White House Correspondents Insider

Behind the scenes of the most powerful city in the world — Washington, D.C. — and those who cover it.

FBI Investigating Huffington Post Editor for Tweet

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Photo courtesy of Pixabay / Edar.

Nick Baumann, a senior enterprise editor for the Huffington Post, has been contacted by the FBI for joking about destroying election ballots for Donald Trump.

On October 31, 2016, Baumann tweeted:

“I love my job working at a voting site in washington dc destroying trump ballots [sic]. ”

The following day, Baumann said the tweet was “a joking reference” to a fake news report circulated on right-wing blogs and social media, relying on a forged Wikileaks email stating that Democratic consultants and activsts were “pre-programming” voting machines in favor of Hillary Clinton.  The erroneous news item was picked up by Drudge and Limbaugh as well.

Baumann says an FBI agent contacted him regarding his tweet.  “We recently received some complaints regarding some online postings that were made. I don’t know if you know what that’s in reference to, but would you be willing to sit down with us for a couple minutes tomorrow morning, by chance?”

Although the meeting has yet to take place, Baumann writes that the “investigation is ongoing.”

All Hail Gayle King

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Gayle King, Evan Ryan and Tony Blinken. Photo courtesy of Haddad Media.

Congratulations to CBS for locking Gayle King and congrats to Gayle for scoring $5.50 million per year.

Signing this deal means King will earn $5.5 million each year to co-host the morning news program, alongside Norah O’Donnell and Charlie Rose.

A source from CBS told Page Six, “Gayle is a huge asset to the show, and her chemistry with Charlie is great.  She’s here for the long term.”

While ABC’s viewership declined and NBC remained stagnant, CBS This Morning is the only morning news show to grow in viewership over the past year.  It currently is seen by 3.77 million people, according to Nielsen.

O’Donnell is currently in contract negotiations with CBS, while Rose’s deal extends into 2017.

Top US Diplomat, former Time Editor to Harvard Kennedy School

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Former State Department Under Secretary for Public Diplomacy and Public Affairs and former Time Managing Editor Richard Stengel has been named Walter Shorenstein Media and Democracy Fellow by the Shorenstein Center on Media, Politics and Public Policy at Harvard Kennedy School.

His fellowship studies will concentrate on the connection between government and media.  While in residence at the Shorenstein Center, Stengel will meet with students and faculty, conduct study groups, and speak for the Harvard community at events.  His term as fellow will last from February 1, 2017 through May 2017.

“Mr. Stengel’s combination of experience—from leading one of the nation’s premier news publications to guiding America’s public diplomacy in the Obama administration, not to mention his experience around the world, especially in covering South Africa—make him an unusual and exceptional fit for the Kennedy School,” said Center Director Nicco Mele.  “We look forward to welcoming him to our community.”

Stengel is the longest-serving U.S. Under Secretary of State for Public Diplomacy and Public Affairs in history.  He was Managing Editor of Time from 2006 through 2013, including 2012 when Time won Magazine of the Year.

The Shorenstein Center is based at the John F. Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University.  Its mission is to study and analyze the effects of media and technology, public policy and politics.

VandeHei and Allen Announce New Strategy for Media Superiority

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Jim VandeHei, Jenny Licht and Mike Allen. Photo courtesy of Haddad Media.

Jim VandeHei, Jenny Licht and Mike Allen. Photo courtesy of Haddad Media.

After months of intrigue and mystery, former Politico notables Jim VandeHei and Mike Allen announced the groundwork of their new strategy for media domination.  Named “Axios,” the Greek term for “worthwhile,” this new media venture aspires to break the current traffic trap – termed the “crap trap” by VandeHei.

The goal of Axios will be to advance media news to the space it should have evolved into in the age of online information.  Per VandeHei, dominant players in the mainstream media such as The New York Times or The Economist have failed to move into these new arenas due to institutional attachments and decision-making based in part on their 19th century print roots.

He quipped that Axios is best summarized as what the media would be like if “Economist mated with Twitter,” and “smartly narrated all the good stuff its own reporters missed.”  The core mission of Axios will be to create reliable, solid content that can co-exist on social media and other platforms as well.

The mission of Axios is to break the mold on the current media business model — the “crap trap” — where traffic and clicks leading to short-term ad revenue are more important than sound reporting, quality information and long-term corporate sustainability.  “Google and Facebook are gobbling up the media business—they now control two-thirds of the ad market—and conventional publishers are tanking. The media business needs radical overhaul, not knock-offs or wishful thinking.”

This new outlet will focus primarily on politics, business, technology and media trends.  The founders have dedicated their efforts to hiring writers “who are authentically wired and smart in these topic areas.”

VandeHei and Allen have secured $10 million in initial funding for this venture, from sources such as Lerer Hippeau Ventures, NBC News, Emerson Collective, Greycroft Partners, and David and Katherine Bradley.

CNN’s Amanpour Strikes Back Against Media Bashing

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BizBash's David Adler and CNN's Christiane Amanpour. Photo courtesy of Haddad Media.

BizBash’s David Adler and CNN’s Christiane Amanpour. Photo courtesy of Haddad Media.

CNN chief international correspondent Christiane Amanpour struck back at critics of the mainstream media, saying her “blood ran cold” seeing tweets from Donald Trump claiming protests following his election as president were “incited by the media.”

Several statements by Trump in recent weeks, such as calling reporters “despicable and dishonest,” “liars” and “crooks” lay the groundwork for a dangerous and unstable political narrative.

“They target the press and set the press up as an opposition to the government, and they do it by subtly ratcheting up the accusations against the press — so, inciting, sympathizing, associating, actually being terrorists and subversives,” she said speaking to CBC News’ The Investigators.

Amanpour continued that Trump’s language is strikingly similar to political leaders in non-democratic countries, where journalists are regularly criticized, harassed and even imprisoned for their reporting.

“And, as you know, journalists around the world are routinely locked up, put in jail, put on trial on phony charges. So that’s why that worried me very much, and I felt I had to push back on that and take a stand against that.”

Amanpour received an award Wednesday for “extraordinary and sustained achievement in the cause of press freedom” by the Committee to Protect Journalists.

 

LEARN MORE:  “We Tracked Down A Fake-News Creator In The Suburbs. Here’s What We Learned” by Laura Sydell at NPR

President Elect Trump Dumps Press Again

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The Press Room at the debate, Photo Courtesy of Haddad Media

The Press Room at the debate, Photo Courtesy of Haddad Media

For the second time in less than a week, President-Elect Donald Trump has again ignored precedent and protocol, travelling without the journalists assigned to cover him and his movements.

Hope Hicks, Trump’s press secretary, announced late Tuesday there would be no news or travel for the remainder of the day.  However, later Trump secretly took his family to the nearby 21 Club restaurant for dinner.

A “protective pool” of reporters covers the activities of the president-elect for the media at large.  This pool is overseen by the White House Correspondents Association, and is designed to guarantee the president is always covered while travelling.

WHCA President Jeff Mason has called on the president elect to agree to a “protective pool” during the transition.  Not allowing this, he wrote, would be a “serious breach of historical precedent.”

In a released statement, Mason criticized the transition’s lack of allowing a pool of journalists to travel with the president-elect.

“The White House Correspondents’ Association is deeply concerned by President-elect Donald Trump’s decision to reject the practice of traveling with a ‘protective pool’ of reporters for his first visit to Washington since the election. In addition to breaking with decades of historical precedent and First Amendment principles, this decision could leave Americans blind about his whereabouts and well-being in the event of a national crisis. A pool of reporters is in place and ready to cover President-elect Trump. The WHCA urges President-elect Trump to allow it to do its job, including being present for motorcade movements, meetings, and other interactions. Not allowing a pool of journalists to travel with and cover the next president of the United States is unacceptable.”

Trump Transition in Disarray

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Kristi Clemens Rogers, Mike Rogers at 2016 White House Correspondents' Garden Brunch. Photo courtesy of Haddad Media.

Kristi Clemens Rogers, Mike Rogers at the 2016 White House Correspondents’ Garden Brunch. Photo courtesy of Haddad Media.

After winning the Presidency last week, the Trump campaign shifted focus toward the transition between the current Obama administration and the new incoming one.  However, this pathway has not been as smooth and seamless as past transitions.

The team’s national security advisor, former Congressman Mike Rogers, abruptly resigned from the transition.  He stated that he was “proud of the team that we assembled at Trump for America to produce meaningful policy, personnel and agency action guidance on the complex national security challenges facing our great country.”

In resigning, he handed off his role and all responsibilities to incoming Vice President-elect Mike Pence.

Potential nominees have also made their wishes publicly known on specific positions.  Rudy Giuliani has stated he does not want to be Attorney General, a slot many assumed was going to the former New York City mayor.

Additionally, campaign advisors have dismissed much of the prior work done by New Jersey Governor Chris Christie, creating disarray in the team dominated by Trump loyalists.  At least one individual being considered for a Cabinet position by the Christie team has been nixed.  And administrative transition work such as a code of ethics, interviews and written, in-depth questionnaires for potential nominees, and even submitting legally-required paperwork to the government, which allows the transition to officially begin collaborating with the Obama administration.

A statement from White House officials late Monday said that replacing Mr. Christie on the transition team and the lack of a signed document from the current head of the Trump team has frozen the transition process for now.

WHCInsider Mourns the Passing of Gwen Ifill

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ifill

PBS news anchor Gwen Ifill has passed away.  She was 61.

WETA president and CEO Sharon Percy Rockefeller emailed staff saying “I am very sad to tell you that our dear friend and beloved colleague Gwen Ifill passed away today in hospice care in Washington.”

Ifill was best known for moderating PBS’s Washington Week in Review and her role as senior correspondent on PBS NewsHour.

Masters in Politics: RNC’s Sean Spicer Discusses Trump’s Victory

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In the latest episode of Bloomberg’s Masters in Politics podcast Tammy Haddad and Betsy Fischer Martin interviewed RNC Communications Director and Chief Strategist Sean Spicer, as well as Megan Murphy, the Washington Bureau Chief and Executive Editor of Bloomberg News.

At the start of the podcast, Spicer discussed the reaction inside the campaign and among Republicans across the country following Donald J. Trump’s election as President this week.

“We felt really good. We had strong data. Our turnout numbers for spot on. I think there’s no question that no one saw the totality of this and the magnitude of it. Not just for him but up and down the ballot.  We held the Senate and we held the House, but we picked up states around the country.”

He continued, discussing why Hillary Clinton — seen as inevitable leading up to Election Day — lost her campaign for the White House.  “I don’t think people trusted her. I don’t think they thought she was authentic and I think that she had a set of rules for her and one for everyone else.”

Daniel Lippman, Tammy Haddad, Sean Spicer. Photo courtesy of Haddad Media.

Daniel Lippman, Tammy Haddad, Sean Spicer. Photo courtesy of Haddad Media.

Turning attention to Melania Trump, Spicer described what he saw as her strengths as incoming First Lady.

“I think she’s going to be a very gracious, very strong representative of our country and  when you hear her talk about her story of coming to this country and how much it meant to her, I think she could be such a champion of what it means to come to this country and the values and freedom that we have.”

In the second half of Masters in Politics, Fischer Martin and Haddad discussed the political lay of the land with Washington Bureau Chief and Executive Editor of Bloomberg News Megan Murphy.

Listen to the Masters in Politics Podcast

Top Emmy Winner HBO Veep star Julia Louis-Dreyfus courts millennial voters

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Cast of VEEP Garden Brunch 2014

Julia Louis-Dreyfus released a special video message to millennial voters in character as Veep’s former President Selina Meyer.

Speaking in a 30-second Rock the Vote public service announcement, Louis-Dreyfus as Meyer, — with help from her onscreen aide Gary Walsh (Tony Hale) — urged America’s youth to hit the polls and vote.

“So, the two reasons I lost: weather, which I can’t control; and millennial apathy, which you can,” Louis-Dreyfus says in the video. “When you don’t vote, you’re giving your power to someone else. Someone probably less informed and more motivated. So please vote, this matters.”

Her assistant Gary asks her if this means she is running again, but she quickly shoots down the option. “Then why do we care?” he asks. “Because of everything I just said,” she snaps.

Millennials continue to have the lowest election participation of any age group. Only about 46 percent voted in the last presidential election; compared to 72 percent of the Silent Generation, who have always had significantly higher rates of voter turnout.

Veep is shooting its sixth season in Los Angeles.