If there’s one Democrat who has consistently and continuously stood up to President Donald Trump in recent months, it’s California Gov. Gavin Newsom.
One of Newsom's tactics has been to use social media to mimic Trump — using all capital letters, saying ridiculously hyperbolic things and closing with Trump’s signature “thank you for your attention to this matter.”
During an appearance on Sunday’s “Meet the Press” on NBC, Newsom was asked by moderator Kristen Welker if imitating Trump that way was normalizing his behavior.
Newsom said, “Quite the contrary. The whole expression was to not allow it to be normalized. It was becoming normalized. All this — the normalization of deviancy across the spectrum of issues. But his communication — he's dressing up as the Pope, as Superman … he's putting his face on Mt. Rushmore. He’s saying, ‘Thank you.’ It's madness. And so I put a mirror up to that madness.”
Welker mentioned how Michelle Obama once said, “When they go low, we go high.”
But Newsom said, “I would love to go back to that, but politics has changed. The world has changed. The rules of the game have changed. Now, we have to rewrite the new rules.”
Newsom said that even Michelle Obama’s position has evolved, and he added, “This can't continue forever, all of us living in this state of fear and anxiety, on edge. And so of course we want to go back to some semblance of normalcy. But you have to deal with the crisis at hand. It's just been 10, 11 months of this presidency. We have three more years. Time to batten down the hatches. And it's time for us to change if we want things to change. And that's why our communications strategy has shifted.”
More press restrictions
The White House announced late last week that members of the media would no longer have free and open access to a part of the West Wing that houses the press secretary’s office and other staff members.
As CNN’s Brian Stelter noted, “This area has been accessible to White House correspondents for decades, supporting a free flow of information between the president and the public.”
The White House claims this is a national security issue, but it’s hard not to note that the decision comes after the Pentagon’s recent decision to remove reporters who would not sign a new media policy that prohibits journalists from accessing or soliciting information that the Defense Department doesn’t make available to them, including even unclassified information.
After that decision, Trump hinted that White House media could see restrictions.
The White House said in a memo, “As a result of recent structural changes to the National Security Council, the White House is now responsible for directing all communications, including on all national security matters. In this capacity, members of the White House Communications Staff are routinely engaging with sensitive material. In order to protect such material, and maintain coordination between National Security Council Staff and White House Communications Staff, members of the press are no longer permitted to access Room 140 without prior approval in the form of an appointment with an authorized White House Staff Member.”
The White House Correspondents’ Association put out a statement saying that it “unequivocally opposes any effort to limit journalists from areas within the communications operations of the White House that have long been open for newsgathering, including the press secretary’s office. The new restrictions hinder the press corps’ ability to question officials, ensure transparency, and hold the government accountable, to the detriment of the American public.”
CNN’s Jeff Zeleny told Stelter that White House reporters routinely “wait in the hall” by the press secretary’s office and seek information from communications aides. He told Stelter, “When there is breaking news, that often happens.”
The Clinton administration also once tried to ban reporters from this same area, but lifted the ban after pushback.
Fox News duped
Fox News’ website was duped by an AI video and then criticized for not completely owning up to what had happened.
Fox News’ Alba Cuebas-Fantauzzi wrote a story that was posted last Friday about SNAP beneficiaries threatening to loot stores amid the government shutdown. The original headline was “SNAP Beneficiaries Threaten to Ransack Stores Over Government Shutdown,” and it quoted a woman in a video complaining about the shutdown. The woman in the video said, “It is the taxpayer’s responsibility to take care of my kids. It is the taxpayer’s job to pay for my kids to eat and for my kids to be taken care of.”
But The xxxxxx’s Tim Miller called out the Fox News website for being duped by the video, which was created by artificial intelligence.
Miller said, “Fox News got fooled by a series of racist AI videos purporting to be Black women complaining about losing their SNAP benefits, and they reported those ‘complaints’ made by computers pretending to be humans as if they were real news. Yikes.”
Miller called out Fox News for having “horrific news judgment.”
After Miller’s video, Fox News changed the headline to “AI videos of SNAP beneficiaries complaining about cuts go viral.” That story then added an editor’s note that said, “This article previously reported on some videos that appear to have been generated by AI without noting that. This has been corrected.”
CNN’s Andrew Kaczynski tweeted, “Not sure if I’ve seen anything like this before — Fox fell for an AI video and basically rewrote their whole story when called out.”
Indiana update
Here’s an update on the controversy involving the student newspaper at Indiana University.
To catch you up, Jim Rodenbush, the director of student media and an adviser to the Indiana Daily Student, was recently fired. That controversial decision came after disagreements between the paper and the university’s leadership about what information gets published in the special print editions of the newspaper. The university insisted that no news content would be in the print edition. Instead, breaking news would be on the IDS’s website. Then the university followed up by canceling the print edition of the newspaper, setting off a firestorm of criticism and pushback, especially from many prominent alumni of the proud journalism school.
But late last week, IU chancellor David Reingold wrote a letter to the editors of the IDS, announcing the school was lifting its ban on the print version of the paper. Reingold wrote, “I recognize and accept that the campus has not handled recent decisions as well as we should have. Communication was uneven and timing imperfect.”
Reingold, however, did try to defend the original decision to shut down the print product as a financial one.
Reigold wrote, “Let me be clear: my decision had nothing to do with editorial content of the IDS. And contrary to what has been posted on social media and published, Indiana University has never attempted to censor editorial content, period. The IDS is, and remains, editorially independent. But perception, even when it is not grounded in fact, can carry the weight of reality.”
IDS co-editor-in-chiefs Mia Hilkowitz and Andrew Miller wrote that the next print edition of the paper will be on Nov. 20.
Hilkowitz and Miller wrote, “This decision was the correct call, and we’re glad it’s been made. After weeks of negative publicity for the university, of fears in our newsroom and on campus, of confusion, of pushback, we’re now on a solid trajectory toward real solutions for student media. We’re also grateful Reingold took a first step toward acknowledging the harm his decision caused. But he stopped short of a full apology to the students and faculty whose lives he’s disrupted.”
They added, “We want to make it clear that this is a win for the IDS and for student media across the country.”
They also wrote, “This is a win for student journalism, for editorial independence and our fight to bring quality journalism to our community — but more is needed. We look forward to being at the table and taking more steps in the right direction.”
There will be much more coming on this story in the coming days and weeks.
Meanwhile, The New York Times’ Katie Robertson reported, “On Thursday, Mr. Rodenbush sued Indiana University, accusing the school of violating his free speech and due process rights in terminating him. In the complaint, which was filed in U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Indiana, Mr. Rodenbush said the school had fired him ‘after he refused to censor the students’ work.’ He is seeking to be reinstated and awarded damages, as well as to have the court declare that the university’s actions in canceling the print newspaper amounted to a violation of the First Amendment.”
Media tidbits
- The New York Times has named assistant managing editor Sam Sifton to be the next writer, host and anchor of The Morning, the Times’ flagship newsletter. David Leonhardt headed up The Morning for nearly five years before moving over to the editorial department in March. Sifton has been with the Times since 2002 and was the founding editor of New York Times Cooking. He has also been the culture editor and a national editor at the Times. Here’s his introductory piece in his new role. And here’s a Q&A Sifton did with The Morning editor Adam B. Kushner.
- NPR and WBUR have named award-winning journalist Indira Lakshmanan as co-host of “Here & Now.” Lakshmanan — whose extensive career in journalism includes stints with The Boston Globe, Bloomberg News and Poynter — will make her debut next month alongside Scott Tong and Robin Young. She will be based in Boston. “Here & Now” is a live midday news program heard on 500 NPR member stations across the country.
- If you’re an older football fan, you’ll be sad to learn that Bob Trumpy has died. He was 80. Trumpy was a good player — a two-time Pro Bowl tight end with the Cincinnati Bengals. But he might be better known for his nearly 20-year broadcast career. He called four Super Bowls — two on radio and two for NBC Sports. He was also a broadcaster on the Olympics and golf’s Ryder Cup. In 2014, Trumpy received the Pete Rozelle Radio-Television Award from the Pro Football Hall of Fame for his NFL broadcasting career. Awful Announcing’s Drew Lerner has more.
Hot type
- What a World Series. The Los Angeles Dodgers became the first repeat champ since the New York Yankees won three straight from 1998 to 2000. They won an epic seven-game series against the Toronto Blue Jays that featured an 18-inning game and a classic 11-inning Game 7 on Saturday night. In a heartbreaking, gut-punch loss, the Blue Jays were two outs away from winning it all before the Dodgers tied it on a solo homer, and then won in extra innings. Here’s The Ringer’s Ben Lindbergh with “MLB’s Modern Dynasty Won the World Series of a Lifetime.”
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Have feedback or a tip? Email Poynter senior media writer Tom Jones at [email protected].
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