TGIT. Here's the latest from the FT, The AP, The FCC, Joel Simon, Bill Gates, Scarlett Johansson, Reddit, and more...
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Elon Musk once bragged that his social network X "is by far the most interesting place on the Internets." The company’s CEO Linda Yaccarino said "if it's happening in the world — it's happening on X."
More recently, the slogan "it's all happening at X" has been commandeered by critics of the platform who say X is full of racist rhetoric, disinformation and other objectionable material. But for anyone who wants to know what's happening with President Trump's return to power, it's true – it is all happening on X.
This is as much a made-for-X presidency as a made-for-TV one. Homeland Security officials post photos of immigration raids. State Department officials post TikTok-style vertical videos of Marco Rubio's travels. Transportation officials post confirmation that pilot charts will start to reference "Gulf of America" instead of the Gulf of Mexico.
Posting comes naturally to some members of Trump's cabinet, like Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, who routinely promoted his Fox shows on social media. Now he posts video clips of his meetings and, on Tuesday, candid shots of his workout with Green Berets in Germany.
Some of the posts seem intended specifically to impress the president. (Yes, he's still posting elsewhere, on his Truth Social, but his account often features screen grabs of pro-Trump tweets, and copies of his messages routinely garner more "likes" and reposts on X than they do on Truth Social...)
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Making sure everyone sees the show |
The X-centric approach starts from the top, specifically with Musk, who tweets incessantly, sometimes more than one hundred times a day, almost always in service of his anti-bureaucracy campaign. By the time fact-checkers point out the faulty premises of some Musk posts, he's on to the next subject.
@DOGE is posting daily updates about contract terminations. And others in the government are following Musk and DOGE’s lead. To apply the language of Hollywood, Trump picked performers from "central casting" and told them to make sure everyone sees their show, both on Fox News and on X.
The word is trickling down. The WSJ reported this week that acting deputy attorney general Emil Bove "personally called FBI supervisors in several cities to make sure they were enforcing Trump’s immigration agenda and posting pictures of their work on social media."
The point: Enforcing the agenda isn't sufficient; posting the pictures on social media is also part of the assignment. Trumpworld's high-profile presence on X is both a projection of power and a nonstop promotional reel for the president.
Here's my new CNN.com column all about this, with new examples of Trump loyalists questioning the authority of the judicial and legislative branches using Musk's platform...
>> Meanwhile, alternative sites like Bluesky are hubs for the "resistance..."
>> Related: Semafor's Dave Weigel describes how "fake, viral conspiracies on X" are an evolving problem for politicians, particularly Democrats...
>> Oh, and BTW, X has settled Trump's lawsuit over his January 6 suspension...
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Sure sounds that way. The Trump White House blocked an AP reporter from an Oval Office event again yesterday, even though the AP was listed as being part of the long-established press pool. The news agency's exec editor Julie Pace sent a letter to Trump chief of staff Susie Wiles signaling a likely legal challenge. "The AP is prepared to vigorously defend its constitutional rights," Pace wrote.
Last night an AP spokesperson pointed out that this standoff is about more than just one wire service. The White House is preventing reporters "from doing their job" covering the president, the rep said, and "this sets an alarming precedent that has the potential to affect every news outlet."
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This is a 'horrible new standard' |
Jake Tapper talked about the "chilling effect" on "The Lead" yesterday. He asked: "Will it be OK with the MAGA movement if a future president" – he imagined Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez – "bans news outlets from entering the Oval Office because they don't use her terminology?"
He concluded, "Enjoy presidents deciding access based on compliance with the words that they like. It is a horrible new standard, and everyone applauding it is going to hate it soon enough."
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Political media notes and quotes |
>> The "legal and regulatory onslaught targeting US media organizations that could intensify in the coming weeks, especially if Kash Patel is confirmed by the Senate as FBI director," Joel Simon writes. (CJR)
>> Ken Bensinger documents "how Elon Musk and the right are trying to recast reporting as 'doxxing.'" (NYT)
>> David Gilmour debunks the president's latest totally unfounded claim about Reuters. (Mediaite)
>> What about your local weather report? "NOAA imposes limits on scientists, sparking concerns over global forecasts." (The Guardian)
>> MAGA media watch: Stuart A. Thompson notes that Trump's phrase "common sense" "has become a constant refrain on Fox News." (NYT)
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Old-fashioned print products are newly useful right now because they require editors with lots of expertise to pick and choose the most important stories of the past 24 hours from, ya know, hundreds of story options. This morning the top story on almost every print front page is the new U.S. push to end Russia's war in Ukraine. |
On "CNN This Morning," Jim Sciutto addressed the rewriting of the history of the war: "Yesterday President Trump said this was 'not a good war for Ukraine to get into.' As if Russia's full scale invasion was Ukraine's choice. It wasn't." He recounted what really happened and said, "Those facts have not changed. Only the politics in this country."
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The Senate is expected to confirm Robert F. Kennedy Jr. as Health and Human Services Secretary later this morning. RFK has his first TV interview lined up: It'll be with Fox's Laura Ingraham and will air on her Fox show tonight at 7 p.m. ET... |
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FCC probes DEI at Comcast |
The FCC "has alerted Comcast that it will begin an investigation into the diversity, equity and inclusion efforts at the media giant," CNBC's Lillian Rizzo writes. I talked about this with Abby Phillip on NewsNight last night. As Business Insider's Peter Kafka says, "it would be naive to think that" chair Brendan Carr "is going after Comcast because he has a problem with the company's HR practices alone..."
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>> Shortest "interim presidency" ever! Rebecca Kutler is now MSNBC president without the interim label. (Variety)
>> Morning Brew cofounder Austin Rief is moving up/over to executive chairman. (Adweek)
>> Jeffrey Toobin is now a contributing Opinion writer at The New York Times. (X)
>> Bill Gates' memoir is debuting at #1 on the NYT best seller list. (NYT)
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Paramount channels might go dark on YouTube TV |
Channels owned by Paramount Global, including CBS, Comedy Central and MTV, will soon disappear from YouTube TV "if the two companies don’t reach a contract renewal," CNN's Jordan Valinsky reports. The deadline is late tonight. YouTube TV says "we're still in active conversations..." |
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Fox says it regrets those Kanye ads |
Days after the commercial controversy erupted, Fox Television Stations CEO Jack Abernethy "sent a note to staffers addressing the Kanye West Yeezy.com advertisement that ran in three of its markets," Variety's Michael Schneider scooped on Wednesday.
Abernethy said "we regret that these commercials aired in these three markets, and we strongly condemn any form of antisemitism." Here's the memo...
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'We must call out the misuse of AI' |
An AI-generated deepfake video of celebrities appearing to respond to Kanye West's antisemitic remarks is drawing attention – and a demand for change.
Scarlett Johansson "is condemning antisemitism and calling for legislation to protect the public from AI" after the video went viral, Elizabeth Wagmeister reports.
Johansson says "we must call out the misuse of AI, no matter its messaging, or we risk losing a hold on reality." Read on...
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More of today's tech talk |
>> Musk says "he would withdraw his $97.4 billion bid for the nonprofit that controls OpenAI if the board stopped its conversion to a for-profit company." (WSJ)
>> Videos with AI-faked versions of Trump and Musk's voices "are gaining a massive number of views on TikTok, showing that the platform is also suffering from the onslaught of AI-generated slop that has flooded every corner of the internet," Emanuel Maiberg writes. (404 Media)
>> "Adobe's Sora-rivaling AI video generator is now available for everyone," Jess Weatherbed reports. (The Verge)
>> Hollywood writers are "urging entertainment companies to take legal action against A.I. firms that they allege are using writers' work to train AI models without their permission," saying they need more protection, Wendy Lee writes. (LAT)
>> Q4 earnings watch: Market darling Reddit once again posted huge revenue and net income growth. I mean envy-of-the-industry growth. But its user numbers were weaker than expected... (CNBC)
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>> Former World Wrestling Entertainment boss Vince McMahon is apparently off the federal hook. McMahon has "long been an ally of Trump." (Beast)
>> John Malone is writing a memoir for Simon & Schuster. (Deadline)
>> Counting up the $$$: "Fox and Tubi brought in more than $800 million in advertising sales" tied to Super Bowl LIX. (THR)
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Diddy sues NBCU for defamation |
Elizabeth Wagmeister says: Sean “Diddy” Combs has filed a $100 million defamation suit against NBCUniversal for its Peacock documentary, "Diddy: The Making of a Bad Boy," which began streaming last month.
Combs claims that the documentary peddled false accusations of sex trafficking, sexual assault of minors and even murder, causing severe reputational and economic damage to the rapper, who is currently incarcerated as he awaits his criminal trial.
An attorney for Combs tells CNN that the documentary lacked the "basic standards of professional journalism" in a race to "outdo their competition for the most salacious Diddy exposé" and "capitalize on the public’s appetite for scandal without any regard for the truth and at the expense of Mr. Combs’s right to a fair trial."
A spokesperson for Peacock has not yet responded to CNN’s request for comment regarding the nine-figure lawsuit.
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>> Apple "is set to announce that it’s expanding the TV+ streaming video service to Android phones for the first time," Mark Gurman scoops. (Bloomberg)
>> "The first reviews are in" for "Captain America: Brave New World," and "while there are some positive takes, many are saying the film is mediocre or worse." (Forbes)
>> And the teaser trailer is out for the sixth and final season of "The Handmaid's Tale," which will debut on Hulu on April 8. (YouTube)
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