EXEC SUMMARY: Welcome to the Reliable Sources newsletter! This is Oliver Darcy, continuing to fill in for Brian Stelter. Send your feedback -- and tips -- to me via email. I'm also on Twitter, so do connect with me on there as well. Now, let's get to the news...
It's going to get worse | | If you found yourself online this weekend, you know what a terrible place it was. Jeffrey Epstein's death unleashed a torrent of conspiracy theories online, some of which were propagated by individuals with sizable platforms and influence, including the President of the United States.
In the age of the Information Wars, everything is weaponized for political purposes -- and Epstein's death was no different. Platforms like Twitter, which continue to allow vile conspiracy theories to trend, make it easy for misinformation and conspiracy theories to spread quickly, and reach new audiences.
And, while I hate to be the bearer of bad news, it needs to be said: With the 2020 campaign approaching, and with bad actors continuing to pollute our information ecosystem, things are going to get worse.
Trump's shameful retweet
"President Donald Trump on Saturday promoted a conspiracy theory linking the Clinton family to the death of multimillionaire and accused sex trafficker Jeffrey Epstein, the latest instance of Trump propagating baseless conspiracy theories and falsehoods," Jeremy Diamond reported on CNN.com.
Others added fuel to fire
Trump was not the only high-profile person who fueled the conspiratorial flames. Immediately after news broke of Epstein's death, other politicians and high-profile members of the media also stoked speculation about what might have happened.
>> Wise words from ProPublica reporter Dara Lind: "If you have a blue check you really owe it to society not to tweet assertions that aren't clearly labeled as baseless speculation. That goes 10x if your bio identifies you as a journalist." I couldn't agree more.
"Our information system is poisoned"
There are few journalists who understand the current moment as well as Charlie Warzel. On Sunday, he published a piece in NYT about how "our information system is poisoned." It's a must-read.
"It's increasingly apparent that our information delivery systems were not built for our current moment," Warzel wrote, "Especially with corruption and conspiracy at the heart of our biggest national news stories (Epstein, the Mueller Report, mass shootings), and the platforms themselves functioning as petri dishes for outlandish, even dangerous conspiracy theories to flourish."
"Where does this leave us?" Warzel asked. "Nowhere good."
The challenge for newsrooms
One of the challenges this current moment has repeatedly presented newsrooms is whether or not to cover a deranged conspiracy theory making the rounds online. On one hand, newsrooms generally don't want to give oxygen to baseless theories. On the other hand, they are often amplified -- as was the case this weekend -- by the President of the United States himself. It's a tricky situation, and one with no good answer.
Sharing is still promoting
Over at WaPo, Abby Ohlheiser published an excellent story about the "dangerous cycle" that allows conspiracy theories to contaminate the news. She pointed out, "Sharing a meme to condemn it is still a share. Retweeting a racist tweet to shame its writer still gives the tweet more eyeballs."
As Ohlheiser explained, "Conspiracy theories aren't fueled by facts; they are fueled by attention." So the problem for newsrooms becomes: How do you cover this stuff?
Unfortunately, Ohlheiser notes, "Years into Trump's presidency, the people who are the smartest about how the Internet works still don't have a great answer for how to deal with his tweets -- in particular, those that spread misinformation, racism or hold a megaphone for fringe voices. So the media remains in a cycle: As Trump tweets or retweets, the tweets become news, Trump tweets more about the news, and the media covers those tweets, too, inevitably sharing them with the 78 percent of Americans not on Twitter."
Please don't do this
To that end... One easy thing for journalists to keep in mind is to avoid simply repeating the conspiracy theory with the only commentary being that Trump peddled it. That only helps to amplify and spread the misinformation. Don't do Trump's bidding for him and amplify his deranged messages without putting them in proper context.
I saw a lot of reporters on Saturday evening doing this when Trump retweeted the anti-Clinton conspiracy theory. The tweet Trump retweeted was all over my feed -- not from Trump, but from journalists pointing out Trump retweeted it. The industry really has to get better at understanding how bad faith actors are exploiting journalistic instincts and rules to further their agenda.
"I'm not going to show you the tweet"
Someone who got it right on Sunday was Jake Tapper. Noting that Trump's behavior is "no longer just irresponsible and indecent," but "dangerous," Tapper avoided showing his audience the repugnant tweet Trump shared. "I'm not going to show you the tweet," Tapper said. He added that it was a "deranged conspiracy theory."
Conway's spin will leave you dizzy
Someone who declined to acknowledge how untethered from reality Trump's behavior on Twitter was on Sunday was none other than Kellyanne Conway. Appearing on Fox, Conway said she thinks "the president just wants everything to be investigated." When pressed again, she repeated that talking point.
All this had me wondering again: What's the point of putting Conway on television? Is there anything Trump can do that she won't spin to defend?
>> George Conway replied on Twitter to @PopeHat who said he was blocking conspiracy theorists: "obviously you're not interested in a full investigation..." 👀
Sciutto and Swalwell's point
An outstanding point from Jim Sciutto: "This is about both partisan politics & broader loss of confidence in govt." Sciutto noted, "When I was in the Middle East (the former conspiracy theory capital) that was the fuel: folks didn't trust authorities so assumed a plot behind every event."
Democratic Rep. Eric Swalwell made a similar point on Sunday in remarks that Donie O'Sullivan flagged to me. He said the conspiracy theories floating online about Epstein reminded him of what happens in "third-world" countries where "no one trusts the government" and there's a "conspiracy theory behind everything that the government does or everything that happens in society."
Where do we go from here?
That's the million dollar question. Unfortunately, I don't have the answer. I'm not sure there is an answer. Things are going to continue to get worse. We are dying of a disease that we don't yet have a cure for.
FOR THE RECORD, PART ONE
-- MSNBC host Joe Scarborough lashed out at CNN's Andrew Kaczynski after Kaczynski tweeted that Scarborough had engaged in "reckless speculation" about the circumstances surrounding Epstein's death... (Mediaite)
-- Trump has "sent highly unusual, Sharpie-written notes to Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau at least twice," Jonathan Swan reported. "One of the notes was a torn-out Bloomberg Businessweek cover featuring a portrait of Justin Trudeau..." (Axios)
-- Jeanine Pirro and Matt Gaetz got into a contentious back-and-forth on Pirro's show Saturday... (Mediaite)
NYT highlights "how the El Paso killer echoed the incendiary words of conservative media stars"
The story leading NYT's website on Sunday night: "How the El Paso Killer Echoed the Incendiary Words of Conservative Media Stars." The story notes that "there is a striking degree of overlap between the words of right-wing media personalities and the language used by the Texas man who confessed to killing 22 people at a Walmart in El Paso this month."
>> From the story: "An extensive New York Times review of popular right-wing media platforms found hundreds of examples of language, ideas and ideologies that overlapped with the mass killer's written statement -- a shared vocabulary of intolerance that stokes fears centered on immigrants of color. The programs, on television and radio, reach an audience of millions."
WaPo publishes 12-page special on victims of mass shootings
| | On Sunday, WaPo published a special 12-page section on the toll mass shootings have taken on America. It detailed every mass shooting since 1966, and listed 1,196 victims by name. The whole package was really striking when looked at in person. It's staggering to see the names of more than one-thousand victims in print.
Marty Baron explained, "This is a moment to reflect on the horrific human toll of mass shootings in our country and to remember the individuals whose lives were cut short. This special section is dedicated to them and to their families and friends. Our purpose is to ensure that none of us forgets what all of us, as a nation, have lost."
Ana Cabrera: "There is no invasion"
On her program over the weekend, Ana Cabrera delivered a potent monologue. Pushing back against the abrasive immigration rhetoric adopted by Trump and his supporters, Cabrera said, "Let me be clear in this moment: There is no invasion. There is no 'other.' We are all different -- that is a fact. But we share a common humanity." Watch the whole thing here...
Media week ahead calendar
-- Sometime this week: CBS-Viacom deal news?
-- Wednesday: The season three finale of "The Handmaid's Tale" is streaming on Hulu...
-- Thursday: The 50th anniversary of Woodstock...
-- Thursday: POTUS is holding a campaign rally in Manchester, NH...
Austin Tice's family marks seven years since his disappearance
McClatchy partnered with the National Press Club Journalism Institute and Reporters Without Borders to help raise awareness about journalist Austin Tice's detainment in Syria. For his Sunday birthday, Tice's parents authored an op-ed. The op-ed appeared in USA Today, the Chicago Tribune, the Philadelphia Inquirer, Houston Chronicle, on the Tribune wire, and on CNN.com. NYT and WaPo have also published editorials in the last few days calling for Tice's release.
From the op-ed: "Thirty-eight years ago today, after nine months of waiting, we finally had the great delight of meeting our firstborn, Austin Bennett Tice. Today, we wish we could remind him of how glad we are he was born, how blessed we are to be his parents, how truly we believe the world is a better place for having him in it. But we can't do that. Austin is detained in Syria. We are not allowed any contact with him.Today is his 2,554th day of detention."
>> Related: "A banner for a missing journalist has hung on the Newseum since 2016. It could disappear after this year..."
FOR THE RECORD, PART TWO
-- S.E. Cupp: "For years I've made the case for the Second Amendment, the right to bear arms, I've defended the NRA and its members, law abiding gun owners like me who have nothing to do with gun shootings. I'm a gun owner and a gun rights advocate. I believed it was true. I'm no longer an NRA member..." (Mediaite)
-- The Verge said it had "taken down an earlier story about a suspected post on 8chan" from an alleged shooter in Norway "because it contained unverified information and did not meet our editorial standards. We regret the error..." (Twitter)
-- NYT issued a similar correction in its story: "Because of an editing error, an earlier version of this article misidentified the message board on which the suspect in the attack posted messages before the mosque attack. While it was an online message board, it was not 8chan... (NYT)
Universal cancels planned release of "The Hunt"
| | Universal on Saturday announced that it had, "after thoughtful consideration," canceled its planned release of "The Hunt." The decision came after days of right-wing media outrage ultimately found its way to Trump's Twitter feed, where he assailed the movie -- though not by name -- and used it to attack Hollywood writ large.
The movie was a thriller/satire where so-called "elites" hunt "deplorables." It wasn't even due out until late September. And, as a lot of people pointed out, it's a bit strange the political right expressed so much outrage over the film, given that the "deplorables" in the movie were likely to be the good guys, and the elites would the antagonists. Nonetheless, it stirred outrage that found its way onto Trump's Twitter feed.
WSJ reported on Sunday, citing a person familiar with the matter, that "there are no current plans to release the film in theaters at a later date or send it straight to home video."
>> Food for thought: Imagine if left-wingers had expressed so much outrage over a satirical film that it forced a major movie studio to cancel its release. The right-wing media would go nuts, calling the left "snowflakes" and mocking them for being "triggered."
Univision's Enrique Acevedo: I won't go on Fox after Tucker Carlson's remarks
Univision anchor Enrique Acevedo said on Sunday's "Reliable Sources" that he will be declining any future invitations to appear on Fox. "I can tell you that I'm not going back on Fox News," Acevedo told John Avlon, who was filling in for Brian. Acevedo said that it was his "moral responsibility," not only as "a journalist, but as a human being," to avoid the network.
Bill Maher mocks Carlson...
During his monologue, HBO "Real Time" host Bill Maher mocked Carlson for saying that the problem of white supremacy is a "hoax."
"You've gotta love Republicans," Maher joked. "Global warming's a hoax. Russia, that was a hoax. White nationalism is a hoax. Hillary Clinton runs a pedophile ring out of a pizza parlor? Completely true."
FOR THE RECORD, PART THREE
-- Trump attacked Bill Maher over his show, claiming he saw the episode "by accident." Maher responded by asking, "I'm curious, how do you see a TV show 'by accident?'" (Daily Beast)
-- "Fox's Pete Hegseth defends Blackwater contractors convicted of murdering Iraqi civilians..." (Media Matters)
Scaramucci: Trump "turns on everyone and soon it will be you then the entire country"
Former White House communications director Anthony Scaramucci engaged in a war of words with Trump over the weekend. After calling Trump's visits to El Paso and Dayton a "catastrophe," Trump did what he always does: lashed out on Twitter.
Scaramucci pushed back with a tweet of his own: "For the last 3 years I have fully supported this President. Recently he has said things that divide the country in a way that is unacceptable. So I didn't pass the 100% litmus test. Eventually he turns on everyone and soon it will be you and then the entire country."
On Sunday evening, Scaramucci turned up the heat even more. Speaking to Axios reporter Jonathan Swan, Scaramucci said that if this chaos continues it could be necessary for Republicans "to replace the top of the ticket in 2020."
Trump also jabs Deutsch
MSNBC host Donny Deutsch also felt the Twitter fury of Trump over the weekend. Deutsch had said on Friday that those who vote for Trump "own" the "whole package" of his presidency, including "the blood that happens" and "the racism." Trump then on Sunday ripped into Deutsch via Twitter, slinging insults at him in the manner of a schoolyard bully.
FIRST LOOK:
The Atlantic's September cover
| | The September issue of The Atlantic will publish on Monday morning, and it will feature a story from Vann Newark about how dispossession has destroyed black farming in America. I'm told the piece will trace how "98 percent of black agricultural landowners have lost their land since the 1950s, often under circumstances that amount to theft." The story will be live here at 6am ET...
Notes and quotes from Reliable
| | -- Miami Herald's Julie K. Brown on what happens following Epstein's death: "We have got to keep our focus on the victims and on this particular case…there's so many avenues that have yet to be investigated on..."
-- S.E. Cupp on Tucker Carlson: "The Tucker Carlson personality I think is playing to an audience. And that audience is largely male, older, white, aggrieved. And sort of keying in on those grievances is something I think he has been doing since he got a show there."
-- The Vindicator co-owner Mark Brown on status of local newspapers: "I'm very concerned, because I'm not sure what can" be done to save local papers. "I think the advent of Facebook and the Internet has really changed things..." | | "Succession" returns
I still haven't had a chance to binge this one, but I imagine a fair amount of those who read this newsletter have. HBO's "Succession" returned on Sunday with season two.
Polygon called it a "fiery first hour," and has a recap here. Vox also posted a story noting the "four winners and four losers from the premiere."
FOR THE RECORD, PART FOUR
-- Here's the Teen Choice Awards winners list... (Deadline)
-- "Hobbes & Shaw" held onto the top spot at the box office, beating out "Scary Stories..." (Variety)
-- Could Showtime's "The Loudest Voice" have a sequel? Showrunner Alex Metcalf addresses the question... (THR)
| | Thank you for reading. I always enjoy your feedback, so send me a note via email or find me on Twitter... See you tomorrow!
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