Good morning! Here's the latest on The AP, Salman Rushdie, Fox News, Facebook, Amazon, and much more...
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This is not the end of USAGM |
President Trump's dramatic and divisive executive orders get lots of attention. (And he likes it that way.) But his memos are often the least interesting part of the story. How they're implemented – and resisted by interest groups and sometimes rejected by the courts – is more interesting and important.
Two weeks ago Trump said he wanted the U.S. Agency for Global Media eliminated "to the maximum extent consistent with applicable law." Kari Lake immediately put the entire Voice of America workforce on administrative leave and pulled funding for all the other U.S.-backed international broadcasters. But now the law is catching up, and many of the initial impacts have been reversed, at least for the time being:
– Radio Marti is back on the air after dozens of employees at the Office of Cuba Broadcasting were brought back to work earlier this week.
– Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty's funds are being restored after the network filed suit and won a restraining order.
– The Open Technology Fund, which also sued, has been told that its grant termination has also been rescinded.
– Radio Free Asia filed a lawsuit yesterday, and executives expect the suit will trigger the restoration of its funds, too.
– The other grantee, Middle East Broadcasting Networks, is also preparing to sue, according to source involved in the matter.
– Voice of America is still offline and off the air, but multiple lawsuits against the shutdown are pending, and a judge in New York will hear arguments in one of the cases today.
– USAGM's HR director said in a court filing earlier this week that a few dozen employees have been brought back from administrative leave as the agency figures out how to conduct a reduction in force.
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This is what 'Congress intended' |
So, on the one hand, some of the celebrations in China and Russia over the death of U.S.-funded international broadcasting were premature. Most of the networks are still alive (if not alive and well).
On the other hand, staffers at the networks, who spoke with CNN on condition of anonymity, said they expect the Trump administration to keep trying to pull the proverbial plugs. "Kari Lake has not communicated directly with us," one of them said. "We're all just wondering what their next moves will be."
Given all the uncertainty about future funding, the broadcasters are operating in diminished fashion right now. A notice on Radio Free Asia's home page notes that "we are now operating with fewer staff." Furloughs are set to take effect at Radio Free Europe next week, too.
Keeping the networks on the air and online is what "Congress intended," RFE/RL CEO Steve Capus pointed out in a statement yesterday. He referred the fact that Lake has not been in touch, saying, "We are eager to speak directly with USAGM leadership about the extraordinary and cost-effective work that RFE/RL performs for the American people." This is far from over...
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Above: AP lawyers arriving at court yesterday. Kevin Wolf/AP |
US District Judge Trevor McFadden heard testimony from Associated Press staffers about the impact of the Trump White House's ban for several hours yesterday. McFadden concluded the hearing without issuing an immediate ruling. The AP is hopeful that the judge will issue a preliminary injunction against the White House in the days to come. The AP has already spent "44 days in the penalty box," attorney Charles Tobin said. Today is day 45.
>> CNN's Devan Cole and Tierney Sneed were in court yesterday, and they have a full recap of the testimony here.
>> "The judge questioned whether it’s a court's place to order the White House which reporters it could or couldn’t exclude from a presidential event," The AP's David Bauder reported.
>> The White House Correspondents' Association thanked members Evan Vucci and Zeke Miller "for standing up in court" in support "of independent coverage of the White House. They represent the best of us."
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>> Susan Glasser says Trump wresting control of the WH press pool shows that "it's power he wants, not just petty retribution." (New Yorker) |
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BBC correspondent deported |
Among the journalists arrested in Turkey this week was BBC correspondent Mark Lowen, who previously lived in the country for five years. He has now been deported. "Lowen had been in Turkey for several days to report on the ongoing protests that were sparked by the Istanbul Mayor Ekrem Imamoglu's arrest last week," the BBC reported. BBC CEO of News Deborah Turness called his deportation "an extremely troubling incident" and said the broadcaster "will be making representations to the Turkish authorities."
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Joel Simon's latest for VF highlights some harrowing parts of the V-Dem Institute's new "Democracy Report 2025," including that "for the first time in more than 20 years, by the study's estimate, the world now has more autocracies (91) than democracies (88), with liberal democracies (29) now the least common regime type." V-Dem still classifies the U.S. as a liberal democracy, but says the country is backsliding rapidly. "According to V-Dem's research," he writes, "the 'fatality rate' of democratic regimes that have begun the slide into autocracy is 67%, and the window to turn things around is generally about five years."
Simon adds up Trump's actions against the media and puts them in the context of "the potential US descent into authoritarianism," calling it part of a "broader assault on institutions of democratic life, from civil society to universities..."
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A media takeaway from 👊🇺🇸🔥-gate |
Q, the wizard of QAnon, "has been dormant for years," but this week's Signal scandal "shows how the style of QAnon – grandiose claims followed by escalating excuses – has been embraced by Trump's inner circle," conspiracy theory chronicler Mike Rothschild writes in this new essay.
All week long, all across MAGA media, viewers and readers heard elaborate excuses, "constant deflections," and the invocation of "vast conspiracies to explain things that should be obvious." Rothschild says the intent was to "keep Republicans from having to admit just how sloppy their leaders were." Read on...
>> Jeffrey Goldberg's original story came out midday Monday, and it is remains the #2 most-read article on The Atlantic site, surpassed only by the followup story with the unredacted texts. Also in the site's top five: "Why Trump Won't 'Produce a Scalp' After the Signal Debacle."
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>> This November Salman Rushdie "is set to release his first work of fiction in nearly three years, following a stabbing that left him blind in one eye in 2022." (BBC)
>> "Fox News has attracted 125 new blue-chip advertisers since the US election" as "soaring viewer numbers have drawn big-name companies to the Murdoch-owned channel." (FT)
>> "Peyton Manning's Omaha Productions has raised a new financing round from former Endeavor executive chairman Patrick Whitesell." Outkick's takeaway: "Omaha Productions is becoming insanely valuable." (Axios)
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'Facebook returns to its roots' |
That's the headline on Mike Isaac's latest for the NYT. He says Mark Zuckerberg wants "to bring back some of the original rationale for the social network, or what he called 'OG Facebook' vibes," so his deputies have tried "building some features that resembled the Facebook of yore."
"On Thursday, Meta did just that with a simple tweak. The company said the Facebook app would now include a separate news feed for users that featured posts shared exclusively by people's friends and family." I, for one, am thrilled to see this...
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MLB TV meltdown on Opening Day |
I don't want to overstate this, because it's almost impossible to know how many people were affected, by "users across the internet reported trouble accessing the league's streaming service" on MLB Opening Day, the NYPost's Michael Binn reports.
MLB has said little about the disruption. But this commenter at The Athletic knocked it out of the proverbial park: "Take me out to the ball game, Take me out to the blank screen. Buy me a subscription and black it out, I do care and want my money back. Let me root, root, root for a refund, If they don't reply it's a shame. For it's one, two, three strikes you're out, At the old ball game."
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>> Steven Lee Myers and Stuart A. Thompson penned this excellent look at Trump's "machinery" of misinformation, showing how "he and those around him are using false claims to justify their policy changes." (NYT)
>> Riveting, in-depth reporting from CNN's team: Concerns about Pete Hegseth's judgment "come roaring back after group chat scandal." (CNN)
>> John Herrman said Signalgate showed how "the government is a bunch of people in a group chat now, just like everything else." (NYMag)
>> Paolo Confino chronicled how Real America’s Voice "got so close to the president." (Fortune)
>> Brian X. Chen's reflection: "TikTok Appears to Be Here to Stay. What Does That Mean for Us?" (NYT)
>> Natalie Korach interviewed "progressive TikTok star" Kat Abughazaleh, a Media Matters vet, about why she is running for office and how she is doing it. (VF)
>> The NYT's visual investigations team showed how "online 'pedophile hunters' are growing more violent — and going viral." (NYT)
>> John Hendrickson watched Jake and Logan Paul's new reality series and delivered this tantalizing review. (The Atlantic)
>> "Disney's live-action princess movies are trapped in the 2010s," Darren Franich wrote. (NYMag)
>> Anne Branigin detailed "why ‘Adolescence’ is inescapable right now." (Washington Post)
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"Amazon’s longtime head of film and television, Jennifer Salke, is stepping down from her position after seven years on the job," the NYT's Nicole Sperling reports.
It's a sudden change, since Salke was "set to introduce the company's robust slate of coming films" at CinemaCon next week, she notes. Instead, "Salke will move into a producing deal at Amazon and will not be replaced... Courtenay Valenti will continue to oversee film while Vernon Sanders will remain atop TV."
>> The Information's Cory Weinberg concludes that the change will "flatten" an "overloaded Hollywood management team.
>> Deadline's Mike Fleming Jr wonders if Amazon's James Bond "tribulations" sealed Salke's fate...
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Entertainment odds and ends |
>> "Robert Redford's Sundance Film Festival has a new home after four decades in Park City, Utah:" The festival will move to Boulder, Colorado starting in 2027. (CNN)
>> "Anora" star Mikey Madison will host this weekend's "SNL," with musical guest Morgan Wallen. (THR)
>> Duke University wants no part of "The White Lotus." (NYT)
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This edition of Reliable Sources was edited by David Goldman and produced with Liam Reilly. Please email us your feedback and tips here. Hope you have a great weekend! I'll be catching up on "The Pitt" and "The Studio..." |
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