Forward

EXEC SUMMARY: Friday the 13th is almost over, so let's look ahead to the weekend. Here are a dozen media and tech stories you should know about, plus plenty of weekend reads...

250+ news outlets

That's the number of newsrooms committing to Covering Climate Now. This initiative, spearheaded by the Columbia Journalism Review with help from The Nation, The Guardian and others, has been in the works for several months. It will be visible to the public starting this Sunday, when participating news outlets start to publish a week's worth of focused climate change coverage in the run-up to the UN Climate Action Summit on September 23. The organizers hope to keep it going well past this month.

The goal, CJR editor Kyle Pope told me, is to marshal news coverage to "match how big this story is."

"We're not telling people what to write," he said. "We're not telling them who they should quote. We're not telling them what their story is... All we know is that there are climate stories that you should be devoting more of your attention to."

Dozens and dozens of news outlets from around the world have joined the coalition. And Pope told me on Friday that there are new news outlets still "coming in like every hour." It could, he said, "end up being the most extensive effort ever to sort of organize the world's press around a single topic."

But there are caveats, including the fact that many big newsrooms with notable climate coverage, from the NYT to CNN, have not joined the coalition. Those news outlets may see no pressing reason to participate. But they'll be covering climate news in advance of the UN summit just like lots of other outlets...

"Reliable" podcast with Kyle Pope

Hear my complete conversation with Pope on this week's "Reliable Sources" podcast... We discussed the critical role of local meteorologists; a "generational divide in the way people consume this news;" and more. 🎙️ Listen via Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Stitcher, TuneIn, or your pod player of choice...

More and more climate coverage

>> NBC is promoting a "Climate in Crisis" series of coverage beginning Sunday...

>> NBC's Al Roker in an interview with People mag: "We're not trying to frighten people. We're trying to show people how this affects your everyday life and in ways big and small..."

>> As I wrote last week, CNN's climate town hall marathon had higher ratings than I anticipated...

>> Up next: Georgetown is hosting a climate forum for 2020 candidates next Thursday and Friday. Here's the schedule. MSNBC, Our Daily Planet and NYMag are partners...

>> 30 years after TIME replaced its annual "Person of the Year" with a planet in its "Endangered Earth" issue, the magazine has dedicated another entire issue to the topic of climate change. In one article that looks ahead another 30 years to 2050, a physicist reflects on how "waiting 30 years turned a bunny slope into a black diamond..."

"Talk about this story every night"

Quoting from Cynthia Littleton's recent story for Variety: "CBS News and CNN are two of the major news orgs stepping up their investment in climate change as a breaking-news beat. 'Time is so of the essence right now. The choices we make now will literally be the difference between tens of millions of lives lost or hundreds of millions of lives lost in just a lifetime,' says Bill Weir, the TV news veteran who has been with CNN since 2013 and was formally appointed its chief climate correspondent in June. 'It's our absolute obligation to talk about this story every night. Soon it will be the only story we're talking about.'"

>> Speaking of Weir, he had a brand-new story from Alaska on Friday's "The Lead" and "EBOF..."

New polling:

WaPo came out with this on Friday: "A growing number of Americans describe climate change as a crisis, and two-thirds say President Trump is doing too little to tackle the problem. The results, from a poll conducted by The Washington Post and the Kaiser Family Foundation, point to a growing disconnect between Americans worried about the warming planet and Trump administration officials, who have aggressively scaled back Obama-era environmental regulations and relinquished the nation's role as a global leader in pushing for climate action. The poll finds that a strong majority of Americans — about 8 in 10 — say that human activity is fueling climate change, and roughly half believe action is urgently needed within the next decade if humanity is to avert its worst effects. Nearly 4 in 10 now say climate change is a 'crisis,' up from less than a quarter five years ago..."

IN OTHER NEWS...

The next debate

CNN and The New York Times will co-host October's Dem debate. Erin Burnett, Anderson Cooper and NYT national editor Marc Lacey will moderate the October 15 event and a possible second night on October 16. "This will be the first presidential campaign debate that The Times has planned and hosted in more than a decade," the paper's story noted when the news came out on Friday afternoon.

Now, back to the last debate...

Has interest in the Democratic primary process cooled off? No -- quite the opposite. Thursday night's debate averaged a total of 14 million viewers across ABC and Univision. The ratings were head and shoulders above everything else on TV. And an unknown additional # of viewers tuned in via live-streams. Here's my full story...

About that anti-AOC ad...

I was on "Erin Burnett OutFront" Friday evening dissecting the anti-AOC ad that shocked viewers during the debate. It only aired in a few key markets -- a local ad buy, not a national ad -- but the airings in DC and NYC were enough to spark widespread outrage. CNN's Fredreka Schouten has the details here.

ABC, which owns the local station in NYC, declined to comment on how the ad was approved. I said on "EBOF" that the ad is mostly interesting to me because it's another example of right-wing efforts to treat AOC like she's the leader of the party...

A joint op-ed from Trump's GOP primary challengers

Mark Sanford, Joe Walsh and Bill Weld co-bylined a Washington Post op-ed on Friday night. It's a savvy way to draw attention to the controversy about four state GOP parties canceling their nominating contests.

"In the United States, citizens choose their leaders," the men wrote. "The primary nomination process is the only opportunity for Republicans to have a voice in deciding who will represent our party. Let those voices be heard."

Fahrenthold is at again

"I want to ask your help with something," WaPo's David Fahrenthold wrote on Twitter on Friday. "Remember when @realdonaldtrump's team said they'd "vetted" 12 sites in 8 states for the 2020 G-7 summit, and Trump Doral was the best? I'm trying to find the other 11 vetted sites." And he has his famous notepad out.

Note the way he says he's approaching this: "Trump said there were 12. I'm trying to prove him right. But so far I've come up short..."

FOR THE RECORD, PART ONE

-- Katie Rogers' latest and greatest is about the Trump campaign's salesmanship: "It turns out that Mr. Trump's message of outright defiance — against Democrats, against the news media and, often, against facts — can exist in tchotchke form..." (NYT)

-- Hats off to THR's Jeremy Barr: "I listened to 25 radio interviews Jeanine Pirro has done to promote her new book. She's talked about her suspension from Fox News, her status at the network, and Trump's support of her..." (THR)

-- "Charlie Cole, one of the photographers who captured the famous Tank Man on film during the Tiananmen Square protests, has died." (BBC)

This Sunday on "Reliable"

"She Said" authors Megan Twohey and Jodi Kantor will join me on Sunday's "Reliable Sources" telecast... Plus Krystal Ball, Alexandra Rojas, Dahlia Lithwick, Jim Sciutto, and "The Culture of Fear" author Barry Glassner... Tune in Sunday at 11am ET!

WEEKEND PLANNER

-- Keep an eye on the storm system that's likely to become Tropical Storm Humberto...

-- Sunday: "Friends Forever: 25 Years of Laughter," Alisyn Camerota's look back at the iconic sitcom, airs at 9pm ET on CNN...

-- Also on Sunday night: The "Comedy Central Roast of Alec Baldwin" premieres on CC...

-- Monday night: Lilly Singh's super-late show premieres on NBC...

Snowden's book rollout

The NYT dropped the first review of Edward Snowden's "Permanent Record" on Friday morning.

Snowden's first U.S. TV interview about the book -- pre-taped since Snowden is in Russia -- will air on "CBS This Morning" on Monday.

The book comes out on Tuesday...

Appeals court revives Seth Rich family's lawsuit against Fox News

"A federal appeals court on Friday revived a lawsuit filed against Fox News by the parents of Seth Rich, a DNC staffer whose unsolved murder became the basis for conspiracy theories on the far-right," Oliver Darcy reports. The suit was dismissed last August, but the United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit overturned that decision on Friday. "The appeals court said that upon review, it determined that the lawsuit contained 'sufficient facts' to survive a motion to dismiss the lawsuit based on failure to state a claim." Details...

Fox expresses confidence

"The court's ruling today permits Mr. and Mrs. Rich to proceed with discovery to determine whether there is a factual basis for their claims against Fox News," the network said. "And while we extend the Rich family our deepest condolences for their loss, we believe that discovery will demonstrate that Fox News did not engage in conduct that will support the Riches' claims. We will be evaluating our next legal steps."

An editor's note

Ed Butowsky has filed a lawsuit against CNN and CNN journalists Oliver Darcy, Gary Tuchman, Anderson Cooper, and former reporter Tom Kludt for coverage related to his role in the now-retracted Seth Rich story. Butowsky has also sued The New York Times, Vox Media, and NPR. CNN stands by its reporting.

FOR THE RECORD, PART TWO

-- "Trump tweeted three tweets this morning, 139 words total, on why he shouldn't be impeached. He made six verifiably false claims. Plus three others that were missing key context," Daniel Dale reports... (CNN)

-- Deval Patrick has signed up with CBS News... (Boston Globe)

-- Andrew Beaujon's latest: How the layoffs at WaPo's Express took place. He says it was done in suh a "shabby way..." (Washingtonian)

"Vice's Race to Save Itself"

Kerry Flynn writes: New York mag's Reeves Wiedeman asks "What's next for Vice?" with his latest deep dive on the company. He focuses on the internal meetings in the wake of Vice News Tonight moving from HBO to Viceland, including snippets from Vice exec Jesse Angelo's meeting with staff. Other anecdotes include Vice's in-office snacks changing. No more donuts! A Vice spokesperson responded by telling me, "We're happy to help boost their traffic."

The most incredible detail from Wiedeman's story:

"As many have observed, the lawlessness that characterized an earlier era of Vice, which remains a key component of the brand's appeal, has also given way behind the scenes to the kind of rigid human-resources apparatus of a company looking to be taken seriously," he wrote. "This spring, as part of Vice's annual Weed Week around 4/20, a Vice producer came up with the idea to make a video in which Lil Yachty, the rapper, would try to set the Guinness World Record for rolling the world's heaviest blunt. The idea was approved, but the amount of weed that was purchased and sent to the Vice office was enough to qualify them as a marijuana distributor. Two senior employees were fired as a result."

BREAKING

Disney CEO leaves Apple board

Disney CEO Bob Iger "has resigned from Apple's board of directors," THR's Alex Weprin reports. Friday's SEC filing said "Iger resigned Sept. 10, the same day Apple unveiled details on its Apple TV+ streaming video service."

On the way out, Iger said he has "utmost respect for Tim Cook, his team at Apple and for my fellow board members" while Apple said Iger "is a dedicated, visionary CEO and a role model for an entire generation of business leaders." The company said "we respect his decision and we have every expectation that our relationship with both Bob and Disney will continue far into the future." Surely true in some ways... But the two companies are also about to start competing like never before...

Remember when Eric Schmidt quit the Apple board?

Wayne Ma's analysis for The Information: "Iger's departure is similar to how former Alphabet CEO Eric Schmidt, who was an Apple director from 2006 to 2009, quit the iPhone maker's board. Mr. Schmidt left amid Google's rollout of its Android mobile operating system and ahead of the search giant's first mobile phone launch..."

Speaking of Apple...

Friday morning: "Goldman Sachs this morning cut its target price for Apple's stock from $187 a share to $165 a share, claiming Apple's plans to give away free access to its upcoming Apple TV+ service will cause a 'material negative impact' on earnings because of how the accounting for the service will work," MacRumors reported, along with lots of other outlets. Apple shares declined more than 2%.

Friday afternoon: "Apple disputed the negative call by Goldman Sachs" in a statement to CNBC: "We do not expect the introduction of Apple TV+, including the accounting treatment for the service, to have a material impact on our financial results."

House antitrust probe of Big Tech seeks documents from Apple, Amazon, Facebook and Google

Bring Fung emails: Congressional investigators on Friday called on Amazon, Apple, Facebook and Google to produce a sweeping list of financial records and business documents, opening a new chapter in a "top-to-bottom" antitrust review of the tech industry. Keep reading...

A quick comment: The requests show how broad the House antitrust subcommittee's scope is in its investigation. From CEO communications to court documents produced by all foreign and domestic antitrust and merger investigations involving the companies going back a decade, the requests signal that lawmakers have entered a new stage in the probe. But they also drill down on detailed specifics, like Facebook's alleged use of data on third-party apps to determine which competitors were a potential threat. The companies' lawyers are going to have their hands full...

CNN stops accepting e-cigarette ads

The Daily Beast's Maxwell Tani has the story here. "Given the recent news reports of serious illnesses and deaths linked to the product category and the subsequent warnings from the CDC, the AMA and the American Lung Association to consumers, CNN has revised its policies regarding e-cigarette advertising, and will not air ads in this category effective immediately," a CNN rep says. "We will continue to monitor the investigations by relevant medical agencies and may re-evaluate our position as new facts come to light."

Trump and Alabama, nearly two weeks later...

Lest we lose sight of the seriousness of Trump's Alabama lies, which are now under investigation by several corners of the government:

"A controversy that once appeared comical... has taken on more serious overtones, with questions about how far the president will push U.S. government agencies to cover up for his errors," the LAT's Chris Megerian wrote Friday. He quoted Dartmouth professor Brendan Nyhan: "We're seeing this administration grinding down the resistance to political influence. I don't think it's unreasonable to fear that people might put less trust in the government going forward."

WaPo came out with a different perspective on the story -- "An oral history of Sharpiegate" -- the piece includes new comments from an officer at NWS Birmingham, which told the truth while Trump was saying Alabama was at risk. Check it out...

Tomi Lahren: "We are going to be armed and ready" if Democrats "want to open our border"

Oliver Darcy emails: Fox News personality Tomi Lahren just can't seem to help herself. The Fox host ignited controversy with yet another incendiary comment on Friday -- this time related to immigration. Lahren said Friday that one reason citizens might need firearms is to protect themselves in case Democrats do something like open the border.

"This is your right, your right to protect and defend yourself and your family," Lahren said. "And all the things the Democrats want to put in place — my goodness, if they want to open our borders, you better be sure the people in Texas, the people in South Dakota, the people in the middle of this country, we are going to be armed and ready."

"Not what I meant and I apologize..."

Darcy emails: After Julián Castro zinged Lahren on Twitter, calling her language "disgusting" and noting it came in the wake of the El Paso attack, Lahren apologized. "Not what I meant & I apologize for the way it came out," Lahren tweeted. "I simply mean without a secure border we don't know who is coming into our nation & those who wish to do us harm will exploit it. I'm NOT advocating for violence against any person, regardless of race or immigration status."

The End for MoviePass

Frank Pallotta writes: MoviePass, once a revolutionary ticketing service, is temporarily shutting down on Saturday and it's unclear if it will return. CEO Mitch Lowe posted a letter on the service's website Friday that said "at this point, we are unable to predict if or when the MoviePass service will continue." Despite the service's potential demise, it has arguably changed the theater-going experience. Subscription ticket plans from AMC and Regal would likely not exist without it. Here's my full story...

'The Goldfinch' paints dull picture from prize-winning book

Lowry emails: Adapted from a Pulitzer Prize-winning book, "The Goldfinch" has been pretty well savaged by critics. It's not clear there was a way to shape the book into a satisfying movie, but if there was, this isn't it. Read on...

FOR THE RECORD, PART THREE

-- Lucas Shaw and Christopher Palmeri have more on Thursday's big announcement: "Behind the Courtship of 'Star Wars' Director J.J. Abrams..." (Bloomberg)

-- "Taffy Brodesser-Akner's hot summer New York Times bestseller 'Fleishman Is in Trouble' has been scooped up by ABC Signature Studios after a 10-way bidding war that included such parties as HBO and CAA Wiip, and is being set up at FX as a limited series," Anthony D'Alessandro reports... (Deadline)

-- From TIME's Andrew R. Chow: "What to Know About the Controversy Surrounding New 'SNL' Cast Member Shane Gillis..." (TIME)

-- Read about Who? Weekly, the podcast that has "amassed a loyal fanbase by poking at the rich and fame-less..." (Guardian)

Lowry's fall TV preview

Brian Lowry emails: The major networks were once the centerpiece of the pop-culture universe in the fall, but now look considerably smaller just one more collective voice chirping for attention, with new streamers promising to further crowd the field. The fall sees fewer new shows, with a couple well worth trying, several in a middle ground, and others you can safely skip. Read Lowry's full preview here...

"Big Little Lies" writer-producer opens up to THR

Brian Lowry emails: Interviewed by THR, "Big Little Lies" writer-producer David E. Kelley expressed disappointment over what he called the "shoddy and sensational" coverage of the show's second season, insisting the reported dispute involving director Andrea Arnold was "kind of par for the course" in terms of TV's creative process. I was more interested, frankly, by his comments about "Mr. Mercedes," his drama for DirecTV's Audience Network, which underscores one of the challenges newer platforms face in terms of talent. Kelley acknowledged that it was "frustrating" that more people couldn't find the show, saying wryly, "We've maybe gotten more reviews than viewers." Read on...

LAST BUT NOT LEAST...

The submissions are in for London's Natural History Museum's annual Wildlife Photographer of the Year competition. The winning photos will be announced October 15, and displayed at the museum on October 18 before embarking on an international tour. Tim Littlewood, the museum's director of science, says "we hope this year's exhibition will empower people to think differently about our planet and our critical role in its future."

CNN's Amy Woodyatt describes some of the 10,000 submissions from wildlife photographers around the world: "A gentoo penguin flees for its life as a snarling leopard seal bursts out of the water. A curious young gray whale moves toward a stray pair of hands reaching down from a tourist boat. A washed-up beach chair forms a fatal noose around the neck of a sea turtle." Read on and take a look...

Thanks for reading! Email or tweet me your feedback anytime. Back on Sunday...