Received this email from a friend? Sign up here.

Monday, April 15, 2024

Barry Diller taps Ben Sherwood and Joanna Coles to lead The Daily Beast, The NYT ends its leak probe without a "definitive conclusion," NPR continues to fight off right-wing criticism, Dr. Drew goes full Infowars, Elon Musk announces new X users will have to pay to post, A24 finds box office success with "Civil War," CBS says it will rebroadcast Billy Joel's 100th MSG concert after Sunday's snafu, and much more. But first, the A1.

THE A1

Truth at the Trump Trial

CNN Photo Illustration/Christine Cornell

Did Donald Trump fall asleep in court?

As the first criminal trial of a former American president commenced Monday, The New York Times' Maggie Haberman delivered a stunning report from the Manhattan courtroom. Trump, she reported, "appeared to nod off a few times," with his mouth "going slack and his head drooping onto his chest."

Haberman, it goes without saying, is in a class of her own when it comes to reporting on Trump. When Haberman reports news about the Republican frontrunner, readers can take it to the bank. And her observation about Trump's apparent low-energy demeanor was corroborated by other reporters who confirmed that the defendant's eyes were shut for lengthy periods of time.

"He looked like he was nodding off and at one point in a pretty true tell that he was falling asleep, his head nodded down and then he sort of jolted back up at one point," The NYT's Susanne Craig also said on MSNBC.

But the Trump campaign later denied the former president had fallen asleep during the hearing — an obvious problem for a candidate who has made the "Sleepy Joe" moniker a key attack line — claiming that the mid-trial snooze never happened.

"This is 100% Fake News coming from 'journalists' who weren't even in the court room," a Trump campaign spokesperson later insisted.

The public was not permitted to see the hearing with its own eyes, as cameras have been barred from the courtroom, in keeping with longstanding rules by the federal judiciary. Instead, Americans, unable to watch the historic proceedings play out, will have no choice but to place its trust in Haberman and a small group of reporters selected to sit inside the courtroom to observe the high-stakes trial.

On this particular matter, the stakes are not very consequential. Nevertheless, the episode underscores the information vacuum that has been birthed by the lack of transparency into the case. The Trump campaign forcefully denying Haberman and other reporters' accounts quickly created two versions of events for people at home to choose to believe: Trump or Haberman. And it's a safe bet that much of the country would (wrongly) place its trust in Trump, despite his propensity to lie.

While photographers are only briefly allowed in the courtroom at the start of the day, there will be no undeniable proof one way or the other to surface. The only visuals from inside the courtroom will be provided by a sketch artist tasked with depicting the range of expressions and emotions during the unprecedented trial.

The lack of cameras in the Manhattan courtroom is not new. Federal courts have long barred the filming of proceedings, much to the chagrin of news organizations and advocacy groups that have pushed for the judiciary to increase transparency. One of the concerns has been that by welcoming the public into the courtroom, cases will transform into public spectacles, similar to the O.J. Simpson trial in the mid-1990s. But there are a lot of holes in that argument. And, given the historic nature of the Trump trials, with a former president staring down dozens of criminal charges, news organizations have requested that exemptions be made. But thus far it has been to no avail.

As a consequence, a select few reporters will need to be the eyes and ears of the country, providing accurate representations of what transpired behind closed doors. While a handful of journalists are granted access inside the actual courtroom, most others are actually stationed in an overflow room, where they can watch a video stream of the proceedings and file dispatches.

The setup effectively ensures that there will be no shared reality of the unprecedented case as members of the public will have news from the trial filtered through the lens of whichever media they choose to consume. That fragmented media environment is where Trump also thrives, given that he has a powerful propaganda machine at his disposal, with outlets like Fox News willing to do his bidding, no matter how dishonest it is.

THE TRUMP TRIALS

Law360 reporter Frank Runyeon reported that after Maggie Haberman noted Donald Trump had fallen asleep, he "glare[d] at" her "for several seconds" as he walked out of the courtroom. (Mediaite)
Kaitlan Collins asked Haberman whether she noticed the glare: "Yes, I noticed it," Haberman told Collins. "He made a pretty specific stare at me."
CNN and MSNBC were in special coverage mode all day, summoning their top anchors and analysts for wall-to-wall coverage of the historic case.
Meanwhile, the right-wing channel Fox News turned a blind eye to the trial for much of the day, choosing to instead cover anti-Israel protests in San Francisco and New York. At the time of publication, the story isn't in the outlet's top mix of stories on its website.
Fox News' stable of evening MAGA propagandists, however, did offer commentary on the case. An on-screen banner during Laura Ingraham's show referred to it as a "SHAM" trial. Jesse Watters portrayed the case as a left-wing effort to hurt Trump's re-election chances and attacked the press for its coverage. "MEDIA THINKS YOU'RE DUMB & BITTER," one on-screen banner read.
For those interested in knowing the nitty gritty details on how news outlets are getting information out of the courtroom, Charlotte Klein has a detailed story explaining the behind-the-scenes process. (Vanity Fair)
Trump, always paying attention to his press, gave a "glance to the six reporters sitting in the back row" of the courtroom as he walked to the defense table, Jeremy Herb reported. (CNN)
One question moving forward: How often will the cable news outlets carry Trump's dishonest rants live on the air? After court on Monday, Trump claimed "election interference," lashed out at supposedly "conflicted" Judge Juan Merchan, and portrayed himself as the victim of a political witch-hunt. CNN, MSNBC, and Fox News all carried the remarks. Will they continue allowing Trump to use their air to lie as the case proceeds?

——— BELOW THE FOLD ———

CNN Photo Illustration/Getty Images

Bolstering the Beast: Barry Diller is counting on Ben Sherwood and Joanna Coles to transform The Daily Beast into a profitable engine in his digital media portfolio. Diller's IAC announced Monday that the two veteran media hands will take senior leadership roles at the publication, with Sherwood taking the role of chief executive and publisher, while Coles will serve as chief creative and content officer. Both will own signifiant equity in the company, which Diller had previously explored selling, as part of the deal. Sherwood floated to The NYT's Benjamin Mullin that under the duo's direction, a profit might be turned through a mix of events, subscriptions, and more — a model that is working well for other outlets. "The first and most important piece is to get in there, to assess, to observe and then to begin to influence how we make great stuff and how we make people feel that The Daily Beast is a guilty necessity every single day," Sherwood told Mullin. Mullin has more.

► Sherwood and Coles are, as one would expect, quickly getting to work. I'm told the two met with Editor-In-Chief Tracy Connor for breakfast and then lunched with senior staffers. In the afternoon, Sherwood and Coles then held a town hall with staffers — many of whom are naturally anxious about all the change — and answered questions for more than an hour.

THE INDUSTRY

CNN Photo Illustration/Spencer Platt/Getty Images

The Gray Lady Gives Up: It's over! Joe Kahn, the top editor at The NYT, announced Monday that the newspaper had put an end to its leak probe without reaching a "definitive conclusion" over how a "significant breach occurred" after a questionable story about Hamas' terror attack on Israel. The leak hunt, which Kahn defended last week in an interview with The WSJ's Alexandra Bruell, was anything but a good look for the paper, with Bruell reporting that the probe was so intense that management had "summoned close to 20 employees for interviews." Not only is it a terrible look for news organizations (whose own reporters rely on confidential sources to do their jobs) to initiate leak investigations, the hunt to find the culprit(s) often does more harm than the actual leaks in destroying institutional trust. Plus, as any journalist knows, it's very difficult to actually identify a leaker! Anyway, I digress. Bruell has more here.

► As a reminder that The NYT failed to ID the leaker(s) responsible, The Intercept's Jeremy Scahill and Ryan Grim published a fresh story Monday about leaked guidance telling the newspaper's journalists to avoid using the terms "genocide" and "ethnic cleansing" when covering the war.

THE FOURTH ESTATE

NPR is still in the thick of it. After Uri Berliner's scathing essay last week, the outlet's chief executive, Katherine Maher, is facing criticism from the right over old tweets skewering Trump. NPR spokesperson Isabel Lara dismissed the attacks, which have been fueled by right-wing activist Christopher Rufo, saying Maher "was not working in journalism at the time and was exercising her First Amendment right to express herself like any other American citizen." (NYT)
Speaking of which: In the last edition of this newsletter, we incorrectly stated Maher had told some staffers she didn't want to make a "martyr" out of Berliner. That particular remark had, in fact, been made by NPR Editor-In-Chief Edith Chapin, not Maher. We regret the error.
Mehdi Hasan's new independent publication, Zeteo, launched Monday, announcing a roster of contributors, including Greta Thunberg, John Harwood, W. Kamau Bell, Naomi Klein, Cynthia Nixon, and Spencer Ackerman. The publication has already amassed 150,000 total subscribers and become the fastest Substack publication to reach 10,000 paid subscribers, which it accomplished in only three days. (Zeteo)
Hasan and Substack celebrated Zeteo's launch Monday night with a party at the Spy Museum in Washington, featuring special guests Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and Kara Swisher.
The Intercept is almost out of money and facing a civil war as internal factions squabble for power, Max Tani reports. (Semafor)
👑 The king has abdicated the throne: CNN has ended the Gayle King and Charles Barkley-hosted "King Charles" after the weekly program concluded its limited run. The show, which was the brainchild of former network boss Chris Licht, struggled to find an audience, with ratings usually sliding during the hour. (THR)
Yahoo Finance said that it is launching "a premium experience with new content and tools." (Yahoo)
Congratulations to Jessica Tarlov who welcomed a second daughter, Teddy. (Fox News)

TINSELTOWN TALK

Marvel laid off 15 employees as the Disney-owned company is "reassessing and reducing" its slate of programming, Anthony D'Alessandro reports. The move follows a strategic shift pushed by Bob Iger, who is trying to get the studio back on track. (Deadline)
New Netflix film chief Dan Lin has a mandate "to improve the quality of the movie and produce a wider spectrum of films," Nicole Sperling reports. (NYT)
"What are the major streamers looking for this spring?" Elaine Low surveyed TV agents to get the answer. (The Ankler)
Struggling to find something to watch? Sahil Patel reports that Disney may add old-school TV channels to Disney+, allowing viewers to just fire up the app and jump into the middle of content already playing. (The Info)

MEDIA MOVES

The Ankler hired Ashley Cullins to write a new newsletter, named Dealmakers, which will cover lawyers and agents. The outlet also brought on none other than Katey Rich as its awards editor. (Ankler/Ankler)
TVLine named Kimberly Roots editor-in-chief; Matt Webb chief content officer; and Rebecca Iannucci managing editor. (PMC)
The NYT hired Jennifer Forsyth as investigations editor. (NYT)
POLITICO hired Grace Yarrow as a reporter. (TBN)

THE INFO WARS

CNN Photo Illustration/Ask Dr. Drew

Dr. Drew's Far-Right Dance: What on Earth happened to Dr. Drew Pinsky? The American medical personality, who amassed a loyal following over the years via radio shows such as "Loveline" and television programs like "Celebrity Rehab," has totally jumped the shark and is now swimming in far-right waters. The latest example came Monday when Pinsky boasted on X about having interviewed right-wing conspiracy theorist Jack Posobiec for his "Ask Dr. Drew" web show. A quick look at Pinsky's website, however, shows it wasn't a one-off. In fact, it is far from it. Years after peddling Covid-19 misinformation, Pinsky has effectively ripped off Alex Jones' Infowars, copying the style of the right-wing media outlet and obsessing over cancel culture, globalism, and other issues that animate the right. It's a sad fall down the rabbit hole for Pinsky, who was once considered a credible voice.

IN THE BATTLEFIELD

George Stephanopoulos continues to be one of the few major news anchors on television who is blunt when his guests make absurd arguments. The latest example came Sunday on "This Week" when he confronted New Hampshire Gov. Chris Sununu over his willingness to support Trump, despite acknowledging the GOP frontrunner contributed to an insurrection and may be found guilty of crimes. (Threads)
Peter Wehner praised Stephanopoulos for the interview, calling it "skillful and revealing" and saying it "illustrated how deep into the Republican Party the rot has gone." (The Atlantic)
Speaking of Sunday shows, "Face the Nation" host Margaret Brennan pressed Rep. Michael McCaul on where GOP voters get their news, noting most trust Donald Trump and right-wing media. "How do you fight that information war?" (CBS News)
Switching gears: Several news organizations — including CNN, ABC News, the Associated Press, CBS News, and NBC News — on Sunday formally posted an open letter calling on President Joe Biden and Trump to commit to televised debates. (CNN)
Shares of Trump Media have continued to plummet, plunging over 15% on Monday, following the decision to issue millions of shares. (CNBC)
Drew Harwell reported on how some smaller investors are continuing to have faith in Trump, despite the company's falling stock. (WaPo)
An Iowa lawsuit aiming to block book bans in schools has been backed by every major publisher, Jeffrey A. Trachtenberg reports. (WSJ)
Don't miss this alarming story by Jack Brewster: "It took me two days, $105 and no expertise whatsoever to launch a fully automated, A.I.-generated local news site capable of publishing thousands of articles a day—with the partisan news coverage framing of my choice, nearly all rewritten without credit from legitimate news sources." (WSJ)
"Democracy dies behind paywalls," Richard Stengel argues in a piece also worth your time: "Paywalls create a two-tiered system: credible, fact-based information for people who are willing to pay for it, and murkier, less-reliable information for everyone else." (The Atlantic)

THE VALLEY

CNN Photo Illustration/Xavier Collin/Image Press Agency/Sipa/AP

Pay to Post: New X users will have to fork over money to Elon Musk in order to post. The erratic billionaire confirmed Monday in replies to various users that a fee will be implemented to fight the "relentless onslaught of bots" on the platform. It's unclear how much Musk will charge users, describing it only as a "tiny fee." The move represents the very real struggle Musk continues to find himself in as he attempts to scrub X of fake users plaguing the platform. But as users of the beleaguered site are well aware, the bot scourge has only grown more severe under Musk's ownership, despite his repeated pledges to rid the platform of spam. TechCrunch's Ivan Mehta has more here.

TOO MANY TABS

Google is facing heat for blocking California-based news outlets over a bill making its way through the legislature that would force Big Tech to pay publishers. (Bloomberg Law)
To that end, The Mercury News and East Bay Times editorial boards argued Google's move "is a bully tactic." (Mercury)
Eleven former TikTok employees told Alexandra Sternlicht the platform has worked closely with its China-based parent ByteDance, despite claiming it operates independently. (Fortune)
Adam Mosseri — who like, Elon Musk, avoids interviews with the press and makes news via sporadic replies to users — said Threads is testing allowing users to sort search results by recent posts. (Threads)
Meta has also temporarily shut down Threads in Turkey. (Reuters)
Instagram is piloting a program that uses A.I. to mimic the voices of influencers, allowing creators to then let a bot that sounds like them engage with their fans, Sapna Maheshwari and Mike Isaac report. (NYT)
Reddit shares ended the day down more than 5%, leaving the stock sitting at $40 as the company loses steam following its IPO debut.
OpenAI opened its first Asia office in Tokyo. (Reuters)

CURTAIN CALL

CNN Photo Illustration/A24

'Civil War' Conquers: Hollywood's hottest new studio keeps getting hotter. A24 not only topped the domestic box office over the weekend with "Civil War," the $25.7 million opening represented the biggest opening ever for the studio. That record is likely due, in part, to the buzz surrounding the film. While "Civil War" did an excellent job showcasing the risks that journalists take to report from war zones, director Alex Garland stayed clear of wading far into political waters — which has ignited debate. Critic Darren Franich argued in a piece for The Ankler that a movie called "Civil War" shouldn't "avoid politics this much." And CNN's Brian Lowry called it a "missed opportunity." After seeing the film myself, I couldn't agree more with Franich, Lowry, and other critics who have made such arguments. By choosing not to address the underlying cause of the civil war at the center of the plot, the film felt incomplete, failing to scratch the surface of the very topic the film was rooted in. The movie's most engrossing moment was the scene in which Jesse Plemons' character questioned the journalists, asking "What kind of American are you?" And that is because, as Franich wrote, "It's the one time a character vividly represents a specific belief system. The man is — in no uncertain terms — a nationalist and a racist."

► To be fair, there are critics who praised "Civil War" for choosing not to dive into politics. Richard Newby contended in a piece for THR that it was "an abrasive and uncomfortable film, not because it fully subscribes to any particular ideology, but because it doesn't — and we hate not having clearly defined sides to root for or against or media that doesn't perfectly align with our worldview so we can walk out of the theater confidently knowing we're a good person." Of course, I'd just point out: It didn't have to be an either/or scenario. It is possible to confront the current political moment head-on in a nuanced manner. Instead, choosing to look the other way came across as a cop-out. Yes, "Civil War" was still a great film, but it will leave many viewers wanting more.

OFF STAGE

Hannah Gutierrez was sentenced to 18 months in prison — the maximum penalty — after she was found guilty of involuntary manslaughter in the fatal shooting of Halyna Hutchins on the set of "Rust." (CNN)
Turn the lights back on: CBS said it will rebroadcast Billy Joel's Madison Square Garden special after its Sunday broadcast cut out parts of the show due to a broadcasting timing error. (Deadline)
Reliable Reviews: While Netflix's adaption of "Three Body Problem" was quite disappointing, Amazon has done a brilliant job with "Fallout," adapted from the popular video game. The dystopian sci-fi mystery series is fantastic and a great series to binge.
Keanu Reeves will play Shadow in "Sonic 3." (THR)
"Suits" is heading for broadcast syndication. (THR)
"Tamron Hall" has been renewed for a sixth season. (Deadline)
"The Rookie" also secured a green light for season seven. (Variety)

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. You can follow us on Instagram, Threads, and LinkedIn. We will see you back in your inbox tomorrow.

You are receiving this newsletter because you signed up for Reliable Sources.
To stop receiving this newsletter, unsubscribe or sign up to manage your CNN account

Learn more about the CNN app | Get CNN web alerts | Sign up for a free CNN account