EXEC SUMMARY: A pattern by President Trump, a blunt reassessment by Geraldo Rivera, a weekend full of announcements by Marvel, a controversial decision by Cumulus, and much more...
Mueller Hearings: TV coverage plans
The hearings are still a couple of days away, but the coverage plans are already in place. The big three broadcast networks will scrap their regular schedules and carry the hearings live. Norah O'Donnell, in her second week as "Evening News" anchor, will lead the coverage starting around 8:30am ET. NBC and ABC reps say their networks will also air special reports. And Fox News will offer coverage to Fox stations.
It should go without saying that the hearings will be live up and down cable, as well. Bret Baier and Martha MacCallum will anchor on Fox News starting at 8am ET, "preempting Fox & Friends," the network's press release notes. Wolf Blitzer and Jake Tapper will anchor on CNN. Both the morning and afternoon hearings will also be on C-SPAN3...
It's up to Mueller
"It has the potential of being a tip-over moment," Dan Rather said on "Reliable Sources" Sunday morning. "Everything depends on what Mueller is prepared to say and how well particularly the Democratic members of the committee handle the whole thing. It certainly has the potential to rivet the country." Potential, yes. But will the testimony really rivet the country? Will the hearings change any minds? Rather says Mueller's impact is "up to Mueller. How much is he willing to give?" | |
"A wounded Trump is better than a martyred Trump"
House Judiciary Chairman Jerry Nadler said on "Fox News Sunday" that Mueller's report presented "very substantial evidence" that Trump is "guilty of high crimes and misdemeanors" -- an impeachable offense. Nadler said Dems have to "let Mueller present those facts to the American people" (side note: Mueller presented his facts in a written report a few months ago) "and then see where we go from there, because the administration must be held accountable."
Okay, so Nadler is banking on televised hearings making all the difference. But will the hearings make a difference to Nancy Pelosi? Rather commented to me that the Democratic leadership has taken the stance that a "wounded Trump is better than a martyred Trump. So, they want to keep saying he's committed crimes, but so far they're not doing very much about it."
How many people will tune in?
It's too soon for me to venture a guess. But this quote in Alayna Treene's report for Axios stood out to me: "The success will be in the TV ratings," Rep. Ro Khanna said. "The more Americans that watch, the more successful it is."
IN OTHER NEWS...
"Capable"
On Sunday morning Trump tweeted, "I don't believe the four Congresswomen are capable of loving our Country." Twelve hours later, there's still no word on why he believes they're INCAPABLE -- which leaves only one obvious answer. His tweet prompted even more discussion of "the squad" and the political consequences of his racist attack.
On Sunday's "Reliable Sources" I asked: If this is what Trump wants the next 16 months to be about, is the press up to the challenge? Click here to watch part one and/or part two of the discussion with Rather, Tara Dowdell and Astead Herndon...
Covering the pattern
Here's what I wanted to get across on Sunday's "Reliable." Yes, some parts of Trump's track record on race are well known: Birtherism. Mexican "rapists." A "total and complete shut-down of Muslims entering the U.S." Judge Curiel. "Shithole countries." Charlottesville. And many news outlets have been referring back to these episodes while covering "go back" and "send her back." Journalists have been seeking to connect the dots.
But this pattern goes back even further... to the DOJ's discrimination lawsuit against Trump in the 1970s... and his call for the Central Park Five to be executed in 1989... and so on.
Flashing forward a few decades, what about... His false claim about "large-scale killing" of white farmers in South Africa? His first presidential pardon, which was granted to Joe Arpaio? His reported comment that migrants from Haiti "all have AIDS?" His remark that athletes who knelt during the national anthem maybe "shouldn't be in the country?"
What about retweeting racists and bigots? What about exaggerating urban crime? What about claiming that Puerto Rico is not part of the U.S.? What about referring to Omarosa as "that dog?"
There's a pattern, going back decades and continuing up until the present day. Covering the pattern requires history, context and time. Are news outlets up to the challenge? Here's my opening essay from TV...
Geraldo breaks with Trump
I noticed some of the NYT's competitors lauding this five-bylined story on the front page of Sunday's paper. It was titled "Trump Employs an Old Tactic: Using Race for Gain."
"For some who defended Mr. Trump against charges of racism in the past," the "go back" attack "was a turning point," the reporters wrote, bringing in Fox's Geraldo Rivera:
"As much as I have denied it and averted my eyes from it, this latest incident made it impossible. My friendship with the president has cost me friendships, it has cost me schisms in the family, my wife and I are constantly at odds about the president. I do insist that he's been treated unfairly. But the unmistakable words, the literal words he said, is an indication that the critics were much more right than I."
Rivera followed up on Twitter on Sunday: "If you love this POTUS you have to have the courage to call him out when he goes too far. This episode with #TheSquad went too far (in a destructive, anti-American values direction)."
New polling from CBS | | The headline on CBSNews.com: "Most Americans disagree with Trump's 'go back' tweets."
This new poll, conducted by YouGov, found that 48% of Americans feel the ideas expressed in the tweets were racist... 34% said not racist...
The Fox connection
This is the finding that stood out to me most: According to the poll, Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, Ilhan Omar, Rashida Tlaib and Ayanna Pressley "are better known to Republicans than they are to members of their own party, and as with many members of Congress, many Americans are unfamiliar with them."
Right-wing media coverage is just one cause of this effect, to be sure. But it is striking to discover just how much airtime the Dem lawmakers have garnered -- especially from their harshest critics. Before the CBS poll came out, we crunched the numbers, and came away with two big findings. First, Ocasio-Cortez and Omar have been talked about a lot more on Fox than on other cable news channels this year. THREE TIMES as much. Second, the freshwomen have been getting more attention on cable than seasoned leaders of the Democratic Party. Someone like Jim Clyburn, for instance, barely ever gets mentioned compared to AOC. Here's my full story with all the data, compiled by producer Marina di Marzo...
--> The polling and the TV data reminds me of this Vox piece about "asymmetrical intensity..."
FOR THE RECORD, PART ONE
-- HuffPost's Hayley Miller credits Chris Wallace with "shutting down" Stephen Miller's "lie" on Sunday morning... (HuffPost)
-- Jay Rosen's newest Twitter thread "is about what the press can do when it doesn't want to take the bait, but it feels it has to report on his latest outrage. There are some creative options..." (Twitter)
-- Mark Di Stefano's latest: Inside the BBC's debate about whether to "call Trump a racist..." (BuzzFeed)
Raj Shah joins Fox Corp
WaPo's Josh Dawsey had this scoop on Friday, and Fox confirmed it on Saturday: Raj Shah, formerly Trump's principal deputy press secretary, is now a senior VP at Fox Corp, the parent company of Fox News. Shah reports to Viet Dinh, Fox's chief legal and policy officer. Fox isn't saying exactly what Shah's job entails, but he is based in DC... Here's my story...
"A Top Ad Agency's Employees Are Angry Their Firm Does Work For Trump's Border Patrol"
This is a remarkable story by BuzzFeed's Lam Thuy Vo: "On July 9 employees at iconic advertising firm Ogilvy met with CEO John Seifert to demand answers about the company's newly-revealed work with US Customs and Border Protection." BuzzFeed obtained a recording of the meeting and transcribed the whole thing. "It's one of the most striking documents to emerge of the sharp new conflict, largely generational, between companies accustomed to working largely uncontroversially with the US government, and employees who expect even a public relations firm to carry a set of values..."
The Pete Buttigieg interview that won't be heard on the radio | | Radio host Blair Garner taped an interview with Pete Buttigieg in Nashville last week. It was the Buttigieg campaign's idea -- "since Country music tends to lean in a conservative direction, I was surprised" to get the opportunity, Garner wrote afterward. "But more than surprised, I was EXTREMELY flattered. One of the few truly viable candidates in the race raised his hand and asked for a place at the table. I was willing to give him that seat. I would have also given a seat to any other viable candidate, from both sides."
But if you want to hear the interview, you'll have to look up his personal SoundCloud page. Garner said he was told by someone at his employer, Cumulus Media, that he "couldn't air it" on broadcast.
This controversy is now getting a lot of attention -- via stories on HuffPost, WaPo and other websites.
"It was a great discussion, and we are obviously disappointed that Blair's listeners won't have the opportunity to hear it," Buttigieg's senior comms adviser Lis Smith told me...
Cumulus cites "equal time" rule
So how is Cumulus defending its decision? This way: "Cumulus Nashville's programming managers made the decision not to air Blair Garner's pre-recorded interview with Mayor Pete Buttigieg because of the large number of political candidates currently in this race," the company says. "The decision was made by local programming management based solely on concerns related to the application of the FCC's Equal Time Rule. The effects of the FCC's Equal Time Rule are widely understood and considered whenever these types of issues arise."
Media week ahead calendar
Tuesday: Snapchat reports earnings...
Wednesday: The aforementioned Mueller hearings...
Wednesday: Facebook and AT&T report earnings...
Thursday: Alphabet, Amazon, and Comcast report earnings...
Friday: Twitter reports earnings...
Friday: "Once Upon a Time in Hollywood" lands in theaters...
CBS blacked out in AT&T homes
The fee fight has been going on all weekend... "CBS, the nation's most-watched television network, went dark for more than 6.5 million AT&T customers early Saturday after the two media giants couldn't agree on a new contract," the NYT's Edmund Lee wrote. The blackout is still in effect as of Sunday night.
A unique angle to this feud: "In addition to a smaller fee increase, AT&T is pushing for the ability to sell CBS's streaming service as a separate option, which could give it more flexibility and lower costs by potentially removing the channel from its basic bundle..."
>> Reminder: CNN is part of WarnerMedia, which is owned by AT&T...
>> Are you affected by this blackout? I'd love to hear from you for a story I'm working on...
Still no comment from ESPN or Le Batard
"ESPN is making sure that its employees know there is [no] change in the network's policy to avoid talking about politics unless it intersects with sports," the AP's David Bauder wrote over the weekend, after radio host Dan Le Batard criticized the policy and savaged Trump in a recent monologue.
"The reminder went out Friday to all employees, including Le Batard, according to an ESPN employee who spoke on condition of anonymity... ESPN has not spoken publicly about Le Batard's comments, including whether he faces any disciplinary action." And: "Reached on Saturday, Le Batard also declined comment..."
Granderson's column
Brian Lowry emails: LA Times sports columnist LZ Granderson addressed Le Batard's comments about the difficulty divorcing sports from politics in the current environment. Citing conversations with execs at ESPN -- where he hosts a radio show -- Granderson expressed sympathy for those "protecting" the business of sports, while adding that Le Batard is "rightly questioning the cost of that protection," and whether it's possible to still treat sports and other forms of entertainment as "escapes from the real world." Read on...
FOR THE RECORD, PART TWO
-- The T-Mobile/Sprint merger is "nearing completion after controversial and lengthy negotiations," with an announcement possible mid-week, Charlie Gasparino and Lydia Moynihan report… (Fox Biz)
-- "The media campaign to remake Jeffrey Epstein's public image after he got out of jail in 2009 included articles describing him as a forward-thinking philanthropist on websites like Forbes, National Review and HuffPost. All 3 been removed in recent days." Tiffany Hsu has the details here... (NYT)
-- Eric Zorn writing about Ann Arbor, Michigan: "10 years later, the death of its daily newspaper still haunts my hometown..." (Tribune)
FOUR HIGHLIGHTS FROM SUNDAY'S "RELIABLE SOURCES"
The origins of "the cruelty is the point"
The Atlantic staff writer Adam Serwer, who coined the phrase "the cruelty is the point" last year, says a key part of the president's relationship with his supporters is "this sort of community flaying of the president's enemies." On Sunday I talked with Serwer about how and why those five words have spread through the media ecosystem. He said the phrase "concisely articulates something that everybody knew and understood, but struggled to say because it feels so strange for us to be watching something like this unfold today in our own time..."
Astead Herndon's wisdom
| | This is an "unprecedented time" in the news business, when the president's words are "forcing new choices on media outlets," NYT political reporter Astead Herndon said on Sunday's "Reliable." For example: Whether to call racist comments racist. Herndon said newsrooms should be guided by what's true.
--> One of his key points: "Newsrooms need to recognize that race and identity will be the central, key point of this election." And bosses need to "empower reporters to think about those issues in the same kind of fact-driven, clear-eyed accountability driven way that we think about other issues."
--> On the importance of talking with lots and lots of voters: "When I've talked to folks about white identity, and what they are feeling right now, they will openly tell you, kind of, that they are worried about replacement... They are worried about the influx of minorities and immigrants." This is "not the side course of this election," he said. "It is the main entree..."
Dem candidates pledge to bring back W.H. press briefings
As of Sunday, the White House has not held an on-camera press briefing for 132 days. This is the longest such drought in modern history. There's been some talk that new press secretary Stephanie Grisham will bring the briefing back in some form, but it hasn't happened yet.
On Sunday's "Reliable," I pointed to Michael Calderone's recent survey for Politico. He found that nearly all of the Democratic candidates for president have promised to restore regular briefings...
Meet the founder of the socialist magazine Jacobin
Bhaskar Sunkara, the founder and editor of Jacobin, the foremost socialist magazine in the U.S., says his publication has been on a growth spurt thanks to Bernie Sanders' rise and Trump's election. We spoke on Sunday's "Reliable," and I asked him to react to Fox's portrayal of "toxic" socialist policies... He said "it really behooves them to try to scare monger people..."
FOR THE RECORD, PART THREE
-- This twitterer's call for replies is generating a fun conversation: "Name a fictional character who absolutely voted for Trump. NO villains." (Twitter)
-- "It's a sign of the times when farmers make more money advocating for the industry on social media than actually farming..." (Bloomberg)
| | Variety.com editor Stu Oldham rightly described it as an "epic weekend" for Disney, with the combination of the "Endgame" milestone, the news out of Comic-Con and "The Lion King's" huge opening. Let's start with the "King:"
"Lion King" breaks records
"The Lion King" reboot "blew past industry expectations," Frank Pallotta wrote Sunday. The film has made "an estimated $531 million worldwide in 10 days of release. That includes an estimated $185 million opening this weekend in North America. Analysts had projected that the film would make around $150 million for its domestic opening..."
--> Records: "The film is the 9th highest-grossing opening ever, the biggest opening for the month of July and for a PG-rated film..."
"Avengers" tops "Avatar"
Pallotta noted that "The Lion King" was also the second highest-grossing opening of the year behind "Avengers: Endgame," which this weekend passed "Avatar" as the biggest box-office blockbuster ever. Oh yes -- and he has a complete story about that milestone here.
The latest "Avengers" total: More than $2.789 billion worldwide.
Horn's horn-tooting statement
Since Disney acquired the "Avatar" franchise through the Fox deal earlier this year, Alan Horn came out with a statement that saluted both:
"A huge congratulations to the Marvel Studios and Walt Disney Studios teams, and thank you to the fans around the world who lifted 'Avengers: Endgame' to these historic heights," he said. And he noted how long "Avatar" held the record: "Even with the passage of a decade, the impact of James Cameron's 'Avatar' remains as powerful as ever. The talented filmmakers behind these worlds have much more in store, and we look forward to the future of both the Marvel Cinematic Universe and Pandora."
Coming later this year...
The NYT's Brooks Barnes and Nicole Sperling, in their first co-byline, note that "in the coming days, Disney's remake of 'Aladdin,' released in May, will cross $1 billion worldwide. 'Toy Story 4,' which arrived in June from Disney's Pixar division, is also approaching that threshold; its total now stands at $859 million, according to Comscore. And the barrage is nowhere near over: Still to come from Disney this year are 'Frozen 2,' a 'Maleficent' sequel and 'Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker,' among others..."
Coming in future years...
Brian Lowry emails: Marvel frequently exhibits independence within the Disney kingdom, which might explain why the studio brought such a tide of news to Comic-Con regarding its upcoming lineup of movies, in a year when Disney is squirreling away lots of announcements and presentations for its own self-promoting convention, D23 Expo, which will be held in Anaheim in late August.
Here are some of the Marvel headlines... | | Marvel's "Phase Four"
CNN's Scott Huver writes: "Marvel Studios president Kevin Feige near simultaneously broke the Internet and San Diego Comic-Con International with long-awaited mega-announcement of the Disney-owned powerhouse studio's 'Phase Four' slate of television projects, promising new big-and small-screen adventures of fan-favorites, the ascent of headliners previously little known outside of comic book fandom, and an increasingly diverse slate of both on-screen characters and behind-the-scenes creators."
Phase Four "includes the first 'Black Widow' solo film, the deep-dive property 'Eternals' (with a prestigious creative pedigree thanks to Marvel mainstay Jack Kirby), 'Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings,' upgrading a cult-hit character from the '70s kung fu craze, a revival of the vampiric 'Blade' franchise that launched Marvel's movie brand; and the sequels 'Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness' (promising to bring a more horrific edge to the MCU) and 'Thor: Love and Thunder' (in which Natalie Portman will lift the hammer)." Here's what Feige told Huver about the plans...
Marvel calls these shows "mega-event limited series:"
More from Huver's story: "The film slate -- and Marvel's increasingly epic interconnected continuity -- is also being bolstered by a collection of mini-series that will help launch Disney's forthcoming streaming service Disney+, focusing on established Avengers and their enemies, including 'Falcon and The Winter Soldier,' 'WandaVision,' 'Hawkeye,' 'Loki' and the alternate reality-exploring 'What If...'"
LAST BUT NOT LEAST...
"Big Little Lies" finale night
I am still several episodes behind 😬 but the finale aired on Sunday night... And Brian Lowry's review is up on CNN Entertainment for everyone who watched...
Note to my wife Jamie: Let's try to catch up Monday/Tuesday!
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