| | | | | The gender war: Gingrich v. Kelly | | An angry Newt Gingrich battled Megyn Kelly in a must-see cable news argument. Trust me, just click here and check it out. This segment had everything: Outrageous media bias claims, Newt's victimization narrative, Megyn's attempt to point out the reality of the polls, Newt accusing Megyn of being "fascinated with sex," etc. My favorite part was when Newt insisted that Megyn say the words "Bill Clinton sexual predator" because she said it's possible that Trump is a sexual predator. Josh Feldman has a full recap over on Mediaite...
-- #ImWithMegyn, MSNBC's Nicolle Wallace tweets: "There is a hot gender war underway..."
-- WSJ's Madeline Marshall writes: "2016 is basically a referendum on the treatment of women." Here is what she means... | | Trump's social media director Dan Scavino rekindled the Trump-Kelly war right after the segment, writing, "@NewtGingrich just destroyed @MegynKelly. Shows she is totally biased against Mr. Trump & not very smart. Mr. Trump has long known!!" He kept it going, saying Kelly "made a total fool out of herself tonight," and adding, "Watch what happens to her after this election is over."
After this election is over? Kelly is going to sign a huge contract, either at Fox or another network... | | | O'Reilly/Kelly/Hannity are a highly-rated but odd combo these days. On Tuesday Sean Hannity "offered to pay for a one-way flight to Kenya for the president and his family." Basically Hannity just can't stand Obama anymore and wants him gone. Bill O'Reilly, at least, had the courage to tell his viewers that "undermining our electoral system is not a patriotic thing..." I'm still waiting for Hannity to say he'll accept the results of the election... | | | You're going to hear this # a lot: 91% | | In a new study, the Media Research Center, a conservative media watchdog group, says 91% of nightly news coverage of Trump's campaign for the past 12 weeks was "hostile." "Though neither candidate was necessarily celebrated, Clinton largely just stayed out of the line of fire," Hadas Gold writes in this summary of the study.
Gingrich mentioned the # during his fight with Kelly. And Mike Pence brought it up on the trail Tuesday afternoon: "91% of his coverage has been hostile. They must have missed the other 9%..." | | | How will the press cover Trump's ribbon-cutting? | | Dylan Byers emails: Donald Trump is planning to hold a ribbon-cutting ceremony for his new hotel in DC on Wednesday -- a sign that the GOP nominee may be more focused on business than politics just two weeks out from an election he looks increasingly likely to lose. The big question for news organizations is: How to cover it?
It was less than six weeks ago that Trump earned free media coverage for his D.C. hotel by promising a big reveal about President Barack Obama's birth certificate, only to dedicate most of his time to touting his business.
Media orgs aren't looking to get duped again. Still, it would be irresponsible to not cover a presidential candidate's public events this close to the election. So look for reporters to cover the ribbon-cutting by putting it in the context of Trump's flailing presidential campaign.
"Less than two weeks before the election, it seems to give the impression that he's moving past the election and onto business decisions," The Boston Globe's Matt Viser told me. "It's newsworthy that, 13 days before the election, a candidate is devoting half a day to his own interests," said Time mag's Zeke Miller. "How can we not cover it a little?"
There's a bigger question likely to be discussed as well: Is Trump's decision to promote his business a sign that Trump, Inc, is suffering as a result of his campaign? Our colleague Chris Isidore looked into that earlier this month, and the answer appears to be: Yes. | | | This data deserves more media attention | | | Doesn't this study explain a whole lot about the election? PRRI's 2016 American Values Survey, out Tuesday, finds that "Americans are divided about whether American culture and way of life have changed for worse (51%) or better (48%) since the 1950s. About seven in ten likely voters supporting Donald Trump (72%) say American society and way of life has changed for the worse since the 1950s, while seven in ten likely voters supporting Hillary Clinton (70%) say things have changed for the better." | | | Must-see exchange between Blitzer and Conway | | Wolf Blitzer interviewing Kellyanne Conway on "The Situation Room" Tuesday evening:
BLITZER: I really believe in a free press, and I'm sure do you as well. The working journalists, the embeds who are traveling with him all the time, they go to all these rallies, they're in this pen -- he points to them, he sort of eggs the crowd on to go after them -- and there are a lot of young journalists, they're scared sometimes.
CONWAY: I know them all. I respect them all --
BLITZER: He shouldn't be doing that. Could you talk to him and say to him, "Mr. Trump, we only have a few days left, these are hardworking young journalists, they deserve to have some security," if you will. Because some of those Trump supporters out there, they get pretty nasty at what they're screaming at these young people.
CONWAY: Your first point, yes, I will tell him that. And he's probably watching right now... | | | Quartz's first non-English language product | | | On Wednesday morning Quartz will announce a Spanish-language edition of the "Daily Brief" email. "La Agenda" will be the company's first non-English-language newsletter. "La Agenda reflects Quartz's first targeted effort at the Spanish-speaking market for readers and advertisers," president and publisher Jay Lauf says... | | | Eye-popping "Walking Dead" #'s | | "The Walking Dead" averaged "17 million viewers for the premiere of its seventh season Sunday night," Frank Pallotta reports. That's a "20% boost compared to last year's finale and a 16% uptick from its debut last year -- it put up this number after seven years on air, which is a rare feat, especially in this crowded TV climate..." What makes it even more impressive: the show was up against "Sunday Night Football." Read more...
-- More: The talk show "Talking Dead" brought in a record 7.6 million viewers... | | A followup to Jesse Watters' offensive "O'Reilly Factor" segment about Chinatown: "The Asian American Journalists Association and other advocacy groups met Tuesday with two officials from Fox News," Erik Wemple reports. AAJA president Paul Cheung says the meeting was "productive." But Ron Kim, a New York state assemblyman who attended came away thinking that the unnamed Fox execs "didn't understand the gravity of the situation." Read more...
-- Demands: The execs were given this "open community letter" signed by 134 national, state and local AAPI organizations... It calls for a written apology, Watters' suspension, diversity training, and more... | | | "I feel pretty good about this deal" | | | Sara Ashley O'Brien emails from WSJDLive in Laguna Beach: AT&T CEO Randall Stephenson says the politicos dissing the deal are making "uninformed comments." As for the deal's lackluster reception on Wall Street, "I think the markets are too pessimistic," he said. "I feel pretty good about this deal..." | | AT&T's soon-to-launch streaming bundle, DirecTV Now, "will include more than 100 channels for only $35 a month," BI's Nathan McAlone reports. The exact launch date isn't known yet, but it's set for sometime next month...
-- The launch web site: "TV beyond your wildest streams. It's coming."
-- Peter Kafka notes that CBS is not on board yet... | | -- Jim Stewart's must-read NYT column: "Why a Media Merger That Should Go Through Might Not"
-- David Folkenflik's latest: "AT&T Deal For Time Warner Casts Renewed Attention On CNN"
-- Reed Hastings said at WSJDLive that he's not opposed to the deal "as long as HBO's bits and Netflix's bits are treated the same..."
-- Microsoft's Satya Nadella at the same conference: "I wish them luck..."
-- Mark Cuban is in favor... Don't miss his comments about "FANGAS..."
-- Disney and Fox have signaled wariness about the deal. Brooks Barnes and Emily Steel have the best summary of the media company reactions... | | | The biggest story I forgot to include in Monday's letter: Netflix is "raising $1 billion through a new debt offering, bringing its long-term debt load to more than $3 billion... A a significant portion of its spending is related to content..." More from Variety here... | | -- Alex Weprin tweets: "Comedy Central announces that 'The Daily Show with Trevor Noah' will be live from 11PM-12AM on election night, @midnight will be live too..."
-- Shane Smith at WSJDLive talked about a "war to stay in the center..." Saying "we need more centrists, non op-ed, non comedy..." And this comment was aimed at Fox News: "We'll take the millennials, you can have the 68 year olds, and we'll see who wins..."
-- Fox has released a new trailer for "24: Legacy," premiering right after the Super Bowl... (YouTube) | | | The Guardian's non-strategic cuts | | | Politico's Peter Sterne reports that "Guardian Media Group CEO David Pemsel stopped by the New York offices of Guardian U.S." this week and talked about the painful cuts the news organization is undergoing. The deadline to apply for a buyout was on Monday. Pemsel said "there was nothing strategic about that," the move is purely about cost-cutting, according to Sterne's sources... Read more here... | | | Trump dismisses "Trump TV" talk | | Great catch by the KFILE: Trump told a Cincinnati radio station on Tuesday morning, "No, I have no interest in Trump TV. I hear it all over the place. I have a tremendous fan base, we have a tremendous base. We have the most incredible people, but I just don't have any interest in that. I have one interest, that's on November 8."
His references to the "fan base" stood out to me. If Trump loses, his fans are going to want to see him and hear from him...
-- Programming note: I'll be talking about this on "New Day" Wednesday at 6:50am... | | | Something new: Trump doing interviews | | | We're in the midst of a Clinton AND Trump interview drought... With only a few exceptions... But on Tuesday, Trump did that Ohio radio interview, AND he spoke with Fox News anchors Bill Hemmer and Martha MacCallum... conservative radio hosts Rush Limbaugh and Herman Cain... and Reuters reporter Steve Holland... | | | Hillary Clinton visited Univision's afternoon talk show "El Gordo y la Flaca" while in south Florida on Tuesday. "Clinton was interviewed in English, and another broadcaster translated over her statements in real time," the Miami Herald reports. The hosts reiterated the importance of voting. According to a PR rep, this was Clinton's first time appearing on Univision since the network co-hosted a primary debate in March... | | | Lowry says "SNL" hasn't risen to the election year occasion | | Brian Lowry emails: "Saturday Night Live" has garnered huge ratings through this election cycle — with the most recent episode drawing 8.7 million viewers on Saturday, up more than 40% from last year. Small wonder NBC announced a one-hour primetime special culled from this month's political sketches, to air on election eve Nov. 7. But qualitatively, the show hasn't risen to match this opportunity, with its big breakout star being... Alec Baldwin? Here's Lowry's full column...
(Let the record show that Frank Pallotta and I strongly disagree with this appraisal!) | | | Life advice from a self-described "nasty woman" | | Megan Thomas emails: Dame Helen Mirren dished at Elle's annual Women in Hollywood event Tuesday. "I'm just quickly going to give you a few tips to get through life because, obviously, you know I'm quite old so I've lived quite a lot of life," she said. "Feel free to pass these along, my top five (six) tips." Here they are:
1. Never drink alcohol unless you are celebrating something, upset about something, or if it's a day that ends with the letter 'Y.' And never drink when you are driving.
2. There are no rules about love — I don't believe — but don't be in a rush to get married, honestly. I married Taylor much later in my life and it's worked out just great.
3. Give your partner the freedom and support to achieve their ambitions. Very important and that goes both ways, men and women.
4. At the blackjack table, always split aces, eights and nines.
5. Connect with friends daily, I don't mean on Facebook. Better to have three great friends than 300 friends on social media. Friends you can really talk to.
6. And finally, ignore anyone who judges the way you look, especially if he or she is some anonymous miserable creep lurking on the Internet or is a bloated, small headed dinosaur-y handed candidate for president. | | | Lady Gaga on "Carpool Karaoke" | | | ABC cuts its order for "Notorious" | | | Brian Lowry emails: Networks have been slower to pull the trigger on cancellations the last few years, waiting to see data from DVR viewing. But Variety reports that ABC has cut the order on "Notorious" — the series about a defense attorney and a cable news producer — from 13 episodes to 10. The show will keep running because "Scandal," delayed due to star Kerry Washington's pregnancy, won't return until January. In TV terms, that's another form of the walking dead... | | From Lisa France: Justin Timberlake took the cutest selfie after he flew to his hometown of Memphis to cast his vote early. One problem though: It's against the law to snap photos at polling places in Tennessee...
-- More from Lisa: A group of male actors from "Law & Order: SVU" are taking a stand against sexual assault in a new PSA...
-- Sandra Gonzalez emails: At the L.A. screening of his documentary "Before the Flood" Monday night, Leonardo DiCaprio criticized the lack of climate change questions during the recent presidential debates...
-- Via Sandra: Netflix has dropped the official "Gilmore Girls: A Year in the Life" trailer, much to the delight of the show's hardcore fans. It debuts the day after Thanksgiving... | | | Catch up on "Reliable Sources" | | | What do you like about this newsletter? What do you dislike? Send your feedback to reliablesources@cnn.com. We appreciate every email... And we'll be back tomorrow with more... | | | Get Reliable Sources, a comprehensive summary of the most important media news, delivered to your inbox every afternoon. | | | | | |
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