Briefer Madness: The daily coronavirus briefings are driving the media crazy
A column yesterday by the New York Times' Ben Smith on the relationship between Gov. Andrew Cuomo and his brother, CNN's Chris Cuomo, asked an important series of questions: "Do you strive to project an impossible ideal of total objectivity? Or do you reveal more of yourself, on Twitter or on Instagram and in your home?"
The implication is that the way CNN's Cuomo, who is now hosting his show from his home while he recovers from coronavirus, emotes, and shares personal moments with his brother, the governor of New York, supersedes the importance of striving for objectivity. And in many ways, I agree. The problem is, that's not a compromise Cuomo, and his fellow colleagues in the media today, are comfortable making. They want the veneer of objectivity and they want to be able to spill their emotions while building their personal brands.
But most importantly, they want to be essentially #Resistance leaders while maintaining a "journalist" label. And in this time of coronavirus, it's happening more glaringly. A variety of outlets are trying to find any way they can to call into question President Trump's continued push for hydroxychloroquine use to counter coronavirus. While there's anecdotal evidence to support it working for many people - including celebrities and media members - it certainly should only be tried if a doctor prescribes it.
But the push to counter this narrative has led to sloppy reporting, like this from NBC - which claims to highlight side effects of the drug, but also notes "hydroxychloroquine is likely to be safe for 90 percent of the population." And then we have the New York Times making it seem like Trump is trying to profit off the hydroxychloroquine advice, despite there being clear evidence that's not the case. Then there's NBC practically reporting China propaganda in an effort to contrast with the Trump administration response.
Still, the most illuminating media moments these days are the daily coronavirus briefings, which include the media sparring with Trump, and the President gladly getting down in the mud with them. It's petty and juvenile by all, and doesn't serve the public. And it's making the media go a little crazy.
The key "tell" you need to look for with media members in the briefings, and media members talking about the briefings, is if they're talking style, or substance. Are they talking about what Trump said, or how he said it? Are they getting outraged about his answers, or his tone? Because there is much to question the administration about during this crisis - as there would be with any administration. But so much of the media coverage is not about substance at all. It's about feelings.
"Did you hear his sneering tone about the inspector general, who's a woman, by the way," said Don Lemon last night, "Every single day berating people, lying...Americans, are you mad as hell? How much more are you going to take?"
Then you have Cuomo tonight, describing "the most asinine statement of leadership I have ever heard," dropping a "bullshit" live on-air, to really play up that emoting. | | Honestly, what is Cuomo still doing on the air right now? He said he has a 102 degree fever. America will survive if you take a few nights off and try to get better, rather than getting worked up about the press briefing outrage du jour. Chris, take a break, man.
The Daily Beast's Sam Stein yesterday was very offended by the lack of solidarity in the room. "When he speaks like that to @jonkarl the other reporters in the room need to call it out, in real time, as counterproductive, offensive, etc." he tweeted after Trump insulted the (excellent) ABC reporter. New York Magazine's Josh Barro pushed back: "The thing I find wild about liberals on Twitter who think the mainstream press is not adversarial enough to the president is that the press is extremely adversarial to the president. The pretense of objectivity is gone. But he continues to be president, thus the press has failed."
Some journalists know this - including Karl himself, the ABC reporter Stein jumped to the defense of on Twitter, and who Lemon was so outraged about Trump insulting. Karl is one of the few journalists left in that room every day, and he does solid work, without trying to build his personal brand or let feelings get in the way of trying to do his job, and serve the public. "We're not the opposition party. We're supposed to report and report aggressively on the president, on any president, but not to go over the top," he told the Free Beacon recently.
Karl's just-released book takes aim at his colleague, CNN's Jim Acosta, as an example of how not to be a journalist. "The surest way to undermine the credibility of the White House press corps is to behave like the political opposition," he writes.
I don't doubt how emotionally invested, and emotionally exhausted, some in the media are over feeling like they are in an existential fight with the leader of the free world. But it's not helping anyone - particularly not the American people - to let it become the guiding principle of your coverage. We're in a time of crisis. A strong, competent press can be a huge asset. Instead, our media is largely consumed with one-upping the reality TV host now occupying the Oval Office, and taking everything far too personally. | | The CNN-to-White House pipeline brings a new press secretary to the mix
CNN has enjoyed tracking the "Fox News to White House" pipeline of talent who has left the right-leaning news network and made their way to the Trump administration in some capacity. Now CNN has a former contributor of their own making their way to the White House, as former CNN contributor Kayleigh McEnany was named White House press secretary today
McEnany was a regular Trump surrogate on CNN during the 2016 campaign (as many have noted, she also, like Trump, has some birther tweets in her past, dating back to 2012). The Washington Examiner's Tiana Lowe writes today, "CNN plucked McEnany out of nowhere and invented her."
Which, in some ways, is true. But it actually goes back further than 2016. Back in 2013, when I was the Senior Digital Producer at CNN, I was brought in to help launch a prime time talk show, featuring a panel of hosts, like "The Five" on Fox News. We wanted a diverse mix of voices - from a variety of disciplines. New faces, in particular.
I knew McEnany from Twitter and her now-defunct website, and helped get her in the mix for the show. Ultimately, she hosted the debut episode of "(Get To) The Point" - along with Jason Taylor (former NFL player), Margaret Hoover, Donny Deutsch and Rick Reilly (former sports columnist). | | McEnany did great, but the show... was not a hit. It lasted just five episodes.
Anyway, that's actually how McEnany got her start on CNN, and in the spotlight, in general. She's done well for herself, continuing to make appearances regularly on TV in her role as spokesperson for the RNC, and then most recently as press secretary for the Trump re-election campaign.
She replaces Stephanie Grisham, who was a press secretary in name only - she held exactly zero briefings. McEnany has the opportunity to change that - and she should. Press briefings are great for the public, and when America gets through this crisis, they should be brought back regularly.
The media will clash with McEnany, as they did with Sarah Sanders before. But she can handle it, and the give-and-take is healthy for our democracy. | | Quibi is here. Will it change the media landscape forever? Quibi is the much-hyped, massively-funded, mobile-first new content app, serving up "quick bites" of all sorts of content. Launched yesterday, the aim is to reach a mass audience, by serving up entertainment, news and all sorts of other programming - in 10-minute-or-less episodes. I've been clicking around a bit, and am intrigued. From a purely technical perspective, I'm fascinated by the ease with which it flips from horizontal to vertical video. So while watching Chance the Rapper in a new iteration of "Punk'd," you can flip your phone and the screen changes seamlessly. Shows I'll be looking for include the "60 Minutes" version "60 In 6," coming soon. NBC and ESPN have shows too. I'll dig in more and have some more comprehensive thoughts on Sunday. Emily VanDerWerff of Vox has a really interesting, lengthy take, if quite negative (bonus points for the editorial firewall at Vox, where Quibi ads are plastered all over this review). It concludes: "Quibi does not de facto have value because it's spent enough money to convince people it has value. It is a flawed product, starting from a flawed premise, and the idea that it is worth talking about because it has purchased your attention (and mine) is so much of what's wrong with America in the 21st century. The service is another naked emperor in a land full of them. So why are we looking for cool new fashions when the bare ass is visible from miles away?" Have you checked out Quibi? Let me know what you think at FourthWatch@TheFirstTV.com. | | | More geographic bias as Acela Media hot spots stay in coronavirus spotlight
A widely-shared New York Times interactive article attempted to make the case about "where America didn't stay home" - using cell phone data to imply it was the dumb southerners who aren't adhering to social distancing guidelines. The data was flawed, to begin with - if you're trying to measure coronavirus response by which counties still had residents traveling two miles or more, that's ignoring the fact that many areas require a trip of that distance to get "essentials" - like to a grocery store or the pharmacy.
Thankfully, the country is not seeing a massive amount of coronavirus outbreaks. Outside of New York, New Jersey, Louisiana and Michigan, most states continue to have it largely under control, for now. We pray this remains the case. But the totals, per capita, are staggering. New York is at 280 deaths per 1 million residents. In Texas, we're currently at just 6.
Meanwhile, in the Acela Media centers, New York and DC are experiencing serious issues with keeping residents from violating social distancing rules.
So many in the media are looking for a scapegoat. The better solution - like most of the country, unite in this challenging time, and stop trying to blame others through preconceived geographic bias. | | QUICK HITS
- Newsweek turned a nice post about kids making crosses in a Georgia neighborhood into an absurd story about bigotry. Erick Erickson has the first-person account.
- The editor of The Hollywood Reporter, Matthew Belloni, is out after what appears to be serious tension over editorial input of ownership.
- Andrew Stiles of the Free Beacon gets to one of the most important media stories of the moment - which TV personalities have the best home studios? | | WATCH IT... Tucker Carlson's segment on the massively incorrect models predicting far more dire hospital situations due to coronavirus than have actually materialized is a must-watch. On one hand, great news. On the other - why was it so wrong? The part about New York Gov. Cuomo is particularly important.
HEAR IT... I enjoyed this lengthy interview between Will Cain of ESPN and Rich Kleiman, Kevin Durant's business partner. The interview goes deep on Kleiman's life and work, but also makes some news on what may be to come for the NBA season.
READ IT... Mark Halperin has turned his newsletter into a really essential coronavirus read, wide-ranging and full of a variety of storylines, relevant links and video interviews. Subscribe here. | |
⏪REWIND // FAST FORWARD: TALK SHOW EDITION ⏩
⏪ With all the bad news, sharing the incredible, heartwarming makeshift talk show from John Krasinski every week is going to be automatic.
⏩ America's top late night hosts - Fallon, Colbert and Kimmel - are uniting for a great cause. The event takes place April 18. | | | MORE TK
My next "BCC Interview" is coming Sunday, with Fox News host Greg Gutfeld. I've been a longtime fan, and occasional drinking buddy, of Gutfeld's from back when he hosted the cult classic 3am show "Red Eye." One of the issues we emailed about was the coronavirus coverage that's coming. Said Gutfeld: "When this is over, it will never be over, in the opinion-verse. The prison of two ideas will be this: We flattened the curve and saved tons of lives - or the disease wasn't what it was cracked up to be." Full interview will be in Sunday's newsletter.
| | | GREAT MOMENTS IN JOURNALISM | | | Yet another example of how journalists apparently don't understand how math works. | | Thanks for reading. Stay safe...
- Steve Krakauer
@SteveKrak | | | |
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