Good morning.
- CNN host gets dry humped by Madonna
Anderson Cooper was beckoned from the audience at a Madonna concert in Brooklyn to join in her oh-so-subtle classic, “Unapologetic Bitch.” He pranced, somewhat fitfully, about the stage with her and four male back-ups. She slapped him on the butt and dry humped him from behind. He gave the audience his two middle fingers, perfectly in sync with the soaring”F–k you!” final words. “A big round of applause for Anderson Cooper!” she proclaimed when done. “That was like the low-key CNN style,” she said. “We love you, darling,” he responded. She said, “I love you, too” and gave him a banana. “So many things you can do with a banana,” she reassured him. “I’m sure you’ll figure out what to do with it.” She finished with, “Goodbye, Anderson. Goodbye, my Brooklyn bitches.” (YouTube)
Stay tuned Tuesday for Cooper’s ongoing coverage of the pope’s visit.
- Tribune Publishing stock plunges
Ouch. A revision in its financial guesstimates for the near term prompted chagrin from a near term-obsessed market. The company largely blames its now-dismissed Los Angeles Times publisher for not doing more cutting more quickly. Maybe its papers should go heavier on West Coast reductions and Madonna videos. (Poynter)
- Scott Walker exits the GOP race
Well, Scott Walker’s decision to end his presidential campaign means George Will need no longer reflexively note that his wife is an advisor. But this political prognostication business is nothing exact. The case for Walker was made by many, including political scientists (Mischiefs of Faction). There were smart reporters like Nate Cohn who not long ago argued the Walker could be a “compelling” challenger to Jeb Bush. (The New York Times) NBC’s Chuck Todd called him the “forgotten frontrunner” and CNN’s Dana Bash asked Dan Pfeiffer, a former senior aide to President Obama, “Who would be tougher to beat, Jeb Bush or Scott Walker?” (Fox) And as recently as mid-July, a conservative media bastion offered us, “SIX REASONS WHY SCOTT WALKER WILL BE ELECTED PRESIDENT.” (American Spectator) What’s left? Some concern on the right, as Donald Trump and Ben Carson hover at the top of polls: “How big a problem is it that the two leading Republican candidates for president aren’t actually qualified to be president?” (Weekly Standard)
- New media species: ‘Trump Truthers’
“The Summer of Trump officially closes with its silliest episode yet: the spectacle of Trump Truthers, an assortment of Trump-friendly media figures who insist that the man who said President Obama is a Muslim and ‘not an American,’ and that Muslims must be gotten ‘rid of,’ at a New Hampshire rally, was some kind of opposition plant, not an actual Trump supporter.” There are lots of diehard conservatives in this supposed group but they’re not allegedly alone. “It wasn’t just official right-wingers: Bloomberg’s Mark Halperin peddled the notion.” (Salon)
- Praising David Gregory’s faith
Remember the “Meet the Press” host who was shown the exit? “A brave thing to do in mainstream journalism (‘brave’ being a relative concept here) is to publicly confess your faith in God, or to identify with a specific religious tradition in a sincere and enthusiastic manner. There are notable exceptions to this rule, but generally speaking, American journalists, Coastal Elite Division, prefer individuality, deep skepticism, impiety, and sometimes even cynicism, to genuine expressions of faith.” Not Gregory. (The Atlantic)
- Ann Coulter loses a onetime acolyte
The made-for-cable and best-selling polemicist has gone off the deep and really nasty end, says a onetime college adherent who thought she was a “smart, educated role model for those of us who felt lost in the wider culture. When we were being told we were wrong by the media, professors, friends, celebrities, and politicians (even Republicans), Coulter was one of the guideposts that we could follow, a steady and unblinking North Star who was a light unto our path.” Now, the acolyte is taken aback by lots of very nasty statements, including about Jews. Her comments, and continued justification of them, are a betrayal of the principles of not just conservatism, but America. (The Daily Beast)
- Not that we need fact-checking overseas…
Americans are the only journalists who make mistakes, right? “The Poynter Institute announced Monday that Alexios Mantzarlis will be the director and editor of a new International Fact-Checking Network. The IFCN’s work will appear on Poynter’s site and Mantzarlis will publish a weekly newsletter. The St. Petersburg, Florida-based IFCN is funded by grants from the Omidyar Network and the National Endowment for Democracy, and “it will support and study the work of 64 fact-checking organizations spanning six continents…” (Poynter)
- Price-gouging exec calls reporter ‘moron’
“Ever since an HIV/AIDS patient advocacy group began raising questions last week about why Turing Pharmaceuticals jacked up the price for a medication from $13.50 per pill to $750 overnight, anger against the company has been boiling over.” (The Washington Post) A biotech reporter questioned the founder, a 32-year-old hedge fund investor, about it and was called “irrelevant” and a “moron” in their Twitter exchange. The guy is a notorious short-seller who was once an intern for Jim Cramer, the hedge fund manager and CNBC host. (Bloomberg)
- Unhappy with Facebook
“It’s not just YouTube creators who have gripes with Facebook . The lower-profile but vibrant community of Vine creators is also starting to fire shots at the social networking giant for not doing enough to stop users from posting their videos without permission.” (The Wall Street Journal)
- Brian Williams walks down aisle, into anchor chair
Williams, who won’t be up on stage as a prop for a pop star any time soon, is expected back in an MSNBC anchor chair in mid-afternoon for pope coverage. (The New York Times) He does so after a return from his actress daughter’s Saturday wedding in Wyoming. (Adweek) Personal joy now turns into professional hope.
- Front page of the day, curated by Kristen Hare
Today’s front page of the day comes from The Washington Post’s Express, which warned readers of a traffic problem of the highest order. (Courtesy the Newseum)
- Job moves, edited by Benjamin Mullin
Sue Cross is now executive director and Chief Executive Officer at INN. Previously, she was a a senior vice president at The Associated Press. (INN) | Brad Stone is now leading Bloomberg’s technology coverage. Previously, he was a senior writer at Bloomberg Businessweek. (Poynter) | Anthony De Rosa is now a digital production manager at “The Daily Show.” Previously, he was editor-in-chief of Circa. (Poynter) | Alexios Mantzarlis is now director and editor of the International Fact-Checking Network. He is managing editor of Pagella Politica. (Poynter) | Michael Finnegan is now chief operating officer at Atlantic Media. Previously, he was chief financial officer there. (Poynter) | Etan Horowitz is now senior lead editor for Apple News. Previously, he was senior mobile editor at CNN. (@etanowitz) | Ragan Rhyne is now vice president of development at ProPublica. Previously, she was senior director of development and strategic programming for the International Center of Photography. (ProPublica) | Evelyn Hsu is now executive director of the Maynard Institute. Previously, she was program manager there. (Maynard Institute) | Job of the day: BuzzFeed Australia is looking for a news director. Get your resumes in! (BuzzFeed) | Send Ben your job moves: bmullin@poynter.org.
Corrections? Tips? Please email me: jwarren@poynter.org. Would you like to get this roundup emailed to you every morning? Sign up here.
