| | | | President Trump has ups and downs with Twitter -- relatively quiet periods followed by active periods. This is an... active period. | | | Trump's favorite pollster (today) | | Trump also weighed in again on the special election in Kansas, saying it "was a really big media event, until the Republicans won. Now they play the same game with Georgia-BAD!"
NYT's Peter Baker responded: "Trump says media didn't pay enough attention to Kansas where GOP won by 7 points in district where it normally wins by 21-35 points." The Georgia results will come in Tuesday evening... | | This next Trump tweet intrigued me because Trump had let up on the "fake media" insults for the past two weeks. But now it's back... and he seems to be driving a wedge here... between "fake" and "real" news outlets:
"The Fake Media (not Real Media) has gotten even worse since the election. Every story is badly slanted. We have to hold them to the truth!" | | | Another Trump chat with "Fox & Friends" | | Presumably Trump feels that "Fox & Friends" is "real." Some of his tweets lined up with the show's segments on Monday morning, and he gave an interview to co-host Ainsley Earhardt a couple of hours later. It'll air on Tuesday morning. This was a stand-up interview at the Easter Egg Roll -- not technically one of Trump's six sit-down interviews with Fox since inauguration day -- but it continues a pattern of embracing Fox and shunning other TV networks... | | | Why Trump promoted this book | | Via Tom Kludt's Trump TV tweets tracker: "The conservative author Michael Knowles appeared on 'Fox & Friends' to promote his book, 'Reasons to Vote for Democrats' -- a joke title; the book has 200 blank pages and very few words. Knowles praised Trump, and less than an hour later, Trump reciprocated through Twitter, paraphrasing Knowles and plugging the empty book..." | | | What Trump didn't tweet about | | His decision to reverse Obama's policy releasing some W.H. visitor logs. Sean Spicer called the Obama logs a "faux attempt" at transparency. When The Daily Caller's Kaitlan Collins asked at Monday's briefing, "Why didn't he take this opportunity to one-up the transparency game?" Spicer cited a desire for privacy.
Other reporters followed up... about visitor logs and taxes... and Trump's lack of transparency became a big theme. CNNPolitics' Jeremy Diamond has a full recap here... | | | Time for W.H. door cameras... | | Re-upping Amanda Carpenter's idea from a few days ago: "If Trump doesn't want to bother with visitor logs I'll settle for WH door cameras. Deal? Think of the ratings, Don!" | | | Writers Guild negotiations will resume next week | | This just in from the Writers Guild: "The WGA and the AMPTP have agreed to resume negotiations on Tuesday, April 25, 2017."
-- As VF's Rebecca Keegan wrote earlier Monday, "without a deal, a work stoppage would begin May 2 and would immediately cripple late-night TV shows, stall scripted-series production, and halt writing on any film scripts in development..." | | | Facebook says "we know we need to do better" | | With the Cleveland shooting suspect still on the loose, Facebook on Monday afternoon provided a detailed timeline of the man's Facebook usage... it said the suspect's account was disabled within two hours of the first sign of trouble... but added, "we know we need to do better..."
-- My question in this video for CNNMoney: Do these uploading and live-streaming capabilities do more harm, or do more good? | | | This Fox contributor says O'Reilly should go | | Mo Elleithee, a former DNC spokesman who joined Fox as a Democratic contributor last fall, tweeted the NYT story about O'Reilly and Megyn Kelly Monday morning and wrote: "O'Reilly's behavior should drive him out of Fox." | | | Protest planned for Tuesday | | Via NYT's Emily Steel: "Planned for Tuesday: the women's group Ultraviolet is leading a protest outside Fox News HQ, calling for O'Reilly's ouster."
On Monday the liberal group sent a letter signed by 450 "sexual assault and domestic violence survivors and their loved ones" to James Murdoch. "We urge you to choose women's safety and justice for survivors by getting rid of O'Reilly once and for all," the letter said. LawNewz has details here...
-- Why James? Because he's the CEO of 21st Century Fox and because sources say he's inclined to cut O'Reilly loose... | | | "O'Reilly's side swings back on harassment charge" | | This WashPost story by Paul Farhi is significant -- it describes how "O'Reilly's camp is vigorously contesting" Wendy Walsh's harassment allegation "in an unusually public way."
Farhi writes: "His advocates have challenged details of her story, as well as some of the media reporting about it." Read more... | | -- What do you think of this? In a four-minute viral video, Vox's Carlos Maza criticizes CNN's super-panels of political commentators... specifically pro-Trump commentators like Jeffrey Lord... (Vox)
-- Ken Doctor's latest must-read is about the "Trump Subscriber Surge." He hones in on Conde Nast, saying more of its magazines will be charging for digital access: "Conde is exploring meters for titles beyond The New Yorker and Vanity Fair..." (TheStreet)
-- The Daily Mail, Elite Daily, The Independent's Indy100, Huffington Post Germany, and news sites around the world were fooled by a hoax about a husband and wife being twins... Craig Silverman unpacks it here... (BuzzFeed) | | | Gayle King vacationing with the Obamas | | Pictures of the Obamas vacationing on David Geffen's yacht in the South Pacific generated lots of attention on Monday. The Obamas' companions included Bruce Springsteen, Tom Hanks, and Oprah Winfrey.
Another vacationer that wasn't mentioned in the news coverage: Gayle King. But she was visible in one of the paparazzi photos from the trip. When I inquired, a CBS News spokeswoman confirmed that King was in the photo... but declined to comment on the ethical quandaries that a vacation with a recent ex-president might present. Of course, it's no secret that King travels in A-list circles... she sometimes talks about it on "CBS This Morning..." | | | Netflix rounding the 100 million subscriber corner | | Seth Fiegerman writes: "Netflix added 5 million members globally in the first quarter of 2017, bringing its total subscriber base to just shy of 99 million users. That comes on the heels of Netflix's biggest quarter for new subscribers ever. 'We expect to cross the 100 million member mark this weekend,' Netflix wrote in its letter to shareholders Monday. 'It's a good start...'" | | | More headlines from the earnings announcement | | -- WSJ: Netflix wants to be judged by revenue growth and margins going forward, not subscriber gains...
-- Recode: Amazon? HBO? Netflix "thinks its real competitor is... sleep"
-- BuzzFeed: Netflix subscribers "have watched a collective half a billion hours of Adam Sandler..." | | | What will "Infowars" fans think of this? | | Jury selection got underway Monday in a child custody trial involving "Infowars" host Alex Jones and his ex-wife. It's newsworthy because Jones is defending himself "with an argument based partially on a claim that he is simply a performance artist," Dylan Byers writes. "That defense will likely come as news to the millions who listen to Jones on radio broadcasts and Infowars.com..."
-- Chris Cuomo tweets: "How do Infowars lovers feel about alex jones arguing at his custody case that he is only acting on his show? Kind of a relief to me..." | | Tom Kludt emails: It's been a little more than week since Glenn Beck was sued by Tomi Lahren. In a counterclaim filed on Monday, Beck and The Blaze fired back by asserting that Lahren was never fired. Rather, the claim states that when Lahren was suspended for a week last month, she was told that the company "would continue to honor her contract (as it has and continues) and would invoke its rights to 'pay or play' (i.e., to pay Lahren but not broadcast her show.)"
In case there was any doubt that the legal battle is bound to get even more acrimonious, the claim goes on to accuse Lahren of being a lousy employee, one who regularly mistreated staff and instigated feuds with other talent...
When I reached Lahren via email, she said she was heading to a speaking engagement and was unable to respond to the latest development. But she did respond on Twitter... | | | What about her Facebook page? | | More from Tom Kludt: Lahren's popular Facebook page remains dormant, as it has been since last month. Lahren claimed in her lawsuit that the company had blocked access to her Facebook account. But in the counterclaim on Monday, attorneys for Beck and The Blaze said that she "has access to her social media accounts, as well as a Facebook page The Blaze created and maintains..." | | | Boris Epshteyn joins Sinclair | | Sinclair Broadcasting has hired a Trump insider: Boris Epshteyn. Fresh from his brief stint in the White House, Epshteyn will be the "chief political analyst" for Sinclair, "appearing across the 173 television stations Sinclair owns, operates or provides services for across the country," Dylan Byers reports... | | | How Trump is influenced by TV | | Brian Lowry emails: There are some provocative insights in Jonathan Chait's piece on how Trump is influenced by TV, including this key observation: "Television news is his reality." What's significant about that, if you accept Chait's premise, is that TV news offers a highly curated, inevitably selective view of reality, one that has a tendency to play up threats and feed apprehensions — a theory as old as researcher George Gerbner's "mean world syndrome..." | | -- An interesting Ben Mullin joint: "How The New York Times decides which stories to link to (and which ones to match)" (Poynter)
-- Megan Thomas emails: Harvey Weinstein shared his unfiltered take on the state of the industry in this new THR interview. Harvey's dream producing gig? The Oscars. "Steven Spielberg and I once talked about producing it together. If we could survive each other, we'd do a great job..." (THR)
-- Correction to last night's newsletter: I had Twitter on the brain, so I mistook Shannon Bond's Twitter handle, @ShannonPareil, for her name. Sorry Shannon! Her interview with Lena Dunham is still well worth the read... | | | "24: Legacy" ends with a whimper | | Brian Lowry emails: "24: Legacy" came to an end Monday night with more of a whimper than a bang. Coupled with another Fox revival, "Prison Break," the network has demonstrated how the marketing value of TV reboots only goes so far when there are missteps in terms of execution...
Read Lowry's full column here >>> | | | JFK gets 'Hitler' treatment from History | | More from Brian Lowry: The producers of History's "Hunting Hitler"— which explored whether the Nazi leader might have escaped Germany — are at it again, this time with "JFK Declassified: Tracking Oswald." The six-part series, which premieres April 25, purports to mine government documents to determine whether assassin Lee Harvey Oswald acted alone. Former CIA agent Bob Baer will again be featured in the program... | | Megan Thomas emails: If you've already watched the "Girls" finale, or stopped watching the show a few seasons ago but want to know how it all ends for Hannah and her friends, Lena Dunham and Jenni Konner break down the series finale with EW... | | 'Survivor's' Jeff Varner looking for work after outing | | Lisa France emails: "Survivor's" Jeff Varner didn't just lose out on the show's big cash prize, he's also now looking for work after outing his cast-mate as transgender. Varner's employer, a North Carolina real estate agency, fired him in wake of the controversy. Read more... | | | Catch up on Sunday's "Reliable Sources" | | | | Rather: "Be skeptical. Not cynical, but skeptical" | | Journalists are reporting what U.S. government sources are saying about military action, but "much of what you first hear turns out to be wrong or somewhat wrong," Dan Rather said on Sunday's "Reliable Sources."
He emphasized the need for journalistic skepticism -- "not cynical, but skeptical" -- and acknowledged his own shortcomings, saying that he did not ask "enough of the right questions" before the Bush administration invaded Iraq in 2003. "I think we need to remind ourselves of that today," he said. CNNMoney's Jackie Wattles has a recap of the segment here... | | | Notable quotes from the show | | -- NPR's Michael Oreskes saying newsrooms put "an enormous amount of attention on POTUS" and not enough attention on "very important places like the Pentagon and the Justice Department..."
-- HuffPost's Lydia Polgreen talking about Trump's recent interviews and the limited value of accessibility: "If someone's speaking in gobbledygook, you know, and their words don't have any meaning, then what are you supposed to do with that?"
-- Reuters' Steve Adler saying we're "living in a world of clickbait," but the "entertainment value" of some Trump stories "is actually dangerous..."
-- Former Obama comms director Jen Psaki opining that Trump may look at his polls and say, "Well, military action may be the way to get my numbers up." Psaki added: "I hope that's not the case, but we could certainly see that happen..." | | My sit-down with banker turned writer/photographer Chris Arnade aired on Sunday's show. Arnade, who has criss-crossed the country visiting troubled areas, described what he sees as a "front row" and "back row" divide in America -- two groups speaking two different languages.
CNN's Alexandra King summed up the segment here: People in communities who feel "left behind" often "feel distrustful of the press, who, he said, are an innately 'front row' group. There is an 'elitism in the media that's not intentional, necessarily,' he said..."
-- More: When I asked Arnade if his interviews leave him feeling "more hopeful or less," Arnade's answer was simple. "Less. Sorry. I wish I could say hopeful." But "this a division that is only growing, and unfortunately I don't see good things ahead." | | What do you like about this newsletter? What do you dislike? Send your feedback to reliablesources@cnn.com. We appreciate every email. | |  | | 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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