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Jodi Kantor and Megan Twohey
Harvey Weinstein was convicted of sexual assault and rape in Manhattan court on Monday, bringing a degree of justice, long awaited, for his victims.
The disgraced Hollywood mogul faced five counts: predatory sexual assault, criminal sexual assault in the first degree, predatory sexual assault, rape in the first degree and rape in the third degree. He was found guilty of criminal sexual act in the first degree and rape in the third degree.
Weinstein's abuse of women was long the subject of gossip in Hollywood. It would not have entered the public conscience without the remarkable reporting of Jodi Kantor and Megan Twohey, who broke the first story on the allegations against Weinstein for the New York Times in 2017.
That bombshell investigation, and the powerful reporting the followed, brought an end to Weinstein's reign as a powerful Hollywood mogul and abuser of women. It would help ignite the #MeToo movement, and less than three years later, it would result in this, his conviction on charges that will likely see him jailed for the rest of his life.
Though Weinstein was acquitted on some counts, which Fox's Andrew Napolitano said Monday is less than the vindication his victims hoped for, nevertheless he will probably never "see the light of day again" in his lifetime.
There is the justice, too, that the power and wealth Weinstein used to commit his crimes was not able to prevent him facing the music.
Shortly after news of Weinstein's conviction broke, Kantor and Twohey were back in the pages of the Times with a piece giving voice to his accusers and other figures of the #MeToo movement. It's worth a read.
That's not just a media win for the outcome, but for the tirelessness of the two journalists who pursue their profession's loftiest ambition: to hold power to account, and give voice to the powerless. 6.5.0 |
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Chris Matthews
MSNBC’s Chris Matthews drew a comparison on Saturday, and drew fire well into Monday for it, following the Nevada caucus results showing a decisive victory for Sen. Bernie Sanders.
Matthews joined the coverage after quite an appearance by Democrat strategist James Carville (more on that below), and took things up a notch.
Matthews was asked by Brian Williams about the result. "I’m with Carville all the way in terms of the dangers of what lies ahead in November. They’re sitting on so much oppo research on Bernie," he said.
He added soon after: "I was reading last night about the fall of France in the summer of 1940. And the general, Reynaud, calls up Churchill and says, ‘It’s over.’ And Churchill says, ‘How can that be? You’ve got the greatest army in Europe. How can it be over?’ He said, ‘It’s over.'”
His analogy painting a Sanders victory as losing the war against Trump blew, with quick reactions from the Sanders campaign and elsewhere. Particularly notable was blistering criticism from MSNBC political analyst Anand Giridharadas.
"Why is Chris Matthews on this air talking about the victory of Bernie Sanders, who had kin murdered in the Holocaust, analogizing it to the Nazi conquest of France?" he said. That objection was joined by former Obama official Marie Harf of Fox News, along with Media Buzz host Howard Kurtz, both of whom say Matthews should apologize.
Rolling Stone called out Matthews, too. Just as they did earlier this month when Matthews invoked "executions in Central Park" in a separate Sanders rant.
MSNBC has already faced a good deal of criticism from Sanders and supporters over their coverage of the primary. This latest from Matthews was a disaster for any effort to counter criticism of unfair coverage.
6.5.0 |
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| Just another Bernie Monday... Bernie Sanders has dominated the news for the last several days. His victory in Nevada was, on its own merits, a big story. As today's Media Loser shows, it spun off a lot of related news, all of which snowballed into a Sanders-heavy morning on Monday.
The CBS News 60 Minutes interview with Sanders took over Twitter on Sunday night over his comments on Cuba. While his remarks about pro-Israel lobbying group AIPAC drew their most candidly and unequivocally critical statement on a presidential candidate ever.
Following the not-too-well-received criticisms from Chris Matthews (see above) and James Carville (see below) over the weekend, MSNBC didn't slow down, as political analyst Steve Schmidt unleashed his own sure-to-cause-a-ruckus comparison pitching Bernie as the left's Trump.
Also Bloomberg The other big weekend waves in the Democratic primary were courtesy of Mike Bloomberg. In fact, he even came up in Bernie's interview.
Although Bloomberg's favorability cratered after the last debate, he still had a minor pick-me-up in the sort of afterthought endorsement by Hollywood legend Clint Eastwood.
But among liberals Bloomberg isn't nearly as legendary, and HBO's John Oliver ruined him at length on Sunday night.
In maybe the worst sympathy bid ever, after all the criticisms the Bloomberg campaign tweeted about an "eat the rich" sign someone taped to their office in Flint, Michigan. The tweet was not warmly received.
Coup. Coup-coup-coup.
The 2020 Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC) in National Harbor, Maryland, this month will feature not one, not two, but six separate discussion panels on “the coup” against President Donald Trump. The agenda was released on Monday. It's fascinating.
Coup-ronavirus?
Speaking of things out to get Trump, add "the coronavirus" to the list. At least, that's what recent Medal of Freedom winner Rush Limbaugh said on Monday.
"...[T]he way it’s being used--I believe the way it’s being weaponized is by virtue of the media, and I think that it is an effort to bring down Trump."
There is so much more. Hear it or read it here.
An emotional farewell
On Monday the world joined the family, friends, teammates, and colleagues in a memorial event honoring the lives of Kobe Bryant, and his daughter Gianna.
ABC's Jimmy Kimmel laughed and cried through his speech, as did the audience. "Kobe was my dear friend. He was like a little brother,” said Michael Jordan in a remarkable and touching remembrance. And Shaquille O’Neal gave the tribute only he could give. 6.5.0 |
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| James Bleeping Carville, Y'all This video, from Saturday, is a must-see, even if in the pace of today's news world two days ago practically falls into the "ICYMI" category (or the Cold Case Files).
James Carville was on MSNBC to comment on the Nevada results and was-- well let's just say he isn't thrilled about the prospect of Bernie Sanders as the nominee, but is less dramatically un-thrilled than Chris Matthews (see today's Media Loser above.)
The entire theory of winning elections that Carville says underlies support for Sanders is the political science "equivalent of climate denying," he said.
Watch that here. For extra kick, you can also see him reluctantly calling Sanders the front-runner here. |
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