Subject: Michelle Fields joins HuffPost; WashPost editor talks Trump; Viacom fallout; "SNL" season finale; Joplin tornado five years later
From: CNN's Reliable Sources <[email-masked]>
To: <[email-masked]>
Date: Sun, 22 May 2016 23:15:09 +0000
List-Id: 47c9040f6ff957a59bd88396emc list <47c9040f6ff957a59bd88396e.161353.list-id.mcsv.net>

By Brian Stelter and the CNNMoney Media team - [email-masked] (mailto:[email-masked])

** EXCLUSIVE
Michelle Fields joining HuffPost
------------------------------------------------------------
Tom Kludt just filed this scoop: (http://money.cnn.com/2016/05/22/media/michelle-fields-huffington-post-donald-trump/index.html?mc_cid=a04cde7149&mc_eid=[UNIQID])  Michelle Fields, the conservative reporter who had Donald Trump's campaign manager charged with battery in March, has a new job at The Huffington Post. Starting tomorrow, she's covering the election... With a specific focus on Trump and the GOP. Quite a shift from Breitbart and her former employers, The Daily Caller and PJ Media. HuffPost DC bureau chief Ryan Grim reached out to Fields about the job via Twitter earlier this month. Read Tom's full story here... (http://money.cnn.com/2016/05/22/media/michelle-fields-huffington-post-donald-trump/index.html?mc_cid=a04cde7149&mc_eid=[UNIQID])

-- Grim told Tom (http://money.cnn.com/2016/05/22/media/michelle-fields-huffington-post-donald-trump/index.html?mc_cid=a04cde7149&mc_eid=[UNIQID]) that HuffPost will send Fields to Trump's events, but "none of us" at HuffPost "get credentialed," so "I assume that'll be the case for her" too...

-- This news made me think about how Andrew Breitbart helped Arianna Huffington launch the Post (Never heard the story? Check it out... (https://www.buzzfeed.com/buzzfeedpolitics/how-andrew-breitbart-helped-launch-huffington-post?utm_term=.fsm4nL3xl&mc_cid=a04cde7149&mc_eid=[UNIQID]#.ntOw57DzX) )
Marty Baron talks Trump coverage
On this morning's "Reliable Sources" I asked (http://www.cnn.com/videos/tv/2016/05/22/marty-baron-on-covering-trump.cnn?mc_cid=a04cde7149&mc_eid=[UNIQID]) WashPost exec editor Marty Baron about the recent warnings that Trump would threaten press freedoms if elected. Baron responded: "Well, I'm concerned when any candidate calls journalists 'scum' and 'disgusting.' I don't think there's any place for that. I think we need to show respect both for the candidates, and I think the candidates should show respect for journalists who were just doing their jobs. I worry when those kinds of statements are made…"

Baron also elaborated on reports — denounced by Trump supporters — that the paper assigned 20 reporters to investigate Trump. It was for the book the Post is producing about Trump, Baron emphasized, "in order to get it done quickly." He said "many of those reporters are already back to their original assignments." Watch our full Q&A here...  (http://www.cnn.com/videos/tv/2016/05/22/marty-baron-on-covering-trump.cnn?mc_cid=a04cde7149&mc_eid=[UNIQID])

>> Keep scrolling for other highlights from today's show...
Margaret Sullivan's first WashPost column
Speaking of the Post: Margaret Sullivan's first media column is online now (https://www.washingtonpost.com/lifestyle/style/now-theres-one-more-reason-to-be-a-journalist--you-can-help-save-journalism/2016/05/22/1a2ead1c-1d39-11e6-b6e0-c53b7ef63b45_story.html?tid=a_inl&mc_cid=a04cde7149&mc_eid=[UNIQID]) and in print in the A.M. She's starting on an upbeat note: While "the journalism world has been turned upside down," she sees opportunity all around. "Given the challenges, what's needed most are journalists — of every age — who are willing to help figure out the future with passion, smarts and integrity." Read the rest here... (https://www.washingtonpost.com/lifestyle/style/now-theres-one-more-reason-to-be-a-journalist--you-can-help-save-journalism/2016/05/22/1a2ead1c-1d39-11e6-b6e0-c53b7ef63b45_story.html?tid=a_inl&mc_cid=a04cde7149&mc_eid=[UNIQID])
Sumner removes Philippe from trust?
Over the weekend the cold war between Shari Redstone and Philippe Dauman turned hot. On Friday evening,  (http://money.cnn.com/2016/05/21/media/sumner-redstone-viacom-philippe-dauman-cbs/index.html?iid=Lead&mc_cid=a04cde7149&mc_eid=[UNIQID]) lawyers for Sumner Redstone said the ailing 92-year-old mogul had decided to remove Dauman and fellow Viacom board member George Abrams as trustees. (And as directors of National Amusements.) Fortune's Peter Elkind broke the news. But I put a question mark in the headline because the decision is very much in dispute. Viacom, speaking for Dauman, called the moves "invalid and illegal" and alleged that Redstone is "being manipulated and used by his daughter" Shari. She denied that. As statements flew back and forth, she said "I fully support my father's decisions and respect his authority to make them." Here's our explainer... (http://money.cnn.com/2016/05/21/media/sumner-redstone-viacom-philippe-dauman-cbs/index.html?iid=Lead&mc_cid=a04cde7149&mc_eid=[UNIQID])
A soap opera with billions at stake
This situation is so twisted. Viacom watcher William Cohan tweets: "How ironic that now Dauman's people are arguing Sumner is incompetent, just as Manuela Herzer has asserted." Back when ex-girlfriend Herzer was challenging Redstone's competency in court, Dauman rejected her claims and swore the sickly Viacom chairman was of sound mind. But now Dauman's camp is saying that Redstone "lacks the capacity" to remove him from the trust.

What would you do if you were Redstone's lawyer? Michael Tu is using Dauman's past words against him: "The public statement made on Mr. Dauman's behalf attacking Mr. Redstone's capacity is disappointing and incorrect, as reflected by Mr. Dauman's own testimony given under oath less than six months ago that Mr. Redstone is as 'engaged, attentive and as opinionated as ever.' That is exactly the Sumner Redstone who made these decisions today."

Of course, there is precious little evidence that the elder Redstone is engaged or attentive. He is barely able to speak....
Legal action next?
One of the most disturbing claims this weekend, from Dauman's camp, was that Viacom's board members have been "denied access" to Redstone. Lead independent director Fred Salerno confirmed that he'd asked for a face-to-face with Redstone and been denied.

This is an absolute breakdown in corporate governance. So what happens next? Lawsuits, presumably. It's "not clear what options Dauman has at his disposal," Elkind writes. (http://fortune.com/2016/05/20/exclusive-sumner-redstone-moves-to-oust-viacom-ceo-from-trust-that-will-control-viacom-and-cbs/?mc_cid=a04cde7149&mc_eid=[UNIQID]) "One possibility: He could move to have Redstone declared incapacitated..."

-- Further reading: REDEF's "The Fall of Viacom" collection of stories... (http://redef.com/set/media-set-1463949354009?mc_cid=a04cde7149&mc_eid=[UNIQID])
Facebook exec speaks about "Trending"
Mike Isaac's Saturday story about Facebook's "Trending" topics section includes a couple of rare on-the-record quotes from a FB VP about the controversy. “We’ve reflected a lot,” VP for global operations and media partnerships Justin Osofsky told him. Plus: Facebook has "identified ways in which we should have improved."

Okay, not the most scintillating quotes. But it's better than nothing.Osofsky also said: (http://www.nytimes.com/2016/05/21/technology/facebook-trending-list-skewed-by-individual-judgment-not-institutional-bias.html?mc_cid=a04cde7149&mc_eid=[UNIQID]) "This is a relatively early product. There are aspects of it that clearly we're continuing to work on..."
Media week ahead calendar
-- Sunday: 8pm ET: Billboard Music Awards on ABC
-- Sunday: 10pm: AMC introduces "Preacher"
-- Monday: 9pm: Fareed Zakaria's "Why They Hate Us" premieres on CNN
-- Wednesday and Thursday: Anderson Cooper guest-hosts on "Live with Kelly"
-- Friday: "X-Men Apocalypse" in theaters
-- Saturday: Memorial Day Weekend begins
For the record
-- I loved Jane Pauley's "CBS Sunday Morning" profile (http://www.cbsnews.com/videos/the-couple-behind-fixer-upper/?ftag=CNM-00-10aab8c&linkId=24755925&mc_cid=a04cde7149&mc_eid=[UNIQID]) of the couple behind HGTV's "Fixer Upper..." (CBS (http://www.cbsnews.com/videos/the-couple-behind-fixer-upper/?ftag=CNM-00-10aab8c&linkId=24755925&mc_cid=a04cde7149&mc_eid=[UNIQID]) )

-- ICYMI like I did: Dean Baquet's Friday memo to the NYT newsroom had lots of news in it... Ben Mullin helpfully read between the linesin this blog post. (http://www.poynter.org/2016/the-new-york-times-of-the-future-is-beginning-to-take-shape/413097/?mc_cid=a04cde7149&mc_eid=[UNIQID]) .. (Poynter (http://www.poynter.org/2016/the-new-york-times-of-the-future-is-beginning-to-take-shape/413097/?mc_cid=a04cde7149&mc_eid=[UNIQID]) )

-- Jenna Wortham's latest: "How I Learned To Love Snapchat..." (http://www.nytimes.com/2016/05/22/magazine/how-i-learned-to-love-snapchat.html?smprod=nytcore-iphone&smid=nytcore-iphone-share&mc_cid=a04cde7149&mc_eid=[UNIQID]) (NYT Mag (http://www.nytimes.com/2016/05/22/magazine/how-i-learned-to-love-snapchat.html?smprod=nytcore-iphone&smid=nytcore-iphone-share&mc_cid=a04cde7149&mc_eid=[UNIQID]) )

-- Via THR, (http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/diversity-comments-jon-stewart-david-896330?mc_cid=a04cde7149&mc_eid=[UNIQID]) highlights from last night's 75th anniversary Peabodys ceremony... (THR (http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/diversity-comments-jon-stewart-david-896330?mc_cid=a04cde7149&mc_eid=[UNIQID]) )
Road to 2016
Larry David's last time playing Bernie?
I'd bet $5 that "SNL" will find a way to bring Larry David's Bernie Sanders character back in the fall, even though it looks like the show will be spoofing a Clinton-Trump general election. Last night, though, was the season finale, so the writers had to preview the end of the Democratic primary race. This cold open was pretty great... (http://www.hulu.com/watch/944474?mc_cid=a04cde7149&mc_eid=[UNIQID]#i1,p0,d1)
What's polarization got to do with it?
At the very start of today's show,I quoted from the WashPost's eye-popping poll story: (https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/poll-election-2016-shapes-up-as-a-contest-of-negatives/2016/05/21/8d4ccfd6-1ed3-11e6-b6e0-c53b7ef63b45_story.html?mc_cid=a04cde7149&mc_eid=[UNIQID])

"Never in the history of The Post/ABC poll have the two major party nominees been viewed as harshly as Clinton and Trump. Nearly 6 in 10 registered voters say they have negative impressions of both major candidates."

And I said: "Some of this is obviously due to mudslinging and trash-talking and truly wounded candidates. But it's not all about them, it's partly about us, the public. It's about our distrust of institutions. It's about our tendency more and more to spend time online with people only who agree with us. It's about our ability to find stories that feed into our beliefs about how evil the other side is. So how much responsibility do news outlets have to try to change this?"

John Avlon said he believes the rise of partisan media has "further inflamed" things. Watch the segment w/ Avlon, Jane Hall and Carl Bernstein here... (http://www.cnn.com/videos/tv/2016/05/22/how-media-makes-the-country-more-polarized.cnn?mc_cid=a04cde7149&mc_eid=[UNIQID])
Ari Fleischer makes me want to move
I suggested to (http://www.cnn.com/videos/tv/2016/05/22/fleischer-on-media-bias.cnn?mc_cid=a04cde7149&mc_eid=[UNIQID]) Ari Fleischer that some journalists and commentators are "horrified" by Trump not because they're hopelessly biased, but out of a sense of "decency," a yearning for a form of politics without so much name-calling. Fleischer fired back:

"I would never call that decency. That's not what it is. What it really is, is a Northeastern, 'Look down your nose at other people who are different' … That is disdain for the voters … The overwhelming majority of journalists, though they refuse to admit it, are biased. They're socially and culturally liberal. And Donald Trump offends them. And they went into journalism to protect the little guy against the big and the powerful, to protect people against those who would offend. So, it's intuitive and natural for them to be against Donald Trump, but it's bias..."

He continued: "And one last point, Brian. Manhattan, 85-15 Democratic voting. It voted that way for Kerry. It voted that way for Obama, 85-15. Manhattan, where most journalists are from and many are taught, is one of the most narrow-minded, stereotypical places you could ever find."

-- More from Fleischer: Lessons in Trump's communication style... (http://www.cnn.com/videos/tv/2016/05/22/ari-fleischer-on-trump-coverage.cnn?mc_cid=a04cde7149&mc_eid=[UNIQID])
Quote of the day
"She touted this interview as 'Nothing is off the table.' And yet, when the interview occurred, it felt like everything was off the table."

-- L.A. Times TV critic Mary McNamara talking with me and Jim Warren about Megyn Kelly's Trump sit-down. Warren suggested that Kelly was "allergic to criticism..." Raw Story summarized the segment here... (http://www.rawstory.com/2016/05/tv-critics-shred-megyn-kelly-for-being-allergic-to-criticism-after-softball-trump-interview/\)
The Joplin tornado, five years later
Five years ago tonight, an F5 tornado tore through Joplin, Missouri, killing about 160 people. (http://www.cnn.com/2016/05/22/us/joplin-tornado-anniversary/index.html?mc_cid=a04cde7149&mc_eid=[UNIQID])  A crew from the Weather Channel was chasing the storm; Mike Bettes'slive reports from immediately afterward are chilling to re-watch. (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=03_GlGxxqxY&mc_cid=a04cde7149&mc_eid=[UNIQID])  It is rare to see the devastation on live TV so soon after a tornado touches down.

I arrived in Joplin the next morning. My first time covering a natural disaster, just temporarily, for the NYT. Putting my media reporter hat back on, I'll never forget the nonstop radio broadcasts by local deejays turned emergency responders... The feeling that all the TV crews were focusing on one area, a destroyed hospital, while there were so many other neighborhoods to cover... The recognition that, because I didn't have a satellite truck like the TV crews, the best outlets for my reporting (http://www.poynter.org/2011/stelter-in-joplin-my-best-reporting-was-on-twitter/134139/?mc_cid=a04cde7149&mc_eid=[UNIQID]) were Twitter and Instagram...  And most of all, the impossible-to-avoid intrusiveness of my presence. I kept thinking: "First, do no harm..."

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