EXEC SUMMARY: Hello from LAX... En route to SXSW... Here's the latest on Facebook's plan to inoculate against anti-vaxxers, Disney's plan for its "vault," plus an example of local TV's life-saving power and much more...
"Manafort Sentence Shocker"
Hats off to Paul Manafort and Judge T.S. Ellis: They've jump-started a conversation about why white collar criminals are treated differently than other law-breakers.
One of the banners on "Cuomo Prime Time" said "MANAFORT SENTENCE SHOCKER: LESS THAN FOUR YEARS." The headline on the front page of Friday's NYT reads "MANAFORT GIVEN LESS THAN 4 YEARS; FACED LONG TERM."
"Simply put, Judge Ellis's sentence is an injustice," CNN legal analyst Elie Honig wrote Thursday night. "It fails to adequately punish Manafort for committing a series of deliberate crimes over many years" and it "sends a corrosive two-pronged message to the American public."
MSNBC's Ari Melber weighed in with a similar POV: The sentence "is a reminder of the blatant inequities in our justice system that we all know about, because they reoccur every week in courts across America."
Try to imagine this alternative reality
"To be clear, the charges have nothing to do with the president," Fox's Laura Ingraham said Thursday night.
Okay, but... Consider what Neal Katyal tweeted before his CNN appearance: "47 months for Trump's top campaign official is a big deal, even if guidelines called for more. If Obama's top person went to jail for even a day, we would never stop hearing about it..."
>> MORE TO COME: "Manafort's next stop will be the federal courthouse in DC. He is due to be sentenced in DC next Wednesday for more felonies," Rachel Maddow noted (with a tinge of excitement?) Thursday... | |
WaPo wants court to unseal records
"Objecting to an abundance of sealed and redacted records in the criminal case against Paul Manafort, the president's former campaign chairman, The Washington Post petitioned a federal court Thursday to open those records to public view," the Post's Richard Leiby reported Thursday... | |
FOR THE RECORD, PART ONE
-- Coming Friday: BuzzFeed CEO Jonah Peretti's annual memo about BuzzFeed and the internet... He is sharing it at SXSW... Hear more from him on the "Reliable" podcast Friday evening...
-- If you're at SXSW, you can find me answering Q's here at 12:30 and asking Q's here at 5 p.m. CT...
-- Days after Steve Clemons said he was leaving The Atlantic for Axios, he told WaPo's Erik Wemple that he changed his mind. Wemple explains the unfortunate series of events (and accusations) that may have caused Clemons to reconsider... (WaPo)
-- Holly Bailey is jumping from Yahoo News to WaPo, where she will play a "leading role" in 2020 coverage... (WaPo)
-- Fourteen staffers at the St. Louis Post-Dispatch have signed up for buyouts... (Riverfront Times)
The life-saving power of local TV
Another reminder about the power of local TV and radio during emergencies:
The meteorologists at WSFA, the NBC affiliate in Montgomery, Alabama, are being lauded for their "calm-but-serious" approach and "clear but convincing" graphics while covering Sunday's tornado outbreak.
"It was coverage that probably proved lifesaving for many Alabama residents, and it blew away veteran broadcast meteorologists with its clarity, thoroughness and calm-yet-serious tone," Matthew Cappucci of WaPo's Capital Weather Gang wrote here...
State Dept. rescinds "Women of Courage Award"
Katie Pellico emails: The State Dept. recently rescinded the International Women of Courage Award it had offered to Finnish investigative journalist Jessikka Aro, after reportedly unearthing some old anti-Trump tweets. Foreign Policy reported Thursday that Aro was "originally chosen for the award because of her investigative work exposing Russian troll factories," and had "regularly tweeted criticism about Trump's sharp political rhetoric and attacks on the press."
An email to Aro stated the initial award offer had been an "error," but FP reports unnamed officials "suggested the decision came from lower-level State Department officials wary of the optics of [Sec.] Pompeo granting an award to an outspoken critic of the Trump administration." The awards were announced by Melania Trump in a ceremony that took place on Thursday.
>> Aro wrote on Twitter, "This unbelievable but true story is such a disgrace and violates freedom of speech. Please read and share." You heard her...
Dems want more info about Trump admin's handling of AT&T deal
WaPo's Brian Fung and Tony Romm with the scoop on Thursday: "House Democrats pressed the Trump admin on Thursday over its handling of the AT&T-Time Warner merger, requesting information from the W.H. and the DOJ that could shed light on whether President Trump or his allies interfered in regulators' review of the $85 billion deal."
"We write to underscore our serious concerns regarding allegations that President Trump attempted to interfere with antitrust law enforcement," Jerry Nadler and David Cicilline wrote Thursday. CNN's Tom Kludt has more here...
🔌: Rep. Cicilline will join me on Sunday's "Reliable Sources..."
Supreme Court justices still skeptical of TV cameras
Will this EVER change? "Supreme Court justices Samuel Alito and Elena Kagan, appearing before House lawmakers Thursday, continued to voice the court's entrenched opposition to televising oral arguments," CNN's Joan Biskupic wrote. "They said the possibility of cameras at hearings on cases -- long advocated by many members of Congress and public interest groups -- had not even been discussed among the nine justices in recent years." Details here...
FOR THE RECORD, PART TWO
-- "An Amazon-led group of investors that includes the New York Yankees is ready to sign a deal to buy YES Network — one of NY's most prominent cable sports channels — for roughly $3.5 billion..." (NYPost)
-- Seth Fiegerman and Kaya Yurieff's latest: "Facebook's plan to put 'privacy first' could create new problems..." (CNN)
-- Mathew Ingram asks, "Is Facebook making changes because they are better for users, or because they make life easier for Facebook?" (CJR)
| | The fallout from Fox's debate disinvitation
Instead of leading with the day's important news, like the Manafort sentencing, Tucker Carlson led his Thursday night show with... his complaint about me and Ana Navarro. Carlson misstated what I've said about Fox being rejected by the DNC, but you can hear and read what I actually said here in last night's newsletter.
Anyway, Carlson was just the latest Fox host to object to the Dems' decision. Chris Wallace said earlier in the day that "the left wing of the Democratic Party" is suffering from "Fox derangement syndrome."
He said the Dems were "just looking for an excuse" to blacklist Fox, and "and the New Yorker article gave it to them." The author of that article, Jane Mayer, will join me on Sunday's "Reliable Sources..."
Top reactions
-- Crooked Media's Brian Beutler called out the DC reporters who came to Fox's defense: "Fox News is among the most destructive forces in American public life. Journalists who defend it are not defending 'journalism' — they're refusing to accept what Fox News is and the harm it is doing every day" and "playing a hand in the destruction of their own profession..."
-- Former USA Today exec editor David Colton took the opposite position: "Fox News needs to be confronted, not avoided..."
-- Vox's Emily Stewart: "The DNC may not want to boost the ratings of a channel that spends so much time working against it..."
-- Fox media analyst Howard Kurtz said the "prime-time opinion people" get a lot of attention, "but there are an awful lot of people at this company," listing off anchors and reporters at the news division...
It's about the organization, not the individual journos
Brian Lowry emails: Margaret Sullivan and TPM's Josh Marshall summed up the argument against allowing Fox News to host a Democratic presidential debate better than I ever could, stressing that it's about the organization, not the individual journalists. Sullivan: "This was a mild, reasonable step that recognizes the reality that Fox News shouldn't be treated as an honest broker of political news." And Marshall: "The idea that Democrats are showing fear or a lack of press openness by rejecting Fox is silly. And journalists making this argument are being silly themselves. Hosting a debate isn't a matter of press access. It's an institutional collaboration."
| | Media outlets marking International Women's Day
Katie Pellico writes: Ahead of International Women's Day on Friday, here's a sampling of the special content that newsrooms and networks are promoting:
-- Twitter's official hashtags are #IWD2019 and #BalanceForBetter...
-- Read CNN's Melissa Mahtani on "the global sisterhood of empowerment..."
-- NBC's "Today" plans to kick off the day with a series of interviews with women "breaking barriers in their fields," followed by a special concert from Maren Morris...
-- iHeartMedia has been spotlighting outstanding women in music on radio waves and the web all week, culminating in a "Women Who Rock" event Friday at 10 p.m. ET...
-- Harper's BAZAAR is launching its first-ever podcast, hosted by Olivia Wilde, on Friday. The first episode of "Dare I Say" features Planned Parenthood president Dr. Leana Wen...
-- The "VH1 Trailblazer Honors" air Friday at 9 p.m. ET on VH1 and Logo, with honorees such as Nancy Pelosi and Ava DuVernay, and "#GirlPower" galore...
FOR THE RECORD, PART THREE
-- Paula Froelich is joining Newsweek in two roles: Editor of Travel and Lifestyle and managing editor of branded and native content...
-- Happy birthday to NBC's Lester Holt... He turns 60 on Friday... (NBC)
-- Speaking of Holt, he said on Thursday's nightly news that after Cynthia McFadden's report on the Central African Republic, "UNICEF raised a million dollars for their life-saving efforts" there... (Twitter)
| | Sherrod is out
Sherrod Brown has added himself to the list of Dems who are NOT running for president.
Many observers were surprised. Count me among them. Last week I had a chance to meet Brown and his better half -- the prize-winning columnist and journalism professor Connie Schultz -- and I was pretty sure they were running.
Following Brown's announcement, Schultz tweeted out a photo of her "AMERICA NEEDS JOURNALISTS" pin. "Throughout @SherrodBrown's four-state Dignity of Work tour, I wore this pin," she wrote. "Now I ask this of every Democrat running for president: Give journalists the access they deserve. We keep saying Trump is wrong to call journalists 'the enemy of the people.' Let's act like we mean it." You can buy one of the pins here... | |
Tim Apple!
 Perfect. Just perfect. Tim Cook changed his name on Twitter to Tim -- a nod to the president's flub on Wednesday. Trump said to Cook, "You really put a big investment in our country. We appreciate it very much, Tim Apple." So that's his name now...
>> Don't miss this "Daily Show" reel of Trump playing (and failing) the "NAME THAT PERSON" game... | |
Advocacy groups denounce database documenting journalists along US-Mexico border
Katie Pellico writes: In light of NBC San Diego's discovery of a government database tracking dozens of journalists, organizers and others on the border, advocacy groups are speaking out. The Reporters Committee called the process of targeting journalists "wholly inappropriate," promising to confront CBP to "raise concerns" along with the Committee to Protect Journalists and Reporters Without Borders. The ACLU called it an "outrageous violation of the First Amendment."
The CBP insisted to NBC that "the names in the database are all people who were present during violence that broke out at the border in November."
I spoke with Go Nakamura, Bing Guan and a third freelance photojournalist on Thursday who said the report "confirmed suspicions" following their run-ins with border officers in November and December, as had been detailed in Ryan Devereaux's piece for The Intercept last month. One PJ asked, "Are we going to have issues going into any country? Are we going to be able to work?"
FOR THE RECORD, PART FOUR
-- Facebook is taking aim against anti-vaxxers by "lowering the ranking of groups and pages that spread misinfo about vaccinations in its News Feed and Search options..." (CNN)
-- YouTube is testing a feature that patches in "information panels" containing "debunks" over videos about dicier topics that are "prone to misinformation." Plans for the global rollout are TBD... (BuzzFeed News)
-- Are we "digital junkies?" AFP breaks down "technology's battle for our attention..." (AFP) | |
FOR THE RECORD, PART FOUR
-- Felix Gillette has the cover story in this week's Bloomberg Businessweek... And it's all about HBO and AT&T... (Businessweek)
-- Netflix's CMO Kelly Bennett is stepping down after seven years. The news comes one day after Erik Barmack, the company's international head, announced he was leaving to start his own production venture... (THR)
-- "A former executive at a division of Warner Bros. is suing the company over allegations that it recently terminated all of its Asian-American executives who worked for a since-shuttered streaming-video service while keeping all of its white executives." The studio says "we will vigorously defend ourselves and we expect to prevail..." (NBC)
-- I missed this yesterday: Brie Larson has signed on to star in a CIA drama for Apple... (Variety)
"The Simpsons" is taking its Michael Jackson episode offline
Joe Flint's exclusive: "A classic episode of 'The Simpsons' featuring Michael Jackson's voice will be removed from circulation, the show's longtime executive producer, James L. Brooks, said... Brooks said he, along with Matt Groening and Al Jean... came to the conclusion after watching the HBO documentary 'Leaving Neverland.'" Read on...
>> Related: "Michael Jackson really makes us uncomfortable now, so his music should, too," The Boston Globe's Christopher Muther wrote Thursday...
Did this week's interviews change your impression of R. Kelly?
R. Kelly's girlfriends defended him -- and blamed their parents -- in this week's interview with Gayle King. If you missed it, here's the recap by Lisa Respers France... Plus more of what we learned from part two of the R. Kelly interview...
>> Roxanne Jones' piece for CNN.com: "With R. Kelly, Gayle King delivers master class in de-escalation and dogged journalism"
| | Disney's vault is opening up
Justin Freiman emails: Disney announced the opening of its famed film "vault" at Thursday's shareholders meeting. They'll be used to fuel Disney's upcoming streaming service Disney+ soon after its launch later this year. "So the movies that... traditionally have been kept in a vault and brought out basically every few years will be on the service," Bob Iger said.
>> Disney also announced its long-awaited theme park Star Wars: Galaxy's Edge will open at Disneyland in California on May 31, and Disney World in Florida on August 29. Both feature 14 acres of Star Wars-themed rides, food, character interactions, and of course, shopping...
>> Jill Disis has a full report on the shareholders meeting here...
Lowry reviews "After Life" | | Brian Lowry emails: Ricky Gervais is an outspoken atheist, a belief system that's woven into "After Life," "The Office" co-creator's latest series for Netflix. Mixing comedy with drama, the show -- which Gervais wrote and directed -- casts him as a journalist who is devastated by the death of his wife, having lost the desire to live to the point where he feels emboldened to say and do pretty much anything, which he describes as his "superpower."
Picking up where "Serial" left off
Brian Lowry emails: HBO's four-part "The Case Against Adnan Syed" is a sequel, essentially, to the "Serial" podcast, continuing the mystery of what happened to murder victim Hae Min Lee 20 years ago. Like the second season of "Making a Murderer," the docu-series in somewhat meta fashion works the media coverage of the case -- and the impact of the spotlight's glare -- into the story. More...
| | FOR THE RECORD, PART FIVE
-- Lisa Respers France emails: Luke Perry's son and "Riverdale" have both honored the late actor. Here's how... (CNN)
-- Brian Lowry emails: The BBC is joining US broadcasters in taking shots at Netflix and its failure to provide user data. BBC director general Tony Hall told a conference that BBC's "The Bodyguard" drew far more viewers than Netflix's "The Crown..." (THR)
-- Here's the first trailer for "Late Night," written by and starring Mindy Kaling,.. (THR)
-- And last but not least, Instagram has a new influencer: Queen Elizabeth II! (CNN)
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