To:
Jackson, Ryan[jackson.ryan@epa.gov]
From: Joe Pompeo - POLITICO Media
Sent: Thur 6/15/2017 10:11:26 AM
Subject: Morning Media: `Fair & Balanced,' 1996-2017 -- Bergman blames the media -- Intercept
investigates itself
By Joe Pompeo | 06/15/2017 06:06 AM EDT
With Alex Weprin
FAREWELL AND BALANCED - Fox News has traded "Fair and Balanced" for a new marketing slogan, "Most Watched. Most Trusted," according to tireless Fox News chronicler Gabe Sherman , who explained the significance of this seismic change in his scoop yesterday: "As Fox News moves further into the post-Roger Ailes era, the network is shedding one of its most iconic elements. ... It would be like the New York Times giving up 'All the News That's Fit to Print.' Ailes invented the slogan when he launched the network in 1996, and over the years it became a quasi-religious doctrine among Fox's anchors and viewers. ... In the annals of modem advertising, 'Fair & Balanced' will be considered a classic."
TODAY IN MEGYN KELLY - "What we do as journalists is we shine a light on those with power, those with influence, those who have become culturally relevant," the NBC News anchor told Jim Rutenberg in a piece about the backlash around Kelly's interview with Alex Jones this Sunday. "Of course, it's upsetting to know that doing that causes any upset to the Newtown families, many of whom I know well. But I have to do my job. ... As journalists, we don't get to interview only the good guys -- that's not journalism. It's going to be very difficult for us to keep an eye on the more controversial figures of our time if we never talk to them."
Rutenberg: "Where's the line between covering a scoundrel as a news figure and giving him a promotional platform? ... The test for Ms. Kelly, of course, will come in that interview, how it's packaged on Sunday night and how aggressively she questions him." More: "Megyn Kelly, Alex Jones and a Fine Line Between News and Promotion"
TIPS AND COMMENTS: jpompeo@politico.com / @joepompeo. Morning Media is edited by Alex Weprin (@alexweprin / aweprin@politico.com) and produced with writing/reporting help from Cristiano Lima, who's on vacation this week, (clima@politico.com / @ludacristiano). Hadas Gold contributed to today's column. Archives. Subscribe.
REVOLVING DOOR: HUFFPOST LAYOFFS ROCK WASHINGTON BUREAU Michael Calderone reports : "On Wednesday morning, [EIC Lydia] Polgreen visited HuffPost's D.C. bureau, which is significantly smaller than the New York headquarters and was hit hard by the cuts. More than six journalists who work in or report to the bureau were laid off, including senior military correspondent David Wood. He won the site's first and only Pulitzer Prize in 2012 for a multimedia series on military veterans." Overall, 39 pink slips were handed out at the publication yesterday related to parent company Verizon's acquisition of Yahoo, which is expected to result in more than 2,000 job losses overall.
One of the people let go in D.C. was Jason Linkins, one of the last remaining newsroom
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figures who'd been with HuffPost since the early days. Senior politics editor and de facto D.C. bureau leader Sam Stein tweeted: "Today, we lost a number of really great reporters, from HuffPost at large and the DC bureau specifically. It's been the hardest day I've had helping run this operation."
Also laid off yesterday: The entire editorial staff of Vocativ.
MUST READS:
-- "Virginia Shooting Suspect Was Distraught Over Trump's Election, Brother Says" [NYT]
-- "How the U.S. Triggered a Massacre in Mexico" [NatGeo/ProPublica]
-- "Meet the Goopies" [NYT]
REP. JACK BERGMAN, WITNESS TO ALEXANDRIA SHOOTING, BLAMES THE MEDIA - "Unfortunately, and I'm looking in the eye of all the media when I say this, friendships and cordial relationships don't make good news. I can tell you ... we are united along with our Democratic freshmen counterparts to bring civility back to the 115th's congress." Bergman, who was at the softball practice where the attack occurred, said that in an interview about the shooting with Fox News/Business anchor Melissa Francis. The context was a question on whether Bergman agreed with a congressional colleague's assessment of "hateful rhetoric" helping to fuel incidents like this.
Francis: "So you think it's the media's fault?"
Bergman: "I think the media is complicit if they keep inciting instead of informing."
Francis: "So when we report, or quote hateful things that are said, we are adding to it? We should just ignore it and not report it?"
Bergman: "No that's not what I said. I just think you need to make sure that you think twice about how your words and inflections and phrases are gonna affect all the people who might see it." Clip.
FEEL GOOD HIT OF THE SUMMER - A few days ago, newly appointed New York Times D.C. bureau intern Emily Cochrane was writing a story about ducks. Yesterday, she was racing to the scene of the Alexandria shooting and sharing a byline on what was arguably the most high profile and most talked-about story of the day. "Not a bad way to start your summer," said a Times source who shared this fun little anecdote with us.
INTERNAL INVESTIGATION AT THE INTERCEPT - Co-founders Glenn Greenwald and Jeremy Scahill announced in a joint statement yesterday that the website is "currently conducting an internal investigation" into the handling of a June 5 article, based on classified NSA documents, that led to the arrest of accused leaker Reality Winner. The Intercept's reporting methods on the story came under heavy scrutiny because it appeared the reporting had at least
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partly compromised the article's anonymous source. (Literally anonymous: Even The Intercept didn't know the identify of the person who provided the documents.)
I was chatting with a journalist in NatSec circles yesterday, and I asked if this is a situation where it seems like a reprimand of some sort might be warranted. The tricky part, this journalist said, is that reprimanding an Intercept reporter could potentially aid the prosecution's case, which a news outlet with an alleged source facing jail time wouldn't be inclined to do, "So it's touchy."
JAMES COMEY GETS BETTER RATINGS THAN JEFF SESSIONS - The former FBI director's Senate testimony last week was viewed by millions more people than the Attorney General's Senate testimony on Tuesday. On average, 19.5 million people tuned in to Comey versus just over 12 million viewers for Sessions. (Neither NBC for nor the Fox broadcast network broke into regular coverage to carry Sessions.) All told, Fox News had the most viewers for Sessions, averaging 3.2 million, followed by CNN and MSNBC, each with just over 2.2 million. In the core news demo of adults 25-54, CNN led the way with 614,000 viewers, compared to 476,000 for Fox and 436,000 for MSNBC. CBS averaged 2.4 million viewers, while ABC averaged 2.1 million.
SOUND BITES:
-- "Stephen King has been blocked by Trump on Twitter. I guess his book about a scary clown hit too close to home." [Stephen Colbert]
-- "The President of the United States is reportedly under investigation for obstructing justice, and it's the second biggest story of the day." [Gregory Korte]
-- "i would suspect that peter thiel planted a story falsely denying a report on his interest in young blood--but who could be so underhanded!?" [John Cook]
DEPARTMENT OF UNREASONABLY ONEROUS (AND PROBABLY UNENFORCEABLE) NONCOMPETE CLAUSES - via CNN's Oliver Darcy : "Executives at the Independent Journal Review, the conservative millennial-focused news website, have asked employees to sign a new noncompete agreement as the upstart website continues to see an exodus of its top talent. The updated noncompete agreement, obtained by CNN, bars employees from working at any competing business 'anywhere in the world' for six months after employment at IJR, unless the person obtains explicit 'written consent' from the company granting them permission to do so. ... All employees -- even entry-level staffers who start at an annual salary of approximately $35,000 -- were notified in mid-May ... When employees read over the terms of the new noncompete agreement, some were upset."
BLOOMBERG BUSINESSWEEK REBOOT DEBUTS TODAY - EIC Megan Murphy's editor's letter promises "sharper storytelling, cleaner and more consistent design, and richer graphics and photography. The new Bloomberg Businessweek is more global, with American, European, and Asian editions. We've revamped our sections so you can easily find the stories you are looking for on business, finance, technology, economics, and politics. And at the back of the magazine, introduced Pursuits to help you live a better life away from your desk, with advice
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on travel, food, art, and more."
THE GHOST OF PHONE-HACKING PAST - Missed this one on Tuesday, via The Guardian : "The owner of the Sun has been ordered to hand over thousands of invoices relating to the use of private investigators by the newspaper and its former sister title, the News of the World, before a new hacking trial later this year. Mr Justice Mann made a judgment on Tuesday that News Group, part of Rupert Murdoch's News Corp, must disclose invoices from between 2000 and 2010 for the use of private investigators that have been found to have connections with phone hacking and unlawfully obtaining personal information. The judge also said that News Group must explain why it has made redactions on hundreds of documents relevant to the hacking case and that laptops used by James Murdoch."
SOUNDTRACK: Morrissey, "Sing Your Life"
EXTRAS:
-- "Rachel Maddow: The Rolling Stone Interview" [RS]
-- The return of Tom Brokaw. [Page Six]
-- "A court security officer handcuffed a reporter for Syracuse.com and The Post-Standard this morning after the reporter took pictures of an arrest in the hallway of the Onondaga County Courthouse." [syracuse.com]
To view online. http://www.politico.com/media/tipsheets/morning-media/2017/06/15/fair-balanced~1996-2017bergman-blames-the-media-intercept-investigates-itself-001292
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