As we wait for what’s going to happen with former President Donald Trump — Will he be indicted? When will he be indicted? How will it all go down? — here are some pertinent thoughts about what could lie ahead this week.
Trump has gone on social media and encouraged his supporters to “protest” should he be arrested. But here’s a question about the media: By repeating Trump’s call to protest, is there a risk of galvanizing Trump supporters to protest? In other words, by continuing to talk about it, is the media actually prompting protests?
I asked that question of my colleague Al Tompkins, a senior faculty member at Poynter and a former longtime news director.
Tompkins told me, “It is newsworthy and should be reported as a direct quote and because there is an echo of just prior to the Jan. 6 insurrection. When he says such things this time, there is no mistake that he would realize that such a call to action would make him culpable if there was violence.”
Tompkins pointed out that several notable GOP voices are urging against any protests. House Speaker Kevin McCarthy said at a press conference in Orlando on Sunday, “I don’t think people should protest this, no. And I think President Trump, if you talk to him, he doesn’t believe that, either.”
McCarthy added, “Nobody should harm one another in this. … We want calmness out there. I do not believe there should be any violence (in response) to this.”
Georgia Republican Congresswoman Marjorie Taylor Greene also tweeted for no protests, although her tweet wasn’t exactly consolatory as she called Democrats “communists” and made references to corruption and voter fraud.
“Make no mistake that if the media didn’t report Trump’s plea to supporters, the supporters would still hear the message, but the rest of the public might not be aware he has called for a public protest,” Tompkins told me.
And, Tompkins added, “Keep in mind this is a former U.S. president who is calling for a public protest. It is not a grassroots-level organizer. It is a figure on the world stage. Imagine if this was a former leader of a major foreign power on the eve of his possible arrest calling on a public protest. Of course we would see it as newsworthy. It must be stunning to people around the world that a former government leader could have the freedom to say such things and challenge the authority of the government that replaced him.”
Here are a few notable pieces and thoughts for a better perspective of the Trump situation:
- Back to my colleague Al Tompkins, who told me, “If Trump is indicted and arrested, he will, without a doubt, make a thousand false claims about how he is the victim of a corrupt system. Journalists should be careful to not hand him airtime to say whatever he wishes unchallenged. If journalists give him airtime to make claims, they should wrap true statements around the false statements. If he says he paid Stormy Daniels to be quiet but denies a sexual affair, then point out he once denied paying her at all. Trump is already claiming that Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg is guilty of ‘interference in a presidential election.’ He also said President Joe Biden is guilty of having ‘stuffed’ the New York office and claimed Bragg, an elected official, is ‘taking his orders from D.C.’ There is no proof of any such directive from President Biden. None. If journalists print, publish, air such allegations they should precede and tag such allegations with the fact that there is no proof to back up Trump’s claim.”
- Tompkins has more with his piece, “How to cover a former president who says he is about to be arrested.”
- This is a superb and really insightful column from Politico’s Alexander Burns: “Stop Overthinking It: An Indictment Would Be Bad For Trump.” Burns argues that the ones likely most to be herded and motivated by Trump’s arrest already are diehard supporters of Trump. Burns wrote, “His base of support is too small, his political imagination too depleted and his instinct for self-absorption too overwhelming for him to marshal a broad, lasting backlash. His determination to look inward and backward has been a problem for his campaign even without the indictment. It will be a bigger one if and when he’s indicted.”
- From the Associated Press’ Alanna Durkin Richer and Meg Kinnard: “Trump indictment would be unprecedented moment in US history.”
- Late Monday afternoon, Ben Collins of NBC News took a photo in New York City and tweeted, “I’m at the pro-Trump protest put on by the NY Young Republicans Club. Not a joke, there are more reporters here than Trump supporters. This was supposed to be the big one.”
Layoffs looming at ESPN
Layoffs are about to hit ESPN and there will be “no sacred cows” — meaning anyone’s name could be on the cut list. That’s what New York Post sports media columnist Andrew Marchand is reporting. Then again, there do appear to be a few names that are untouchable.
Marchand wrote, “The most vulnerable on-air folks, according to sources, are the ones that make near or more than seven figures and are not considered needle movers. (Stephen A.) Smith, late-night ‘SportsCenter’ anchor Scott Van Pelt and the ‘Monday Night Football’ booth are considered the type of ‘talent’ that are untouchable.”
The “Monday Night Football” booth is Troy Aikman and Joe Buck, who are making a combined $33 million per year.
And there are some other big names that fit into a larger puzzle.
Marchand reports that ESPN could be interested in signing Pat McAfee, who apparently is thinking about walking away from his four-year, $120 million-plus endorsement deal with FanDuel in order to join a network. McAfee is in the second year of his FanDuel deal.
Marchand wrote, “But any McAfee-ESPN deal would have to make financial sense for the network. ESPN is a possibility for McAfee, but probably not the favorite right now. Meanwhile, the ESPN belt-tightening is already being felt in negotiations with college football national championship game-caller Chris Fowler. Fowler, who reportedly makes around $3 million per year, and ESPN have been far apart in negotiations, according to sources.”
But ESPN needs to find cuts somewhere. A little more than a month ago, Bob Iger — the CEO of Disney, which owns ESPN — said Disney was looking to slash about 7,000 jobs companywide. Cuts at ESPN could come in the next four-to-six weeks.
This would not be the first round of layoffs ESPN has had in recent years. It also had significant cuts in 2015, 2017 and 2020.
Speaking of layoffs …
Last month, NPR announced it was going to lay off about 10% of its staff — or about 100 people. Those layoffs are expected to come down this week.
In an email to staff last month, John Lansing, NPR’s chief executive, told staff, “At a time when we are doing some of our most ambitious and essential work, the global economy remains uncertain. As a result, the ad industry has weakened and we are grappling with a sharp decline in our revenues from corporate sponsors.”
The latest problem with Twitter
Since Elon Musk took over Twitter, antisemitic posts on the social media site have more than doubled. When asked for comment, Twitter's press department auto-responded with a poop emoji.
According to The Washington Post’s Cristiano Lima and David DiMolfetta, which had an exclusive early look at the findings, the report was “conducted by the Institute for Strategic Dialogue (ISD), a nonpartisan think tank, and CASM Technology, a start-up that researches disinformation and hate speech online.”
The Post wrote, “The analysis found an average of over 6,200 posts per week appearing to contain antisemitic language between June 1 and Oct. 27, the day Musk completed his $44 billion deal to buy Twitter. But that figure rose to over 12,700 through early February — a 105 percent increase.”
The research showed that right after Musk took over Twitter, there was a surge in new accounts that posted antisemitic content. The Post noted, “Researchers wrote that it represented a three-fold increase in the rate of ‘hateful account creation.’ But critically, the researchers behind the study said the uptick in hateful content extended well beyond that initial wave of new accounts.”
Media tidbits
