| | | | | Welcome to Friday! Yes, if you're reading this, you have managed to make it to the end of the week. This is Oliver Darcy filling in for Brian Stelter, who is still on vacation. I appreciate feedback (and tips) so please email at oliver.darcy@turner.com or find me on Twitter. | | Fox journalists: Trump is not telling the truth | | Three is a trend. As Trump's closest confidantes turn on him, the President also finds himself under fire from journalists on his favorite news channel. Over the past 24 hours, three of Fox News' most prominent news anchors have called out President Trump for not telling the truth about his knowledge of the hush money payment provided to adult film actress Stormy Daniels.
Neil Cavuto was the first of the three, lacing into the President in a brutal monologue on Thursday afternoon. On Friday, both Shep Smith and Bret Baier followed up. "We know the President was not telling the truth," Smith said, referring to the hush money. Baier said it was clear Trump's story was "not 100-percent truthful." | | | The statements from the Fox News anchors cap off a week during which journalists also seemed to grow more comfortable labeling Trump's false statement as a lie. Chris Cuomo on Thursday night plainly said countless times that Trump was guilty of "lying." John Berman also said on "New Day" that Trump is "lying, period, full stop." And The Fact Checker at WaPo bluntly said Trump was "not just misleading" but telling a "lie." It was the first time the newspaper's fact checker had labeled a politician's statement a lie. | | | Are journalists getting more comfortable using the L-word? Perhaps. A year and a half into Trump's presidency, that is probably part of it. But my guess here is that Trump's statements on the hush money payment are a cut and dry case. He is captured on audio saying something that is directly contradicted by the comments he offered to the public later. That appears to show that there was an intention to deceive, giving journalists the comfort to flatly characterize the mistruth as a "lie." | | Journalists pay homage to McCain | | John McCain has made the decision to discontinue medical treatment for his cancer, the Arizona senator's family announced on Friday. Right after the news broke, journalists paid tribute to the Republican war hero. Reporters highlighted his courage as a POW, his honor as a presidential candidate, and his integrity as a Republican in the Trump-era.
>> "We need more men like @SenJohnMccain," Megyn Kelly tweeted. "Honest, courageous, a patriot, & a man whose integrity is beyond reproach. How many people can you say that about in Washington?"
>> ABC "World News Tonight" host David Muir tweeted to Meghan McCain, "We're all thinking of you and your Dad."
>> WaPo's Robert Costa tweeted, "Tough news about Senator McCain...The Senate's halls aren't the same with him away."
And, throughout the day, other journalists shared their favorite memories and quotes of McCain... | | McCain's special relationship with the press | | | The solemn manner in which journalists reacted to McCain's decision to end medical treatment underscored his special relationship with the press. Journalists have always loved McCain. He's been a titan in the Senate longer than some reporters have been covering Washington politics. Many have been writing about him for years, developing personal relationships with him. On Friday, McCain's distinguished connection to the press was clearer than ever as many who have covered him prepared to say goodbye. | | | Most everyone had kind words to say about McCain on Friday. But Fox News personality Tomi Lahren traveled down another road. Per CNN's Kyung Lah, Lahren went after McCain at a campaign event for Arizona Senate candidate Kelli Ward. Hours after McCain's family announced he was discontinuing medical treatment, Lahren said, "We can't put up another RINO (Republican in Name Only) like McCain and [Jeff] Flake" in the Senate. Smh... | | This Sunday on "Reliable" | | | Stelter emails: Don't believe Oliver's hype about my vacation! Carl Bernstein, Frank Sesno, Nicole Carroll, Margaret Sullivan, David Zurawik, and Dan Rather will join me on "Reliable Sources" -- Sunday at 11am ET -- see you then... | | -- Microsoft, Facebook, and Twitter were among the tech companies that gathered on Friday to discuss how to protect their platforms from election meddling... (CNN)
-- Tucker Carlson is part of the "tiny universe of people with the power to trigger" Trump into taking action on an issue, writes Lachlan Markay, Asawin Suebsaeng, and Maxwell Tani... (The Daily Beast)
-- Rachel Maddow beat Sean Hannity in the ratings for the third consecutive night as "Trump's really bad week continues..." (Deadline)
-- Joe Pompeo writes in Vanity Fair about how the sale of New York magazine "is yet another indication" that the magazine era is coming to an end... (Vanity Fair)
-- For years, there has been one guest that Conan O'Brien has been unable to book: Robert Caro... (NYT)
-- Politico has named Matt Kaminski as its first global editor... (Politico)
-- "Lifestyles of the Rich and Famous" host Robin Leach has died at the age of 76... (THR) | | Trump props up false claim that big tech is out to silence conservatives | | My latest for CNN.com focuses on Trump fueling a false narrative that big tech companies are out to censor conservative voices. On Friday morning, the President claimed in a tweet that social media companies are "silencing millions of people," exacerbating a longstanding paranoia from conservatives who have for years erroneously accused social media companies of bias and censorship. Read my full story here...
>> It's unclear what precisely Trump was referring to with his tweet, but it came just weeks after Facebook, YouTube, and Apple removed content by Alex Jones and InfoWars. | | With his tweet, and others before it, Trump has signaled that he and his Republican allies will continue to paint tech giants like Facebook and Twitter as villains in a longstanding culture war used to excite the conservative base. Like the press, big tech can be portrayed as a powerful opponent unfairly pushing a supposed liberal bias on consumers. This plays very well with Trump supporters.
Of course, the evidence does not suggest that big tech is targeting conservative users for their political beliefs. In the case of Jones and InfoWars, for instance, platforms took action to enforce their policies on hate speech and harassment. But Republicans and right-wing media outlets have been all too happy running with the narrative that social media companies are censoring conservatives, the facts be damned.... | | This narrative is here to stay | | | The narrative is unlikely to go away anytime soon. The politicians and media outlets on the right that push it do not seem moved by the facts. Instead, they seem more interested in a narrative that resonates with and whips up the conservative base, which is comprised by a swath of the country that feels they are under attack in the great American culture war. | | Twitter's @jack to testify before Congress | | | Mark your calendars. Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey will testify before the House Committee on Energy and Commerce on September 5. He'll talk about Twitter's algorithms and how it monitors content on its platform. The news was announced in a statement put out by the Republican chair of the committee who said he looks "forward to Mr. Dorsey being forthright." CNNMoney's Jackie Wattles has more... | | The Fresno Bee in the age of Devin Nunes | | Hadas Gold emails: Interesting look at The Fresno Bee and how Rep. Devin Nunes' attacks on the local paper as 'fake news' have affected its readership and reporters. Nunes regularly attacks the paper as a 'left wing rag' …. Despite the fact the paper's editorial board has endorsed Nunes in every election he's run in. Watch the "Vice News Tonight" segment on The Bee here...
>> Related: The Bee published a lengthy story on Thursday examining what Nunes' constituents think of him... | | The global impact of Trump-era headlines | | Sam Vinograd, a CNN national security analyst, emails: The media coverage of the President's legal imbroglios and seeming executive abuse of power is critical, but every headline resonates around the world. There's no global mute button and with every new story and Twitter thread, the ability for the administration to credibly engage on advancing the rule of law and separation of power abroad diminishes.
Covering it is key, but the coverage exposes for us and everyone else that President Trump doesn't practice at home what his State Department and other staff preach around the world. We've issued public statements to the media condemning these kinds of actions by other world leaders. We've even sanctioned them for doing so. | | By Julia Waldow:
-- A fake image of a non-existent GoFundMe campaign to raise bail money for the alleged killer of Mollie Tibbetts has been circulating on social media... (BuzzFeed News)
-- Will Sommer details how "dismal viewership figures" for InfoWars' YouTube account show how the recent ban has harmed the brand... (The Daily Beast)
-- "Instascam?" A series of fake profiles on Instagram are posing as outlets such as Vogue and National Geographic by tacking on an extra letter to their handles... Poynter tracks the accounts to an LA.-based marketing company called Social Cat... (Poynter)
-- Get a first look at the New Yorker's latest cover, "Closing in" by Barry Blitt... (The New Yorker)
-- GLAAD called out a Wyoming newspaper for running an op-ed spreading "debunked lies" about transgender candidate Christine Hallquist... (TheWrap) | | One year since Hurricane Harvey | | David Klein emails: On the one year anniversary of Hurricane Harvey, The Houston Chronicle took a look back at how social media helped them tell the story and share some of the essential posts and photos."
| | Jim Rutenberg on this week's "Reliable" podcast | | | Stelter spoke with NYT's Jim Rutenberg for this week's "Reliable Sources" podcast. The two discussed The National Enquirer's practice of "catch and kill" and how the tabloid's "famous tip line that gets the most sensational stories in the country often would become a tripwire for Trump." Read Julia Waldow's recap here... | | S.E. Cupp's CNN show premieres Saturday | | | All week, S.E. Cupp has been gearing up for the debut of her CNN show on Saturday. I bumped into her in the newsroom today. She wouldn't reveal all the guests she has lined up for the premiere episode, but she said Rep. Jim Himes and Sen. Tim Scott will be joining her. Tune in at 6 p.m. ET to catch the show... | | | For the record, part three | | | -- HP exec Antonio Lucio has been hired by Facebook to lead its communications strategy... (Variety)
-- BBC's new strategy for getting more views is a bit morbid. BBC Ideas, their short-form video unit, is homing in on human fascination with mortality by producing short films on the subject of death... (Digiday)
-- In an interview filmed at the 2018 Aspen Ideas Festival, former ACLU president Nadine Strossen argues that government entities and social media platforms should not be responsible for censoring hate speech... (The Atlantic)
-- The search for a new head of Paramount TV is focused on "women with experience as senior-level development executives..." (Deadline) | | -- The crew working on pre-production for "Guardians of the Galaxy 3" have been dismissed as production has been put on hold... (THR)
-- Dominic Monaghan is set to reunite with JJ Abrams for "Star Wars: Episode IX." The two previously worked together on ABC's hit show (and one of my favorites) "LOST..." (Deadline) | | Starz tackles realities of black youth | | Brian Lowry emails: Starz has carved out a place for itself in the pay-cable landscape by appealing to under-served audiences, including "Power," the top-rated premium show among African-American viewers.
The network is seeking to expand on that footprint with two major docu-series -- "America to Me," a 10-part exploration of race and education set in a Chicago high school, which premieres this weekend; and "Warriors of Liberty City," a look at youth football in Miami, produced by NBA superstar LeBron James. Both have their merits, but the one to watch is "America to Me," from "Hoop Dreams'" filmmaker Steve James. | | Lowry emails another item: Two very different finales air on Sunday night — the finish to HBO's limited series "Sharp Objects," starring Amy Adams; and the final episode of Sacha Baron Cohen's "Who is America?"
Among the mild suspense regarding the latter is whether we'll see Cohen's interview with Sarah Palin, which prompted her to blast him as "sick" and "evil" before the series premiered in July, but has thus far yet to materialize. Showtime has defended Cohen and disputed Palin's version of how the interview was conducted, but said earlier this month that the segment might not be used. | | |
Thanks for reading! Email me your feedback... Have a good weekend!
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