| | | | | So many things about the past week reinforce the unnerving feeling that two Americas are uneasily coexisting as one. There's an America where arming teachers is logical, and another America where it's ludicrous. An America where banning semi-automatic weapons is cheered, and another America where that idea is unthinkable. An America where journalists are the "enemy of the people," and another America where news subscriptions are up as a reaction to President Trump. An America where the Russia investigations are a priority, and an America where the probes are considered a "hoax." These two Americas have two different sets of "reliable" sources... | | "This divide won't go away" | | The optimist in me is saying "Brian, snap out of it!" There IS common ground. But don't you feel like the divide is getting deeper by the day?
David French, in his latest for NRO, hit on this. "This divide won't go away, and it has the potential to break us as a nation," he wrote. "Unlike the stupid hysterics over net neutrality, tax policy, or regulatory reform, the gun debate really is -- at its heart -- about life and death. It's about different ways of life, different ways of perceiving your role in a nation and a community. Given these immense stakes, extra degrees of charity and empathy are necessary in public discussion and debate. At the moment, what we have instead are extra degrees of anger and contempt..." | | Tom Kludt emails from day one of CPAC: This conference is ostensibly about promoting conservative ideas and policies, but the defining theme is media bashing. Attacking the press is the easiest way to get a roar of approval from this crowd. (The decibel will go a bit higher if you call out CNN by name.)
Thursday kicked off with a panel devoted to, you guessed it, "fake news." Before the discussion began, organizers played a highlight reel showcasing Trump's choicest digs at the press coupled with news clips about various reporting errors over the last year. The panel, which was moderated by radio host Larry O'Connor, promoted the false claim that CNN scripted the questions at Wednesday's town hall in Florida.
After that, NRA spox Dana Loesch struck a decidedly more hostile tone than she did at the town hall, making the outrageous claim that the many in the media "love mass shootings..." | | Let's talk about what Loesch said | | "Many in legacy media love mass shootings. You guys love it," Loesch said. "Now, I'm not saying that you love the tragedy. But I am saying that you love the ratings. Crying white mothers are ratings gold to you..."
Loesch knows what she's doing here. She's been in and around newsrooms for years, so she knows journalists are human beings who hate the loss of innocent life. But she's pretending otherwise. She clearly wants the "media" to be on the defensive. The more time she spends talking about heartless journalists, the less time she has to talk about the heartbreak of gun violence... | | Media critiques unite this movement | | Tom Kludt adds: The media-bashing went on like this at CPAC throughout the day, culminating with Ben Shapiro's fiery speech in the afternoon. The "media," he said, is comprised of people "who remind us each and every day that America's a racist sexist bigoted homophobic country while they take home their pretty large paychecks."
Shapiro did criticize Trump for his repeated untruths, which earned some applause... Although I also saw at least one guy walk out and put his thumb down in Shapiro's direction... | | "The truth is, we live in a time of widening challenges and unknowable threats; a time of too much division and too much anger in America. You know, it seems like we're becoming more and more disconnected from each other..."
--VP Mike Pence at CPAC... | | | Tom Kludt emails: Last year's edition of CPAC was a Breitbart-heavy affair. Steve Bannon got a hero's welcome, and the conference's lineup was filled with the site's writers. Breitbart had a choice spot on radio row, and hosted a glitzy party on a boat. In a microcosm of how much Trumpland has changed in the last 12 months, Breitbart is conspicuously absent from this year's conference. Oliver Darcy and I spoke with a source who said that a former adviser to the site recommended to senior management that it have a large presence at CPAC. It would appear they didn't listen... | | Trump's speech on Friday morning | | Some of the notable events:
10:05am: President Trump
11:55am: Kellyanne Conway and Linda McMahon
12:30pm: Ajit Pai
1:35pm: Ronna McDaniel
3:35pm: Nigel Farage
7pm: Scott Pruitt and Jeanine Pirro at a ticketed dinner... | | Trump's joint presser on Friday afternoon | | | POTUS will hold a joint press conference with Australian prime minister Malcolm Turnbull around 2pm ... | | Margaret Brennan taking over "Face" | | | The NYT's Michael Grynbaum broke the news on Thursday: Margaret Brennan will succeed John Dickerson as the moderator of "Face The Nation." Brennan is currently the W.H. and senior foreign affairs correspondent for CBS News. She will give up the White House beat but will retain the foreign affairs beat. Brennan will begin hosting "Face" this Sunday... Here's my full story... | | Evan Spiegel's $636,612,889 award | | | Snap CEO Evan Spiegel "received $638 million in total compensation in 2017," mainly from a "one-time stock award given to Spiegel for taking his company public in March." CNN Tech's Seth Fiegerman notes: "For Spiegel, even that $638 million amount is a drop in the bucket. The CEO is a billionaire multiple times over thanks to his stake in the company..." | | Via CNN Tech's Kaya Yurieff: "Snap stock closed down 6% on Thursday" after Kylie Jenner said she is no longer using Snapchat. "The plunge wiped about $1.3 billion off the company's market value."
--> This was Jenner's Wednesday tweet: "Sooo does anyone else not open Snapchat anymore? Or is it just me... ugh this is so sad." She also said: "Still love you tho snap ... my first love." | | -- Fascinating: "Non-subscribers visiting WSJ.com now get a score, based on dozens of signals, that indicates how likely they'll be to subscribe. The paywall tightens or loosens accordingly..." (NiemanLab)
-- Oprah Winfrey's reaction to POTUS calling her "insecure:" "What?" (CNN)
-- Smart Politico piece: "The Frat House of Representatives" recaps all the recent Capitol Hill fiascos, many of them exposed by the news media... (Politico)
-- "The 'facade' of free press in Cambodia 'collapsed' in 2017, according to the annual report of the country's preeminent media watchdog..." (VOA) | | The persistence of Parkland | | "Last Wednesday's shooting has stayed on the national conscience and in the media" in a way that past mass shootings have not, Hadas Gold writes in this new story. Activism by the student survivors is an obvious factor this time around.
Here's her full story... | | A multitude of reactions to CNN's town hall | | Erik Wemple's headline: "CNN makes history with stunning event on gun violence." Quartz's Adam Epstein said "there's never been anything on American television like it." The NYT's James Poniewozik called it "something remarkable."
One full day after the CNN town hall with politicians and student survivors in Florida, the event is still generating debate. That's exactly what a town hall is designed to do. As moderator Jake Tapper told a twitterer on Thursday, "the MSD High School community reached out to us and asked us to arrange this town hall so they could ask questions of their elected officials."
But some critics on the right say the event was unfair. David Harsanyi called it "shameful." Tucker Carlson said it "wasn't a town hall meeting and it certainly wasn't a news event, it was an act of ritual public humiliation for anyone who disagrees with CNN's transparently clear position against gun rights." | | Trump trumpets "scripted question" claim; CNN denies it | | On Thursday night, Matt Drudge led his site with Parkland student Colton Haab's claim that CNN told him to "stick to the script." Haab shared his account with a local TV station on Wednesday night, and again on Carlson's show Thursday night. (He declined invitations to come on CNN for an interview.)
Haab initially alleged that the network "scripted" a question for him. CNN PR responded: "There is absolutely no truth to this. CNN did not provide or script questions for anyone in last night's town hall, nor have we ever."
On Carlson's show, Haab went into more detail. He said he wrote a speech for the town hall; was asked by a CNN producer to come up with questions instead of a speech; and then was asked to narrow it down to one question. He ended up withdrawing from the event. This account backs up what Erick Erickson surmised earlier in the day: "I just think he might have misunderstood what CNN was trying to do. I suspect they were trying to just tighten up his question, not force him to ask a question presupposing a position he does not support."
The subject Haab wanted to ask about, armed teachers, was brought up at the town hall, even though he chose not to attend. But people who are preconditioned to assume the worst about CNN are sharing Haab's story to slam the network. Trump tweeted out a "fake news" insult against CNN on Thursday night... | | -- The Guardian's Jason Wilson says "crisis actors" and "false flags" are "conspiracy theory code words..."
-- Charlie Warzel's latest: "Journalists, academics, and researchers are doing a better job spotting fake news and conspiracy content after tragedies than the multi billion dollar tech companies..."
-- Maureen Ryan has an idea: CNN's next town hall should be with the Silicon Valley companies that are letting lies and hoaxes spread on their platforms...
-- S.E. Cupp asked me this on HLN Thursday evening: Do newsrooms need more "gun beat" reporters? Yes, definitely...
🔌: I'll be talking about all this on CNN's "New Day" Friday at 6:45am... | | Lowry's take on the "violent movies" talk | | | Brian Lowry emails: You didn't need to be a psychic to predict that gun-rights advocates would turn the conversation to Hollywood and video games, and the president has picked up that theme, no doubt motivated in part by all the criticism he's received from show-business liberals. But one thing has significantly changed since 1993, when Sen. Paul Simon made entertainment a target of his crusade against societal violence -- namely, that Hollywood's product is a much more global business. As a result, the argument about media being a significant factor in gun violence loses some of its heft, given the data on rates of violence in other countries that consume much of the same content. Moreover, as the Washington Post¹s Steven Zeitchik observed, "The argument would have a little bit more weight if it didn't come at the exact moment the GOP was under pressure to cut ties with one of its biggest lobbyist supporters." | | By Daniella Emanuel:
-- Gannett is partnering with "Scroll" to give subscribers an ad-free experience... (USA Today)
-- A WSJ video shows how the Russia-backed Facebook page "Blacktivist" turned a USC student journalist's post into a widespread fake news story... (WSJ)
-- Quote of the day? "Russian operatives couldn't have asked for better tools than Facebook and Twitter to spark conflict and deepen divisions within Americans, experts say. Never before could they fan propaganda with such ease and speed and needle the people most vulnerable to misinformation with such precision..." (LA Times) | | Here are some of the media types on GQ's new list of the "50 Most Powerful People In Trump's Washington:"
#7: Marty Baron... #13: "Fox & Friends..." #15: Maggie Haberman... #19: Rachel Maddow... #23: Jeff Bezos... #24: Ajit Pai... #27: Chris Ruddy... #28: Jake Tapper... #36: Carrie Budoff Brown... #41: The "Pod Save America" podcast hosts... #43: Jesse Watters... #46: Laurene Powell Jobs... | | Bannon working on "weaponizing ideas" | | | #25 on GQ's list is Steve Bannon... And the item about him is intriguing... It says "Bannon continues to work out of Breitbart's Capitol Hill HQ," despite being ousted from the company. "There, he says, he's plotting a new entity to advance his right-wing populist revolution. The venture, Bannon tells us cryptically, will involve 'weaponizing ideas...'" | | Michelle Wolf will headline Correspondents Dinner | | | Frank Pallotta emails: The White House Correspondents Dinner has found its headliner. Michelle Wolf, a contributor to "The Daily Show," will be the entertainer at this year's dinner. She follows another "Daily Show" comic, Hasan Minhaj, who hosted last year. Wolf has enjoyed a lot of buzz for her HBO stand-up special and recently announced Netflix comedy show. Now the question becomes… will President Trump be in attendance? The W.H. has been noncommittal... | | | Lou Dobbs has been away from his Fox Business Network show for the better part of three weeks. His fans have been asking why -- and on Wednesday he responded with a tweet. "I've had a medical issue to deal with and have been recuperating on the farm," he wrote. "All has gone well, and I'm anxious to get back to the show this coming Monday. Thanks again, and see you then." In the meantime, he's still been recording his radio commentaries... | | | For the record, part three | | | By Julia Waldow:
-- CJR's Mathew Ingram breaks down how "fake news is part of a bigger problem: automated propaganda..." (CJR)
-- The Knight Institute at Columbia University has received a total of $6.5 million in new funding from Democracy Fund, First Look Media, and the Charles Koch Foundation... (Knight)
-- Snapchat is literally doubling-down on its video efforts, with plans to release 2x the number of shows, including possible forays into serialized, scripted material, this year... (Digiday) | | Analyzing what went wrong at NPR | | | David Klein emails: This is an important piece by Bill Grueskin about NPR and #MeToo. The title: "In quest to protect image, NPR tarnished it..." | | Harvey Weinstein apologizes to Meryl Streep and Jennifer Lawrence | | Chloe Melas emails: The surprising apology came after the actresses slammed Harvey Weinstein for using old quotes of theirs in his latest legal filing to dismiss a federal lawsuit filed against him in December. He says he didn't know his team would be mentioning them, and says it won't happen again. Noticeably absent from his apology was Gwyneth Paltrow, who was also mentioned in the 33-page motion to dismiss the case.
Here's the full story by Melas and Lisa Respers France... | | | For the record, part four | | | -- How will the Academy Awards telecast address the #MeToo movement? Brooks Barnes' new story about that is a must-read... (NYT)
-- Tiffany Haddish will host the 2018 MTV Movie & TV Awards on June 18... (Deadline)
-- Joss Whedon is no longer writing the "Batgirl" movie... (THR)
-- Julia Waldow emails: Fox Searchlight and DeVon Franklin are producing a movie about the creator of Flamin' Hot Cheetos... (Variety)
-- Brian Lowry emails: Kareem Abdul-Jabbar offered a thoughtful endorsement of "Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri" -- responding to the backlash against the film, and echoing some of the comments I made about it -- in his newest column for THR... (THR) | | | Megan Thomas emails: The Academy Awards are almost here. Check out CNN's Oscar-themed series, Creators, featuring interviews with Greta Gerwig, Jordan Peele, Steven Spielberg, Jessica Chastain, George Clooney, Hugh Jackman, Kumail Nanjiani, Patty Jenkins and Aaron Sorkin. Creators is a conversation about the changing entertainment industry, creativity and inspiration... | | Disney crosses $1 billion at 2018 box office | | | Frank Pallotta emails: The Mouse House has already crossed the billion dollar mark at the box office for the year, and it only took only 52 days. A major reason for the studio's success is Marvel's "Black Panther," which had a milestone of its own on Thursday, crossing $500 million globally – an achievement that only took 9 days... | | Lowry reviews "Game Night" | | | Brian Lowry emails: "Game Night" is a winner -- a very funny comedy starring Jason Bateman and Rachel McAdams. While it's not expected to make a dent in "Black Panther's" second-weekend box-office dominance, this is one of those movies that, like the games the characters play, could have a long shelf life... | | Lowry reviews "Seven Seconds" | | | Brian Lowry emails: Veena Sud turned a Danish series into "The Killing," and now adapts a Russian movie into "Seven Seconds," a Netflix series that also begins with tragedy involving a child, but weaves that -- somewhat awkwardly -- into a drama that looks at the tension between people of color and the police... | | | Email brian.stelter@turner.com... the feedback helps us improve this newsletter every day... Thanks! | | | Get Reliable Sources, a comprehensive summary of the most important media news, delivered to your inbox every afternoon. | | | | | |
