's edition of the quiz show. But fans will have to wait two more weeks to see if his streak continues." That's because the annual Teachers Tournament starts airing on Monday. Holzhauer will return May 20 "to compete for his 23rd victory, and more cash." Remember, it's all on tape at this point...

-- Related: Here's a look at the rising ratings for the game show, via CNN's Harmeet Kaur...

Fewer ads during the next Super Bowl

"Fox intends to cut one commercial break from each quarter of play in its broadcast of Super Bowl LIV, a bid to speed up the action," Variety's Brian Steinberg reports. That means four blocks of ads each quarter, rather than five. "The maneuver comes straight from the playbook of the NFL, which has been working with its TV partners to counter criticism about the volume of breaks in the game..."

Pricing info via Steinberg's story: "Fox is seeking $5.5 million for a package that includes a 30-second ad in its linear broadcast as well as time in the live-stream of the game and a Spanish-language broadcast, according to people familiar with negotiations. That would mark a jump of 3.8% to 7.8% from what CBS sought for this year's broadcast..."

Why Lester Holt is on the cover of Alaska Air's mag

Darcy emails: If you're flying on Alaska Airlines anytime soon, you might see Lester Holt on the cover of the airline's mag. Why? Holt was interviewed by his brother, former Alaska Airlines pilot Mike Swanigan, who he credits with inspiring him to go into broadcast journalism. (Not flying Alaska in the near future? Fret not! You can read the interview here or check it out on YouTube.)

FOR THE RECORD, PART FOUR

-- "Jason Blum and Mark Walhberg are teaming up to adapt 'The Stolen Kids of Sarah Lawrence,' a buzzed-about New York magazine cover story by Ezra Marcus and James D. Walsh..." (THR)

-- "Sonic the Hedgehog" director Jake Fowler responded to critiques of the trailer -- mainly that the titular hedgehog sported human teeth -- by promising that animation changes are "going to happen..." (Variety)

-- Remember that "landmark" ruling back in February, deeming 21st Century Fox had to pay $128 million in punitive damages to the stars and top producers of "Bones"? A California judge overruled it Thursday, "delivering a major victory" for the network... (AP)

Two new docs in theaters this weekend

Brian Lowry emails: Two warm but flawed documentaries make their debut this weekend, in another low-key week of counter-programing to "Avengers: Endgame:"

-- "Ask Dr. Ruth," a sweet-spirited look at Dr. Ruth Westheimer, hitting theaters en route to Hulu.

-- "Hesburgh," about Theodore Hesburgh, the former Notre Dame president known as "America's priest," a friend and confidant to presidents and world leaders.

Read all about 'em here...

Lori Loughlin shopping for crisis comms help

Who wants to help out Lori Loughlin and Mossimo Giannulli? The couple is "looking for a fixer."

Chloe Melas keeps getting scoops on this beat -- this is her latest: "Two high-level crisis management executives told CNN they've been approached by the couple to improve their public image in the wake of the college admissions scandal..."

Zac Efron adds to Netflix's Ted Bundy queue

Brian Lowry emails: Netflix was asked about its "killer problem" earlier this year, citing the service's reliance on true crime and violent programming. That perception won't be helped by "Extremely Wicked, Shockingly Evil and Vile," a movie starring Zac Efron as serial killer Ted Bundy. The film was directed by Joe Berlinger, who produced "Conversations With a Killer: The Ted Bundy Tapes," a four-part documentary that premiered on Netflix earlier this year. It renews the question about the extent to which such fare glamorizes "celebrity monsters..."

Two more 'Flix reviews

Brian Lowry adds: Elsewhere, Netflix continues to roll out new series at a furious clip, the latest being "Dead to Me," a twisty mystery built around a hit-and-run killing; and "Tuca & Bertie," a nondescript animated comedy from the producers of "BoJack Horseman," with Tiffany Haddish and Ali Wong voicing the leads...

FOR THE RECORD, PART FIVE

-- ABC picked back up "black-ish" for a sixth season, additionally announcing a second spinoff, this time for Tracee Ellis Ross' character Bow, called "mixed-ish..." (Deadline)

-- Looking ahead to Sunday night: Emilia Clarke told ABC that episode five of "Game of Thrones" is bigger than "The Long Night." Clarke: "Episode five is, I mean, four and five and six, they're all insane, but like... Find the biggest TV you can..."

Thank you for reading. Email me anytime. See you Sunday...