Hey, good morning! Let's get right to it...
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Jim Lo Scalzo/EPA/Bloomberg via Getty Images |
As you digest news coverage about President Trump's first acts in office, keep in mind that various audiences are hearing very different stories about what Trump is doing and what impacts he is having.
Trump devotees are scrolling on social media apps and seeing triumphant memes about the "new golden age" he promised. They're watching Fox News and hearing all about the fun times at the inaugural balls. (Jake Paul carried Mike Tyson on his shoulders last night.) They're hearing from radio hosts and podcasters that Trump is immediately closing the border and making them safer. They're enjoying the gloating. "The libs have no idea what's coming," anti-DEI crusader Christopher Rufo said last night.
But pro-Trump media consumers are not hearing much at all about the January 6 pardons that have outraged and horrified so many people. The only MAGA-approved storyline is that Trump is keeping his promises to the families of "hostages," which ignores that the rioters were charged and convicted. But it's barely breaking through as a story at all.
Conversely, mainstream media consumers are hearing all about the stunning reversal of the largest criminal probe in U.S. history, and on the consequences for the country. They're hearing not just about Trump's executive orders, but about the legal challenges.
In short, while newsrooms are focusing on the rule of law, MAGA opinion outlets are focusing on Trump's rule. Notably, right-wing commentators are both celebrating Trump's immigration restrictions and preparing their audiences to ignore the inevitable backlash. "The media will now rely on its time-tested tactic of showing only one side of the immigration issue," Daily Wire reporter Megan Basham predicted. The message, as always, is to just trust Trump and his favorite media sources.
I'm leading with this topic today because we have to burst these media bubbles in order to understand what Americans of various political persuasions are feeling and thinking right now. Some conservative feel like they can breathe again — that sentiment keeps coming up on Fox and Newsmax. Contrarily, I'm sensing that some liberals are choking over the "normalization" of Trump, and abandoning traditional media outlets altogether out of frustration...
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In one day, the outgoing and incoming presidents generated a month's worth of news, easily. Maybe two or three months' worth. President Biden's pardons could have filled a week of rundowns and homepages on their own! Trump's impromptu back-and-forth with the White House press pool was full of storylines, too. And he is expected to make a lot more news today, including an infrastructure announcement. It's news overload! Which is why followups, explainers and human interest stories about the impacts will be so valuable in the days ahead...
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"Let's get to work!" new White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said in her first post from her @PressSec X account. Does that entail a traditional press briefing? Not today. Of course, Trump is his own spokesman. On "Fox & Friends" this morning, Leavitt said "President Trump will be speaking to the press later this afternoon at the White House, and we will have a big infrastructure announcement."
>> When she was gently asked about the January 6 pardon "controversy," she audaciously responded, "I don't think it's causing much controversy." (That's evidence of the pro-Trump media bubble's power, right there.)
>> And when asked about the date of her first briefing, she said "to be announced."
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Trump tries to produce news coverage of his presidency in real-time. After taking the oath of office, he told fans at the Capital One Arena "oh, you're going to be happy reading the newspapers tomorrow – and the next day and the next day and the next day." (Trump voters favor Fox and social media over newspapers; Trump's reference to print is a reflection of his age.) Later in the day he seemingly tried to reposition the videographers in the Oval Office. He beamed on stage at the inaugural balls late at night. As an anonymous Trump advisor told Axios, "He owned every second of screen time today."
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"The truth will never change," Liz Cheney said yesterday as she denounced Trump's whitewashing of the January 6 attack. No, it will never change, but the truth sure will be tested in the months ahead. To a greater degree than he did in his first term, Trump is using the powers of his office to turn MAGA fictions into governmental fact.
Take the executive order to "immediately stop all government censorship:" Nina Jankowicz, a disinfo researcher who has been demonized on the right, wrote on Bluesky that Trump has "canonized lies and conspiracy theories about those responding to disinformation," calling it an "attack on reality."
>> To be fair: To bring this newsletter back around to the topic of media bubbles, conservatives argue that liberals attacked reality during the Biden years around gender identity and the 28th Amendment, among many other topics, and Trump is fixing what they broke...
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What ending 'censorship' really means |
Trump's executive order to "immediately stop all government censorship" will "create legal uncertainty for government officials who communicate with tech companies," Washington Post reporter Cat Zakrzewski writes.
After all, there have been "years of efforts to bolster coordination between Silicon Valley and the government to combat misinformation about elections, natural disasters and public health." But conservatives have been trying to beat back those efforts, claiming efforts to help protect people are hurting free speech. So Trump's order "could chill years of efforts to combat the proliferation of false information online..."
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>> From the left: "Florida Man Unconditionally Discharged Into Oval Office." (Mother Jones)
>> From the right: "FULL SPEED AHEAD 🚊" blared the Breitbart homepage. "DEI Programs❌ EV Mandate❌ Benefits to Illegals❌" (Breitbart)
>> From the west coast: Some of Hollywood's reactions to Trump’s inauguration. (Deadline)
>> From Davos: This week the annual World Economic Forum gathering is turning into an "exclusive watch party for the season premiere of Donald Trump's second term." (Reuters)
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Memorable scenes from Monday |
"Cameras lingered on the prominent podcasters and digital stars who scored invitations to Mr. Trump’s inaugural. Inside the Capitol were Joe Rogan, Theo Von, Logan and Jake Paul, and one member of the Nelk Boys," Michael Grynbaum and John Koblin reported.
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"At Fox News Channel, it was a day to take note of its own (re)ascendancy," The AP's David Bauder wrote. "Its cameras caught host Laura Ingraham walking in to the inaugural as a guest, pausing to take a selfie with incoming border czar Tom Homan. Former Fox host Pete Hegseth, Trump's nominee as defense secretary, mingled with other appointees. Cameras even briefly caught a smiling former Fox personality Tucker Carlson." A viral video on X showed Carlson getting a hero's welcome on the street in DC...
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Front and center at Trump's ceremonies were some of the world's most prominent tech execs, putting on full display their uncomfortable relationship with a president who has repeatedly targeted their companies and platforms. "There's no more back room anymore," Kara Swisher told Anderson Cooper last night. "It's the front room, and they're sitting right there." Swisher said Trump "does everything for TV, and so that was the messaging, is 'I control the richest people in the world.' That was a trillion dollars in value there."
>> On Fox, Brian Kilmeade showed off his pictures with Mark Zuckerberg from last night's Liberty Ball. "He did tell me how insulting it was to be called an oligarch by President Biden," Kilmeade said.
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A new Substack: 'Musk Watch' |
New media outlets and news sources are going to emerge out of this Trump 2.0 moment. Maybe this is one example.
Judd Legum, who runs a successful Substack-powered indie publication called Popular Information, is launching a new one focused entirely on Musk. "I believe that Musk's unprecedented combination of extreme wealth, diverse business activities, and potent political influence demand this kind of dedicated coverage," Legum told me. Using the revenue from his existing newsletter, he is hiring Caleb Ecarma, formerly of Vanity Fair, to be the lead writer. "Musk Watch" picked up thousands of subscribers on day one...
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Trump talks TikTok reversal |
"Why did you change your mind about TikTok?" a reporter asked Trump last night. "Because I got to use it. And remember, TikTok is largely about kids. Young kids. If China is gonna get information about young kids, I don't know... to be honest with you, I think we have bigger problems than that." That's not the full story, to put it mildly...
>> Trump said he can't guarantee that the app will remain in the U.S. after the 75-day extension, but exudes confidence in his deal making. Clare Duffy and David Goldman have more here...
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>> Xiaohongshu a/k/a RedNote is still #1 on the app store charts. The app "is trying to capitalize... by partnering with U.S. influencers..." (WIRED)
>> But American TikTok creators are already encountering Chinese censorship on that app... (WSJ)
>> In other TikTok-y news, "X is rolling out a dedicated vertical video feed for U.S. users..." (TechCrunch)
>> Meta will "continue to use its fact checkers outside of the U.S. 'for now' even as the Instagram and Facebook owner does away with the practice at home," Jillian Deutsch reports. (Bloomberg)
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Local meteorologists laid off nationwide |
Liam Reilly writes: Meteorologists at Allen Media Group-owned local TV stations around the country are bidding farewell after the company announced it will cut or reassign nearly all of the weather forecasters at its nearly two dozen stations nationwide. In place of the locally-produced segments, Allen Media is creating a "hub" at The Weather Channel that will see forecasts beamed to individual stations.
The cost-cutting move will result in the elimination of 50+ meteorologists from Massachusetts to Hawaii and comes as recent weather-related disasters have highlighted the need for fast, reliable, local reporting during emergencies. Surveys have found that weather is the most important news topic for local viewers’ day-to-day lives. “Communities will suffer during major, local weather events because of this decision," one meteorologist said. Reilly has more here...
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Today's new nonfiction releases |
Among the new titles on bookshelves today: "Dare I Say It: Everything I Wish I'd Known About Menopause" by Naomi Watts, "How to Share an Egg: A True Story of Hunger, Love, and Plenty" by Holocaust survivor Bonny Reichert, and "Son of Birmingham: A Memoir" by the city's mayor Randall Woodfin...
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>> This just in: Veteran Washington Post national editor Philip Rucker is joining CNN as SVP of editorial strategy and news. (Axios)
>> On the day the blockbuster trial against Rupert Murdoch's tabloids was set to begin in the UK, the court immediately went into recess, and NPR's David Folkenflik reports that settlement talks are now underway. Stay peeled to his X account for details... (X)
>> French newspaper Le Monde says "it will no longer be posting content on X," saying "the usefulness of our presence weighs less than the many suffered side-effects." (TheWrap)
>> Wall Street is expecting a surge in subscribers as Netflix gets ready to announce Q4 earnings after the closing bell today, Dade Hayes reports. (Deadline)
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