| | | | At the six-month mark of the Trump presidency, the White House press strategy is confusing, contradictory and arguably self-defeating. Look no further than Thursday's briefing. The press shop prohibited television cameras, continuing a three-week streak of off-camera briefings. So why did Mick Mulvaney bring TV-friendly props? Viewers will never see it.
Tonight's newsletter has lots of non-Trump news -- about O.J., the Scripps sale, "Ozark," and more -- but let's begin with breaking news from the WashPost and NYT... | | WaPo: Trump lawyers exploring pardoning powers | | | The leaks coming from Trumpworld sure look like they're strategic. ThinkProgress EIC Judd Legum tweeted this POV: "There is clearly a coordinated effort tonight by the White House to try to intimidate Bob Mueller through the media." I'm up next on "CNN Tonight" with Jeffrey Toobin, talking about all of it... | | | ABC's John Santucci broke the news on Twitter Thursday night: "Sources tell ABC News that Mark Corallo, spokesperson for Trump legal team working Russia probe, had resigned..." | | Exclusive: How the NYT scored an Oval Office sit-down | | Want an on-the-record interview with the president? Maybe you should request an off-the-record "meet and greet."
That's how Trump's jaw-dropping interview with three NYT reporters started -- as a get-to-know-you session with Peter Baker and Michael Schmidt, two reporters Trump had never met. (Baker is the paper's chief W.H. correspondent and Schmidt broke several big James Comey stories, so you can see why Trump would want to meet them.) Maggie Haberman, who Trump knows well, was the third visitor. | | | Trump "wanted to get to know the D.C. players at The Times," one of several sources told me for this story. But the reporters came with many Q's, and the meeting quickly became a news-breaking interview. POTUS was happy to talk -- while he insisted on keeping some of his comments off the record, he allowed most of the conversation to be quoted. "It was an ongoing negotiation," another one of the sources said... | | The resulting interview was so shocking that it led many newscasts and web sites on Thursday (until the O.J. parole hearing, anyway). There was even some West Wing finger-pointing about who allowed the interview. Hope Hicks was the only W.H. aide in the room for it, but the NYT visit was on the president's internal schedule, so it shouldn't have come as a surprise....
Haberman hit on the internal tension with this tweet: "POTUS may not always be doing what some on staff want when he does these interviews. But he knows what he is doing. And he likes engaging."
Some W.H. staffers (and lawyers) are trying to limit his press interaction. But as Haberman said, "he likes engaging..." | | On the record, then OFF, then on... | | | Peter Baker told Slate that the president "has a way of going on and off" the record "with great fluidity, which is a challenge." Did the paper give POTUS "quote approval" after the fact? No, DC bureau chief Elisabeth Bumiller told me when I asked -- "Our reporters repeatedly pushed for everything to be on the record as the interview happened. President Trump agreed to be on the record for the vast majority of the time." Here's my full story... | | Fact-checking his NYT comments | | The paper's fact-checker, Linda Qiu, found several "misleading and false claims about health insurance, his legislative accomplishments, the biography of his deputy attorney general and French history."
Daniel Dale of the Toronto Star, who endeavored to fact-check every word Trump said as a candidate, found "17 false claims" in the 7,000-word transcript.
Certainly one of the subplots of the first six months has been the Trump administration's dishonesty -- and how voters and journalists have reacted and adapted to that dishonesty... | | | I'm a sucker for anniversaries. (Just ask Jamie. Saturday is our 41-month wedding anniversary.) So here are a few notable links about the Trump W.H. at the six-month mark... | | · Is Trump granting any other interviews around the six-month mark? | | | I'm told the answer is no... | | · Only one solo presser so far | | Tom Kludt recently noted Trump's relative lack of press conferences. There was a related exchange at Thursday's briefing:
REPORTER: Sarah, it's been over a month since the President promised a press conference on discussing the administration's ISIS strategy. The Daily Beast had an article about this ISIS strategy document, and so can we expect this press conference to take place soon? And if the strategy is completed, then what's the delay about having this so far?
SANDERS: We'll certainly make sure that there's an announcement if there's a press conference and that you are all invited. | | | Highlighting the "nonpartisan nonprofit" Sunlight Foundation's conclusion about the Trump admin six months in: "This is a secretive administration, allergic to transparency, ethically compromised, and hostile to the essential role that journalism plays in a democracy..." | | | This newsletter has included items about Trump and his team's attacks against the media on a near-daily basis since January. But rarely is it as explicit as this: "The goal eventually is the full destruction and elimination of the entire mainstream media. We envision a day when CNN is no longer in business. We envision a day when the New York Times closes its doors. I think that day is possible," Breitbart's DC political editor Matt Boyle said Wednesday in this speech... | | | A distraction from negative news about Trump? | | | Oliver Darcy emails his latest story: As a cloud of negative news hangs over President Trump, a familiar face has been all over the airwaves on Fox News: Hillary Clinton. The right's favorite villain has been featured prominently across Fox's programming this week. Former Clinton spokesman Brian Fallon told me he thinks Fox News' obsessive coverage of Clinton "shows how difficult it is to defend Trump's conduct on the merits," adding the network "is resorting to dredging up the ghost of Hillary Clinton, who is never running for office again." Read more... | | Off-camera briefings? Just turn the cameras on! | | Tom Kludt emails: This week the W.H. faced a fresh challenge to the restrictions it has imposed on the press briefing when a reporter live-streamed the audio. It might not be the last time a journalist goes rogue. For our latest video, Jon Sarlin asked: Why don't you just turn your cameras on?
-- The vid features interviews with Jim Acosta, Alex Pareene and Frank Sesno...
-- Tom's partial answer to the Q: "By entering the briefing room, the reporters are accepting the White House's terms, no matter how strict or unreasonable they may seem..." | | "Why the media loves John McCain" | | | That's the title of Callum Borchers' piece from Thursday morning. He noted the "gush of goodwill expressed by reporters after the Arizona Republican was diagnosed with brain cancer." McCain is well known for being affable and accessible to media types. "He has consistently shown respect for the role of the press and kept his criticisms in bounds. At a time when the head of McCain's party does neither, journalists appreciate his relative grace all the more..." | | By Howard Cohen:
-- YouTube TV, Google's live TV streaming service, is now available in 10 more US cities... (TechCrunch)
-- Katie Couric says "fake news" is ripping America "apart at the seams..." (NY Daily News)
-- Rob Sharenow has been promoted to programming president of A+E Networks. He previously served as EVP and general manager of A+E and Lifetime... (Variety) | | Brian Lowry emails: O.J. Simpson was on practically every channel for his parole hearing, offering a reminder of what catnip the case has been to the media -- and for legal experts, the gift that keeps on giving. CNN alum Michael Socolow wrote a THR op-ed connecting Simpson to the rise of reality TV and eventually Donald Trump. It's probably a more jagged path than the piece would suggest -- a lot has changed since the '90s -- but, O.J., along with TMZ, clearly remain key initials in the media's evolution.
Read Lowry's recap of the day's coverage here... | | | MEDIA CONSOLIDATION WATCH | | Scripps sale just a few days away? | | | "Negotiations to acquire media company Scripps Networks Interactive are advanced and a deal could be announced as soon as this month," Bloomberg's Alex Sherman and Manuel Baigorri reported Thursday afternoon, citing people familiar with the matter. "Both Discovery Communications and Viacom are vying to buy Scripps, and are likely to fund the deal with a mixture of cash and shares, the people said..." | | | By Francesca Giuliani-Hoffman: | | -- Facebook's promotion of its Facebook Journalism Project feels like an incessant comms campaign aimed at the media world... here's the six-month update... (FB)
-- Twitter says it is cracking down on abuse on the platform 10x more frequently than last year... (The Verge)
-- Cool feature: CJR's Andy Robinson spoke with the six people who held the role of Public Editor at the NYT... (CJR)
-- Speaking of the NYT... An anonymous Times copy editor dished to Digiday about how the reorganization is penalizing quality. "I had eight stories on a recent night, and I was just buried. I could hardly get up to go to the bathroom," the editor said.
-- A Canadian broadcaster is experimenting with anchorless newscasts, where field reporters are the stars of the show... (J-Source) | | Rod Lurie will direct film based on Jake Tapper's book | | | Frank Pallotta reports: Jake Tapper's bestselling book is getting the film treatment. Millennium Films announced Thursday that a film based on Tapper's 2012 book, "The Outpost: An Untold Story of American Valor," will be directed by Rod Lurie. The script is being developed by producer Paul Merryman and writing team Paul Tamasy and Eric Johnson, who are best known for their Oscar nominated screenplay for 2010's "The Fighter." Details here... | | Seacrest + "Idol," together again | | After months of complicated negotiations, ABC has confirmed that Ryan Seacrest will be back as the host of the rebooted "American Idol." Seacrest made the announcement on Thursday's "Live."
A no-brainer, right? Wrong... As THR's Lacey Rose reported last month, Seacrest was insulted and angered by the original $$$ offer... at one point, "his representatives asked that Seacrest's name be withdrawn from the process..." but "within hours," Ben Sherwood "was on the phone with Seacrest, pleading for one more day to make it right." That was well over a month ago... I'd love to know what transpired in recent weeks... | | Notice this change on NPR's web site... | | | Via Francesca: Elizabeth Jensen, NPR's ombudsman, says NPR will more clearly label opinion content on the web as "Opinion" rather than "Commentary." The change takes effect next week. "Now," she says, "if I could just convince NPR's on-air reporters and hosts to better label on-air commentary and to give more expansive descriptions of the political leanings and partisan funding of interviewees, which remain persistent concerns of listeners..." | | | Brian Lowry emails: Jason Bateman serves as producer, director and star of Netflix's latest binge-worthy drama, "Ozark." It starts with a familiar premise -- financial advisor sucked into high-stakes world of laundering drug money -- but becomes increasingly engrossing. Read Lowry's full review here... | | | Lowry adds: A hugely expensive undertaking being released in the U.S. by independent STX Films, writer-director Luc Besson's "Valerian and the City of a Thousand Planets," might not wind up being 2017's worst movie, but if it isn't, I hope to miss what is... | | | For the record, part three | | | By Lisa Respers France:
-- It's a sad day for Linkin Park fans. Lead singer Chester Bennington was found dead on Thursday. He was 41 and his death is being investigated as a suicide...
-- The 2018 Pirelli Calendar has an all-black cast. The subjects for the 2018 calendar include a diverse crew of black celebrities, including supermodel Naomi Campbell as The Royal Beheader, drag icon RuPaul as the Queen of Hearts and rapper Lil Yachty as a member of The Queen's Guard...
-- Lena Dunham has joined 'American Horror Story' for season 7...
-- Charles Esten doesn't just play a singer on TV. The "Nashville" star is a singer and songwriter in real life -- who loves making music so much that he went on a mission to release one single a week for an entire year. Esten's song No. 52, "Long Haul," came out on July 7... | | | What do you like about this newsletter? What do you dislike? Email us... we're at reliablesources@cnn.com... we appreciate every email. | | | Get Reliable Sources, a comprehensive summary of the most important media news, delivered to your inbox every afternoon. | | | | | |
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