Inside the Beltway: Expanding the press corps: White House to stage talk radio marathon

NEWS AND OPINION:

The White House is expanding the press corps to include those journalists who happily exist beyond the rarefied confines of the nation’s capital or New York City. Consider that President Trump is featured in an exclusive interview with Pat Robertson, founder of the Christian Broadcasting Network, set to air on the “700 Club” on Thursday. It looks like the White House is just getting started, however.

The Salem Media Group — specializing in conservative and Christian content and home to such radio hosts as Hugh Hewitt, Dennis Prager and Mike Gallagher — will broadcast live all day from the White House next week. It is a herculean effort, but one which will “broaden media access and bring in more local and regional media, including talk radio,” say the organizers.

Mr. Hewitt, Mr. Prager and Mr. Gallagher will be joined by Michael Medved, Larry Elder and Eric Metaxas plus 13 local hosts who will have their say from dawn to 9 p.m. under the theme “Made in America.” Guests during the broadcast will hail from the White House itself of course, and also include key decision makers from the Trump administration.

This is a harmonious occasion; there’s no media warfare here, for once. The very canny Mr. Trump is also reaching out to a powerful ally.

“Donald Trump ran an unconventional campaign that reflected a broad public discontent with the status quo, and despite intense opposition and overwhelming odds, he was successful,” says Edward Atsinger, CEO of the Salem Media which syndicates family-oriented, value-driven content under the motto “the message is our mission,” to an astonishing 2,700 affiliates nationwide.

“There is an unprecedented level of public interest in what is happening in Washington, and we are honored to be able to participate,” Mr. Atsinger continues. “The president’s selection of a remarkable group of advisers and cabinet members illustrates his serious commitment to fulfill his campaign promise to make America great again. Salem Media Group audiences are highly active politically and very interested in both the policy components of the president’s agenda, as well as how the administration is accomplishing its objectives.”

CNN’S OBSESSION

It literally is all Russia, all the time on some networks. Now we have a sterling example of such programming, complete with numbers. The network is CNN, the program is “New Day,” a daily morning show.

“As CNN continues their crusade to bring down the Trump presidency, New Day spent 93 percent of their three-hour program Wednesday covering Donald Trump Jr. and the Trump campaign’s supposed collusion with Russia. The other seven percent was spent on baseball and negative coverage of the GOP’s healthcare bill,” writes Alex Xenos, a Newsbusters.org analyst who sat through the program and timed out the content.

The numbers, minus ad time: CNN aired two hours, 15 minutes on Russia; seven minutes and 45 seconds on the GOP health care bill and two minutes and 20 seconds on sports.

“No one is arguing that this revelation should not be covered, but when you spend 93 percent of your time talking about it, this shows an obsession, not an objective news judgment,” Mr. Xenos observes. “The same liberal media spent virtually no time seriously covering the supposed collusion between Bill Clinton and the Red Chinese in Clinton’s ’96 re-election bid. They ignored the potentially corrupt behavior by the Clinton Foundation for years. Yet, when there is even a sniff of scandal surrounding a Republican, they pounce with hysterical outrage.”

THE WAR FIGHTERS MEET

It sounds like a movie plot, but it’s not. On the agenda for the Defense One Tech Summit in the nation’s capital on Thursday: the “electron battlefield,” “merging soldier minds and machines,” “using computer algorithms to win wars,” and the ever-popular future of drones.

Those items are all on the program for the defense community’s consideration, and “the stakes could not be higher,” organizers say.

Staged at a site just four blocks from the White House, this event has some significant guests among its 17 speakers, including Lt. Gen. Paul M. Nakasone, commanding general for Army Cyber Command; Jason Matheny, director of the Intelligence Advanced Research Projects Activity — that’s “IARPA,” and it’s a fascinating federal agency — plus Justin Sanchez, director of biological technologies for Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency — that’s “DARPA,” another fascinating federal agency.

Also along: esteemed folks from the Defense Intelligence Agency, National Security Agency, the Defense Department’s Algorithmic Warfare Cross Functional Team, Harvard University, Northrop Grumman, the Marine Corps Warfighting Laboratory and the Air Force Warfighter Interface Division.

BEHAVIOR: THE REAL ONLINE CHALLENGE

“Harassment is now a feature of life online for many Americans. In its milder forms, it creates a layer of negativity that people must sift through as they navigate their daily routines online. At its most severe, it can compromise user privacy, force them to choose when and where to participate online, or even pose a threat to their physical safety,” reported a wide-ranging national survey from the Pew Research Center.

It revealed that a hefty majority of the public — 62 percent — now say that online harassment is a “major problem” for the nation. The survey identified many forms of it, from mere name-calling and ridicule to physical threats and stalking.

Significantly, 79 percent of Americans say that online companies should step in and address harassment on their respective platforms.

“Fully 60 percent of Americans say that bystanders who witness harassing behavior online should play a major role in addressing this issue, and 15 percent feel that peer pressure from others is the single-most effective way to address online harassment,” the poll noted.

POLL DU JOUR

• 74 percent of Americans are following the disagreements between President Trump and the news media.

• 35 percent of Americans say the news media is “too tough” on Mr. Trump and his administration”; 77 percent of Republicans, 30 percent of independents and 8 percent of Democrats agree.

• 34 percent overall say the media is “not tough enough” on Mr. Trump and his administration; 7 percent of Republicans, 36 percent of independents and 53 percent of Democrats agree.

• 28 percent say the media’s treatment of Mr. Trump and his administration is “about right”; 12 percent of Republicans, 30 percent of independents and 38 percent of Democrats agree.

Source: A Gallup poll of 1,021 U.S. adults conducted July 5-8.

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