Good Friday morning. Today, the Poynter Report offers notable viewing and reading for the weekend, along with a few media tidbits making the rounds. On Monday, I’ll have a special guest as we look to the midterm elections, which will be just 100 days away. Have a great weekend.
- LIV Golf. Have you heard of it? It’s the controversial new golf tour funded by the Saudi Arabian government. It’s continuing to attract big names despite where the money is coming from. The Washington Post’s Ben Strauss writes, “LIV Golf’s future on U.S. TV is uncertain, but it certainly has one.”
- Speaking of which, this week’s LIV tournament is at a Donald Trump golf course in New Jersey — practically in the shadow of the 9/11 site. Boomer Esiason, the former NFL quarterback, has an extremely popular radio show on New York City’s WFAN and went on an angry rant about the new LIV Golf tour and Trump.
- Veteran sports broadcaster Bob Costas blasted the Saudi-backed tour during an appearance on CNN, saying, “So the 9/11 families are very hurt about this, very upset; there will be protests outside the grounds, but if we learned anything about Donald Trump, which it shouldn’t have taken very long to learn, is that he doesn’t care about any principle, including American democracy or any person. He cares about nothing other than his own perceived self-interests.”
- Meanwhile, the idea that Rupert Murdoch’s Fox News is backing away from Trump? Well, Thursday’s “Fox & Friends” talked about Trump and LIV Golf and decided to praise Trump’s golf skills, with co-host Brian Kilmeade calling Trump the greatest president golfer ever.
- And a few more regarding LIV Golf. The Ringer’s Michael Weinreb with “Complicity and Deflection at the LIV Golf Traveling Circus.” The Washington Post’s Philip Bump with “Trump picks cash and revenge over the politics of 9/11.” And The New York Times’ Bill Pennington with “Why Do LIV Golfers Struggle to Explain Why They Left the PGA Tour?”
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- Speaking of rants, former “Daily Show” host Jon Stewart went on an epic, profanity-laced tirade against Republican senators who blocked a bill to provide healthcare for veterans exposed to toxic burn pits while serving. Here’s the R-rated clip that is absolutely worth the watch. He was still angry later when he was interviewed on CNN by Jake Tapper.
- I cannot recommend this story enough. The Washington Post’s Elahe Izadi shines a light on the effectiveness of local journalists with “How local journalists proved a 10-year-old’s abortion wasn’t a hoax.”
- This actually was published back in February, but I missed it and was glad that The New York Times featured it on its homepage again this week. It’s a great example of what makes The New York Times so good. Yes, they have lots of resources and time to think of captivating stories, but they make the most of those resources and time. So check out Elizabeth A. Harris, with photography and video by Thomas Prior, in “How A Book Is Made.”
- Axios’ Sara Fischer with this scoop: “Meta officially cuts funding for U.S. news publishers.”
- A big story these days in the United States negotiating to get WNBA star Brittney Griner released from a Russian prison. But The Washington Post’s Manuel Roig-Franzia writes, “This American teacher also sits in a Russian jail, worried nobody cares.”
- For Politico Magazine, Alexandra Moe with “The Crisis Facing Nursing Homes, Assisted Living and Home Care for America’s Elderly.”
- The Hollywood Reporter’s Seija Rankin with an interesting profile of actress Sydney Sweeney, who just picked up two Emmy nominations for her roles in “Euphoria” and “The White Lotus.
- For The Atlantic, Adrienne Matei with “The Dirtbag Is Back.”
- NBC News’ Caroline Radnofsky with “Norway is obsessed with Freya, the walrus who rose to fame while sinking boats.”
- The Wrap’s Sharon Knolle with “ABC, CNN Lead the 2022 News and Documentary Emmy Award Nominations.”
- This old clip was making the rounds Thursday. It was six years ago to the day when ESPN’s Max Kellerman said that NFL quarterback Tom Brady was “just about done” and that his play was going to “fall off a cliff.” Since then, Brady has won three Super Bowls and his Tampa Bay Bucs are among the favorites this season. Brady had fun with the old clip, too, with this tweet. And that led to this amusing response from Kellerman.
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