| | | | | Trump "running against the crooked media" | | Donald Trump's war on the press has gone nuclear.
I know we're all accustomed to politicians complaining about media coverage, so let's take a big step back: The ferocity of Trump's attacks is unprecedented in modern American politics.
Yesterday he called CNN "disgusting" and said The New York Times is "going to hell" and said "I'm not running against crooked Hillary, I'm running against the crooked media." (Moving the goalposts?!)
Today he tweeted that "if the disgusting and corrupt media covered me honestly and didn't put false meaning into the words I say, I would be beating Hillary by 20%." (We all know that's practically impossible for any candidate to do in this polarized country, but nevermind.) He also tweeted, "It is not 'freedom of the press' when newspapers and others are allowed to say and write whatever they want even if it is completely false!"
Almost every single Trump tweet today was about... us. He is explicitly running against the news media, even while running a campaign that relies mostly on news coverage instead of paid ads to communicate. Where and how this ends, nobody quite knows...
-- More: AP's Laurie Kellman calls this "the latest in a series of implicit acknowledgements" by Trump "that he is not winning and in fact could be headed for a big loss..." | | Look, there's obviously a cause and effect here, and journalists shouldn't be reluctant to point it out. Trump is losing to Hillary Clinton in polls of key swing states. He hates what he's reading and seeing. So he's attacking the messenger, telling his supporters not to believe the message. Nevermind the fact that Breitbart released its own poll tonight, designed to give readers "an accurate assessment" of the race without "the mainstream media filter." The poll showed Clinton beating Trump by five points...
"He's turned to bite the hand that fed him," former Time Inc. editor John Huey said on "Reliable Sources." Huey called Trump a "demagogue" and said journalists are his new scapegoat: "First it was the Mexicans, then it was the Muslims, now it's you. It's the media."
In the segment before Huey, Trump's senior communications adviser Jason Miller told me the media critiques are necessary: "If there's completely biased, ridiculous reporting that's going on, then, look, we have to stand up and defend ourselves." Here's my full story... | | | Trump aide says you should cancel your NYT subscription | | Trump's biggest complaint this weekend was about Maggie Haberman and Alex Burns' Sunday page one story titled "Inside the Failing Mission to Tame Donald Trump's Tongue." It said some of Trump's advisers "now increasingly concede that Mr. Trump may be beyond coaching" and asserted that "in private, Mr. Trump's mood is often sullen and erratic, his associates say."
Trump tweeted, without evidence, that its stories "always quote non-existent unnamed sources." Miller said on today's show that "I would take the entire article and throw it in the trash." He also encouraged people to cancel their NYT subscriptions. But he declined to say whether he would ask the paper for any corrections. And he didn't back up Trump's outrageous insinuation that the paper made up its sources. So far, the paper hasn't received any correction requests... | | -- Kate Bolduan, sub-hosting on "Inside Politics," asked Haberman: "Are you sure you have your press credentials after his speech last night, Maggie?" More on that below...
-- And I'll have more to say on "Early Start" and "New Day" Monday AM... | | | --> Last month, Trump wondered aloud, "Why didn't the National Enquirer get the Pulitzer Prize for Edwards? And OJ Simpson? And all of these things?" | | | Rallygoers not representative of the entire country | | I tried to say this on the air a couple times today, but Errol Louis said it much more eloquently on "Inside Politics:"
"This really reflects, I think, the problem that Donald Trump is sort of mired in, which is that the 5,000, 10,000, even 20,000 people in front of him will be delighted by these comments. Nobody else really cares. It starts to sound like whining at a certain point... I think most people are sophisticated enough to realize that it's not all the media's fault. It kind of wastes time, because here again, we're still not hearing him talk about jobs or about trade..."
Trump thinking that his rally crowds are representative of the general population may be the fatal miscalculation here. It's akin to thinking that the fans and haters who are loudest on Twitter are actually representative of the viewing public... | | | Giving credit where it's due | | | The Trump campaign had Miller on "Reliable," Paul Manafort on "SOTU," and Katrina Pierson on "CNN Newsroom" today. (Miller defended Pierson's role on the campaign.) What about the Clinton campaign? We tried to book a campaign spokesperson for "Reliable," but were turned down... | | | Watch/read/listen to Sunday's show | | | "Trump is right that most of the media want him to lose, but then that was also true of George W. Bush, George H.W. Bush and Ronald Reagan. It's true of every Republican presidential nominee. The difference is that Mr. Trump has made it so easy for the media and his opponents." | | | --This op-ed in Monday's WSJ is going to get a lot of attention. It also says Trump should shape up or "turn the nomination over to Mike Pence." Robert Mclean (who edited tonight's letter! Thank you) wrote about the significance of the op-ed here... | | | Media week ahead calendar | | -- Monday: 5pm: Bids for Gawker Media assets are due
-- Tuesday: Gawker Media auction takes place at Ropes & Gray law firm
-- Tuesday: Taping at 7pm: Sean Hannity interviews Trump in front of a live audience in Milwaukee
-- Wednesday: 9pm: CNN's Green Party town hall
-- Sunday: 7pm: Olympics closing ceremony | | | Vox, Penske, Univision, New York mag, Ziff Davis eyeing Gawker | | Who's bidding for Gawker? "Three to five companies have emerged as the most likely bidders," Sydney Ember writes in Monday's NYT. She sizes up Ziff Davis, Univision, New York mag, Penske Media, and Vox Media.
NYPost's Claire Atkinson reports that Vox and Penske "are preparing a joint bid..." | | Also in Monday's NYT: A deep dive into Tronc and "audacious businessman" Michael Ferro... With this killer lede:
When Oaktree Capital Management "was publicly questioning" Ferro's motives earlier this summer, "Ferro formulated his own pointed response: During a meeting in July at his estate in Lake Geneva, Wis., he suggested to top editors and executives that their journalists investigate Oaktree and Bruce Karsh, co-chairman and co-founder of the firm, according to two people with direct knowledge of the meeting." No such article about Oaktree was published, and Ferro's rep denies Ferro ever made the suggestion...
-- More: The story notes that "Gannett continues to circle the company, with a potential deal looming in the next few weeks..." | | -- The Daily Beast's Nico Hines is back home? An IOC spokesperson tells Outsports: "We understand the organization concerned recalled the journalist after complaints and withdrew the story. This kind of reporting is simply unacceptable..." (Outsports)
-- Drew Harwell has a close-up look at the economics of digital video startups like Tastemade. "A flop doesn't break the bank — and a hit can mean everything..." (WashPost)
-- I missed this on Friday: "That friends-and-family Facebook algorithm change doesn't seem to be hurting traffic to news sites..." (NiemanLab)
-- Just saw a big ad for Netflix's "The Get Down" during NBC's Olympics coverage. Did anyone start binging this weekend? What'd you think?... | | "Relative to all other television, the Olympics are stronger than ever," CBS's David Poltrack says. Yes... But... the Rio ratings are "significantly below the 2012 Summer Games held in London." Here's the latest update, via the WSJ's Joe Flint and Suzanne Vranica: "Through Saturday, NBC is averaging 27.9 million for the first nine nights, down about 15.5% from the London Olympics, which finished with an average of 33 million viewers. The Games are also off from the 34.2 million viewers the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing averaged..."
-- Key graf in the story: "So far, NBC isn't delivering the audience it promised" to advertisers. "Of particular concern is a roughly 30% drop among viewers age 18-34, a demographic advertisers pay a premium to reach..." | | | Blaming Clinton and Trump! | | This line in the WSJ story stood out to me: "NBC's ability to promote the Games may have been even more hindered by the bitter U.S. race for president between Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton."
Quote from NBC Sports Group chair Mark Lazarus: "There were more distractions than usual. The country is so hideously divided I think it took people a little bit of time to get together and rally behind the athletes..."
-- Richard Deitsch's weekly column has much more from Lazarus... Read... | | Trump has started talking about revoking the NYT's press credentials. "When they write dishonest stories, we should be a little bit tough," he said Saturday. When I asked Miller if Trump was serious about this, Miller said, "We'll see."
Separately, Pence said on "Fox News Sunday" said a relaxing of the so-called blacklist is "an ongoing discussion in the campaign..." | | | My favorite graf this weekend | | A WashPost team interviewed 70 millennials about the election, and concluded that "these voters were embarrassed and ashamed that Clinton and Trump are the best the country has to offer." The next graf in the story is the best graf I read all weekend:
"Though a few people voiced admiration for Clinton, most talked about both her and Trump in searing, caustic words: Super villain. Evil. Chameleon. Racist. Criminal. Egomaniac. Narcissist. Sociopath. Liar. Lying cutthroat. Panderer. Word salad. Willy-nilly. Douche. Joker. Troll. Oompa Loompa. Sad. Absurd. Horrifying. Dishonest. Disgusting. Dangerous. Disaster." | | | John McLaughlin "under the weather" | | Today John McLaughlin missed his first "McLaughlin Group" show in 34 years. "I am under the weather," he informed viewers in a written message, posted by Deadline. "The final issue of this episode has my voice, but please forgive me for its weaker than usual quality. Yet my spirit is strong and my dedication to this show remains absolute!" There's no word on his exact ailment...
-- Loyal viewer Ron Mwangaguhung tweets that it "confirms what most long timers have noticed: the show is winding down..." | | | RCN might have a new owner soon | | | Breaking tonight: WSJ: "Private-equity firm TPG has agreed to buy cable-television providers RCN and Grande Communications for about $2.25 billion including debt... A bet that demand for new broadband services will fuel growth... Google Capital, Alphabet Inc.'s growth-equity investment fund, is taking a minority stake in the companies..." | | | Monday: Co-presidents report to work at Fox News | | | Friday's appointment of Fox News co-presidents Bill Shine and Jack Abernethy was "sort of 21st Century Fox and the Murdochs' effort to move on" and "quell any concern among the talent that anything is really going to change," Sarah Ellison said on this morning's show. Watch our extended conversation here, both the TV portion and the web-only portion... | | | Rutenberg's latest on Fox | | | "This thing isn't over," Jim Rutenberg writes. He brings up the similarities between the Ailes sexual harassment scandal and the News Corp. phone hacking scandal... Read all about it here... | | | Twitter's talking with the PGA and MLS about streaming deals | | Can live streaming really be a linchpin of Twitter's future? Mike Isaac has a Monday NYT story all about that. News:
-- "Since April, Twitter has signed a series of live-streaming deals, including with Wimbledon, CBS News, the NBA, MLB, the NHL, and Pac-12 Networks. Twitter is also in discussions with other organizations, including Major League Soccer and the Professional Golfers Association, for similar agreements, according to people briefed..."
-- "To bolster the effort, Twitter is in talks with Apple to bring the Twitter app to Apple TV, which would potentially let millions of Apple TV users watch the streaming N.F.L. games, according to the two people briefed..."
-- "The live-streaming bet is taking on greater importance as referral traffic from a deal made with Google last year — one in which Twitter posts would appear more prominently in Google search results — has not continued to grow over time, according to three people..." | | -- Adele says thanks but no thanks, passing on a chance to perform at the Super Bowl next year... (CNN)
-- Here's the argument for ESPN/Disney bulls: "As the traditional cable bundle fragments and frays, a new wave of streaming services could provide a surprising boost to the most popular networks," Miriam Gottfried writes in Heard on the Street... (WSJ)
-- Promoting "Lethal Weapon:" Fox is launching a "3D video installation Monday in Times Square that makes it appear as if a car is breaking through the side of a high-rise building..." (THR)
-- Ogilvy & Mather has produced a 30-minute film that's really an online ad for a new Qualcomm smartphone processor... (NYT) | | Sony is relishing this weekend | | Frank Pallotta reports: Sony Pictures is relishing a big, and quite surprising, weekend at the box office. "Sausage Party," the studio's raunchy R-rated animated comedy about talking food, brought in $33.6 million at the North American box office this weekend. Insiders were projecting $10 to $15 million. The comedy only cost $19 million to make.
Meanwhile, Warner Bros.'s "Suicide Squad" took first place overall, but dropped roughly 67% in its second weekend, bringing in $43.7 million after opening to record numbers last week. Read more from Frank here... | | | What do you like about today's newsletter -- and what do you think we should improve? Email your feedback to reliablesources@cnn.com. We'll be back tomorrow... | | | Get Reliable Sources, a comprehensive summary of the most important media news, delivered to your inbox every afternoon. | | | | | |
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