EXEC SUMMARY: Hey there, this is Oliver Darcy. Scroll down below for the latest on Brian Karem's case, Bernie Sanders' plan for the media, Jack Shafer's take on pro-Trump operatives mining the social media accounts of journalists, the new "Star Wars" trailer, and more. But first... Taylor Swift calls out the White House | | Perhaps the petition will catch the eye of the Trump administration now. On MTV's biggest night of the year, while accepting her VMAs award, Taylor Swift zinged the White House for failing to publicly address her Change.org petition supporting the Equality Act.
Swift first promoted the Equality Act with a graphic on the stage at the conclusion of her performance. But things heated up when she took the stage to accept her award for video of the year. Referencing her petition, which she launched with the release of "You Need to Calm Down," Swift described the Equality Act as legislation that "basically just says we deserve equal rights under the law."
Swift said, "It now has half-a-million signatures, which is five times the amount that it would need to warrant a response from the White House." She then looked at her wrist and tapped as if she were wearing a hand watch. The message was clear: Swift is awaiting a response...
GLAAD, DeGeneres thank Swift
After she called out the White House, GLAAD thanked Swift for using her VMAs "win to bring attention" to the Equality Act. Others, including Ellen DeGeneres, thanked Swift and used the opportunity to again promote the Equality Act.
Swift's political transformation
Swift has noticeably waded into the political waters with her latest album. She's been a vocal supporter of the Equality Act, revealed she is "obviously" pro-choice, and taken indirect shots at President Trump. It's entirely different from the Swift who for so long declined -- to the disdain of many -- to get involved in politics.
Will Trump respond?
I checked in with Stephanie Grisham to see if the White House had any response to Swift. I didn't hear back. But if "Fox & Friends" offers coverage of the moment on Tuesday morning, perhaps we'll hear straight from the president...
>> Context: Despite the House passing the Equality Act in May, the White House has said it opposes the legislation, arguing it is "filled with poison pills that threaten to undermine parental and conscience rights."
Swift wasn't the only one to get political
In keeping with tradition, there were several political moments at the VMAs. Many touched on immigration. J Balvin and Rosalia stressed their heritage. "I'm super proud to be a Latino right now," J Balvin said.
Rapper French Montana said "as an immigrant" he feels "we are the people that make this country." And Alison Brie said, "What's happening to immigrants in this country is unconstitutional and frankly disgusting!"
More VMAs coverage from CNN
-- Here's the complete list of VMAs winners by category...
-- Photos from the red carpet...
-- Missy Elliot was presented with the Video Vanguard Award...
-- Marc Jacobs was the first-ever recipient of the MTV Fashion Trailblazer Award...
FOR THE RECORD, PART ONE
-- Appearing on MSNBC, Joe Walsh was relentlessly pressed on the hateful comments he's made in his past. Walsh conceded, "I've said racist things..." (Mediaite)
-- Speaking of Walsh: Speaking to John Berman on "AC360," Walsh said he had inexplicably been notified he has lost his national radio show. "I don't know why," Walsh said. "I just got a notice before I came in the studio..." (CNN)
-- Why did the White House release a bogus explanation for Trump skipping the G7 climate session? On CNN Monday afternoon, Brian Stelter said there were lots of possible explanations, none of them good... (Twitter)
-- Jim Scuito spotlighted Trump's "parade of lies" at the G7 Summit... (Mediaite)
-- Adrian Walker asks: "Why couldn't the visionaries at" the MIT Media Lab "spot a bad actor like Jeffrey Epstein?" (Globe)
Karem heads to court
Brian Karem, the Playboy White House columnist and CNN political analyst, is heading to court on Tuesday. US District Judge Rudolph Contreras will hear the case at 10am ET. Karem has requested an injunction that could restore his hard pass, which is suspended until September 14...
A motion filed on Karem's behalf Monday argued that "no viable reason" has been offered by the White House explaining why Karem's hard pass "must be suspended while his constitutional claims are adjudicated." The motion argues the court should, thus, grant "inductive relief." We'll see whether the court agrees.
WHCA and Pen America file amicus briefs
Both WHCA and Pen America filed separate amicus briefs on Monday opposing the White House's decision to suspend Karem's hard pass...
>> WHCA president Jonathan Karl: "We strongly disagree with the government's argument that neither the Due Process clause nor the First Amendment constrains the administration in determining who gets access to the White House. We also believe giving the White House Press Secretary unfettered discretion to determine what is 'professional' or 'unprofessional' conduct would have a chilling effect on journalists."
>> Pen America CEO Suzanne Nossel: "Revoking Karem's credentials is just a salvo in the president's campaign to silence criticism, investigations, any coverage that paints him in a negative light. The federal courts must step in to vindicate the First Amendment and affirm that it does not allow the means of government to be used for retribution against the press."
Bernie Sanders releases plan for the media
Bernie Sanders on Monday published an op-ed at CJR detailing his plan for journalism. Some key points from his essay:
>> Immediate moratorium on mergers: Sanders says his administration would not "rubber stamp" proposals like the CBS-Viacom merger, and a pause would be put on them until "we can better understand the true effect these transactions have on our democracy..."
>> Require disclosure regarding layoffs: Sanders says his administration would "start requiring major media corporations to disclose whether or not their corporate transactions and merger proposals will involve significant journalism layoffs..."
>> Stock-ownership plans: Sanders says employees "must be given the opportunity to purchase media outlets through employee stock-ownership plans" before mergers can be approved...
>> Monopolies in local markets: Sanders says to oppose a single company having a monopoly in a local market, his administration would "limit the number of stations that large broadcasting corporations can own in each market and nationwide..."
An interesting word choice...
The solutions Sanders proposed came in the second half of his essay. In the first half of the essay, Sanders assailed the current state of the press. He repeatedly drew a distinction between "real journalism" and what he characterized as the "gossip, punditry, and clickbait that dominates today's news." I thought the use of the word "real" was interesting. He could have used another word, perhaps contrasting "good" journalism against "bad" journalism. But Sanders chose to use the word "real." It seemed to me he was suggesting much of what we have right now is not real. Or, in other words, fake.
Shafer: Old tweets from journalists are "fair game"
| | Following the NYT's reporting about how pro-Trump operatives are mining the social media accounts of journalists in search of problematic past statements, Jack Schafer at Politico wrote a piece in which he defended the practice as "fair game."
Shafer wrote, "As much as I would like to sympathize with my fellow journalists, it doesn't strike me as unreasonable to ask them to own or repudiate vile or impolitic things they might have stated in the past. Nor is it remotely unfair for the president's supporters to demand that journalists, who are forever denouncing him as a racist (because he is), be held accountable for their bigoted speech, on Twitter or anywhere else. Journalists don't deserve a get-out-of-bigotry-jail free card just because they're journalists."
Shafer concluded his argument acknowledging that "the embarrassments" unearthed in this effort might temporarily "bruise the tender egos" of news organizations. But, he wrote, "In the long run, these minirevelations will help them maintain the professional standards they're always crowing about."
Two related pieces
>> Erik Wemple's article at WaPo -- "Breitbart burned the New York Times. And the Times really doesn't like it" -- is worth your time. Wemple wrote that the pro-Trump operatives "must be celebrating right about now, having triggered not only an extensive scolding in The Times, but also an eight-paragraph memo from its publisher..."
>> Hamilton Nolan at Splinter: "Many journalists are very indignant that Trump allies are reportedly combing through social media to identify embarrassing things they may have posted long ago that can be used to discredit them. In this case, I'm afraid, the outrage seems to be missing the point..."
FOR THE RECORD, PART TWO
-- Trump lashed out on Monday morning at Axios, calling its story about him suggesting the use of nuclear weapons to stop hurricanes "ridiculous." Reporter Jonathan Swan, who wrote the story, tweeted that he stands "by every word..." (Twitter)
-- Returning from the G-7 Summit, Trump again lashed out at the Axios story, calling it "phony" and "ridiculous." Using its main Twitter account, Axios replied that it stands by its reporting... (Twitter)
-- "Vice Media has made leadership changes at its agency Virtue Worldwide as another one of the firm's founding execs leaves," Lucia Moses reports... (Business Insider)
-- Self magazine has launched a #VaccinesSaveLives project... (Self)
-- Wimbledon umpire Damian Steiner was fired over giving news interviews... (NYT)
Giuliani promotes Seth Rich conspiracy theory
"Rudy Giuliani promoted discredited conspiracy theories about murdered Democratic National Committee staffer Seth Rich on Twitter early Monday morning, further fueling the baseless speculation that has anguished Rich's grieving family," Will Sommer reported for The Daily Beast. "Giuliani quote-tweeted a tweet from conspiracy theorist Matt Couch, whose fevered claims about Rich's 2016 murder provoked a defamation lawsuit from Rich's brother."
>> Of note: This behavior was repugnant back in 2016, but even more so now, given that the Mueller Report debunked the idea that Seth Rich leaked material to Wikileaks...
Weinstein re-arraigned
Harvey Weinstein was back in court on Monday... He pleaded not guilty to two new sexual assault charges. "The disgraced media mogul already faced five felony charges: two counts of predatory sexual assault, one count of criminal sexual act in the first degree and one count each of first-degree rape and third-degree rape," according to CNN story. "He has pleaded not guilty to all of the charges, and his attorneys have said the acts were consensual."
Three additional accusers to testify
The judge in the case said Monday that three additional accusers will be allowed to testify against Weinstein. The accusers will serve as "prior bad acts" witnesses. Additionally, a source told CNN that "Sopranos" actress Annabella Sciorra says she was assaulted by Weinstein in the winter of 1993-1994. Sciorra's attorney, Gloria Allred, said Sciorra is "willing to testify when asked to do so."
| | FOR THE RECORD, PART THREE
-- "Rich Battista, the former executive of Fox and Time Inc., has been named CEO of Imagine Entertainment, chairmen Brian Grazer and Ron Howard announced Monday..." (TheWrap)
-- An Phung emails: In popular movies released between 2007 and 2018, only "4.5% of more than 47,000 speaking or named roles went to Latinx actors," according to Sonaiya Kelley, who cited a new report from USC Annenberg Inclusion Initiative…(LAT)
-- Correction: As you may have noticed, Kasie Hunt's name was misspelled in Sunday's newsletter. As it turns out, when I type "Kasie" on my laptop, it autocorrects to "Katie." I did not catch that. Apologies, Kasie!
Lara Spencer apologizes on "GMA"
"I screwed up." That's how Lara Spencer put it on "Good Morning America" Monday morning when she apologized for her recent comments mocking Prince George's interest in ballet. "The comment I made about dance was stupid and insensitive and I am deeply sorry," Spencer said.
Spencer's apology came as dozens of male dancers demonstrated outside the "GMA" studios in Times Square. The demonstration included cast members from Broadway musicals, and others who showed up to support male dancers.
CBSN around the world?
In a new interview with LAT's Stephen Battaglio, Joe Ianniello suggested the CBS merger with Viacom might offer additional opportunities to grow the reach of CBS News. Battaglio said US news "really travels well," and noted the company's 24-hour efforts with its streaming channel CBSN. "News-gathering as a business has tremendous opportunity around the world," Battaglio said. "Would we have a cable news channel? Obviously we'll consider all of those things." Hmm...
>> Worth noting: This isn't exactly a new interest for CBS. The company had years ago expressed interest in possibly purchasing CNN as a way to get into the cable news biz...
STAT defeats Purdue Pharma in legal battle to release records
Kerry Flynn emails: The health-focused site STAT won a 3.5-year legal battle to release Purdue Pharma's records on marketing OxyContin, Kentucky Supreme Court ruled on Monday. In 2016, STAT filed a motion to unseal the records by the request of STAT reporter David Armstrong, now a senior reporter at ProPublica. STAT's managing editor Gideon Gil tweeted, "While we waited all that time, the case became personal for me, when a dear friend's daughter died of an overdose." Gil elaborated on his personal connection to the opioid crisis and his newsroom's battle in an op-ed on STAT.
STAT's co-founder and executive editor Rick Berke told me, From the start, "we saw accountability journalism as at the core of our mission, and thankfully that's been the philosophy of our owner. I hope that our success encourages others in the media to not be daunted in taking on powerful interests. I only wish we all could have done more to anticipate the opioid epidemic in the first place -- and the role of companies like Purdue."
FOR THE RECORD, PART FOUR
By Kerry Flynn:
-- Steve LeVine, who was most recently at Axios, has joined Medium as editor at large... (Twitter)
-- Sally Kuchar, formerly of Vox Media's Curbed, started at Sunset magazine as senior home editor... (Twitter)
-- Sarah Kessler, formerly of Quartz, joined Medium as a writer and editor... (Twitter)
-- The Atlantic's Amanda Mull expensed $1,279 worth of Goop products for a feature... (The Atlantic)
-- More publishers are selling software, which comes with headaches like needing highly specialized salespeople... (Digiday)
Uh oh, NYT treats its newsroom for bed bugs 😱
NYT staffers were informed on Monday that "evidence of bed bugs was found" at its offices, a spokesperson for the paper said. "All affected areas have been treated," the spokesperson added.
Over at Slate, Ashley Feinberg got her hands on the internal memo that went out to employees. According to the memo, evidence of bedbugs was found in multiple places and on multiple floors of NYT's HQ. Yikes...
Joe Biden returning to "The Late Show"
Frank Pallotta emails: Joe Biden's first late night TV stop as a presidential candidate will be "The Late Show with Stephen Colbert," CBS announced on Monday. The former vice president will appear alongside Colbert on September 4. It will be Biden's first time at the Ed Sullivan Theater since 2015...
| | Live from New York, it's Woody, Taylor and Eddie
Pallotta writes: "Saturday Night Live" will be back on the air on September 28 with Woody Harrelson and musical guest Billie Eilish. But that's just the start for the NBC show.
"Fleabag's" Phoebe Waller-Bridge will host on October 5 with musical guest Taylor Swift and the biggest name on the list will be coming during the holidays when Eddie Murphy hosts the holiday show on December 21... It will be his first time hosting the show in 35 years...
FOR THE RECORD, PART FIVE
By Lisa Respers France:
-- Cardi B was a stripper before she was a rap star, but she still didn't "shine" on the pole in her new film "Hustlers" and here's why...
-- 50 Cent isn't here for your "Power" theme song complaints...
-- Kelly Ripa and Mark Consuelos sent their daughter Lola off to college with plenty of tears...
Disney releases new "Star Wars" trailer
| | In Sunday night's newsletter we told you about the new "Star Wars: Rise of Skywalker" teaser shown to the D23 Expo crowd. On Monday, Disney released it for the world to see... and wow, is it something!
"One scene shows Rey fighting against Kylo Ren, the main antagonist of the film, atop a ship. In another shot, dozens of Star Destroyer ships can be seen in formation, possibly preparing for battle," Allen Kim reported for CNN.com. "However, the most interesting footage from the trailer is undoubtedly the final shot, which shows a hooded Rey wielding a double-sided red lightsaber. Her hood and red light saber hint at the possibility of her going to the dark side..."
>> Brian Lowry emails his thoughts: Watching the latest "Star Wars" trailer, I had two thoughts: A) Wow; and B) Only four more months of speculation and hot takes about this...
"The Mandalorian" and Marvel blur line between movies and streaming
Lowry emails: Watching the trailer for "The Mandalorian," the first live-action "Star Wars" series, what struck me is how much it felt like a movie -- and how many of the streaming projects that Disney+ announced could have theoretically been turned into films. It's a sign that the streaming wars -- and the need to get people to feel inspired and indeed obligated to subscribe -- is upping the ante for these companies, while further blurring the lines between movies and TV/streaming.
WaPo's Steven Zeitchik echoed the point, asking, "How will that affect Disney's theatrical box office? Its whole value proposition is that the movies offer these characters with production values that you can't see anywhere else."
Hollywood Foreign Press partners with LAT
Lowry sends one more: The Hollywood Foreign Press Assn. often gets a historically deserved bad rap, but the group behind the Golden Globes does put some of the money that it earns from that TV deal into worthy causes.
The latest example is a partnership with the Los Angeles Times to establish LA Press Freedom Week, which is described as "a week-long slate of events that will spotlight conversations around the protection of the First Amendment and engage the public and the journalism community in and around Los Angeles." The effort will begin on Sept. 16, with a panel titled "Press Freedom and Elections" at the Paley Center...
ICYMI
Catch up on Sunday's "Reliable"
Watch the video clips from Sunday's "Reliable" on CNN.com, read the transcript, or hear the podcast edition via Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Stitcher, TuneIn, or your favorite app...
Tiptoeing around Trump's instability
Brian Stelter writes: He is getting worse. We can all see it. It's happening in public. But Trump's instability is still a very hard story to cover. I spent the week talking with major media figures at networks and newspapers, and the consensus was that he's acting more erratic, more often. This left me wondering: Are members of the news media tiptoeing around obvious questions about Trump's instability? What do the daily lies, distortions and contradictions add up to?
Here's what I know for sure: Trump's mental health is being invoked by commentators online and on TV more and more. The fact pattern is right in front of us. And journalists need to connect the daily dots. Read/watch...
April Ryan speaks
April Ryan was giving a speech in New Jersey on August 3 when her bodyguard seized a journalist's camera and removed him from the event. Ryan has been silent about the controversy since then, but on Sunday's "Reliable" she expressed regret in an interview with Stelter. Ryan said "the only reason why I've been quiet is because of the threat of lawsuits." She said she did not direct the bodyguard, Joel Morris, to confront journalist Charlie Kratovil. When Stelter suggested that Morris "overreacted," she agreed and said she assumes he was "concerned for my safety." And she said Morris is no longer working with her. Here's the interview...
Notable notes and quotes
-- Journalists should be "confronting Trump at least about the lies and other false claims that he's made dozens of times," Daniel Dale said...
-- While on the subject of former press secretaries getting lucrative TV gigs after lying to the public, Irin Carmon said, "There is a desire here to pretend that everything is normal, and to memory-hole the parts that are extraordinary..."
-- Remember when right-wing TV and radio hosts cared about the debt and deficit? Here is Stelter's essay about epic hypocrisy...
-- The Charleston Gazette-Mail recently reported on West Virginia governor Jim Justice's conflicts of interest, spurring Justice to call the paper "garbage." Reporter Ken Ward Jr. said Trump has allowed "this sort of anti-press rhetoric to trickle down and embolden people like Governor Justice..."
-- James Foley and Steven Sotloff were murdered by ISIS five years ago this summer. Now the parents of the fallen journalists are working to keep journalists safe in conflict zones through their own foundations. Watch Stelter's interview with Diane Foley and Art Sotloff here... | | | Thank you for reading. I hope has kicked off to a good start. Email your feedback anytime -- the good, the bad, the ugly... | | | |
