Hello from summer vacation! Brian Stelter here at 9:16pm ET on Wednesday, July 6. Oliver is off exploring Iceland. I'm playing nurse for my wife while she undergoes ankle surgery. We never want the newsletter list to go dark for more than a few days, so here's a quick look at the media world. We'll be back for real on Sunday the 10th... Ten things to think about |
-- "I want to sleep for 10 hours, take long naps and lose myself in TV shows and movies that help me stop obsessing over how our world is spinning backward," LA Times columnist Robin Abcarian writes. "But it's impossible to avoid the enervating stream of bad news..." -- "Viral videos of masses of people fleeing from one perceived threat or another on American streets have become a staple of social media," WaPo's Marc Fisher writes... -- CNN's Edward-Isaac Dovere expertly capturing the DC mood: After a string of Supreme Court setbacks, top Democrats are complaining that President Biden "isn't acting with – or perhaps is even capable of – the urgency the moment demands..." -- "What accounts for the blithe dismissal of potentially cataclysmic threats?" Sen. Mitt Romney had some answers in this Independence Day piece for The Atlantic... -- One of the big stories of the moment is "political homelessness," Lulu Garcia-Navarro said on the most recent edition of "Reliable." There is "an overwhelming sense of exhaustion no matter where you sit in the political spectrum..." -- Stuart A. Thompson's lead about widespread election lies across right-wing radio: "November's midterm elections are still months away, but to many conservative commentators, the fix is already in. Democrats have cheated before, they say, and they will cheat again. Never mind that the claims are false..." -- TikTok has become a best-seller machine: "The hashtag #BookTok has become a sustained and powerful force in the world of books," the NYT's Elizabeth A. Harris writes, "helping to create some of the biggest sellers on the market..." -- As America fragments, "one state's banned books are another's teen summer reading list," Jonathan Weisman writes, describing red and blue states moving in "opposite directions..." -- "America isn't just red and blue. It's red and blue and just plain tired," David French observes in a recent dispatch. "The exhausted American is in my email inbox, writing personal, anguished letters about lost relationships. The radicalized American is in my Twitter feed. Venting. Always venting..." -- Nobel-winning journalist Maria Ressa: Over the last six years, this "death-by-a-thousand-cuts of our democracy has become full-blown." She says "The world has come closer and closer to a word I don't use lightly: to fascism..." |
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| -- This news broke right after we filed our most recent newsletter: "Jerry Hall filed for divorce from Rupert Murdoch on Friday, citing 'irreconcilable differences' and seeking spousal support..." (WSJ) -- And this news broke just now: "CNN's Kaitlan Collins will serve as the president of the WH Correspondents' Association in 2024 after she was elected to a three-year term on its board Wednesday..." (Mediaite) -- Here's another important headline: "Fox News has hired veteran trial attorney Dan Webb to lead its defense against a defamation suit by Dominion Voting Systems," Stephen Battaglio reports... (LAT) |
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Sun Valley week The annual Allen & Co. media exec shindig is underway at the Sun Valley Lodge. "The conference is designed with the goals of the guest list in mind: an opportunity for company leaders to fortify their positions by seeking out strategic ways to grow and secure their customer bases," TheWrap's Brandon Katz wrote. >> Warner Bros. Discovery CEO David Zaslav speaking with reporters assembled outside the Lodge: "The world has changed. And it's not about how much, it's about how good..." >> Variety's Jennifer Maas just published a new story about the Sun Valley "scene..." >> The style of Sun Valley attendees? Call it 'family-reunion casual,'" the WSJ says. The Journal and Insider posted CEO slideshows on Wednesday... |
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The week in two front pages First, Tuesday's edition of the Chicago Sun-Times, with an American flag shown upside down to signal distress about the country's gun violence epidemic: |
Second, Thursday's front page of The Times in the UK, which has the revolt against Boris Johnson front and center like every other British paper: |
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THIS WEEK IN POLITICAL MEDIA |
-- White House communications director Kate Bedingfield is departing... (CNN) -- "In a new Monmouth University poll, just 36% of Americans approve of the job Joe Biden is doing – the lowest mark of his presidency to date in the survey." Chris Cillizza asks: "How low can Joe Biden go in the polls?" (CNN) -- Alex Holder's Trump 2020 documentary "Unprecedented" now has a premiere date: It will start streaming on discovery+ on Sunday... (Deadline) -- Joe Rogan effectively declared his podcast a Trump-free zone in a recent interview, saying, "I don't want to help him..." (WaPo) -- Steve Bannon "fumed" about Rogan's comments on Wednesday, telling Rogan, "He doesn't need your platform. He doesn't need your low-information voters. Trump deals with high-information people..." (Beast) -- Ari Fleischer is beginning to promote his new book about the press, "Suppression, Deception, Snobbery and Bias," ahead of its release next week... (Federalist, NRO) -- And Mark Leibovich is plugging his new book, titled "Thank You For Your Servitude," which is also out next week... (Twitter) -- Ursula Perano's story about Democratic use of anti-Mehmet Oz memes is titled "Could John Fetterman shitpost his way to the Senate?" Fetterman responded on Twitter: "I mean we sure are trying..." (Beast) |
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FIRST IN RELIABLE More attention for Austin Tice's case The Washington Post will announce a new campaign on Thursday to spotlight Austin Tice's abduction in Syria, which took place ten years ago next month. The Post says the campaign will kick off on Sunday and "will include a first-of-its-kind sitewide message urgently calling for Austin's safe return." It will also include an audio message from Tice's mother, a #BringAustinHome banner outside the Post's DC HQ, full-page print ads, and social media promotion. >> "Multiple U.S. administrations have attempted to negotiate for Austin's return without success -- a result that's wholly unacceptable and has strengthened our resolve to keep his case top of mind until he is free," CEO Fred Ryan says... |
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| David Zurawik on this week's Reliable podcast David Zurawik, a familiar face and voice to "Reliable Sources" regulars, is a 32-year veteran of the Baltimore Sun. On this new podcast episode, he opens up for the first time about why he left the Sun last year. Among the reasons: He says he sensed pressure to tone down some of his politically opinionated columns and lacked confidence -- to put it mildly -- in hedge fund Alden Global Capital's ownership of the paper. Zurawik, now a CNN media analyst, talks about the state of local news; the launch of a nonprofit news outlet called The Baltimore Banner; and the House's 1/6 hearings. Listen in via Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Stitcher, TuneIn, or your favorite app... >> Speaking of Baltimore: The Banner's Justin Fenton reports that WBAL's Jayne Miller, the city's "most respected and feared television journalist," is retiring from TV news later this month. She is interested in a shift into politics... |
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-- "World News Tonight with David Muir" was the top-rated show across all of US TV, "excluding syndicated programming," last week, A.J. Katz reports... -- "After weeks of ceding ground in a ratings category to its main rival, 'Today' regained the lead vs 'GMA,'" Brian Steinberg reports... -- Joy Behar "has signed another three-year deal with ABC," keeping her on "The View" through 2025, the NY Post's Andrew Court scooped... -- Janai Norman is joining "GMA Weekend" as co-anchor... -- Shannon LaNier, Alicia Quarles, and Katie Sands are joining the morning shows on Cheddar News... -- Kasie Hunt is anchoring "CNN Tonight" at 9pm ET this week... |
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A colleague's loss CNN tech reporter Samantha Murphy Kelly, a beloved colleague and regular contributor to this newsletter, is grappling with an unfathomable loss right now. Kelly's husband Chris died unexpectedly while on a family vacation. Friends are now raising money to support Kelly and her two young children. Click here if you feel moved to help. |
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"Disinformation has become another untouchable problem" This NYT story by Steven Lee Myers and Eileen Sullivan is partly about the Department of Homeland Security's botched Disinformation Governance Board, but it's mostly about how the topic of "disinformation" has become so partisan that it's "nearly impossible to consider addressing the threat." The key quote comes at the end, from Paul Barrett, of NYU: "We're basically at this point unable to have a calm discussion about this problem. And there's a weird, circular, looping-around effect. The problem itself is helping make us unable to talk about the problem." >> Nina Jankowicz, who was supposed to be the board's director, seems to agree. She will join me for an exclusive interview on Sunday's "Reliable Sources..." |
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-- "The U.S. Senate Intelligence Committee chair and top Republican have called on the FTC to investigate social media app TikTok and Chinese parent ByteDance due to 'repeated misrepresentations' over its handling of U.S. data..." (Reuters) -- Over the weekend I interviewed TikTok VP Michael Beckerman... (CNN) -- "The UK competition regulator on Wednesday announced the launch of an antitrust investigation into Microsoft's proposed $68.7 billion acquisition of video gaming giant Activision Blizzard," Brian Fung reports... (CNN) -- Todd Martens' new profile of Mike Ybarra: "Blizzard's new boss wants to have fun with games. But first, his company is in a crisis..." (LAT) -- "Amazon will share more data with rivals and offer buyers a wider choice of products, as part of a deal with EU antitrust regulators that will close two of the most high-profile probes in Brussels," Javier Espinoza reports... (FT) |
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Apple says this will help high-risk users BY SEAN LYNGAAS: Apple on Wednesday said it will release a new feature this fall for iPhone, Mac and iPad operating software that is designed to protect high-risk users such as journalists and human rights workers from sophisticated spyware that has been linked to human rights abuses. It's one of the biggest steps yet by a major tech firm to combat the lucrative spyware industry. Details here... |
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Three stories you might have missed -- The AP has reopened its Gaza Strip offices "in a new location," more than a year after the previous building housing the bureau was destroyed in an Israeli airstrike... -- The NYT ordinarily publishes the full text of the Declaration of Independence on July 4. But "due to a human error," it was missing from Monday's print edition. It ran on Tuesday instead, per Playbook... -- "The Brangelina Rosé Suit from Hell:" Eriq Gardner says this litigation "spans three countries, involves a suspect connection to the war in Ukraine, some of the fanciest white shoe law firms on Earth, a Russian vodka baron, and the Hamptons' favorite summer rosé..." (Puck) |
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THIS WEEK IN BIZ AND CULTURE |
-- Peter Chernin is creating "a new global content studio called The North Road Company with $800 million in outside funding..." (Axios) -- Bravo is ending "Million Dollar Listing New York," at least the current incarnation, Variety's Kate Aurthur scooped... (Variety) -- "College Football Is Cannibalizing Itself," Jemele Hill wrote: "In pursuit of money, universities and conferences are uprooting traditional rivalries and regional loyalties..." (The Atlantic) -- J. Clara Chan's latest: "Digital creators rethink Hollywood as some push to work on their own terms..." (THR) |
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Hammer time BY BRIAN LOWRY: Despite my enthusiasm about Taika Waititi's returning to the helm, "Thor: Love and Thunder" felt awfully flat to me, failing to strike the same winning balance of comedy, action and in this case romance that the eclectic director managed to conjure on its predecessor, "Ragnarok."
Of course, that probably won't prevent the Marvel movie from being a huge box-office attraction, with projections of $300 million or more worldwide for its opening weekend. But add an asterisk to that, given that such prognosticating has been notably sketchy of late, with some films ("Minions: The Rise of Gru," "Top Gun: Maverick") blasting past expectations, and others ("Lightyear") falling well short of them...
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THIS WEEK IN ENTERTAINMENT |
-- Thursday's Journal A-hed: "Natalie Portman's arms are the breakout stars of 'Thor: Love and Thunder...'" (WSJ) -- Ahead of Friday's launch, here are a list of films "to properly prepare for the God of Thunder's return..." (The Wrap) -- "Disputed Michael Jackson songs, which fans claim were sung by a different vocalist," have been "removed from streaming services..." (Variety) -- "Minions: The Rise of Gru" did gangbusters last weekend, and Universal Pictures "has, at least partially, the 'Gentleminions' to thank," Scottie Andrew writes... (CNN) -- Huge "Stranger Things" #'s: "Following the release of the last two episodes of the season on July 1, the show passed the billion-hour mark in viewing worldwide..." (THR) |
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| "Stranger Things" is ending, but a spinoff is in the works |
"Stranger Things" is coming to an end, but its upside-down stories will live on. Both a live-action "Stranger Things" spinoff and a "stage play set within the world and mythology" of the show are coming from Upside Down Pictures, a new production company founded by the show's creators The Duffer Brothers.... |
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LAST BUT CERTAINLY NOT LEAST... Pet of the day! Courtney writes: "This is Rosie. When he's done sunning himself all day, he patiently awaits the Reliable Sources newsletter. And yes, Rosie is a he and his disposition isn't so rosy!" |
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Thank you for reading! Feel free to email us anytime. We will be back at full force on Sunday the 10th... |
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