Forward

EXEC SUMMARY: Here's the latest on Vice and Refinery29, Ava DuVernay and Jordan Peele, Rachel Maddow and Sean Hannity, InfoWars and a Civil War pilot, and much more...

Walls are closing in

Ten different stories could be the lead item right now. But I'd like to highlight this one -- from the NYT -- "Shoot Them in the Legs, Trump Suggested: Inside His Border War." The story by Michael D. Shear and Julie Hirschfeld Davis says President Trump talked about shooting migrants in the legs in order to slow them down after they crossed the southern border. He was told that's not allowed... And he raged at his aides for making him "look like an idiot," a/k/a, weak on immigration.

There's more: "Privately, the president had often talked about fortifying a border wall with a water-filled trench, stocked with snakes or alligators, prompting aides to seek a cost estimate. He wanted the wall electrified, with spikes on top that could pierce human flesh."

This reporting comes from Davis and Shear's book "Border Wars: Inside Trump's Assault on Immigration," which hits bookshelves next week. And it is a reflection of the fact that there's still so much we do not know about Trump's behavior... his treatment of aides... his illegal and immoral ideas like shooting migrants... etc.

Nearly three years into the Trump presidency, though, there are so many "formers" -- like Kirstjen Nielsen and John Bolton -- who are free to tell the truth about Trumpworld. There are more and more leaks, especially in the wake of the Ukraine scandal and the formal impeachment inquiry. And there are newsworthy examples of government employees standing up to Trump's pressure. Wednesday's lead story is likely to be the State Department Inspector General's "urgent" Ukraine-related briefing on Capitol Hill...

>> Paul LeBlanc's very helpful recap on CNN.com: "Here's what happened in another wild day of the Trump-Ukraine scandal"

Circle complete: Trump repeats right-wing media's "coup" claim

Oliver Darcy emails: Trump completed the feedback loop on Tuesday night, repeating right-wing media's outlandish claim that he might be the victim of a "coup." As I wrote on Monday, the idea the impeachment inquiry is a "coup d'état" has blanketed the pro-Trump media universe. From Tucker Carlson to Mark Levin to Breitbart to Rush Limbaugh to The Gateway Pundit to "Fox & Friends," it has been everywhere in recent days. Now that Trump has repeated the claim, of course, look for these very same outlets to repeat his tweet. Round and round we go…

>> AND: Responsible news outlets should note that the claim is ridiculous. A coup d'état implies an ILLEGAL, maybe even violent, overthrow of the government. Impeachment is the LEGAL, Constitutional process laid out by the founders for removing a president...

🎃 Shocktober

Trump, key members of his political party and stars of his favored media outlets are spreading a shocking amount of disinformation. They aren't just "spinning" or fudging facts – they are making stuff up, smearing the Ukraine whistleblower, and refusing to fess up when they're proven wrong. All throughout the worlds of media and politics, I see people grasping for solutions, pressuring others to "do something" about this problem:

-- The DNC slamming Facebook for letting Trump "mislead" Americans "unimpeded"

-- The Biden campaign calling on TV networks to stop booking Rudy Giuliani

-- Kamala Harris saying Twitter should suspend Trump's account

-- Kara Swisher, in her newest NYT column, saying "Trump is too dangerous for Twitter"

There's a constant refrain from viewers not to interview Trump aides, because the guests spread B.S. and sow confusion. And there are ongoing conversations in newsrooms about how to cover Trump's frequently-false, borderline-dangerous tweets. He keeps talking about Adam Schiff and "treason," implying he wants his political opponent arrested, and it's not even the lead story on the nightly news.

ALL of this is related -- serial lying is polluting the discourse, and people are right to be worried about it, right to seek solutions -- and yet all the proposals are unacceptable "censorship" in the minds of many Trump supporters and some of his detractors.

What the DNC wants

Donie O'Sullivan writes: Former UK deputy PM Nick Clegg, now a Facebook VP in charge of comms, said in a speech last week, "It is not our role to intervene when politicians speak." But not so, says the Democratic National Committee.

DNC CEO Seema Nanda told me: "We know that Trump has an utter disregard for the truth, and this decision effectively allows him to continue to mislead the American people on their platform unimpeded -- and sets a dangerous precedent for others to follow suit." Nanda said FB should fact-check ads and posts run by politicians – including and especially Trump...

Too much power?

Donie O'Sullivan adds: I think a bigger conversation needs to be had about trade-offs here. False information online is bad, it can increase polarization, have a toxic impact on political discourse, and it can and has resulted in violence (think Myanmar). But is FB fact-checking and potentially blocking posts from politicians, even the president, the best solution? And if Twitter were to suspend POTUS, as Harris suggests, wouldn't that only embolden Silicon Valley's critics (on both sides of the aisle) in their belief that these companies are too powerful and have undue influence on public discourse?

At the same time, there is a problem. Does anyone have a solution? 🤷‍♂

Another nonsensical claim about CNN

Most people, I think it's fair to say, feel some shame when they lie. Fact-checks and rivals' rebukes have been known to bring loose-lipped politicians back to reality. But as many fact-checkers have noted, Pinocchios don't seem to have an effect on Trump.

Here's a new example via CNN's Daniel Dale. Bloomberg published the text of Trump's remarks last week to US diplomats and invited guests in NYC. In his remarks, Trump claimed the media buried the news of GOP candidate Dan Bishop's special election victory last month: "In fact, the whole night, CNN, who had built the most beautiful, $2 million maybe they spent — no wonder they're losing their ass. They have no ratings and they're building studios all over the place but they had a studio, the studio was going to stay up for weeks and toward the end of the night they were taking it down. Their so-called stars were leaving. They had stars. There's not many stars, I'll tell you, less than 10. But they were taking—the stars were leaving. And, uh, they didn't want to report it. But the candidate, Dan Bishop, won—by a lot."

Bishop only won by 2 points, but here's the bigger point: CNN never built a studio for NC-9 coverage. None of the other networks did either. The claim is nonsensical. And yet he went into great detail about something that never happened.

IMPEACHMENT INQUIRY

Two different universes of info, and only one is factual

Kate Bolduan on CNN Tuesday evening: "Tonight, a new poll showing only 40% of Republicans believe President Trump talked to the Ukrainian president about investigating Joe Biden." The problem is that "this is something the president himself has already admitted."

This is from Monmouth's new poll, which asked, "Do you think Donald Trump probably did or probably did not mention the possibility of an investigation into the Biden family during his conversation with the Ukrainian president?" Among Republicans, 29% said "probably did not" and 31% said they don't know. More poll results here...

FOR THE RECORD, PART ONE

-- Geraldo Rivera on Sean Hannity's show Tuesday night: "You know, if it wasn't your show, Sean, they would destroy him absolutely. You are the difference between Donald J. Trump and Richard Nixon..." (Media Matters)

-- "As impeachment moves forward, Trump's language turns darker," Katie Rogers observes... (NYT)

-- Michelle Cottle says GOP leaders "haven't come up with a coherent defense" of Trump's conduct vis a vis Ukraine. "Maybe because there isn't one?" (NYT)

-- Let me second what CNN's Abby Phillip said: "Imagine if the WH had to answer questions at a briefing every day about Ukraine given how quickly new developments are happening..." (Twitter)

"The Danger of Donald Trump's Ignorance"

"The Ukraine scandal shows something even more alarming than a president who lies," Nancy Gibbs writes in a new piece for TIME. And that thing is ignorance.

Gibbs: "When he describes his thuggish conversation" with Volodymyr Zelensky as "perfect" and "appears shocked that even some of his allies don't agree, he proves better than any prosecutor could his ignorance of his constitutional oath or even basic rules of decency. Ignorance is different than deceit and sometimes more dangerous." She says this is the "the most frightening characteristic of this presidency..."

New "Trump, Inc." episode about Ukraine

The newest episode of WNYC Studios' "Trump, Inc." podcast is very well-timed. Co-host Ilya Marritz happens to be in Ukraine right now, for a trip that was planned months ago, "and he landed in Kiev hours after news broke that Ukraine was the country in the mysterious whistleblower report," a rep for the podcast says.

Marritz planned the trip because of Trumpworld's connections to Ukraine, including Rudy Giuliani's work there. So for this new episode, he met with some of the anti-corruption fighters who are being targeted by Giuliani. The episode will be out at 4am ET Wednesday...

Clinton on the "real" witch hunt

Hillary Clinton, speaking with NowThis, reacting to the Washington Post report that the State Department has "intensified" a probe into her emails:

"It's a witch hunt, and it's a real one, unlike the kind of things that Trump talks about... This is crazy, but it's crazy like a fox, because, you know, if the Republicans and Trump and his supporters in the media can muddy the waters and raise all kinds of crazy conspiracy theories, then maybe people won't pay attention to the danger he poses to our country."

Oh no, not another story about a doctored map...

"Look at that map, tweeted out by the president," Sean Hannity said Tuesday night, showing off the bright red "try to impeach this" meme that is making the rounds this week.

Here's what Hannity forgot to mention: The map "inaccurately displays multiple blue counties won by Hillary Clinton as red counties won by Trump," Daniel Dale reports...

FOR THE RECORD, PART TWO

-- Here's what happened when a mouse fell from the White House ceiling onto the lap of NBC's Peter Alexander. A mouse hunt ensued... (WaPo)

-- Casey Newton got ahold of leaked audio "in which Mark Zuckerberg rallies Facebook against critics, competitors, and Sen. Elizabeth Warren..." (The Verge)

-- "Forensic Files," the highest-rated show on CNN's sister channel HLN, is heading back into production for the first time in almost a decade, Brian Steinberg reports. And Marianne Garvey has more here... (Variety, CNN)

Vice-Refinery29 deal is imminent

Vice Media and Refinery29 "have hammered out most of the details of a cash-and-stock deal that would add a large and female-skewing digital media company to Vice's portfolio," the WSJ's Ben Mullin and Shalini Ramachandran reported Tuesday.

Two execs involved in the deal confirmed this to me, and backed up the WSJ's report that two companies "are working to finalize the deal and have agreed that some of Refinery29's founders and senior managers would stay on." Expect an announcement soon.

Under $500 million?

The Journal had no word about the purchase price. Refinery29's Series D funding round in 2016 reportedly valued the company at $500 million. I'm told that the stock and cash deal will value Refinery29 at less than $500 million, but I couldn't peg down the exact dollar amount.

One of the execs involved in the deal said Vice's Nancy Dubuc, one of the media industry's relatively few female CEOs, will be making a statement about Vice's future with this acquisition. "Lay Refinery's purpose driven brand on top of Vice's infrastructure," the exec said, making the bull case for the combo of the two brands. The other source said Vice is positioning itself as the "largest of independent new media companies, taking advantage of opportunities in the current market."

WEDNESDAY PLANNER

Pelosi's weekly presser is at 10:45am ET...

The Aspen Cyber Summit in NYC... CNN is the media partner...

TechCrunch Disrupt gets underway in SF...

One year since Jamal Khashoggi's murder

He walked into the Saudi consulate in Istanbul on October 2, 2018, and never walked out. The Washington Post's Opinions section is honoring Khashoggi with a collection of op-eds and special coverage in an expanded Opinions section in print on Wednesday. Here's the online version, including a recent editorial by the ed board...

FIRST LOOK

Insider's reconstruction of events

Insider is coming out with a 10,000-word account of the Khashoggi murder, written as a non-fiction narrative by author Evan Ratliff, and illustrated by Chris Koehler. EIC Nicholas Carlson tells me: "It's a fast-paced thriller/narrative about an operation to kill a journalist, the subsequent investigation by the UN, and a 'cover-up' effort by the White House that has been effective enough to let MBS get away with this crime. Unpunished, he continues to commit atrocities. Meanwhile, some of America's biggest businesses turned a blind eye, and took funding from Saudi." The feature is online now...

FOR THE RECORD, PART THREE

-- As expected, Rachel Maddow's "Blowout" soared to the top of Amazon's best seller list on its first day on sale... (Amazon)

-- Maddow is on the cover of this weekend's NYT Mag... The profile by Amanda Hess is online now... (NYT)

-- Alicia Menendez is joining MSNBC as a weekend anchor... "The network said that 'lineup details' will be announced 'in the next few weeks...'" (THR)

-- Pollster Kristen Soltis Anderson has joined Fox as a contributor... Her first appearance was on "Outnumbered" Tuesday... (The Hill)

Nunes suing Lizza and Hearst

Rep. Devin Nunes is suing *another* media outlet – this time it's Hearst Magazines and reporter Ryan Lizza, who previously wrote for Esquire – at issue is Lizza's 2018 story titled "Devin Nunes' Family Farm Is Hiding a Politically Explosive Secret."

The Fresno Bee -- whose parent company, McClatchy, is also being sued by Nunes -- says "the complaint does not contest any facts in Lizza's story, and it is not clear what act Nunes considers to be unlawful." But according to Nunes the story was a "hit piece:" Lizza and Hearst "should be punished for their unlawful actions and a very strong message needs to be sent to prevent other so-called 'journalists' from acting in a similar way," the suit states. CNN is mentioned in the complaint, due to Lizza's CNN political analyst role, but the network is not being sued.

As for Lizza and Hearst, they are declining to comment on the suit... In media law circles, these suits are viewed as frustrating distractions, part of a troubling trend of nuisance suits against media companies...

Meghan, Duchess of Sussex, sues UK tabloid over private letter allegations

She is "alleging that a private letter was published in the Mail on Sunday illegally," CNN's team in London reports. "In an extraordinary statement announcing the move, her husband Prince Harry also accused the newspaper of editing the letter selectively to hide 'lies' the paper had told about the Duchess -- a claim that the newspaper specifically denies." Details here...

FOR THE RECORD, PART FOUR

-- "Federal prosecutors are recommending that the California man who threatened to kill employees of The Boston Globe be sentenced to 10 months in prison..." (AP)

-- With three months until the end of the year, the Newseum is spreading the word that it is closing on Dec. 31, encouraging folks to visit one last time… (Newseum)

-- David Enrich's must-read: "Me and My Whistle-Blower." He describes "the most intense source relationship of my career..." (NYT)

-- Via Kerry Flynn: Bustle Digital Group's chief revenue officer Jason Wagenheim talks about company's plan to launch tech news site Input next month as it grows its portfolio to eight sites. He says Bustle, Romper, Elite Daily and Zoe Report are all individually profitable and supporting the company's investment in a tech and culture group... (Digiday)

Ex-InfoWars employee says he was 'disgusted' by Sandy Hook coverage, but laughed at when he raised objections

Oliver Darcy emails: A former longtime employee of InfoWars, Robert Jacobson, said in a deposition released this week that he was laughed at when he raised objections to the fringe outlet's peddling of conspiracy theories related to the 2012 Sandy Hook shooting. Jacobson said he was "disturbed" and "disgusted" by the outlet's Sandy Hook claims, believed it to be reckless, and attempted to raise concerns with staffers. He said he invoked journalism ethics -- "I remember, I must have been in that room four to five times, at least, and only to be received with laughter and jokes." Full story here...

Infowars denies

Darcy adds: I pinged Robert Barnes, an attorney representing Infowars, for a response to Jacobson's claims. Barnes said Jacobson was a "disgruntled ex-employee" who was "willing to make up stories to attack his former employer." Barnes added, "He is not a reliable source and his statements are not accurate." Jacobson, for his part, told me he disputed that, arguing Barnes was not present during the events he described in the deposition.

BBC overturns racism ruling

The head of the BBC, Tony Hall, wrote to staff on Monday to announce that the complaint ruling against morning show anchor Naga Munchetty, for her comments about Trump and racism, would be overturned. CNN's Aimee Lewis has the latest here.

Hadas Gold writes from London: What astounds me is how long the BBC allowed this to be a controversy. The executive complaints unit decision against Munchetty was announced last Wednesday. Outrage was almost immediate — and only increased when the BBC head of standards went on the service's flagship morning radio show on Friday to defend the position. The exec committee, including Hall, then sent out an all staff email defending Munchetty — without saying anything about the complaint. It took until Monday — and a torrent of bad press — for the decision to be overturned. One has to wonder what would have happened without the outrage...

>> Hadas adds: My question now is whether in today's day and age and politics, the BBC will change its complaints policy and its strict guidelines for their staff. Hall said Monday that "racism is racism and the BBC is not impartial on the topic..."

FOR THE RECORD, PART FIVE

By Megan Thomas:

-- I really liked this piece by Carrie Battan: "The rise of the 'getting real' post on Instagram." She says "if every action has an equal and opposite reaction, then every perfectly staged Instagram photo must have a mess lurking just out of frame." (The New Yorker)

-- Ava DuVernay is teaming up with HBO Max to direct a pilot based on the comic series "DMZ" -- a "futuristic drama set in an American Civil War..." (Variety)

-- Related and very cool, Ryan Faughnder has a new look at DuVernay's production campus and the non-profit arm of her work... (LAT)

-- Missed this when it debuted yesterday: Jo-Bro fans can watch a stripped-down performance from the brothers in NPR's latest Tiny Desk segment... (NPR)

Meet Sister

It's happening: "Elisabeth Murdoch, Stacey Snider and Jane Featherstone are joining forces to launch Sister, a global production and development company that will focus on making high-quality television shows, movies, and other forms of entertainment," Variety's Brent Lang reported Tuesday. "The move unites Murdoch, the daughter of media mogul Rupert Murdoch and the founder of Shine Group, with two of the entertainment industry's leading executives." Lang notes that Murdoch and Snider were rumored to be teaming up, "but the addition of Featherstone is an unexpected twist" that "bolsters the team's firepower in the area of television..."

Dotdash buys liquor

Kerry Flynn reports: Dotdash has acquired Liquor.com, a site focused on cocktails, spirits and entertaining. The deal is Dotdash's fourth acquisition this year and includes the site's 10+ staffers. CEO Neil Vogel told Max Willens he sees an opportunity with growing a commerce business for that site. He also said Dotdash is "actively looking" at more acquisitions in service journalism. "We like evergreen content. It's going to be health and wellness, finance, home, food, travel," Vogel said...

Peele's new deal with Universal

Frank Pallotta writes: Jordan Peele and Universal will be horrifying audiences together for the next five years. Peele and his production company, Monkeypaw Productions, signed a five-year exclusive partnership with the studio on Tuesday. Universal will develop Peele's next two films which he will direct, write, and produce.

It's good to be in the Jordan Peele business. Peele's first two films, "Get Out" and "Us," have made more than $500 million worldwide at the box office for the studio. The reported budgets of those two films? Roughly $25 million *combined.*

FOR THE RECORD, PART SIX

By Frank Pallotta:

-- Warner Bros. debuted the trailer for the -- beautifully titled -- "Birds of Prey (and the Fantabulous Emancipation of One Harley Quinn)," which has Margot Robbie reprising her role as Quinn. (EW)

-- Netflix also showed off a trailer for its upcoming -- and quite explosive -- Ryan Reynolds and Michael Bay action film, "6 Underground." It hits the streamer in December. (Deadline)

-- THR's film critics debated whether "Joker" is problematic... (THR)

"Joker" countdown

-- Box office analysts expect "Joker" to "set a new opening weekend record for October..." (TheWrap)

-- "Joker" star Joaquin Phoenix is on the cover of VF's November issue... (VF)

-- Via Brian Lowry: Director Todd Phillips is catching a fair amount of flak for this quote in the VF cover story, explaining that he moved away from comedy after "The Hangover" trilogy because "woke culture" ruined the genre... (BuzzFeed)

-- Also from Lowry: No surprise, but lots of extra security measures at the screening I attended on Tuesday. If this is indicative of opening-weekend plans, anyone going to see it is going to want to leave some extra time.

FOR THE RECORD, PART SEVEN

-- Lisa Respers France writes: "The Bachelorette" star Hannah Brown and her "Dancing with the Stars" partner have addressed those romance rumors...

-- One more from Lisa: Justin Bieber and Hailey Baldwin got married again...

-- Marianne Garvey writes: Tom Hanks credits two friends for changing the course of his life...

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