White House briefings? ‘I told her not to bother’
We are nearing the end of January and White House press secretary Sarah Sanders still has not officially briefed the media from the briefing room in 2019. As far as President Donald Trump is concerned, Sanders shouldn’t even bother.
In a tweet Tuesday, Trump wrote:
“The reason Sarah Sanders does not go to the ‘podium’ much anymore is that the press covers her so rudely & inaccurately, in particular certain members of the press. I told her not to bother, the word gets out anyway! Most will never cover us fairly & hence, the term, Fake News!’’
Sanders has not held an official press briefing since Dec. 18. That was 36 days ago, making it a record in the Trump presidency. The previous record was 29 days, from Oct. 29 of last year to Nov. 27. What makes this current streak so notable is that it has occurred almost simultaneously with the government shutdown.
ABC News did point out that Sanders has come out of her office occasionally to speak to certain reporters in a crowded hallway inside the West Wing of the White House.
Is seeing believing?
So can we always believe what we actually see? Not without context. That is the difference between accuracy and truth.
That’s the lesson when it comes to dissecting and digesting the video of the standoff between the Catholic high school students and a Native American in Washington, D.C., over the weekend. What we think we saw — and what actually happened — very well could be two different things.
Poynter’s Tom Jones writes about how it’s important to have context before we believe the so-called “facts of the story.’’
Google News’ possible big move
Google is considering pulling Google News out of Europe as regulators move toward a controversial copyright law.
Bloomberg reports that the European Union’s Copyright Directive would give publishers the right to demand money from various web platforms when parts of their articles show up in news search results, or are shared by users. The law would also impact other websites where news articles are shared, such as Facebook.
According to Bloomberg, Google has said it doesn’t make money from its news service, so it wouldn’t take a financial hit if it was to pull out of Europe. However, it could miss out on some advertising without users coming back to Google to check on news.
Bloomberg reported that the law was supposed to be passed this week, but was delayed because of a disagreement among member states.
CNN up for Oscar
Major milestone for CNN Films: Their documentary “RBG’’ about Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg was nominated for an Academy Award in the category of Best Documentary when nominations were announced Tuesday. It is the first time a CNN film has been nominated for an Oscar.
In a release to CNN, filmmakers Betsy West and Julie Cohen said, “We were excited to be the ones to give Justice Ginsburg the good news that RBG has been nominated for Best Documentary. We reached her on the phone at her home in Washington (Tuesday) morning. She congratulated us and said the nomination was ‘eminently well-deserved.’ She sounded strong and cheerful and said she is writing opinions and continuing to stay on top of work.’’
Other nominations in the Best Documentary category include “Hale County This Morning, This Evening,’’ “Minding the Gap,’’ “Of Fathers and Sons,’’ and, my personal favorite, “Free Solo,’’ about rock climber Alex Honnold and his attempt to climb El Capitan without any equipment.
Then again, the best doc of 2018, by far, wasn’t even nominated. That was “Won’t You Be My Neighbor?’’ about the legendary Mr. (Fred) Rogers.
And the winner is …
The 16 winners of the 2019 Alfred I. duPont-Columbia University Awards for outstanding audiovisual reporting were celebrated Tuesday night in New York City. The awards were initially announced last December.
The big winner was PBS’s “Frontline,’’ which received the duPont Gold Baton, the highest award given and the first one awarded in a decade. “Frontline’’ was honored for what the jury called the show’s “longstanding commitment to original documentary programming, as well as its innovative, cutting edge content.’’
Poynter’s ICYMI headlines:
- New York Times: Russell Baker, Pulitzer-Winning Times Columnist and Humorist, Dies at 93
- The New Yorker: Does Journalism Have a Future?
- The Atlantic: ‘Nobody is Going to Believe You’
On Poynter.org
- ‘I spent almost a month on a floor’: What it’s like to be imprisoned on false news charges. By Daniel Funke
- Hot takes and rushes to judgment: This weekend’s biggest stories remind us to set a high bar. By Tom Jones
Upcoming training:
- Essential Skills for Rising Newsroom Leaders (Spring). Deadline: March 1.
- The Flying Camera: Drone Photography skills webinar series. Deadline: March 11.
From PolitiFact.com:
- Clemson’s Trevor Lawrence did not say White House fast food dinner was ‘a perfect blue collar party.’ By Samantha Putterman
- At halfway mark, Donald Trump’s campaign promises hit roadblocks. By Manuela Tobias
PolitiFact is a property of the Poynter Institute.
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One last thing …
The Winston-Salem (North Carolina) Journal has this story about six babies born within six months to six nurses who work together.
“We’re all so close and now we’re going to force our babies to be best friends,” one new mom joked in the article. “It’s been so much fun.”