WEATHER ALERT
Americans are exhausted by political news. TV ratings and a new AP-NORC poll show they're tuning out
Read full article: Americans are exhausted by political news. TV ratings and a new AP-NORC poll show they're tuning outA lot of Americans, after an intense presidential election campaign, are looking for a break in political news.
At the crossroads of news and opinion, 'Morning Joe' hosts grapple with aftermath of Trump meeting
Read full article: At the crossroads of news and opinion, 'Morning Joe' hosts grapple with aftermath of Trump meetingThe reaction of those who defended “Morning Joe” hosts Joe Scarborough and Mika Brzezinski for meeting with President-elect Trump sounds almost quaint in the days of opinionated journalism.
'Kissing the ring?' MSNBC 'Morning Joe' hosts meet with Trump to reopen lines of communication
Read full article: 'Kissing the ring?' MSNBC 'Morning Joe' hosts meet with Trump to reopen lines of communicationIt was the last thing you might expect if you watched MSNBC's “Morning Joe” a month ago — hosts Joe Scarborough and Mika Brzezinski asking for a meeting and traveling to Mar-a-Lago to talk with President-elect Donald Trump.
MSNBC's 'Morning Joe' host says he was surprised and disappointed the show was pulled from the air
Read full article: MSNBC's 'Morning Joe' host says he was surprised and disappointed the show was pulled from the airMSNBC “Morning Joe” host Joe Scarborough says he was “surprised and disappointed” the news and talk show was pulled off the air the day before and that the explanation he was given didn't hold water.
A media 'nervous breakdown'? Calls for Biden's withdrawal produce some extraordinary moments
Read full article: A media 'nervous breakdown'? Calls for Biden's withdrawal produce some extraordinary momentsPresident Biden's performance in last week's debate with Donald Trump led to some extraordinary media moments.
NBC has cut ties with former RNC head Ronna McDaniel after employee objections, some on the air
Read full article: NBC has cut ties with former RNC head Ronna McDaniel after employee objections, some on the airNBC News will cut ties with former Republican National Committee chief Ronna McDaniel, hired last week as an on-air political contributor.
Michigan lawmaker's forceful speech rebuts 'grooming' attack
Read full article: Michigan lawmaker's forceful speech rebuts 'grooming' attackA Michigan lawmaker, mother and LGBTQ rights supporter who was accused by a Republican colleague of wanting to “groom” schoolchildren says her impassioned response resonated because people are sick of such attacks.
Comforting rituals show in media's depiction of inauguration
Read full article: Comforting rituals show in media's depiction of inauguration(David Tulis/Pool Photo via AP)NEW YORK – After Air Force One took Donald Trump out of Washington, an unusual Inauguration Day quickly felt more traditional — even comforting — for people watching at home. "What we're seeing today is an ejection of insurrection.”Trump skipped the inauguration of his successor, the first president to break that tradition since 1869. “If Democrats need thousands of troops to occupy the Capitol on Inauguration Day, then it seems possible that their candidate wasn't actually elected by the people,” Sharp said. “He said that there is truth and there are lies, lies that are told for power and lies that are told for profit,” Wallace said. The Washington Post updated its count of lies and misstatements by Trump: 30,534 heading into his last day as president.
After waiting game, media moves swiftly to call Biden winner
Read full article: After waiting game, media moves swiftly to call Biden winnerBecause votes are counted state by state, verdicts by the media outlets' decision desks serve as the unofficial finish line for the presidential race. The closeness of the race in Pennsylvania, Georgia, Arizona, Nevada and North Carolina proved another challenge. “We just have to be certain before we call a winner in the presidential election,” said Sally Buzbee, executive editor and senior vice president of the AP. Heading into Saturday, CNN, CBS, NBC and ABC — which coordinate their vote counts and exit polls — had Biden at 253 electoral votes. All know that calling a presidential election wrong is a career-wrecker.
Some New York news shows back, but many hosts work remotely
Read full article: Some New York news shows back, but many hosts work remotelyMonday represented a key phase in New York City's reopening, with many offices bringing employees back for the first time. Despite the CBS and Fox moves, most news employees continue to work remotely, and the television programs that originate here have a patchwork of approaches that have quickly become familiar. A majority of the show hosts on MSNBC including Joe Scarborough, Mika Brzezinski and Willie Geist of Morning Joe work remotely. Other morning shows have varied approaches. Hoda Kotb of NBC's Today show has worked out of that show's Rockefeller Center studio, but most of her colleagues are at home.
Protests eclipse pandemic, but White House fears resurgence
Read full article: Protests eclipse pandemic, but White House fears resurgenceWASHINGTON For weeks, President Donald Trump has been eager to publicly turn the page on the coronavirus pandemic. Now fears are growing within the White House that the very thing that finally shoved the virus from center stage mass protests over the death of George Floyd may bring about its resurgence. The White House coronavirus task force, which has dramatically scaled back its operations as states reopen their economies, is scrambling to track the potential impact on infection rates. Dr. Deborah Birx, the administrations coronavirus coordinator, has been monitoring the protests since they began, looking for indicators of potential resurgence in cases, a White House official said. White House officials are warily watching metropolitan areas where the protests have ignited, hoping that the outdoor settings reduce the risk.
Twitter fact-checks Trump; he threatens new regs or shutdown
Read full article: Twitter fact-checks Trump; he threatens new regs or shutdownPresident Donald Trump and first lady Melania Trump arrive at Andrews Air Force Base, Md., Wednesday, May 27, 2020, after traveling to Florida. !Press secretary Kayleigh McEnany told reporters Trump would sign an executive order relating to social media companies but provided no further details. Trump and his campaign had lashed out at the company Tuesday after Twitter added a warning phrase to two Trump tweets that called mail-in ballots fraudulent and predicted that mail boxes will be robbed, among other things. Trump and his allies have long accused the tech giants in liberal-leaning Silicon Valley of targeting conservatives on social media by fact-checking them or removing their posts. The protections have been credited with allowing the unfettered growth of the internet for more than two decades, but now some Trump allies are advocating that social media companies face more scrutiny.
Trump threatens Twitter over fact checks: What's next?
Read full article: Trump threatens Twitter over fact checks: What's next?QUESTION: Twitter has resisted taking action on Trump's tweets for years, despite the president's history of spreading misinformation and abuse on the platform. Twitter began flagging tweets that spread disputed or misleading claims about the virus with get the facts links to more information, including news stories and fact checks. Those tweets met specific Twitter criteria for misinformation on certain topics, including the coronavirus, how to vote in elections and the census. QUESTION: How does Twitter decide which tweets get flagged with the warnings? ANSWER: Trump's tweets got flagged after someone reported them.
Twitter gives Trump a pass on unfounded 'murder' allegations
Read full article: Twitter gives Trump a pass on unfounded 'murder' allegationsThe husband of a woman who died accidentally in an office of then-GOP Rep. Joe Scarborough two decades ago is demanding that Twitter remove President Donald Trumps tweets suggesting Scarborough murdered her. Twitter, which has tried to devise penalties for such situations, has so far done nothing about Trump's tweets. My request is simple: Please delete these tweets, Timothy J. Klausutis wrote to Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey. At Tuesdays White House briefing, press secretary Kayleigh McEnany repeatedly refused to say why Trump was pressing the unfounded allegations or whether he would stop tweeting about them. Trump, however tweeted this month: When will they open a Cold Case on the Psycho Joe Scarborough matter in Florida.
Coast Guard officer-terror suspect sentenced for guns, drugs
Read full article: Coast Guard officer-terror suspect sentenced for guns, drugsThe severity of Hasson’s sentence hinged on two starkly divergent explanations for the cache of weapons seized from his Maryland home and the disturbing material found on his computer at Coast Guard headquarters in Washington. “Any semblance of hate, bigotry or advocacy of violence has no place in our Coast Guard,” said Adm. Karl Schultz, the guard's commandant, in an emailed news release. They have called Hasson a domestic terrorist and self-described white nationalist, intent on carrying out mass killings. Defense lawyers dispute that their client has any “sincerely held” extremist, racist or white nationalist views. They described him as an avid firearms collector and disaster “prepper” who stockpiles survivalist gear for "doomsday-type scenarios.”Hasson worked at Coast Guard headquarters on a program to acquire advanced new cutters for the agency.