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Paying workers to protest: The controversial trend of social justice benefits

Since the election, scores of activists have taken to the streets, town halls and rallies to blast President Trump. That’s all with the blessing of their boss thanks to social justice benefits and paid time off work policies that are growing in popularity.
At San Francisco marketing firm Traction, social justice benefits take the form of two so-called "Days of Action" a year.
"They can take part in a protest, they can volunteer for a cause that is meaningful to them," says CEO Adam Kleinberg. "Civic engagement is a foundation of our democracy, and companies should encourage it."
DOZENS OF WORKERS LOSE THEIR JOBS FOR PARTICIPATING IN DAY WITHOUT IMMIGRANTS PROTEST
Kleinberg says while he's liberal, Traction's new policy is neutral: so long as it's not a group that promotes violence, such as the Ku Klux Klan, his 50 employees can support whatever political group or cause they want. They must first get approval from management and submit a request for the time off.
"If someone wanted to participate in a pro-life rally," says Kleinberg, "they are absolutely welcome to do that. This is not about the partners at Traction promoting our agenda, it's about having a broader view of democracy, and encouraging people to be engaged."
But in the famously left-leaning Bay Area, conservative activists don't buy it.
"They want, basically, a harder left turn than we're seeing now," says Howard Epstein, vice chair of communications for the San Francisco Republican Party. "And if you're going political, you're going to discourage some people from going to your place of business."
EVERGREEN STATE COLLEGE EXCUSES STUDENT PROTESTERS FROM HOMEWORK
It is a risk: Consumers opposed to an official endorsement of protest culture might spend their money elsewhere. When news of Traction's “Day of Action” benefit spread, Kleinberg was the target of a backlash and calls for a boycott.
"Traction has been called everything from fascists, to socialists, to communists, to libtards, candya---s. I'm not quite sure what being a candya-- is, but if being candya---s is what it takes for Traction to inspire change, we're willing to own that."
In a statement to Fox News, outdoor apparel maker Patagonia had a similar stance.
"We hire activists... who are incredibly passionate about the environment. And, at times, protesting is part of that passion," said Dean Carter, vice president of human resources. "It all fits in with the company’s greater mission to make the best product, cause no unnecessary harm and use business to inspire and implement solutions to the environmental crisis.”
Several big corporations are also responding to their worker’s desire to advocate. Facebook told its employees they could take paid time off to May Day rallies which, in many cases, were largely about defending immigrant rights. Earlier this year, Comcast gave its workers paid time off to protest Trump’s travel ban.
Most companies give their workers time off to vote, but "this is different – this is going to a new level," said Scott Dobroski, community expert with employment firm Glassdoor.
A recent Glassdoor survey found more than half of employees believe they should have time off to advocate for social change, regardless of their politics.
"Many employers," Dobroski said, "are taking note that social change and positive action matters to employees – both in and out of the workplace."
Claudia Cowan currently serves as Fox News Channel's (FNC) San Francisco-based correspondent. She joined the network in 1998.

Sarah Huckabee Sanders rips CNN, media at heated briefing

The feud between the Trump White House and CNN reached a fever pitch Tuesday during a feisty press briefing where Deputy Press Secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders slammed “fake news” and said Americans “deserve something better.”
Sanders conducted the first televised briefing in a week, following complaints from the press corps that too many are being held off-camera. She took the podium in place of Press Secretary Sean Spicer, who was on Capitol Hill for a GOP Senate luncheon.
Breitbart News’ Charlie Spiering asked the first question, challenging Sanders on why CNN’s retraction of a recent story was not sufficient enough for the president, who on Tuesday took to Twitter and said: “Wow, CNN had to retract big story on “Russia,” with 3 employees forced to resign. What about all the other phony stories they do? FAKE NEWS!”
TRUMP TAKES AIM AT MEDIA AFTER RUSSIA STORY RETRACTION
CNN had retracted a story linking a Trump adviser to a Russian investment fund. Three journalists involved in the story’s publication have since resigned and CNN issued an apology to the Trump adviser.
“I don’t know if that response is good enough,” Sanders said Tuesday. “It’s the barrage of fake news directed at the president that has garnered his frustration. ... We have gone to a place where if the media can’t be trusted to report the news, then that’s a dangerous place for America.”
Sanders went on to reference an undercover video allegedly showing a CNN producer knocking the network's Russia-Trump coverage.
“There are multiple instances when that outlet has been wrong—there’s a video circulating now, whether it's accurate or not, not sure—but I encourage everyone to take a look at it,” she said. “If it is accurate, I think it’s a disgrace to all of media, to all of journalism.”
Sanders added that the media has been “going on [the] Russia, Trump-hoax for the better part of a year now,” and that “America is looking for something more.”
But Spiering pushed back, asking if the president expects the media “not to report on stories of a foreign country trying to influence the election?”
“I don’t think it’s expected you’re not to report on actual news, but I think there are a lot of things happening in the world that people would like to hear about—job growth, deregulation—those things deserve more coverage,” Sanders said. “I think we should take a good look at what we are focused on and making sure it’s accurate.”
Sanders added, “If we make the slightest mistake, it is an absolute tirade from a lot of people in this room, but news outlets get to go on, day after day, and cite unnamed sources, and use stories without sources.”
Brian J. Karem, executive editor of The Montgomery County Sentinel, a local newspaper in Maryland, then accused Sanders of being “inflammatory.”
“You’re inflaming everyone here,” Karem said. “We’re here to ask questions, you’re here to provide answers—what you did is inflammatory—everybody in this room is just trying to do their job.”
Sanders fired back and said that the problem is “the dishonesty that often takes place in the news media.”
“It is outrageous to accuse me of inflaming a story when I was trying to answer a question,” Sanders added.
Sanders did not take questions from a CNN reporter at the end of the briefing.
The briefing came just a day after president of the White House Correspondents Association, Jeff Mason, also a Reuters correspondent, met with Spicer and Sanders to discuss the issue of White House press briefings.
“The WHCA’s position on this issue is clear: we believe strongly that Americans should be able to watch and listen to senior government officials face questions form an independent news media, in keeping with principles of the First Amendment and the need for transparency at the highest levels of government,” Mason wrote in a letter to his fellow White House correspondents.
Mason urged the White House not to replace on-camera briefings with gaggles, or “not-for-broadcast” question-and-answer sessions.
“Though they are useful and can play an important role in informing the press and the public, gaggles are not a substitute for the open back-and-forth between reporters and administration officials that regular televised briefings allow.”
Changes are also in the works for the White House communications team.
The Trump administration confirmed to Fox News last week that Spicer would be taking on an expanded role, overseeing both White House communications and press offices, and would not run every on-camera press briefing.

Yale University Sues Conn. Over Gender-Neutral Restrooms

Yale University is fighting for gender neutral bathrooms at its school of law.
The university is suing the entire state of Connecticut after the state building inspector’s office denied its request to designate single-occupant restrooms as gender neutral.
Connecticut’s building code requires a certain number of bathrooms in every building be assigned by gender, but Yale argues the move would provide easier access to restrooms for either gender
Yale also believes it would prevent discrimination based on gender identity.

Project Veritas Exposes CNN Fake News

From staging sensational news reports to releasing fake stories about President Trump and Russia, CNN’s reporting techniques are under fire.
Earlier this month, CNN was called out for staging a pro-Muslim protest after the London terror attack.
In a video posted on Youtube, CNN reporter Becky Anderson can be seen directing a few protesters to stand behind her to make the gathering look larger.
On Monday, White House correspondent Jim Acosta repeatedly interrupted Sean Spicer during a briefing, and over the weekend the station retracted a fake news story about Russia prompting a policy change.
Just days after the ‘fake-news’ story about President Trump and Russia was retracted by CNN, a new undercover video is revealing what may be a deeper problem at the network.
While the station will now undergo more publishing restrictions, the issue of questionable sources and reporting points to a bigger problem with mainstream media, and bias against President Trump.
This bombshell is one of many released by Project Veritas.

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Three journalists quit CNN in fallout from retracted Russia story

Three CNN journalists who worked on a now-retracted story about Russia and a top Trump adviser are leaving the network.
CNN is casting their departure as resignations in the wake of the fiasco, but the network has come under substantial criticism since apologizing for the story. The move would also help CNN’s legal position in case of a lawsuit.
Anthony Scaramucci, the Trump adviser who is the target of the story, told me that he has no plans to sue. He said he has accepted CNN’s apology and wants to move on.
But Scaramucci also told me in an earlier interview, “I was disappointed the story was published. It was a lie.”
Lex Harris, executive editor of CNN’s investigative unit, was the highest-ranking official to resign. Thomas Frank, who wrote the story, and Eric Lichtblau, who edited it, also turned in their resignations. Lichtblau is a highly regarded reporter who spent nearly a decade and a half at the New York Times.
The story tried to draw a link between Scaramucci and the Russian Direct Investment Fund. Scaramucci was a Trump transition team member who has been nominated to an ambassadorial-level post based in Paris.
The CNN.com article said that Scaramucci, back in January, held a secret meeting with an official from the Russian fund. According to an unnamed source, Scaramucci discussed the possibility of lifting U.S. sanctions at the meeting.
But Scaramucci told me there was no secret meeting. He said he had given a speech on Trump’s behalf at Davos, and fund official Kirill Dmitriev approached him in a restaurant to say hello and they had a brief conversation, with no discussion of sanctions.
In the retraction, the network said the story “did not meet CNN’s editorial standards.” The network is now requiring approval from two top editors before any Russia-related story can be published.
Howard Kurtz is a Fox News analyst and the host of "MediaBuzz" (Sundays 11 a.m.). He is the author of five books and is based in Washington. Follow him at @HowardKurtz. Click here for more information on Howard Kurtz. 

Hannity: Russia allegations 'boomeranging back' on Democrats

Fox News' Sean Hannity said Monday night that the ongoing controversy over Russian interference in the 2016 election campaign had rebounded onto the Democrats and "opened the door for their own investigations and real trouble."
In his opening monologue, the "Hannity" host proclaimed that, "real colluders are the ones who have been claiming collusion."
"The real fault for Russia’s election interference now falls – guess what? – at the feet of former President Obama," Hannity added. "The real crimes were committed, in fact, by Hillary Clinton. The real obstructer of justice is the former attorney general, Loretta Lynch ... And the real corrupt collusion is the relationship between the former FBI director, James Comey, and ... the special counsel Robert Mueller."
Hannity was referring in part to a Washington Post report that detailed Obama's "modest" response to intelligence about Russia attempts to disrupt the campaign.
"If President Obama knew what Russia was doing back in August of 2016, why didn’t he act?" Hannity asked. "The answer, we now know, is simple ... The president didn’t do any investigation because he actually thought Hillary [Clinton] was going to win. In other words, let me translate here, the only reason Russian interference and the story is a big deal, is because Donald Trump won.
"That’s what the special counsel needs to be investigating tonight," the host went on. "Real collusion: Obama this time defending Hillary, colluding so she’d win and not rocking the boat."