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Reporting on the Mirror – AMAZON PRIME
The news is a deal has been finalized for Brian Williams to return to election coverage, as he will preside over a live broadcast on Amazon Prime. He will be starting off at 5 pm, and the broadcast will be available for free, even for those who are not Amazon Prime subscribers. The streaming services have gradually been creeping into live offerings, beginning with sports but also embarking on other forms of entertainment.
The question here is, what is the demand? The cable news channels and broadcast networks are already established for this type of news and have established core audiences. Who will be curious about trying the untested Prime platform? How much of a draw Brian Williams represents seems a curiously small target audience.
Brian Williams, Amazon Prime Video Confirm Election-Night News Special https://t.co/Uuhwr5bVZE
— Brian Steinberg (@bristei) October 17, 2024
Low-Octane Gaslighting – CNN
Being regarded as an expert is what other people insist, not what you simply believe while disputing the truth.
Abby Phillip hosted another dysfunctional panel this week, this time having on alleged tech guru Kara Swisher, who managed to defy common sense and the collective knowledge of our recent history. She tried to insist to Scott Jennings that there had been no tech collusion regarding the Hunter Biden laptop.
Watch as she gradually unravels trying to sell the concept that no one shut down the New York Post, and then – as Jennings calmly refutes her with facts – that ultimately it had only been suspended on Twitter for a brief time. This attempt to rewrite history is desperate and lame.
I actually reported on this (kara was mostly silent at the time) and she is either somehow very ignorant about “her” own topic or she is lying. the new york post wasn’t put “right back on.” they were blocked for over two weeks. pic.twitter.com/zS869RPd5a
— Mike Solana (@micsolana) October 18, 2024
BlueAnon – THE ATLANTIC
One sure way to get a feel for how this coming election is going is by gauging the wind from the pundits. Let's just say they are not exactly behaving like Kamala Harris is poised to win. They sound more like somebody pulled the fire alarm.
At MSNBC, they are prattling about fascism at an ever-growing amount. (We covered Wednesday how Chris Hayes was actually suggesting MORE fascist coverage was needed.) Now, we have none other than Anne Applebaum looking over Trump's speeches of late, and she arrives at a very sound and sane conclusion: He sounds like no fewer than THREE fascist dictators!
With only three weeks remaining, he has a short time left to start sounding like Pol Pot!
Why does Trump sound like Hitler, Stalin and Mussolini? Because he thinks it will work https://t.co/EZFf46kjPe
— Anne Applebaum (@anneapplebaum) October 18, 2024
Demolition Project – CNN
Chris would prefer that we do not look into statistics.
It has been a – let's say "challenging" kind of week for Chris Wallace. The guy is a noted authority on politics and the makeup of our media landscape. Therefore, it was something of a rebuke when Kamala Harris sat in with Bret Baier for her interview. You see, Wallace – one month earlier – had stated rather firmly how this was something that would never transpire:
The only Democrat who refused to meet with us off-the-record just to consider the possibility of going on Fox was Kamala Harris. There is a 0% chance that she will agree to an interview on Fox.
Following that misfire, Wallace has a book out in stores, and it's not exactly drawing the literary fans. While he is on The New York Times List (but out of the top 10 for non-fiction), the paper notoriously never provides actual sales. Top-selling conservative authors have been completely disregarded at times.
Despite making the media rounds at MSNBC and "CBS Mornings," he has not motivated much interest. According to Bookscan sales figures, his look at the 1960 election and drawing comparisons to today managed to move only 5,700 copies.
The 1960 presidential debate between John F. Kennedy and Richard Nixon “really revolutionized American politics,” journalist Chris Wallace says.
— CBS Mornings (@CBSMornings) October 4, 2024
Wallace tells CBS Mornings about his new book, “Countdown 1960,” which details the campaigns of the two candidates. pic.twitter.com/ehfQQwV7hz
Reporting on the Mirror – CNN
This almost sounds like accountability. Huh.
And things only get worse for Wallace. There have been stirrings for some time now that many at CNN have been nervous about widespread changes arriving, including slashed salaries and/layoffs that would involve on-air talent. Some of this is coming to fruition. Word is seeping out that some of the big names like Jake Tapper and Wolf Blitzer have signed new contracts at the same rate as their previous deals, and that Chris Wallace may be in limbo as he is being asked to take a pay cut after he had been brought over primarily for the ill-conceived and alarmingly short-lived CNN+ venture.
NEW: Inside CNN CEO Mark Thompson's massive overhaul, where Chris Wallace is being offered a pay cut, and Jake Tapper and Wolf Blitzer were renewed without raises. "Flat is the new up," one top agent tells me.
— Lachlan Cartwright (@LachCartwright) October 16, 2024
My first yarn for @TheAnkler —https://t.co/cfUYthlcWm
