Welcome to Monday. Brian Stelter here at 11:11pm ET on Sunday, May 22 with a preview of ten stories that will be impacting the media world this week...

Confirming "Abuse of Faith"

This is "one of the biggest religion stories of the year," religion writer Jonathan Merritt said. "If you cheered for the movie Spotlight when it won an Academy Award," NYU journalism professor Jay Rosen said, "you will want to read this."

On Sunday afternoon the largest Protestant denomination in the United States, the Southern Baptist Convention, released a withering report about clergy sex abuse and coverups. Here are some of Sunday night's headlines about the external investigation by Guidepost Solutions:

-- NYT: "Southern Baptist leaders mishandled sex abuse crisis, report alleges"

-- Religion News Service: "Southern Baptist leaders mistreated abuse survivors for decades, report says"

-- Christianity Today: "Southern Baptists refused to act on abuse, despite secret list of pastors"

As is so often the case, the news media played a key role in revealing these awful secrets. The AP's Sunday story notes that "the sex abuse scandal was thrust into the spotlight in 2019 by a landmark report from the Houston Chronicle and San Antonio Express-News." The joint investigation, Abuse of Faith, documented "hundreds of cases in Southern Baptist churches, including several in which alleged perpetrators remained in ministry."

Bob Smietana, former president of the Religion News Association, said on Twitter that "the SBC has known since at least 2007 that they had an abuse problem. That year, 20/20 ran a report on 'Preacher Predators.'" But, he said, "it took a decade and an abuse investigation by Robert Downen and others at the Houston Chronicle to make the SBC take abuse seriously."

Downen said Sunday's report "exhaustively corroborates what survivors have said for decades: that Southern Baptist leaders downplayed their own abuse crisis and instead prioritized shielding the nation's second-largest denomination from lawsuits." The Chronicle, once again rising to the occasion, dropped its paywall to cover the "historic, nearly 400-page report..."

Success and failure in the same image

The Biden administration seemingly wanted a winning photo op through Operation Fly Formula, which commenced Sunday with a military plane landing in Indiana carrying baby formula for families in need. The plane landed during Sunday's "Reliable Sources" telecast. I said the live shot represented both a success and a failure at the same time – a failure of both government and private enterprise that the crisis got to this point...

>> Gerry Doyle of Reuters commented, "in the last nine months, the U.S. Air Force has evacuated a war zone, handled weapons airlifts for like a dozen or more countries supplying Ukraine and now is on baby formula duty..."

>> A second shipment is expected to arrive soon...

>> Meantime, "dangerous DIY baby formula recipes" are going viral: "Consumers are getting bad advice as they look for answers in Facebook groups, and from wellness influencers on TikTok, YouTube and Instagram," Davey Alba reported for Bloomberg...

Negative news "brain fog"

With an exceptional number of negative stories making news right now -- everything from mass shootings to the market selloff to monkeypox -- I sought out CNN media analyst Bill Carter for some perspective. "I've been around a long time," he said, and "I don't remember a gigantic pile up as bad as this." He likened the long tail of bad news to long Covid: "Everything is bad and we can't get healthy again."

"People say, when you have it, you have brain fog," Carter added. "Well, that's what we sort of have now. Where we're like -- we can't even think clearly..."

FOR THE RECORD, PART ONE

-- President Biden met NYT columnist Thomas Friedman for lunch – but it was off the record, so Friedman could only share what he "felt afterward..." (NYT)

-- This narrative is not going away: "GOP hammers Biden for going 100 days without sit-down press interview..." (NYPost)

-- Biden did hold a joint press conference with South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol on Saturday, and fielded a few questions on the sidelines of his trip, but the reporter grumbling has continued... (Politico)

-- Meanwhile, Donald Trump spent the weekend on Truth Social "furiously ranting about 'RINO' WSJ, scolding Mo Brooks, and sharing a call for Civil War..." (Mediaite)

-- The NYT's Page One lead on Sunday was stark: "How Trump's 2020 election lies have gripped state legislatures..." (NYT)

Media week ahead calendar

The World Economic Forum's Annual Meeting continues in Davos...

Tuesday: New books include Kellyanne Conway's "Here's the Deal..."

Tuesday: Primaries in Georgia and four other states...

Tuesday: The series finale of "This Is Us" on NBC...

Thursday: The final episode of "The Ellen DeGeneres Show" airs...

Friday: "Top Gun: Maverick" lands in theaters...

FIRST LOOK

NYMag's new issue is a handbook: "This magazine can help you get an abortion"

With Roe v. Wade likely to be overturned in the weeks ahead, the new issue of New York magazine "features a practical guide, reported by Camille Squires and introduced by Irin Carmon, to the abortion clinics in each state, how to reach them, and the services they offer — plus a guide in eight parts of where to seek services if abortion is banned, or further restricted, in your state," the publication says. This is a continuation of what the magazine first did in 1972. This time, The Cut will offer an online tool to search by zip code for abortion clinics, abortion funds, and other resources. Here's the cover:

FOR THE RECORD, PART TWO

Some more of this week's storylines:

-- The Supreme Court is expected to release one or more opinions on Monday...

-- "Stocks head for another potentially treacherous week..." (CNBC)

-- "Jury selection begins Monday in a new trial against Bill Cosby..." (TIME)

-- On the menu at Davos this week: "Soaring food prices, Russia's war in Ukraine and climate change," just to name a few... (AP)

Intensifying battle between Elon Musk and Twitter

Elon Musk still insists his Twitter takeover is on hold. The Twitter board still says it's not. Musk called the company's answers about spam bots "very suspicious" on Saturday, and when a far-right activist said "if 25% of the users are bots then the Twitter acquisition deal should cost 25% less," Musk replied and said "absolutely."

So we'll see what, if anything, happens this week. Philip Bump noted on Sunday's "Reliable" that Musk has an army of fans on his side, even though most others don't buy his "bots" narrative. Those skeptics include Twitter employees who are "bewildered about what their jobs are and will be, as well as how to keep operating a platform with around 229 million daily users while its would-be owner uses it to publicly assail the company for everything from its free-speech policies to its business model," the WSJ's Deepa Seetharaman and Sarah E. Needleman report. "Internal conversations and Slack channels are awash in distress and anger..."

>> Musk has denied the sexual harassment allegation published by Insider, but the news outlet has not received any legal missives, global EIC Nicholas Carlson told me Sunday. "We are prepared to defend the story vigorously," he said, adding, "We are going to pursue any leads that avail themselves to us..."

Depp expected back on the stand

"I think this case is nuttier than a Snickers bar," veteran body language expert Janine Driver told Michael Smerconish on CNN over the weekend. It will resume again on Monday, and "Johnny Depp is expected to return to the stand" in his defamation trial against ex-wife Amber Heard, her representatives said Saturday," per NBC. "Heard's legal team is slated to call Depp as the third witness Monday..."

>> On "Weekend Edition Sunday," sociologist Nicole Bedera discussed some of the reasons why "social media has already reached its verdict..."

Trevor Reed thanks the media

"Finally Home: The Trevor Reed Interview" premiered on CNN earlier this evening. Check CNN.com for some of the highlights. At one point in the interview, Reed told Jake Tapper that he needed to thank the U.S. news media for covering his ordeal in Russia: "Because if they had not done that, if they would have said, 'that's not interesting, that's not really going to be profitable for us,' this would have never happened," meaning his release from prison. "And U.S. news media played a critical role in accomplishing all of that..."

FOR THE RECORD, PART THREE

-- In a "major update" to Russia's sanctions list, "the Kremlin said Saturday it has permanently banned 963 Americans," including journalists like Nick Paton Walsh, George Stephanopoulos and Susan Glasser. Also on the largely symbolic list: Mark Zuckerberg, Jeffrey Katzenberg and Morgan Freeman... (Axios)

-- On Monday April Ryan is announcing her next book, titled "Black Women Will Save the World: An Anthem." Amistad, an imprint of HarperCollins, will release the book in October... (Twitter)

-- Jeremy Peters' latest: "Lara Logan, once a star at CBS News, is now one for the far right..." (NYT)

One on one with Kathy Barnette

Kathy Barnette, a runner-up in the nationally newsworthy Senate GOP primary in Pennsylvania, joined me on Sunday's "Reliable" for her first CNN interview. She confirmed that she will support the winner of the race, whether it's Dr. Mehmet Oz or David McCormick. She also went on the attack against the Democratic nominee John Fetterman. And she noticeably abstained from repeating her sharp criticism of Sean Hannity. Instead, she spoke in broad strokes about media bias, and said "I was ignored because the media had their picks."

>> When Barnette rejected my question about her track record of bigoted remarks, I read some of her own words back to her. She asserted that she has changed: "I, like most people in America, you grow or else you just stay static..."

Digesting CPAC Hungary

The influential group of American conservatives has wrapped up its first conference in Europe. Keynote speaker Viktor Orban, the Hungarian prime minister, told attendees that programs like Tucker Carlson's "should run day and night," 24/7, because having "your own media" is crucial. Some American media outlets were denied access to the conference, but others like Adam Yamaguchi of CBS were able to get in.

On CNN Saturday afternoon, Jim Acosta called it a "dictator-palooza over in Hungary." On Sunday's "Fareed Zakaria GPS," Ishaan Tharoor described how Orban has been "re-creating a media ecosystem that is very pro government and very nationalist." On "Reliable," Philip Bump shared some simple advice: "If an autocrat is telling you what your media should look like, that's not what you do..."

Female Afghan TV journalists forced to cover their faces on air

"The Taliban lowered the boom today," CNN's Christiane Amanpour reported Sunday. Female TV presenters were ordered to cover their faces on air. At TOLOnews, Afghanistan's leading independent news channel, "the woman made the decision to stay on air," Amanpour said. Male anchors showed solidarity by wearing masks as well.

>> The BBC spoke with a presenter who "said women working in TV had resisted but their employers had come under pressure." A senior TV executive "said many female presenters fear the next stage will be to take them off air completely..."

FOR THE RECORD, PART FOUR

-- Global health talks in Geneva "are facing another viral problem: a visceral, passionate online backlash that falsely accuses the WHO of conspiring to take power from national governments." Adam Taylor has details... (WaPo)

-- "Disease detection on your wrist:" David Pogue's report for "CBS Sunday Morning" was about the opportunities provided by wearable health trackers... (CBS)

-- "Seeing a country with the most high-ranking tour guide:" David Bauder interviewed Peter Greenberg about the first episode of "The Royal Tour" since the pandemic began... (AP)

-- A powerful Stacy Perman story on the front page of Sunday's LA Times: "A child star at 7, in prison at 22. Then she vanished. What happened to Lora Lee Michel?" (LAT)

-- On the season finale of "60 Minutes" Sunday night: "Opera star Jonas Kaufmann speaks with Norah O'Donnell about his dynamic vocal range, acting ability, and the need to protect his voice..." (CBS)

Speaking of season finales...

"SNL" sendoff night

Kate McKinnon, Aidy Bryant, and Pete Davidson "all got individual sendoffs with some of their most popular recurring skits," Deadline's Nellie Andreeva wrote. The fourth exiting cast member, Kyle Mooney, "who has spent most of his time on the show as a valuable but underrated performer, made an understated — yet dramatic — exit."

"Overall, the episode, hosted by Natasha Lyonne, was a throwback to a time when longtime 'SNL' cast members used to receive proper sendoffs in the season finale capping their runs," Andreeva added. The show always goes on: Right now "SNL" "enjoys one of its largest groups of players and has developed a new generation of actors," Variety's Brian Steinberg wrote. CNN's Frank Pallotta has some of Saturday night's best jokes here...

The blockbusters are coming … to TV

BY BRIAN LOWRY:

Streaming unleashes a pair of movie-type blockbusters heading into Memorial Day weekend, with "Stranger Things" beginning its bifurcated final season on Netflix and "Obi-Wan Kenobi" bringing the “Star Wars” mainstay to Disney+ on Friday. Both carry budgets and PR campaigns on par with anything you're likely to see in a theater this summer, reflecting the rising stakes in streaming/premium TV, with Amazon's "The Lord of the Rings" and HBO's "Game of Thrones" prequel due later this year...

A "Strange" milestone

BY BRIAN LOWRY:

“Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness” has reached the $800-million plateau at the global box office, moving past “The Batman” (and behind only “Spider-Man”) among pandemic-era US releases. Deadline’s Nancy Tartaglione projects its total at around $950 million, a more impressive figure when you realize it excludes China and Russia...

-- "'Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness' grossed $31.6 million in its third outing, followed by a $16 million opening for 'Downton Abbey: A New Era.'" Pamela McClintock has details here... (THR)

-- The "Downton" opening "may be a promising sign for the box-office prospects of films aimed at grown-ups," the LAT's Christi Carras writes...

Scenes from Cannes

The film festival continues all week long...

-- LA Times film critic Justin Chang filed a thorough notebook from the festival, featuring "a TikTok contretemps, and a delicious eat-the-rich satire," among others...

-- "As always in Cannes, the real world intrudes, and the films often pick up the thread," TheWrap's CEO and EIC Sharon Waxman wrote Sunday. Numerous films at the festival "dealt with issues of women’s oppression in ways both subtle and not so..."

-- Ukrainian filmmakers In Cannes "are making their voices heard:" Diana Lodderhose spoke with several of them for Deadline...

-- A topless protester "with blue and yellow paint across her chest and stomach ran onto the red carpet" on Friday, "protesting sexual violence in Ukraine..."

Is this where Ellen DeGeneres went wrong?

BY BRIAN LOWRY:

Ahead of Thursday's "Ellen" sign-off episode, the LAT's Matt Brennan offered a lengthy breakdown on the rise and fall of DeGeneres' daytime show – going from "perhaps the most famous LGBTQ person in America" to someone whose "PR miscalculations" made her appear out of touch. DeGeneres sought to be apolitical and stay above the fray, Brennan writes, failing to recognize that in some situations, "saying nothing is saying something whether you mean it to or not."

>> The AP's Lynn Elber interviewed DeGeneres about the finale...

>> With Ellen and Wendy Williams leaving, daytime TV is seeing its "biggest shake-up since Oprah's departure," Elizabeth Wagmeister reports for Variety...

You are receiving this message because you subscribed to CNN's Reliable Sources newsletter.

Subscribe to Reliable Sources

Our mailing address is:
Cable News Network, Inc.
Attention: Privacy Policy Coordinator
One CNN Center, 13 North
Atlanta, GA 30303

unsubscribe from this list