Forward

EXEC SUMMARY: The CNN #DemDebate stage is set... And here's the latest on Paula Kerger's extension, The Athletic's growth, Lil Nas X's celebration, Charles Duhigg's new podcast, Cardi B's collaboration with Bernie Sanders, and much more...

Fox started this fire

Last Monday, July 22, Fox News did not mention the city of Baltimore once. This Monday, through 11 p.m. ET, the city was mentioned at least 74 times, according to TVEyes closed captioning data.

This is the result of President Trump's tweets denigrating Elijah Cummings and his congressional district. Fox's prime time shows were on their default setting -- DEFEND TRUMP -- with hour after hour of blame-shifting and whataboutism. The hosts and guests ignored Trump's factual inaccuracies and said Baltimore is broken and blamed Democrats like Cummings. Quoting from the graphics on Tucker Carlson's hour: "DEMS HAVE FAILED BALTIMORE." Sean Hannity's hour: "CRISIS IN BALTIMORE." Laura Ingraham's hour: "DEMOCRATS WRECK CITIES, BLAME TRUMP."

But there's one thing missing from most of Fox's coverage: Acknowledgment of the network's role! I always find this to be so strange. Trump will hear something half-true or untrue on "Fox & Friends," he will tweet about it and start a fiery controversy, then Fox will cover it as if the story came out of nowhere. But it came from Fox...

--> Background: The anti-Cummings attack started with videos from conservative commentator Kimberly Klacik, which were amplified by Fox, which inspired Trump to lash out...

Two WaPo stories that understand the Fox feedback loop

"The country can thank Fox News for touching off this entire calamity," media critic Erik Wemple wrote Monday afternoon. He said Fox "relishes any opportunity to attach the ills of major U.S. cities to Democratic politicians -— and not so much to broader forces that have hollowed out these places."

And in Tuesday's paper, W.H. correspondents Ashley Parker, Josh Dawsey and Robert Costa have this description of how it works: "Trump's sustained attacks against Cummings reveal the extent to which the president stokes a grudge, immerses himself in Fox News and spews back its more right-wing content into the world — forcing his allies to scramble to respond..."

BTW: They reported that "White House aides have privately discussed sending Trump to the city, but no final decisions have been made..."

Do you think Baltimore is thankful for Trump's "attention?"

"My father is right," Eric Trump said on Hannity's show.

"Quite frankly," the son said, "he's brought more attention to Baltimore in the last 72 hours than Elijah Cummings has brought to Baltimore in a very long time."

Is this supposed to be a twist on "all press is good press?" All attention is good attention?

A new title for Kimberly Klacik

Klacik's videos of ruined rowhomes of west Baltimore inspired the Fox segment that lit up Trump. Fox has been identifying her on air as a "Republican strategist" for more than a year. I noted on Sunday that there's no evidence she has ever been employed as a strategist by a campaign. I asked her for examples, and she declined to provide any. On Monday, she told Ingraham that she "volunteered on two campaigns," and didn't say which. I noticed that the on-screen graphic said "independent journalist" instead of "GOP strategist."

What this is really all about...

The NYT's Maggie Haberman, citing two people close to Trump, said "he is angry that his government-employee relatives were subpoenaed by Cummings' committee..."

Meanwhile, a new example of Cummings' oversight of the Trump admin: "Trump aide submitted drafts of 2016 'America First' energy speech to UAE for edits, emails show." That's a headline from ABC, summing up a new report out of Cummings' committee...

FOR THE RECORD, PART ONE

-- Monday evening's lead story on the Baltimore Sun home page: "West Baltimore residents say Trump tweets do nothing to help solve difficult issues..." (Sun)

-- CNN's Abby Phillip shows how to state the truth plainly in the size of a tweet: "Trump is not hiding that his campaign will be about white grievance. Putting black and brown people against his white supporters. To channel Chris Wallace: this isn't reading between the lines, it's literally written in plain English." (Twitter)

-- Michael Calderone's latest: "Some journalists of color are growing increasingly vocal in their push for media outlets to take race head-on in political coverage — and they are publicly highlighting the ways they say Trump's words and the semantic debates over whether to call them 'racist' weigh on them personally." (Politico)

Tuesday's NYT front page

The NYT's lead: "TRUMP BELITTLES HIS BLACK CRITICS AND SEEKS SHIELD." The "shield" reference is explained by the subhead, "MEETING WITH PASTORS."

David Simon's defense of Bmore

Brian Lowry writes: David Simon is no wallflower when it comes to his Twitter account in the best of times, but the Baltimore resident and "The Wire" creator has been on a proverbial tear since Trump unleashed his Twitter criticism of Baltimore over the weekend. While one can question the wisdom and value of engaging every random dissenting voice that strays into his feed, it's hard not to follow the writer-producer and former Sun journalist without, at the least, learning a few new expletives...

"A moral framework is necessary"

"Many of us in the press shy away from talk of morality and moral behavior because we think it will make us seem biased in some way," the Sun's David Zurawik wrote after appearing on Sunday's "Reliable Sources" telecast. But with an amoral president — and Trump certainly fills that bill — a moral framework is necessary to remind citizens of how craven some actions of this president truly are. Without that moral context, I fear his craven, cruel and hateful words and acts will become normalized."

FIRST IN RELIABLE SOURCES

John Heilemann and John Battelle launch new politics-focused media outlet

Oliver Darcy emails: John Heilemann and John Battelle are launching a new politics-focused media outlet ahead of CNN's pair of Democratic debates this week. The outlet, called The Recount, will be primarily video-driven, featuring short videos that summarize what is happening in the news. The idea for the website was hatched in 2018, and hiring began in the spring. So far more than a dozen people have joined the outlet. More details in my story here…

Until now, Heilemann and Battelle have been beta testing the outlet's content with a private email group. But on Monday night, The Recount's website and social media channels will begin going live.

In an email to supporters announcing the launch, Battelle said, "We started developing it because we were hungry for something we couldn't find in the current media landscape: a place featuring political news and analysis that's easy to access and watch on the go; that's concise, intelligent, and entertaining; and that doesn't waste your time or bury you in b------t or bad faith."

The #DemDebate stage is set

Literally! Here's a peek inside the Fox Theater in Detroit:

CNN's Democratic debate begins at 8pm ET Tuesday... We'll be out with a debate curtain-raiser edition before the broadcast begins...

Headline of the day

The Atlantic's David A. Graham takes the prize: "The Tweeting Will Continue Until the Chyrons Change."

He writes: "Faced with a series of headlines that he doesn't like, Trump endeavors to change the subject, by whatever means necessary. It's reminiscent of the old parody motivational poster that reads, 'The beatings will continue until morale improves.' Or in Trump's case: The tweeting will continue until the chyrons improve. In the past, this has worked well for Trump," but Graham says "there are limitations to this tactic..." Read on...

POTUS still loves print – here's why it matters

Politico's Daniel Lippman says Trump's "ink-stained reading habits" are "fundamental to understanding his presidency."

Key graf: "In addition to his diet of major newspapers, Trump relies on paper copies of articles culled from elsewhere each day by his staff. The papers and printouts are cherished tools that allow him to monitor the coverage of his administration, reward allies and rebuke critics with dashed-off personal notes. It's also a system that gives aides and would-be influencers ample opportunity to flatter, manipulate and steer him — and various attempts to exert firm control over the president's print inputs have failed, according to nearly a dozen current and former officials interviewed for this article..."

De Niro analyzes Mueller's performance

Megan Thomas emails: Robert De Niro shares how he would have handled Robert Mueller's testimony last week in this new essay for the Washington Post.

"I don't want to criticize [former FBI] Director Mueller as an actor, so let's just say my approach to the part would have been different," De Niro wrote. "Mueller chose to play himself as a calm, confident, dignified public servant. His 'backstory': a patriot serving his country from the battlefields of Vietnam to the battlefields of Washington, D.C. That's a valid acting choice, don't get me wrong. But I, more of a method actor, would have channeled my inner rage at the years of Donald Trump's illegal and immoral acts, and I would have been more in touch with my fury after two years of Trump and his stooges accusing me of running a witch hunt. I would have dropped the unruffled exterior and been more, let's say, expansive in my response."

Federalist writer says asking about the site's funding is "a veiled threat"

Oliver Darcy writes: Mollie Hemingway, a writer for the right-wing website The Federalist, said in a recent podcast hosted by Jamie Weinstein that asking about the website's mysterious source of funding is "kind of a veiled threat."

The question comes up all the time -- oftentimes from critics who are suspicious of the site's motivations and say the financial backer or backers should be transparent.

Hemingway told Weinstein that she viewed questions about the Federalist's funding as a "clear, coordinated attempt to silence" the publication and likened it to a threat. Weinstein pressed her, asking, "Is it a secret? Is there a reason why people don't talk about it?" Hemingway's response? "Yeah, we don't talk about it." Full transcript here…

FOR THE RECORD, PART TWO

-- Mitch McConnell is responding to critics like Joe Scarborough, who called him "Moscow Mitch" on Friday, and comparing the recent attacks to "modern-day McCarthyism..." (Courier Journal)

-- Here's CNN analyst Peter Bergen on the John Ratcliffe nomination: "Trump clashes with a truth teller and replaces him with a partisan sycophant." (CNN)

-- Cardi B joined Bernie Sanders for a campaign video shoot in Detroit on Monday, Annie Grayer reports... (CNN)

-- Sometimes I see my own name and face attached to lies that are so insane, I fear the thought that anyone would take it seriously. Yet some people do. So I'm thankful to the sites that try to correct the craziness. Today's example: "No, the names of CNN anchors were not on the Epstein flight logs..." (PolitiFact)

The Athletic hits half a million subscribers

"The Athletic, a sports-news subscription service launched in 2016, said it has reached more than 500,000 subscribers and expects to nearly double that total by year-end," Bloomberg's Ira Boudway reported Monday. Details:

-- "We'll end the year somewhere close to a million," co-founder Alex Mather said...

-- "The site has yet to show an overall profit but is profitable in all but a few markets, and new cities routinely achieve profitability within a year, Mather said..."

-- "The site is planning to introduce coverage of English Premier League soccer teams in August. Hiring in preparation for that launch has caused a stir in U.K. newsrooms..."

Kerger re-ups with PBS

Paula Kerger, "already the public broadcaster's longest-serving president," will "remain with the company through 2024," THR's Rick Porter wrote. She became CEO in 2006.

AdWeek's Jason Lynch added: "In addition to solidifying the PBS brand, Kerger is also pushing it into other platforms, like YouTube TV... the first digital partnership of its kind for PBS."

PBS programming previews

Brian Lowry writes: The Kerger contract extension and the YouTube TV deal coincided with the PBS portion of the TV Critics Association press tour. Unlike commercial broadcasters -- which have shrunk their footprint at the press event, ceding ground to cable and streamers -- public TV still takes two days to showcase its wares at the summer gathering.

Check Google News for the programming headlines from the TCA sessions...

FOR THE RECORD, PART THREE

-- "Looking at the second-quarter financial and operating results released so far by cable operators, analyst Michael Nathanson of MoffettNathanson Research said cord-cutting has become 'freaking ugly' and the headwinds faced by media companies have gotten 'much worse...'" (B&C)

-- Investigative journalist Vicki Ward, most recently the author of "Kushner, Inc.," has joined CNN as a senior reporter... (Twitter)

-- David Ng, who recently left the L.A. Times after 12 years, has joined Breitbart News to cover "media, entertainment and corporate America..." (Breitbart)

-- Stephanie Sy is joining PBS "NewsHour" as a correspondent and West Coast anchor... (Twitter)

Service journalism, podcast style

Journalist Charles Duhigg is launching a new podcast with Slate on Tuesday named "How To!" Here's why I think it's interesting: The tagline is "What if Dear Abby was an investigative journalist?"

"The idea behind the show, I think, is somewhat unique: The introduction of genuinely investigative service journalism to podcasting," Duhigg told me. "Each week, our goal is to take a listener's every-day problems and elevate it with the same dignity and care our colleagues normally apply to, say, the presidency, or foreign affairs, or other 'hard news.'" One episode is about how to tell the perfect joke, another is about how to withstand pain, etc...

FOR THE RECORD, PART FOUR

-- A new project called Covering Climate Now is "aimed at breaking the climate silence that has long prevailed within too much of the news media." More than 60 outlets have "committed to running one week of focused climate coverage" in September... (CJR)

-- Kelly McBride on the perils of aggregation: "This journalist got a big scoop, only to watch Fox News steal his reporting — and his traffic..." (Poynter)

-- Tim Peterson has a look "inside the development of CNN's new Facebook-funded Watch show, 'Go There.'" Here's the first episode. (Digiday)

-- WarnerMedia, in hot pursuit of the PGA Tour's media rights, has told the tour "that it would consider converting one of its existing TV channels into a golf-focused one," John Ourand reports in his newsletter. The talks are preliminary... "Even though two years remain on its current U.S. deals, the PGA Tour will invite media companies to deliver formal pitches in the coming weeks..." (SBJ)

FIRST LOOK

Variety's new look inside Warner Bros.

This week's Variety cover is an illustration of WarnerMedia CEO John Stankey... Cynthia Littleton and Brent Lang's story will be out Tuesday morning... Along with an exclusive interview with incoming Warner Bros CEO Ann Sarnoff...

Netflix opens its wallet for big films

Frank Pallotta emails: The WSJ's R.T. Watson and Ben Fritz reported on Monday that Netflix is splurging on three big budget films to the hefty tune of "over $520 million" total. "None of those movies is likely to get the kind of wide theatrical release typically used to make such substantial investments pay off."

The total includes "nearly $200 million" on the Dwayne Johnson action movie "Red Notice;" $150 million for Michael Bay's "6 Underground;" and at least $173 million for Martin Scorsese's highly anticipated "The Irishman," which will open the New York Film Festival in September.

That's a lot of cash, but content is the biggest weapon of the streaming wars and even Netflix needs to keep up...

"Old Town Road" breaks Billboard record

"Lil Nas X has now made Billboard chart history," Marianne Garvey wrote Monday. "Old Town Road," featuring Billy Ray Cyrus, is No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100 for the 17th consecutive week, making it "the longest-running No. 1 single since the chart's inception."

"Helping to fuel the song's longevity," Garvey wrote, "Lil Nas X has debuted 'Old Town Road' remixes of the song in the last few weeks, with the first featuring viral singer/yodeler Mason Ramsey and hip-hop heavyweight Young Thug, followed by a new version with RM of BTS. The result is a special remix titled 'Seoul Town Road.'"

Here's some of what Lil Nas X wrote on Instagram, minus all the emojis he added: "last year in october, as a struggling artist starting to lose faith in what i could be, i went looking for beats on youtube..." When the song started to come to him, he knew "it needed to be funny, it needed to be catchy, it needed to be hip hop, it needed to be country, & it needed to be short!!"

FOR THE RECORD, PART FIVE

By Lisa Respers France:

-- Lori Loughlin's daughters broke their silence for her birthday...

-- Kelly McGillis says she wasn't asked to return for the "Top Gun" sequel...

-- Some of Jessica Alba's Twitter followers are saying her account was hacked...

-- See what's streaming on Netflix, Amazon Prime and Hulu in August.

Lizzo's Tiny Desk concert is trending

CNN's Leah Asmelash and Saeed Ahmed explain why here... And here's the audio and video on NPR.org...

FOR THE RECORD, PART SIX

-- Marianne Garvey writes: "Orange Is the New Black" on Netflix is over, but the cast members are getting tons of work due to the show. Here's where to catch them next...

-- Megan Thomas writes: Titus Burgess really didn't like Andy Cohen's question about working with Eddie Murphy on "WWHL..."

-- I missed this news over the weekend: "Slow Burn, a six-episode docuseries based on the popular Slate podcast by the same name, will premiere on November 24" on Epix... (Deadline)

Catch up on Sunday's show

Watch the video clips on CNN.com... Or listen to the podcast version of the program via Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Stitcher, or your preferred podcasting app...

Thank you for reading! Send me your feedback anytime...