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Saturday, November 15, 2025 |
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Happy Saturday from Austin, Texas. I'm here for the Texas Tribune Festival. This weekend edition contains a dozen great leisurely reads; the latest on President Donald Trump's battles with the BBC and MTG; and some poignant words from Pope Leo about the power of cinema... |
PBS says 'we are still here' |
Sunday night's PBS rollout of Ken Burns' new series "The American Revolution" doubles as an attention-grabbing statement, months after Trump succeeded in stripping away all federal funding for public broadcasting.
Burns' project, pegged to America's 250th celebration in 2026, has been in the works for 10 years. But the premiere is sending a very timely message about PBS: Despite the defunding campaign, "we are still here."
On stage in Austin today, PBS CEO Paula Kerger told me that there has been some confusion in the marketplace since the Corporation for Public Broadcasting is winding down as a consequence of the funding cut. "People thought that meant that we were gone," Kerger said.
But the system is intact, despite painful layoffs and other cost-cutting measures. Some local stations (particularly in rural areas) are at risk of going off the air, but emergency grants and loans are replacing some of the lost funds.
Fundraising "has actually gone pretty well," Kerger said today, while emphasizing that PBS is still pushing Congress to restore some funding. (She was seated next to Sen. Amy Klobuchar of Minnesota at the Texas Tribune's annual gala on Friday night.) "I believe we can get some of that money back," Kerger said. "And I'm going to certainly fight like crazy" for it.
Off stage, public media execs acknowledge that no federal funding is likely as long as Trump-aligned Republicans control Congress. But if Democrats prevail in the midterms, it might be time for a reinvention of the public media system. No matter what, the appeals to "viewers like you" will continue.
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Exploring America's 'common story' |
"The American Revolution," starting on Sunday and airing over six consecutive nights, is "a really big moment" for PBS, Kerger said. "This is the kind of work that public broadcasting is built to do. It's what LBJ envisioned" in the '60s.
Burns recently told Anderson Cooper that people should reflect on their roots during challenging times: "Going back to our origin story gives us the opportunity to help repair — maybe revitalize — what it was that we were originally involved in."
James Poniewozik, reviewing the series for the NYT, said "it is dedicated to a belief that seems increasingly old-fashioned: that we share a common story and that people are willing to hear it, both the good and the bad."
The series uses techniques "made famous and mockingly infamous by The Civil War and subsequent Burns projects," Deadline's Dominic Patten wrote, but you "don't need to look too hard to notice something different going on under the surface from previous Burns works."
Since his last epic, 2017's "The Vietnam War," the medium has changed, "America has changed, and the stakes have definitely changed." Thus, Patten wrote, "there is an urgent undercurrent that wasn't in Burns' previous films. Something is stirring in him, and in us — and the saga of the creation of this often unruly nation has something to tell us about what is happening now."
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PBS scraps weekend newscast |
Back to the post-rescission state of PBS for a moment. "Frontline" exec producer Raney Aronson, who joined Kerger and me on stage today, said that despite Trump's pressure this year, "no one has backed down. No one has pulled away from us. In fact, we have more people than ever coming forward and saying 'we need this kind of work out in the world.' Our audience has grown."
Kerger talked about prioritizing news programming like "Frontline" and the "News Hour" as well as shows for kids. But another impact of the federal funding cut was announced earlier this week: WETA is canceling "PBS News Weekend" and closing the "News Hour" West Coast bureau in Arizona. "The restructuring includes the elimination of 34 positions," Current reported.
For weekend audiences, WETA is preparing two new roundtable programs a la "Washington Week" about "areas that are really undercovered in media and are critically important right now," Kerger said. One will be about international affairs, and the other about science, tech and health.
>> BTW: I hear John Oliver is tackling the topic of PBS, NPR et al on Sunday night's season finale of "Last Week Tonight."
Now, speaking of publicly funded media...
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Trump doubles down on BBC threat |
For now, it's still just a threat, not an actual lawsuit. But Trump seems intent on waging a real legal battle with the BBC. He told reporters last night that he'll file a suit "probably sometime next week" alleging $1 billion to $5 billion in damages. That the damages amount lacks any obvious justification is beside the point for the president, who wants the British broadcaster to feel his wrath.
"I think I have to do it," Trump said of the looming lawsuit. "They've even admitted that they cheated." (That's an interesting word, "cheated," since it's exactly what Trump tried to do in 2020 with the fake electors plot.) Trump also teased the lawsuit in a sit-down with Bev Turner of the small right-wing UK channel GB News.
Some GB News commentators and other conservatives in the UK are downright gleeful over the prospect of a suit. They want to see the BBC suffer. But many others are denouncing Trump's bullying: "The BBC needs to stand firm," alum Jon Sopel wrote in this essay.
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It could be a costly fight for the BBC |
"The fight is well and truly on," the BBC's culture and media editor Katie Razzall wrote this morning, sizing up her employer's "expensive and very public battle with the most powerful man in the world." Razzall wondered: "Might the BBC ask the UK government to step in through back channels? Would a call from Prime Minister Keir Starmer persuade Trump to change his mind?" Trump remarked last night that he expected to talk with Starmer this weekend...
>> As for Trump's chances in a US court, First Amendment attorney Ted Boutrous told Status that "it's very doubtful such a case could even proceed in the US," and would "almost certainly will be dismissed." Conservative radio host and lawyer Hugh Hewitt saw me tweet that quote and lodged his objections in this reply...
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Unpacking the role of Robbie Gibb |
This weekend NYT heave by Jane Bradley (who once worked on the BBC's "Panorama") and Tariq Panja explores why "the BBC was silent for seven days" when The Telegraph first described the bad edit, and how it "careened into one of the worst crises in its 103-year history."
The story also focuses on the role of board member Robbie Gibb, a political appointee who has a background "in both the news media and Conservative politics" and has "long accused the BBC of left-leaning bias." Insiders alleging a "coup" at the BBC have pointed to Gibb as a culprit this week. (He did not respond to the NYT's request for comment.) Alan Rusbridger has more on Gibb for The Observer here.
>> Now Tony Hall, who preceded Tim Davie as the BBC's director general, is "leading calls to end political appointments to the broadcaster's board," Michael Savage reports for The Guardian.
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The Drudge Report's banner headline today is "UFC: GREENE V. TRUMP." The "major political breakup" between Marjorie Taylor Greene and Trump is a top story almost everywhere, including in her native Georgia, where the Atlanta Journal Constitution says the rupture "threatens GOP unity in a critical election year."
It's a tale of two social networks: MTG is on X sharing private text messages (!) and calling out the toxic "political industrial complex" that "thrives on ripping us all apart but never delivers anything good for the American people." Trump is on Truth Social calling her a "traitor." It reminds me a bit of the online war of words between Elon Musk and Trump earlier this year...
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Great weekend reads, part 1️⃣ |
>> With MTG making so much news, it's worth rereading this Jonathan Chait piece from last week, titled "Marjorie Taylor Greene Knows Exactly What She's Doing." He said Greene "appears to be making a bet on inheriting control of MAGA after a failed Trump presidency." (The Atlantic)
>> Trump talked with one of his favorite reporters, Salena Zito, and insisted that "we're working to make things less expensive." (DC Examiner)
>> Adam Serwer's critique of Trump and MAGA media: "The Epstein files were the most important issue in the world, until they weren't." (The Atlantic)
>> Tony Perkins of the conservative Family Research Council says, "Whatever the Epstein files contain — or don't contain — the perception of a cover-up is eroding what little public trust remains." (Washington Stand)
>> Justin Elliott, Joshua Kaplan and Alex Mierjeski report that a "firm tied to Kristi Noem secretly got money from $220 million DHS ad contracts." (ProPublica)
>> Will Weissert went deep on "the 37 donors helping pay for Trump’s $300 million White House ballroom," including Comcast, noting that "very few commented on their contributions when contacted." (The AP)
>> I am sure you've already read Jacob Bernstein's profile of Olivia Nuzzi, but just in case... (NYT)
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Kudos to the editor who came up with this: "Once He Was 'Just Asking Questions.' Now Tucker Carlson Is the Question."
That's the headline atop Robert Draper's must-read piece, which is based on three hours of interviews with Carlson in Florida. Draper found that Carlson "was by turns indignant, reflective and seething" over the outrage about his Nick Fuentes chat. Carlson said "Israel does not matter" to the US, and he wants "to force a rational public conversation about what's in our country’s interest."
>> Republican Jewish Coalition CEO Matthew Brooks says Carlson is "antisemitic-adjacent" at best and is "putting a lot of people in a difficult situation. We're heading into 2028, and one of the key questions that people running for president will face is, 'Do you stand on Tucker Carlson’s side, or the other side?'"
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Disney is back on YouTube TV |
Well that took long enough. Disney and YouTube TV struck a multi-year deal late Friday, ending a two-week blackout, CNN's Liam Reilly reported.
A key detail: ESPN’s new sports streaming platform "will be made available" within YouTube. This means "no need to use the ESPN app to watch content," Lightshed's Rich Greenfield tweeted, calling it the "biggest issue in [the] streaming wars that isn't getting enough attention."
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Pope Leo celebrates cinema |
Pope Leo XIV "held court at the Vatican with an audience of filmmakers, actors and executives" earlier today, "offering calming and encouraging words about the importance of movies and even the challenges facing the business right now," Deadline's Mike Fleming Jr. wrote.
I recommend reading the Pope's remarks in full. One key passage: "The logic of algorithms tends to repeat what 'works,' but art opens up what is possible. Not everything has to be immediate or predictable. Defend slowness when it serves a purpose, silence when it speaks and difference when evocative." Read on...
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>> MSNBC has completed its transition to MS NOW. The rebranding took effect at 7 a.m. ET and looked seamless to me. (Politico)
>> The parent company of Just the News has acquired Human Events and The Post Millennial, "uniting news brands on the right," Ted Johnson reports. Human Events will become a "virtual and live events platform." (Deadline)
>> Trump Media & Technology Group has "re-filed a withdrawn lawsuit against 19 media companies" over negative news coverage, Jeremy Barr reports. (X)
>> A reporter at the Suncoast Searchlight, a nonprofit newsroom in Florida, says she was fired "after raising concerns about an editor's 'undisclosed AI usage' during the writing and editing process, including 'inserting hallucinated quotes,'" Ben Mullin reports. (X)
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Great weekend reads, part 2️⃣ |
>> Meghan Bobrowsky's profile of outgoing Meta chief AI scientist Yann LeCun is the most-read story on the WSJ site today. (WSJ)
>> John Herrman argues that Grokipedia is “ridiculous” but also offers a “glimpse of the future.” (NY Mag)
>> Ken Bensinger asks a question plaguing several industries: "Who pays when A.I. is wrong?" (NYT)
>> Megan Morrone highlights "the risks of giving ChatGPT more personality." (Axios)
>> Reed Showalter argues that YouTube "is mirroring what Google and Facebook did to publishers." (Press Gazette)
>> Vivian Wang describes "how China reached into New York to stop a tiny film festival." (NYT)
>> Michael Idov says James Vanderbilt's new film "Nuremberg" shares "a title and a subject with a Russian feature from 2023," and a "side-by-side comparison speaks volumes." (Air Mail)
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I suppose this was inevitable: "Labubu, the plush toy line of scruffy cute-ugly monsters, could be headed to the big screen," THR's Borys Kit reported Friday. "Sony Pictures "has picked up the screen rights to the Chinese doll brand with the aim of making a movie and, in success, launching a franchise."
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This weekend edition of Reliable Sources was edited by Andrew Kirell and produced with Liam Reilly. Email us your feedback and tips here. We'll be back at our usual time on Monday. |
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