| Brian Stelter here at 11:10pm ET Tuesday with the latest on Newsy, TikTok, Google, Forbes, the Webby Awards, and much more...  "Moving on" is impossible
Two days after President Trump's deluded supporters stormed the Capitol and threatened members of Congress, I sent out a newsletter that said this: "As heinous as the attack looked in real time, on live TV and in our social feeds, it was even worse than we knew at the time. It was even more violent. It was even more treacherous. And Trump's behavior was even more disturbing."
I could have written that again a month later... and a month after that... as testimonials and video evidence and criminal complaints have continued to pile up. "It was even worse than we knew" was even more true than we thought in January. That's what makes the riot denialism so galling. That's what makes the Republican attempts to block a real, rigorous probe into the attack so shocking. Partisans talk of "moving on," but there is no moving on without the truth.
>> Jake Tapper on "The Lead:" The top three House Republicans "pushed the election lie. Every one of them voted to disenfranchise Americans after the insurrection. I suppose they might be worried about a commission finding that their lies played a role in what happened..."
Unanswered questions
Conservative columnist and CNN contributor Amanda Carpenter has been out in front about the need for a fact-finding commission. I asked her about the lingering unknowns from January 6, and she said the top Q that must be answered by the commission is the following: "Why did it take more than three hours for the National Guard to be deployed to secure the Capitol? What was Trump doing during that time period?"
Carpenter said "there are many witnesses, including House GOP Leader Kevin McCarthy, who have critical information about the former president's state of mind in those critical hours." But, she added, "an effective commission must also explore what events precipitated the attack. Determining the specific factors and actors who influenced or encouraged Trump supporters to take violent action is an absolute necessity if Congress is interested in preventing future attacks. Only an independent commission can provide a full 360-view for the public about what happened that day and why. We've seen criminal investigations and the impeachment of Donald Trump but no judge or jury will explain WHY this happened and that's why we need a 1/6 Commission to provide that record for the public."
The next step
The House is slated to vote on legislation to establish the commission on Wednesday. It is expected to pass, despite Tuesday's breaking news abut McCarthy opposing the bill, and other GOP efforts to vote no. The bill's fate in the Senate is not as certain. On Tuesday night CNN's Capitol Hill team reported on growing "resistance" to the commission among Senate Republicans.
Case in point: Senator John Cornyn, who has called a probe into the riot "worthwhile," and has said "we need to do something to identify the problems," but has tiptoed past the source of the Big Lie. When a reporter asked Cornyn "are you concerned about President Trump's continued statements that Joe Biden did not legitimately win the election?" he said "I am not." Why? "I think that's behind us," Cornyn said. CNN's Lauren Fox followed up: "Is it, though, if he keeps talking about it?" Cornyn then cast some shade on the news media: "If you keep talking about it, maybe."
That's a typical, and cheap, way to offload responsibility for Trump's own rhetoric by blaming the media for bringing it up...
Views from a current and a former Republican
One of the strengths of Twitter's 280-character format is that it forces folks to make their cases in a sentence or two. So here are two tweets that, so far as I can tell, distill this week's political arguments.
Mollie Hemingway, the Fox commentator, wrote that a "genuinely bipartisan look at Jan 6 riot AND precipitating Summer of Rage, its media-fueled attacks on federal courthouses, police precincts, White House, the dozens of murders, the billions in damage, destruction of cities, would perhaps be good. Former without latter is a joke." That's the savvy Trumpworld position -- examine ALL the violence.
Now here's former Republican Kurt Bardella, a contributor to USA Today and the LA Times, tweeting a widely held Democrat POV: "Asking Republicans to investigate 1.6 is like asking Al-Qaeda to investigate 9.11. The people who helped plan/promote the attack aren't going to be partners in the investigation."
QAnon world turns to Arizona as next false hope to overturn election
Donie O'Sullivan writes: "The same cast of online characters that so feverishly pushed election conspiracy theories ahead of the January 6 insurrection are now fully focused on the sham Republican-led audit in Arizona –- that is itself the result of a conspiracy theory. On the messaging app Telegram, Ron Watkins, who a recent HBO documentary suggested could be the person behind QAnon, is posting multiple updates a day to his 220,000 followers about the ballot counting in Arizona – continually trying to cast doubt on the election result. (Watkins has denied he is behind QAnon.) MyPillow CEO Mike Lindell has been hyping the 'audit' too. While claims made by Watkins and Lindell have consistently been baseless, their message is still resonating with some Trump supporters. They are not 'moving on,' so to speak..."
"Addicted" to the Big Lie
Among some Trump fans, "there was a psychological need or longing or craving to believe that Donald Trump won" the election in 2020, Peter Wehner said on last Sunday's "Reliable Sources." They have "news sources feeding that addiction, giving them the information they want, playing into confirmation bias," he added...
"The slithery snake"
Oliver Darcy writes: "How much blame for the January 6 insurrection should be put on the shoulders of outlets like Fox that pushed the Big Lie? Some lawyers, as Matt Shuham reported Tuesday, think quite a bit. Shuham spoke to Joe Hurley, the lawyer who argued his client had suffered 'Foxitis' when he stormed the Capitol. Hurley said the 'Foxitis' remark was 'not a defense,' but simply a 'pointing of the finger of accusation where it belongs: to the slithery snake.' Shuham also spoke with Albert Watkins, the lawyer for the so-called 'QAnon Shaman,' who made a similar argument, albeit in a far more colorful way. Arguing that a lot of the rioters were 'short bus people,' Watkins said insurrection participants had been subjected to years of propaganda 'the likes of which the world has not seen since f***ing Hitler.' While Watkins' first point is absurd, he's not wrong that a lot of people were subjected to potent propaganda..."  Fox moves to dismiss Dominion suit
FOR THE RECORD, PART ONE -- "The next time round," Charlie Sykes writes, "the GOP base will not just tolerate a Trumpian attempt to overturn an election — they will DEMAND it..." (Bulwark)
-- Remember Mark and Patricia McCloskey, who "became conservative celebrities last year after they pointed firearms at Black Lives Matter protesters that had entered their private road" in St. Louis? Mark went on "Tucker Carlson Tonight" to announce his bid for Missouri's open Senate seat on Tuesday... (Kansas City Star)
-- This just in: "New York attorney general adds 'criminal capacity' to probe of Trump Organization..." (CNN) Warner-Discovery, one day later
What happens now? Nothing, right away. But there were lots of aftershocks from Monday's Discovery and WarnerMedia combo announcement on Tuesday. Shares in Discovery were down 1.6%; shares in AT&T were down 5.8%. Here are some recommended reads...
-- The WSJ's headline: "AT&T Gets a Do-Over. But It Doesn't Have Much Time..."
-- NYT's Edmund Lee and Lauren Hirsch ran the #'s on the deal and assessed AT&T's "media detour..."
-- Sara Fischer's A.M. scoop was confirmed by Discovery later in the day: CEO David Zaslav, who will run the combined company, has signed a new contract through 2027...
-- Ben Mullin's profile of Zaslav for the WSJ: "The captain of Shark Week has a new mission: to take a bite out of Netflix..."
-- The NYT's Michael M. Grynbaum and John Koblin wrote about Zaslav's "30-year history" with CNN boss Jeff Zucker...
-- "While he isn't a journalist by trade, Zaslav is not shy about his love for news," THR's Alex Weprin rightly notes...
-- That NYT story also says Zaslav "is expected to go to Los Angeles in the next few weeks to tour the Warner Bros. lot and meet with Hollywood executives..."
-- At a town hall for Warner staffers, AT&T execs were "asked about the merger appearing to be a situation of 'David swallowing Goliath,' with WarnerMedia being Goliath," per Deadline...
-- CNBC's Alex Sherman writes: "WarnerMedia employees keep going through reorganizations and corporate integrations -- and I'm afraid to say it, but even this WarnerMedia-Discovery deal has been specifically designed for yet another sale..."
-- LAT's Ryan Faughnder asks: "Is a great re-bundling at hand?" Discovery's pitch to advertisers
Brian Lowry writes: "On Tuesday morning Discovery marked its entry into the broadcast-network portion of upfront week without a whole lot to say about its big merger news, but with an interesting shot across the bow in terms of advertising. According to the company, viewers see ads during scripted programs as 'interruptions,' but are more hospitable toward them in the context of unscripted/reality TV, which is Discovery's wheelhouse. Of course, execs will likely be singing a different tune if the deal has closed by this time next year, and they're touting all that product from Warner Bros. Television and WarnerMedia's scripted fare..."
>> AdAge's Jeanine Poggi has a recap of Discovery's presentation here. Univision and Disney also pitched advertisers on Tuesday, and Poggi has all those bases covered too...
"Like being called the best-selling fax machine"
Brian Lowry adds: "Jimmy Kimmel closed Disney's Tuesday presentation with his usual assortment of standup biting the hand that feeds him, joking, 'More people contracted blood clots from the Johnson & Johnson vaccine than are currently watching network television,' and, 'At this point let's call ABC what it really is: Disney minus.' Also: 'Being the most-watched network is like being the best-selling fax machine.' THR has more of the jokes and jabs here..."
Upfront notes and quotes
-- "ABC's fall schedule includes just two new shows, one of them a reboot of 'The Wonder Years' with an African-American cast," Lowry notes...
-- "The first two broadcast networks to unveil their 2021-22 schedules, Fox and NBC, had one thing in common, neither featured live-action comedies in the fall," but ABC is sticking with its Wednesday comedy approach, Deadline's Nellie Andreeva writes...
-- Speaking of ad sales, Insider's Lauren Johnson reports that "TV ad prices are soaring as brands like Mars embrace the return to normalcy..."
-- Next: WarnerMedia and CBS will hold upfront events for ad buyers on Wednesday... SNEAK PEEK
What does it mean to be "canceled?"
On Wednesday TheWrap, one of the entertainment world's top sources, is announcing a four-part, multimedia series on "cancel culture," featuring boldface names like Charlie Hebdo EIC Gérard Biard, WaPo film critic Ann Hornaday, The Undefeated culture critic Soraya McDonald, Chicago Tribune film critic Michael Phillips, Susie Banikarim, Danielle Belton, Nell Scovell, and Jim Norton.
TheWrap is promising a robust dialogue about what it means to be "canceled" and a final roundtable about rehabilitation and how and whether that's possible. The series is launching next week... Look for it at TheWrap.com... "Meet the Four Kinds of People Holding Us Back From Full Vaccination"
This is a very informative piece by Sema Sgaier, CEO of Surgo Ventures and an adjunct assistant professor at Harvard. Her work grouped Americans into "distinct profiles based on their shared beliefs and barriers to getting the vaccine" and found that 8% are Watchful, meaning "they're waiting to see what happens next;" 9% are Cost-Anxious, "they want the vaccine but can't afford the time or cost;" 4% are System Distrusters, "they feel the health care system doesn't treat them fairly;" and 14% are Covid Skeptics, "they don't believe the threat." Read on... FOR THE RECORD, PART TWO By Oliver Darcy:
-- Tuesday's No. 1 must read for TV newsers: Amanda Ripley's piece about Scripps, local news, and the audience's needs... (The Atlantic)
-- "Tucker Carlson is using Bill Gates and Jeffrey Epstein's relationship to radicalize people into QAnon," David Gilbert asserts... (Vice)
-- "Climate change disinformation is evolving," Carolyn Gramling reports. "So are efforts to fight back..." (Science News)
-- "I bet you don't think of yourself as capable of being radicalized—as someone swayed by extremist views online. Think again..." (America Mag) New boss for NewsNation
Michael Corn, the "GMA" boss who suddenly departed last month, "has been tapped to run NewsNation, the Chicago-based cable news network," Robert Feder scooped.
His appointment at the painfully low-rated network was announced on Tuesday. "Corn arrives just as NewsNation prepares to launch a five-hour morning program," the LAT's Stephen Battaglio noted... Newsy is staffing up
It's always exciting to see dozens of new job postings for a news operation. E.W. Scripps says its Newsy unit is "staffing up in preparation for the launch of its over-the-air network Oct. 1," NextTV's Jon Lafayette reports. "Kate O'Brian, recently hired as head of news for Newsy and Court TV, has begun a search for someone to head Newsy," and the company "has also posted 55 positions that it needs to fill." New studios are under construction in Atlanta. Details here, and the job listings are here... FOR THE RECORD, PART THREE -- The first excerpt from Edward-Isaac Dovere's book "Battle for the Soul: Inside the Democrats' Campaigns to Defeat Trump" is now out... (The Atlantic)
-- Speaking of books, Katy Tur shared the details about her memoir, "Rough Draft," which will come out in November... (AP)
-- Brand new reporting from Joe Pompeo: NY media's top union "erupts in conflict over cash..." (VF)
-- At the I/O developer conference, Google debuted "a more personalized version of Android and a big update for wearables, as well as a potential breakthrough in videoconferencing, among other advances..." (Axios)
-- Another notable feature: "Google will make it easier to choose the content people want to look back on, allowing users to prevent photos of certain people or time periods that may be painful or unwelcome from showing up in Memories in Google Photos -- a sore spot for years on various platforms..." (CNN Business) Should news orgs take Fox's advertising $$$?
Oliver Darcy writes: "Readers of NYT were greeted Tuesday by a giant Fox ad atop the paper's homepage. Which left me wondering: Should news orgs take Fox's advertising dollars? Fox profits off of dangerous disinformation, such as the Big Lie and undermining public trust in vaccines. Outlets like NYT don't have to take my word for it: In many cases (such as that of The Times), their own reporters have done an excellent job documenting this. Which is to say that taking Fox's advertising dollars — and lending one's platform to the company so that it can present a sanitized version of what it does to readers — is tantamount to accepting money from a company that earned the cash by peddling lies to millions. Is that something a legitimate news org should be doing? I asked an NYT spox who only said that the paper accepts ads 'that adhere to our advertising acceptability standards...'"
>> It's also worth pointing out how ironic it is for Fox to be advertising with NYT, given how much it attacks the paper. I asked a Fox spox about why the company would direct its ad dollars to a paper it regularly trashes, but didn't hear back... FOR THE RECORD, PART FOUR -- Miles Parks reports on how some researchers believe there is a definitive link between social media and depression... (NPR)
-- Meanwhile: "A group of congressional Democrats ramped up calls for Facebook to abandon a plan to create an Instagram for kids platform, alleging that the company failed to adequately address concerns the lawmakers raised," Rebecca Klar writes... (The Hill)
-- Spotify will begin to soon auto-transcribe certain podcasts. "People will be able to read the transcript with or without audio and can tap on text to jump to that point in the audio," Ashley Carman writes... (Verge)
-- Anna Merlan looks into misinformation of TikTok, including users falsely claiming vaccinated people will die and unvaccinated people will inherit the earth... (Vice)
-- Here's Rebecca Jennings with a scorcher of a story: "The blandness of TikTok's biggest stars..." (Vox) Forbes staffers announce intention to unionize
Kerry Flynn writes: "Forbes staffers are experts at following the money and covering the rich and powerful. Now, they're fighting for more money and protections for themselves. Yes, the media unionization wave has come to Forbes. I spoke with members of the organizing committee about why Forbes staffers are unionizing..." FOR THE RECORD, PART FIVE By Kerry Flynn:
-- Sara Fischer reports that TheSkimm has hired JPMorgan Chase and is exploring sales to non-media companies such as financial services and luxury brands... (Axios)
-- Kayleigh Barber checks in on W magazine. Its digital revenue in Q1 was up 199% from the year prior... (Digiday)
-- Amaris Castillo spoke with night-shift journalists about their experiences... (Poynter)
-- The Verge announced several new hires and plans for more. The Information's Alex Heath is joining as a senior reporter covering platforms... (Twitter)
-- ABC's Diane Macedo shared two pieces of news on Tuesday: She is pregnant with her second child, and her first book, "The Sleep Fix," is coming out in December... (People) The 25th annual Webby Awards
"Dr. Anthony Fauci, Oprah Winfrey, Ava DuVernay, Riz Ahmed, Dua Lipa, Andra Day and Dwayne 'The Rock' Johnson all won honors Tuesday at the Webby Awards, which recognize the best internet content and creators," the AP reports.
The Webbys are known for their five-word acceptance speeches, and the organizers sent around a list of some of the notable ones. Here's the list:
"Always Speak Truth To Power" –Dr. Anthony Fauci "Together We Can Stop Hate." –Stop AAPI Hate "Powerful books can open minds." –Oprah Winfrey "We Don't Integrate, We Recreate." –Yara Shahidi "It Began With A Dream." –Gladys Brown West "Make Juneteenth A Paid Holiday." –Pharrell Williams "Longer Tables, Not Higher Walls." –José Andrés "Don't Believe Everything You Think" –Ava DuVernay "Thanks, see you in Vegas?" –Katy Perry "Go where the fear is." –Riz Ahmed (in American Sign Language) "Family. God. Country. Mahalo. Tequila." –Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson FOR THE RECORD, PART SIX -- "As part of a reconfiguration of its Worldwide Television Distribution operations, Lionsgate has promoted Kate Nexon and Chase Brisbin to new roles..." (Deadline)
-- Bryn Sandberg profiles an all-female mentor group called Femtors that "aims to help rising Hollywood execs achieve 'career longevity...'" (THR)
-- Brian Lowry writes: "Charles Grodin, a versatile comedic actor best known for his roles in movies like 'Midnight Run' and 'The Heartbreak Kid,' died Tuesday at his home in Connecticut, after battling cancer..." (CNN)  T.I. and Tiny's lawyer says they have not been contacted by police
Lisa Respers France writes: "In March, attorney Tyrone A. Blackburn said he had been contacted by more than 30 'women, survivors, and witnesses' regarding claims against" rapper Clifford 'T.I.' Harris and his wife, singer Tameka 'Tiny' Harris. Blackburn "requested then that authorities in California and Georgia -- where some of the incidents are alleged to have taken place -- investigate."
So far, T.I. and Tiny's lawyer says they have not been contacted by police. France writes: "A spokesperson for the Los Angeles Police Department confirmed to me that the rapper is being investigated in the wake of allegations of sexual abuse and assault against the couple..." FOR THE RECORD, PART SEVEN By Lisa Respers France: -- The mayor of Chicago, Lori Lightfoot, announced that Lollapalooza will return at full capacity this summer... -- Emma Watson is setting the record straight about her work and love life... -- Nick Jonas is recovering from a bike accident... LAST BUT DEFINITELY NOT LEAST...
Pets of the day!
Reader Annora Conway emails a photo of her cats, Tuukka and Ripper, who she says want to deliver this message: "We get our vaccines, so should you!"   Thank you for reading! Email us your feedback anytime. Oliver will be in charge tomorrow, so send him tips... Share this newsletter:
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