EXEC SUMMARY: I'm back from a New York-Maryland road trip, watching live coverage of tornado warnings in Dallas, and wondering what Monday will bring... Here's the week ahead calendar and more...
High standards!
No matter who's in charge, no matter what's going on, it is easy and essential for journalists to hold powerful people to high standards. And journalists should be held to high standards as well. Lowering the bar is a disservice to everyone involved.
Case in point: Trump aides on the Sunday shows. "One of the reasons this administration does so few Sunday morning show appearances is because of how poorly Mick Mulvaney did on Fox and Mike Pompeo did on ABC," an emailer pointed out to me. That's true -- Chris Wallace rightly grilled Mulvaney and George Stephanopoulos made Pompeo sweat. That's how it should work. These officials must be held to the same high standards as past admin officials. And when they can't handle it, viewers can see for themselves. | | This issue came up on Sunday's "Reliable Sources" as well. I said that members of the media are constantly saying that the White House should hold more press briefings. And then Mulvaney held one... and it was disastrous for Trump. Mulvaney tried to walk back his quid pro quo statement, and then Trump reversed himself about holding the G7 meeting at Doral, which was the original point of the presser.
I can hear critics saying "you wanted a press briefing, well, you got one!" Yes, but the press and the public deserves both frequent and accurate information from taxpayer-funded officials. That's not even a high standard, that's just a base-level standard...
How about a proofreader?
Staying on the subject of high standards, the president misspelled the name of his defense secretary in a tweet on Sunday. He wrote "Mark Esperanto." He later deleted the error and posted a new tweet with Mark Esper's name, but with a mysterious quote that Esper has never uttered in public. Per WaPo's Josh Dawsey, "admin officials do not believe Esper has said this anywhere publicly" and are confused by Trump's tweet.
Trump has also been misstating basic facts about the US military mission in the Middle East. I don't think this should be met with a shrug. It should be measured against high standards that are applied consistently.
--> George Conway said the error is another sign of something seriously wrong: "We all make typos and mistakes, and spellcheck messes with the best of us. But you make so many weird goofs—how about those 1770's fighter planes? or the 'Toledo' massacre?—that you need to get checked out. And you're frequently incoherent or barely coherent. You need to submit not simply to the short senility test you've taken, which tells us little, but rather to a full neuropsych workup..."
When neutral reporting about Trump sounds like criticism | | "The facts double as condemnations under Trump," Erik Wemple said on Sunday's "Reliable," pointing out that neutral fact-checking sometimes sounds like an "attack." I cited the Esper error as an example.
--> CNN's fact-checker extraordinaire Daniel Dale also joined the conversation. He said "I think what a serial liar like Trump counts on is his ability to wear us down..."
FOR THE RECORD, PART ONE
-- You heard it here first: Suffolk University and USA TODAY are coming out with a new poll of Iowa voters on Monday morning...
-- Toluse Olorunnipa, Josh Dawsey and David A. Fahrenthold's piece in Monday's Post: Trump "was forced to abandon" his Doral decision "after it became clear the move had alienated Republicans and swiftly become part of the impeachment inquiry that threatens his presidency..." (WaPo)
-- Maggie Haberman, Eric Lipton and Katie Rogers' piece in the NYT notes: "The president first heard the criticism of his choice of the Doral watching TV, where even some Fox News personalities were disapproving..." (NYT)
THE BIG PICTURE:
News cycles are out, shock cycles are in
Cribbing from my monologue on Sunday's "Reliable Sources:" Every day is another shock, another scandal, another period of outrage... And then the same thing all over again the next day. Doral and the G7 is a perfect example. It's a "shock cycle."
As citizens, we have to retain our capacity to be shocked. But more importantly we have to recognize WHY these stories are stunning. And that's where journalists come in... That's why the news cycle still matters... Because lots of folks just hear the shock and outrage. They miss "why" it's shocking. They miss the context. The big picture context continues to be about abuse of power.
Notes and quotes from Sunday's show
-- Krystal Ball said the Doral deal was "a shade too shameless..."
-- Erik Wemple, who interviewed Trump loyalists about Shep Smith's exit from Fox, said they "could have really benefited from Shep Smith's journalism, but they were the first ones to turn him off..."
-- "I think we have an empathy gap" in American culture, Olivia Nuzzi said...
-- And here's Ronan Farrow on the takeaways from "Catch and Kill..."
Jim Sciutto's advice for the week ahead
"Ignore the usual misdirection and new 'villains,'" the CNN anchor and chief national security correspondent tweeted. "Focus on: the steady corroboration of the whistleblower's complaint; the bloody retreat in Syria & swift Russian, Iranian & Turkish gains; the defection and/or doubts of a (small) handful of Republicans..."
Hannity and Trump at the White House
Sean Hannity's next sit-down interview with POTUS will air on "Hannity" Monday night...
Media week ahead calendar
Monday: Trump holds a cabinet meeting...
Monday: WSJ Tech Live gets underway in Laguna Beach....
Monday evening: Opening night party for the VF New Establishment Summit...
Tuesday: Full day of programming at the VF summit... I'll be interviewing David Zaslav and Martha Stewart on stage...
Wednesday: The CNN CITIZEN conference takes place in NYC...
Wednesday: Mark Zuckerberg testifies before the House Financial Services committee...
Thursday: Amazon, Twitter, and Comcast earnings...
Friday: Verizon earnings...
"Skywalker" time
Brian Lowry emails with a reminder about Monday night's big display of Disney synergy: The final "Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker" trailer drops during "Monday Night Football," and advance tickets go on sale...
New date for AT&T earnings
The earnings report was expected this Wednesday, the 23rd... But it was moved back to Monday the 28th...
Per the WSJ, AT&T "is in talks with Elliott Management Corp. to resolve the activist investor's campaign for change at the phone and media giant." (Reminder: AT&T is CNN's parent.) The rescheduled earnings date is "giving the two sides more time to reach an agreement..."
FOR THE RECORD, PART TWO
-- Robin Wright's latest: "Trump's ignorance of the world has never been so blatant -- or produced such bipartisan opposition..." (New Yorker)
-- "For the fourth week in a row, the White House and top House and Senate Republicans have refused to come on this newscast to answer our questions," Jake Tapper noted Sunday... (Mediaite)
-- Former GOP congressman Sean Duffy is CNN's newest commentator... (Beast)
Anti-climactic end to Hillary Clinton email probe
The State Department released a report on Friday finding no "deliberate mishandling of classified information" related to Hillary Clinton's private email server. On Sunday's show, I asked why this news isn't receiving more attention and noted the tough Friday timing. Olivia Nuzzi said it's "kind of like how the correction never gets as much attention as the initial story..."
What it's like for a GOP talking head who wants Trump impeached
Matt Lewis, a senior columnist for The Daily Beast and a conservative commentator on CNN, came out in favor of impeachment last month. "The water's warm, come on in everybody," he joked when I asked him about what it's been like.
His main point on Sunday's show: He is staying consistent, staying true to his values. And he perceives that he's not alone: "Republican politicians are finally becoming thoroughly exhausted with defending this president day in and day out" when it means "defending the indefensible..."
Tapper's message
The legacy of Rep. Elijah E. Cummings "is intact. He will be remembered for fighting for the right thing," Jake Tapper said in a poignant segment at the end of Sunday's "SOTU."
Tapper said "it's not too late for those in Congress, whom he leaves behind, to also be remembered for doing the right thing. Though the clock is ticking."
Leonhardt says it's time for "an Americans' March"
"The country is in crisis. Right now, that crisis feels all too normal," NYT opinion columnist David Leonhardt writes. He says "it's time for a sequel to that first Women's March — an Americans' March, in which millions of people peacefully take to the streets to say that President Trump must go..."
Biden campaign challenges Facebook again
Joe Biden's campaign "ramped up its criticism of Facebook in a second letter to the social media giant, calling for the platform to reject another false anti-Joe Biden ad," CNN's Sarah Mucha reports. The campaign says Facebook's policy allowing politicians to lie in ads is "deeply flawed" because it gives "blanket permission" for candidates to use the platform to "mislead American voters all while Facebook profits from their advertising dollars." More here...
--> On Sunday's "Reliable Sources," Georgetown University's Mo Elleithee, who hosted Zuckerberg's speech, and former FB advisor Dipayan Ghosh joined me to analyze the speech and the political ad policy...
--> Ghosh said that "what the Russians did" in 2016 "is exactly what Trump can do in 2020" due to FB's policy. He said campaigns are being given "a free pass to splice and dice" voters and spread "political lies."
Don't miss this story...
Matthew Rosenberg and Kevin Roose's piece was the lead story in Sunday's NYT: "Trump Campaign Floods Web With Ads, Raking In Cash as Democrats Struggle." I saw numerous Democratic strategists sounding the alarm after reading the story...
--> Related: Chuck Todd on MSNBC the other day: "Think about what Facebook is saying here: If you hide and lie in a political ad, you can get away with it on Facebook, for a price. And Facebook can get away with its responsibility for disseminating it."
Lester Holt interviews Zuckerberg
The first clips from this interview will air Monday on NBC's "Today" show... More will air on Holt's "Nightly News..." | | I'm told the interview was "lengthy," and took place in Zuckerberg's office at Facebook HQ... Holt also toured FB's "Election War Room..." and Holt asked him about both Trump and Warren...
"Right to Know:" Australian newsrooms unite
The biggest news outlets in Australia, normally fierce rivals, are uniting in support of press freedom. They are trying to "to highlight the constraints on media organizations under strict national security legislation," Australia's ABC network reported. | | On Sunday night "the nation's broadcasters began running campaigns on air" during their prime time line-ups, "depicting redacted Freedom of Information requests and arguing the media cannot fulfill its duty in keeping the public informed if its work is being hampered," per ABC. And on Monday, Australia's biggest newspapers ran redacted front pages.
The censored front pages are a "united call for greater media freedom following a sustained attack on the rights of journalists to hold governments to account and report the truth to the Australian public," the Australia Business Review said. "Spurred by an AFP raid on the home of News Corp journalist Annika Smethurst on June 4 and another raid targeting journalists at the ABC headquarters a day later, more than a dozen of the nation's top mastheads, TV and radio stations, and websites have taken the unprecedented act of protest against increasing restrictions on the freedom of the press." This coalition is known as the "Right to Know..."
How the Trump-Ukraine scandal is being covered in Ukraine
You've probably seen viral front pages from The Kyiv Post, an English-language Ukrainian paper that's been thoroughly covering the scandal that's engulfing the Trump administration. But the paper "is an outlier in the country's media," Hadas Gold explains, because "many media outlets in Ukraine are owned by oligarchs."
One factor: "There's a bipartisan fear among Ukrainian politicians that their country's centrality in the scandal will hurt Ukraine's relationship with the United States."
Here's her full story, titled "Why the Trump-Ukraine scandal isn't dominating the news in Ukraine."
QUOTE OF THE DAY
Mitt Romney speaking with McKay Coppins for this new profile in The Atlantic:
"I do think people will view this as an inflection point in American history... I don't look at myself as being a historical figure, but I do think these are critical times. And I hope that what I'm doing will open the way for people to take a different path."
FOR THE RECORD, PART THREE
-- Coppins' story mentioned that Romney has a "lurker" Twitter account... Slate's Ashley Feinberg tried to find it... And it seems like she succeeded.... (Slate)
-- "Thomson Reuters has begun the search for a chief executive to succeed Jim Smith, who has led the $34 billion professional information group since 2012." Search firm Spencer Stuart is in charge. "The search was at an early stage, one said, with the handover unlikely to happen this year..." (FT)
Student journalists quenching Ann Arbor news desert
| | Katie Pellico writes: Since 2009, the University of Michigan's student-run Michigan Daily has been the only local daily newspaper left in Ann Arbor. NYT's Dan Levin is out with a profile of the student journalists who have "stepped in to fill the void." For over a decade, Levin writes, "a staff of about 300 student journalists has worked hard to provide incisive coverage about the city's police, power brokers and policymakers, all while keeping up with school." Read all about them...
This is, bittersweetly, not a phenomenon. Levin lists some of the students who are doing front-lines reporting across the country, and their "consequential stories that have prodded powerful institutions into changing policies."
FOR THE RECORD, PART FOUR
By Katie Pellico:
-- Correction: In Friday's newsletter I incorrectly wrote that the Knoxville News Sentinel is in Kentucky. It is in Tennessee, and executive editor -- not director, as I had written -- Joel Christopher was kind enough to reach out and point this out! Read his illuminating interview about "the challenges of covering extremism..." (Center for Journalism Ethics)
-- "Accurately tracking the effectiveness of influencer advertising is difficult," and companies are "questioning if it's worth it," Suzanne Kapner and Sharon Terlep report... (WSJ)
-- TikTok is getting the "stamp of approval" from schools "with teacher-approved clubs," the NYT's Taylor Lorenz writes in her first Page One story for the paper... (NYT) | |
Donie gets hacked
Donie O'Sullivan writes: Turns out some of my favorite hotels, airlines, and companies are extremely careless with my information. A hacker was able to get my home address, steal my hotel points, and change my seat on a cross-country flight ... all without ever having to crack my password. Here's our full story...
ICYMI: John Stanton on the "Reliable" podcast
Katie Pellico writes: John Stanton co-founded the Save Journalism Project after he was laid off from his post as BuzzFeed's DC bureau chief. On this week's podcast, he spoke about the project's mission to "stop the layoffs of journalists and reinvigorate our newsrooms." The aim is to "educate the public" about the "dangers facing us," and Stanton believes Big Tech is a big danger. Read my write-up, and listen to the pod via Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Stitcher, TuneIn, or your preferred app... 🎧
FOR THE RECORD, PART FIVE
-- MoMA reopened on Sunday after a four-month closure and expansion. "Drawn by a special offer — free admission — announced on social media and the museum's website the day before, nearly 10,000 visitors poured in..." (NYT)
-- WALLCASTS! "A wave of symphony orchestras are experimenting with high-tech 'wallcasts' -- projecting performances outside their halls -- in a bid to attract younger, more diverse audiences..." (WSJ)
| | "Maleficent" sequel works magic overseas
Brian Lowry emails: "Maleficent: Mistress of Evil" didn't conjure much magic in the United States, but more than tripled its domestic box office opening in international territories. That's even better than the split on the original, although it's pretty clear that overseas interest was largely responsible for why Disney would push out this five-years-later sequel in the first place. Read Lowry's full review here...
FOR THE RECORD, PART SIX
-- Frank Ocean debuted a new song at the end of his Beats 1 radio show... (CNN)
-- NPR's Isabella Gomez Sarmiento says the one-month-old CBS sitcom "Bob Hearts Abishola" is "definitely an exceptional moment in U.S. television..." (NPR)
-- "The Prince estate decided to bless fans with unreleased music in honor of the 40th anniversary of the singer's self-titled second album..." (CNN)
Francis Ford Coppola joins Scorsese in Marvel barbs
Brian Lowry emails: Francis Ford Coppola has joined contemporary Martin Scorsese in deriding Marvel movies as being less than "cinema," yielding the expected Twitter backlash -- and defense. But times are complicated. Steven Spielberg has questioned whether Netflix releases are "movies" in the traditional sense, while Scorsese's next film, "The Irishman," will hit theaters briefly before landing on the streaming service, which means he has, in effect, made a very expensive TV movie. A robust debate about this is logical -- perhaps even healthy -- but it requires a little more nuance than headlines boiling it down to a generational struggle that casts these older auteurs as yelling "Get off my lawn" at the current state of the business.
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