| | | | As this newsletter gains more and more subscribers (welcome!) we're getting more and more reader email. So let's start this newsletter a bit differently -- by showcasing what you're saying. On Thursday morning's "New Day" on CNN, I said that the "Reliable Sources" inbox is stuffed with people who do trust mainstream media newsrooms despite Donald Trump's attacks, and do want real reporting, and want their voices to be heard. So I've tried to reproduce a representative sample of all the viewer/email emails I received in the past 24 hours, both positive and negative. Here goes:
-- Colleen: "For the past year, I've been aghast as to how Trump has treated the press. What can I do as a media consumer?"
-- Mary: "I fear for the future of the free press, which is more important now than any other time in U.S. history."
-- Finny: "You're terrible and your employer is deplorable. Go work in retail, you're pathetic. Really."
-- Henry: "Scary days ahead."
-- Melissa: "I just want to thank CNN for doing the most important reporting of all..."
-- Bill: "we got yer backs! "
-- Dianna: "We are angry with the media... The problem is the media created this monster by giving him a pass every time he said something outrageous or patently untrue."
-- Anonymous: "I hope President Trump will not use regular media outlets, they only relay fake news to the public... only fox news is truthful and reliable"
-- Linda: "The media needs to stand together."
-- Gary: "Keep asking questions. Trump can't stand the heat. "
-- Jose: "CNN behaved irresponsibly and with Mr. Acosta should both apologize to Trump."
-- JC: "Thank God for CNN. We are with you."
-- Courtney: "This whole newsletter is full of s--- and you know it... Shut up about Trump. You just look so stupid..."
-- Debbi: "GIVE TRUMP NO COVERAGE... WHY ARE YOU SO AFRAID TO CALL HIM OUT..."
-- Ann: "It will be the media that saves us..."
-- Joe: "You've done this to yourself... u bet on the wrong candidate and u lost... u don't have the power u used to have..."
-- Carmen: "The press needs to jointly have a strategy! He is successfully undermining free and fair press!"
-- Patty Jo: "Thanks to Trump for calling you out. We need an honest press!"
-- Judy: "America cannot afford to accept only news Trump wants us to know." | | | Catherine described a conversation with a college-educated friend of hers. "We were talking about BuzzFeed, and it turns out she didn't realize that the major news organizations – like the NYT, WashPost, CNN, the major networks, etc. – carefully confirmed all news before they go with it," Catherine wrote. "I was astonished and proceeded to educate her as best I could. Told her all outlets are not created equal. I guess I'm just pointing out how little the public understands the role of the press in our democracy, and it's my hope that this terrible time can be turned into an opportunity to educate/promote the role of a free press." | | | BuzzFeed EIC Ben Smith on Sunday's "Reliable Sources" | | | Set your DVR... CNN, Sunday, 11 a.m. ET... | | | "The denial of real news" | | "If you were wondering how CNN would proceed after being trashed by President-elect Donald Trump and his advisors this week, the first 15 minutes of tonight's AC360 should make it very clear," Mediaite's Josh Feldman wrote Thursday night. Anderson Cooper, Jake Tapper, Jim Sciutto, and Jim Acosta "went all-in criticizing the Trump team's reactions to their network's initial reporting about the 2-page synopsis the president-elect was briefed on."
Specifically: Cooper explained how Kellyanne Conway's Wednesday night claims were "misleading on two points." Tapper described Team Trump's "fact-free campaign."Sciutto identified a "hostility to facts." Acosta said "there's something worse than 'fake news,' and that's the denial of real news." | | | This is "a problem for the way this country functions" | | Highlighting a few more quotes from Sciutto on "AC360:"
-- Trump "accused our network, our reporters, of spreading 'fake news,' when in fact we were right..."
-- "Forget about CNN for a moment. I care about CNN and I know we do very good work and I'm confident in my colleagues' work, but [this is] more about the function of journalism as a whole, of the fourth estate, going back to George Washington's times. This is a pillar of the way open societies work..."
-- It seems that part of the incoming administration's strategy is "to attack information it finds inconvenient or critical. That's a problem for the way this country functions." | | | Actor Michael Ian Black tweets: | | "Now, every negative story about Trump isn't argued on its merits, only being dismissed as 'fake.' This is extremely dangerous."
WashPost's Margaret Sullivan, who says it's time to retire the term "fake news" altogether, will join me on Sunday's show... | | | Rudy says Trump is "trying to get us back to a free press" | | Meanwhile, what media-bashing message did Sean Hannity's viewers hear on Thursday night? This message from Rudy Giuliani: "I know what they do. I know the games that they play. It is refreshing and it is very good for our democracy that we have a president that is trying to get us back to a free press..."
Rudy added: Trump "knows exactly what he wants to accomplish. He cannot be intimidated. He is an honest man, so they're not going to catch him in some kind of lie or something like that. And he's got the courage to fight 'em back... I think this is going to be very helpful. I think maybe he may actually re-establish journalistic ethics." | | | Backlash to the backlash? | | Brian Lowry emails about Trump's latest anti-media attacks:
There's a rather perverse quality to Trump's tweets, to the extent that they do at least as much to promote the outlets he attacks as to discredit them. As marketing hooks go, "The network the White House doesn't want you to watch" or "newspaper it doesn't want you to read" has to be tempting. Historically, Fox News and talk radio figures like Rush Limbaugh have also made great hay out of criticism directed at them by Democratic administrations, from Clinton to Obama. What's different is that Trump has ratcheted up the personal nature of his broadsides to a new level... | | | More reactions to Wednesday's presser | | -- E.J. Dionne Jr. analyzed Tuesday's farewell address by Obama and Wednesday's press conference by Trump and said "Trump proved Obama's point" about dangers to democracy...
-- Andrew Tyndall said "the signal was sent, this White House will be willing, even eager, to take on the most established and centrist of the mainstream media. Even CNN, the self-styled most trusted name in news..."
-- "The news media remains an unwitting accomplice in its own diminishment as it fails to get a handle on how to cover this new and wholly unprecedented president," Jim Rutenberg said. "It better figure things out, fast, because it has found itself at the edge of the cliff. And our still-functioning (fingers crossed) democracy needs it to stay on the right side of the drop..." | | -- A must-read by the WashPost's Doris Truong: "What it's like to be at the center of a fake-news conspiracy theory..." (WashPost)
-- A libel lawsuit against the WSJ "brought by billionaire casino magnate Sheldon Adelson against one of its reporters has been settled." No money will exchange hands... (WSJ)
-- This week in Twitter idiocy: "A writer for the British edition of GQ wondered aloud whether President Obama could murder" Trump and Mike Pence "and then pardon himself. Rupert Myers deleted the tweet..." (Mediaite)
-- "'NBC Nightly News' will broadcast live from California, Michigan, North Carolina and D.C. next week, leading up to the inauguration on Friday," A.J. Katz reports... (TVNewser) | | | Why was C-SPAN interrupted by Russia Today? | | Dylan Byers emails: C-SPAN is conducting an internal investigation after its online video coverage of Congress was interrupted by a live feed of Kremlin-backed news channel Russia Today. The RT feed aired for about 10 minutes before switching back. The "initial investigation suggests that this was caused by an internal routing error," C-SPAN said Thursday night.
-- More: Maxine Waters, whose Russia-related speech was interrupted, told the NYT "it's strange, it's odd..." | | | Monica Langley leaving WSJ | | More from Dylan: Monica Langley, a veteran Wall Street Journal reporter who was privately criticized by her colleagues for writing fawning stories about Trump and various business executives, including Marc Benioff, is moving to an executive role at Benioff's Salesforce...
-- What Langley wrote in her internal memo to colleagues: "This opportunity arose unexpectedly and quickly, and immediately captured my imagination. I'll be based in New York and San Francisco..."
-- One journalist emailed Dylan: "Why would a big global company want a friend of Trump's to be its public face right now? (Self evident, no?)" | | | AT&T CEO's time with Trump | | AT&T CEO Randall Stephenson's arrival at Trump Tower had tongues wagging on Thursday morning. Was he there to discuss the pending AT&T-Time Warner merger with Trump? During the campaign Trump criticized the deal, and last week Bloomberg reported that he remains opposed to it...
>> After the meeting, an AT&T spokesman said the deal did not come up during the meeting. Instead, the conversation was about jobs and investments… | | -- Reuters' Lisa Richwine reports: Fox is selling "digital-only advertising packages for next month's Super Bowl for as much as $700,000 for a 30-second spot, though most advertisers are buying both online and TV spots..." (Reuters)
-- "Snapchat is finally stepping up its search game." An update to its mobile apps "makes it easier to find Discover channels, Live Stories," Tim Peterson reports... (MarketingLand)
-- Tweet of the day courtesy David Fahrenthold: "Just saw Mike Pence buy 2 cartons of Turkey Hill ice cream at neighborhood Safeway. I am telling you this so I can expense all my groceries." | | | Corey Lewandowski joins One America News | | Asawin Suebsaeng and Andrew Kirell broke this news over on The Daily Beast: Corey Lewandowski is now a commentator for One America News Network. If you're not familiar with OAN, it's a small challenger to Fox News. (In the two months since CNN and Lewandowski parted ways, he has been on Fox a bunch, so it's noteworthy that a much smaller rival has signed him to a contract.)
This isn't a full-time job for Lewandowski -- he recently launched a DC consulting firm -- but "Corey is fulfilling a similar role to his position with CNN," OAN CEO Charles Herring told me via email. "He's under contract to provide on-air insight and prospective as OAN's political commentator."
Herring revealed that OAN "extended an offer" to Lewandowski as soon as Trump fired him last June, but the channel was outmaneuvered. "Mr. Lewandowski concluded an agreement with CNN to OAN's disappointment," Herring said.
I asked if the commentator deal is exclusive, and Herring declined to go into detail. (So maybe Lewandowski will still pop up on Fox occasionally?) Lewandowski was on OAN's political talk show "Tipping Point with Liz Wheeler" on Monday and on one of the channel's newscasts on Thursday... | | | Politico's top editors in New York are leaving | | "Josh Benson and Tom McGeveran, who founded the politics, culture and media site Capital New York in 2010 before selling it to Politico in 2013, are leaving the company," Poynter's Ben Mullin reports. Politico EIC John Harris says Politico's statewide operations, previously overseen by Josh and Tom in NYC, "would be consolidated at Politico headquarters in Rosslyn." Details here...
-- McGeveran says he's on the "the job market, maybe!" Reflecting on the past few emails, he DMed me this: "We have built a beautiful staff of hardcore journalists doing work that has never been more essential and we are very proud of that -- but the credit goes to them and their hard work and their great results." | | | # of women directors has declined | | | Lisa France emails: There are some big films coming out this year directed by women, including "Wonder Woman." But a study released Thursday found that the number of women directors has actually declined. This as the push for diversity in Hollywood continues... Read Lisa's full story here... | | | Post-"Downton Abbey:" "Victoria" | | Brian Lowry emails: PBS has made a point of noting that its latest historical drama, "Victoria," will occupy the winter window that "Downton Abbey" held down. Those are some big shoes to fill, but the show itself is quite good, if a bit eclipsed by similar dramas like Netflix's "The Crown..."
Read Brian's full review here... | | | Lee Greenwood at the inauguration | | | Chloe Melas emails her scoop: Donald Trump has another name he can add to his list of performers for the inauguration festivities: Lee Greenwood. Best known for his song "God Bless the USA," the singer will be performing at the "Make America Great! Welcome Concert" the day before the inauguration at the Lincoln Memorial... | | | Fifth season of "Arrested Development?" | | | The "Arrested Development" rumors have returned! Dust off your "Chicken Dance," Lisa France says, "Arrested" may be getting a fifth season... | | | Sandra Gonzalez writes: "The most recent episode of ABC's 'black-ish' was not only the post-election episode viewers have been eagerly awaiting, it was also the one viewers may have needed. The episode, titled 'Lemons,' took place two months after the presidential election. But as Dre (Anthony Anderson) pointed out, 'everyone was acting like it had only been two minutes...'" Read more... You can stream the episode on Hulu... | | | For the record, part three | | | -- Sandra: Donald Glover is extending his FX ties with a new production deal...
-- Lisa: Add Michael Jackson's daughter to the list of those not happy with actor Joseph Fiennes. Paris Jackson says she is "incredibly offended" by the casting of the white actor to play her father in a British TV production...
-- Chloe: The DGA announced picks for top director on Thursday. Check out the nominees here...
-- Chloe: Kim Kardashian is in Dubai for her first official appearance since her Paris robbery...
-- Chloe: Kristin Chenoweth penned an emotional essay for HuffPost about being adopted and how the film "Lion" is helping shake "stigmas" and "misperceptions" about adoption...
-- Lisa: If you were fortunate enough to be at the Comedy Cellar in New York City on Wednesday night, you witnessed a comedy miracle. Chris Rock, Amy Schumer and Dave Chappelle hit the stage together. Oh, and Aziz Ansari and Jerry Seinfeld were there too... | | | What do you like about this newsletter? What do you dislike? Send your feedback to reliablesources@cnn.com. See you tomorrow! | |  | | We'd love to share our other newsletters with you. Check out Five Things for Your New Day, CNN's morning newsletter. Give us five minutes, and we'll brief you on all the news and buzz people will be talking about. | | | Get Reliable Sources, a comprehensive summary of the most important media news, delivered to your inbox every afternoon. | | | | | |
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