Be Best? - Updated

From Axios:

The most striking thing about anti-cyberbullying tips released by Melania Trump Monday was just how much was taken straight from a 2014 FTC pamphlet. Reporters and bloggers immediately seized on the similarities, which included a near-identical cover and almost verbatim passages.

Why it matters: The effort has been greeted with skepticism since it was announced, given the President's propensity to use his Twitter account to mock and pillory political opponents. 

The guide, titled "Talking with Kids About Being Online," is very similar to the FTC's earlier "Net Cetera: Chatting with Kids about Being Online," though the former includes a foreword from the First Lady. Read the entire post here. 

In other Melania news, CNN is reporting that her approval ratings are a lot higher than the president's: 

In a poll conducted by SSRS last week, 57% say they have a favorable impression of [Mrs.] Trump, up from 47% in January. This is the biggest number Melania Trump has experienced in any CNN polling, and higher than any favorability rating earned by President Donald Trump in CNN polling history going back to 1999. Read the story here. 

She's more popular than he is? He can't be happy about that, and I can't imagine it will make him any more enjoyable to be around. 

Tuesday morning update: Melania is taking some heat this morning. Apparently the original language on the new Be Best webpage claimed the booklet was "by" Melania and the FTC. Later they changed it to
"promoted by." 

From Buzzfeed:

On Monday, Trump launched her “Be Best” initiative to promote children’s health, focusing on well-being, social media and online activity, and opioid addiction. As part of that, she and the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) released a 27-page document outlining her plan to help parents talk with their children about being safe online.

But the document copies sections almost word-for-word from a FTC pamphlet published in January 2014 as part of the agency’s “Net Cetera” campaign, which began under President Barack Obama in 2009. After tweaking some language and graphics and adding an introduction from the first lady, the White House uploaded the new document, “Talking With Kids About Being Online,” to its website as the only external resource for Trump’s new Be Best website.

… But the updates appeared to be minimal, stoking concerns from online observers that Trump, who copied from Michelle Obama for her speech at the 2016 Republican National Convention, was again plagiarizing for her newest initiative. On the cover page, a graphic for a mobile phone was slightly altered to show a more modern device, while certain headlines were changed with no additions to the underlying content. The 2014 headline for discussion on “Sexting,” for example, was updated to read “Sexting: Don’t Do It” in the current version. The paragraph explainer that followed was exactly the same.

…Nat Wood, an associate director with the FTC, said the agency worked with Trump to update and redistribute the earlier edition and that many organizations modify and reprint its materials. Wood added that the FTC was not involved in Be Best beyond revising the booklet.

After BuzzFeed News inquired about the content of the booklet, Be Best's website changed the language describing it from "a booklet by First Lady Melania Trump and the FTC" to "a FTC booklet, promoted by first lady Melania Trump" (emphasis added). Grisham and Wood did not immediately respond to request for comment on the change. Read the article here.  

How similar are the two booklets? The BBC provides an example, with the original on the left and Melania's version on the right; read the article here:



Tuesday morning, update #2: The White House is doing some damage control, with a statement from Melania's Communications Director Stephanie Grisham: 

Yesterday, First Lady Melania Trump unveiled Be Best, her initiative meant to support children and the many issues they are facing today.

After giving a strong speech that was met with a standing ovation and positive feedback, the focus from opposition media has been on an educational booklet, “Talking with Kids About Being Online” produced by the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) in 2009.  Mrs. Trump agreed to add Be Best branding and distribute the booklet in an effort to use her platform to amplify the positive message within.  As she said in yesterday’s speech, she is going to use Be Best to promote people and organizations to encourage conversation and replication, and helping the FTC distribute this booklet is just one small example.

Despite providing countless outlets with ample background, information, and on-the-record comments from the FTC, some media have chosen to take a day meant to promote kindness and positive efforts on behalf of children, to instead lob baseless accusations towards the First Lady and her new initiatives.

As stated by Nathaniel Wood, Consumer and Business Education Division Associate Director, FTC, “We frequently work with members of Congress, the White House, other government agencies, and the private sector.  As a small and independent civil law enforcement agency, the FTC encourages our partners to help spread our message to consumers.  We were excited that Mrs. Trump distributed this important information about staying safe online.  We look forward to continuing to work with her and others to help parents and children use the Internet safely and responsibly.”

Our office will continue to focus on helping children and I encourage members of the media to attempt to Be Best in their own professions, and focus on some of the children and programs Mrs. Trump highlighted in her remarks yesterday.

As a tweet from Ben Mathis-Lilley points out, Grisham's statement ignores the fact that the Be Best website originally claimed the booklet was created by Melania and the FTC. That's the part that's driving the criticism.

This is not what the White House's website initially said; it said that the booklet was created "by Melania Trump and the Federal Trade Commission," language that was changed after the close similarity to the earlier, non-Melania document was pointed out. https://t.co/VArZB6YvnX

— Ben Mathis-Lilley (@BenMathisLilley) May 8, 2018

David Frum weighs in too:

This is the last page of the BeBest reissue of the FTC pamphlet, redated as May 2018.  Certainly looks as if the White House was trying to pass it off as new & original work pic.twitter.com/RYtzOT3T6R

— David Frum (@davidfrum) May 8, 2018