| | | | | Choose your own adventure | | Wednesday had "something for everyone." If you believe that the Obama administration spied on Trump, Devin Nunes gave you a supportive story to post on Facebook and share with friends. "What a twist!" Tucker Carlson said on Fox. An hour later, the graphic over Sean Hannity's shoulder said "SURVEILLANCE CONFIRMED." Hannity said Nunes was "confirming what President Trump has now been saying for weeks." That's not true. Reporters have not been able to evaluate or confirm the information Nunes shared. But Trump loyalist Bill Mitchell already has all the info he needs. "Trump always ends up being right. It's almost a little freaky," Mitchell wrote, in a message retweeted by the president Thursday night. | | If you believe that Team Trump had inappropriate connections with Russians, possibly influencing the outcome of the election, The AP and CNN had news for you. The AP's story was about Paul Manafort's past work for a Russian billionaire. CNN's story was about the FBI's investigation. | | This reporting from CNN's Pamela Brown, Evan Perez and Shimon Prokupecz landed at 8pm ET: "The FBI has information that indicates associates of President Donald Trump communicated with suspected Russian operatives to possibly coordinate the release of information damaging to Hillary Clinton's campaign." This was attributed to "US officials." It said the officials "cautioned that the information was not conclusive and that the investigation is ongoing." So the story was a window into the FBI's work... | | Carl Bernstein, on "AC360," said this all reaffirms the need for a special prosecutor: "This is an extraordinary story, it requires extraordinary investigating by an independent body." He also said "we need a 9/11-type commission..." | | -- Political scientist/consultant Ian Bremmer: "We're not close to end of Trump-Russia story."
-- Former Jeb Bush spokesman Tim Miller: "Really got to step back & contemplate that WH is actively flacking evidence that POTUS/allies were under investigation for treason as a win."
-- The Federalist's MZ Hemingway: "Weird how journos sensationalize every snippet of selectively, anonymously leaked info against Trump but rush to downplay Nunes' huge news." | | | Bottom line about our siloed media system | | Dylan Byers emails: This is a perfect example of the world we live in: Anti-Trump Americans can believe (rightly) that Trump is under increasing pressure. Pro-Trump Americans can point to Fox News and say the President had another great day, never confronting the controversies that continue to swirl (with mounting speed) around him, his administration and members of his campaign... | | | If you read ONE thing today... | | ...Read David Roberts' essay about "Donald Trump and the rise of tribal epistemology" at Vox.com. Don't let the title dissuade you. The title is the weakest thing about the essay. Roberts writes about the consequences of a "giant parallel information apparatus operating on tribal lines" and makes the case that "in a battle over basic norms, the press cannot be neutral." Check it out here... | | Okay, now back to the day's news... | | The cablers went wall to wall at the end of the 10am ET hour with word of shots fired near Parliament. Fox's coverage was boosted by its sister network Sky News. The broadcast nets repeatedly broke in with special reports. Here's a look at the Thursday front pages... | | | Channel 4 names the attacker -- incorrectly | | Channel 4 News in Britain made a major mistake -- misidentifying the alleged attacker. Correspondent Simon Israel "quoted a source" who had bad info. "We apologize to our viewers for the error," the network said later... | | | Trump Jr. "mischaracterizes" London's mayor | | Shortly after the attack, Donald Trump Jr. dredged up an article from last September and tweeted, "You have to be kidding me?!: Terror attacks are part of living in big city, says London Mayor Sadiq Khan." That's not a fair characterization of what Khan said. The journo who interviewed him last September, Pippa Crerar, responded to Trump Jr.: "He was being realistic: cities must be prepared. Failure of l'ship to do otherwise." Trump Jr. has been retweeted more than 11,000 times. Crerar has been retweeted about 125 times... | | | Late night for reporters on Capitol Hill... | | ...And it'll be a long day on Thursday, with the House health care vote expected to happen... time TBA... | | -- Media Matters founder David Brock suffered a heart attack on Tuesday. "We are looking forward to a swift recovery," his chief of staff said... (The Hill)
-- NY governor Andrew Cuomo and columnist Michael Daly eulogized Jimmy Breslin on Wednesday. Daly: "In this time of fake news and alternate facts, continue to be like J.B. in the pursuit of the ultimate truth..." (NY Daily News)
-- Cause for concern in DC: Breitbart and other conservative news outlets "are singling out individual career government employees for criticism," Politico's Nahal Toosi and Andrew Restuccia write... (Politico) | | | Why big companies are yanking some of their Google ads | | "The advertiser backlash to Google is growing," CNNMoney's Seth Fiegerman reports. "AT&T, Verizon, Enterprise and Johnson & Johnson have halted ads on certain Google platforms after major brands learned their promotional posts were appearing alongside extremist content." Google says "we've begun an extensive review of our advertising policies..."
Backstory: "An investigation published last week by The Times in London revealed that ads from brands like the BBC and L'Oreal were placed near inappropriate content on YouTube posted by religious extremists, a Ku Klux Klan leader and more. The British Government, Havas, The Guardian and others halted their Google ads after the investigation."
Reality check: Some of these advertisers, including AT&T (which is in the process of buying CNN's parent company Time Warner), are Google competitors... | | | What one of the companies is saying | | Programmatic ad buying "has gotten ahead of the advertising industry's checks-and-balances," an Enterprise spokeswoman said Wednesday... Music to the ears of digital publishers... "There is no doubt there are serious flaws that need to be addressed. As a result, we have temporarily halted all YouTube advertising, while executives at Google, YouTube and our own media agencies focus on alleviating these risks and concerns going forward." | | | "Global repercussions" for Google | | Brian Wieser, an analyst with Pivotal Research Group, in an investor note earlier this week: "We think that the problems which have come to light will have global repercussions as UK marketers potentially adapt their UK policies to other markets and as marketers around the world become more aware of the problem..." | | WSJ's Jack Marshall tweets: "Let's be clear -- nearly every company related to media / advertising / tech has an incentive to play hardball with Google when it can. Most won't risk poking the bear by themselves, but when there's safety in numbers..." | | -- "The Gawker property may one day be restored, but not by me," Nick Denton says in this Medium post about his past and future... (Medium)
-- Libby Leist has been promoted and "O.J." filmmaker Ezra Edelman has signed a first-look deal with ESPN Films... (THR)
-- New report from the Women's Media Center: "The Status of Women In the U.S. Media 2017." "The study shows that men report three times as much of the news as do women" on the NBC, ABC, and CBS nightly newscasts... (TVNewser)
-- By Alecia Swasy: "I studied how journalists used Twitter for two years. Here's what I learned..." (Poynter) | | Ev Williams wants to "Upgrade Your Medium" through a $5 per month membership to Medium... Wednesday's announcement was greeted by skepticism... The subscription model offers users "relatively small upgrades..." TheNextWeb's Bryan Clark went so far as to say Williams "has lost his goddamn mind..." | | | More layoffs coming to Guardian US | | Tom Kludt emails: It's been a rough six months for Guardian US, which confirmed Wednesday that it will be undergoing another series of layoffs and buyouts. In September, the outlet announced that it would reduce staff by 30%. It's still unclear how many employees will be affected exactly, though sources told me that staff have been told that the company is aiming to cut costs of the U.S. operation by 20%.
There's an added layer of intrigue to this round of cuts though. Wednesday's announcement came after the company nixed its plans to move to a Jared Kushner-owned building in Brooklyn. BuzzFeed reported Monday that Guardian US staffers protested the building's ties to Trump's son-in-law (along with its location). That same day, according to two reporters, Guardian US interim CEO Evelyn Webster said at a meeting that the abandoned move cost the company $250,000. A Guardian US spokesperson said flatly that the figure is "wrong," and that the cost incurred by staying at its current headquarters a bit longer does "not add up" to $250,000. So where did Webster get that number? The spokesperson wouldn't say... | | "This is a test for those of us who work as journalists. It is a test of enormous proportions. It is a moral test. It is a defining test. It may be the ultimate test. We cannot fail."
--An excerpt from Marty Baron's lecture at Penn State... Read the full text here... | | | Today's Napolitano update | | Still no word from Andrew Napolitano, nearly a week since he last appeared on Fox News... the network has had no comment about Napolitano's status... but anchor Bret Baier responded to a viewer on Wednesday and said this: "He has not been fired -- he has not been suspended -- Fox is 'looking into it' & he has not been on the air -- period." | | | Why "Fox & Friends" appeals to Trump voters | | "Fox & Friends" appears "to capture a sense of discontent and patriotism that appeals to many Trump voters, certainly in a way that mainstream journalists, to a large degree, have been unable to grasp," The AP's David Bauder writes in this profile of "the morning TV show of choice" for Trump and his fans... | | | Looking ahead to the upfronts | | Brian Lowry emails: Variety's Brian Steinberg has a good breakdown on the upcoming upfront negotiations between the major networks and Madison Avenue, and how broadcasters are trying to introduce a new mix of metrics into the equation. While the way people consume media is obviously changing, it's a pretty good rule of the ad sales game that if you're seeking to change how people keep score, you're probably not winning... | | | Disney's theatrical hot streak continues | | Brian Lowry emails: "Beauty and the Beast" cracked the $200-million domestic box-office mark on Tuesday, joining a short list of movies that have crossed that barrier in just five days of release. With more than $425 million total globally, it's well on its way to joining the $1-billion club, a milestone achieved by just three movies last year, all from Disney: "Captain America: Civil War," "Rogue One: A Star Wars Story" and "Finding Dory." | | The movie business is booming, according to an annual report released Wednesday by the MPAA. Highlights:
-- The global box office reached a new high of $38.6 billion in 2016
-- In the U.S. and Canada, the box office rose 2% to hit $11.4 billion
-- 246 million people went to the movies at least once last year in the U.S. and Canada
-- Moviegoers ages 18 to 24 saw the most – an average of 6.5 films
-- And take note Hollywood: attendance was up among ethnic minorities, and three of the top five grossing films in 2016 attracted majority female audiences | | | "It's almost like there's no room for satire" | | Megan Thomas emails: Adam McCay talks comedy in the era of Trump with Vanity Fair: "I always check out The Onion just to see what they're doing with it [Trump's presidency], and I can kind of sense they're struggling with it. It's, like, 'How do you address this?' The straight-up impression on S.N.L. with [Alec] Baldwin seems to be the most successful so far, but it's almost like there's no room for satire. It's like doing satire about being attacked by a dog. [Laughs] Who cares? It's more like triage comedy that we're witnessing." More... | | | 'Iron Fist' star responds to 'Oriental' controversy | | | For the record, part three | | | -- Chloe Melas emails: Garth Brooks says he and Trisha Yearwood are going strong after 10 years of marriage. For all you romantics, check out the incredibly mushy interview here. http://bit.ly/2n8DPc4
-- Lisa France emails three items along: Lollapalooza has announced its 2017 lineup, and hometown hero Chance The Rapper is one of the headliners for the Chicago-based music festival...
-- Lindsay Lohan is promoting a new TV show where she secretly takes over people's social media accounts and pranks them...
-- Nick Viall and Vanessa Grimaldi know fans thought they were awkward with each other during "The Bachelor" aftershow, but they are really in love, you guys!
-- More from Chloe: Ever wondered if the stars from your favorite romantic Christmas movie, "Love Actually," have aged? The trailer for their mini-sequel debuted today and asked fans who they think has aged the best. Watch it here and decide for yourself... | | What do you like about this newsletter? What do you dislike? Send your feedback to reliablesources@cnn.com. We appreciate every email. 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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