Again in September 2023, The New Yorker wrote a story about comic and actor Hasan Minhaj. What adopted was an argument that ended up costing Minhaj his dream job and one of many coolest gigs on TV.
The New Yorker had fact-checked among the tales Minhaj informed in his stand-up act. They discovered that they weren’t precisely 100% true. Minhaj even admitted a few of his act was embellished or exaggerated.
So, you may ask, what was the massive deal? Does anybody actually consider or anticipate that every part a comic says throughout his or her act is true?
The New Yorker’s Clare Malone wrote within the story, “In Minhaj’s strategy to comedy, he leans closely on his personal expertise as an Asian American and Muslim American, telling harrowing tales of law-enforcement entrapment and private threats. For a lot of of his followers, he has turn into an avatar for the ability of illustration in leisure.”
That’s the place issues obtained a little bit sketchy for some. Minhaj was speaking about severe points, even when they did have a comedic spin.
He informed the New Yorker on the time, “Each story in my fashion is constructed round a seed of fact. My comedy Arnold Palmer is seventy % emotional fact — this occurred — after which thirty % hyperbole, exaggeration, fiction.”
As filmmaker Assia Boundaoui, an American Muslim, wrote on the time in an opinion piece for the Los Angeles Occasions, “Minhaj was one of many first Muslim comedians who unapologetically talked about being the goal of surveillance on a nationwide platform. It was refreshing as hell. There’s one thing very highly effective that occurs if you speak out loud about one thing that we normally solely whisper about. And but the harm achieved by his lies might be borne not by Minhaj alone, however by the three.5 million Muslims on this nation. It makes it more durable for folks to be believed, and for these of us attempting to inform true tales about what our communities have endured.”
Regardless of defending himself towards the New Yorker story in a 21-minute, very detailed video on YouTube, Minhaj was on the receiving finish of loads of backlash, and he ended up paying a value. In a new profile in Esquire by Michael Sebastian, Minhaj mentioned the controversy ended up costing him an opportunity to turn into the host of Comedy Central’s “The Every day Present.”
Minhaj mentioned, “We had been in talks, and I had the gig, and we had been just about good to go.” Then, he mentioned, “It went away.”
He added, “That’s part of showbiz.”
About the entire New Yorker story and all of the criticism, Minhaj mentioned, “It was painful, there’s little doubt about it. It was the primary time I noticed the pace and velocity of the Web, how shortly a narrative can take off. That a part of it was very new to me and disorienting.”
He additionally mentioned he had loads of assist throughout that point, particularly from others within the enterprise, together with Jon Stewart — the longtime host of “The Every day Present” who now could be internet hosting the present as soon as every week via the election.
Minhaj mentioned, “I bear in mind Jon referred to as, and he mentioned, ‘Why the (expletive) are they doing this? And who does this profit?’”
The brand new Esquire story goes approach past final 12 months’s controversy and is an effective profile of Minhaj that’s value your time.
MSNBC’s Stephanie Ruhle, left, interviews Vice President Kamala Harris. (Courtesy: MSNBC)
Vice President Kamala Harris has acquired criticism throughout her marketing campaign for not doing sufficient one-on-one interviews. On Wednesday night time, she did a serious one, sitting down with MSNBC’s Stephanie Ruhle. The interview happened in Pittsburgh, the place Harris delivered a 40-minute speech centered on the economic system.
Now, it needs to be famous that simply final week, Ruhle appeared on Invoice Maher’s HBO present and, in a back-and-forth with New York Occasions conservative columnist Bret Stephens, appeared to indicate assist for Harris. Stephens was saying he was not voting for Trump, however added he was uncertain about Harris as a result of he wasn’t clear on what her positions had been on many subjects.
Ruhle responded by saying, “Kamala Harris shouldn’t be operating for good. She’s operating towards Trump. Now we have two selections. And so there are some stuff you won’t know her reply to, and in 2024, in contrast to 2016 for lots of the American folks, we all know precisely what Trump will do, who he’s and the form of menace he’s to democracy.” (Trump responded by calling Ruhle a “bimbo” on Fact Social.)
Nevertheless, given her intensive expertise masking the enterprise world, Ruhle was totally certified to debate the economic system with Harris. And he or she did a commendable job within the Harris interview, asking Harris to present specifics of her financial plans. At no level did it ever really feel like a pleasant interview with softball questions, and Ruhle requested lots of the questions that low- and middle-income People are considering on the subject of taxes, inexpensive housing and the price of residing.
Ruhle additionally requested about companies, American manufacturing, unions, tariffs, price-gouging and myriad different financial points. She then moved on shortly to different subjects, together with immigration and reproductive rights.
You may resolve for your self how Harris dealt with her solutions within the 25-minute interview, however Ruhle’s questions had been stable.
Afterward, in a dialog with MSNBC’s Chris Hayes, Ruhle took a jab at Trump by describing the interview with Harris as “regular.”
President Joe Biden joins ABC’s “The View” for a dwell interview in New York on Wednesday. With the president are Whoopi Goldberg, Pleasure Behar, Sunny Hostin, Sara Haines, Alyssa Farah Griffin and Ana Navarro. (AP Photograph/Manuel Balce Ceneta)
President Joe Biden appeared on ABC’s “The View” on Wednesday, and referred to as Donald Trump a “loser,” saying he would have crushed Trump had he stayed within the race.
However, Biden mentioned, he’s “at peace” about not operating for a second time period.
Biden has appeared on “The View” 10 instances earlier than, however this was the primary time a sitting president appeared dwell on the present. (Barack Obama sat for a taped interview with “The View” in 2010.)
Biden additionally gave a ringing endorsement of Vice President Kamala Harris, saying, “She has the vitality. She has the intelligence. She has the grit. She has the stamina. And he or she has the center to do the appropriate factor.”
For this merchandise, I flip it over to Rick Edmonds, Poynter’s media enterprise analyst.
Six weeks out from Election Day, Benjamin Mullin and Michael M. Grynbaum of The New York Occasions addressed a compelling question, not less than for math nerds: How will networks, nationwide newspapers and The Related Press name state-by-state winners as returns are available in?
The massive information is that little has modified since 4 years in the past when competing approaches made for large variations in how and when the calls obtained made. That was very true for Arizona, the place Fox News was ahead of its rivals by days in calling the state for Biden.
That form of discrepancy might occur once more. The important thing gamers have their very own political groups massaging the info, however a vital core of knowledge comes from AP VoteCast for some, Edison Analysis for others.
Fox Information continues to make use of vote guru Arnon Mishkin, who supplied an early name on election night time, drawing howls of protest over the next days from Trump and his camp.
Different nuggets from the excellent Occasions piece (with gentle additions from a dialog I had with AP govt editor Julie Tempo):
- The brand new factor for the AP this cycle might be rather more emphasis on transparency, Tempo mentioned. Which means explainers prematurely, throughout and after the train. Tempo conceded in our dialog, nonetheless, full success might show powerful. Even the fundamentals of projections get tough. How can a race be referred to as with only a small fraction of the vote counted — generally with the “winner” operating behind to this point?
- Tempo and others from main networks the Occasions interviewed anticipate disputes, challenges and gradual counts. Take races which are shut within the first place, mixed with the Trump camp overtly primed to show over rocks in quest of fraud, and the seed has been planted.
- To the extent doable, Tempo informed me, she nonetheless hopes to maintain that doubtlessly big story separate. Choice desk operations have been largely remoted, and she or he hopes they will proceed to do their work the identical approach, however perhaps with slower calls as vote totals are delayed.
Again within the day, an authoritative name from the AP was sometimes accepted with out query, Tempo mentioned. That’s not the way it works anymore.
As soon as once more, I flip this merchandise over to Poynter media enterprise analyst Rick Edmonds.
The nonprofit Maine Trust for Local News has discovered itself on the receiving finish of sharp criticism for accepting greater than $100,000 in sponsored content material promoting from the state’s division of schooling.
The Maine Wire, a small rival with a conservative viewpoint, reported on the ads and accused the belief — and its lead outlet, The Portland Press-Herald — of unethically carrying water for Democratic Gov. Janet Mills.
The first in a series of six sponsored pieces is fluffy as may be — headlined “Maine academics share their pleasure for the brand new faculty 12 months.” Nevertheless, it is also clearly and prominently labeled as sponsored in a number of locations.
The Wire selected to disregard that article-style items turned a staple of digital promoting greater than a decade in the past. The Federal Commerce Fee has taken the place that so long as sponsorship is disclosed, it’s not deception (although violations, particularly amongst influencers, are usually not unusual).
The format is usually employed by corporations burnishing their picture, however there is no such thing as a apparent purpose the door needs to be slammed shut on a self-promoting authorities placement.
This one is objectionable, the belief’s critics say. “Think about being the statehouse reporter who now has to speak with conservative Republicans who’re essential of the Democratically managed state authorities,” a tipster emailed me.
Lisa DeSisto, the Maine Belief’s CEO, despatched me an reverse take. She wrote, partly, “Branded content material is a rising piece of our promoting product choices. We’ve attracted new clients to the Maine Belief by providing branded content material merchandise, and we expect they’re an vital a part of our income objectives. In growing these merchandise, nothing has been extra vital to us than creating a transparent distinction between branded content material promoting and our journalism.”
The Maine Belief is the most important of a number of state nonprofits created by the four-year-old Nationwide Belief for Native Information. In contrast to different startups addressing neighborhood information shortfalls, it acquires shops instantly. I wrote about the National Trust’s expansion and complex structure earlier this summer season. A secondary subject within the present controversy is whether or not the belief has been clear in saying who’s in cost and the place main funding comes from.
A federal decide in Houston dominated Tuesday that conspiracy theorist Alex Jones may have his InfoWars media platform and all of its belongings auctioned off piece by piece this fall to assist pay the $1 billion he owes to the households of these murdered within the Sandy Hook faculty capturing in 2012.
The New York Times’ Elizabeth Williamson wrote, “The public sale, set for mid-November, will embrace Infowars’ web site, social media accounts, broadcasting gear, product emblems and stock owned by Free Speech Methods, Infowars’ father or mother firm. Mr. Jones’s destiny as a broadcaster almost certainly will depend on who buys his enterprise. Although the Infowars identify and belongings are doubtlessly of curiosity to a variety of entities on the far proper, beneath the phrases of the sale anybody can bid.”
For years, Jones mentioned that the capturing that killed 20 first-graders and 6 educators on the faculty was a hoax and that the grieving households of the victims had been actors. It was all a part of a plot, Jones theorized, to realize assist for gun laws in the USA.
Most of the victims’ households had been harassed on-line and in individual, and acquired dying threats from those that believed Jones’ false idea. In 2022, Sandy Hook households gained almost $1.5 billion in defamation and emotional misery lawsuits in Connecticut and Texas towards Jones. Though he has since admitted the shootings had been actual, Jones is interesting these civil trial verdicts.
Williamson wrote, “The Connecticut and Texas sides divided sharply over methods to go after Free Speech Methods. Attorneys for the households who sued Mr. Jones in Connecticut — the kin of eight victims — favored shutting down the corporate and liquidating its belongings, with the cash distributed among the many members of the family. Attorneys for households who sued Mr. Jones in Texas favored a settlement by which he would pay them a share of his earnings over the subsequent decade, almost certainly netting more cash for every relative. As a situation of the latter deal, Mr. Jones would have needed to agree by no means to say the capturing once more. The asset sale might be the least profitable choice for the members of the family, although its potential for shutting down Infowars appealed to some.”
In the event you haven’t heard it but, make sure to take a look at the debut episode of “The Poynter Report Podcast.” It’s hosted by me, and the primary episode is a dialog with the all the time considerate and good Eric Deggans, the media analyst and TV critic for NPR. We speak about media protection of the presidential race, the way forward for CNN and the most recent in tv, together with the fiftieth season of “Saturday Evening Dwell.”
It’s accessible on Apple Podcasts, Spotify and Amazon Music. In the event you take pleasure in it, please subscribe in your platform of alternative and go away us a score and overview — it helps quite a bit.
A brand new episode of the podcast comes out each two weeks.
- The most recent episode of PBS’s “Frontline” is an effective one: “The Choice 2024: Harris vs. Trump.”
- NBC’s “Dateline” premiered — get this — 32 years in the past. Because it prepares for its thirty third season, take a look at this cool video narrated by “Dateline” correspondent Keith Morrison.
Have suggestions or a tip? Electronic mail Poynter senior media author Tom Jones at [email protected].
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