Spears shocks again; journalist speaks after Iranian plot exposed; White House to call out vaccine disinfo; Facebook's $1 billion investment; what 'Loki's' ending says about Marvel

Oliver Darcy here. Jeff Zucker details CNN's return-to-office plans, Punchbowl announces a new milestone, and NYT expands its standards operation with Cliff Levy...

View this email in your browser. Share it on Facebook or Twitter. Subscribe here. You're more than half-way through the week! Oliver Darcy here at 9:40pm ET on Wednesday, July 14, with the latest on the alleged Iranian plot to kidnap Masih Alinejad, the White House's effort to call out vaccine disinfo, CNN's return-to-office plans, Punchbowl's milestone, Facebook's $1 billion effort to woo creators, NYT's expanded standards operation, and more. But first... Spears shocks again   For the first time in 13 years, Britney Spears has a lawyer of her own choosing. At Wednesday's hearing, Judge Brenda Penny agreed to the pop star's request to select her own counsel. Spears appointed Mathew Rosengart, a lawyer who has experience working with celebrity clients, such as Sean Penn and Stephen Spielberg.    It was, as NYT's Joe Coscarelli, Liz Day and Lauren Herstik reported, a decision "met with cheers outside of the courtroom, where dozens of fans representing the Free Britney movement shared news updates through a pink bullhorn, leading to hugs and tears." Indeed, there were #FreeBritney rallies across the country aimed at supporting the singer in her legal battle.    But it wasn't all smiles on Wednesday. After Rosengart was approved as Spears' counsel, Spears delivered another impassioned statement against the conservatorship she has been locked in. "I want to press charges against my father today," Spears said, crying at times. "I want an investigation into my dad." Spears said the conservatorship amounts to "f***ing cruelty." She added, "If this isn't abuse, I don't know what is. I thought they were trying to kill me."   Rosengart said that he will be "moving promptly and aggressively" for the removal of Spears' father, Jamie, from the conservatorship. He urged him to "step down voluntarily because that's what's in the best interest of the conservatee." CNN's Chloe Melas and Faith Karimi have all the details here...     How she celebrated After her legal victory, Spears posted a message to her verified Twitter account thanking her fans for their support. "I feel GRATITUDE and BLESSED !!!! Thank you to my fans who are supporting me ... You have no idea what it means to me be supported by such awesome fans !!!! God bless you all !!!!!" That message was attached to a video showing Spears on a horse and doing cartwheels to the tune of "Black Horse and the Cherry Tree." Spears wrote, "Pssss this is me celebrating by horseback riding and doing cartwheels today..."     Chloe's POV   Chloe Melas writes: "I flew to Los Angeles on the red-eye not knowing what to expect at the hearing. I watched at dawn as Free Britney supporters began filling up the sidewalk outside the courthouse, and I spoke to many of them about their tireless commitment to spotlight what they believe is abuse in Britney's 13 year conservatorship. As I entered the packed courtroom in the afternoon, I was thankful to even have a seat (there were only about 75 seats and people began lining up in the wee hours of the morning)..."   >> Melas adds: "When the hearing began, Spears initially told Judge Penny that she wanted the courtroom cleared. You could hear gasps from fellow journalists and fans in the room who wanted to stay. But, a few moments later, Spears changed her mind and said she 'didn't mind if the courtroom was open.' That's when her nearly 20-minute testimony began..."   Will this prompt change?   Speaking with Wolf Blitzer on "The Situation Room," Florida state attorney Dave Aronberg argued, "This is now bigger than Britney Spears herself." Aronberg explained that Spears' case has raised a lot of issues regarding conservatorships — including the fact that she was unable to appoint her own counsel for so long — and that "this is an area of the law that clearly needs review." Aronberg said he believed "that is going to be the lasting legacy of this matter..."   "The coverage was caustic and scalding"   CNN's AJ Willingham wrote on Wednesday that Spears' battle "is an enduring consequence of the cruelest celebrity gossip era." Willingham pointed out that in the early 2000s, "a new breed of bloggers redefined celebrity gossip and set in motion a ruthless media machine that chewed up and spat out any fresh-faced, high-heeled celebrity in its path."    "Now, scrolling back through popular dirt sites like Perez Hilton, Lainey Gossip and TMZ feels very much like looking back on the cringiest years of a digital adolescence," Willingham argued. "But when they reigned, no young starlet was safe from the constant churn of upskirts, invasive paparazzi shots and humiliating headlines. The coverage was caustic and scalding, and thirsty devotees sipped it all down as loyally as a mid-morning latte." FOR THE RECORD, PART ONE  -- Julia Jacobs, Joe Coscarelli and Lauren Herstik have "four questions that remain as the case continues..." (NYT)    -- "While partisan gridlock has become a staple in Washington, D.C., there is an issue uniting lawmakers on both sides of the aisle: pop star Britney Spears' legal battle against her conservatorship," Barbara Sprunt writes. "From progressive Sen. Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass., to conservative Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, lawmakers with vastly different political philosophies have shared their support for Spears..." (NPR)    -- On a sort-of-related point: "Matt Gaetz of Florida made an appearance at a '#FreeBritney' rally outside the downtown Los Angeles courthouse Wednesday in support of the singer..." (CBS LA) White House condemns Iranian plot to kidnap US journalist    The White House on Wednesday denounced Iran after details were made public about an alleged plot to kidnap a journalist critical of the country's ruling regime. "We categorically condemn Iran's dangerous and despicable reported plot to kidnap a US citizen on US soil," Jen Psaki said at the daily briefing. "We will forcefully defend US citizens and US interests." The State Department added that the Iranian gov't "continues to deny Iranians their human rights, including through severe restrictions on the rights to peaceful assembly, freedom of association, freedom of religion or belief, and freedom of expression." CNN has all the latest details here...   "I just give a voice to the voiceless people"   Appearing on "The Lead," Masih Alinejad said that she just lends her platform to those who do not have one in Iran. "I'm not a criminal," she said. "I'm just doing my job. I just give a voice to the voiceless people." Alinejad said that she knows if the plot were successful, she would have been sentenced to death. "If they kidnapped me, I wouldn't be here with you," she said. "I would be there, fake trial, and then they would execute me..." THURSDAY PLANNER Joe Biden and Kamala Harris will talk about the Child Tax Credit relief payments at 11:45am...   Jen Psaki will brief the press with Surgeon General Dr. Vivek H. Murthy at 12:30pm...   Biden will host Angela Merkel in the Oval Office at 2pm. He will participate in a press conference with her at 4:15pm... White House to call out vaccine disinfo   "White House officials are devising ways to fight the spread of dangerous falsehoods about Covid-19 vaccines ...as Republicans and their media allies ramp up their vocal skepticism about vaccines," CNN's Kevin Liptak, Kaitlan Collins, and Jeff Zeleny reported Wednesday. Per the CNN team, Biden himself "could soon take on some of the corrosive messages emanating from the right." And one official said that a "decision had been made to take a harder edge against the disinformation, with plans in the coming days to call out Republican elected officials and specific social media platforms..."     CNN's striking homepage That striking homepage linked to this piece from Dr. Sanjay Gupta who wrote about "the importance of being vaccinated." Gupta wrote: "It may be that some parts of the country really haven't gotten the memo on the importance of vaccines -- or even worse, they are receiving another far more insidious message: that it's the vaccines themselves that are the problem. They aren't the problem. They are our best shot at being rescued from this ongoing pandemic..."     Zucker announces CNN's return-to-office plans   Speaking of CNN: Network president Jeff Zucker on Wednesday detailed in a memo to employees the company's return-to-office plans. Zucker said that "as a general rule, we do expect everyone to be back in the office a minimum of three days a week" when offices open later this year. But, Zucker said those decisions would ultimately be left up to division leaders and managers. Masks and social distancing will not be required. But employees will be required, Zucker said, to be fully vaccinated to gain entry to the offices. "This policy will play an important part in contributing to a safer work environment," Zucker wrote. "And that is our priority." FOR THE RECORD, PART TWO  -- Cydney Hargis chronicles how Fox News has "had a meltdown" after Biden "announced new outreach efforts toward unvaccinated Americans, which include volunteers going 'door to door' in communities with low vaccination rates..." (MMFA)    -- See it yourself: "New Day" compiled a damning montage of the "nonsensical" and "nonscientific propaganda" that saturates Fox News' coverage of vaccines... (CNN)    -- Mitt Romney on right-wing vaccine disinfo peddlers: "We don't control conservative media figures so far as I know — at least I don't. That being said, I think it's an enormous error for anyone to suggest that we shouldn't be taking vaccines..." (NYT)    -- Tom Porter writes about how some right-wing extremists are "regrouping around anti-vaxx conspiracy theories..." (Insider) "I just kind of lost my temper a little bit"   Jeremy Barr on Wednesday spoke to Texas Democratic representative James Talarico about his viral clash with host Pete Hegseth. Talarico said that he had no plans on calling Hegseth out, but grew frustrated by how Hegseth conducted the interview and did it in the spur of the moment. "I just kind of lost my temper a little bit when I was being interrupted," he told Barr. "The train jumped the tracks a little bit during the interview. I think I got angry. And I don't like to get angry. … I didn't anticipate the level of disruption, interruption and unwillingness to even listen to each other. The aggressiveness is what took me aback." FOR THE RECORD, PART THREE   -- Michael Kranish details how Tucker Carlson "became the voice of White grievance." The piece is based on "a review of his books, broadcasts and writings over nearly three decades, as well as interviews with current and former associates, subjects of his on-air attacks and others who have observed his career..." (WaPo)    -- Lachlan Cartwright and Maxwell Tani go "inside Shepard Smith's post-Fox News crash on CNBC." The duo notes the "much-hyped new show has failed to bring in viewers..." (Daily Beast)    -- Erik Wemple noticed an editor's note atop a story about Michael Phelps from NYT's Karen Crouse. The note said, "After this article was published, editors learned that the reporter had entered an agreement to co-write a book with Michael Phelps. If editors had been aware of the conflict, the reporter would not have been given the assignment." Wemple notes, "The editor's note marks the second time in recent weeks that the Times has published jarring, after-the-fact disclosures regarding conflicts..." (WaPo)    -- Another from Wemple: "Why can't journalists audiotape court hearings?" (WaPo) Punchbowl's milestone    Brian Stelter writes from DC: "The six-month-old startup Punchbowl News held a soiree at Danny Meyer's newish restaurant Anchovy Social on Wednesday evening. Anna Palmer and Jake Sherman used the occasion to announce a milestone: 100,000 subscribers. Some attendees told me that this was the first time they'd attended a crowded party since the pandemic began..." "Trial with social media"    The BBC reporter who lost her job over a years-old tweet in which she declared that "Hitler was right" released a lengthy statement Wednesday criticizing the outlet's handling of the situation. Tala Halawa said she wrote those words in 2014 as "a young Palestinian woman tweeting in the heat of the moment as I witnessed horrific, undeserved deaths met with international media silence and used a popular hashtag without thinking." She said that the "offensive and ignorant" post did not actually reflect her views then or now.   "It saddens me that the BBC, instead of seeking avenues for apology, reconciliation, and dialogue, unfortunately opted for trial with social media, amplifying troll voices and capitulating to pressure from external pro-Israel interest groups and right-wing media outlets determined to eliminate Palestinians from public life," Halawa wrote. She added that the "trend of bad-faith intimidation of reporters from the region by hostile actors and organized public flogging" is not acceptable... FOR THE RECORD, PART FOUR By Kerry Flynn:    -- "Journalistic coverage of climate change needs to involve all teams of a newsroom, including its culture, finance, real estate, lifestyle, fashion, health, and sports," Wolfgang Blau writes... (Nieman Lab)    -- Joshua Benton analyzes the death of Knewz: "We've already seen that Knewz wasn't about exposure for 'the little guy' — it was about helping the conservative little guy, along with the conservative not-so-little guy," he writes... (Nieman Lab)    -- Rick Edmonds interviews Steve Waldman about the growth of Report for America, including "more placements in rural America" and news deserts... (Poynter)    -- Simon Owens talks to Jessica Lessin about The Information's paywall strategy... (Substack) Facebook will invest $1 billion to woo creators   Facebook will through a program pay creators $1 billion, Mark Zuckerberg said Wednesday. It's the latest attempt by Facebook to woo influencers to its platform. As Taylor Lorenz reported Wednesday, "In the past year, an arms race has emerged among tech companies seeking to court online content creators who can generate enormous engagement and bring their young fans and cultural relevance to a platform. TikTok and YouTube have cultivated deep relationships in the creator community by helping creators make money and by building features to serve their needs." Roose's must-read on the "data wars" raging inside Facebook   NYT's Kevin Roose published a must-read piece Wednesday on the "data wars" raging inside Facebook, revealing how executives "have clashed over CrowdTangle, a Facebook-owned data tool that revealed users' high engagement levels with right-wing media sources." Here's the bottom line, according to Roose's sources: "Facebook's executives were more worried about fixing the perception that Facebook was amplifying harmful content than figuring out whether it actually was amplifying harmful content." Facebook, as you might expect, disputed that characterization... FOR THE RECORD, PART FIVE  -- "When users get asked on iPhone devices if they'd like to be tracked, the vast majority say no," Kurt Wagner reports. "That's worrying Facebook's advertisers, who are losing access to some of their most valuable targeting data and have already seen a decrease in effectiveness of their ads..." (Bloomberg)    -- We hardly knew you: Twitter said Wednesday that it is killing Fleets... (CNBC)    -- "YouTube is adding a trio of new features for live-streaming today that are all standbys for streamers on Twitch," Jacob Kastrenakes writes... (The Verge)    -- "The artificial intelligence revolution is poised to be more 'profound' than the invention of electricity, the internet, and even fire, according to Google CEO Sundar Pichai..." (Gizmodo) NYT expands standards operation with Cliff Levy   The NYT on Wednesday announced that it will expand its standards operation, appointing Cliff Levy as the person to lead the effort to "safeguard the integrity" of its journalism "in all its forms." In a note sent out to staff, Dean Baquet and Joe Kahn noted that NYT has expanded its operations to "new storytelling formats" that include audio and video. They said that Levy "will help scale our excellent Standards team to ensure all of our journalism - on all platforms and in all mediums - meets our standards of independence, fairness and accuracy." This, of course, comes after NYT had to acknowledge late last year that "Caliphate" fell short of its standards due to institutional failures... FOR THE RECORD, PART SIX  -- Jason Sobel is joining NYT as its chief technology officer... (Axios)    -- Knopf has named Jordan Pavlin its new editor in chief, one of the "book world's most prestigious jobs..." (AP)    -- CBS News has promoted Lance Frank to SVP of comms with additional oversight over new teams... (Deadline)    -- Kristen Richards, who "reshaped architecture journalism online," has died at the age of 69 from lung cancer... (NYT)    -- Bernette G. Ford, "who made children's books more diverse," has also died of lung cancer. She was 70... (NYT)   "Loki's" ending is just the beginning of Marvel's next chapter Brian Lowry writes: "The 'Loki' finale (and warning, spoilers ahead) was actually as much about beginnings as endings, including what figures to be a fairly major development within the broader Marvel Cinematic Universe. If nothing else, this uneven series reflects just how neatly the Disney+ shows are being integrated into Marvel's interlocking movie strategy, weaving a great big serialized tale that now extends across streaming as well as film..." FOR THE RECORD, PART SEVEN  -- Nicole Sterling writes about how a plane crash has complicated an HBO Max documentary on the diet-inspired Remnant Fellowship Church... (NYT)    -- "A big stock drop added to an already-rough month for AMC Entertainment on Wednesday, with the nation's largest cinema chain now trading for less than half of what its shares went for just weeks ago," Sean Burch reports... (The Wrap)   -- "Prince Harry and Meghan Markle have set up their second project at Netflix," Lesley Goldberg writes... (THR)    -- "HBO Max's 'Sex and the City' revival 'And Just Like That' continues taking shape with the addition of Sarita Choudhury, Nicole Ari Parker, and Karen Pittman joining the cast," Rosy Cordero writes... (Deadline)    -- Chip & Joanna Gaines' Magnolia Network has released its summer premiere dates... (TV Insider)    -- "MTV is reviving one of its classics – 'Cribs,'" Peter White reports... (Deadline)    -- "'Zola,' the A24 movie inspired by a viral Twitter thread, will be available to rent on demand starting on Friday, July 23, three weeks after its theatrical debut," Rebecca Rubin reports... (Variety) "Gunpowder Milkshake" gives fans a violent bang for their buck   Brian Lowry writes: "Wildly violent but almost equally entertaining, 'Gunpowder Milkshake' stars Karen Gillan and Lena Headey in a movie about female assassins that's tinged with dark humor. Netflix acquired the US rights, but it's bound for theaters abroad, with its French distributor already developing a sequel..." FOR THE RECORD, PART EIGHT By Lisa Respers France:     -- Entertainment reporter Catt Sadler warns "don't let your guard down" after getting sick from Covid-19 while fully vaccinated...    -- Nicolas Cage says he won't be in Amazon's planned "Tiger King" series after all...    -- Jason Sudeikis says he isn't sure what happened with the Olivia Wilde breakup... SAVING THE BEST FOR LAST...   Pet of the day!   Reader Rebecca Yost emails: "Amari sees through it all. Smartest cat I have ever known..."   Thank you for reading! Email us your feedback and send us your tips anytime. Brian will be back in action tomorrow... Share this newsletter: You are receiving this message because you subscribed to CNN's Reliable Sources newsletter.   ® © 2021 Cable News Network, Inc. A WarnerMedia Company. All Rights Reserved.   Subscribe to Reliable Sources   Our mailing address is: Cable News Network, Inc. Attention: Privacy Policy Coordinator One CNN Center, 13 North Atlanta, GA 30303 unsubscribe from this list

Share This :

Editor