Subject: ?Axios AM: Mike's Top 10 — Inside Facebook's algorithm — A new ambassador — First look: Honesty data from Trump country — 'A new cable news age'
From: "Mike Allen" <[email-masked]>
To: <[email-masked]>
Date: Tue, 25 Apr 2017 06:53:06 -0400 (EDT)

Presented by Bank of America:

Inside Facebook's algorithm — A new ambassador — First l=ok: Honesty data from Trump country — 'A new cable news age'

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Presented By Bank of America

Axios AM

By Mike Allen = ·Apr 25, 2017

As Axios approaches our 100th day (Thursday)= CEO Jim VandeHei tweets: "thank you 2 our investors, 71 colleagues, launch=partners, millions of readers, esp 10k who did reader survey."

1 big thing: Trump's economic nationalism

Graphic from the White House's "First 100 Days" =ebsite

Trump is marking the week leading up to Day 100 (Saturd=y) with a series of newsy directives and splashy events — this aft=rnoon, he holds a "farmers' roundtable" in the Roosevelt Room — de=igned to show lawmakers that he can do plenty without them.

got a big win last nig=t when Trump made another in an increasingly aggressive series of moves on=trade — this time, per the Wall Street Journal, "taking retaliatory action aga=nst Canada over a decades-old trade dispute, moving to impose a 20% tariff=on softwood lumber."

Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross said, in an unusually harsh statement aimed at an ally: "It has been = bad week for U.S.-Canada trade relations. Last Monday, it became apparent=that Canada intends to effectively cut off the last dairy products being e=ported from the United States. Today, ... the Department of Commerce deter=ined a need to impose countervailing duties of roughly one billion dollars=on Canadian softwood lumber exports to us. This is not our idea of a prope=ly functioning Free Trade Agreement."

Axios' Jonathan Swan=posted this thought bubble: "We're inclined to <=trong>take this seriously as a sign of things to come. We preview=d in [Axios' Sunday-evening newsletter] Sneak Peek that Trump would be making aggress=ve moves this week on his economic nationalist trade agenda, and there=are at least three executive =rders still to come. He wants to reexamine every US trade relationship= especially those in Asia."

'The bottom line:=/strong> "This puts to rest notions that Trump will morph into a '=/strong>globalist' on trade. This is the=one issue he's been consistent on for 30 years and his entire West Wing st=ff — including Gary Cohn and Steven Mnuchin — has come to =ccept that."

Coming attractions ... USA Today=lead story, "GOP push targets job protections for gays," by Eliza Collins: =[A] senior White House official told USA TODAY that some sort of policy to=protect religious liberty is still in the works, but that the president is=trying to find middle ground."

How Trump aides are framing <=strong>Saturday's 100-day mark: The graphic above gives a flavor of the Wh=te House's "First 100 Days" website. The White=House also has a 14-page "100 Days of Accomplishments," in nine categories= cutting regulations, job creation, trade, ethics, national security, immi=ration, public safety, helping women and minorities, and Supreme Court.

<=a>

2. How Facebook wrestles with dominance

Unusually reflective comments by Zuck in the forthcomin= New York Times Magazine cover story by technology column=st Farhad Manjoo, "Can Facebook Fix Its Own Worst Bug? Mark Zuckerberg now=acknowledges the dangerous side of the social revolution he helped to star=. But is the most powerful tool for connection in human history capable of=adapting to the world it created?" Top takeaways:

"In Silicon Valley, current events tend to fade into the back=round. The Sept. 11 attacks, the Iraq war, the financial crisis and every =ecent presidential election occurred, for the tech industry, on some paral=el but distant timeline divorced from the everyday business of digitizing =he world. Then Donald Trump won."

"In the 17 years
"Underneath it all was a na=ging feeling of complicity. Trump had benefited from a media environment t=at is now shaped by Facebook — and, more to the point, shaped by .=. [Facebook's] News Feed."

"If it's an exaggeration to say that News Feed has become the most influential source of informat=on in the history of civilization, it is only slightly so."

"When I asked if he had chatted with Obama abou= the former president's critique of Facebook, Zuckerberg paused for severa= seconds, nearly to the point of awkwardness, before answering that he had="

"The people who work on News Feed aren't making=decisions that turn on fuzzy human ideas like ethics, judgment, intuition =r seniority. They are concerned only with quantifiable outcomes about peop=e's actions on the site."

"The News Feed team's u=timate mission is to figure out what users want — what they find '=eaningful,' to use [chief product officer Chris] Cox and Zuckerberg's pref=rred term — and to give them more of that."

"[T]he=solution to the broader misinformation dilemma — the perv=sive climate of rumor, propaganda and conspiracy theories that Facebook ha= inadvertently incubated — may require something that Facebook has=never done: ignoring the likes and dislikes of its users."

The whole article (including an inside look =bout how Facebook successfully fought clickbait) is worthy of your time. <=p>

3. Filing taxes by postcard

What we know about the tax plan Trump plans to announce=tomorrow (big principles without a lot of detail):

Wall Street Journal: "Trump has ordered White H=use aides to draft a tax plan that slashes the corporate tax rate [from 35=] to 15%, even if that means a loss of revenue."

"[A] 20-p=int cut would cost the government $2 trillion over a decade, acco=ding to the congressional Joint Committee on Taxation."

Bloomberg: <=strong>Treasury Secretary Steve Mnuchin "told reporters that Trump's princ=ples will include a 'middle income tax cut,' and cuts in business taxes as=well as 'simplification' of the code so most Americans can file taxes on a=postcard."

Reuters: "Trump's announcement, however, could be = disappointment for investors seeking clarity."

A message from Bank of America

From batches in the kitchen to a global hot sauce h=avyweight

Tapatio hot sauce was a Mexican-style hot sauce that Luis Saavedra, Jr. =ade at home for his coworkers. When he lost his job in 1984, Bank of Ameri=a helped him grow his family business into a leading employer and local in=titution. Watch this American success story.

4. Trump power players

Ivanka Trump is in Berlin ... where sh='ll take part later toda= in a roundtable on women's empowerment with IMF Managing Director Chr=stine Lagarde, Canadian Foreign Minister Chrystia Freeland, the Netherland=' Queen Maxima and the Bank of America Vice Chairman Anne Finucane.
The participants have been working for years on crea=ing access to capital for women, and seeking to lift economies, and German=Chancellor Angela Merkel asked them to appear at the W20 Summit, a G-20 ad=unct focused on women's issues.

In a Financial Times op-e= headlined "Investment in women unleashes global gains," Ivanka T=ump wrote: "[W]e can add billions to the global economy by creating an ena=ling environment, increasing women's labour force participation and busine=s ownership, and improving the productivity of their work."

=/span>A source said Ivanka Trump, who consulted World Ban= Group
President Jim Yong Kim as she developed her solutions, will say the data is=clear
about the benefits of lowering barriers and increasing female entrepreneurs= access
to capital, networks and markets.

Woody Johnson still =ikely for London ... He's undergoing a herculean, complex disclos=re and vetting, but New York Jets owner Woody Johnson is on tra=k to be Trump's ambassador to the United Kingdom. A person close to th= situation says Johnson's team is in constant communication with the White=House Counsel's Office and the process is full steam ahead, with no proble=s expected to derail it.

Johnson won't have to sell his NFL team, but plans=to designate his younger brother, Christopher, as principal owner whil= he's at the Court of St. James's. The late Dan Rooney, longtime chairman=of the Pittsburgh Steelers, showed the feasibility of such a transition wh=n he was President Obama's ambassador to Ireland.

5. Even Trump voters think he exaggerates

Firehouse Strategies / 0ptimus

A majority of Republicans (68.7%) surveyed in Trump Country (Florida, Wisconsin, Ohio and Pennsylvania) think the president exagge=ates or intentionally lies — but they don't care.

I='s a sign of Trump's durability with his base, and an intriguing =inding of a research project (3,491 likely midterm voters, interviewed by =nteractive robocall) by the Firehouse Strategies guys — GOP consul=ants Terry Sullivan, Alex Conant and Will Holley — and the big-dat= firm 0ptimus.

The firms gave Axios AM readers a f=rst look at their results (full memo here):

"[E]ven more voter= ... think ... Republican members of Congress [exaggerate or lie]= ... Yes, voters think Trump is dishonest, but he's not worse than other p=liticians."

"[M]ost Republican and independent voters say they won't punish Republicans in 2018 for failing to deliver.""If Republican lawmakers face difficulties in midterm=elections, it likely won't be for failing to pass big legislation."
"Nobody feels pressure from their base to compromise." <=li>

This 8-page PDF includes gr=phics of Trump favorability by designated market area (DMA) f=r Florida, Wisconsin, Ohio and Pennsylvania.

6. Women out-learn but men out-earn

Data: Bu=eau of Labor Statistics; Graphic: Lazaro Gamio / Axios

This zany interactive graphic by Ax=os Visuals Editor Lazaro Gamio shows how weekly incomes vary by educat=on level, gender, and race/ethnicity. What we found:

Educational attainment: Last week, we published a c=art showing how Asians — especially men — out-earn all=other demographics. This chart makes the reason clear: According to the BL= data used for this chart, about 65% of Asian men and 63% of Asian women h=ld a college degree of greater.

Women are mor= educated: In every group except Asians, more women than men hold=college and advanced degrees — white men (37.5%), white women (44.=%); black men (28.2%), black women (34.8%); Hispanic men (17.5%), Hispanic=women (25.6%); Asian men (65.2%), Asian women (62.9%).

The pay gap: Men out-earn women in every education level=

7. Executives see AI revolution as imminent

Data: Price Waterhouse Cooper; Chart: Andrew Witherspoon / Axios

Top executives say the widespread application of artifi=ial intelligence is just around the corner, and they're "=ager" to outsource tasks such as accounting and scheduling to software, ac=ording to a new survey from PwC.

Consumers don't seem to fea= this future: 59% said AI would help people live more fulfilling =ines. Just 46% believed that AI will harm people by taking away jobs.
<=l>
Why it matters, per Axios' Chris Mat=hews: There are more than 1.3 million accountants in the United States= earning a median salary of more than $68,000. But 69% of the executives s=id they're "eager" to outsource their accounting needs to a digital assist=nt.

<=a>

8. "A more individualistic society"

Former President Obama listens to undergraduate Max Freedman during a co=versation on civic engagement and community organizing yesterday at the Un=versity of Chicago / AP's Charles Rex Arbogast

=ew York Times Quote of the Day ... BARACK OBAMA, at the University of Chicago in his first public event since leaving t=e White House: "So, what's been going on while I've been gone?"

Chicago Tribune front page, "Obama embarks on post-presidency," by Rick =earson: "[T]here were no direct references to Trump ... Obama lamented tha= in today's culture, institutions where Americans often found common groun= to work together on issues — such as churches, unions and rotary =lubs — have declined in membership."

"'People don't have some of the same habits of being=together on a common project that they used to. We've become a more indivi=ualistic society,' he said. And with individuals searching the internet fo= facts that back up their views, it has 'people having entirely separate c=nversations' and 'you really don't have to confront people who have a diff=rent experience.'"

9. O'Reilly: "The truth will come out"

BillOReilly.com

"O'Reilly returns with a smaller soapbox," =/strong>by L.A. Times' Meg James and David Pierson — A somewhat su=dued Bill O'Reilly last night, to listeners who tuned in to his 19-minute =No Spin News" podcast:

"I am sad that I=m not on television any more ... I was very surprised how it all turned ou=. I can't say a lot because there's much stuff going on right now. ... I'm=very confident the truth will come out ... I don't know if you're going to=be surprised — but I think you're going to be shaken as I am."
=p>Tucker Carlson, beginning his 8 p.m. Fo= News show replacing O'Reilly, "Tucker Carlson Tonight": "I watched Bill O=Reilly for years ... What O'Reilly did was not easy. He set a high bar and=I'm going to do my best to meet it."

CNN's Brian Stelter points out that last night was "the first weeknight=in 21 years without a Bill O'Reilly show ... the beginning of a new cable =ews age."

10. 1 fun thing: "This isn’t science fiction"

Photo by Kitty Hawk Aero: "The Kitt= Hawk Flyer is a new, all-electric aircraft. ... We've designed our first =ersion specifically to fly over water. You don't need a pilot's license an= you'll learn to fly it in minutes."

Shot ... N.Y. Times Business front, "Defying Roadblocks, =ilicon Valley Tests a Flying Car," by John Markoff in Clearlake, Calif=: "More than a dozen start-ups backed by deep-pocketed industry figures li=e Larry Page, a Google founder ... are taking on the dream of the flying c=r. ... Kitty Hawk, the company backed by Mr. Page, is trying to be one of =he first out of the gate and plans to start selling its vehicle [photo] by=the end of the year."

Chaser ... "Kitty Hawk's Flyer isn't the flyin= car you were promised," by Engadget's Jon Fingas: "=itty Hawk's first publicly demonstrated vehicle, the Flyer, isn't so much =he flying car of sci-fi fame as a recreational vehicle. The one-seat, prop=ller-driven vehicle is meant for a short flight across lake when you're at=the cottage, not commuting to work."

The company hasn't give= a price, but you can pay $100 now to get a $2,0=0 discount off the retail price later. What a country!

A message from Bank of America

“There’s not one house that doesn=E2��t have Tapatio.”

Bank of America supports thousands of Hispanic-owned small businesses li=e Tapatio, one of our true American success stories. With specialized smal= business support, Bank of America helped this small family business becom= a global icon. Click here to watch their story.=/p>

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