Biden campaign ‘flooding the zone’ with celebrity backers
The four-time Grammy winner isn't the only Biden playlist mainstay helping his campaign against President Donald Trump. Still, Biden has gone beyond celebrities in search of campaign surrogates. Stars generate candidate buzz, help with fundraising and can build campaign event crowds — even for those online. His reelection campaign has been holding its own online events with top supporters nearly every night for months and says its online events average 2.6 million views per broadcast, though its headliners are often the president’s children. The Trump campaign has also seized on Biden's preferred venue for participating in online events, a basement studio in his Delaware home — accusing the former vice president of hiding from voters.
Naval Academy holds its first-ever virtual graduation event
On Thursday, the Senate confirmed Kenneth Braithwaite, a former U.S. ambassador to Norway and a 1984 graduate of the Naval Academy, as Navy secretary. The decision not to have a live Naval Academy graduation ceremony reflects concern about the coronavirus pandemic. It stands in contrast to the Air Force, which held a scaled-back live graduation ceremony in Colorado Springs, Colorado on April 18. The Army is scheduled to hold a U.S. Military Academy live graduation ceremony at West Point, New York, on June 13 with President Donald Trump as the commencement speaker. In the virtual spirit of Friday's Naval Academy event, Milley, chimed in with a Twitter note of encouragement to the graduates.
Once booming concert industry goes quiet after coronavirus
Live music, concerts, festivals, awards shows and other live entertainment events came to an abrupt halt just weeks ago over concerns of spreading the new coronavirus. For thousands of live entertainment staff who work behind the stages, the world got a lot quieter. Concerts make up a multibillion-dollar live event industry that has boomed in recent years even as album sales have declined. In the past, they’ve provided financial relief for entertainment workers after the terrorist attacks on 9/11 and Hurricane Katrina. “For myself and everyone in the entertainment industry, we’re hurting.”__Online:MooTV: https://www.mootv.com/MusiCares: https://www.grammy.com/musicaresBandit Lites: http://www.banditlites.com/__Follow Kristin M. Hall at http://twitter.com/kmhall