| | | | On Tuesday President Trump gave interviews to Rupert Murdoch's Fox News and NY Post. On Wednesday? Murdoch's Wall Street Journal.
Maybe this helps explain why. Trump "has been heard on multiple occasions talking about how Fox's coverage of him has become more positive since Murdoch took the reins at the network," Dylan Byers writes, citing sources "at both the White House and Fox News."
It's been nine months since Murdoch took over for Roger Ailes. The president "talks about how the coverage under Murdoch is better than under Ailes," a White House source told Byers...
-- Related: Gabriel Sherman tweeted Wednesday morning that Trump was heard on a hot mic telling Maria Bartiromo, "Rupert's been a lot better to me than Roger ever was..." | | This story is on the front of NYT's Business Day section on Thursday: "The Murdochs are awaiting the results of an investigation into Mr. O'Reilly's conduct before making a decision about whether he will stay or go, two people briefed on the plan said Wednesday."
So this is really shaping up to be a repeat of the Roger Ailes situation. Read the NYT story for more about the mood inside 21st Century Fox... | | | Shine standing by O'Reilly | | While James Murdoch and some other Fox execs are seeking to replace O'Reilly, Fox News co-president Bill Shine "is reputed to be a vigorous advocate for keeping Mr. O'Reilly on," the NYT's sources say, affirming what Sherman reported on Tuesday night.
>> Unknown: What does Lachlan Murdoch think? What does Rupert's wife Jerry Hall think? | | Wednesday was O'Reilly's first day of vacation... so Dana Perino filled in on the "Factor." BI's Maxwell Tani notes that Fox has been trying out Perino in a variety of roles, both news and opinion...
-- FYI: Yashar Ali counted a measly 13 ads again, the same # as Monday and Tuesday night.
-- BTW: The NYT says he's visiting Italy and the Vatican... | | | WashPost cites 21 sources for Bannon story | | It's become almost a running joke in journalism circles: The required sentence in news stories about Trumpworld listing the # of usually-anonymous sources. Six! Nine! Thirteen! Eighteen! Here's the latest example... in Thursday's WashPost... Steve Bannon is "struggling to keep his job with his portfolio reduced and his profile damaged, according to interviews Wednesday with 21 of Trump's aides, confidants and allies." | | Ed Henry on Fox News Wednesday night: "I've talked to some presidential advisors who are fearful that if Bannon gets pushed out, he's got Breitbart and all the other allies in the alt-right movement, if he's pushed out, he may turn their guns against the White House..." | | | Seven highlights from the Newseum's "President and the Press" forum in DC: | | With journalists and politicos buzzing about whether Sean Spicer's job is on the line... whether he has become too much of a liability to continue as press secretary... Spicer bluntly said "I let the president down" while questioned by Greta Van Susteren. Here's my full story... + my package from "Erin Burnett OutFront," produced by Laurie Frankel...
-- Bottom line: Who would replace Spicer? Right now there's no indication of an impending shakeup in the press office... | | | A pretty "conventional" media posture so far? | | Earlier in the morning, Mike Allen asked Clinton campaign comms boss Jennifer Palmieri what has surprised her about the W.H. media strategy so far:
"I have been surprised that it's been relatively conventional, actually," she said. Palmieri sounded relieved that "there's a daily briefing," since Spicer floated the idea of cutting back. And she pointed out that "President Trump could be going on some of the softer television shows," i.e. daytime and late night talk shows, but he's not doing that... | | | What made attendees laugh | | (Photo via Tammy Haddad)
When Kellyanne Conway told interviewer Michael Wolff that "You can turn on the TV... and people literally say things that just aren't true," there were chuckles in the auditorium. Later on, when Wolff commented that it seems like the Trump admin generates more news than past admins, and Conway said that's because "he's doing more" than past presidents, there were some muffled laughs... | | When Wolff asserted that Trump dislikes Maggie Haberman ("he doesn't like her... he's told me") Conway pretty forcefully pushed back and praised Haberman, citing Dylan Byers' profile of Haberman from last week. WashPost's Erik Wemple, who was there, says it was a "bizarre detour..." and posits that "Wolff seems irregularly irked by Haberman's access..." | | | Conway's jab at Bannon... | | Via Hadas Gold's story: "Asked if there was a disconnect between a White House that has been openly hostile toward the media — but still seems eager to talk to reporters — Conway seemed to jab at some of her colleagues. 'I have noticed if you're someone who says they never talk to the media, you're really free to talk to the media as much as you want,' she said. 'Because no one would suspect you're talking to the media, which is fascinating.'"
That's definitely a shot at Steve Bannon... and who else? | | | "Presumptively negative?" No, but definitely skeptical | | Conway repeated many of her usual critiques of the press -- "presumptive negativity," herd mentality, more interest in process than policy -- so I asked my panelists to respond a few minutes later. ABC's Cecilia Vega said she's presumptively skeptical and cynical, not "negative." Politico's Carrie Budoff Brown said there's plenty of policy-oriented coverage being produced, but noted that "palace intrigue" stories do get a lot of clicks...
-- More: Here's Michael Calderone's recap of the day for HuffPost... | | | What's "still being digested" | | I asked Newseum CEO Jeffrey Herbst what stood out to him -- his response -- "initial concerns that the Trump Administration might restrict press freedom were not referenced by most of the journalists participating in our forum. They described the media's relations with the administration as surprisingly conventional in many regards and noted that access was high. Everyone is struggling with how to align the traditional methodologies of journalism with the huge amount of information now available across multiple platforms. The degree to which Donald Trump disrupted traditional campaigning and now presidential communications is still being digested." | | | Bret Stephens leaps from WSJ to NYT | | Dylan Byers emails: The NYT is adding a powerful and provocative new voice to its ranks. Bret Stephens, the anti-Trump conservative and longtime WSJ writer, will join the Times as an op-ed columnist, he announced Wednesday...
Dylan's take: Stephens is a deeply thoughtful writer and thinker. He is committed to a civic-intellectual tradition of rigorous political commentary that often seems under siege in this era of populism and extreme partisanship. He has integrity, too -- he is not one of the myriad conservatives who opposed Trump early only to defend him later. As a conservative and foreign policy hawk, Stephens will also make arguments that will challenge liberal readers of the Times op-ed page. Whether they agree with him or not, his voice is a welcome addition to a forum that at times can be monotonously one-sided... | | NYT editorial page editor James Bennet's internal memo about Stephens also said this: "You can expect other additions to our lineup in coming months as we continue to broaden the range of Times debate about consequential questions..." | | Politico's Eliana Johnson tweets: "I think it'll matter whether Paul Gigot, editor of WSJ opinion page, replaces Bret Stephens with another Trump skeptic..." | | -- At Trump's joint presser on Wednesday, reporters from Reuters and McClatchy were called on...
-- ABC's Byron Pitts has Tomi Lahren's first interview about her lawsuit against The Blaze... Wednesday on "Nightline..." (ABC)
-- Emily Smith says "NBC News chairman Andy Lack has been in Russia this week, trying to land an interview with the Russian president for the network," maybe for Megyn Kelly... (Page Six) | | | Melania's $2.9 million victory over The Daily Mail | | CNNMoney's Ivana Kottasova and Charles Riley report:
"The Daily Mail has apologized to Melania Trump and agreed to pay damages to settle a lawsuit filed by the first lady after the publisher made false claims about her work as a professional model... Trump will be paid about $2.9 million in damages and costs, according to a source familiar with the settlement." Melania originally asked for at least $150 million in damages... | | Would-be buyers are saying to Time Inc.: You're not worth as much as you think.
Meredith's preliminary acquisition offer "fell short" of Time's $$$ expectations, Reuters' Lauren Hirsch and Jessica Toonkel report, citing sources familiar with the matter. Time "is looking to sell itself for more than $20 per share," but Meredith's not there... Time is ready to negotiate, though... and it has "also been pursuing offers from other parties in what it sees as a competitive sale process." Read more... | | Stephen Colbert is on the cover of THR's annual New York issue... coming out Thursday morning... here's a first look: | | | Joe and Mika are basically confirming they're dating | | Via this THR interview:
SCARBOROUGH: "We have a crackling on-air chemistry, and a crackling off-air chemistry, too."
[[Tatiana Siegel asks them to elaborate.]]
BRZEZINSKI pauses. "That's good."
SCARBOROUGH: "I think that pretty much says it, doesn't it?" | | | FCC fielding "fake news" complaints | | Dozens of Americans have written to the FCC to complain about "fake news" in the past few months. CJR's Jonathan Peters finds that -- no surprise -- the definitions of "fake news" varied wildly. BTW, this tirade about CNN, the "Communist News Network," is one of the complaints Peters highlights:
"Please shut this fake news outlet down bent on terrorizing America with their false narratives promoted by left wing fascist psychopaths."
The FCC reminded the viewer from southeast Texas that the "FCC is barred by law from trying to prevent the broadcast of any point of view..." | | | Awkward moments in Bartiromo's interview with POTUS | | Fox Business host Maria Bartiromo "had to correct Donald Trump when he mistakenly said the U.S. fired missiles at Iraq last Thursday night, not Syria," The Daily Caller's Kaitlan Collins writes. You may find the video clip somewhat cringeworthy. NBC's Katy Tur sure did. After Bartiromo's interview aired on Wednesday morning, Tur tweeted, "Why are they talking about missile strikes as if its a retelling of how a Trump asked someone to prom?"
-- More: WashPost's Aaron Blake says the interview was "thoroughly confusing..." here's why... | | | MTV rebooting "Fear Factor" | | Sandra Gonzalez emails with her latest story: MTV is bringing back "Fear Factor" and giving the former NBC reality show a bit of a makeover for a new generation. Step one: A new host. (Sorry, Joe Rogan.) Musician and actor Ludacris has been enlisted to lead the reboot, which MTV says will feature challenges inspired by urban legends, popular scary movies and viral videos. It's scheduled to premiere May 30... | | | Crying foul over a very similar "SNL" sketch... | | More from Sandra: Elsewhere, Tig Notaro has weighed in on a discussion that started over the weekend regarding a clown sketch featured on "SNL" that very closely resembled a short film Notaro released in 2015 called "Clown Service." In case you didn't see it, the "SNL" sketch featured Louis C.K. hiring a clown for an awkward one-on-one performance. Notaro's film is...basically the same thing. In a statement to EW, Notaro said she found the sketch "extremely disappointing." NBC had no comment. More here... | | 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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