| | | | | Exec summary: Scroll down for details about Joel Achenbach's suspension, Ronan Farrow's talks with HBO, Jarl Mohn's return to NPR, and Logan Paul's punishment... | | "Welcome back to the studio" | | | This quote from President Trump spoke volumes. He greeted journalists in the Cabinet Room on Wednesday by welcoming them back to his "studio," one day after he opened up his bipartisan meeting to cameras for almost an hour. Once a reality TV star, always a reality TV star! Trump went on to complain about coverage, invoke "libel laws," and claim that the media will go "out of business" if he's not re-elected in three years. Details below... | | That's what Jake Tapper said on "The Lead" Wednesday afternoon.
At 3pm, POTUS repeatedly brought up Hillary Clinton, unprompted, during his joint presser.
At 9pm, Kellyanne Conway brought up Clinton while being interviewed by Chris Cuomo on CNN. Then she said this: "We don't care about her. Nobody here talks about her. Hey Chris, nobody here talks about Hillary Clinton." | | About those anchor "letters..." | | Back to Wednesday's Cabinet Room session. POTUS bragged about getting praise from unnamed TV anchors after Tuesday's session: "A lot of those anchors sent us letters saying that was one of the greatest meetings they've ever witnessed."
So reporters started asking the W.H.: Which anchors? From what networks? The press office all but admitted that he was fibbing: In response to the Q's, press aides sent around a list of tweets from reporters and commentators saying positive things about the display of transparency... | | 355 days, "more than 2,000 false or misleading claims" from Trump | | That's the word from the WashPost's fact-checking team. Here's the story ICYMI...
🔌: I'll be talking about all this in the 6am hour of CNN's "New Day" on Thursday... | | In the past seven days, POTUS has complained about the nation's libel laws and tried to stop the publication of a book, while one of his longtime lawyers has filed a defamation suit against BuzzFeed. Is this all a reflection of Trump's rising anger at news coverage of his presidency?
I asked First Amendment lawyer Floyd Abrams about these legal comments and action. Abrams' view: "On one level, it's just part of Trump's daily denigration of the press," but it still must be taken seriously... | | On the campaign trail, Trump pledged to "open up our libel laws," but this is the most detailed he's been since getting elected: "We are going to take a strong look at our country's libel laws," he said Wednesday, "so that when somebody says something that is false and defamatory about someone, that person will have meaningful recourse in our courts."
Is this just more empty talk from the president? Abrams pointed out: "His definition of what he wants to deal with is precisely what the law currently allows you to deal with." Here's my full story... | | | Boston Globe's Matt Viser tweeted: "President Trump, who has said Barack Obama wasn't born in the United States and Ted Cruz's father was behind JFK assassination, says laws should make it harder to say things that are false..." | | Michael Wolff's book is debuting at No. 1 on The New York Times' best sellers list. Given Wolff's very public disdain for the paper, he must be savoring this...
--> The publisher, Henry Holt & Co., has struggled to keep up with demand. The company has received orders for more than one million copies, according to a person involved in the book's release. Here's my full story... | | Wolff admits to some "regret" ! | | Julia Waldow emails: Wolff stopped by "The View" Wednesday morning -- and things with Meghan McCain got tense, as The Daily Beast wrote here. "You know, Michael, your credibility is being questioned," McCain told Wolff, bringing up some of the factual errors in his book. "I regret mixing up Mike Berman and Mark Berman," he said before making a joke about it...
-- More: Susan Glasser's latest for The New Yorker: "Michael Wolff Says That Washington Will Bury Trump..." | | "The fundamental problem with 'Fire and Fury'" | | | Vice's Eve Peyser wrote about "whether it's Javanka (what every politics reporter says) or Jarvanka (what Michael Wolff says)." The point: "Wolff's insistence on Jarvanka reveals the fundamental problem with 'Fire and Fury...'" | | -- Former CIA counterterrorism analyst Aki Peritz writes: "Foreign spies are watching -- and probably targeting -- Fox News..." (WashPost)
-- AP on "resistance" books: "The rise of Donald Trump has been mirrored by an expanding literary genre that will intensify in 2018, with dozens of new works expected, on top of the dozens from last year..." (AP)
-- Here's how the New York Post "totally botched their Anthony Weiner exclusive..." (Mediaite)
-- Wednesday will be remembered for... the CES blackout! (CNN) | | "I Started the Media Men List. My name is Moira Donegan." | | | The Cut just published this first-person essay... She says she lost her job after creating the list... And "I still don't know what kind of future awaits me now that I've stopped hiding..." | | WashPost suspends Joel Achenbach | | "The Washington Post suspended reporter Joel Achenbach on Wednesday for what it called 'inappropriate workplace conduct' involving current and former female colleagues," WashPost's Paul Farhi reported Wednesday afternoon. The investigation took two months. The unpaid suspension will last three months.
--> Achenbach's statement: I've said and done things that were unprofessional, and I apologize to the women affected by this and acknowledge their courage in speaking out..." | | | Last month Fox News cited no reason for the departure of chief Washington correspondent James Rosen. But NPR's David Folkenflik found out what happened. "According to Rosen's former colleagues," he "had an established pattern of flirting aggressively with many peers and had made sexual advances toward three female Fox News journalists, including two reporters and a producer. And his departure followed increased scrutiny of his behavior at the network." Details here... | | Exposing Hollywood's pay gap problem | | Lisa Respers France emails: Actresses rallied around Michelle Williams after USA Today reported that Mark Wahlberg was paid $1.5 million for reshoots for "All the Money in the World" while she received less than $1,000...
--> The NYT's Brooks Barnes has the backstory on what happened...
--> Megan Thomas notes that SAG-AFTRA is now reportedly looking into the pay disparity... | | The launch of "American Woman" | | | CNN celebrated Brooke Baldwin's new digital video series "American Woman" at Diane Von Furstenberg's flagship store in NYC on Wednesday night. DVF, Ashley Graham, and Elaine Welteroth were panelists for a wide-ranging conversation. Spotted: Christine Quinn, Genevieve Roth, Carol Folt, Sam Barry, Natalie Suarez, Dylan Surez, James Fletcher, Lisa Greene, Carole Cooper, Poppy Harlow, Christine Romans, Allison Gollust, Amy Entelis, Andrew Morse, Ed O'Keefe, Chloe Melas, Ana Navarro, Alison Kosik, Cristina Alesci, Eric Hall, Meredith Artley, Athena Jones, Kelly Wallace, and more. Check out the eight-part series here... | | "I do think it is women who will save the world," DVF told Baldwin at the start of the conversation. DVF had this to say about her longtime friend Oprah Winfrey's Golden Globes speech: "She was amazing... Oprah is probably the most powerful person I have ever met. She is a force like no one. She knows everything, reads everything, does everything. She is just a force."
No new comment from Oprah or Oprahland on Wednesday about the 2020 chatter. Jeff Greenfield, writing for Politico Mag, says the Dems need her now, in 2018: "Stop wasting all your energy worrying about the presidency. It's the Senate that has the real power, and celeb clout can help there, too..." | | Of all the #Oprah2020 criticism I've seen, this stood out from Seth MacFarlane: "Oprah is beyond doubt a magnificent orator. But the idea of a reality show star running against a talk show host is troublingly dystopian. We don't want to create a world where dedicated public service careers become undesirable and impractical in the face of raw celebrity." 50,000+ RTs...
Meantime, Meryl Streep told Christiane Amanpour that Winfrey is "more than qualified," and Tom Hanks joked, "As VP, I just hope President Winfrey gives me occasional rides on Air Force One..." | | -- "Some Democratic House members are planning to invite victims of sexual assault" to Trump's State of the Union address later this month... (NBC)
-- The Daily Beast says Trump consulted Sean Hannity, among others, about the Iran nuclear deal. Hannity did not respond to my request for comment... (Beast)
-- An update from last night: Author and CNN contributor J.D. Vance is seriously considering a run for Senate in Ohio... (CNN)
-- I missed this earlier in the week: "How 'Fox & Friends' rewrites Trump's reality," by Andrew Marantz... (The New Yorker) | | What will Breitbart be without Bannon? | | Oliver Darcy reports: On Wednesday afternoon, Breitbart CEO Larry Solov and EIC Alex Marlow hosted a short company-wide conference call to discuss Breitbart's future in the post-Bannon era. The pair offered kind words about Bannon, according to two Breitbart employees, and announced that Breitbart isn't immediately naming a new executive chairman. They also said there would be no staff changes. "Business as usual" was basically the message.
Read Darcy's full report here... | | Ronan Farrow "close to a multiyear HBO deal" | | | Ronan Farrow is "being courted by a wide array of outlets," THR's Marisa Guthrie reports in this cover story. "Sources say he is close to a multiyear HBO deal that will include an investigative documentary component. Meanwhile, he has joined the contributing staff of The New Yorker and is finishing a book about foreign policy, due in April from WW Norton..." | | Jarl Mohn has been on medical leave for the past two months... But he has now "received clearance from his doctors to resume his normal activities and can now return to work," board chair Paul Haaga told staffers on Wednesday. "His first day back in the office will be this coming Tuesday, January 16. The Board is thrilled with his medical progress and we are all eager for him to return to work full time."
Some staffers were dismayed by Mohn's handling of harassment allegations within NPR, so it's noteworthy that Haaga says COO Loren Mayor "will be continuing her leadership of NPR's workplace improvements..." | | | Jeff Glor anchored the "CBS Evening News" from Montecito, CA on Wednesday evening... CBS pointed out that he was the only network anchor to do so... The death toll stands at 17 after the deadly mudslides in the area, and others are still missing... | | | For the record, part three | | | -- Magazine writer Jada Yuan will be the NYT's "52 Places" traveler... (NYT)
-- Facebook's latest newsy experiment is "Today In," a feature "which brings together local news, updates and events," currently being tested in FB's mobile app in NOLA and five other U.S. cities... (Poynter)
-- Bumble is "diving head first into content," hiring Clare O'Connor as its first Editorial Director..." (TechCrunch)
-- How is Chris Cuomo approaching his four weeks of hosting "Cuomo Primetime" at 9pm? He talked with Jeremy Barr about it... (THR) | | YouTube punishes Logan Paul for "suicide forest" video | | | YouTube says it has "decided to remove Logan Paul's channels from Google Preferred," the designation that helps advertisers identify the site's top-performing channels. Jackie Wattles has the full story here... | | | For the record, part four | | | By Julia Waldow:
-- 21st Century Fox is looking to purchase ten stations from Sinclair... (FT)
-- Pivot to newsletter?: The New Yorker brought on a newsletter director last August as part of the publication's efforts to boost its international readers and subscribers... (Nieman Lab)
-- ICYMI: Digiday has the inside scoop on that New Yorker tote bag you see almost everywhere... (Digiday) | | My debut on "The Opposition" | | | On last night's show, Jordan Klepper asked me about Alex Jones, Oprah, Michael Wolff, and Trump's "corrupt media awards." How's that for a combo? Here's the video of the segment... | | Letterman's Netflix show debuts Friday | | | Megan Thomas emails: Netflix released the first clip of David Letterman's upcoming series "My Next Guest Needs No Introduction," featuring President Obama. In the interview, Obama discusses his family, life post-White House and his "dad dance moves." The show debuts Friday. Here's a link to the clip... | | Queen, Tina Turner among Grammy honorees | | | Lisa Respers France emails: Tina Turner and Queen are among Grammy honorees who are going to receive Lifetime Achievement Awards on January 28... | | | Email brian.stelter@turner.com... I love the feedback, corrections, suggestions, and tips. Thank you! | | | Get Reliable Sources, a comprehensive summary of the most important media news, delivered to your inbox every afternoon. | | | | | |
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