EXEC SUMMARY: Happy Friday! This is Oliver Darcy, your media world guide, in for Brian Stelter on this busy news day. Scroll down for info on Twitter's political ads ban, the BBC's interview with Prince Andrew, and more. But first...
Night and Day | | The two sides of Fox News were on full display Friday. On one side was the small handful of serious journalists at the network like Chris Wallace and Bret Baier who have demonstrated that they are willing to break from the President to deliver the news fairly and accurately.
On the other side were the right-wing talkers like Jesse Watters, Tucker Carlson, and Sean Hannity who spin and deceive the audience in service of Trump on a regular basis. The difference between these two sides could not be laid more bare on a day like Friday...
"A B.S. pathetic show trial"
It was as if the pro-Trumpers on Fox watched an entirely different hearing Friday. Greg Gutfeld remarked on "The Five" that "it was an irrelevant hearing." Jesse Watters outdid him, contending, "Under Obama, ambassadors were coming back in body bags. Now everyone is upset because one got fired. So what?"
During prime time, Tucker Carlson said most of the hearing was "a waste of our time." Carlson mocked those who were alarmed by Trump's Twitter attack on Yovanovitch, characterizing them as being dramatic for suggesting it could potentially amount to witness intimidation. And Sean Hannity recycled many of his normal talking points. He called the hearing "a B.S. pathetic show trial." He claimed there was "zero substance" and "zero facts." And he told his audience, "Welcome to the Witch Trial."
BUT IN THE DAYTIME...
Fox anchors: Trump's tweet raises the possibility of witness tampering
Two of the top anchors at Fox said that Trump's Friday morning tweets attacking Yovanovitch raised the possibility of an additional article of impeachment being added against Trump for witness tampering.
Bret Baier said Trump's tweets "enabled" Adam Schiff to "characterize that tweet as intimidating the witness or tampering with the witness, which is a crime." Baier continued on to say that Trump was, "adding, essentially, an article of impeachment real time as this hearing is going on."
Chris Wallace agreed with Baier, noting the attack "played out in real time." Wallace said, "It does raise the possibility of witness intimidation and witness tampering as a new charge here."
Ken Starr: Trump's tweet was "quite injurious"
Ken Starr joined Fox to provide analysis. "Well, I must say that the president was not advised by counsel in deciding to do this tweet -- extraordinarily poor judgment," Starr said. "The president frequently says, 'I follow my instincts.' Sometimes we have to control our instincts." Starr added, "So, obviously, this was I think quite injurious."
"If you are not moved by the testimony ... you don't have a pulse"
Wallace appeared quite moved by Yovanovitch's testimony. He called it "very powerful testimony" from a career diplomat who had served presidents of both parties. In fact, Wallace went so far as to say, "If you are not moved by the testimony of Marie Yovanovitch today, you don't have a pulse."
>> Given that the highest-rated Fox hosts were not moved, one has to wonder if Wallace believes his colleagues have a pulse...
Yovanovitch says she was alarmed by attacks from Fox News hosts, right-wing media
At the hearing on Friday, Yovanovitch testified that she was troubled by the misinformation disseminated about her by Fox and other right-wing media entities. "I was worried," Yovanovitch said, after having earlier on in her testimony said that she believed she had been the target of a smear campaign led in part by Rudy Giuliani.
Asked by Daniel Goldman, the attorney who questioned her for the Democrats, what worried her, Yovanovitch said: "That ... these attacks were being repeated by the President himself and his son."
Jackie Speier unloads on reporter for The Hill
Democratic Rep. Jackie Speier on Friday went off on Scott Wong, a reporter for The Hill, Politico's Michael Calderone reported. Speier, referring to columns from former executive John Solomon, said she found it "reprehensible that any newspaper would just be willing to put that king of crap" out into the public discourse. "I'm not speaking to The Hill anymore," Speier added. "Sorry."
*NOT HEARSAY*
Right-wing media has been dismissing this week's testimony as mere hearsay... Well, it will be difficult for them to do that with the Friday closed-doors testimony of US official David Holmes. Holmes testified that HE HIMSELF heard Trump on the phone with US Ambassador to the EU Gordon Sondland.
"Sondland told Trump that Zelensky 'loves your ass,' " Holmes said, according to a copy of his opening statement obtained by CNN's Manu Raju. "I then heard President Trump ask, 'So, he's gonna do the investigation?' Ambassador Sondland replied that 'he's gonna do it,' adding that President Zelensky will do 'anything you ask him to.'"
FOR THE RECORD, PART ONE
-- John Solomon said on Friday he continues to "stand by each and every one of the columns" he wrote... (AP)
-- James Poniewozik writes about how Trump's Twitter attack "made for a stunning second-screen moment..." (NYT)
-- Devin Nunes ended the Republican hearing arguments Friday in Trumpian fashion by saying the TV ratings "must be plummeting..." (McClatchy)
-- Twitter suspended several accounts for spreading the phrase "I hired Donald Trump to fire people like Yovanovitch," which trended Friday morning. BuzzFeed said "the phrase has spread at a rate consistent with the coordinated inauthentic behavior expected from a network of bots or sock puppet accounts..." (BuzzFeed)
"Roger Stone joins the remarkable universe of criminality surrounding President Trump"
While the Yovanovitch hearing was in recess, another story broke out of DC, sending jolts through the system: Roger Stone had been convicted on all seven charges he faced. Stone, a longtime Trump associate, was found guilty of lying to Congress, among other things.
"TRUMP ASSOCIATE ROGER STONE FOUND GUILTY ON ALL COUNTS," blared CNN's chyron. Fox and MSNBC carried similar versions. Over at WaPo, Philip Bump noted, "Roger Stone joins the remarkable universe of criminality surrounding President Trump."
Cable news graphic of the day
| | Prosecutors argued Stone violated gag order by talking with InfoWars
After Stone was convicted, prosecutors requested that the judge order that he be taken into custody because he had spoke the previous day to InfoWars, NYT reported. The judge did not grant the request . But in an InfoWars video, tilted "Roger's Emergency Message To America," InfoWars founder Alex Jones said Stone had appealed to Trump to pardon him.
Other notes and quotes
>> Andrew Kaczynski: "Stone guilty on all counts. As someone who covered Stone pretty extensively the last two years it's just wild to see his history of false statements catch up to him in such a big way..."
>> Paul Waldman and Greg Sargent: "Donald Trump has a remarkable talent for attracting criminals into his orbit..."
>> Hunter Walker: "As someone whose covered Donald Trump's for at least six years, it can't be overstated how much Roger Stone was the architect of the president's political career..."
>> Jeet Heer: "The scandal of Roger Stone's life is everything he got away with until now. The scandal is decades of scumbaggery that went unpunished. The scandal is what was legal..."
>> Evan McMullin: "What we're witnessing today – the House impeachment hearing, Roger Stone's conviction, new press reports of presidential abuses – is a fight against modern information warfare, rampant corruption, and metastasizing treachery. It's a fight for secure elections, truth and justice..."
>> Lawrence O'Donnell: "Richard Nixon is finally going to prison. On Roger Stone's back..."
>> Tom Fitton: "Roger Stone is another good candidate for a pardon..."
This Sunday on "Reliable"
Brian Stelter emails: This Sunday I'll be joined by Dan Rather, Jeffrey Goldberg, Bianna Golodryga, Abigail Tracy, Nicole Hemmer, Jennifer Preston, and Medill dean Charles Whitaker... Plus a possible surprise or two... See you Sunday @ 11am ET on CNN! | |
FOR THE RECORD, PART TWO
-- Trump spoke on Dan Bongino's podcast. He said he is "most looking forward to the Bull Durham report." As THR's Jeremy Barr noted, it's the John Durham report... (Twitter)
-- The Daily Caller News Foundation published a video that featured a clip of a neo-Nazi podcaster... (Right-Wing Watch)
-- Mark Levin used to be extremely critical of Trump. Mediaite's Caleb Encarma has the receipts here... (Mediaite)
Fox remains silent after Joe diGenova floated anti-Soros conspiracy theory
For the second consecutive night, Fox News did not respond to a request for comment about whether regular guest Joe diGenova would be allowed on the network after he floated a conspiracy theory about George Soros. While on Lou Dobbs' program Wednesday, diGenova falsely stated Soros "controls a very large part of the foreign service, part of the State Department and the activities of FBI agents overseas."
The Open Society Foundations and the head of the Anti-Defamation League have both said diGenova should not be welcome on Fox following the attack. Earlier this year, another guest, Judicial Watch's Chris Farrell, was banned from Fox for a similar remark.
But in this case, Fox has chosen to stay silent. Why? WaPo's Erik Wemple wrote Friday that it was perhaps due to diGenova's role in the Ukraine story. Wemple wrote, "Fox News cannot condemn diGenova for his vile and anti-Semitic remarks. He's too critical to the pro-Trump conspiracy fairy tale that Fox News opinionators are now scrambling to keep intact."
Twitter announces details of ban on political ads
Twitter announced the details of its new policy which prohibits political ads on Friday. "Politicians, candidates, PACs, SuperPACs and 501(c)(4) nonprofit organizations will be banned from advertising on Twitter entirely when the new policy comes into effect next Friday," Donie O'Sullivan reported for CNN Business.
Twitter execs who spoke to reporters acknowledged that the policy could create some headaches. "This is entirely new terrain," said Vijaya Gadde, Twitter's head of Legal, Policy, Trust and Safety. "I want to be open that we are going to make some mistakes and we are going to have to learn and improve this policy overtime."
>> Key line from Donie's piece: "Twitter's efforts highlight the challenge social media companies face as their platforms become increasingly influential in political discourse..."
Exemption for news orgs
"News publishers that qualify as such under Twitter's criteria will be allowed to run ads about political candidates and issues as long as those ads are not advocating for or against those candidates and issues," Donie reported. THAT SAID, Donie reported, "Twitter has not made public a list of the organizations it says are news publishers."
Paley IC summit highlights
Kerry Flynn emails: The second day of Paley International Council Summit felt positive even with all of the current gloom in media. Some highlights...
>> Verizon CEO Hans Vestberg on telcos' commitment to media: "We think [media is] a really good way to engage our customers ... enormously important of the network side of Verizon." And expect more partnerships a la Disney+. "We don't need linear networks. We can partner with everyone. We think we have best network, best distribution, best brand."
>> Patch President Warren St. John on local news: "We just keep doubling down on the things we do that nobody else does. We have a highly politically engaged audience. Our highest traffic day is always Election Day."
>> Shari Redstone on strategy with CBS + Viacom: "People make a mistake, and they look at scale as being about market cap. Scale is not about market cap. Scale is about the ability to create the quality and quantity of content that people want to see."
BBC gets first interview with Prince Andrew
| | In the first interview about his relationship with Jeffrey Epstein, Prince Andrew told BBC's Emily Maitlis that he has "no recollection" of meeting Virginia Roberts Giuffre. Giuffre has accused Epstein of forcing her to have sex with Prince Andrew in London while she was underage.
Prince Andrew also discussed his decision to not sever his relationship with Epstein following the financier's first conviction: "That's the bit that… as it were, I kick myself for on a daily basis because it was not something that was becoming of a member of the Royal Family and we try and uphold the highest standards and practices and I let the side down, simple as that." The full interview is slated to air Saturday...
FOR THE RECORD, PART THREE
-- Kerry Flynn emails: The NYT "aims to premiere at least two feature-length documentaries in the first half of 2020. One of the films will be the Times' TV unit's first feature-length documentary directed by Times journalists and featuring Times journalism." These projects follow NYT's other TV and film like "The Weekly" on Hulu and FX... (Digiday)
-- Taylor Lorenz's latest for NYT profiles FaZe Clan, which "could be called a media company, or an esports team, or an influencer marketing agency, or all of the above..." (NYT)
-- From TechCrunch's Sarah Perez and Zack Whittaker: "Despite bans, Giphy still hosts self-harm, hate speech and child sex abuse content..." (TechCrunch)
-- Josh Campbell has been named a CNN correspondent...
-- Elaina Plott will join NYT as a national political reporter covering the 2020 campaign and contributing to the Times magazine... (NYT)
-- Anne Applebaum will join The Atlantic in January... (Twitter)
🎙️ On this week's podcast: What happened at the Daily Northwestern?
Brian Stelter writes: The Daily Northwestern's ill-considered apology for covering a campus protest -- for committing acts of journalism! -- lit up Media Twitter this week. Now that a few days have passed, I wanted to use this week's "Reliable Sources" podcast to evaluate what happened and what it says about the state of student journalism. I usually err on the side of caution -- wanting students to have lots of space to make mistakes and learn on the job -- but I understand why there was such an outcry about Northwestern.
So my guest this week is Charles Whitaker, dean of Northwestern University's Medill School... The Daily Northwestern is independent, but Whitaker spoke out when the students were "pilloried," he said, by pro journalists. Whitaker says the student editors were pummeled by "hate mail" from activists, and ultimately overreacted by issuing the apology. He says this episode, along with a recent controversy at Harvard, show that "the public is quite unaware of what journalism is, what our processes are," and a "campaign of media literacy" is needed. 🎧 Listen to the full podcast via Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Stitcher, TuneIn, or your pod player of choice. 🎧
Recommended reads for the weekend 👓
By Katie Pellico:
-- NYT chief TV critic James Poniewozik emerges from a full and faithful rewatch of the 1973 impeachment proceedings, determining that the 2019 edition "won't be a collective experience. They'll be a multimedia production, cacophonous, instantly spun and taken in by separate audiences..."
-- Masha Gessen unpacks "The Two Irreconcilable Realities of the Impeachment Hearings": "In Reality One, political power is governed by values, norms, history, procedure, and law. In Reality Two, political power aims to be absolute -- its limit is what the President can get away with..."
-- Hollywood is struggling to establish "ratings transparency" as "streamers withhold most data." THR's Jonathan Handel explains how that "black box" of streaming stats could spark a "Hollywood Guild War..."
-- NYT Magazine is out with a special, digitally-accessible issue about the "likely future" of the internet, featuring worthy reads from Kevin Roose, Bill Wasik, Yiren Lu, Suzy Hansen, and more -- along with plenty of cat GIFs...
-- Francesco Zaffarano spoke with Charlie Beckett, the professor and journalist leading the "Journalism and AI" project in collaboration with the Google News Initiative. He previews a major study due out next week...
-- "Can Film Save Indigenous Languages?" Julian Brave NoiseCat explores the "new community of indigenous artists, who have begun to share questions about form, audience, and access..."
-- Pitchfork's Cat Zhang traces "The Anatomy of a TikTok Hit..."
| | Lowry reviews Hulu's "Dollface"
Brian Lowry emails: "Dollface" is a relatively modest series -- the premise sounds like an old-fashioned network sitcom -- but has been turned into a well-executed comedy for Hulu, starring Kat Dennings, and created, notably, by 20-something writer Jordan Weiss. It's a good example of the kind of show that can have extra value for premium services, specifically by appealing to demographics that a lot of its other shows don't. Read on...
A box office record for "Joker"
Lowry emails: A milestone for Warner Bros., as "Joker" becomes the first R-rated movie to hit the $1 billion international box-office threshold. That's doubly good news for the studio (part of our parent company), given that the movie carried a relatively modest price tag.
Holzhauer wins the Tournament of Champions
| | "James Holzhauer won $250,000 as the winner of the game show's Tournament of Champions against Emma Boettcher and Francois Barcomb. He has now won more than $2.7 million on the show this year," Lauren M. Johnson reported for CNN. He is the third-highest winner in the history of the show, behind Brad Rutter and Ken Jennings...
FOR THE RECORD, PART FOUR
By Lisa Respers France:
-- Some people have decided that the Disney character Elsa is gay and they really want her to come out in "Frozen II..."
-- I talked to some of the "Waves" cast, including "This Is Us" star Sterling K. Brown, and the film's director about the project and the ripples of life...
-- Singer Jhené Aiko enlisted her ex-boyfriend Big Sean for her new single "None of Your Concern..."
Disney+ drops second episode of "The Mandalorian"
| | Brian Lowry emails: Disney+ has dropped the second episode of "The Mandalorian," and it's promoting each installment almost like a theatrical movie release. It'll be interesting to see if the fledgling service can keep that up as it adds more originals to its roster.
FOR THE RECORD, PART FIVE
By Frank Pallotta:
-- Hulu is raising the price of its live TV option by 22%. It'll now cost $55 per month... (Variety)
-- Why more stars are joining video games... Hint: It's not just because of a big paycheck! (THR)
-- NYT chief film critic A.O. Scott debated himself on if streaming will kill -- or save -- cinema... (NYT)
| | | Thanks for reading! Send me an email with your feedback/tips, or connect with me on Twitter. Brian will be back on Sunday! | | | |
