Forward

"Across the United States people are paying tribute to fallen military service members over the Memorial Day weekend." Check out CNN.com's photos here. This is an abbreviated edition of the newsletter... More to come on Monday...

Trump and the attention economy

No, it's not just your imagination: President Trump is tweeting a lot more often.

From his obsession with TV ratings to his around-the-clock usage of Twitter, Trump is clearly savvy about the attention economy. But there are some signs that he is garnering less attention than he did, say, one year ago. Google data showing "interest over time" for the search term "Trump" shows him at or near a yearly low for the past month. And Andrew Tyndall's research into the nightly newscasts shows that Trump sound bites have dropped by a quarter in the past two months.

All of this could be fleeting, of course. And this next data point may be a coincidence. But the president is tweeting a lot more often. We counted 664 tweets and retweets in the past 30 days, up from 226 in the same time period last year. The question arises: Is Trump having to try harder and harder to get the public's attention?

On Sunday's "Reliable Sources," David Frum, Olivia Nuzzi and Neera Tanden disagreed about whether his actions are "rational..."

Picking up on the patterns

I led Sunday's show by describing Trump's go-to rhetorical device: "I know you are, but what am I?"

It comes straight from Pee-wee Herman and schoolyard silliness. Nancy Pelosi is worried about my wellness? Pelosi is unwell! Hillary Clinton says I'm crooked? She's crooked! Collusion? The Democrats colluded! And on and on it goes.

--> My two cents: Journalists need to keep track of these patterns and point them out instead of just reporting each individual jab.

"Covering the food fight" versus "why is he throwing the food?"

Center for American Progress president Neera Tanden, clearly no friend of Trump's, said this pattern is "projection," with Trump "attacking other people for what he is doing."

"I agree that you have to detect the pattern," she told me, "but I also think the media has a role in finding out why he acts this way. Why did he have this meltdown? Why is he doing these things? Instead of just covering the fight." She added: "What he relies on is the media doing exactly what it did in 2016, which is just covering the food fight, instead of asking, 'Why is he throwing the food?'"

Joint presser in Japan

A driver for the US morning shows: Trump and Prime Minister Shinzo Abe are scheduled to hold a presser at 2 p.m. local time in Tokyo, 1 a.m. Eastern time...

FOR THE RECORD, PART ONE

-- The lead story in Sunday's NYT: "A leaked NSA cyberweapon, EternalBlue, has caused billions of dollars in damage worldwide. A recent attack took place in Baltimore, the agency's own backyard..." (NYT)

-- The Baltimore Sun's story about the fallout: Baltimore's political leaders and local lawmakers "are seeking briefings from the NSA" in the wake of the NYT report... (Sun)

-- On Sarah Sanders' first time ever on "MTP," she defended Trump's tweet that sided with Kim Jong Un while criticizing Joe Biden. Want to watch norms erode? Here you go... (NBC)

"Dumbfakes" happen every day

On Sunday's show, I said that the distorted FB video of House Speaker Nancy Pelosi got a lot of news media attention because it was a crystal clear example of the misinformation mire we're all in. But there are new examples of these "dumbfakes" each and every day. They pop up on the left as well as the right. The "fake Melania" conspiracy theory is an illustration of this...

David Frum's key point

"Misinformation is a demand problem as well as supply," David Frum said on "Reliable." When it comes to something like the Pelosi video, "I don't think the people who repeat them are FOOLED. I think they enjoy the lie themselves," he said. "They are co-producers. The demand for false information may be an even bigger problem than the supply."

"Additional reporting"

Donie O'Sullivan emails: Here's the warning Facebook is putting on the still live Pelosi video when people try to share it. The message reads "Before you share this content, you might want to know that there is additional reporting on this from...." with links to some articles about the video. But a lot of people are saying that language is too vague. "'Additional reporting' is utterly meaningless to most people and is the weakest possible language you could use," Jon Keegan tweeted.

John Paczkowski suggested, "Why not 'This video has been altered / manipulated.' Additional reporting is not at all a compelling call to action. Suspect click through is abysmal."

Facebook's Nathaniel Gleicher wrote in response to one of the critics, "It's a bit counter-intuitive, but from what I've seen, more general language is most effective if the goal is to encourage people to gather more information and to mitigate virality. I'd be interested if you've seen research suggesting otherwise."

Two takes from the NYT

Kara Swisher's latest column follows up on Anderson Cooper's Friday interview with FB exec Monika Bickert. "By conflating censorship with the responsible maintenance of its platforms, and by providing 'rules' that are really just capricious decisions by a small coterie of the rich and powerful, Facebook and others have created a free-for-all with no consistent philosophy," Swisher says.

And Charlie Warzel's latest column lines up with my intro to Sunday's show, about hyperpartisan content: "The swift spread of agitation propaganda and the creep of hyperpartisanship across social media isn't a bug, it is a feature," he says. Read on...

US v. Assange

"Very dangerous for journalism"

The indictment of Julian Assange under the Espionage Act is "very dangerous for journalism," whether or not Assange is considered a journalist, First Amendment lawyer Ted Boutrous said. He told me the case "poses great risks" for the news industry... Here's why...

The latest from SF

Why did San Francisco police raid the home of freelance journalist Bryan Carmody? Was California's shield law violated? Boutrous and SF Chronicle editor Audrey Cooper spoke with me... Here's the segment...

Scott Pelley's biggest worry about media and democracy

"This is the thing that worries me the most about our beloved country: We have gone from the information age to the disinformation age," CBS News veteran Scott Pelley said on Sunday's show. Pelley is out with a new book titled "Truth Worth Telling."

Pelley addresses his "Evening News" exit

When I asked about the past year and a half of scandals and shakeups at CBS, Pelley responded by saying that "we have been through a dark period in the last several years of incompetent management and sort of a hostile work environment within the news division."

Pelley then said "I lost my job at the 'Evening News' because I wouldn't stop complaining to management about the hostile work environment. But, as you say, now everything has changed." He mentioned interim CEO Joe Ianniello, news division president Susan Zirinsky, and new "60" exec producer Bill Owens by name. "It is all blue sky from here," he said. "I'm very excited. I know these people, and I know that we're on the right track."

I was taken aback by his assertion about the "Evening News." When I asked him to elaborate, he said "I went to the president of the news division" -- David Rhodes at the time -- "and explained to him that this hostile work environment couldn't go on for women and men. He told me if I kept agitating about that internally, then I'd lose my job." He also said he went to Les Moonves with the concerns.

The Daily Beast's Lloyd Grove called Rhodes right after the interview... And "Rhodes vehemently disputed" Pelley's claims. "That simply never happened," Rhodes told Grove. "And if he had those conversations about this with anybody, it wasn't with me."

When I asked for comment, a CBS News spokeswoman responded, "Scott was expressing his own opinion. We disagree. CBS News has been working hard to advocate for an inclusive, safe and dignified workplace for everyone at CBS News and Scott has been a supporter of these efforts."

FOR THE RECORD, PART TWO

-- A must-read by Jamie Ehrlich: A student journalist at the University of Chicago was "subpoenaed by a wealthy family over documents allegedly found in a trash can..." (CNN)

-- Sara Fischer's big picture view: "Welcome to our sad, new, distorted reality — the explosion of fake: fake videos, fake people on Facebook, and daily cries of 'fake news.'" (Axios)

From print to iPads in Arkansas

Walter Hussman, the publisher of the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette, is gambling "on free iPads as the future," The AP's Hannah Grabenstein reports:

"In March 2018, the paper began the experiment in Blytheville, a town of about 14,000 in the northeast corner of the state 155 miles (249 kilometers) from Little Rock, where the paper publishes. Each of the paper's 200 subscribers was offered the iPad at the current print delivery rate, plus a personal training session to explain how to use the tablet, and print delivery stopped about two months later. More than 70% of the Blytheville subscribers converted to the digital version, a figure that, if replicated statewide, is enough for the paper to turn a profit."

So now Hussman is trying to move his entire subscriber base to the tablet. "By the end of the year, only the Sunday edition of the paper will be printed," Grabenstein writes. Read all about it here...

Politico denounced for Sanders money tree illustration

Over the weekend Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez "joined a growing crowd of progressives on Twitter" who denounced illustrations published by Politico as anti-Semitic, The Hill's John Bowden wrote. "The illustrations in question were published Friday as part of a Politico investigation into Sanders's wealth and how he came to be worth just over $1 million. One illustration depicts Sanders, who is Jewish, next to a tree made of money, while another shows a grinning Sanders appearing to hold his house in the palm of his hand while two other properties he owns sit on his shoulders."

The Sanders camp has bluntly called out Politico. The outlet has not commented...

Another case study in online radicalization

BuzzFeed's Claudia Koerner writes: "An Indiana man who plead guilty to defacing a synagogue with Nazi symbolism detailed to federal agents his road to radicalization, including meeting with members of the far-right group Identity Evropa and being inspired by the writings of a former Breitbart editor and the Nazi propaganda site Stormfront." Read on...

"Aladdin" exceeds box office expectations

"This time last year, Disney was picking up the pieces after a notoriously disappointing opening for 'Solo: A Star Wars Story.' The studio had better luck this year — with a genie's help," the NYT's Gabe Cohn writes. "Disney's live-action 'Aladdin,' with Will Smith as the blue genie, brought in around $86.1 million domestically from Friday through Sunday, according to the studio. Disney says it expects the North American total for the long Memorial Day weekend, Friday through Monday, to reach $105 million, exceeding analysts' expectations."

"John Wick: Chapter 3" came in second for the weekend. And "Avengers: Endgame" came in third. Read on...

A "live-action universe?"

First "Dumbo," now "Aladdin, and "The Lion King" coming up next. THR's Richard Newby asks: "Is it possible that Disney's remake magic, as financially successful as it is, holds more creative potential than just nostalgia?" He wonders if Disney should consider a "live-action universe..." Note, there are some "Aladdin" spoilers in his piece...

Our rec: "Booksmart"

Jamie and I went out on Saturday and saw Olivia Wilde's directorial debut, "Booksmart." My better half's review: "I haven't laughed that hard for that long in a while. YES to movies led by hilarious real female friendships 👏🏼👏🏼 Everyone go see it!"

>> It has a 98% score from critics on Rotten Tomatoes...

>> The film "delivered an estimated $6.5 million over the three-day, which is in line with the studio's expectations," per Box Office Mojo...

"Avengers" will break another record on Monday

Brian Lowry emails: "Avengers: Endgame" will become second movie ever to cross $800 million domestic threshold (well behind 'Star Wars: The Force Awakens') on Monday. Still a little over $100 million short of 'Avatar's' global mark...

Thank you for reading! Send me your feedback anytime. See you tomorrow...