Patrick's picks
Guest host Patrick Gavin offers his take on several stories in the news which earned his thumbs up or thumbs down.
What we're reading this week...
By Sara Fischer, CNN
We’ve got a busy show planned for Sunday with our ‘Reliable Sources’ guest host, Brian Stelter, television and digital media reporter for the new York Times and author of New York Times best seller, Top of the Morning. We’ll discuss the coverage and reaction following the new developments in the purchase by Jeffrey Bezos, CEO of Amazon, of the iconic Washington Post enterprise as well as the recent controversy stirring between the Republican Party and NBC and CNN over new Hillary Clinton entertainment programming, but until then; here are some other stories that caught our eye this week.
Richard Cohen's Huma Abedin Column Is Quite Something
The Huffington Post puts the spotlight on the bizarre way in which Washington Post columnist Richard Cohen’s writes about Huma Abedin's decision to defend her husband. The Post describes Cohen’s unconventional strategy to relate his personal life to that of Huma Abedin’s as awkward and uncomfortable. The Huffington Post article also notes that this is not the first piece of Cohen’s to spark controversy, recalling a piece he wrote in July about Trayvon Martin, which was condemned by many journalists as being slightly racist.
For Twitter, Free Speech Is a High-Wire Act
The Wall Street Journal’s Shira Ovide argues that Twitter’s continued success makes it difficult for the corporation to uphold the rights of free speech. Citing examples of anti-Semitic dialogue being propagated via Twitter, Odive argues that many of the billions of tweets sent worldwide clash with free speech standards globally, creating a growing dilemma for Twitter executives.
Will Amazon and Washington Post Work Together? Who Knows?!
Jeffrey Bezos’ recent purchase of the Washington Post for $250 million dollars, begs the obvious revenue question: Will Bezos’ online retail empire, Amazon, join forces with his recent media purchase? AdWeek’s David Taintor reached out to a few analysts to learn more about the recent purchase and what it means for the digital future of the Washington Post. While some analysts argue that it is too early to say if Amazon’s digital strategy will be integrated into The Washington Post’s, others argue that in the future Bezos will likely ask the Post team to focus on and experiment with the digital side of the business.
Covering the Anthony Weiner saga
The Anthony Weiner scandal has been a boon for entertainment news outlets. Guest host Patrick Gavin, Jim Moret & Mike Walters discuss entertainment coverage vs. mainstream media coverage of the NYC mayoral candidate.
Anthony Weiner media circus
Errol Louis and Lois Romano speak with guest host Frank Sesno on the week's coverage of Anthony Weiner's latest sex scandal.
Sneak peek at this Sunday's show
By Becky Perlow, CNN
Frank Sesno, director of George Washington University's School of Media and Public Affairs, joins Reliable Sources this week as our guest host. As a former CNN Washington bureau chief, he's got an exciting show planned for Sunday - including Al Jazeera landing in America and the media's focus on Anthony Weiner.
When Anthony Weiner left Congress in disgrace following a sexting scandal in 2011, most critics believed his political career was effectively finished. Little did we know that Weiner would return to the political limelight in the form of a New York City mayoral race. Politico's Lois Romano and NY1's Errol Louis join Sesno to discuss what role Weiner's wife, Huma Abedin, plays in the coverage and whether the media are making too big a deal about the new, never-before-seen sexting pictures that were released earlier this week by TheDirty.com.
Next, ITV News Royal Correspondent Tim Ewart, Mediaite's Joe Concha and Time magazine's Europe Editor Catherine Mayer stop by the studio to share their insight into the British royal baby media debacle - was the wall-to-wall coverage justified? And does American really care about a new born baby across the pond?
Al Jazeera America is set to launch next month, and with it comes questions yet unanswered by the Qatar-based media network, including who will drive the editorial content and whether it will truly be an independent news organization? Former Al Jazeera English anchor David Marash joins Sesno to share his thoughts on their expansion into the States.
It's time to end the White House press briefings - at least that's what former White House Assistant Press Secretary Reid Cherlin wants you to believe. In a New Republic article, Cherlin argues that "The daily briefing has become a worthless chore for reporters, an embarrassing nuisance to administration staff, and a source of added friction between the two camps." Cherlin joins Sesno to discuss his recent article in the magazine.
Finally, Netflix stock may have dipped but its subscriber base is larger than ever. While some question its ability to produce truly originally programming, 14 Emmy nominations certainly seems to cinch their spot in TV programming history. Wired magazine's Peter Rubin and HLN Digital Lifestyle Expert Mario Armstrong will discuss the Emmy nominations, why Netflix is so popular and where they see the video streaming site's business model moving in the future.
Tune in this Sunday at 11am ET.
Sneak peek at this Sunday's show
By Becky Perlow, CNN
After more than a year of non-stop media coverage, protests and court hearings, the George Zimmerman trial is set to wrap up in the next few days. All three 24-hour news networks have spent the past few weeks producing wall-to-wall coverage of the murder trial - but how fair has the coverage been to the prosecution and to the defendant? Callie Crossley, host of WGBH's "Boston Public Radio" will join our guest host, NPR's David Folkenflik, to discuss.
Next, The Guardian's Ana Marie Cox, The Washington Post's Carlos Lozada and The Atlantic's Molly Ball swing by the studio to weigh in on Mark Leibovich's new book, "This Town," which focuses on inside-the-beltway relationships between politicos, the press and the parties they attend together. Luckily for us, Lozada says there are 10 rules for succeeding in "This Town" (aka Washington D.C.). Can you guess what they are?
Jumping a topic train from DC politics to New York election races, our group adds former New York Post reporter Leela de Kretzer to discuss tabloid coverage of Eliot Spitzer's and Anthony Weiner's upcoming bids for NYC comptroller and mayor, respectively. But as Ball wrote earlier this week in the Atlantic, "If Spitzer and Weiner manage to join Sanford in getting elected post-sex scandal, they won't be signaling a bold new trend. They'll be doing what politicians have always done: getting in trouble and then getting elected anyway."
Rupert Murdoch has agreed to testify before the British Parliament following the leak of a secretly taped recording where he has an ethically questionable conversation with News Corp journalists. Former Member of Parliament Louise Mensch, who questioned Murdoch during his original testimony to Parliament, joins Folkenflik to share her insight into the secret tape and what it's like to now work for one of Murdoch's newspapers, The Sun.
Next, former Al Jazeera English anchor David Marash and NPR's Cairo bureau chief Leila Fadel weigh in on Al Jazeera's struggle with editorial independence and coping with the Egyptian military following recent Egyptian protests in Cairo.
Rounding out the show, president and general manager of WDRB Louisville Bill Lamb tells Folkenflik why his station is moving away from the "breaking news" hype.
Tune in Sunday at 11am ET.
Weiner’s Confessional Interview
Paul Begala and Howard Kurtz assess how the New York Times Magazine handled its revealing interview with former congressman Anthony Weiner.
Scandals of 2011
Lauren Ashburn, Jamie McIntyre, Fred Francis and Howard Kurtz discuss the biggest scandals of the year.
Media spotlight on Bachmann and Weiner
CNN's Howard Kurtz discusses this week's media coverage of Anthony Weiner's resignation and Michele Bachmann's prospects as a presidential candidate with the Daily Beast's John Avlon, Politico's Julie Mason and the author of the Washington Post's Right Turn blog, Jennifer Rubin.
Has Weinergate reporting gone too far?
CNN's Howard Kurtz debates this week's media coverage of the Anthony Weiner scandal with Amy Holmes, Jane Hall and Dana Milbank.
About "Reliable Sources"
Now more than ever, the press is a part of every story it covers. And CNN's "Reliable Sources" is one of television's only regular programs to examine how journalists do their jobs and how the media affect the stories they cover.
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About the host
Brian Stelter is the host of "Reliable Sources" and the senior media correspondent for CNN Worldwide. Before he joined CNN in November 2013, Stelter was a media reporter for The New York Times. He is the author of the New York Times best-seller "Top of the Morning."
Here's his biography. You can read his stories on this blog and at CNNMoney.com/Media/.
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