Obama's appeal to media; 'infrastructure for democracy;' happy headlines for a change; Bruce Springsteen back on Broadway; a picket at Anna Wintour's block?

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Brian Stelter here at 10:09pm ET Monday with the latest on Bruce Springsteen, Naomi Wolf, Bill O'Reilly, Choire Sicha, Savannah Guthrie, The New Yorker, "Loki," and more...

The "nationalization" problem

"All of us as citizens have to recognize that the path towards an undemocratic America is not gonna happen in just one bang," Barack Obama said in an arresting interview with Anderson Cooper on Monday night. It happens "in a series of steps," Obama said, citing the devolution of places like Hungary and Poland.

So how can it be avoided? That was one of the major themes of Cooper's hour-long interview. Obama cited "structural barriers to our democracy working better" like the filibuster and partisan gerrymandering. But he repeatedly brought up the media, as well. He raised this question: "How do we start once again being able to tell a common story about where this country goes?" Obama said elected officials, the media, and corporations all have an "important role" to play. And he brought up the "nationalization" problem, a term I'm hearing more and more often.

Obama wasn't talking about the state taking control of private industry. He was talking about what happens when Sinclair, for instance, lards its "local" newscasts with national political stories instead of the community news that binds viewers together.

"Part of it is the nationalization of media, the nationalization of politics," Obama said... "You know, you used to have a bunch of local newspapers, local TV stations. People weren't having these highly ideological debates, but they were kinda more focused on what's happening day to day."

This harkens back to a study I mentioned last week about a newspaper that started printing op-eds only about local issues. Political polarization "slowed significantly" in the community, compared with a nearby area that didn't change a thing.

Obama said "part of it is also the structure of our economy and our communities," with increased stratification and segregation. Combine that with "the siloing of the media," he said, "so you don't have just Walter Cronkite delivering the news, but you have 1,000 different venues -- all that has contributed to that sense that we don't have anything in common. And so, so much of our work is gonna have to involve not just policy. But it's also, how do we create institutions and occasions in which we can come together and have a conversation?"

"Shared stories"

This exchange between Cooper and Obama also stood out to me:

Cooper: "One of the things you write, 'We need to explain to each other who we are and where we are going.' I mean, as somebody who has dedicated myself to storytelling, that really resonates with me. But I wonder, we -- are we as a country still willing to listen to each other's stories?"

Obama: "Well, I think that this is the biggest challenge we have... We don't have the kinds of shared stories that we used to."

This exchange made think about a man who recognized me from TV and yelled epithets when I stopped at a suburban garden shop to pick up flowers for my daughter's birthday. Would he have listened to my story? If he'd known why I was there, would he have suspended his stream of bile? I don't know – I had to leave the shop.

"The infrastructure for democracy"

The proliferation of partisan media outlets and the shredding of nonpartisan local news have a lot to do with this. "The nationalization of everything means that there is constant fuel for the grievance fire," The Dispatch's David French wrote last week, dubbing it the "nationalization of outrage." When you see Fox News fixate on some over-the-top policy at a random private school in New York, that's the nationalization problem in a nutshell. "We know more about the interior lives of other people than ever before, and we're very upset about it," Jane Coaston of the NYT commented.

Conversely, local news has been shredded, which frays the bonds between people in communities. On Sunday's "Reliable Sources," Steven Waldman made the case for including local news aid in the infrastructure bill. "It's the infrastructure for democracy," he said, "and it's crumbling also." Here's what he said.

The media's small-d democratic role

"America needs a huge coalition of small-d democrats — Democratic, Republican and independent — to come together to stop this anti-democratic drift," Perry Bacon Jr. writes in his latest for WaPo. He argues that "democracy erosion" is the most important story right now, so "we" -- meaning citizens -- "need the media to permanently adopt the avowed pro-democracy posture it took as President Donald Trump sought to overturn the 2020 election."

"That doesn't just mean covering the GOP's anti-democratic drift negatively, but also covering it constantly," Bacon Jr. writes. Plus, he says, news outlets need to center "more of their political coverage in the states," since that's where anti-democratic laws are being proposed and passed...

Something to ponder...

In the coming days, we're going to learn more about what led up to the January 6 attack at the Capitol. We're going to hear about security failures, communications failures, poor governmental planning, and more. Here's a factor that shouldn't be overlooked: Right-wing media. In my book "HOAX," which comes out in paperback on Tuesday, I ask: Could the insurrection have possibly happened without Rupert Murdoch's propaganda machine of a network? And I conclude that the answer is no, it could not have. Fox warped American politics for 20+ years and created the climate for a riot of lies.

This subject came up during Cooper's interview with Obama too. Regarding the Big Lie, Obama said, "the base believed it. The base believed it because this had been told to them not just by the president but by the media that they watch. And nobody stood up and said 'Stop. This is enough. This is not true.'" (He then corrected himself and said a small number of GOP leaders did speak the truth, and were vilified for it.)

That's why "Hoax" now opens with a scene from January 6 and contains new chapters about the fallout. I think this might be the first of many books to really grapple with the post-riot landscape. If you're interested, you can order a paperback edition here or an audiobook here. And thanks for all the question submissions – I'll be responding later this week...

FOR THE RECORD, PART ONE

-- Powerful new reporting by David Yaffe-Bellany: A loose network of online "sedition hunters" have helped to identify dozens of Capitol riot suspects "and create a historical record of the Jan. 6. siege..." (Bloomberg Businessweek)

-- Chris Cuomo's Monday night intro: "Is the fate of the Democratic party really in the hands of one man? No, not President Biden. Joe Manchin..." (Twitter)

-- Following up on the DOJ's secret seizure of reporter records: "Biden promises the feds will stop trampling journalists' rights. But we need more than words," Margaret Sullivan writes... (WaPo)

-- A counterargument: GWU law prof Randall Eliason writes that "pledging to never again" seek info from reporters "is an overreaction that threatens to hinder the government's ability to safeguard national security..." (WaPo)

-- Dell Cameron spoke with experts who say that the FBI effort to ID USA Today readers was likely unlawful. The FBI dropped the data demand over the weekend... (Gizmodo)

Happy headlines, for a change

Front pages so often feature bleak and downright awful news, so that's why I wanted to show you this one instead – it's the Sunday front page of The Philadelphia Inquirer – some of you know Philly is close to my heart because my in-laws live there! The "raw happiness" headline and the photo will put a smile on your face. "With the region reopening," the subhed says, "people are out and about, enjoying even simple things they have missed for so long." No need to overthink things – it's one of the best stories of the year...

Along the same lines, Monday's new cover of New York magazine really spoke to me. The mag's take: "It's now time to have fun again." The issue has "an exhaustive list of things to do — and some thoughts from writer Matthew Schneier on what won't be entirely fun about it all (specifically: The Return of FOMO)..."

FOR THE RECORD, PART TWO

-- More good news: Bruce Springsteen is reviving his solo show, "Springsteen on Broadway," starting June 26. "All audience members will need to prove they're fully vaccinated..." (CNN)

-- NYC is planning a Central Park "mega-concert" in August to celebrate the city's reopening. Tentative date: Aug. 21... (NYT)

-- "Naomi Wolf has been suspended from Twitter after spreading vaccine misinformation." Severely tinfoil hat stuff... (BBC)

-- Colby Hall notes the irony in Ron DeSantis appearing to laud the Twitter suspension of Rebekah Jones a week after signing a bill against de-platforming... (Mediaite)

-- Lloyd Grove is out with a wide-ranging interview with MSNBC president Rashida Jones... (Beast)

A typical day for Trump

On Monday morning, he called one of his friends on Fox Business, Stuart Varney, for a lie-filled chit-chat. On Monday evening, he attacked Fox's Sunday morning interviewer in a statement: "Why does Fox News keep Chris Wallace?"

Trump and Bill O'Reilly are going on tour together

"Trump will attend a series of events in December with Bill O'Reilly," Forbes' Jack Brewster reported Monday. "Dubbed the 'History Tour,' the events promise a 'never-before-heard inside view' of the Trump Administration. Four events will be held, including two in Texas and one in Florida (the fourth location is to be determined)." This reminds me of O'Reilly's stage shows with Dennis Miller -- except with a former president instead...

NYT examines what happened when Trump was deplatformed

Oliver Darcy writes: "Trump's megaphone has largely diminished since he was banned from major social media platforms, according to an analysis published Monday by NYT's Davey Alba, Ella Koeze, and Jacob Silver. 'Before the ban, the social media post with the median engagement generated 272,000 likes and shares. After the ban, that dropped to 36,000 likes and shares,' the trio reported. That said, NYT found that '11 of his 89 statements after the ban attracted as many likes or shares as the median post before the ban, if not more.' NYT attributed this, in part, to his fans continuing to share his messages...

FOR THE RECORD, PART THREE

-- Clare Duffy has takeaways from day one of Apple's annual developers conference, "including updates to video calls on FaceTime and digital keys in Apple Wallet..." (CNN)

-- Mark Zuckerberg took a jab at Apple while announcing that Facebook won't take a cut from creators until 2023... (CNBC)

-- Judd Legum's latest discovery: "A constellation of obscure websites — populated with content stolen from major media outlets like Politico, Axios, and BuzzFeed — has played a significant role in the fundraising success" of GOP lawmakers like Marjorie Taylor Greene and Josh Hawley... (Popular Information)

-- Brenna Smith reports about how China "spread disinformation videos on Uyghur Muslims" and how YouTube "let them stay up..." (USA Today)

Full house

Oliver Darcy writes: "For the first time since precautions were taken at the outset of the pandemic, the WH briefing room was brimming with journalists. 'Full room,' Jen Psaki said as she entered to begin Monday's daily briefing. 'I hope everyone is cozy.' From the images, it certainly appears so! The AP's Josh Boak reported that 'forty-nine journalists sat elbow-to-elbow in blue seats, while others stood on the edges.' Boak added, 'The loudspeaker before the briefing told reporters not to block the aisle, but no one budged...'"

"Joe Biden doesn't want to meet the press"

That's the headline on Chris Cillizza's followup column about my interview with press secretary Jen Psaki. He said that Psaki's explanation for Biden's "paucity of pressers" was "almost exactly" how Trump's press shop "defended his own lack of news conferences." Cillizza's point: Biden's "lack of direct engagement with the press is on purpose -- and strategic. That's true whether or not Psaki (or the rest of the White House) wants to acknowledge it..."

Choire Sicha jumps to NYMag

Kerry Flynn writes: "In April, NYT management said Choire Sicha's move from running the Styles section to running its newsletter initiative is a 'new and exciting challenge.' Less than two months later, Sicha is leaving the NYT to become editor-at-large at New York. The mag said Sicha will be 'a roving observer, critic and reporter' and edit special projects. Sicha tweeted, 'David Haskell and I have been talking about working together at New York magazine for more than a decade.' Haskell said similarly, adding his publication is 'the natural home for Choire.' But the question remains: Who will lead Styles?"

FOR THE RECORD, PART FOUR

-- Happy ten-year "Today" show anniversary to Savannah Guthrie... (People)

-- A new attempt to keep up with the audience: "Starting this week," Guthrie and Hoda Kotb "will anchor a half-hour highlight program called 'Today In 30,' which will feature the best moments from that day's broadcast..." (LAT)

-- NBC is firming up its Tokyo Olympics production plans, promising "more than 7,000 hours of content" across its networks and streaming platforms... (CNBC)

-- Zach Everson, who tracked Trump hotel comings and goings with his 1100 Pennsylvania newsletter, is joining Forbes and launching a "new premium newsletter" there... (Forbes)

-- Teddy Schleifer is departing Recode to help launch Jon Kelly's new media company, and he is starting a billionaire-biz newsletter called The Stratosphere... (Twitter

The Atlantic to work toward voluntarily recognizing union

Kerry Flynn writes: "The Atlantic staffers announced Monday their intention to unionize with the NewsGuild of New York. As David A. Graham, a member of the organizing committee and a staff writer at The Atlantic, told me, 'I think being one of the few remaining shops that isn't unionized puts us in a sort of strange place in the industry. I've talked to people who are wary at this point of coming to a non-union shop because everywhere else is...'

Even as unions become ubiquitous in the media industry, not all management is receptive to voluntary recognition. The Atlantic EIC Jeffrey Goldberg, however, emailed staff Monday shortly after the union's public unveiling and wrote 'we have decided to work with the organizers of this effort on an agreement to voluntarily recognize the Atlantic editorial bargaining unit.' Still, contract negotiations don't always go smoothly. Just ask The New Yorker..."

New Yorker staffers call for picket at Anna Wintour's block

Flynn continues: "The New Yorker union said they will picket Anna Wintour's block Tuesday evening. It's the latest effort by the union in its fight for Condé Nast to 'negotiate in good faith and treat workers fairly.' The union has been bargaining over its first contract since 2018 and has protested the delay in other ways. The union voted to strike but has not called for one yet. Also on Monday, they released a new site about the strike with details on how readers, subscribers, contributors and freelancers can participate."

>> On Monday night Condé responded by emailing staffers with this message: "While we respect and support our employees' rights to organize, doing so while targeting an individual's private home and publicly sharing its location is not acceptable. Condé Nast is committed to the safety and security of all its employees and we take this situation seriously. At a time when journalists are being personally attacked, harassed, and targeted for their work, to put a colleague in such a position is just irresponsible."

FOR THE RECORD, PART FIVE

-- WaPo's TikTok guru Dave Jorgenson is coming out with a book called "Make a TikTok Every Day" on Tuesday. Andrew Beaujon interviewed him... (Washingtonian)

-- Andrew Marchand says this is "ESPN's startling new reality:" Ariel Helwani was facing a pay cut when he decided to leave the network... (NYPost)

-- Excellent lead by Tom Lutz: "The fight between one of the greatest boxers in history and one of the best YouTube personalities in his family ended in predictable fashion on Sunday night as Floyd Mayweather danced around Logan Paul for eight rounds without inflicting any real damage..." (The Guardian)

-- Excellent headline by the WSJ: "In Floyd Mayweather vs. Logan Paul, Only Knockout Was to Showtime Streaming Service." Ben Mullin explains what went wrong... (WSJ)

Mulligan as Twohey, Kazan as Kantor

"Universal Pictures is prepping 'She Said,' a drama based on the NYT bestseller" by Megan Twohey and Jodi Kantor, Deadline's Justin Kroll scooped Monday. Universal "is in negotiations with Carey Mulligan and Zoe Kazan to star as Twohey and Kantor. The film is set to begin production this summer and will be directed by Unorthodox director Maria Schrader from a script by Oscar-winner Rebecca Lenkiewicz." This is going to be the "Spotlight" of the #MeToo era...

About the "Pose" finale...

Brian Lowry writes: "Anger and activism, life and death, and finally hope defined the third and final season of FX's 'Pose,' the Ryan Murphy-produced drama devoted to New York's underground ball culture in the 1980s and '90s. Having created an unprecedented showcase for transgender performers, the show -- whose final episode focused on leaving a legacy -- left its own in terms of its symbolic significance and standout cast." Read on, if you're okay with spoilers...

FOR THE RECORD, PART SIX

-- Lisa writes: "Loki being gender fluid has been confirmed in the new trailer for his Disney+ series..."

-- Chloe Melas writes: "Actress Ellie Kemper is apologizing for her involvement in a debutante ball as a teenager that has come under recent criticism for the organization's controversial history..."

-- One more from Lisa: "The Kennedy Center Honors ceremony included a touchingly emotional Garth Brooks..."

Honoring Prince's memory

Lisa Respers France writes: "Apollonia Kotero celebrated Prince's birthday Monday and honored his memory. She told me she still can't believe he's gone, five years later. 'Many of his Purple Rain family, my cast, we always thought that he would live forever so we're still in disbelief,' she said. 'We're not in denial, but we're still in disbelief that he's no longer with us. Yes, the legend is with us through songs and stories, but you know, physically he's not picking up the phone and calling and making me laugh.' Read more..."

SAVING THE BEST FOR LAST....

Pet of the weekend!

Angelika Leckie emails: "My name is Timmy here in Soest, Germany, because I am a 14 year old yellow lab, I can't chase rabbits anymore. But after I watch Reliable Sources I can go back to sleep and chase certain American politicians in my dreams..."