NEWS AND OPINION:
If you wonder why CNN White House correspondent Jim Acosta continues to engage in aggressive back-and-forth with President Trump even during a national emergency, Steve Krakauer has some insight. He is a former CNN producer who has since become a media analyst, offering a daily column called Fourth Watch. He knows a little something about Mr. Acosta.
“I don’t think Jim Acosta is a bad guy. I worked with him at CNN, and he was a solid, competent reporter. If Acosta’s goal was to be a great White House reporter, he could probably do it. But that’s not Jim Acosta’s goal. Jim Acosta wants to be famous, Acosta clearly aspires to use this opportunity to spar with President Trump,” writes Mr. Krakauer.
“Jim Acosta loves nothing more than Jim Acosta. But I’ve also half-joked that if we found out, years from now, that Acosta was actually a plant and was secretly working for the Trump re-election campaign, I wouldn’t be shocked,” the columnist continues.
Wait, what was that again?
“Acosta plays the role of absurd, antagonistic journalist, and tees up Trump to deliver what could essentially be a campaign message,” Mr. Krakauer says, also citing PBS White House correspondent Yamiche Alcindor’s recent encounter with Surgeon General Jerome Adams over his use of “offensive” language in a coronavirus public outreach.
“Exchanges like the ones with Acosta and Alcindor during coronavirus briefings are actively helping Trump get re-elected — and they make all in the press look bad,” Mr. Krakauer concludes.
THAT’S A WRAP
Consider “Deborah Birx Scarves.”
This is a new Instagram account devoted entirely to the variety of scarves worn by Dr. Deborah Birx, response coordinator for the White House Coronavirus Task Force. The site has already accrued 16,000 followers since the account just over two weeks ago.
WHAT THE PEOPLE NEED
Quirky shortages of consumer goods during the coronavirus crisis have caused angst among those who fret their toilet paper supples are dwindling. Is the nation in need? Yes, there’s a poll, and yes there are differences among consumers from different political parties.
A detailed Monmouth University survey reveals that 62% of Americans say the outbreak has had a major impact on their daily lives, up nine percentage points since late March. Another 55% report increased personal stress while 25% feel more lonely. Seven out of 10, however, feel “very hopeful” that normal life will return after the pandemic ends. A third also confess they are overstocking on “certain items.” Another 52% report they’re having trouble finding necessities.
“Topping this unfulfilled shopping list is toilet paper, cited by 23%. Health and cleaning supplies are also reported as missing in action, including hand sanitizer cited by 16%, disinfectant spray (10%), antibacterial wipes (9%), rubbing alcohol (5%), and bleach and other cleaning supplies (10%), as well as other paper products such as paper towels and tissues (11%). Face masks (10%) and other medical items (2%) are also mentioned. Some also report they cannot find certain types of fresh food (13%) or other food items (4%).
And of course there are some pronounced partisan differences. See the Poll du Jour at column’s end for insight.
THE MEDIA’S CUOMO OBSESSION
The media continues to offer adoring news coverage of New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo and his newfound authoritative demeanor during the coronavirus crisis. Trouble is, the journalists are overlooking Mr. Cuomo’s record as a governor.
“For the past several weeks, TV journalists have been unrelentingly nasty in their coverage of President Trump’s handling of the coronavirus pandemic. But they’ve also found a liberal Democratic politician to rally around: New York Governor Andrew Cuomo. Cuomo has become a darling of the liberal media thanks to his daily press conferences — along with the fact that he is not President Trump,” wrote Bill D’Agostino, media editor for Newsbusters.org, a conservative press watchdog.
He cited examples on CNN, MSNBC, ABC, NBC and CBS during the last three weeks which have suggested that Mr. Cuomo is actually the “acting president” during the national health emergency.
“Most of the journalists praising Cuomo have focused on his daily briefings, while his actual performance as a governor has been largely ignored,” Mr. D’Agostino observed.
“The media need to scrutinize Andrew Cuomo’s record, not crush on his words,” wrote Julie Hollar, a senior analyst for FAIR — Fairness and Accuracy in Reporting — a progressive press watchdog and nonprofit.
FOXIFIED
Fox News continued its reign as the most-watched network in the cable kingdom for 12 weeks in a row, drawing 3.5 million primetime viewers last week according to Nielsen Media Research. In comparison, MSNBC was in second with 1.9 million viewers, followed by CNN (1.8 million), CNN (1.8 million), HGTV (1.1 millions and TLC (1.1 million).
Fox News also trounced cable news competition covering White House coronavirus task force press briefings; Bret Baier’s “Special Report” delivered 5.1 million viewers — the top-rated broadcast the third consecutive week. Sean Hannity remains a daily ratings king with 4.4 million primetime viewers, compared to 3.1 million viewers for MSNBC’s Rachel Maddow. This marks 57 consecutive weeks that Mr. Hannity has bested his broadcast rival.
POLL DU JOUR
48% of U.S. adults say they find all the household items they need in store or online; 59% of Republicans, 46% of independents and 41% of Democrats agree.
23% overall need toilet paper; 18% of Republicans, 20% of independents and 31% of Democrats agree.
16% overall need hand sanitizer; 10% of Republicans, 16% of independents and 20% of Democrats agree.
13% overall need fresh items like eggs, bread and milk; 11% of Republicans, 13% of independents and 14% of Democrats agree.
11% overall need paper towels or facial tissues; 6% of Republicans, 10% of independents and 12% of Democrats agree.
10% overall need facial masks; 11% of Republicans, 12% of independents and 10% of Democrats agree.
Source: A Monmouth University poll of 857 U.S. adults conducted April 3-7.
Kindly follow Jennifer Harper on Twitter @HarperBulletin.
• Jennifer Harper can be reached at jharper@washingtontimes.com.
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