Brian Stelter here at 11:27pm ET on Wednesday, July 27. Let's get to the latest on Meta, Brittney Griner, Vox, Pete Williams, Buffalo News, "Renaissance," and more...
The GOP and the press
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David Freedlander's article for NYMag, "Why Republicans Stopped Talking to the Press," has been an excellent conversation-starter this week. Freedlander describes one of the most impactful changes in American politics in the past decade: A form of GOP hibernation from traditional media engagement. He writes that "sitting down with the mainstream press has come to be seen by Republican primary voters as consorting with the enemy, and approval by the enemy is the political kiss of death."
In some ways that's true. But let's complicate the picture a little bit. First, there are two types of Republican politicians – those who interact with a wide array of media outlets, and those who don't. They operate in two distinct phases -- times when they need primary voters and times when they need everyone.
Second, the bigger change, if I were to reword the article's title, is that "Republicans Created Their Own Press." I think this dynamic is under-appreciated. It's not just Fox and talk radio anymore. In the US there is a huge universe of conservative media; a smaller universe of liberal media; and many mainstream news outlets that position themselves outside the partisan fray. (Many conservatives insist that main-line newsrooms are part of the left, but there are clear differences between, say, the St. Louis Post-Dispatch, Salon on the left, and SarahPalin.com on the right.)
Freedlander points out that as recently as six years ago, presidential aspirants Ted Cruz and Rand Paul went along with profiles with the likes of The New York Times Magazine and The New Yorker. Now, following Donald Trump's lead, they insult the media via their Twitter feeds. Most of the GOP's rising stars don't want to be tailed by a magazine writer – they want to be the subject of a takedown story, which they can convert into Fox hits and donations. Freedlander cites Gov. Ron DeSantis converting a critical "60 Minutes" story into proof that the media "will lie."
The very notion that GOP politicians would cooperate with an in-depth profile strikes some as dated. "We're in a world of social media and podcasts and so many ways to reach out... the idea that a profile in TIME magazine is going to launch you feels like 2008," NewsBusters executive editor Tim Graham told me.
Graham also noted that Democrats don't run for office "on Fox and Newsmax." That's true. Appearances on Fox by the likes of Pete Buttigieg become news in liberal media circles precisely because they're unusual.
But most political reporters work within newsrooms that I.D. as independent, not as left or right. For those newsrooms, lining up GOP politicians for an interview or even just a quote has become harder. "Increasingly, even simple news stories from national newspapers and wire services will feature a direct quote from a Democrat but just a tweet or a line from a speech by a Republican, typically a sign the latter declined to respond to the reporter," Freedlander notes.
There are exceptions of course, like Rep. Liz Cheney, who was interviewed by Jake Tapper on CNN last weekend. Republican governors like Asa Hutchinson, Chris Sununu, Larry Hogan, and Tate Reeves regularly appear on CNN. Sen. Josh Hawley, seen above, spoke with Manu Raju at the Capitol on Wednesday. Perhaps they recognize that many Republicans, along with independents and Democrats, soak up news from mainstream sources. But then there are GOPers who take a very different approach...
The Righting's point of view
"We in the state of Florida are not going to allow legacy media outlets to be involved in our primaries," DeSantis told supporters on Saturday at the 2022 Sunshine Summit and Victory Dinner last weekend in Hollywood, Florida.
"For the first time in the event's seven-year history, it limited which media could attend, giving inside-the-room access to right-wing outlets that give the governor positive coverage," Politico's Matt Dixon and Hannah Farrow wrote. "Traditional party figures were also largely replaced by the conservative social media influencers with massive followings who have recently moved to Florida and become some of DeSantis' most vocal backers." The press list made the rounds on Twitter, and it showed local and national right-wing outlets being prioritized.
Here's the key point: The GOP media universe is made up of hundreds of outlets nowadays. That's what I mean when I say Republicans created their own "press." Many of the outlets that were credentialed for the DeSantis speech did not exist ten years ago. They may be light on reporting, but they're heavy on regurgitation (a problem that is not unique to the right) and they appeal to partisan audiences.
"Republicans receive a daily fire hose of positive press from right-wing outlets without fielding a phone call or responding to an email from a conservative reporter, much less a mainstream one," Howard Polskin told me. His website The Righting tracks right-wing narratives and includes an "A-Z Guide" to the 100+ outlets he tracks, from Breitbart to Campus Reform to Revolver to Survival Magazine.
"Conservative podcasts are another overlooked channel for spreading the right-wing gospel," Polskin said. (While figures like Ben Shapiro have big followings, "Steve Bannon's podcast doesn't crack my top 20 conservative podcasts," he noted.) There are shows for Gen Z, shows for boomers, shows for contrarians, shows for Christian conservatives, and so forth. One commonality: Distrust of "media" and other major institutions. This FiveThirtyEight feature summed it up really well last year: "Why Being 'Anti-Media' Is Now Part Of The GOP Identity..."
Schisms within the GOP media universe
There are Wall Street Journal editorials denouncing Trump's inaction on Jan. 6 – and conspiracy blogs pretending that the riot was a false flag operation. There are sites that actually gather news – and others that make it up. A review of Trump's recent interviews illustrates this divide rather well. By and large he's not talking to Fox or The Daily Caller, and certainly not The Bulwark or The Dispatch. (Can you imagine?) Instead, Trump chatted with John Solomon and Amanda Head on the Real America's Voice streaming network in March; the "Full Send Podcast" in March; David Brody on CBN's "The 700 Club" in May; and Rob Finnerty on Newsmax's "Wake Up America" in June. Most of the programs are either unrated or low-rated, so traditional metrics aren't applicable. But Trump is still talking -- just not to the "press" as traditionally identified.
There are also splits between people who cheer for an anti-mainstream-media strategy and people who recognize the value in reaching a much broader audience. The latter group is relatively quiet. But anti-media voices are loud: Claremont Institute fellow David Reaboi tweeted Tuesday that strong GOP candidates "will continue to run against the corrupt and partisan press corps" while weak ones who "want to appeal to the Beltway class" will "continue to give them scoops and access." And The Federalist's Jordan Boyd reacted to Freedlander's NYMag article with a column titled "Republicans are finally learning not to obsess over the corrupt corporate media. Good."
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-- Charlotte Klein's forward-looking piece, building on Freedlander's article: "Will Republicans shut out the press in 2024?" (VF)
-- WaPo's Paul Farhi is out with a new profile of DeSantis press secretary Christina Pushaw, who "has transformed the Florida governor's press operation into a nearly nonstop stream of social media brawls..." (WaPo)
-- As if to prove the point, Pushaw objected to the story via Twitter... (Daily Caller)
-- "Without media accountability, Republicans will govern like a one-party state," Jonathan Chait argues... (NYMag)
-- Erik Wemple's latest: "The Pulitzers' Trump trap is every media outlet's Trump trap." He coins a term: "Lunatic-appeasement..." (WaPo)
-- After ABC received a cease-and-desist letter, "The View" "apologized for lumping in Turning Point USA with neo-Nazis who protested outside the pro-Trump youth group's summit..." (Mediaite)
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Second quarter GDP is almost here...
Wednesday's business headlines were all about the Fed's second massive rate hike in as many months. Thursday's headlines will be about GDP data, landing at 8:30am ET.
The report may show the economy "shrank for a second straight quarter, meeting a classic — though by no means the only — definition of a recession," Politico's Ben White writes. "Senior administration officials are hitting the airwaves and arm-twisting reporters in private, imploring anyone who will listen that the economy... is still healthy..."
Manchin and Schumer's surprise
"Every once in awhile politics genuinely surprises you. This is one of those days," Politico's congressional bureau chief Burgess Everett commented. The surprise was Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer and Sen. Joe Manchin's deal on an energy and health care bill. Politico dubbed the deal "Washington's best-kept secret." WaPo called it "a massive potential breakthrough for President Biden's long-stalled economic agenda." CNN's story said it is "a major boost to Democrats," but said "it will face furious GOP opposition..."
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➡️ Three recommended reads
-- We often hear about struggling local newspapers and inspiring digital news startups. But this essay by Andrew Sharp is part of the local news reality too. He is shutting down his one-year-old site, the Delaware Independent, and candidly sharing the reasons why...
-- The Miami Herald's Sarah Blaskey reveals how Florida Power & Light "secretly took over a Florida news site and used it to bash critics" and "bend the will of
regulators, politicians and the public..."
-- Bloomberg's most-read story on Wednesday: Jason Schreier's in-depth look at the culture of Rockstar Games and the development of its next game "Grand Theft Auto VI." The company has retooled itself to be a "more progressive and compassionate workplace," he says, and the "GTA" brand is changing too...
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Comcast reports earnings before the bell...
Biden delivers remarks about the economy at 2:15pm ET...
Amazon, Apple and Roku all report after the close...
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Symbolic moment for Meta
BY CLARE DUFFY:
Facebook and Instagram's parent reported revenue of $28.8 billion in Q2, a 1% drop from the prior-year quarter and its first year-over-year revenue decline since going public in 2012. Profit fell far more sharply. Another key data point: A 14% year-over-year decline in the average price per ad, a troubling sign as online ad demand weakens because of the recent economic downturn. The number of monthly active users on the Facebook app also declined slightly from Q1, but Mark Zuckerberg said it was due to the war in Ukraine. "The number of people using Facebook daily continues to grow," he said. Read on...
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The FTC files suit
As David McCabe wrote, this is Lina Khan's "first big antitrust move against a tech giant." The FTC is suing Meta to block it from buying a VR fitness app creator called Within Unlimited. The government is alleging that Meta and Zuckerberg "are attempting illegal acquisition to expand virtual reality empire." CNN's team has all the details here. Meta's response: "The FTC is sending a chilling message to anyone who wishes to innovate in VR."
>> "The real story here isn't this specific acquisition, per se," Dan Primack of Axios tweeted. "It's relatively small and for a small part of FB's biz. It's what it says about Big Tech's ability to acquire anything going forward..."
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Musk bashes WSJ
BY OLIVER DARCY:
Elon Musk spent part of his Wednesday bashing the WSJ over the paper's Sunday story about an alleged brief affair he had with Sergey Brin's wife, Nicole Shanahan. In a series of tweets, the billionaire attacked investigations editor Michael Siconolfi as a man with "zero journalistic integrity" who has "done so many fake hit pieces." Musk said he spoke with Brin on Tuesday and was assured "neither he nor anyone he knows" spoke to WSJ. And Musk said he hoped that Shanahan, whose lawyer has said any suggestion she had an affair is "defamatory," sues the paper.
A spokesperson for WSJ responded to the barrage of attacks with a short statement, telling me, "We are confident in our sourcing, and we stand by our reporting."
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-- After testing negative, Biden said he was returning to his regular routine on Wednesday. His "bout with Covid shows progress made and pitfalls ahead..." (Yahoo)
-- By Adam Cancryn: "How Biden’s Covid turned Ashish Jha into the de facto White House doctor..." (Politico)
-- New reporting: "CNN hired a cyber forensics expert to help authenticate a cache of emails related to Hunter Biden's finances..." (CNN)
-- Priscilla Alvarez's latest: "Human smugglers peddle misinformation to US-bound migrants on Facebook, watchdog says..." (CNN)
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Admin offers to swap arms dealer for Griner, Whelan
CNN's Kylie Atwood, Evan Perez and Jennifer Hansler alerted this scoop on Wednesday afternoon: "After months of internal debate, the Biden administration has offered to exchange Viktor Bout, a convicted Russian arms trafficker serving a 25-year US prison sentence, as part of a potential deal to secure the release of two Americans held by Russia, Brittney Griner and Paul Whelan, according to people briefed on the matter."
>> "I think that, you know, if the Russians are not stupid then they'll take that offer," Trevor Reed told Jake Tapper on "The Lead..."
>> TIME's new cover story is "Brittney Griner and the Fight for Freedom," featuring Sean Gregory's reporting...
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Trump's latest legal letter
"Facing a potential Department of Justice probe over the January 6, 2021 attack on the Capitol and more legal quicksand, Donald Trump has gone on the offensive against old foe CNN," Deadline's Dominic Patten wrote Wednesday. His framing certainly raises a question about whether Trump is trying to distract the media and his fans. Trump said Wednesday, "I have notified CNN of my intent to file a lawsuit over their repeated defamatory statements against me. I will also be commencing actions against other media outlets who have defamed me and defrauded the public."
The premise is that calling Trump a liar for his election fraud claims is defamatory because he believes the fraud claims. The context is that Trump has a very long history of threatening lawsuits and not following through. (He has also sued CNN before, through his campaign, unsuccessfully.) But he's already getting what he might want out of the threat: Favorable coverage from right-wing media. "TRUMP SUES CNN," Sean Hannity's website exclaimed, even though he hasn't. A CNN rep declined to comment on the legal letter...
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FOR THE RECORD, PART THREE |
-- Days after Verizon Fios confirmed that it is dropping One America News, Newsmax announced "a multi-year carriage deal with Verizon to continue its distribution..." (The Hill)
-- "A federal judge has granted summary judgment to ABC, CBS, The New York Times, Gannett and Rolling Stone" and rejected libel claims by Nick Sandmann. He previously "settled lawsuits against three other outlets: NBC News, The Washington Post and CNN..." (Deadline)
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Turnaround: Hulu to accept political issue ads
Disney on Wednesday announced Hulu will change course and allow political issue ads, Axios' Sara Fischer scooped. Fischer reported that the move brings Hulu's ad policies "to parity with Disney's cable networks." The move comes after Disney and Hulu faced significant backlash from Democrats for declining to run spots on abortion and guns. Fischer has the details here...
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Citing economic uncertainty, Vox lays off staffers
BY OLIVER DARCY:
Vox Media staffers were greeted Wednesday morning with an email from CEO Jim Bankoff titled "Economic uncertainty & actions." In the note, Bankoff announced the "difficult news" that the company will be laying some people off. Bankoff said the number of employees impacted comprised "under 2% of the company." CNBC's Alex Sherman reported that 39 people were cut across sales, marketing, and recruiting.
"The current economic conditions are impacting companies like ours in multiple ways," Bankoff said. He added that Vox's aim was to "get ahead of greater uncertainty by making difficult but important decisions." Moving forward, Bankoff said that Vox will "continue to take steps to decrease" both hiring and expenses.
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Toasting Pete Williams
"After covering the Supreme Court and Justice Department for 29 years, Pete Williams is set to retire from NBC News this Friday. But before his last studio hit, the company held a sendoff party for him on Tuesday night in Washington," TVNewser's Mark Mwachiro reports. Among the attendees: A.G. Merrick Garland. Earlier in the day, DC bureau chief Ken Strickland held a champagne toast for Williams with correspondents, reporters and producers...
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FOR THE RECORD, PART FOUR |
-- Isaac Fitzgerald's memoir "Dirtbag, Massachusetts" debuted at #2 on the NYT nonfiction best seller list. Lis Smith's "Any Given Tuesday" debuted at #11... (NYT)
-- "Frontline" executive producer Raney Aronson-Rath is adding editor-in-chief to her title... (TVNewser)
-- "Sheila Rayam has been named executive editor of The Buffalo News, the first Black journalist and the second woman to hold the position in The News’ 142-year history..." (Buffalo News)
-- The Washington Post is mourning the death of Christopher Shea, 53, an editor "who specialized in assigning and editing news essays and analysis for the Outlook section in print and PostEverything section online..." (WaPo)
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Did 'Renaissance' leak?!
Variety said it was "able to find high-quality flac files that certainly sound like the album within a matter of minutes," Jem Aswad wrote. "Some posts showed CD copies of the album for sale, apparently in Europe." Beyoncé's devoted fan base took to social media to "beg people not to listen or share," CNN's Lisa Respers France wrote. There is no official confirmation that the files are indeed Beyoncé’s latest project, and her camp is staying silent ahead of Friday's launch...
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FOR THE RECORD, PART FIVE |
-- "Shares of Alphabet closed up more than 7% Wednesday, a day after the Google parent company" reported Q2 earnings "that weren't as bad as feared..." (CNBC)
-- "Google is pushing back its deadline for killing off tracking cookies until at least 2024..." (Insider)
-- Spotify shares "popped more than 14% on Wednesday after the company reported second-quarter 2022 earnings that beat analyst expectations on revenue and showed continued subscriber growth..." (CNBC)
-- Spotify CEO Daniel Ek told Sara Fischer "he remains 'paranoid' about a potential recession but said, 'so far, we're not seeing much of it at all...'" (Axios)
-- TikTok's parent "filed to trademark a 'TikTok Music' streaming app..." (Insider)
-- The latest podcast to leave Spotify is "The Pitch," hosted by Josh Muccio, who says he will "operate it independently," Ashley Carman reports... (Bloomberg)
-- NBC News has introduced a new podcast, "Dateline: Missing in America," based on the online series of the same name... (NBC)
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Shedding light on ILM
BY BRIAN LOWRY:
The new Disney+ docuseries "Light & Magic" is first and foremost a trip down memory lane, as director Lawrence Kasdan (a veteran of the "Star Wars" movies) looks back on the making of "Star Wars;" how George Lucas assembled the visual-effects geniuses that made it; and then kept them together by forming Industrial Light & Magic. Yet the series is also a tale of changing industries and the impact of that on workers, charting the evolution of the field through "Jurassic Park," and the way the digital-effects wave swept over those in the model shop and other disciplines. That's something that should be relatable to a lot of people, including this former newspaper guy...
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The fight against a 'revenge porn' site
BY BRIAN LOWRY:
Netflix's "The Most Hated Man on the Internet" looks back on the Internet site IsAnyoneUp.com, its founder Hunter Moore and the crusade to bring down the revenge-porn site. It's also a look at Internet trolling and bullying that slightly elevates it over what has become a salacious subgenre of Netflix docuseries (which have been reliably trending, so offering a pretty good bang for the buck) built around true and often strange crimes...
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-- Ken Jennings and Mayim Bialik's new deals are done: Exec producer Michael Davies told fans "about how the split schedule will work..." (TVLine)
-- The HFPA is "rallying support to bring Golden Globes back to TV," Scott Feinberg reports... (THR)
-- "Late Night with Seth Meyers" is off for the rest of the week because Meyers tested positive for Covid again... (People)
-- "Chris Rock is ready to joke about The Slap..." (Deadline)
-- "Shawn Mendes' world tour is officially canceled..." (LAT)
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Tony Dow, 1945 – 2022
Via CNN's Scottie Andrew: Tony Dow, the actor and director "best known for portraying Wally Cleaver on the sitcom 'Leave It to Beaver,' died Wednesday morning, according to his manager Frank Bilotta, citing Dow’s son Christopher."
Dow was 77. The confirmation came one day after a premature announcement of his death sent newsrooms scrambling...
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FOR THE RECORD, PART SEVEN |
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LAST BUT CERTAINLY NOT LEAST...
Pet of the day!
Reader Kathleen Thompson emails: "There are times that the news of the day is just too much for Moriah. When that happens, she drops where she walks..."
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Thank you for reading! Email us your feedback. We'll be back tomorrow... |
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