EXEC SUMMARY: Hello from Philly! My Hanukkah present for Jamie: Cowboys-Eagles tickets. And the Eagles won! Scroll down for the latest from the east and west coasts and points in between... BTW, Monday night will be our final newsletter of the year...
"Watchman for truth"
WaPo editor Marty Baron dropped some knowledge on Sunday's "Reliable Sources" broadcast. And I think everyone should hear it. He cited a quote from FDR-era Supreme Court Justice Robert H. Jackson, who wrote this in a 1945 ruling:
"The very purpose of the First Amendment is to foreclose public authority from assuming a guardianship of the public mind through regulating the press, speech and religion. In this field, every person must be his own watchman for truth, because the forefathers did not trust any government to separate the true from the false for us."
Justia has the full context of the case.
"Watchman for truth" is a concept that has kept coming up through the years, sometimes attributed to others, though it originated with Jackson. Applying the quote to the present day, President Trump uses his free speech to promote one religion ("everybody is saying Merry Christmas again!") and disparage the press. His administration certainly cannot be trusted to separate true from false.
So, as Baron told me, "every person needs to use their own judgment, their independent judgment, and evaluate the facts in front of them. But actually look at the facts."
News outlets can play a part in helping people find the facts, or, conversely, in spreading a fog that makes it hard to tell what's true and what's false...
More from Marty Baron:
Baron and I also talked about the Post's investigative muscles… and the growth of his newsroom… At the start of the Jeff Bezos era, "we had fewer than 600 people in our newsroom," he said, "and we're now at about 850. And we continue to grow. And I would expect that we'll continue to grow next year as well." The full interview is available on the "Reliable" podcast…
One on one with David Remnick | | With impeachment moving from the House to, at some point, the Senate, David Remnick says "the stakes here are immense."
"It's not about the political future of one man, Donald Trump. It's about the future of democracy and democratic process," the editor of The New Yorker said on Sunday's "Reliable."
Remnick also said, "I think the press has done, in total, a terrific job of putting together the sum of particulars against Trump, whether it has to do with character, business behavior, political behavior, and on the story of Ukraine. We know what's what."
But, I interjected, Trump and many of his supporters say the press perpetuates "hoaxes." That's one of the most popular pro-Trump talking points right now. This led Remnick to call out Facebook and the "universe of manipulated social media" -- he said the companies are "not owning up to their responsibilities and getting rid of the fakery that they are putting out."
All of the "fakery" stands in the way of what Justice Jackson described as the individual responsibility to ferret out what's true. The poisoned information ecosystem makes the job of the "watchman for truth" much more difficult...
FOR THE RECORD, PART ONE
-- The weekend's No. 1 must-read: Jonathan Swan and Maggie Haberman on "How Donald Trump Took Over the Republican Party." So much detail here... (NYT)
-- "In his first TV interview since formally switching parties, Rep. Jeff Van Drew (R-NJ) kissed the Fox News ring on Sunday, gushing over Trump-supporting Fox News host Maria Bartiromo. 'I am so proud to be associated with you,' he declared..." (Beast)
-- Re: the Ukraine scandal and Trump's conduct, David A. Graham argues, "We Still Don't Know What Happened" (The Atlantic)
Equating the unequal
Margaret Sullivan's critique of impeachment coverage: "In an unceasing effort to be seen as neutral, journalists time after time fell into the trap of presenting facts and lies as roughly equivalent and then blaming political tribalism for not seeming to know the difference."
Spot-on. Read Sullivan's complete WaPo column here...
Media memory loss?
The GOP tax cut bill was signed into law two years ago Sunday, and WaPo opinion columnist Catherine Rampell believes there have been "insufficient followups" since then.
Speaking on "Reliable," she called it "incredibly disappointing" that Trump admin officials and GOP boosters are "getting away with breaking tons and tons of promises" regarding the bill. I asked if this is an example of news overload causing media memory loss... S.E. Cupp and Garry Kasparov also weighed in...
>> Related: Michael Linden writing for CNN Business Perspectives: "From a purely economic standpoint, the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act of 2017 has been an enormous flop."
How to catch up on Sunday's show
Read the transcript... Watch the video clips on CNN.com... Catch the entire episode via CNNgo or VOD... Or hear the podcast edition via Apple Podcasts, Stitcher, Spotify, TuneIn, or your favorite podcast app...
FOR THE RECORD, PART TWO
-- In the United States today, there's "red state reality and blue state reality," Kasparov said during our discussion on TV. Josh Feldman has more of Kasparov's comments... (Mediaite)
-- David Leonhardt's latest is about "centrist bias:" He says "the political midpoint is too often the media's ideal..." (NYT)
-- "Five professors say the 1619 Project should be amended. 'We disagree,' says the New York Times..." (WaPo)
"Trump should be removed" editorial has helped CT gain subscribers
Via CNBC's Spencer Kimball: Christianity Today EIC Mark Galli "acknowledged to MSNBC on Sunday that the magazine has lost subscribers" as a result of his editorial, "but he said there has also been an outpouring of support." He said "we have lost subscribers but we've had 3 times as many people start to subscribe..."
Why I respect what Galli did
As I said on CNN over the weekend, Christianity Today deserves credit for trying to be morally consistent at a time when so many others are not. Galli wrote that CT's "concern for the character of our national leader is not new" and quoted from its condemnation of Bill Clinton from 21 years ago. "The President's failure to tell the truth — even when cornered — rips at the fabric of the nation," CT said then. So how could the mag stay silent now?
Now there's a new statement from the mag...
"We hold fast to our view that the wholehearted evangelical embrace of Trump has been enormously costly—but we are committed to irenic conversation with men and women of good faith who believe otherwise," CT president Timothy Dalrymple wrote Sunday night.
While he was preparing to publish his statement, nearly 200 evangelical faith leaders sent him a letter condemning both Galli and the editorial, per Christian Post.
"Deeply aware of our own sinfulness and limitations, we are going to invite supporters and critics alike to produce essays agreeing or disagreeing with our stated views," Dalrymple wrote. "It is time for evangelicals to have a serious discussion about how our identity as Christians shapes our activity as citizens." He said the essays will be published in mid-January...
Trump and Limbaugh | | "President Trump was spotted today at his golf club sitting down and chatting with Rush Limbaugh" along with some other men, per CNN's Kevin Bohn. "Several people posted images on Instagram..."
A new look at the local news crisis
Don't miss Sarah Mervosh, Amy Harmon and Nicholas Bogel-Burroughs' feature for the NYT titled "These Reporters Lost Their Jobs. Here Are the Stories They Couldn't Tell."
NYT national editor Marc Lacey noted: "The contributors to this piece are laid off local journalists. The photographs of them were taken by laid off photographers. Who better to tell the story about the decline in local news." Read/view here...
FOR THE RECORD, PART THREE
-- "Joseph Segel, the founder of QVC, died on Saturday, according to a news release from the company that owns the shopping channel. He was 88 years old." (CNN)
-- Tiffany Hsu previewing the future of product placement: "A viewer known to be a whiskey drinker could see a billboard for a liquor brand in the background of a scene, while a teetotaler watching the same scene might see a billboard for a fizzy water company..." (NYT)
-- New from Matthew Ball: "11 Lessons from the Success of Disney+." He says "its SVOD lessons are remarkably conventional and broadly applicable..." (Ball)
| | Best "SNL" episode in 35 years?
"SNL" expert Bill Carter's recap of Eddie Murphy's return to the show: "If you remember Eddie on SNL -- and I do -- that was huge fun. If you don't, I expect you still had fun. Surely a mellower, less 'dangerous' Eddie Murphy (except for the unapologetically abrasive Gumby). But when he cranked up that comic energy, that was the real thing, returned."
The full episode is up on NBC.com now, and so are the individual sketches. My personal favorite: "Mr. Robinson's Neighborhood 2019." | |
When $176 million feels disappointing...
"Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker" made about $176 million in North America over the weekend. Frank Pallotta writes: "That makes 'Rise of Skywalker' the third highest-grossing opening of 2019. That's a big number by any standard, but is considerably less than the openings of the previous two installments in the saga. 2015's 'The Force Awakens' and 2017's 'The Last Jedi' brought in $248 million and $220 million for their domestic openings, respectively." Read on...
>> WSJ's headline about the opening uses the word "disappointing..."
This year's $$$...
"Cue the sad trombone: Movie ticket sales in the United States and Canada will total roughly $11.45 billion for the year, a 4 percent decrease from 2018," per Comscore, NYT's Brooks Barnes and Nicole Sperling report.
Big picture: Moviegoers "rejected an astounding amount of what Hollywood served up," including "Cats" over the weekend...
Big stat: "Studios churned out a whopping 58 franchise films this year, which consumed 82 percent of the worldwide Hollywood box office... 81 non-franchise films got the scraps..."
The re-cut "CATS"
THR's Pamela McClintock says this move "is unheard of for a finished film already in release."
"On Friday — the movie's opening day — Universal notified thousands of theaters they will be receiving an updated version of Tom Hooper's troubled film with 'some improved visual effects,' according to a copy of the memo... Insiders say it is being done at Hooper's request. 'Cats' — which has been savaged by critics — is in need of any help it can get at the box office..."
> More via Deadline's Anthony D'Alessandro: "How 'Cats' Became A Calamity..."
'Bombshell' begins nationwide
Separately, McClintock reports that "Lionsgate's 'Bombshell' came in slightly behind expectations in its nationwide expansion with $5.1 million in North America. The Fox News drama charted at No. 6 behind fellow Lionsgate release 'Knives Out.'" She says the true test for "Star Wars," "Cats" and "Bombshell" will be "their performance over the holidays..."
My interview with 'Bombshell' director Jay Roach
Here's the Q&A... I asked him why he was intrigued by a Fox story... Among other things, he brought up Gretchen Carlson and Megyn Kelly and said "it's sort of astonishing that these women, who sometimes don't look at themselves as feminists... ended up being the ones to take down this major media titan..."
FOR THE RECORD, PART FOUR
-- "The Affair" co-creator and showrunner Sarah Treem has responded to the allegation raised in THR's story about Ruth Wilson's exit from the show by penning a first-person piece for Deadline about it... (Deadline)
-- Megan Thomas emails: ICYMI, this is an interesting take on the Hallmark Channel by Sarah Larson. "By 'leaning into Christmas' — and claiming to avoid politics — the greeting-card company has come to dominate screens across America..." (New Yorker)
Lowry's 'Mr. Robot' review
Brian Lowry emails: After a bounce-back year, "Mr. Robot" served up a series finale on Sunday night that was weird even by the standards of "Mr. Robot." At its creative heights, the USA network drama felt as provocative and narratively ambitious as anything on television – a conspiracy-minded show for our conspiracy-theorizing times. Its introductory run almost presciently coincided with Donald Trump's presidential campaign and subsequent questions about who was manipulating the online world that increasingly dominates our lives. But it's making a quiet exit, after declining ratings, which might explain the just-before-Christmas date.
>> Lowry's full review will be up on CNN.com overnight...
| | Thank you for reading! Email me your feedback anytime. We'll be back tomorrow for our final newsletter of 2019...
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