We made it to Sunday. Here's a taste of what happened in yet another batshit week-that-felt-like-a-month in the Pro-Trump Media Upside Down.
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"60 Minutes" Interview Shows How Unprepared The Mainstream Media Is For Pro-Trump Media
One of the most interesting stories of the week in the 'Upside Down' media came on Sunday night when 60 Minutes interviewed Mike Cernovich on a segment about fake news. TL;DR: Cernovich flipped the interview on news veteran Scott Pelley. I wrote a piece about how you can’t confront the pro-Trump Upside Down media without an understanding of its cardinal rule: that the New Right media isn’t just an opposition force — it’s a parallel institution that insists on its own reality.
The lesson: Pelley's misstep was that he didn't take Cernovich seriously and didn't attempt to understand his audience and its influence. The key to interviewing pro-Trump media then — in my opinion — is to ask earnestly about strategy. What they want and how they go about accomplishing it, rather than merely yelling, "Fake News!"
Cernovich's take: After I wrote the piece, Mike DM'd me to say I didn't fully understand his approach. His point is interesting so I'm including a selection of what he said:
"How would the media have reacted *if* Trump had fallen on his way to a SUV? What I do is apply the *same* standards the media applies to the right. That is why no one (not even you) gets it yet. These are the left's rules. That is why people hate me. Everyone on the right was playing a rigged game. I decided to play by the same rules that the mainstream, left-wing media uses, and the left cannot win when those rules are applied to them."
Two's A Trend: Release The TapesIt didn't take more than a few hours for Cernovich to call on 60 Minutes to release the tapes of his full, hour-long interview with Pelley. "I'm not saying I was treated unfairly...but the people loved it and they want more."
Cernovich's demand came just a few hours after a different conservative pundit demanded similar.
The implication — even if Cernovich isn't saying it — is that traditional TV news (even though it's standard practice to edit interviews and most interview subjects agree to the terms before) has something to hide.
The 2016 'Breitbart Effect': The folks over at Breitbart took a bit of a victory lap, publishing a few snippets of a talk that Clinton's national press secretary, Brian Fallon, gave at Yale this week. The gist: the Clinton camp was blindsided by Breitbart and a surprisingly sophisticated pro-Trump media.
The most revealing quote: "The right has innovated a really good infrastructure,” he said, “that not only insulated Donald Trump from criticism that should be driving his numbers down, but has brought the conversation to the right"
Bannon's take on Breitbart: Here's a good little window into what the former boss thinks of Breitbart's savaging of the healthcare debacle, Paul Ryan, Priebus, etc.
"They've got their heroes, they've got their villains, it's never going to change," Bannon said of Breitbart.
Pro-Trump Media Has A New Obsession: The White House Briefing Room
The briefing room in the White House is now a place to see and be seen. My story from this week.
One lesson: Don't feed the briefing room trolls.
Did Chuck Johnson get a scalp in the White House? Yes, according to Breitbart.“They're playing right into our fucking hands — it's ridiculous,” Wintrich said describing the reaction to the briefing room altercation a few weeks ago. “So many members of conservative media after this happened reached out all supportive and told me how unfair the situation was. That's street cred for me.”
On Thursday Deputy Chief of Staff Katie Walsh was removed from her position. Here's why:
"Walsh was suspected of being a leaker, White House sources tell Breitbart News. They specifically say that a story first reported on Charles Johnson’s Got News weeks ago led to her ultimate demise."
Takeaway: All credit to Chuck on the story but if you're looking for proof that we're through the looking glass, I'd say that a notorious internet troll getting a big White House scoop that gets a big-time staffers removed from her post would be a decent example!
How Big Is Infowars? (It's Pretty Big).Really interesting piece as a professor maps the alternative media ecosystem. The article's title should give you pause. "UW professor: The information war is real, and we’re losing it."
News From Milo's Exile: It's barely been a month since his comments left him exiled but one of America's best known trolls seems to be hinting at a comeback of sorts. First, there was this:"Infowars.com alone is roughly equivalent in visitors and page views to the Chicago Tribune, according to Alexa.com, the web-traffic analysis firm."
Also: my colleague Steven Perlberg scooped up some rumors that Milo's dead book may find a new home at Regnery Publishing.And looks like Milo had some April Fool's fun. (This election will never end, btw. Ever.)
What Pro-Trump Media Is Talking About On Twitter: Twitter censorship.
A number of pro-Trump accounts got suspended this week, including Pizza Party Ben and @polnewsnetwork1, a popular account that aggregates stuff from 4chan. I spoke with @polnewsnetwork1 who said this:
Twitter has not told us why we are suspended, or for how long. Furthermore, we have been careful to not break any Twitter rules, so this was unexpected. We are trying to appeal to Twitter to reactivate our account, but we are hearing nothing. Unfortunately, other accounts have popped up claiming to be our new one, which will hamper our efforts to appeal to Twitter (as Twitter does not allow this behavior).
What probably happened: According to @polnewsnetwork1, this was the third time it'd had its account locked for objectionable material. Twitter's three strike rule means @polnewsnetwork1 is probably gone for good. Twitter doesn't comment on individual accounts but best guess is that Twitter is getting more responsive to abuse reports (they are) and @polnewsnetwork1 got nabbed on something that might have flown under the radar at Twitter HQ a few months ago.
QUICK CHECK IN ON r/THE_DONALDHow's their relationship with Reddit's CEO going? Not well, judging by this post ("spez" is the username of Reddit's CEO):
LOL Of The Day: Pro-Trumpers have a new internet hero and it's...Rob Schneider?
Dumb April Fools Thing: Kekistan
The pro-Trump goobers decided to have fun yesterday by creating a fake country called Kekistan and pretend they're a persecuted race of meme refugees. Because they have that kind of time!
Here's how Milo described it on his blog:
“Twitter users launched a Kekistani Day of [Remembrance] on Saturday for those who have been lost in the great meme war – and pledged to never stop fighting against Kekophobia,” it reads.
The piece goes on to declare that “all Kekistan desires is freedom to worship the great deity Kek and create dank memes in peace.”
See you next week!