Right-wing media is pushing a bogus — and dangerous — narrative about the rule of law in America, Warner Bros. Discovery is conducting more layoffs, Gannett is suing Google, Bret Baier is getting some praise, tech leaders are heading to Washington, and Christopher Nolan is teasing "Oppenheimer" in grand terms. But first, the A1. |
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Covering the Conspiracists |
CNN Photo Illustration/Getty Images/AP |
Some news organizations are beating around the bush when covering prominent figures who hold detestable views, many of which are wholly unhinged from reality.
That has been on display over the last 24 hours on three different fronts: In stories about Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. In stories about Rep. James Comer. And in stories about Andrew Tate.
Those three figures are typically not mentioned in the same sentence. But they are all benefiting from one common shortcoming of news organizations: the failure to describe in clear-eyed terms the outrageous — and often dangerous — ideas that some politicians and commentators peddle to millions.
Comer is referred to as the Republican House Oversight Committee chair. Kennedy as a Democratic presidential contender. And Tate as a social media influencer.
None of that is enough.
"This type of normal language news organizations use doesn't communicate how unhinged some of this stuff is," media columnist Margaret Sullivan told me Tuesday. "The language of news gets very watered down and it's flattened and it's hard for people consuming it to understand it's not normal stuff."
"The truth is not coming across," Sullivan added.
In fairness, news outlets often do include a hair of context. For example, Kennedy might be referred to as an "anti-vaccine activist" at some point in a story. But such a moniker, often buried paragraphs deep into an article, fails to adequately convey to people tuning in or reading online how deranged and insidious the falsehoods he promotes are.
Just in the past week, Kennedy has suggested that supposed chemicals in the water supply are causing children to become transgender, that wi-fi causes cancer, and that cell phone usage causes brain tumors.
"Anti-vaccine activist" simply does not capture that level of conspiratorial disinformation. And it doesn't capture the real harm the falsehoods Kennedy spewed about vaccines did during the height of the Covid-19 pandemic when countless lives could have been saved if people had not bought into a disinformation campaign that led them to reject widely available vaccinations.
Dr. Jonathan Reiner, a professor at George Washington University's medical school and a CNN medical analyst, noted to me Tuesday that news organizations largely cover Kennedy as a "quirky firebrand," but he has a long history promoting dangerous "science disinformation."
"On multiple occasions, he's compared Covid vaccines to Nazi concentration camp experiments," Reiner noted to me, rhetorically asking, "Does this sound like the discourse of a grounded person?"
It is not just Kennedy, however, that news organizations struggle to describe in plain terms.
Comer, a Kentucky congressman, has a long history of making wild claims on a host of issues, including in the aftermath of the 2020 presidential contest when he dabbled in election denialism. The Republican routinely accuses Democrats of grave wrongdoing while simultaneously excusing the behavior of disgraced former President Donald Trump. Most recently, he has been attacking Hunter Biden and trying to tie illegal activity to President Joe Biden. But his allegations of serious wrongdoing by the president have not been supported by any real evidence — and, last month, Comer bizarrely revealed on national television that he "can't track down" a supposed whistleblower.
And yet, news organizations often choose to leave that context out. When Comer released a statement Tuesday smearing the Department of Justice over a supposed "two-tiered" justice system, many news outlets uncritically passed along his claims and simply attributed them to the "House Oversight Committee chair," lending the statement an air of legitimacy.
The same can be said about Tate, the internet persona who has gained infamy pushing misogynistic extremism to young men. Tate, who openly admits he is a sexist, has made more reprehensible comments that can be accounted for. But several news organizations on Tuesday, reporting that he had been charged with rape and human trafficking, referred to him as merely an "influencer" and "social media celebrity."
Readers and viewers that turn to news organizations often do not follow the ins and outs of stories like journalists do. It should not be assumed that they know how unhinged Kennedy's beliefs are, that Comer's claims of bombshell wrongdoing by Democrats are regularly unsupported by actual evidence, or that Tate is an extremist who preaches misogyny. People depend on news organizations for that information and context. And when news organizations fail on that front, they fail the viewers and readers.
Incorporating certain facts into a story can be uncomfortable at times, or potentially alienate parts of an audience who may not want to hear them. But the duty of a journalist and news organizations is to tell the story, without fear or favor. To spell out the facts, using clear language. Not to avoid them. These troubling facts are crucial pieces of the stories. For instance, Tate's history of misogyny is a key to understanding a story about him being charged with sex crimes. Failing to prominently mention that information means an integral part of the story is missing. In other words, it is bad journalism. In some circumstances, news outlets get this right. It's difficult to find a story about Infowars founder Alex Jones that does not refer to him as a deranged right-wing conspiracy theorist. But Jones is too often the exception. Perhaps it is harder to call a Kennedy a whacky conspiracy theorist or affix such a title to a prominent member of government. But that is no excuse. If anything, the fact these people hold respected positions in society means that it is even more important to be direct with audiences about who they are. A failure to be transparent and include key context in reporting comes at a great societal cost. It gives those figures who profit financially and/or politically from extremist rhetoric license to continue trafficking in the destructive noise. And, perhaps more importantly, it leaves audiences with a distorted sense of events.
"In many cases we come back to the endemic problem of wanting to bend over to seem extremely neutral and not use language that might be perceived as not fair," Sullivan said. "Of course, when we do that there is another kind of fairness we miss, which is the truth." |
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CNN Photo Illustration/Andrew Harnik/AP |
Law and Disorder: Right-wing media is continuing to fan the flames against the rule of law after the announcement of a plea deal betweenHunter Biden and the Department of Justice. Prominent figures and outlets are continuing to feed their audiences a bogus narrative of a "two-tiered justice system" in America, one that is supposedly rigged in favor of Democrats and targeting Republicans (i.e. Donald Trump) for purely nefarious, political purposes. "DEPARTMENT OF INJUSTICE," a graphic on Sean Hannity's talk program declared, as the right-wing propagandist railed against the "sweetheart deal" he said Hunter Biden received. It goes without saying that this rhetoric, saturating right-wing media and the GOP, has consequences and is damaging. People who live in this universe actually do believe that President Joe Biden is a menacing, anti-Democratic force who has weaponized government agencies to maintain power. And when people lose faith in institutions, bad things can happen, as demonstrated by the January 6 attack on the U.S. Capitol. |
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Winter at WBD: It might be the start of summer, but staffers at Warner Bros. Discovery (CNN's parent) are entering a period of wintry conditions. In an effort to find more savings and further refine workflows following the merger of Discovery and WarnerMedia, WBD is cutting jobs this summer. Staffers at U.S. television networks began receiving pink slips on Tuesday, impacting brands such as HGTV, Food Network, Animal Planet, and Discovery. And the workflow changes are not just affecting the rank-and-file. TCM boss Pola Changnon will depart after more than 25 years, as well as several other executives (Deadline's Peter White has a running list here). WBD declined on Tuesday to say how many positions will be cut in the process. But the layoffs at the TV networks will continue through the week. And more cuts are expected in other WBD sectors over the summer, I'm told. | |
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- Gannett, the nation's largest newspaper company, filed a lawsuit against Google, alleging violations of antitrust law have allowed the tech giant to unfairly monopolize the digital advertising economy. (CNBC)
- Mike Reed, chief executive of Gannett, wrote a piece for USA Today: "Our lawsuit seeks to restore fair competition in a digital advertising marketplace that Google has demolished." (USA Today)
- "The Gannett suit comes as the chain is facing an array of financial challenges," Herb Scribner and Gerrit De Vynck note. (WaPo)
- Switching gears: NBCU said at Cannes Lions that it will expand its One Platform advertising tool into global markets. (Variety)
- Prime Video's expansion in Europe has led to growth in revenue, to the tune of $4.5 billion, according to new filings. (Variety)
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- The Associated Press named Mark Grant VP of global security and safety. (AP)
- POLITICO announced Danielle Jones returned to the publication where she will work with top editorial leaders to recruit and retain talent and execute key strategic initiatives. (POLITICO)
- ProPublica tapped Sarah Blustain and Talia Buford as assistant managing editors. (ProPublica)
- The WaPo hired Maegan Vazquez as a breaking news reporter focused on politics. (WaPo)
- Fox Corporation named Mike Mulvihill president of insight and analytics. (THR)
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CNN Photo Illustration/Paul Morigi/Getty Images |
Baier Goes to Battle: Interviewing Donald Trump is anything but easy. But Fox News anchor Bret Baier showed how it is done in a sit-down with the former president that aired on the right-wing network Monday and Tuesday. Baier pressed Trump with smart questions and repeatedly confronted him with uncomfortable facts, countering the Republican presidential contender's lies with cold hard reality. (See here, here, or here.) Baier's reputation, for good reason, has taken a hit in recent months. And there were moments in the interview that were still not great, as Mediaite's Tommy Christopher pointed out. But after the interview, Baier has certainly gained some goodwill back. As Columbia Journalism School professor Bill Grueskin stated, "for all the tsuris that [Fox News] deserves ... this was really well done." ► Related: Fox News announced that Baier and Martha MacCallum will moderate the first 2024 Republican primary debate. |
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- Pre-butting the reporting in Murdoch's paper: Supreme Court Justice Samuel Alito is blasting the non-profit newsroom ProPublica, which has broken a number of recent stories raising serious questions about his ethics asa judge, in a WSJ op-ed ahead of another apparent forthcoming investigative piece. (WSJ)
- Asked for comment, ProPublica told us that it does not comment on unpublished stories.
- After Elon Musk participated in the bashing of Dr. Peter Hotez, some scientists say it is time to leave the platform, Tina Reed reports. (Axios)
"A group of students and the authors of a children's book about a penguin family with two fathers sued a Florida school district and the state's board of education on Tuesday, saying that restricting access to the book in school libraries was unconstitutional," Elizabeth Harris and Alexandra Alter report. ( NYT) - "U.S. homicide rates have significantly reduced since the Covid-19 pandemic, but cable news networks have largely failed to cover the decline despite previously fearmongering about the perceived increase in crime since 2020," Gideon Taaffe writes. (MMFA)
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Meeting With Modi: Some of the biggest names in tech are preparing to meet India's prime minister, Narendra Modi. The move, CNBC's Seema Mody reported Tuesday, comes as the U.S.' relationship with China grows more and more tense by the day. Per Mody, Apple's Tim Cook, Google's Sundar Pichai, and Microsoft's Satya Nadella are planning on attending the White House state dinner with Modi on Thursday. Mody has more here. |
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- Reddit message boards are still dark — or flooded with images of John Oliver. (Deadline)
- Meanwhile, Twitter's decision to charge for its API obfuscates research on disinformation and war crimes, and may also hamper search and rescue operations during natural disasters, Louisa Loveluck writes. (WaPo)
- Twitter is eyeing new ad tech partners as it tries to quell the anxieties felt by advertisers. (Axios)
- Users engaging with Snapchat's A.I. chatbot could be used to improve targeted ads on the platform, per chief Evan Spiegel. (WSJ)
- Spotify has announced plans to launch its "Supremium" plan, a new premium subscription tier that is expected to include high-fidelity, or HiFi, audio streaming. (Bloomberg)
- TikTok has inked a partnership deal with Candle Media. The short-form video platform wants to use the company's "storytelling capabilities across its business units to launch new and inspiring premium content and branded entertainment." (Deadline)
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CNN Photo Illustration/Universal Pictures |
'Oppenheimer' Overwhelms: Prepare to leave in shock. That's what Christopher Nolan told Wired's Maria Streshinsky in a Q&A published Tuesday. The acclaimed filmmaker said that some people leave the theater "absolutely devastated" and "can't speak" after seeing his forthcoming movie, "Oppenheimer," which is about the physicist who invented the atomic bomb. "It is an intense experience, because it's an intense story," Nolan said. "I showed it to a filmmaker recently who said it's kind of a horror movie. I don't disagree. ... as I started to finish the film, I started to feel this color that's not in my other films, just darkness. It's there. The film fights against that." Read the full interview here. |
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- A big shakeup: Ryan Murphy, the mega-producer behind hits such as "Dahmer" and "American Horror Story," is planning to leave Netflix for Disney. (Bloomberg)
- Disney's chief diversity officer, Latondra Newton, is exiting. (Variety)
- The WGA strike has entered its 50th day. (Deadline)
- Pamela McClintock writes about how "David Zaslav's regime" has suffered its "first major miss" in "The Flash." McClintock writes, Zaslav "could have easily kept a poker face and distanced himself from 'The Flash' considering it was made by the previous regime. Instead, Zaslav bet on it as if it were his own." (THR)
- The man charged with assault for striking Bebe Rexha with his phone during a concert told police he did so because he thought "it would be funny," the Manhattan District Attorney's Office said. (BBC)
- Jonathan Majors' domestic violence trial has been scheduled for August 3. The actor has contested the allegations against him. (AP)
- Trevor Noah will host an original podcast for Spotify. It will debut in 2023. (Variety)
- Taylor Swift announced new 2024 international dates for her "Eras" tour. (PitchFork)
- Netflix is changing how it measures its top 10 shows and movies list, now ranking the titles based on total views, shaking up the lists. (TheWrap)
- The Broadway adaptation of "Life of Pi" will give its final bow on July 23, less than four months after it officially opened. (THR)
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Thank you for reading! This newsletter was edited by Jon Passantino and produced with the assistance of Liam Reilly. Have feedback? Send us an email here. We will see you back in your inbox tomorrow. |
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