Exec summary: Hey everyone! I'm on the way to CES... Scroll down for Susan Zirinsky's pledge to CBS News, Alex Gibney's next project, NFL #'s, Golden Globes aftermath, and much more...
Wall-to-wall coverage for a pro-wall address
One of the powers of the presidency is the prime time Oval Office address to the nation. President Trump has decided to use this power to discuss his demands for border wall funding. Will he change any minds?
We're going to find out. On Monday afternoon Trump announced a Tuesday 9 p.m. ET address. Bill Shine followed up with reporters and said it would be Trump's first time delivering a speech from the Oval Office. It is expected to be a short speech... about eight minutes... and it could include Trump's announcement of a "national emergency" declaration.
The White House officially requested airtime from the broadcast networks, as is customary in these cases. "He calls us fake news all the time, but needs access to airwaves and cable pipes to deliver his false narrative," a TV exec texted me shortly after the request came in.
Execs at the networks deliberated for a few hours, keeping in mind Trump's record of deception and other factors. Eventually CBS said yes, it would air the address, and NBC and ABC followed within minutes... The Fox broadcast network and PBS, too. Here's what Oliver Darcy and I wrote for CNN...
Equal time?
Oliver Darcy emails: After the broadcast networks said they would air Trump's prime time address, Nancy Pelosi and Chuck Schumer released a joint statement demanding equal air time. "Now that the television networks have decided to air the President's address, which if his past statements are any indication will be full of malice and misinformation, Democrats must immediately be given equal airtime," Pelosi and Schumer said.
But as of 11:30 p.m. ET, it's still unclear if the networks will grant their request. None of the broadcasters have commented yet. (CNN has said it will carry both speeches.)
>> Stelter adds: According to a network source, it seems likely that the broadcasters will agree to the Dem request, but "they haven't yet because they need more information first. Who is going to speak? For how long?"
Anger on the left
My social media feeds have been full of commenters saying that TV networks should not an air an address that's likely to be filled with falsehoods and fear-mongering. I understand where they're coming from, I really do. Trump's distortions about immigration are deeply disturbing. But for network execs, tradition and news judgment — "a presidential address from the Oval Office" — outweighed concerns about the content. It will be incumbent on anchors and reporters to make sure the facts are front and center during the special coverage.
And if I may just make one more point, I think the daily deluge of mis- and dis-information is a more pronounced problem than a single prime time speech...
"Tune into CBS to See B.S."
Stephen Colbert tweeted Monday night: "My network will be carrying Trump's Wall speech live. So at 9pm Tuesday, tune into CBS to See B.S."
Flashback (to last week)
Oliver Darcy emails: Should networks air Trump's words in real-time? Monday's announcement that Trump was seeking airtime for a prime time address plays well with the story I wrote on Friday that focused on this very subject. For that story, I spoke with Margaret Sullivan, Jack Shafer, Todd Gitlin,and Frank Sesno. The consensus among them seemed to be against airing Trump live. But TV execs had a different view. If you missed my story, check it out here...
Lowry's argument in favor of skipping the live coverage
Brian Lowry emails: Two cents worth of analysis on this issue: Trump seldom experiences clear admonition for regularly spouting falsehoods. Denying him live, unfiltered access without some sort of screening or vetting doesn't seem like an unreasonable condition to impose under the circumstances, even if that means facing his Twitter wrath for it.
What about the 2014 case?
From a reader: "Are executives explaining why they declined Obama's 2014 request for airtime, but giving it to Trump?"
My answer: They're not explaining it on the record, but I think I know most of the answers. Obama gave numerous prime time addresses, and virtually all of those were shown live. The exception was this 2014 speech about executive actions on immigration. The White House never formally asked for time, but when it put out feelers about the idea, the broadcast networks were reluctant. Why? Well, they been known to resist presidential requests for airtime for a variety of reasons, including the perceived urgency of the subject and the popularity of the shows that would be interrupted. That may sound ridiculous, but it's true. Some former Obama aides disagree with this, but I don't think Obama's 2014 speech in the sixth year of his presidency -- which he went ahead and delivered anyway -- is comparable to Trump's planned address, which involves using the formal Oval Office setting for the first time in his presidency.
Cooper took the words right out of my mouth | | Anderson Cooper on "AC360" Monday night: "It's not our job to argue for or against walls or shutdowns or anything that one party or another wants. It's up to elected officials. What is our job is to point out when officials are making their case disingenuously or dishonestly, when they're making stuff up essentially. And sadly, yet again, that's what the President seems to be doing." More...
If you repeat it over and over again, often enough...
CNN's Betsy Klein tweeted: "The word 'crisis' was used 37 times during today's briefing on border security with VP Mike Pence, DHS Sec. Kirstjen Nielsen, and acting OMB director Russell Vought, per the official transcript."
Two key sentences
In Tuesday's WaPo: Many immigration experts "have said the Trump administration is exaggerating the security threat at the border and amplifying data in misleading ways or with outright falsehoods." BUT: "Trump's leading allies on the right, such as Fox News host and presidential confidant Sean Hannity, have spoken encouragingly about the prospect and emboldened Trump in recent days, officials said..." | | A timely fact-check
A timely fact-check about one of Trump's border claims: "Trump claimed ex-presidents told him they wanted to build a wall. Four of them say it's not true."
Keep in mind: Most Americans see right through the president's tricks. Poll after poll shows that most Americans do not trust him. That's why I'm skeptical that any prime time speech will have a serious effect...
FOR THE RECORD, PART ONE
-- Lemme second this tweet from Susan Glasser: "The President called journalists who oppose him 'crazed lunatics' this morning. Apparently we are so inured to this rhetoric that this no longer rates as news, which I understand but also find very alarming..." (Twitter)
-- Recommended reading: "Revisiting the Trump-Russia dossier" two years after it was first revealed: "What's right, wrong and still unclear?" (CNN)
-- Straight from Capitol Hill to CNN: former lawmakers Mia Love and Luis Gutierrez became CNN commentators on Monday...
-- Katherine O'Hearn is the new exec producer of Washington Post Live... (WaPo)
-- Kendis Gibson, who recently left ABC, is joining MSNBC as a weekend anchor... (Variety)
Kimmel's creative response to the shutdown
A Jimmy Kimmel rep emails with a preview of Monday night's show: "Today is Day 17 of the U.S. government shutdown. Starting tonight, ABC's 'Jimmy Kimmel Live' will be providing work to federal government employees impacted by the shutdown. Every night until the shutdown ends, Kimmel will put a government employee to work on his show. Tonight, John Kostelnik, a Law Enforcement Prison Guard at the Federal Correctional Complex in Victorville, CA, will be sitting in with the show's band so that he will be able to collect a paycheck." Here's the clip...
Allbritton's new project with Tim Grieve
Oliver Darcy emails: Politico's Robert Allbritton is looking to move beyond politics. Last month, Allbritton told Vanity Fair that he was looking at "considering the prospect of new publications outside of Politico's traditional wheelhouse." On Monday, a spokesperson told me Allbritton had hired Politico and McClatchy alum Tim Grieve.
Grieve, who was the founding editor of Politico Pro, has been hired by Allbritton to head a brand new media company. The company will be separate from Politico and focused on something "beyond the realm of politics," the spokesperson told me, adding, "Stay tuned!"
FOR THE RECORD, PART TWO
-- The Dallas Morning News laid off 43 employees on Monday. "The cuts include about 20 writers, editors, photographers and newsroom support personnel..." (Dallas News)
-- Politico's Michael Kruse tweeted: "Thinking about the people who got let go today at the Dallas Morning News. The withering of the places that cover the places where we live. It continues to be a colossal problem for all of us." (Twitter)
-- Dan Goodgame is Texas Monthly's new editor in chief... (Texas)
-- Oliver Darcy emails: BuzzFeed's Charlie Warzel writes about how Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez is a "perfect foil for the pro-Trump media..." (BuzzFeed)
Cheers for Susan Zirinsky
Outgoing CBS News president David Rhodes and incoming president Susan Zirinsky were applauded as they walked into the newsroom on Monday morning... | | Here's some of what Zirinsky told the troops:
-- "We unearth, we reveal, we tell America about America and reveal it to itself, 24/7."
-- "This is about all of us. I want to bring the organization together both spiritually and functionally..."
-- Pay attention to this part: "We have an incredibly gifted group of people, I mean that. Anchors, correspondents, producers, assignment desks, crews, people who have given their lives, editors -- all the support players -- but the important question, and I come back to this again, we need to make sure everybody's in the right place. Place. We'll be having lots of conversations in the coming weeks to figure that out."
-- "We have to look at everything -- what stories we are covering, how we are stacking the shows, framing the scope of the broadcasts, we have to make sure we're at the top of our game."
-- "I know you're standing here looking at me looking for answers, and we will find them, together. I will try with every bone in my body to remove any obstacle that gets in our way. It's about us. Come with me, and help make CBS the greatest it's ever been."
"She's got a morning show to fix"
VF's Joe Pompeo wrote Monday night: "After #MeToo turmoil and ratings drift, Joseph Ianniello made a move that was both radical and obvious in retrospect."
Pompeo quoted a source saying that Zirinsky has "a morning show to fix..." Referring to the shakiness at "CBS This Morning..." In the year since Charlie Rose was fired, the A.M. show is down 13% in the demo and 10% among total viewers...
>> Downward trend in the evening, too: The "CBS Evening News," with Jeff Glor in the chair, is down about 10% in the 25-54 demo... and 5% among total viewers...
FOR THE RECORD, PART THREE
-- Yahoo Finance is streaming eight hours of live programming on weekdays... Monday was the first day... (Talking Biz News)
-- Slate's new daily news podcast "What Next," hosted by Mary Harris, officially launched on Monday after three months of development. The show will go up each weekday at 5 a.m. ET... (Apple)
-- "AM to DM by BuzzFeed News" has been renewed for 2019... The partners say it shows "the strength of the relationship between BuzzFeed News and Twitter..."
NFL #'s stay strong...
"Driven largely by big viewership gains on the NFC side of the bracket, the NFL continued its strong TV ratings momentum throughout the first weekend of the playoffs," The Wrap's Tim Baysinger wrote. "The league reported, citing Nielsen data, that the opening round of the playoffs collectively averaged 28.4 million viewers, which represents a 12% jump from last year."
Check out these #'s: NBC "had its biggest audience for a wild-card round game in at least 30 years with the Philadelphia Eagles-Chicago Bears thriller." The game "averaged 35.9 million viewers for a 15% increase from Fox's coverage of that late-Sunday window a year ago..."
...And the Globes got a boost from the NFL. Maybe.
Frank Pallotta emails: The Golden Globes telecast drew fewer viewers than it did last year, even with the thrilling Eagles-Bears game as a lead-in. But the year-over-year decline was minimal. The Golden Globes averaged 18.6 million viewers, a slight decline from last year's 19 million. Award shows have lost viewership in recent years and breaking even in this TV climate is practically a win...
FOR THE RECORD, PART FOUR
-- A big hire at Disney: Former Fox exec Joe Earley will run marketing and operations for Disney+... (The Wrap)
-- Check out Brooks Barnes' interview with Kenichiro Yoshida, Sony's CEO, who is seeking to "convey the message that Sony is a creative entertainment company..." (NYT)
-- I missed this Peter Kafka gem yesterday: "Apple is going to sell its Apple TV service on Samsung TVs, because Apple wants to be a service company..." (Recode)
Gibney producing "House of Saud" for Showtime
I want to watch this already. "Showtime and documentarian Alex Gibney are teaming up for a film about the complex relationship between the U.S. and Saudi Arabia," THR's Rick Porter wrote Monday. The working title is "House of Saud." Gibney is working with Lawrence Wright on the project...
| | "The Bachelor" is back, and...
Brian Lowry emails: "The Bachelor" (which returned Monday night with a three-hour premiere) and Golden Globes are both treated as major events, ignoring some of the questions about the way the former's produced and the spotty history of the organization that presents the latter. In that regard, they both represent steps on the blurring of lines between reality and "reality," at a moment where the former often seems to be under siege.
Read Lowry's full column here...
THE GLOBES, THE DAY AFTER
Lowry on "Green Book" and the Oscars race
Brian Lowry emails: "Green Book" is bringing a considerable amount of baggage with it as the buddy movie turns the page from its Golden Globe win to the Oscars, having ridden a roller-coaster from its enthusiastic reception at the Toronto Film Festival through a series of controversies prior to Sunday night. Read on...
Why "Bohemian Rhapsody" was likely a hit with Globes voters
Frank Pallotta emails: Many were shocked that the Golden Globes gave its biggest prize to "Bohemian Rhapsody" Sunday night. "A Star Is Born" was robbed!
But is it really surprising? No. The Hollywood *Foreign* Press Association picked a huge global hit film about one of the world's most popular bands. I mean, the film made $743.1 million worldwide, 74% outside North America. So am I happy that it won? No. But am I surprised? Also no.
Netflix, no chill
Brian Lowry emails: Netflix rubs entertainment rivals the wrong way, in part because it seems so insistent on being a smug, obnoxious winner. On a night where the company notched high-profile Golden Globes prizes for "Roma" and the comedy series "The Kominsky Method" -- a spectacle dutifully broadcast on NBC -- Netflix tweeted out a slap at ad-supported television. | | That prompted Variety's Brian Steinberg to point out that it's possible the streaming service might eventually be forced to eat those words by carrying ads itself, perhaps in the next 3-5 years...
The best kind of lies
Megan Thomas emails: This was the BIG news I needed today... "Big Little Lies" Season 2 already looks criminally good... Sandra Gonzalez has the details and the video here... | |
IN CASE YOU MISSED IT... Catch up on Sunday's "Reliable Sources"
Read the transcript... Listen to the podcast via Apple Podcasts, Stitcher, TuneIn, or your favorite app... Watch the video clips on CNN.com... Or watch the whole thing via CNNgo or VOD...
Some of the highlights
-- David Frum made the case that the press should be even tougher on Trump: "Relative to the truth, the prestige press in this country has a pro-Trump bias. Relative to the truth, Trump gets easier coverage than he deserves..."
-- With regards to coverage of the Dems and 2020, Symone Sanders talked about a disconnect between pundits and the public. "It's really important that folks go on the ground, and that we're talking to real people..."
-- Dan Pfeiffer said "Trump drives clicks" for media outlets so Democrats will have to rely on "alternatives," from podcasts like his own ("Pod Save America") to Instagram live chats...
-- Karen Finney (in her first appearance as a CNNer!) emphasized the importance of language. "We can't be afraid to call out things that are racist or sexist..."
-- Connie Schultz told me about the conversations she is having with her husband, Sen. Sherrod Brown, about his possible bid for president...
-- In William Arkin's first TV interview since leaving NBC, he told me "we need to have Trump-free days..." | | | |
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