| | | | | Conservative media at a crossroads | | THE BIG IDEA: President Trump's failure to bring Obamacare repeal legislation to a vote, the sense that his credibility has been diminished, and his waning approval numbers are exposing fissures between and within conservative media outlets that had effectively served as a united front during his bid for the presidency.
The fissures reflect divisions in Trump's own White House, as well as the various factions among Republicans on Capitol Hill. They are exacerbated by the fact that, for the first time in a decade, Republicans control both the White House and the Congress -- leaving conservative critics without a favorite scapegoat: Democrats. | | Welcome to Reliable Sources... Trump's Gallup approval rating has now hit 36%, below the all-time low for presidents Obama and Clinton... This is Dylan Byers in for Brian Stelter... | | | Three faces of 'right-wing media' | | We throw around terms like "right-wing media" and "conservative media" all the time (see above), but as in the Republican party, there are multiple factions. Broadly speaking, these can be broken down into three groups...
1. THE POPULIST WING: Sites like Breitbart and Lifezette that were enthusiastic passengers on the Trump train but now appear willing, at least at times, to prioritize their principles over strict allegiance to the president.
2. THE MODERATE WING: Moderate Republicans and Never-Trumpers like The Wall Street Journal editorial board and The Weekly Standard who adhere to traditional Republican values and realpolitik, and who opposed Trump vigorously long before he took office.
3. THE TRUMP DEVOTEE WING: Unabashedly pro-Trump conservatives like Sean Hannity and other Fox News pundits who seem set to defend and promote the president no matter what. Outlets like these have provided Americans -- including the president himself -- with news sources that ignore developments that may be inconvenient for the president while highlighting stories that support his anti-terror and anti-immigrant rhetoric.
HERE'S THE RUB: While Fox News may provide safe harbor for the president for now, the growing restlessness of right-wing populists and enduring criticism of moderate Republicans are both likely to encroach on his safe space.
This is what Laura Ingraham, the founder of Lifezette, told me via email: "LifeZette is a populist media platform that has its own independent voice, even as it wants the president to be successful. Steve Bannon at CPAC told conservatives to keep the administration true to its promises. That's what I had always planned to do."
And this is what Stephen F. Hayes, the editor-in-chief of The Weekly Standard, told the magazine's owner when he got promoted to the top of the masthead (via NYT): "Let's add more resources and make sure that we're basing our arguments on facts, logic and reason." | | Over at The Hill, Jonathan Easley writes about the infighting and public controversy that has plagued fledgling conservative media outlets...
"We're having some growing pains as we try to expand our reach and become more mainstream and less sensationalist in our writing and journalism," Lucian Wintrich, the new White House correspondent for Gateway Pundit, of all people, tells Easley. "It's an interesting transition. You have publications that historically have not had much oversight suddenly needing to reevaluate how they do things...." | | | Breitbart denied Hill credentials | | Speaking of hiccups... Buzzfeed reports that Breitbart News isn't getting permanent press credentials on Capitol Hill just yet...
"On Monday, the standing committee of correspondents of the U.S. Senate Daily Press Gallery — a group of five reporters at traditional media outlets — declined to grant Breitbart 'hard passes' to report more easily within the halls of Congress until the right-wing news site can provide more information...
"The committee in particular wants Breitbart to clarify links to conservative nonprofit Government Accountability Institute as well as the involvement of Rebekah Mercer, whose family is an investor in the site."
For some background, see Jane Mayer's New Yorker piece on Mercer's father Robert, "the reclusive hedge-fund tycoon behind the Trump presidency." | | | Dispiriting fact of the day | | Via Axios: People trust advertising more than they trust the news. (Sigh...) | | "It's not about how many clicks you get."
-- John Kasich to journalists at Monday night's dinner for the Robin Toner Prize for Excellence in Political Reporting. (hat-tip Michael Grynbaum)
And yet... one might argue Kasich lost because he couldn't get the clicks. | | | And the Toner prize goes to... | | Fahrenthold!
From the Washington Post:
"David A. Fahrenthold, the Washington Post reporter who investigated President Trump's charity and broke the news of Trump's "Access Hollywood" video, was honored Monday night with the prestigious Toner Prize...
"Fahrenthold's extensive series on the Trump Foundation aimed to match Trump's claims of big charitable giving with actual records. It revealed there was often a chasm between Trump's rhetoric and reality." | | | How to win friends and influence people | | That's the cover of this Sunday's New York Times Magazine, wherein Robert Draper highlights the enormous challenges Trump has in getting support from a Congress that he's spent so much time antagonizing.
Pro-tip: Don't say Ben Sasse looks like a "sewer rat" if you want his help. | | | State Dept. goes dark, again | | It took six weeks for Trump's State Department to start holding daily briefings. Now, after three weeks of sunlight, they're going dark again.
From WSJ's Felicia Schwartz: "Officials said the on-camera briefings won't resume for at least two weeks as Secretary of State Rex Tillerson moves to get a permanent spokesperson in place. ... That official is expected to be Heather Nauert, until now a Fox News anchor, but she is awaiting approval of her security clearance...
"Under the Obama administration and those before it, the State Department took questions on-camera on a nearly daily basis. The briefings are closely watched by foreign officials as well as U.S. diplomats around the world for public guidance on U.S. policy." | | | Hannity vs. Koppel, continued | | More on that Sean Hannity-Ted Koppel exchange from over the weekend...
Brian Lowry emails: "It was predictable that 'Fox & Friends' would lecture Ted Koppel about journalism, as surreal as that might sound... The bigger surprise, in hindsight, was that Hannity would actually agree to the interview. Unlike Bill O'Reilly, who periodically hits the interview circuit to promote his books and outside projects, Hannity tends to be more cautious about interviews that he doesn't control or with potentially unfriendly questioners..."
And Erik Wemple asks: "Why does Sean Hannity care what Ted Koppel thinks?" | | -- The Atlantic is sending James Fallows to London to head up a new bureau in London. This is part of "a major expansion across the Atlantic," which will see the addition of at least 10 editorial and business employees in the UK.
-- Former Obama White House press secretary Josh Earnest has joined NBC News as an analyst. He's already appeared on NBC's "Today" and MSNBC's "Morning Joe."
-- PBS is still looking to replace the late Gwen Ifill on NewsHour. But don't get excited by the job listing. "As a public broadcaster, we're required to post all positions on our site," a spokesperson tells me. | | Politico's Jack Shafer wants the press to stop writing the same damn stories...
"As if powered by a celestial mainspring, the press publishes the same three basic stories about every new presidential administration. Usually up first in their rotation is a breathless beat-sweetener about the incoming vice president. ... The second inevitable wave of stories claim that the administration is 'rebooting.' ... [T]he third classic of first-100 days reporting: A story about the coming 'reorganization' of government... | | My favorite story of the day, from Lisa Respers France:
"If a reality TV experiment continues filming after the show is canceled and no one watches it, did it really happen? ... In the case of the Scottish series "Eden," that's exactly what happened. ... According to the Guardian, 23 contestants entered into the wilds of the Scottish Highlands last March to live for a year, completely cut off from modern society.
"By the end of the 'social experiment,' only 10 contestants remained. But 'Eden' producers neglected to tell the participants the show was canceled in August, after only four episodes. ... The group of 10 has emerged a year later to a very different world, which includes Brexit and a President Donald Trump."
"Here's what else they missed...." | | | Bonus: 'Phish-Loving Journalists' | | As if the media's approval rating needed to be knocked down another peg, here's this from JamBase:
"Bob Costa is far from the only Phish-loving Journalist to appear on MSNBC. Those paying close attention to a panel discussion on the cable station this afternoon may have noticed a volley of Phish references between the host and a panel member.
"MSNBC host Katy Tur hasn't hidden her love of the Vermont quartet in the past and the same is true of Politico senior writer Jake Sherman. The pair had fun with their fandom during a chat about House Intelligence Committee Chairman Rep. Devin Nunes."
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