| | | | | Trump and cable TV: an instant feedback loop | | On Wednesday evening, Time magazine's Person of the Year responded to criticism from a local labor leader by firing off tweets against him. While it's hard to say for sure that Donald Trump was hate-watching cable news, that's sure what it seemed like. Consider:
7:20pm: Erin Burnett interviews United Steelworkers 1999 president Chuck Jones, who is highly critical of the Carrier deal for only "half-way" delivering on Trump's promise.
7:41pm: Trump tweets that Jones "has done a terrible job representing workers. No wonder companies flee country!"
8:05pm: Jones calls into Anderson Cooper's show to respond to the tweet. "AC360" adjusts its lineup to cover the breaking news. Robert Reich decides to speak directly through the TV to Trump.
8:56pm: Is Trump still watching? He tweets a message criticizing the union and suggesting they "reduce dues." | | | An instant cable news classic | | Thought experiment: What if a cable news show committed itself to "teaching" Donald Trump about Washington and the presidency and the bureaucracy? Every night? What would that show look like? Would he watch? After all, Trump's proclivity for watching CNN and Fox has been well established. And his advisers have -- it seems -- repeatedly tried to communicate with him via cable news hits. His critics, too...
Wednesday night, outspoken Trump critic Robert Reich tried to take advantage of this. Since it seemed like Trump had angrily tweeted after seeing Jones on CNN, Reich looked into the camera during "AC360" and said, "Let me just say, because Donald Trump is probably watching right now, let me just say: With all due respect, Mr. Trump, you are the president-elect of the U.S. You are looking and acting as if you are mean and petty, thin-skinned and vindictive. Stop this. This is not a fireside chat. This is not what FDR did." Watch the video here.
Reich went on to warn that Trump's intimidation of private individuals could have a serious "chilling effect" on free speech. He called it "dangerous to a democracy..." | | | An instant web news classic | | Yahoo anchor Bianna Golodryga v. Republican congressman Dana Rohrabacher is a must-see/must-read. TVNewser's A.J. Katz writes: "Golodryga brought up Russia's well-documented history of human rights abuses during what was a pretty wide-ranging conversation. Rohrabacher was having none of that particular assertion, saying 'Oh, Baloney! Where do you come from? How can you say that?' Apparently unbeknownst to the congressman, the anchor interviewing him comes from the Soviet Union. Golodryga is a U.S. citizen whose family immigrated to Houston from the former Soviet Republic of Moldova when she was a toddler. She is a political refugee. After alerting Rohrabacher of her heritage, the congressman responded by saying 'Oh, well then that's good, then the audience knows that you are biased.'"
Biased?! Watch the rest here... It heats up around the 4:30 mark... | | | Tweet of the day (nope, not Trump's) | | | Matthew Dowd writes: "The battle in America today isn't over economic policy, or foreign policy, or tax rates, or spending, it is over integrity and truth..." | | | LATimes editor under scrutiny | | Dylan Byers reports: LATimes editor-in-chief Davan Maharaj is the subject of a scathing new report alleging that his "ego, insecurity, and warped priorities" were responsible for dragging down morale and causing a staff exodus. The report, by Ed Leibowitz of Los Angeles Magazine, claims that Maharaj had "a grim determination to tighten his grip on power," leading him to denigrate employees behind their backs and sit on potentially explosive stories for months without explanation...
-- Dylan spoke with several current and former sources at various levels of the LATimes, and all of them said that the broad thrust of Leibowitz's article was accurate...
-- Read the article here...
-- A former LATimes editor emails with another POV: "Running a newspaper has to be among the hardest jobs in America right now. This story doesn't acknowledge that reality and the predicament of defending newsrooms in need of change, modernization, investment -- while committing excellent journalism and keeping Tronc titans at bay. I marvel every day at what the LAT is able to do..." | | "I got to see America this year like I had never seen her before... And for that I'll always be grateful. But I also felt unwelcome in my homeland for the first time. It's something I had never known before."
--Asma Khalid, an NPR journalist who was born in the Midwest... who is Muslim... who wears a headscarf... and who covered the Trump campaign... wrote this must-read essay about the experience... | | -- Strong #'s for CNN's Tuesday night special with Van Jones: "The Messy Truth" had 449,000 viewers in the 25-54 demo, by far CNN's best # of the day, and 1.2 million total viewers... (TVNewser)
-- On Tuesday, per David Zurawik, NBC's "Today" show "aired a report on reaction in Charleston, S.C., to a mistrial in the shooting of Walter Scott with an image from Baltimore in April 2015." The show will air a correction on Thursday... (Balt Sun)
-- "Turner and Snap, Inc. have just signed a new deal that will put Turner property Bleacher Report on Snapchat Discover in the U.S., and will have Turner and Snapchat teaming up to create original shows from Turner brands..." (Variety)
-- WSJ's Mike Shields reports: "Amazon is pushing further into ad tech and wants to help publishers make more money from ads..." (WSJ) | | -- NYT's Adam Goldman has the first interview with the "Pizzagate" believer who showed up to a DC restaurant with weapons… The suspect, who says he has listened to Alex Jones' show in the past, admits "the intel on this wasn't 100 percent…"
-- NPR says it has tracked down the "king of fake news..." Laura Sydell interviewed Jestin Coler, who runs Disinfomedia…
-- I was on NPR's "On Point" Wednesday morning, discussing this issue... Here's the recap and audio... | | CNNMoney's Ivana Kottasova reports: Pope Francis has compared the media's interest in scandal to an unhealthy obsession with feces. "The media should be very clear, very transparent, and not fall prey ... to the sickness of coprophilia, which is always wanting to communicate scandal, to communicate ugly things, even though they may be true," the pope said in an interview with Belgian magazine Tertio published Wednesday. Coprophilia is a medical term used to describe arousal from excrement or feces. The pope went on to say that consumers of this information were engaging in "coprophagia," or the consumption of feces...
The Pope was speaking in Spanish, and he excused himself for using the unusual terms... | | | Trump on "Fox News Sunday" | | | Politico's Kelsey Sutton reports: "'Fox News Sunday' moderator Chris Wallace will conduct a sit-down interview with President-elect Donald Trump, the first major news interview the President-elect has given to Fox News since Election Day one month ago..." | | | Person of the Year, and the runner-ups | | | Time editor Nancy Gibbs says this was "one of the more straightforward years" for Person of the Year. It's Trump! Per CNNMoney's Jill Disis, "Trump beat runner-up Hillary Clinton for the distinction... Placing third was 'the hackers,' to cover people who breached the records of major government organizations, politicians, celebrities and everyday citizens..." | | | Trump said on the "Today" show that he was "honored" by the recognition. "It means a lot, especially me growing up reading Time magazine, and you know, it's a very important magazine, and I've been lucky enough to be on the cover many times this year" and last year, he said... | | | Oh yes, yes he has. This first cover is from August. The second is from October. And the third is from Wednesday... | | | Wednesday on Capitol Hill | | | Tom Kludt watched Wednesday's Senate hearing about the AT&T-Time Warner deal... Here's his story... He emails this: Jeff Bewkes and Randall Stephenson faced the toughest line of questioning from Sen. Al Franken, perhaps the staunchest critic on the subcommittee. Franken was skeptical of the claims from both companies that they would not charge competitors, such as Comcast, more for access to Time Warner's portfolio of programming. "You'd have every reason to do this if you could," Franken said... | | | -- More: "The size, reach, and balance sheets" of five tech giants, Facebook, Google, Apple, Amazon, and Microsoft, "were cited as a primary impetus for the AT&T-Time Warner nuptials" during the hearing, Variety's Cynthia Littleton notes... | | Yesterday we asked: Will CNN come up during the hearing? The answer was yes, Tom Kludt writes: In his written statement to the panel, Stephenson reiterated his promise that AT&T is "committed to continuing the editorial independence of CNN." It was this aspect of the proposed deal that concerned another Democratic member of the subcommittee, Sen. Richard Blumenthal, another opponent of the deal. Bewkes echoed Stephenson, saying Time Warner has "always vigorously defended" CNN's editorial independence. "We intend to continue to defend it," Bewkes said.
-- More: Via Politico's Ashley Gold: "Both executives later responded 'yes, of course' when Blumenthal asked them if they would commit that news coverage would not change due to pressure from Trump..." | | | Turner facing class-action racial discrimination suit | | | "Current and former black employees of Time Warner, owner of Turner networks including CNN, TNT and TBS, have filed a class-action racial discrimination suit against the company," the AP reports. The suit, filed Tuesday in GA, alleges a "pattern of discrimination against blacks, particularly black males, in evaluations, compensation and promotions." The company declined to comment on Wednesday... The AJC has details here, noting that there are only two "named plaintiffs..." | | | Spotted at Mediaite's party for its "2016 Most Influential in News Media" list: Sean Hannity, Tamron Hall, Shep Smith, Nancy Grace, Poppy Harlow, Don Lemon, Kim Guilfoyle, Steve Kornacki, Katy Tur, Kate Snow, Chris Cuomo, Michelle Fields, Bill Hemmer, Liz Plank, Greg Kelly, Dylan Ratigan, Dan Abrams, many more... (Via Lindsey Ellefson) | | | Brian Lowry reviews "Hairspray Live!" | | | Brian Lowry says NBC's latest live musical "came about as close as TV can to conveying the allure of a live theatrical experience. Nor did the casting hurt, with show-stopping performances by the likes of Jennifer Hudson and Kristin Chenoweth, as well as a host of young performers..." Read Brian's full review here... | | | "Apple Is in Talks With Hollywood for Early Access to Movies on iTunes" | | | Some Bloomberg scoopage: "Apple is pressing Hollywood studios for earlier access to movies, according to people with knowledge of the matter, a move that would bolster the company's iTunes business. 21st Century Fox, Warner Bros. and Universal Pictures all confirmed over the past week that they are looking to offer high-priced, home-video rentals of new movies shortly after they open in theaters. Some studio executives have been pushing to allow home rentals as early as two weeks after theatrical debuts and are considering a deal with iTunes as one option, said the people..." My two cents: I'd like to watch "Arrival" and "Moana" at home right now... I don't think I'll make it to a theater to see either of them... | | | Netflix binge, then chill | | | Lisa France writes: What do you do after binge watching a series on Netflix? According to the streaming service, you take a break. Netflix has released data on the binging habits of its subscribers and found that 59% of viewers pause for about three days after finishing a series before committing to a new show. That's right: viewers literally Netflix, then chill. The company analyzed the viewing habits of more than 86 million members across more than 190 countries from January to October 2016. Among those who took a break after finishing up a series, 61% watched a movie... More... | | Megan Thomas emails: Tina Fey's speech at Wednesday's THR Women in Entertainment breakfast is worth reading in its entirety. Here's one of the standout quotes (via Vanity Fair):
The real reason Clinton lost: "I promised myself I wouldn't get up here today and talk about the election, because when I get written up in Breitbart, I want it to be because they're mad that I'm making an all-female Hitler biopic. But I have to say, I think the real reason that Hillary lost—and it's the thing that people are afraid to talk about: not enough celebrity music videos urging people to vote . . . I just think if there had been, like, one more funny rap, or like, another Hamilton parody, or something. Just like a little more hustle from Liz Banks, and we coulda taken Michigan." | | -- Sandra Gonzalez emails: I covered the L.A. premiere of "La La Land" Tuesday night and spoke to a bunch of upcoming Oscar nominees...
-- I haven't watched the fall finale of "This Is Us" yet, so I can't click this link, but if you've watched, you should... Sandra wrote an appreciation of Rebecca...
-- Via Chloe Melas: Brad Pitt requested an emergency custody hearing to seal all divorce documents in order to protect his six children. His request was denied Wednesday by a judge, and a hearing is set for January 14... | | | What do you like about this newsletter? What do you dislike? Send your feedback to reliablesources@cnn.com. | | | Get Reliable Sources, a comprehensive summary of the most important media news, delivered to your inbox every afternoon. | | | | | |
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