Tucker Carlson's Possible Move to Twitter

Also the CNN Town Hall with Trump, and an AI "Socrates" debates "Bill Gates."

NEWS AND NOTES

CARLSON TO HAVE SHOW ON TWITTER. MAYBE.: Just weeks after getting fired from Fox News, Tucker Carlson says he’s bringing his show to Twitter. Carlson posted a video on the platform making the announcement, leading off by saying “The news you consume is a lie ... of the most insidious kind.”

PHOTO: A still image from Carlson’s Twitter announcement.

But it’s not clear that his move is a done or sanctioned deal. In response to Carlson’s announcement, Twitter Owner Elon Musk posted:

“I … want to be clear that we have not signed a deal of any kind whatsoever. Tucker is subject to the same rules & rewards of all content creators.”

So whether this is a Twitter-sanctioned foray into appointment viewing, or if it’s just Carlson using the platform and hoping to monetize it is up in the air. One thing is certain: If Carlson has a “show” on Twitter, it will cement its reputation as being a safe haven for extremists. Advertisers aren’t exactly drawn to that.

ABOUT THAT TRUMP TOWN HALL: Donald Trump’s “Town Hall” on CNN has received a lot of pushback, including from other members of the media.

The forum, in which Trump repeated lies and insulted host Kaitlin Collins, drew three million viewers - that’s multiples higher than CNN usually gets. (Let’s face it - the guy’s a draw.) Writes Tom Nichols at the Atlantic:

I have advocated for giving Donald Trump’s sociopathic behavior full exposure. But CNN’s decision to run a town hall with the former president enabled that behavior and managed to harm journalism, the network’s reputation, and the American political process all at once.

On his program, MSNBC’s Lawrence O’Donnell (who is on the “People Trump Has Threatened To Sue” list) said the town hall proved that the media “Can’t use conventional tools” when interviewing Trump.

“The one thing I would not have done is wasted time with questions. Stupid questions,” said O’Donnell on his show Thursday night. O’Donnell expressed his hope that reporters would get right to the point and ask about Trump’s scandals not, say, his position on foreign policy.

As for CNN, Anderson Cooper defended the town hall on his show Thursday night:

"The man you were so disturbed to see last night, that man is the frontrunner for the Republican nomination for president … You have every right to be outraged today, angry and never watch this network again, but do you think staying in your silo and only listening to people you agree with is going to make that person go away?"

The Trump Show is here to stay. How the national news media decides to cover him is a challenge that badly needs to be addressed. He’s the prohibitive favorite for the 2024 Republican nomination. You can’t ignore the man. But media outlets still have editorial control and can choose to exercise it more effectively and responsibly.

DISNEY+ AND HULU KIND OF MERGING ONTO ONE APP: If you subscribe to both Hulu and Disney+, you’ll soon be able to get both services in just the Disney+ app. Disney CEO Bob Iger made the announcement in the Disney company’s Q2 earnings call.

Here’s the catch: It’s not exactly a merger. You’ll still need a subscription to Hulu to watch its content on Disney+. Follow that? It seems like an odd strategy, especially since the services will still exist on their own. Why would I watch Hulu on Disney+? Yes, there’s a convenience factor, but a full-on merger would have been more definitive.

Disney also this week announced it will be pulling some content from Disney+, but didn’t specify which. The channel lost more than two million subscribers in just the last financial quarter.

LINKS AND LIKES

AI BRINGS TOGETHER BILL GATES AND SOCRATES? APPARENTLY…: Check out this video. It’s entirely AI-created. It’s a debate about artificial intelligence, featuring an AI Bill Gates discussing the issue with an AI-generated Socrates:

I find this both entertaining and scary. There were moments I thought rang true, and I especially liked that “Socrates” was cynical about the very AI “he” was on. Videos like this are clearly AI-generated - nobody could possibly think the men, separated by more than 1,600 years, were actually debating. But it gives you an idea of what’s to come. Expect AI-generated “debates” between political candidates deliberately generated to make one look foolish.

REMOTE NOTES

Newsletter #47

Founder/Writer: Steve Safran

Editor: John Cockrell

Copyright 2023

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