| Oliver Darcy here at 10:40pm ET Friday. This newsletter will be a little lighter than usual. I wrote it slightly under the weather after a dose of J&J. Here's hoping that many of you have already been vaccinated, or know that the day is around the corner. The fever is not great, but the rest of the feeling -- that we soon will be able to see friends and family without worry, that the horrible daily toll of people sick and dead from the virus is coming to an end, that the economic burden carried by so many people will be lifted -- really is.
One housekeeping note before we get started: We will be off for Easter and back on newsletter duty Monday night. Now, with all that said, let's kick this special weekend edition off with some recommended reads and a viewing guide for the next few days... Weekend reads, part one
By Brian Stelter:
-- "Scale Was the God That Failed:" TPM's Josh Marshall writes about the "roller-coaster ride" of digital publishing... (The Atlantic)
-- Georgia Wells and Justin Scheck report on "When Online Conspiracies Turn Deadly: A Custody Battle and a Killing..." (WSJ)
-- Linguist John McWhorter describes how "words have lost their common meaning..." (The Atlantic)
-- Katherine Miller says "the world's like boats waiting in the locks. Who knows, exactly, what any of us will be like after a lost year..." (BuzzFeed)
-- Ruth La Ferla's profile of Hollywood divorce lawyer Laura Wasser is packed with amazing sentences and quotes... (NYT)
-- The others zig, AMC Network zags: Georg Szalai writes about the company's "boutique" streaming strategy... (THR) Coming up this weekend...
Jim Acosta debuts as a weekend afternoon anchor on CNN at 3pm ET Saturday...
Houston v. Baylor tips off at 5:14pm Saturday; UCLA v. Gonzaga follows at 8:34pm...
Daniel Kaluuya hosts "SNL" with musical guest St. Vincent...
Hunter Biden's first TV interview airs on "CBS Sunday Morning..."
The final chapters of "Q: Into the Storm" air Sunday night on HBO...
The 2021 SAG Awards will take place Sunday and be simulcast on TNT and TBS...
Easter Sunday and the final day of Passover overlap...
Sunday on "Reliable Sources"
Brian Stelter writes: "I'll be joined by the aforementioned Jim Acosta, plus Sara Sidner, France24's Kethevane Gorjestani, David Zurawik, Abigail Tracy, Annie Karni, and Derek Thompson, who wrote the must-read dissection of Alex Berenson's 'misdirection.' See you Sunday at 11am ET..."
Looking ahead to next week...
The men's basketball championship airs Monday night on CBS... Biden's book "Beautiful Things" comes out Tuesday... World Health Day is Wednesday...
FIRST IN RELIABLE:
Swisher interviews Cook
Coming Monday morning: Kara Swisher interviews Tim Cook for her podcast "Sway." I'm told Swisher and Cook discuss a number of topics, including the right-wing social app Parler and the company's feud with Facebook.
Swisher asked: "What is your response to Facebook's response — which is quite vehement — calling you essentially an existential crisis to their business?" Cook answered: "All we're doing, Kara, is giving the user the choice whether to be tracked or not. And I think it's hard to argue against that. I've been — I've been shocked that there's been a pushback on this to this degree."
When Swisher asked Cook what impact this might have on Facebook's business, Cook replied, "Yeah, Kara, I'm not focused on Facebook. So I don't know." Ouch. The full episode will be posted here at 5am ET Monday... Weekend reads, part two
By Katie Pellico:
-- Jon Allsop pans out on what has been "a traumatic news cycle for journalists and audiences..." (CJR)
-- Marc Lourdes writes: "We aren't getting enough journalists from different socioeconomic backgrounds. This is what we need to do..." (Splice)
-- Watch Matt Egan's interview with LA Times owner Patrick Soon-Shiong, who speaks about the wave of anti-Asian attacks and the need to recognize racism and "break it..." (CNN Business)
-- David Fahrenthold offers some refreshing reporting tips in a keynote titled, "What to do when nobody's talking: Lessons covering secretive organizations, learned over five years writing about President Trump's business…" (NiemanStoryboard)
-- "Who criticizes the tech critics?" Alex Kantrowitz discusses this "meta talk with 'Real Facebook Oversight Board' members" Carole Cadwalladr and Yael Eisenstat... (OneZero)
-- What will it take to expand affordable broadband? Cecilia Kang has an in-depth look... (NYT)
-- Daniel D'Addario writes about "how 'Law & Order' reclaimed its past to make points about our present..." (Variety)
-- Walt Hickey takes a deep-dive on a pressing first-world problem: "Americans hate loud commercials. There's a law to ban them but the FCC isn't enforcing it — and streaming TV has a loophole…" (Insider)  Just a few months after the January 6 insurrection, the top headline on WaPo's A1 is again about an attack at the US Capitol: "One Capitol Police officer was killed and another injured Friday when a man crashed his vehicle into them near the U.S. Capitol, an attack that once again put the city on edge as threats stemming from the deadly insurrection in January had started to wane. The slain officer was identified as William 'Billy' Evans, an 18-year veteran who a neighbor said was the father of two children..."
After the suspect in the attack was ID'd, internet sleuths discovered that he had praised Nation of Islam leader Louis Farrakhan, who's notorious for using anti-Semitic language and promoting conspiracy theories, on Facebook. Then the suspect's account was deleted, leading to some people suggesting something sinister was at play. But as Donie O'Sullivan noted, "Facebook shutting down a page alleged to belong to the Capitol attack suspect is being spun as some sort of coverup by Facebook. The company does this for every high profile incident like this. Regardless of the suspect's background..." FOR THE RECORD, PART ONE -- Glenn Kessler calls out Biden: "It's still relatively early in the Biden presidency, so patterns are hard to discern. But there are three claims President Biden has made that appear impervious to fact-checking, given that he's already said them at least three times..." (WaPo)
-- "A Sinclair Broadcast Group anchor has demanded $20 million, among other items, from an international charity that he has accused of defrauding him," Erik Wemple reports... (WaPo)
-- InStyle profiles Kaitlan Collins as part of the mag's "Badass Women" series. "Being known for your reporting is the highest compliment," Collins says... (InStyle)
-- Friday Observation from Karen Travers: "Notable: In the first 5 rows in the White House briefing room today...10 reporters, all women..." (Twitter) Rogin details series of strange calls
This is very strange. WaPo columnist Josh Rogin said in a series of tweets Friday that he "got a call that showed up on my phone as coming from my wife, but the person on the other line was from actually from the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency." Later in the day, Rogin said when he tried to call his wife, PBS "NewsHour" producer Ali Rogin, somebody from CISA "picked up and answered the call." Rogin recorded the phone call and posted it here.
It's unclear exactly what is going on here. Rogin asked on Twitter whether CISA might be monitoring the calls. CISA responded to one of Rogin's tweets saying, "To be clear, CISA does not monitor phone conversations. We encourage everyone to be vigilant against phishing schemes, many of which use spoofed numbers. Don't fall for it!" But that doesn't explain why when Rogin tried calling his wife, a person identifying themselves as an employee of CISA answered. Rogin was also not buying it, replying, "This was not a phishing scheme. Phishing schemes try to get you to do something. These two guys had no idea why we were on the phone and self identified as [CISA] employees and then hung up."
>> I reached out to WaPo to see if the paper had any more info to share. But a spox declined to comment. Rogin, who is also a CNN political analyst, didn't immediately respond to a message either... Fox largely ignores Gaetz scandal
Fox viewers are being kept in the dark about the deepening scandal surrounding Matt Gaetz. As Vox's Aaron Rupar pointed out, the network went all of Thursday and through most of Friday without mentioning Gaetz once. Only on Friday evening, midway through Bret Baier's show, were the allegations covered. The Gaetz blackout is noteworthy for several reasons, one being that Fox played a key role in boosting Gaetz's profile over the last few years. According to Mediaite's Aidan McLaughlin, Gaetz appeared on the right-wing talk channel 18 times last month. But now it's as if he barely exists... FOR THE RECORD, PART TWO -- Dana Bash said she "can't repeat" on TV some of the comments Gaetz's colleagues are texting her... (Mediaite)
-- Mark Barabak talks with historian Kathryn Olmsted about how the past decade "was bracketed by two Big Lies: the canard that Obama was born in Africa ... and the fiction that the 2020 election was stolen..." (LAT)
-- Matt Gertz writes about how Fox "attacks pandemic health measures while implementing them for its own staff..." (MMFA) MLB moves All-Star game from Georgia
In an extraordinary move Friday, MLB announced that it will move the 2021 All-Star Game from Atlanta to a yet to be announced city. Commissioner Rob Manfred explained that the move came after "thoughtful conversations with Clubs, former and current players, the Players Association, and The Players Alliance, among others." The decision will unquestionably apply more pressure to other companies to protest Georgia's recently passed voting law...
... draws anger in conservative media  The decision has already become a top story in conservative media, with commentators attacking MLB and demanding boycotts. Breitbart's Friday night headline declared, "WOKE MOB TAKES BASEBALL." A headline on National Review attacked MLB's "cowardly 'stand.'" And Tucker Carlson led his show with the decision, claiming the sports org "believes it has veto power over the democratic process..." Boehner unloads on "right-wing propaganda nuts"
The first excerpt of John Boehner's book was published Friday morning by Politico – and it's still the most-read thing on the website more than twelve hours later. Most of the excerpt focused on how the GOP has been taken prisoner by Fox and other right-wing media outfits. To be clear, Boehner isn't saying anything new. But it is remarkable that this stinging criticism is coming from the former GOP House speaker and not, say, Media Matters. Here are some highlights...
>> On right-wing media's coverage of Obama: "Right-wing propaganda nuts had managed to turn Obama into a toxic brand for conservatives..."
>> On birtherism: "Mark Levin was the first to go on the radio and spout off this crazy nonsense. It got him ratings, so eventually he dragged Hannity and Rush to Looneyville along with him. My longtime friend Roger Ailes, the head of Fox News, was not immune to this. He got swept into the conspiracies and the paranoia and became an almost unrecognizable figure..."
>> On Rupert Murdoch: "He was a businessman, pure and simple. He cared about ratings and the bottom line ... If he entertained any of the kooky conspiracy theories that started to take over his network, he kept it a secret from me. But he clearly didn't have a problem with them if they helped ratings...."
>> On Fox: "Places like Fox News were creating the wrong incentives. Sean Hannity was one of the worst ... Besides the homegrown 'talent' at Fox, with their choice of guests they were making people who used to be fringe characters into powerful media stars..."
These buzzy excerpts helped propel the book, "On the House," into the Amazon top ten list Friday... It is due out on April 13...
"John Boehner will go down in history as one of the worst Republican speakers in history," Hannity responded on Twitter. "He's weak, timid and what's up with all the crying John?" Hannity, who was recently caught vaping after his show returned from a commercial break without him knowing, added, "There was not a single time I was around him when he didn't just reek of cigarette smoke and wine breath. I'm glad he's finally found his true calling in life in the 'weed industry.'" Hannity promised he'd have more to say on Monday. Will any other targets of Boehner's criticism respond? My guess is that we are just seeing the beginning of this...
Self-reflection?
While Boehner deserves some kudos for offering the brash truth, it is worth noting that this takeover of the GOP by right-wing media personalities happened largely under his watch. Will his book offer any self-reflection about the role that he played? Will he talk about his friendship with Paul Ryan and the fact that Ryan is on the Fox Corp board? Will he offer any solutions about how the country can solve its info crisis? We'll see...
>> Mehdi Hasan's point: "The reason we are where we are today is because the old school Republicans didn't stand up to the crazies. They embraced them, however uneasily. And now the crazies are ascendant..." FOR THE RECORD, PART THREE "Why I can't watch the Derek Chauvin trial"
That was the headline on a powerful piece published Friday from CNN's Nia-Malika Henderson. Henderson wrote that she has "never seen the George Floyd video" and is not watching the Derek Chauvin trial. "As a journalist, I should have seen the brutal video. As a journalist, I should watch the trial and watch all the pundits dissect all the testimony to put together what it all means. As a journalist, I should know more fully about the testimony and the witnesses behind what I have heard about or seen in the headlines." But, Henderson wrote, she's avoiding it all. "I, like so many others who have seen too much, am avoiding yet another display of Black pain, Black trauma and Black death..." FOR THE RECORD, PART FOUR -- "Spotify's long-rumored Car Thing device has emerged once again—this time in some iOS code..." (Gizmodo)
-- Business Insider co-Editor-In-Chief Alyson Shontell apologizes for "an offensive mistake in the initial lead image" of a story it published Friday... (Twitter)
-- "Managing newspaper finances is a lot less fun than bragging about your press baronetcy..." (The Economist) Orlando Sentinel: Save us from Alden
The Orlando Sentinel editorial board published a striking piece Friday, expressing hope investors who have shown last-minute interest in the paper might "rescue" it from an Alden takeover. "Alden's history with newspaper ownership is akin to a biblical plague of locusts — it devours newsroom resources to maximize profits, leaving ruin in its wake," the editorial board wrote, saying the impending takeover "feels like an existential moment" for the paper's future. The editorial board added, "Our deepest hope is that the investors who are emerging as a possible antidote to Alden will prevail so the Orlando Sentinel and other Tribune Publishing newspapers can continue serving the public by reporting the news, and keeping you informed..." Dozens of journalists arrested in Myanmar during crackdown
"Ten days after seizing power in Myanmar, the generals issued their first command to journalists: Stop using the words 'coup,' 'regime' and 'junta' to describe the military's takeover of the government," NYT's Richard C. Paddock reported Friday. "Few reporters heeded the Orwellian directive, and the junta embraced a new goal — crushing all free expression." Paddock reported that since then, "The regime has arrested at least 56 journalists, outlawed online news outlets known for hard-edge reporting and crippled communications by cutting off mobile data service."
>> Stepping up: To fill the void, young social media savvy people have started to post info online. "They take photographs and videos with their phones and share them online when they get access," Paddock wrote. "It is a role so common now they are known simply as 'CJs...'"  "The Serpent" sinks its teeth in with a true-crime tale
Brian Lowry writes: "'The Serpent' could easily get lost in the crush of true-crime tales, but this lurid Netflix-BBC miniseries actually captures a very specific moment in time in the 1970s, when hippie backpackers traveling in Asia were easy prey for con man Charles Sobhraj, played by 'The Mauritanian's' Tahar Rahim..." "Friends" reunion taping next week?
Brian Lowry writes: "Is this when they finally shoot it? HBO Max isn't commenting, but the long-delayed 'Friends' reunion special – put off by the pandemic – is scheduled to tape next week, per reporting from Deadline's Peter White..." FOR THE RECORD, PART FIVE -- A big disappointment for "Bridgerton" fans: Regé-Jean Page, who played the very much sought after Duke, will not appear in season two. Lisa Respers France has details... (CNN)
-- One more from Lisa: Stabler and Benson reunited on "Law & Order: SVU..." (CNN)
-- "Godzilla Vs. Kong" is showing promising results at the box office, Anthony D'Alessandro reports... (Deadline) SAVING THE BEST FOR LAST...
Dogs of the weekend!
Benyamin Cohen, news director at The Forward and late night reader of the newsletter, emails: "Our pugs Fergus and Spike, seen here literally in the shape of a heart, are inseparable..."   Thank you for reading! Email us your feedback and tips anytime. Again, we will be off on Easter Sunday and back on Monday night... Share this newsletter:
You are receiving this message because you subscribed to CNN's Reliable Sources newsletter.
® © 2021 Cable News Network, Inc.
Our mailing address is: |
SUBSCRIBE TO OUR NEWSLETTER
Top Articles
-
Baird and NWSL general counsel Lisa Levine were ousted Friday in the wake of a rep...
-
Plus: The high costs of housing, school board politics and alien life abroad July 16, 2021 View in B...
Our Hindi Website
www.hindi.men
