David Folkenflik
@davidfolkenflik
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NPR media correspondent || Author, Murdoch's World || "Relentlessly sensible"
New York, N.Y.
Joined December 2007
Ok folks! I’m now also over on the place where the skies are blue. Same handle as ever . Still here and on 🧵 s . Come say hi 👋🏼
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NEWS: More than 200,000 subscribers have canceled their digital subscriptions to the Washington Post after the revelation that owner Jeff Bezos blocked an endorsement of VP Harris. That's about 8 percent of WaPo's subscriber base - a staggering sum .MORE.
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From NPR’s @QuilLawrence: Arlington National Cemetery officials say Trump campaign staff verbally abused and pushed aside cemetery official who objected to filming and photography at gravesites . More below and to follow on NPR
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Family-owned Seattle Times says "Hell, Yes!" in endorsing Harris, throwing shade at owners of WashPost (and LAT and USA Today) for recent decisions not to weigh in editorially. h/t @martinkaste
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Former WaPost Executive Editor Marty Baron on paper's decision not to endorse in WH race:. "This is cowardice, a moment of darkness that will leave democracy as a casualty. ". MORE BELOW:.
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UPDATE: The number of cancellations since Friday’s revelation now exceeds 250,000, NPR can report. That represents approximately 10 percent of all paid circulation.
NEWS: More than 200,000 subscribers have canceled their digital subscriptions to the Washington Post after the revelation that owner Jeff Bezos blocked an endorsement of VP Harris. That's about 8 percent of WaPo's subscriber base - a staggering sum .MORE.
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UPDATE: Robert Kagan confirms to NPR that he has resigned from WaPost editorial board after disclosure it would not make an announcement. Kagan has been a persistent conservative critic of Trump, tying him to an autocratic tradition. Uniformly outraged response from staff.
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WaPost's @DavidHoffman has stepped down from the paper's editorial board warning of appeasing tyranny. From his resignation:."For decades, the Washington Post's editorials have been a beacon of light, signaling hope to dissidents, political prisoners and the voiceless. MORE.
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As I reported on the air tonight, the Washington Post registered 1600+ cancelations of digital subscriptions in the first three hours after my story broke, according to internal WP correspondence I’ve reviewed. That’s bananas.
What is going on with Bezos's decision not to let the Washington Post endorse Harris for President?. Get all the deets on NPR's All Things Considered.I'll be talking to @jmsummers once more. My story from earlier today that broke the news.
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The 73 minutes in which the Murdochs dumped Trump:. The NY Post editorial page: "Trump's silence on Jan 6 is damning" - 5.39pm Friday. The WSJ editorial page: "The President Who Stood Still on Jan. 6" - 6.52pm Friday.
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News: JURY FINDS NEW YORK TIMES NOT LIABLE IN PALIN V NYT & JAMES BENNET . Unanimous verdict of all nine jurors polled.
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Update: I have spoken with three people with knowledge of Fox's ouster of Tucker Carlson. They say Carlson's digital exchanges captured by the Dominion legal team echo the suite of concerns alleged by his ex producer - that his show's workplace was defined by sexism and bigotry.
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There is no more telling way to convey the corruption inherent in having a Trump branded property just blocks from a Trump White House than its desolation a week into the Biden era.
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Mini update: The furor at the WaPo is such that its chief tech officer is getting engineers to block Qs about its decision to not make an endorsement pm the Post's own AI site search, . This according to internal WP correspondence I've reviewed.
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If only Harvard had a bank account with vast sums of money it could dip into to help set a model for appropriate corporate responsibility during times of national crisis.
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Wash Post Exec Editor Matt Murray is holding an all-staff - claims he can't confirm cancellation numbers and doesn't know what they are. This has triggered "an anger bordering on incredulity," one attendee says: "Widespread fury about an obvious lie from the editor in chief.".
UPDATE: The number of cancellations since Friday’s revelation now exceeds 250,000, NPR can report. That represents approximately 10 percent of all paid circulation.
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NEWS: The Washington Post will not be making an endorsement in this year's presidential race, the editor of the editorial pages has told colleagues at a tense meeting this morning. THREAD AND LINK:
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We're watching Nielsen's credibility self-destruct before our eyes. It is what happens when you agree to defend the seemingly indefensible on the basis of falsehoods and lies.
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Not words I expected to type, but between Trump's clarion call that he wants to block funds for the USPS to thwart voting by mail, and revelations of the Postmaster General's severe appearance of conflict of interest, the Postal Service should perhaps be the top story of the day.
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NEWS: Rupert Murdoch to be deposed under oath by lawyers for Dominion Voting Systems on mornings of Jan 19 & 20th, according to court filings. It will take place at Fox Studio lot - part of $1.6B defamation suit agst Fox News & Fox Corp over claims of election fraud in 2020.
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Seriously. The Trump campaign said it would release video that would exonerate staffers if people kept reporting that they had berated and shoved an Arlington National Cemetery official who sought to prevent what she said were violations of the law. It still hasn’t.
Day 4!.
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After a week, here's what we're left with:. No video, no exoneration on Trump side. Journalists and lawmakers should push for answers and more materials. If either side - the Trump campaign or the US Army - isn't telling the truth, that should be known. And knowable.
Now 6.
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Marty Baron, con't:. "Donald Trump will celebrate this as an invitation to further intimidate The Post’s owner, Jeff Bezos (and other media owners). History will mark a disturbing chapter of spinelessness at an institution famed for courage.". My story:
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NEWS: More than 400 Washington Post journalists - including some of its most distinguished reporters & editors - have sent plea to owner Jeff Bezos to intervene at the paper. While not citing CEO Will Lewis by name, it casts a harsh light on his leadership./more.
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Bloomberg News Killed An Investigation of Chinese Ruling Elites And Fired Its Reporter. Then It Sought To Silence The Reporter's Wife. My NPR story - including never before heard audio of Mike Bloomberg and former Bloomber News chief Matthew Winkler
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For those taking the press conference live:. If you're in the news business, it's malpractice to carry Giuliani's press conference live at length without any cut ins to note the myriad ways the public record contradicts him.
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Three of top 10 stories on the Post’s website Sunday were articles written by outraged staffers. The top one was humor columnist Alexandra Petri’s piece, headlined, “It has fallen to me, the humor columnist, to endorse Harris for president.” More than 174Kread it online./ MORE.
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Group that claims to be outraged about cancel culture literally offers training to college students on how to egg on (edge on?) profs to get them to say things to surreptitiously record to get them fired.
Unearthed Video: TPUSA Senior Manager Driena Sixto training students to secretly record professors and administrators that disagree with their message and “edge them on” in hopes of getting them fired.
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Fox News full page ad in NYT this AM on public trust as it seeks to settle ten-figure defamation suit on eve of jury trial
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Here's my story on how the media fell short on covering Epstein, with case studies on Vanity Fair, ABC & the NYT. It's a story of society ties, fears of legal threats, and working class victims. I hope you'll give it a listen and a read.
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A third resignation at WaPo.
NEW: A member of the Washington Post’s editorial board, Molly Roberts, tells me she has resigned.
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Update: WashPost editorial page editor David Shipley had approved a Harris endorsement earlier this month, and colleagues had been drafting it. Shipley had said the matter was being reviewed by Bezos - which, as owner, is his right. (CJR and WaPo itself are reporting this too).
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Reminder: Jeff Bezos brought in WaPo CEO Will Lewis in part for ability to handle conservative power bases (Murdoch, Telegraph, Boris Johnson). Lewis boasted of 4k net new subscribers this summer. Cancellations at 200K and rising. My updated story:
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NEWS: Fox News reaches settlement with Seth Rich's parents over May 2017 story baselessly alleging he had leaked 1000s of DNC emails to Wikileaks during the 2016 campaign. Fox also suggested - without any evidence - link between Dems and Rich's death in July 2016. /more.
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My full look at Fox's baseless Seth Rich story - and why a Fox contributor alleges it was designed to protect Trump
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“While the pandemic continues, Moderna will not enforce our COVID-19 related patents against those making vaccines intended to combat the pandemic. Further, we are also willing to license our intellectual property for COVID-19 vaccines to others for the post pandemic period.”.
This is huge news:.🙏🏽 #Moderna. Pfizer, AstraZeneca, J&J, and others:.-Ball's in your court.
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Demoted VOA reporter Patsy Widakuswara (@pwidakuswara) is back on White House beat, as of today. She was reassigned last week after asking pointed Qs to Pompeo and the then VOA director about Trump & US standing in the world. VOA director & deputy replaced yesterday.
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Re; Tucker - It is likely that this has more to do with pending litigation - Abby Grossberg's lawsuit alleging sexism and harassment at Carlson's show - than the defamation lawsuit that just settled for $778M. Yet the suits are linked. / MORE.
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Fox's Chris Wallace: "This is a disaster for the Republicans.".
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NEWS: Shortly after the 2020 election, a Fox News producer begged colleagues not to let Jeanine Pirro back on the air. She was spouting election fraud conspiracies pulled from the web. More in my NPR exclusive on Dominion’s $1.6B defamation suit agst Fox:
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NEWS: Astros assistant GM Brandon Taubman was targeting a female reporter wearing a purple bracelet on domestic violence. She has tweeted frequently on DV; he complained about her tweets offering info on DV hotlines when Roberto Osuna appeared in Astros games in 2018. My story:.
NEWS: What really happened in the Astros clubhouse after their pennant celebration? What was behind Astros asst GM Brandon Taubman's profane rant at a cluster of female reporters? . Tune into NPR at 5.24/7.24p to learn the true story. cc: @npratc @stephapstein.
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UPDATE: President Biden names senior VOA news executive Keli Chao as acting CEO over its parent agency, the US Agency for Global Media. Chao had been named whistleblower in lawsuit that successfully alleged illegal acts by Michael Pack, whom she replaces
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The Washington Post's publisher pushed his executive editor hard to kill a damning story about him. It wasn't the first time - he did the same to me. My piece for NPR.
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The Baltimore Sun's new owner, David D. Smith, met with staffers today for more than two hours. Many left on edge. He claimed he had read the paper just four times. He grew up here; his family's local TV empire - Sinclair - is based in Baltimore Co. Other highlights:.
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More Pompeo:. I reviewed emails between @NPRKelly & a top aide at State. Kelly did say Iran would be main focus but flagged she’d ask about Ukraine too. Kelly asked 11 substantive Qs on Iran. 11! And turned to Urkraine. I asked aide for documentation/clarification. No reply.
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WaPo columnist Michele Norris resigns over Bezos decision to block endorsement.
As of yesterday, I have decided to resign from my role as a columnist for The Washington Post — a newspaper that I love. In a moment like this, everyone needs to make their own decisions. This is the reasonfor mine. 🧵.
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"When victims of repression were harassed, exiled, imprisoned and murdered, we made sure the whole world knew the truth. I believe we face a very real threat of autocracy in the candidacy of Donald Trump. I find it untenable and unconscionable that we have lost our voice." MORE.
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In his memoir, "Collision of Power," Marty Baron wrote that then publisher Fred Ryan did not want to make an endorsement in the 2016 Clinton v Trump race. Editorial page editor Fred Hiatt considered resigning. Bezos's reply at the time: "Why wouldn't we make an endorsement?".
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The power of reporting. Hicks' condition revealed by press, not administration - which forced Trump's hand. (take a bow, @JenniferJJacobs @josh_wingrove ).
The fact that Trump and Company knew of Hicks' condition and just pressed on with their plans is almost unfathomable, until you realize how much they had invested in downplaying the pandemic.
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First on NPR: Trump’s CEO at parent agency of Voice of America paid a law firm millions in taxpayer dollars to investigate his own executives.
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On Thursday, Hoffman received a Pulitzer for "a compelling and well-researched series on new technologies and the tactics authoritarian regimes use to repress dissent in the digital age, and how they can be fought.". David Shipley announced Bezos' decision the next day. MORE.
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To be clear, this is pretty extraordinary as such things go.
Still don’t know the extent of Trump’s injury(ies) since Saturday’s shooting. No briefing in 3 1/2 days.
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Airlifting Trump to a military hospital for coronavirus, keeping him there for *several days,* giving him experimental antibody cocktails- these are sobering times. The WH needs to provide the press & American public with authoritative picture of president's health.
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Fb/Twitter’s handling of that NYPost story on the Bidens aside, why has the press shied away?. Why wouldn’t it?. Littered w red and yellow flags- piece was based on presumptions, written by ex Hannity producer, coordinated by Giuliani. My analysis: .
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This feels more like Rupert than Lachlan, though could be both. This feels like calculation rather than principle - eg, that DeSantis a stronger challenger to Biden. What to watch for on Fox: whether tone evolves on dayside/news programs, then Fox & Friends, Hannity etc.
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Reminder: Fmr CoS John Kelly confirmed to *Jake Tapper* that Trump disparaged war dead - pretty impressive for DJT to deny it as Tapper moderates .
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That's as of midday, according to two people with direct knowledge. The figure continues to rise. A corporate spokesperson declined to comment, citing The Washington Post Co.'s status as a privately held company. / MORE.
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Fox News’s @JaniceDean - driven by grief and outrage over the deaths of her in-laws at a NYC nursing home - was relentless over his false claims over Covid deaths at such places - and what that said about Cuomo. This is her vindication too.
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The NYT caption for this whole family photo from a candidate’s campaign website is insanity . (it’s not his family).
None of these people are related to the candidate in a tight Virginia house race, Derrick Anderson.
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What should happen is that news organizations should no longer carry this president’s remarks live. They can be taped, checked, covered and contextualized soon enough after.
President Trump now says his musing that scientists may try to find a way to inject disinfectants to treat COVID-19 was "sarcastic" — and that he posed the question "just to see what would happen.". Either way, doctors are clear: please, do *not* try this.
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Here’s a link to full letter from WaPo’s David Hoffman stepping down from editorial board - letter is to editorial page editor David Shipley.
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Journalism twitter is rough today. Serious cuts at NPR. threat of walkout at NYT. and people announcing their own layoffs at CNN and Gannett. Be good to yourselves and each other, people.
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The WH now says Trump “did not hear the one statement” meaning “white power.” It’s literally repeated three times by 2 men in the first 12 seconds of the video. The WH did not condemn that white supremacist slogan, instead citing “tremendous enthusiasm from his many supporters.”
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Tucker Carlson announces at end he’s trout fishing and will be away for next four days!. He says trip was long planned . All Fox hosts say that when they’re suspended or execs want them to get out of dodge to let things blow over.
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“It’s a colossal number,” former WaPo Executive Editor Marcus Brauchli told NPR. “People don’t know why the decision was made. We basically know the decision was made but we don’t know what led to it.”. MORE.
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NPR quits Twitter after it questions the network’s editorial independence - my story:
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News: Scotland Yard has opened a criminal inquiry into the actions of Washington Post publisher Will Lewis while police were investigating phone hacking and other crimes at Rupert Murdoch's tabloids in 2011. My story from London for NPR (and thread):.
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Bret Baier to GOP chair McDaniel: "The transparency and watching the ballots is different than finding fraud that narrows the gap. There's all kinds of stuff flying on the internet. But when we look into it, it doesn't pan out.". Compare to Hannity last night.
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FOX NEWS statement on Hannity: "While FOX News was unaware of Sean Hannity's informal relationship with Michael Cohen and was surprised by the announcement in court yesterday, we have reviewed the matter and spoken to Sean and he continues to have our full support.".
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Michael Pack, Trump's pick over the parent agency of Voice of America, is newly accused of breaking tax laws for nonprofits, misuse of office, propaganda. It's been quite a week. My story, for NPR:.
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Murdochs’ Fox will pay $7M over this yr and next to Trump’s White House Comms director and deputy chief of staff - Ex Fox News pres Bill Shine. (He left Fox 1.5 yrs ago.) . Naturally, disclosed over holiday weekend.
Bill Shine will receive $3.5 million bonuses from the parent company of Fox News this year and next year, even while working for Donald Trump's White House:
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Hoffman says he intends to remain at the paper, saying he "refuses to give up on The Post, where I have spent 42 years." He writes of being launched on several projects, including "the expanded effort to support press freedom around the world.".
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Tapper is one of one of the best interviewers in TV news because he actually listens to what people say. And, in this case, what they don’t say - the politician and journalists alike.
“The very least the President can do is to try to get to the bottom of what role Putin may have played. and the very least interviewers can do is ask the President about those who serve and sacrifice for us.” - @jaketapper on the lack of accountability over Russian bounty intel
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Welcome news for Seth Rich's family & anyone who values truth and decency. Ed Butowsky sued me for $60M for reporting on his role in a discredited Fox News story about Rich. He sued other journos too. He agreed to dismiss those cases late last year. NPR stood by its reporting.
A former Fox News guest and a pro-Trump blogger are apologizing to Seth Rich’s brother and parents for a series of lies.
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New: The ‘Washington Post’ newsroom is on edge as the past record of new publisher Will Lewis and top editor Rob Winnett in U.K. raise red flags . Lewis first pressured the Post’s editor not to cover the ghosts of his past *before starting the job* . 🧵.
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The decision was revealed in a tense meeting with people on the editorial staff . And it arrives at a time of heightened concern over whether news outles are pulling their punches in order to appease Trump in final days of a neck and neck presidential race agst VP Harris MORE.
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From my story: . 300,000 people canceled digital subscriptions to Wash Post between Oct 24, when NPR revealed Bezos’s decision to kill a planned endorsement of VP Harris, and Election Night.
My interview w Pulitzer winning cartoonist Ann Telnaes about her resignation from WaPo over killed sketch on tech titans, including Bezos. “They own a newspaper and they have an obligation, frankly, to protect the free press.”.
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Breaking NEWS: Acting USAGM CEO Kelu Chao has fired the presidents of Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, Radio Free Asia & the Middle East Broadcasting Networks, as of 6pm. RFE's Ted Lipien, RFA's Stephen J. Yates and MBN's Victoria Coates were appointed in late December /MORE.
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Taylor Lorenz in August, saying that she hadn’t called President Biden a war criminal in a private IG post:. “You people will fall for any dumbass edit someone makes.”. Taylor Lorenz today
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NEWS: Major public radio stations in Los Angeles, DC, Chicago, Seattle, Dallas, Pittsburgh etc send joint protest to NYT in fallout over collapse of "Caliphate" series. They cite "troubling" actions of "The Daily" host Michael Barbaro & presence of producer Andy Mills. /con't.
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BREAKING: US judge Beryl Howell bars USAGM CEO Michael Pack and his team from investigating or interfering with journalists at Voice of America & sister networks - a significant win for Pack's internal critics. My story from earlier today (before ruling).
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@MaggieNYT and @kenvogel report some Trump inaugural committee $$$ went to Apprentice producer Mark Burnett, who was involved in producing inaugural activities - and whose unaired Trump footage never saw light of day
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Court releases Ariz Dem Senate candidate Ruben Gallego divorce docs that GOP opponent Kari Lake had hyped as damaging. Judge in case: “One of the most garden variety divorce files I have ever seen.”. Details from NPR below:
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My story about Fox's baseless Seth Rich story - and allegation it was devised to distract from Trump crises
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Many on the right are honoring Limbaugh today - Trump, Glenn Beck and many many others. The exec director of the Peabody awards, among the highest honors in broadcast journalism, offers this take on Limbaugh's legacy.
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So far the US Justice Department under President Biden's AG has secured convictions of the Democratic chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee and the president's son.
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WaPo's Molly Roberts assigns blame to Bezos, not colleagues. But, she writes that the WP not making an endorsement after years of doing so is its own statement:. "Donald Trump is not yet a dictator. But the quieter we are, the closer he comes.".
Molly Roberts’ statement resigning from WaPo editorial board 👇🏼.
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also didn’t call on NYT or NPR or other news organizations but don’t see them getting their most prominent journos to weigh in to complain of a grievous insult.
PRETTY GLARING to walk up to the podium with an approved list of media to call on -- . and leave off Fox News and Peter Doocy.
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Fmr Marine @bkesling:. “What was missing from [ensuing] coverage was a willingness to quickly and decisively state what a grievous insult the whole debacle was to the dignity of Arlington. The sacred had been profaned.”. Day 5, no Trump video
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Might be harder to dismiss had Sanders not conceded to Mueller inquiry that she lied in telling reporters a "large number" of FBI agents had cheered Comey's firing. Reporter: Like 50. HUCKABEE SANDERS: Yes. She later conceded she had none. She said it was "slip of the tongue.".
The Atlantic story on @realDonaldTrump is total BS. I was actually there and one of the people part of the discussion - this never happened. I have sat in the room when our President called family members after their sons were killed in action and it was heart-wrenching. .
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Public officials don’t have to like reporters. They should respect our tens of millions of listeners & readers though - most of whom are US citizens they serve. Seeking to intimidate journalists doing their duty doesn’t serve the public one bit.
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Did not expect this exegesis of gaslighting and its relationship to current day politics from Teen Vogue
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The ABC duo is factchecking, pretty much just Trump so far, but it's focused, crisp and brief, so it doesn't feel as though it's interfering.
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This is beyond irresponsible. Technically she’s Fox News anchor and editor, according to its website, meaning news side - not even the benefit of saying she’s a pure opinionator. Not that that should suffice in this case.
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Update: NPR National Security Correspondent David Welna wrote in note to colleagues that he was laid off today without warning, effective Sept. 6. He has reported for the network for 3+ decades, 20+ yrs on staff. Three video journalists were also cut, per newsroom sources.
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LATimes confirms 115 journalists laid off, or about 23 percent; newsroom will be at approx 385. NOTE: Taken in combination with last year's layoffs, the Los Angeles Times has laid off about one third of its newsroom in less than a year.
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More than 119,000 Americans have died from covid-19. Why would this inspire jokes from this or any president?.
Peter Navarro dismisses criticism of Trump's comments in Tulsa about how he asked his people to slow coronavirus testing down to limit the number of cases: "Come on. It was a light moment . a tongue in cheek thing."
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Ex Murdoch exec: “Over the past nine months I have tried, with increasing bluntness, to get Rupert to understand the real damage that Fox News is doing to America. I failed.”
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