| | | | | Welcome to the Reliable Sources newsletter and congratulations on making it halfway through the week. This is Oliver Darcy again at the helm. Please email me your thoughts/tips at oliver.darcy@turner.com and find me on Twitter here. Now, onward to the news! | | Trump continues war with Big Tech | | President Trump's war with Google spilled into a second day on Wednesday. The President raised eyebrows when he posted a video to Twitter that suggested Google had promoted President Obama's State of the Union addresses, but not his. "#StopTheBias," Trump tweeted. The problem? Google said in a statement shortly after that it had in fact promoted Trump's 2018 address... BuzzFeed has a full debunk here...
>> Full statement from a Google spokesperson: "On January 30 2018, we highlighted the livestream of President Trump's State of the Union on the google.com homepage. We have historically not promoted the first address to Congress by a new President, which is technically not a State of the Union address. As a result, we didn't include a promotion on google.com for this address in either 2009 or 2017." | | | After receiving Google's statement, I reached out to Sarah Sanders. I asked her if the White House will address the matter or issue a correction. I also asked why the president was sharing misleading info aimed at damaging a private business on Twitter. I didn't receive a response... | | Steve Bannon, however, has some thoughts... | | One person who did want to chat was Steve Bannon. I had texted Bannon earlier in the day to see what he made of Trump's war on Big Tech. Bannon, after all, has been talking about this tech stuff for some time now. Earlier tonight he gave me a ring. Some highlights of what he said...
>> Asked about Trump pushing misleading info to advance a war on Big Tech, Bannon said, "The president often times sees information and thinks it ought to be in the public dialogue." Bannon said the "direction" of Trump's rhetoric is "correct" and that his tweets on issues often help get things "into the conversation."
>> Bannon said Big Tech's data should be seized and put in a "public trust." Specifically, Bannon said, "I think you take [the data] away from the companies. All that data they have is put in a public trust. They can use it. And people can opt in and opt out. That trust is run by an independent board of directors. It just can't be that [Big Tech is] the sole proprietors of this data...I think this is a public good." Bannon added that Big Tech companies "have to be broken up" just like Teddy Roosevelt broke up the trusts."
>> Bannon attacked the executives of Facebook, Twitter and Google. "These are run by sociopaths," he said. "These people are complete narcissists. These people ought to be controlled, they ought to be regulated." At one point during the phone call, Bannon said, "These people are evil. There is no doubt about that."
>> Bannon said he thinks "this is going to be a massive issue" in future elections. He said he thinks it will probably take until 2020 to fully blossom as a campaign issue, explaining, "I think by the time 2020 comes along, this will be a burning issue. I think this will be one of the biggest domestic issues." Bannon said the "#MeToo movement has brought the issue of consent front and center" and argued that "this is going to bring the issue of digital consent front and center." | | Kara Swisher, on the other hand, does not appear to be a fan of Trump's Big Tech rhetoric. She wrote a blistering piece in the NYT on Wednesday, skewering Trump for what she said was a "ludicrous attack" on Big Tech. In her piece's opening line, Swisher wrote, "Here's the truest conundrum of the social media age: Those who complain loudest about being silenced never ever shut up."
>> Another section of interest: "Rather than attacking techies, he should send them a gold-embossed thank you note. Instead, as is his way, Mr. Trump huffs and puffs away on issues that have finally bubbled up to him from the ever-growing cesspool of online anger, especially the truly ludicrous idea that Silicon Valley does not like conservatives." | | Author of bogus Google study: Regulation of Big Tech not the answer | | The blogger who wrote the bogus study that asserted 96% of results returned by Google for the "Trump news" search query wrote an op-ed in WaPo on Wednesday. In the op-ed, Paula Bolyard said she stood by her study, but shot down the idea of regulating Big Tech.
>> Bolyard: "Let me be clear: While suspicions about inherent biases being baked into the systems at Google and other tech platforms are certainly warranted, I do not believe that government regulations are the answer to that problem." | | This all sets the table for next week's hearing... | | Donie O'Sullivan emails: Sheryl Sandberg, Jack Dorsey, and an empty chair. Next week's Senate Intel Committee hearing on what social media companies are doing to protect the integrity of the midterm elections could turn into quite the spectacle. The committee asked for someone from Google or its parent company's C-suite, but instead the company offered a lieutenant. Not good enough, say Senators Richard Burr and Mark Warner...
A source familiar with the committee's negotiations with Google told me that Google's unwillingness to send a senior executive was a rookie error. "Here's the irony - this would've been an easy way for Google to win some goodwill. Pichai could've sat there, looking cooperative, while Facebook and Twitter took the vast majority of the incoming [questions from senators]," the source said.
>> My take: The source is right – Facebook takes a lot more heat on this topic than Google and Twitter. | | -- BuzzFeed obtains documents that offer "a rare glimpse into the inner workings of the Kremlin's propaganda machine..." (BuzzFeed)
-- A Florida state senator called 911 and said her life was "threatened" after a Miami Herald reporter approached her for questions... (Miami Herald)
-- The Young Turks has slashed staff again. This time the progressive digital network has dropped entertainment programming... (The Wrap)
-- The Atlantic has poached Alex Hardiman from Facebook to be its chief business and product officer. Previously, Hardiman worked at the NYT. She most recently served as Facebook's head of news products... (AdWeek)
-- Jimmy Carter praises Fox News host Neil Cavuto: Thank you "for your good work on television..." (The Wrap)
-- Joe Pompeo writes about how Meredith's sale of Time, Fortune, Money, and Sports Illustrated is "dragging on..." (Vanity Fair)
| | Trump attacks CNN, and CNN responds | | Trump lashed out at CNN on Wednesday. The President wrote in a tweet, "CNN is being torn apart from within based on their being caught in a major lie and refusing to admit the mistake. Sloppy @carlbernstein, a man who lives in the past and thinks like a degenerate fool, making up story after story, is being laughed at all over the country! Fake News."
>> CNN PR responded in a tweet of its own: "Make no mistake, Mr. President, CNN does not lie. We report the news. And we report when people in power tell lies. CNN stands by our reporting and our reporters. There may be many fools in this story but @carlbernstein is not one of them."
>> Bernstein responded in his own tweet: ".@realdonaIdtrump- I have spent my life as a journalist bringing the truth to light, through administrations of both parties. No taunt will diminish my commitment to that mission, which is the essential role of a free press. @CNN stands by its story, and I stand by my reporting." | | Trump: Don't believe anonymous sources | | The President began the day warning his followers -- again -- not to believe stories based on anonymous sources. Trump tweeted, "When you see 'anonymous source,' stop reading the story, it is fiction!"
>> NYT's Maggie Haberman responded: "Pete Hammill [sic] didn't want to run Trump stories at the NYDN in the 1990s because he said they were too often Trump trying to serve as an anonymous source about himself."
>> NBC's Katy Tur added: "He believes reporters lie and sources lie because he lies and did so when he was an 'anonymous' source." | | Speaking of Trump's Twitter account... | | | Via Reuters: "U.S. President Donald Trump on Tuesday unblocked some additional Twitter users after a federal judge in May said preventing people from following him violated individuals constitutional rights..." | | Newspapers get a break on Trump tariffs | | Tom Kludt emails: The US International Trade Commission voted unanimously Wednesday to terminate tariffs imposed on newsprint imported from Canada -- handing a big win to an already beleaguered newspaper industry that argued the policy cost jobs and a blow to the Department of Commerce, which upheld the tariffs earlier this month.
It also represents a setback for a company in Washington state called Northern Pacific Paper (or Norpac), which advocated for the tariffs, arguing that they leveled the playing field with heavily subsidized Canadian paper producers. Craig Anneberg, the CEO of the company, said Wednesday he was "very disappointed" in the decision, and that Norpac intends to review the commission's "written determination when it is issued in a few weeks." | | The tariffs would have "been unsustainable" | | | Tom adds: The News Media Alliance, which represents about 2,000 newspapers in North America, celebrated Wednesday's vote. David Chavern, president and CEO of the group, said that even after the Commerce Department revised the tariffs to lower levels, they still "would have been unsustainable" for newspapers... | | By Daniel Emanuel:
-- The Atlantic explores why alt-right news sites don't appear at the top of Google searches... (The Atlantic)
-- The Daily Beast's Nico Hines interviews Paul Conroy, a photographer who accompanied journalist Marie Colvin in covering the slaughtering of civilians in Syria. Colvin was killed in a missile fire...(The Daily Beast)
-- Netflix has hired a head of "inclusion strategy," Vernā Myers, following the firing of an executive "over racially insensitive remarks..." (Deadline)
-- Variety's Todd Spangler writes about how YouTube's algorithm changes have led to "creator burnout..." (Variety) | | Another objectionable comment made on Fox News | | Florida Republican gubernatorial candidate Rep. Ron DeSantis appeared on Fox News Wednesday after his primary victory and drew accusations of racism when he said his black opponent, Andrew Gillum, would "monkey this up" if elected.
>> DeSantis' full comment: "The last thing we need to do is to monkey this up by trying to embrace a socialist agenda with huge tax increases and bankrupting the state." | | "We do not condone this language" | | While a DeSantis spokesperson said it would be "absurd" to characterize the comment as racist, Fox News quickly distanced itself from the remark. Shortly after DeSantis made the comment on Fox News, host Sandra Smith told viewers, "We do not condone this language and wanted to make our viewers aware that he has since clarified his statement."
>> Of note: Fox News brass has tried to avoid having guests making inflammatory comments on its air. Per Politico, network CEO Suzanne Scott told producers months ago they will be held accountable for what happens on their shows... | | | For the record, part three | | | By Julia Waldow:
-- The founder of the Occupy Democrats Facebook page has created a new liberal-leaning social network called Liker that's become a "hive for false claims about Trump," Will Sommer writes... (The Daily Beast)
-- The Atlantic's Taylor Lorenz unpacks how Trump's attacks on news organizations have trickled down to teens' views of the press... (The Atlantic)
-- UK customers are calling out Amazon for poor live coverage of the US Open... (Bloomberg)
-- The Young Turks now has 27,000 paying subscribers accounting for almost 50 percent of overall revenue... (Digiday)
-- Facebook Watch goes global this Thursday... (Variety)
-- Sarah Harman has joined NBC News as a correspondent based in London... (AdWeek) | | Stelter's vacation diaries | | | Stelter emails: Uninstalled Twitter. Went into town for coffee and newspapers. Took Sunny to the bay. We picked out seashells. Fish and flatbreads for dinner. Went to see "Crazy Rich Asians" with Jamie. We loved it. ✌🏼 | | -- Alec Baldwin has dropped out of the "Joker" movie. "I'm no longer doing that movie..." (USA Today)
-- Marvel has removed an anti-Mormon reference from the "Amazing Spider-Man" comic... (THR) | | Aretha Franklin's family being 'guided by God' to honor her | | | Lisa Respers France emails: Aretha Franklin's niece Sabrina Owens told me she started to consider how to bid her beloved aunt farewell before the world even knew the legendary singer was ill. "I tend to be a very organized person," Owens said. "I started thinking about this back in January, because a bunch of family members were headed out of the country in a few months and I was worried something might happen while everyone was away." But in the midst of all the planning Owens says the family has yet to properly grieve. Here's a look behind the scenes of how everything is coming together... | | By Lisa Respers France:
-- Pop superstar Ariana Grande has been added to the performance line up for Aretha Franklin's funeral Friday...
-- Aretha Franklin may not have had much to say about Taylor Swift's talent while Franklin was alive, but Swift paid tribute to the Queen of Soul during a Detroit stop for her Reputation tour...
-- The fight is on to preserve Aretha Franklin's birthplace home in Memphis... | | DC Universe to launch in September | | | Brian Lowry emails: The new subscription service DC Universe — a dedicated enterprise designed to appeal to hard-core comics fans — will launch Sept. 15, featuring a mix of new and existing content. The most eagerly anticipated program, a live-action, edgy series based on the Teen Titans comics, titled "Titans," will make its debut in mid-October, following its premiere at New York Comic-Con. | | Lowry emails: "Mr. Robot," the paranoid conspiracy thriller that flamed very brightly but pretty quickly began losing steam, will end with its fourth season, which will air next year...
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