Hey, happy Monday. Here's the latest on Pam Bondi, PBS, Rosie O'Donnell, Fox News, Elmo, DC Studios, the Miami Herald, and much more... |
The conspiracy-soaked culture that propelled President Trump to political power is now coming for him.
Some of the most influential voices in right-wing media are rejecting his call to stop wasting "time and energy on Jeffrey Epstein."
In this new column, I say the online outrage highlights a vulnerability for Trump and an unfortunate reality about the incentive structure of this social media era. In short, it's that conspiracy theories keep people watching, sharing and playing along, even about a topic as lurid as sex trafficking. So it makes sense that many people are insisting on further info about Epstein and his connections to powerful people.
Here are three key points to keep in mind as this news cycle continues into a second week:
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>> Epstein's last name has become shorthand for a much bigger conspiracy theory. His crimes, and his 2019 suicide while awaiting trial on federal sex-trafficking charges, are just a piece of an imagined plot to abuse children at an industrial scale. "The Epstein story mattered so much in MAGA circles because it was a key element in their indictment of America’s so-called ruling class," David French explained in today's NYT.
>> The Trump admin promised to publish more, then reneged. The binders that Pam Bondi handed out to social media influencers in February were misleadingly labeled "The Epstein Files: Phase 1," so of course people expected a "Phase 2."
>> Influencers feel pressure to feed the algorithms. Right-wing networks and social media sites have long rewarded hyperbolic rhetoric and reckless speculation. Algorithms don’t necessarily want answers; they want engagement, and asking questions about an alleged government coverup definitely stokes engagement. "It's very clear the algorithm wants some Epstein answers every bit as much as many of us do," conservative host Steve Deace said over the weekend.
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How this relates to 'birtherism' and QAnon |
Mike Davis, a former legal adviser to Trump with close ties to the admin, posted to X that the sex-ring evidence many right-wing media stars have demanded to see simply does not exist. "The FBI doesn't have the evidence many thought it did. There are not tapes with powerful men raping kids. There is not a list," he wrote.
Judging from some of the replies to Davis, this attempt to deflate the conspiracy-mongering has inflated it even more. Trump was similarly "ratioed" by MAGA loyalists over the weekend. Some commenters now claim the Trump admin is trying to bury the truth. It's a stunning turn of events since conspiracy-theorizing has historically helped Trump enormously.
Think about it: Trump's "birther" lie arguably birthed his political career and directly boosted his popularity with Republican voters. Now he is now increasingly the target of his base's conspiratorial thinking — the same position he put Barack Obama in.
>> You can't really understand the MAGA base's sense of betrayal without understanding "QAnon" and the long-held belief that Trump is secretly at war against a cabal of Democrat child abusers. Online guessing games about the "Epstein list" are an outgrowth of that conspiracy theory. Here's my full column.
>> Mike Cernovich, who received one of those binders last winter, wrote last night: "Trump's persuasive power over his base, especially during his first term, was almost magical... The reaction on Epstein should thus be startling to him. No one is buying it. No one is dropping it."
>> Here's my own theory: Some people have been so hooked on the speculation that they don't want answers at all.
🔌 For more on all this, check out Betsy Klein's new CNN piece about this "unprecedented loyalty test between the president and the movement he created."
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Liam Reilly writes: Rosie O'Donnell responded to Trump's Truth Social claim that she's a "threat to humanity" by sharing a very old photo of the president and Jeffrey Epstein together with the caption, "18 years later and I still live rent-free in that collapsing brain of yours." O'Donnell also sat down with Ireland's RTÉ Radio 1 and said she continues to get under Trump's skin because "we grew up in the same area," adding, "I think I remind him of all the kids at school who never liked him." The Daily Beast's Corbin Bolies has more here...
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PBS, NPR face Friday deadline |
Republican infighting over Trump's DOGE cuts package will "take center stage" this week as Friday's "rescissions" deadline looms, as CNN's Sarah Ferris, Ted Barrett and Manu Raju report here. The Corporation for Public Broadcasting hangs in the balance, with $1.1 billion in local media funding at serious risk.
>> As I wrote last week, Sen. Susan Collins may try to preserve some public media $$$ while stripping funding from NPR's DC HQ.
>> Looking ahead: "If the package passes, the federal funding for public media will dry up beginning in October," the NYT's Ben Mullin writes in this new story. The national networks will survive but the cuts could be "a death sentence for some stations."
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Also coming up this week... |
Tuesday: This year's Emmy nominations are announced at 11:30am ET.
Tuesday: New releases include Michael Grynbaum's "Empire of the Elite: Inside Condé Nast, the Media Dynasty That Reshaped America."
Thursday: Netflix reports earnings after the bell.
Friday: The "rescission" deadline on Capitol Hill.
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Expect to hear more this week about talks between David Ellison and Bari Weiss as Skydance pursues a possible acquisition of The Free Press. If you missed my take on why CBS + The FP makes sense from our special Saturday edition, here's the link. I heard from some readers who strongly disagreed, pointing to the ideological bent of some FP content. One widely shared critique of The FP from earlier this year called the publication merely a "more artful and less shrill version of the anti-woke alarmism that permeates the right-wing media ecosystem."
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The 'audience of one' effect |
Advertisers are flocking to Fox News "seeking an 'audience of one' – Donald Trump," the FT's Daniel Thomas and Anna Nicolaou wrote after interviewing Fox Corp ad sales president Jeff Collins.
>> "News has always attracted advertisers that are trying to reach influential folks, but I think a lot of folks are aware that the president and a lot of the folks in his administration are watching the network," Collins said. "We're seeing a lot of advertiser demand that are coming in for that audience, whether it's an audience of one or an audience of 12 . . . we're seeing quite a bit of demand for that."
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'Elon calls all the shots' |
That's what an ad executive who knows both Musk and Linda Yaccarino told the FT for this piece about what went wrong for X's CEO. Yaccarino "tried to ride the tiger but was thrown off," the exec added.
The story includes some examples of how "the pair failed to gel." In recent weeks, "Musk took several unilateral decisions around advertising." Also, "Yaccarino thought Musk was not focused enough on child safety, an issue important to her."
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>> Another sign of the sick antisemitic times: "Elmo's X account was hacked on Sunday, causing the beloved 'Sesame Street' character to appear to post expletive-filled antisemitic rants and anti-Trump statements," Issy Ronald reports. (CNN)
>> "The BBC is examining a significant outsourcing drive that could put thousands of jobs at risk as it desperately searches for savings." (The Guardian)
>> "Netflix and YouTube are increasingly locked in a fierce battle for control over the television set, a rivalry that even Netflix's executives can no longer deny," John Koblin writes. (NYT)
>> Amazon has delayed "Alexa's web debut — and a faceoff with ChatGPT," Caroline O'Donovan reports. (WaPo)
>> ICYMI: David Enrich had a disconcerting story over the weekend about UnitedHealth's "campaign to quiet critics." One of the examples: A legal letter to Amazon and Vimeo that succeeded in getting a documentary removed. (NYT)
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Miami Herald shows how to do it |
The Miami Herald/Tampa Bay Times obtained a list "of more than 700 people who have been detained or appear to be scheduled to be sent" to the "Alligator Alcatraz" facility. The reporters didn't just write about the surprising findings, they published the full list in database form, potentially helping people find their loved ones. They also asked the public for help: "Do you know someone who is being detained at Alligator Alcatraz? We'd like to hear from you."
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BBC ends 'MasterChef' host relationship |
The BBC "has officially severed ties with longtime 'MasterChef' presenter Gregg Wallace following the publication of an independent investigation into his conduct, marking the end of his 20-year tenure on the flagship culinary competition series," Naman Ramachandran reports for Variety.
>> "A decision has not yet been made about the new series of MasterChef which was filmed last year, with Wallace in it," the BBC's own story notes...
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'Superman' wins the weekend... |
"It was 'up, up and away' for James Gunn's 'Superman' reboot, which finished No. 1 at the box office with a $122 million opening weekend," CNN's Auzinea Bacon writes. The film made another $100 million plus globally. Gunn celebrated the win on Instagram, saying, "I'm happy to have made a movie that focuses on the 'man' part of the equation — a kind person always looking out for those in need."
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...and keeps Warner Bros. streak going |
Here is Brooks Barnes' NYT headline about the weekend box office: "With $217 Million in Ticket Sales, 'Superman' Helps Save Warner Bros., Too." Barnes notes that the new "Superman" is "the latest part of a startling turnaround for the studio, which has now released five consecutive hits."
"'Superman' is just the first step," David Zaslav said in a statement. "Over the next year alone, DC Studios will introduce the films 'Supergirl' and 'Clayface' in theaters and the series 'Lanterns' on HBO Max, all part of a bold ten-year plan. The DC vision is clear, the momentum is real, and I couldn't be more excited for what's ahead."
>> It's time for our regular reminder that CNN and Warner Bros. are both owned by WBD. (For now.)
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Thank you to everyone who flagged our misspelling of "sui generis" over the weekend. Dozens of Reliable readers wrote in, proving that you are one of the most orthographically adept audiences in all of media! Your humble author, on the other hand, has never even achieved "Genius" in the NYT's Spelling Bee game.
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