NEWS AND OPINION:
President Trump can be very canny when dealing with a hostile news media or opinion-mongers, and often wins skirmishes with just a provocative tweet or two. Mr. Trump’s campaign, meanwhile, continues to conduct its own opinion polls, and the White House regularly vets news coverage, clearly citing beneficial stories, information and helpful data. It could go a step further, though.
“While CNN doesn’t do great in the United States based on ratings, outside of the U.S. they have very little competition. Throughout the world, CNN has a powerful voice portraying the United States in an unfair and false way. Something has to be done, including the possibility of the United States starting our own Worldwide Network to show the World the way we really are, GREAT!” Mr. Trump said in a pair of tweets launched mid-afternoon Monday.
The “Worldwide Network” has a certain ring to it. And the president is right about CNN, which has saturation coverage for a variety of reasons. Other observers have wondered why CNN appears to have a monopoly on broadcasting, particularly in the airports, where waiting passengers provide a captive audience.
Fox News prime time host Tucker Carlson looked into the matter, reporting earlier this year that the specially packaged CNN Airport Network is broadcast at 60 participating airports — which receive money from the network to broadcast their content.
Advised PJ Media founder Roger L. Simon: “We’re all being propagandized, consciously and unconsciously, all the time. I’m not sure how to end this CNN dominance of those public spaces, but we all should start thinking about it.”
But back to Mr. Trump’s brief suggestion of “our Worldwide Network” which won immediate coverage in Politico, The Hill, Variety, Fortune, AdWeek and TV Newser — to name a few.
Both CNN political reporter Rebecca Berg and Washington Post political columnist Karen Tumulty advised the White House that the Voice of America already operates worldwide. Yet even that’s murky. Before Mr. Trump even took office, there were stray reports which suggested that either the VOA was biased against him, or fearful that the media-savvy president would threaten their modus operandi.
Mr. Trump has won this skirmish, though. After all, it only took a pair of tweets — 66 words total — to spark an immediate avalanche of coverage for a stray suggestion. Point scored.
OBAMA ADMINISTRATION ALSO USED TEAR GAS
Breitbart News writers Brandon Darby and Neil Munro offer a reminder to those dismayed that tear gas was used Sunday to repel members of the Central American caravan as they sought to breach the southwestern U.S. border.
“Five years almost to the day before President Trump’s border officers blocked migrants with tear gas, authorities under President Obama used identical tactics along the same stretch of border near the San Ysidro Port of Entry, according to 2013 press accounts,” Mr. Munro writes, citing a report in The San Diego Union-Tribune on Nov. 25, 2013, which offered these details:
“The incident occurred about a quarter-mile west of the San Ysidro border crossing in the Tijuana River channel. No one was seriously injured, no shots were fired and no arrests were made. The group first approached a lone agent stationed about 1/8 of a mile north of the border. They ignored his commands to stop, so he fired pepper balls to try to stop them and protect himself,” the Union-Tribune wrote at the time, adding that “intermediate use-of-force devices” were also used to push back the group.
Local radio station KPBS News also reported that the Border Patrol agents met the crowd with “tear gas and rubber bullets and forced them to turn back.”
FOX NATION NOW A REALITY
Fox News grows more ferocious Tuesday when the nation’s leading cable news network debuts “Fox Nation” — an on-demand subscription-based service — featuring both long- and short form programming and star power such as Sean Hannity, Tucker Carlson, Laura Ingraham and longtime Trump fans Diamond & Silk.
“We cannot wait to join the best nation — Fox Nation. We have so much to share with all of you on this exclusive platform and can’t wait to get started,” say the two sisters, who have a very sizable fan base of their own.
“Content you love, voices that matter, all at your fingertips,” advises the network which offers a starting price for at $5.99 a month for the service.
“In an on-demand era of viewers watching content wherever and whenever they want, Fox Nation will complement and enhance our powerhouse Fox News programming for loyal superfans,” says John Finley, senior vice president of development and production.
BERNIE SANDERS, READY TO RUN
Sen. Bernard Sanders has a new book arriving Tuesday titled “Where We Go from Here: Two Years in the Resistance,” which publisher Thomas Dunne Books calls a reflection on how Mr. Sanders’ 2016 presidential campaign was “a beginning, not an end.”
Maybe. The Vermont independent, 77, is game.
“He still thinks he should be president. He doesn’t say this out loud, exactly,” reports New York magazine.
“I’m not one of those sons of multimillionaires whose parents told them they were going to become president of the United States. I don’t wake up in the morning with any burning desire that I have to be president,” Mr. Sanders told the publication. “If there’s somebody else who appears who can, for whatever reason, do a better job than me, I’ll work my ass off to elect him or her. If it turns out that I am the best candidate to beat Donald Trump, then I will probably run.”
POLL DU JOUR
• 57 percent of Americans say it’s unlikely people will live in space during their lifetimes; 61 percent of Republicans, 51 percent of independents and 56 percent of Democrats agree.
• 51 percent overall say they would likely travel into space if they had the opportunity and it was “free”; 49 percent of Republicans, 53 percent of independents and 54 percent of Democrats agree.
• 48 percent overall say it’s not likely they would travel into space if they had the opportunity; 51 percent of Republicans, 46 percent of independents and 46 percent of Democrats agree.
• 41 percent of Americans say it’s likely people will live in space during their lifetimes; 37 percent of Republicans, 47 percent of independents and 44 percent of Democrats agree.
Source: An Axios/Survey Monkey poll of 3,222 U.S. adults conducted Nov. 13-15 and released Monday.
• Chatter and stray facts to jharper@washingtontimes.com
• Jennifer Harper can be reached at jharper@washingtontimes.com.
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