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Hey, welcome to this special Saturday edition, full of weekend reads about MAGA media, AI, Bob Iger, CBS News, IMAX, the Kennedy Center, and more...

Are you listening? 

"While Americans today have more opportunities than ever to speak, they have fewer opportunities than ever to be truly heard. That, I came to believe, is the source of many of our most profound problems as a country. And it's something that journalists, members of Congress, CEOs — really, just about anyone with any authority — might be in a position to fix."

That's what Alyssa Rosenberg says she learned in her time as the Letters and Community editor at the Washington Post. 

In this powerful essay for NOTUS, she reckons with the fact that "many people writing letters to The Post openly questioned whether anyone was actually reading their submissions." These readers "cared about The Post's success and were thinking hard about what might help bolster the paper's fortunes." They wanted to help. They wanted to be heard.

This of course is so much bigger than The Post. "As I came to realize in the course of my job," Rosenberg says, "the feeling that no one is listening is something of an unacknowledged epidemic — and a warning sign of civic and social atrophy."

Rosenberg describes reading a whopping 21,000 letters in response to Post owner Jeff Bezos' decision to spike the editorial board's planned endorsement of Kamala Harris. She "emerged from that experience with a better understanding of the widening gulf between what our readers expected from us and what our owner and leaders wanted the paper to be..." and "that clarity contributed to my decision to leave The Post this summer." 

Check out her thoughts on how news outlets can be better listeners here. Staying on the "listening" theme...

'Shutdown leaves Americans scrambling'

Michael Nagle/Bloomberg/Getty Images

CNN.com's lead right now is "Shutdown leaves Americans scrambling," with a story saying "millions are in limbo as flights get canceled, SNAP benefits lapse and federal workers go unpaid – and there's no end in sight." The NYT's top homepage headline right now uses the L-word, too: "Families in limbo after Supreme Court order interrupts food stamp payments."

You can see the impacts on newspaper front pages as well: The Arkansas Democrat-Gazette's Page One features airport workers who are struggling without pay, the Orlando Sentinel highlights how flight reductions could affect tourism, and almost the entire front page of The Oklahoman focuses on food benefit disruptions.

The best stories feature Americans in their own words – like this CNN article and video about a West Virginia mom who works full time and usually relies on SNAP aid to feed her family. I hope everyone reads nia t. evans' piece for NYMag's The Cut with the accounts of four women impacted by the cuts. They "talk about traveling for meals, rationing their benefits, and helping others stay afloat during this crisis."

 >> Here's a very different example of listening: The top story on FoxNews.com midday today was "Social media erupts after far-left mayor gives victory speech in foreign language." It was about right-wing objections to Minneapolis mayor Jacob Frey speaking in Somali on Wednesday... published on Saturday. I could only find one reference to SNAP on the Fox homepage, and it was about a Trump administration official alleging "massive fraud."

Zooming in on MAGA media's influence

Two excellent new stories interrogate pro-Trump social media storytelling. First, this Reuters special report describes how a "new constellation of influencers, billionaire moguls and social-media platforms" are "pulling the nation's information ecosystem to the right."

For people who aren't steeped in this stuff every day, and even people who are, it's an informative examination, showing how MAGA media figures are "blurring boundaries between official messaging and private-sector news and opinion." 

For an up-close example of that "official messaging," this Chicago Sun-Times piece by Nader Issa scrutinizes "how government propaganda techniques portray Chicago as a city at war with the feds." The "made-for-Hollywood videos depict heroic military-style raids" but it "doesn’t always match what's happening." (That's a polite way to put it.)

Political media notes and quotes

 >> The AP has published what it calls "the first comprehensive account and identifies of some of the men killed in recent U.S. military strikes on alleged drug-smuggling boats." Here's a Q&A with the reporter, Regina Garcia Cano. (AP)

 >> During Trump's event touting price cuts for weight-loss drugs on Thursday, "the president spent nearly 20 minutes apparently battling to keep his eyes open," the Washington Post's "analysis of multiple video feeds" found. (WaPo)

 >> Of the GOP feud over Tucker Carlson et al, SE Cupp says it's "giving Real Housewives" vibes. (Pitching and Snitching)

 >> Batya Ungar-Sargon argues that the "real split on the right" is "between those who want votes and those who want views." (The Free Press)

Coming up this weekend...

Season 3 of CNN's "Have I Got News For You" wraps tonight, LateNighter notes...

The Rock & Roll Hall of Fame holds its annual induction ceremony tonight...

Nikki Glaser hosts "SNL," with musical guest Sombr...

Tomorrow's "60 Minutes" features reports on struggling American farmers; Trump's actions against Harvard; and the "indomitable Margaret Atwood..."

Did you hear about 'Anniversary?'

I did not, and you probably didn't either, and that's partly the point. The movie stars Diane Lane, Dylan O'Brien, Kyle Chandler "and plenty of other name actors," but it "had almost no awareness in market tracking," and it has barely made half a million dollars in theaters. TheWrap founder Sharon Waxman's conclusion is that "it seems to have been buried by the studio," Lionsgate, "in a political climate where government retaliation against media has become commonplace."

So you're probably wondering: What's the movie about? Waxman said it's "a thriller about an American family terrorized by the rise of an authoritarian government."

Producer Nick Wechsler told her, "It's hard to market a political film today. People are afraid of them – they don't know how it will be received emotionally. It’s a weird time." Agent Frank Wuliger, who reps the film's director Jan Komasa, went further: "The film was buried because it is incendiary. To me, it's a sign of the world we live in."

Naturally, the more I read about "Anniversary," the more I want to see it...!

👍 Great weekend reads, part one

 >> On Page One of today's NYT: Shawn McCreesh says "audiences are staying away" from the "Trumpian drama" at the Kennedy Center. (NYT) 

 >> Kelsey Baker finds that "military influencers are going viral, and the Pentagon's social media rules aren't keeping up." This story is part of a three-part series on military influencers. (Business Insider)

 >> David Marchese interviews Greg Gutfeld about his "insult-heavy, aggressively anti-woke and relentlessly pro-conservative" formula for success. (NYT Mag)

 >> Mary Margaret Olohan talks with the Trump White House press team about its "campaign-style aggression." (Daily Wire)

 >> Michael Tomasky says "rich liberals need to get together, see all this for the democracy-ending crisis that it is, and pool tens of millions of dollars into an organization that will buy existing media outlets (traditional and social) and start new ones." (The New Republic)

 >> Bob Iger offers some "advice for his successors" on the latest episode of "The Rest Is History" podcast, Alex Weprin reports. (THR)

New dispatch from inside CBS News

Bari Weiss has held two jobs for one month now: Editor in chief of CBS News and editor in chief of The Free Press. Some CBS staffers are "wondering if employees for the two newsrooms are held to the same social media guidelines and journalistic standards," WaPo's Laura Wagner and Scott Nover wrote in this Friday piece.

They quote a source saying "I think we’re all unclear about what the line is between the two companies. Nobody has said anything about it, really. It's wild!" It sure is. Read on...

How will News Corp unlock value?

News Corp shares closed up more than 6% yesterday after the publishing company reported revenue growth and rising digital subscriptions. CEO Robert Thomson said Thursday that "we believe our shares are undervalued, given the sum of our valuable parts and our profit trajectory, and we will continue to focus on ways and means to maximize shareholder value." 🤔

👍 Great weekend reads, part two

 >> Kieran Press-Reynolds gets to know the TrueAnon crew, a cult podcast "which snowballed from Epstein deep dives into a wide-ranging chronicle of our current malaise." Episode #500 came out this week. (GQ)

 >> Jeffrey A. Trachtenberg profiles Virginia Evans: "She almost gave up. Now she has the year's unlikely hit novel." (WSJ)

 >> Ben Mullin and Katie Robertson have a sweeping new look at how AI tools are transforming newsrooms. (NYT)

 >> Jason Koebler argues that AI is "supercharging the war on libraries, education, and human knowledge." (404 Media)

 >> Eli Tan says Facebook Dating, "which debuted in 2019, has become a surprise hit for the company." With "more than 21 million daily users," it's "one of the most popular online dating services." (NYT)

 >> Chris Lee asks: "Has Netflix changed its tune on theaters?” (NY Mag)

 >> Jennifer Harlan listens to the "souped-up" new "Harry Potter" audiobooks. (NYT)

 >> Richard Rushfield examines Hollywood's "backslide" into white male directors. (The Ankler)

Kendrick leads Grammy noms

Kendrick Lamar led the field with nine Grammy nominations yesterday, including album, record and song of the year. "Lady Gaga, Bad Bunny and Sabrina Carpenter were also top nominees," CNN's Dan Heching writes. Rolling Stone captures some of the snubs and surprises here...

 >> More: Lisa Respers France says "Katseye is having the best year ever and the Grammys just proved it..."

The Hollywood A-list

 >> "After Warner Bros. Discovery tacked up a 'For Sale' sign, things have gone quiet. Too quiet. That may be because the bankers are now involved," Erik Hayden writes. (THR)

 >> Apple exec Eddy Cue downplayed speculation about an ad tier for Apple TV and an Apple bid for Warner Bros. in this interview with Jeremy Kay. (Screen International)

 >> "Sony Pictures Television and CBS have settled their year-long court battle over the distribution of syndicated game shows Jeopardy! and Wheel of Fortune," Rick Porter writes. (THR)

 >> IMAX screens are such "a hot commodity" that "filmmakers fight to land them far in advance," Ben Fritz reports. (WSJ)

This edition of Reliable Sources was edited by Andrew Kirell and produced with Liam Reilly. Email us your feedback and tips here.