 As the bitterness of New England colonies threatened to explode into war with England, young John Adams accepted the greatest challenge of his life: Defending the British soldiers who had killed five colonists in the Boston Massacre, at great personal risk.
In John Adams Under Fire, New York Times bestselling authors Dan Abrams and David Fisher draw on the largely forgotten trial transcript, using Adams’ own words to transport readers to colonial Boston, a city roiling with rebellion, to tell the incredible story of Founding Father John Adams courage and his belief that whatever was to happen, it was dependent on “A government of laws, and not of men." Buy it today! |
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|  | MEDIA WINNER:
Porter Berry, FOX Digital
It's not just on air that Fox News started off 2020 at the top of the ratings. Fox News Digital Network, under the leadership of Editor-in-Chief Porter Berry, had a record January.
It was Fox Digital's best month to date in both mutliplatform views and multiplatform unique visitors. And a statement from the network adds that "in multiplatform minutes, FOX News Digital surpassed CNN.com for the 16th consecutive month and earned its second-highest month of multiplatform minutes since the 2016 election."
Berry took over at Fox Digital from his previous job as producer for Fox News Channel's ratings-monster Hannity back in 2018.
"On the heels of FOX News Digital delivering its highest growth ever last year, we started 2020 out of the gate with an even stronger performance, and our enhanced editorial strategy yielded record highs," said Berry. "From the airstrike that killed Soleimani, to the Senate’s impeachment trial, to 2020 presidential election coverage, we are serving our loyal audience with enterprise reporting and compelling, original content on everything from politics, entertainment, and more around the globe.”
Media isn't just TV viewers anymore, but Fox is cleaning up in clicks just as it is in ratings. 6.5.0 |
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 | MEDIA LOSER:
Briahna Joy Gray
For a press spokesperson, rather than a member of the press, to make our media loser, they really have to go above and beyond. In the case of Briahna Joy Gray, the National Press Secretary for Bernie Sanders presidential campaign, the burden was met with statements made on air about opponent Mike Bloomberg.
On both Tuesday and Wednesday, Gray had to issue "I misspoke" statements via Twitter over her on-air commentary. The first was for her outrageously false claim that Bloomberg has faced "64 sexual assault allegations; the second, her unfounded claim that Bloomberg has had multiple heart attacks.
CNN's Jake Tapper addressed the pair of allegations and weak retractions during his show Wednesday. “I have to say, just as someone who covers politics, I’m really shocked to have two days in a row the same spokeswoman for the Sanders campaign… making wild, incendiary allegations against Mike Bloomberg and then responding the way they did, especially for the campaign that is constantly attacking Trump for lying," said Tapper.
It's a pretty big fail for the campaign, and it rises to the level of a losing media moment for Briahna Joy Gray. 6.5.0 |
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| Dude, Where's my Barr? Attorney General William Barr has made quite a few media splashes in the last couple of weeks, but his criticism of President Trump's tweeting may have had the most play on social media. Which could be why the President noticed it, and why there were suddenly stories about Barr considering getting out of Dodge.
But was he, though?
If accurate, Mediaite founder and ABC News Chief Legal Analyst Dan Abrams noted on Wednesday, it might not be the positive turn those who oppose Trump hope for. In fact, said Abrams, Trump could easily go the other way: worse.
Solomon's Ukraine
The Hill has finally released their editorial review of the work published at the site by former columnist and current Fox News contributor John Solomon, and the verdict: rebuke.
In a piece covering the review, editor Bob Cusack said the outlet is adding editor’s notes to several of Solomon’s columns, and that Solomon engaged in practices that blurred the lines of a columnist and news writer. Along with some other regrets.
The Bernie Hot Bro-tato Questions about the supporters of Bernie Sanders just keep coming up, as we noted in Tuesday's Green Room. The news bounces back and forth between Sanders being asked about, or rebuking, his more controversial followers, and fellow candidates or TV talking heads reacting to those supporters or to Sanders' comments.
On Wednesday, it was maybe the biggest day yet for such conversations. Down in our Must-See ... or rather, HEAR, section below, you can catch Fox's Mark Levin on the subject of Sanders and his supporters.
But almost as vehement was Never-Trump former GOP consultant Steve Schmidt, who on MSNBC on Wednesday called the supporters "vile" and the Sanders campaign overall a "death sentence" for Democrats in 2020. Ouch. But wait, there's more The View host Meghan McCain confronted Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez over the so-called "Bernie Bro" phenomenon today, which supporters she described as “deeply misogynistic” and “violent.”
"I think that to a certain extent we have to always reject hate, reject vitriol, and denounce that kind of behavior," said AOC at one point, but the exchange was much better watched than re-capped.
Also McCain brought up her own status on the left as a sort of parallel to AOC's status on the right. Humble-brag much?
Age and Whoopi
AOC didn't speak only to Meghan McCain of course, The View star Whoopi Goldberg had her own collision with the congresswoman over age and wisdom in the party.
It was a topic that needed to be brought up.
Say My Nombre
2020 candidate Sen. Amy Klobuchar is looking to make inroads with diverse voters in Nevada ahead of Saturday's caucus. So she told an awkward anecdote about her elementary school Spanish class to Latino workers from the powerful Culinary Union. And it didn't go over so great.
“Well let me tell you first about me, my name is Amy and when I took Spanish in fourth grade my name was Elena,” Klobuchar said. “I would use the name me llamo Elena because I couldn’t roll my R’s very well.”
There were many ... reactions. 6.5.0 |
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🎤 In Their Words: When Chris Lehmann became editor of The New Republic last year, he inherited a magazine that was somewhat rudderless. A series of tumultuous events had left the liberal magazine in a weakened state. But things now appear to have leveled out thanks to Lehmann’s stewardship, and Mediaite's Matthew Kassel spoke with him about the publication, and its future, in this fascinating interview. |
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Must-HEAR Clip of the Day |
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| Islamo-Nazis, Opinionists, and Oligarchs, OH MY That's no song, but it's audio, and it hit every over-the-top note when delivered by Fox Newser Mark Levin this week.
It's hard to summarize it in a coherent way, but suffice it to say that his drift was that Sen. Bernie Sanders, and the people who support him, "could come out of the Third Reich."
"That's right, I said it," said Levin, with punctuation that he apparently didn't realize only enhanced the absurdity of the take.
But listen for yourself, if you dare. |
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