Good morning! PBS stations are urging viewers to contact Congress, Hollywood producers are wondering how to interpret Trump's new tariffs talk, and the Pulitzer Prizes are being awarded later today...
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We all need a civics class |
Courtesy ABC's Schoolhouse Rock
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The biggest news from Sunday's "Meet the Press" was a non-answer. Kristen Welker asked President Trump about his constitutional obligations, "Don't you need to uphold the Constitution of the United States as president?" Trump replied, "I don't know."
Do viewers know? Yes, many do, but many other American news consumers could use a refresher course about the co-equal branches of government. Right now, newsrooms need to do a better job of incorporating Constitution 101 into their reporting. (And while we're at it, maybe "Schoolhouse Rock" needs to make a comeback.)
What are the concrete differences between democracy and autocracy? Why did the US founders set up a system of checks and balances? Is the system working as intended? Why exactly are Trump's power grabs unprecedented? What does it mean that Congress has abdicated its power of the purse?
All of these questions require some unpacking, some explaining, to answer. But it really is a public service to do so.
Just anecdotally, I've noticed a real hunger for stories that explain what Trump can and can't do. By far my most-shared post on Bluesky this spring was a CNN clip holding up the Public Broadcasting Act of 1967 on air and finding nothing in the law that allows a president to defund PBS and NPR.
He's going to try anyway. But I'd argue that too much of the news coverage about Trump's anti-PBS executive order adopted his framing and presented it as though he does have the power to make public media funding disappear.
Trump does not have that power. And the chaos and confusion of his second term has made it difficult for reporters and viewers alike to keep up — making it easier for overreach to go unnoticed or unchecked. But our job is not just to report the news, but to contextualize, explain and educate.
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'No American president has ever...' |
"The sheer volume and intensity of the power grab President Trump has undertaken in the first 100 days of his second term — an assault on legal constraints untethered to any equivalent catastrophe — is unlike anything the United States has experienced," Charlie Savage wrote in The Times the other day.
That's precisely why civics needs to be baked into news coverage.
Some judges have been doing their part by writing with an eye toward public education. On Friday, US District Judge Beryl Howell began her ruling striking down Trump's order targeting the law firm Perkins Coie by observing that "no American President has ever before issued executive orders like the one at issue in this lawsuit."
Howell quoted William Shakespeare, John Adams and the Bill of Rights "as she railed against Trump's directives," CNN's Tierney Sneed wrote. It sounded like a made-for-TV ruling! Except, of course, there are no cameras in federal court and judges ordinarily do not read their rulings aloud.
But nothing is stopping TV anchors or podcasters from doing the reading aloud, or stopping editors from making the rulings easily accessible. (Here's the PDF of Howell's ruling.)
"If the founding history of this country is any guide," Howell wrote in a footnote, "those who stood up in court to vindicate constitutional rights and, by so doing, served to promote the rule of law, will be the models lauded when this period of American history is written."
>> Related: Check out Bright Line Watch's new report this morning on "threats to democracy and academic freedom."
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War on foreign film production? |
Trump "extended his trade war to the cinema" last night by stating on Truth Social that he wants a 100% tariff "on films that are produced outside the United States and imported into America," CNN's David Goldman reports.
The phenomenon of "runaway production" is real, and Trump says "WE WANT MOVIES MADE IN AMERICA, AGAIN!" But "it's not at all clear how such a tariff would be imposed," Goldman writes. "Films are intellectual property, not goods, so they represent a kind of service that is not currently subject to tariffs."
Shares in big Hollywood sector stocks are down in pre-market trading this morning, with Netflix off by more than 4 percent.
If this plan somehow goes through, "cost of production will 🚀🚀🚀🚀," Lightshed's Rich Greenfield tweeted. He posted some of the many questions that are sure to follow: What if a film is shot in another country, but with post-production in the US? "What if only certain parts of movies shot overseas?" Is a tariff "based on footage minutes in each location?" Variety lists seven major questions here...
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Scott Pelley's "60 Minutes" report about "how Trump presidential orders targeting law firms impact the rule of law" aired last night without any sign of the Paramount corporate interference that some staffers feared.
But Paramount's attempts to smooth the way for the Skydance deal take many shapes. Last night, Semafor's
Max Tani reported that the media giant "decided to delay and significantly alter a
'Daily Show'-branded civic participation initiative, out of fear that the Trump administration could use it as a cudgel" to block the deal...
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VOA staffers are in the dark |
As I reported in our special Saturday newsletter, Voice of America's fate is in in flux right now.
Staffers were told that a phased return-to-office would take effect this week, in according with a federal judge's ruling, but then an appeals court paused that ruling. Kari Lake celebrated on X — mere hours after telling those staffers "we look forward to working with you all."
As of this morning, VOA journalists have not heard anything from Lake, and some are guessing that the back-to-work plan is off for the time being...
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PBS to viewers: Contact Congress |
"We have never seen a circumstance like this," PBS CEO Paula Kerger said on "Face the Nation" yesterday. Kerger summarized the Trump admin's multi-pronged push to punish PBS and NPR for perceived bias and said "obviously we're going to be pushing back very hard."
Lawsuits are looming, and stations are activating their audiences against the government pressure. Visitors to PBS websites are shown a red banner that says "the federal funding that supports Public Media is at risk of being eliminated" and directs people to contact Congress directly. A version of this is also popping up in the PBS app, and local stations are being provided with similar promo spots...
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Kicking the TikTok can down the road |
Trump told the aforementioned Kristen Welker that he would the extend TikTok divest-or-sell deadline if no deal is reached by June 19.
As Reuters noted, "Democratic senators argue that Trump has no legal authority to extend the deadline, and suggest that the deal that had been under consideration would not meet legal requirements."
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In case you missed these great reads... |
>> Eli Tan interviewed 80 residents of Oakdale, Calif. for an outstanding story about the changing info diets of ordinary citizens. Folks there "have abandoned traditional media outlets for a mishmash of online sources," and the results are... well... you should read it. (NYT)
>> The "hottest right-wing media outlet" is... the Trump White House, Neal Rothschild observed. (Axios)
>> "Why is everyone mad at this running influencer?" Olivia Craighead wrote about the backlash to Kate Mackz's chat with Karoline Leavitt. (The Cut)
>> Speaking of Leavitt, Ben Goggin compiled a list of attendees at last week's "influencer briefings," and the list was explicitly pro-Trump. (NBC News)
>> The AP's Joe Federman, DW's Tania Krämer and CNN's Jeremy Diamond penned an op-ed renewing the call for Israel to let international journalists into Gaza. (Haaretz)
>> A modern-day "Truman Show" or something much worse? On Page One of Sunday's Post, Drew Harwell profiled a 24/7 streamer named Emily. (WaPo)
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MSNBC launches new schedule |
MSNBC's rebooted weekend slate started Saturday, and now its new weekday evening schedule will take effect. "The Weeknight," with co-hosts Symone Sanders Townsend, Michael Steele and Alicia Menendez, debuts at 7pm. On Mondays, it runs for two hours, leading into "The Rachel Maddow Show." With Maddow now back to her once-a-week schedule, "The Briefing with Jen Psaki" will start in the 9pm slot on Tuesday.
>> Poynter's Tom Jones spoke with Psaki for the latest edition of "The Poynter Report Podcast"...
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Also coming up this week... |
This afternoon: This year's Pulitzer Prize winners are named at 3pm ET.
Tonight: The Met Gala! Anna Wintour sat down with Michael Strahan for a preview on today's "GMA."
Tuesday: Bill Belichick's memoir hits stores.
Wednesday: Truth Tellers, the third annual Sir Harry Evans Investigative Journalism Summit, takes place in London. (I'll be speaking.)
Wednesday: Disney and The New York Times Co. report earnings before the bell.
Thursday: Warner Bros. Discovery (CNN's parent) releases earnings before the bell, and Paramount after the close.
Sunday: Mother's Day!
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>> New this morning: The New Yorker's centenary celebration continues this week with a new issue celebrating New York City. (New Yorker)
>> The papal conclave that begins Wednesday rivals the drama of the movie Conclave, the Journal says in this story comparing the scripted and unscripted versions. (WSJ)
>> Nada Tawfik landed an exclusive interview with Prince Harry; here's what he was like. (BBC)
>> Leah Asmelash described how "recession indicators" have become a running joke on social media. (CNN)
>> "Journalism doesn't pay." Michael Dixon rounded up the best jokes that were made when Sovereignty beat Journalism at the Kentucky Derby. (Awful Announcing)
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Diddy jury selection begins today |
Jury selection in the federal criminal trial of Sean "Diddy" Combs will begin today. In this excellent piece, Sandra Gonzalez explains why jury selection "will be more challenging than your average case..." |
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"Marvel and Disney Thunderbolts* soared to the top of the domestic chart with an estimated domestic opening of $76 million from 4,330 theaters, slightly ahead of expectations," THR's Pamela McClintock reports. "Ryan Coogler's sleeper sensation Sinners enjoyed a phenomenal third weekend as it came in second," and "Warners' decision to hold 'rowdy' screenings of A Minecraft Movie seems to have paid off as it climbed back up the chart to third place."
>> Spoiler alert: If you want know why there is an asterisk in Thunderbolts* Screen Rant has a handy explanation here.
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