It's all connected; Surgeon General's warning; 'Tuckerism' defined; David Frum on the Reliable podcast; not much of a 'Jam'

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TGIF! Brian Stelter here at 11:37pm ET on Thursday, July 15 with the latest on Netflix, "Tuckerism," Rolling Stone, MSNBC, "Space Jam," Paul McCartney, and more...

It's all connected...

In a typical newsroom, one team covers the horse race of electoral politics: Who won, who lost, and why. A different team might cover voting rights if there's the budget for such a thing. A wholly separate team covers health and science, including the pandemic and the vaccines. Yet another team covers crime and justice, including the prosecutions of the suspects in the January 6 attack at the Capitol. And if there any dedicated fact-checkers in the newsroom, they work separately too.

Structurally this makes sense: Different reporters bring expertise to bear on all sorts of subjects. But there are connections between these beats, and they need to be covered accordingly. The connections are part of the story.

The folks who are wrongly convinced that Donald Trump actually won the 2020 election are also more likely to resist the Covid-19 vaccines that Trump's government fast-tracked. The folks who want to believe that the Capitol riot was a "peaceful protest" are also susceptible to other types of misinformation.

Disbelief about election results, distrust of public health officials, disregard for democratic principles – it's all connected. As one of the banners on "Don Lemon Tonight" said Thursday night, ‪"Misinformation is killing us and killing our democracy." But when it's covered as a series of discrete stories, the connections are disguised, and people are misguided...

Two illustrations

To buttress the point, here are two examples I noticed while surfing across Twitter this week. First, Julie Kelly, a commentator for the pro-Trump American Greatness website and an occasional guest on "Tucker Carlson Tonight," garnered thousands of shares on Twitter for claiming the following:

"Election fraud isn't a big lie. COVID vaccines are experimental. Lockdowns are pseudoscientific garbage. Masks don't work. January 6 wasn't an armed insurrection. The FBI protects its own. Pass it on."

Second, Connor Lounsbury, a spokesman for Democratic lawmaker Chrissy Houlahan, posted a mirror image of Kelly's message without even knowing it:

"Y'all do realize that the Big Lie isn't just about the election, right? There was the Big Lie about COVID. Then the election. Then the insurrection. Then the vaccines. Then critical race theory. It's a bunch of sides to the same toxic coin."

What are the "core values" of news outlets?

With fights over facts like "January 6 was a violent eruption" raging every single day, what are news organizations to do? Perry Bacon Jr. offers some ideas in this new column for the Washington Post. He says "the media can't credibly go back to posturing as disinterested or neutral — nor should it if Trump and Trumpism remain threats to democracy. It needs to chart a new path forward for a United States with a Trumpian Republican Party."

Specifically, he suggests that "CNN, the New York Times, The Post and similar outlets should embrace and announce their core values." Values like: "We believe the United States is and should remain a multiracial democracy." Check out his full column...

What can we do as individuals?

"If the United States of America is the most powerful and most prosperous nation in the history of the world (and it is)," David French writes, "then why are so many of its people so miserable and angry?" He points to a loss of community -- specifically, lost friendships. Here are two pull quotes from his piece:

-- "You can't fact-check, plead, or argue a person out of a conspiracy, because you're trying to fact-check, plead, and argue them out of their community."

-- "We should remember that while we can have only the tiniest impact on a large number of people, we can have a large impact on a small number of people. You can be a friend. You can extend yourself. You can move out of your comfort zone."

FRIDAY PLANNER

President Biden and Olivia Rodrigo's pro-vax video will be released via social...

"Naomi Osaka," a timely three-part look at the tennis star finding her political voice, premieres on Netflix...

"Roadrunner: A Film About Anthony Bourdain" arrives in theaters...

Surgeon General Warning

"Thursday marks a turning point in internet history," researchers Joan Donovan and Jennifer Nilsen wrote. "For the first time, the U.S. surgeon general has declared the barrage of misinformation spreading on social media a public health hazard."

That's why Dr. Vivek Murthy was in the WH briefing room on Thursday – he was calling for an "all-of-society response" to the health misinfo plague. "This is not a problem we can take years to solve," he told Jake Tapper on "The Lead." People "are losing their lives" so the tech platforms must "step up their game."

>> The government's messages may be reaching vaccine skeptics, but that doesn't mean the messages are resonating, as Oliver Darcy pointed out on "Erin Burnett OutFront." Here's what he said...

>> On Thursday evening Murthy's new warning competed for attention and TV news airtime with LA County's decision to reinstate a mask mandate...

Reporters should focus on those who wield the most power

Oliver Darcy writes: "Too often, when the topic of misinfo comes up, reporters frame their stories around the nonsense peddled by Republican lawmakers. Sure, those politicians deserve some scrutiny. But I'd argue that the focus of these stories should be on the people behind the scenes who control massive radio, TV and web platforms and have far more influence. Who has a bigger and more influential platform – Rupert Murdoch or Marjorie Taylor Greene? Why does the latter person get more scrutiny than the former? These questions are worth pondering..."

FOR THE RECORD, PART ONE

-- Jake Lahut, citing this recent survey, says "the sorting around QAnon, vaccine refusal, and the Big Lie has a clear correlation with willingness to watch Newsmax or OAN over Fox News..." (Insider)

-- Will Sommer with a shocker: "MAGA Influencers are pushing a phone preloaded with apps like Parler and Rumble that appears to be a vastly more expensive version of a phone made in China..." (Beast)

-- Shane Goldmacher's latest: "The curious case of the quirky mortgage ads boosting Biden online." Fascinating stuff here... (NYT)

-- Zeke Miller handed the reigns of the White House Correspondents' Association to Steven Portnoy on Thursday. Biden called on Portnoy during a joint presser with Angela Merkel... (Twitter)

David Frum talks Trumpism and fascism

For several years now, David Frum has cautioned against the "too-easy use" of the word "fascism" to describe Trump's movement. But he now believes the word is useful for political analysis of American politics. There are different "varieties of fascism," Frum notes, but some characteristics are clearly present in the reactions to the January 6 attack and the recent rhetoric from Trump. For example: The attempted reframing of Ashli Babbitt as a martyr. It was clear in Trump's interview with Maria Bartiromo.

So on this week's "Reliable Sources" podcast, I dug into all of this with Frum. I also asked him to assess how the former president should be covered by the news media. Tune in via Apple, Spotify, Stitcher, TuneIn, or your favorite app...

Trump blasts "garbage" aides dishing to journalists

Right now "I Alone Can Fix It" is No. 1 on Amazon's best selling books list. "Landslide" is No. 3. "Frankly, We Did Win This Election" is No. 5. Read this with that in mind...

Oliver Darcy writes: "On Thursday the former president, clearly irritated at leaks popping up in books left and right, blasted some of his aides for talking to journalists. Trump claimed in a statement that speaking to the press has made some of his aides feel 'special' and 'emboldened.' He added, 'Many say I am the greatest star-maker of all time. But some of the stars I produced are actually made of garbage.' That's a statement some of his critics said they could also get behind..."

"Trump rages over post-presidential books he did interviews for"

Great headline on this Politico piece by Meridith McGraw. She says Trump allies are worried about "the tea-spilling to come:" They're "anxiously awaiting the books set to be published by actual colleagues," chief among them Kellyanne Conway and Jared Kushner, "who plan to write their own accounts of the Trump presidency..."

FOR THE RECORD, PART TWO

-- What the authors of the new Trump books have in common: "None think the threat of that night will pass anytime soon..." (NYT)

-- This week has been full of anonymously sourced reports about General Mark Milley's attempts to protect the country from Trump in the waning days of the Trump presidency. The latest comes from Susan Glasser, who shares reporting from her forthcoming book with Peter Baker... (The New Yorker)

-- Regarding some of this week's earlier reporting about Milley, from Carol Leonnig and Philip Rucker's "I Alone Can Fix It," Jamie Gangel said on CNN that "Milley is extensively quoted in this book. He clearly cooperated with it..." (Twitter)

-- Milley, who still has two years left of his four-year term as Joint Chiefs chairman, "does not plan to publicly address the issues" raised in the Leonnig and Rucker book, "according to a defense official close to him..." (CNN)

-- "The Fox Corp. PAC, which is funded in part by conservative media mogul Rupert Murdoch," made a first-time donation to Joe Manchin's reelection campaign last month, Brian Schwartz reports... (CNBC)

This is "Tuckerism"

TIME correspondent Charlotte Alter was granted a rare interview with Tucker Carlson for this profile that came out on Thursday. She demonstrates how Carlson has become "the most powerful conservative in America." This quote nails his free-speech-victim positioning: "The truer something is, the more penalized you are for articulating it."

Alter captures Carlson's slipperiness... the way he derails conversations... and the way he radicalizes his fans. (For instance: Read about the numerous ways he refused to say whether he's been vaccinated against Covid-19.) Alter calls this textbook "Tuckerism:" He "sanitizes and legitimizes right-wing conspiratorial thinking, dodges when you try to nail him down on the specifics, then wraps it all in an argument about censorship and free speech..."

Remember, his first grade teacher says he lied

IMHO, the most memorable part of Michael Kranish's examination of Carlson for WaPo was the revelation that Carlson trashed his first grade teacher, Mrs. Raymond, in one of his books... And that Mrs. Raymond says he lied about her. "Oh my God," she said when Kranish called her about it. "That is the most embellished, crazy thing I ever heard."

Also noteworthy: Fox PR provided a statement for both the WaPo and TIME profiles saying "we fully support" Tucker Carlson. The network hardly has any other option, since he is the highest-rated star by far. But Fox execs were weirdly silent for weeks while Carlson claimed to be a victim of NSA spying. We reported that Carlson was "furious" at Fox PR for not backing him up. Now they are, sort of...

FOR THE RECORD, PART THREE

-- In the UK: "GB News attracted zero viewers during some of its broadcasts this week..." (The Guardian)

-- The unions representing staffers at the NYT and Hearst "are pushing back on returning to the office 3 days per week," Steven Perlberg reports... (Insider)

-- Scribd, "an online platform for e-books, podcasts and audio books, is in discussions to go public as soon as this year..." (Bloomberg)

Rolling Stone's new leader

"Rolling Stone has chosen Noah Shachtman, the top editor of the news site The Daily Beast, as its next editor in chief," the NYT's Marc Tracy scooped on Thursday. Shachtman, who will succeed Jason Fine, summed up his vision this way: "It's got to be faster, louder, harder. We've got to be out getting scoops, taking people backstage, showing them parts of the world they don't get to see every day."

Shachtman's memo

Here is Shachtman's farewell note to the Beast staff. "Most of you know how obsessed I am with music. It's one of the many reasons Rolling Stone is a natural next step," he wrote. "But I wouldn't feel comfortable leaving The Beast if I didn't think the place was on solid ground." The outlet's CEO Heather Dietrick said exec editor Tracy Connor will serve as interim EIC when Shachtman departs next month...

FOR THE RECORD, PART FOUR

-- Sarah Scire reports on the LA Times' daily news podcast efforts: "Our new editor," Kevin Merida, "said he wants our podcasts to be a little ratchet. We're working on that," Shani Hilton says... (Nieman Lab)

-- Charlie Warzel interviewed BuzzFeed's Zahra Hirji about climate change reporting. She shares some useful resources every journalist can use... (Galaxy Brain)

-- "Condé Nast's former top comms exec Joe Libonati has left the magazine company..." (Insider)

Some modicum of closure for the Capital Gazette

Alex Mann and Lilly Price's lead for the Cap: "Three years and 17 days after the mass shooting, an Anne Arundel County jury ruled Thursday the man who killed five Capital Gazette employees was sane during the attack that shocked the tight-knit town of Annapolis and that he is culpable for his crimes." The gunman will be sentenced in a couple of months...

Peter R. de Vries has died

News that's heartbreaking and infuriating at the same time: Dutch crime journalist Peter R. de Vries, "known for his investigative work exposing the criminal underworld," has died, "just over a week after being shot in the head in Amsterdam," CNN's Mick Krever and Eliza Mackintosh report. "De Vries was a household name in the Netherlands, renowned for pursuing cold cases, exposing miscarriages of justice and hosting his own televised investigative show for nearly two decades." Read on...

Radio ads to deter migrants?

CNN's Priscilla Alvarez reports: "The US is running more than 30,000 radio ads a month in Central America to deter migration amid a renewed focus on the region and the root causes pushing people to journey north, a State Department spokesperson says. The local-ad effort has slightly grown since the spring, when the administration was disseminating 28,000 ads a month. But it's unclear how effective they've been." More here...

FOR THE RECORD, PART FIVE

-- "We're just getting started," MSNBC said as its marked its 25th birthday on Thursday... (Newscast Studio)

-- MSNBC also used the occasion to share some streaming plans. The Choice channel on Peacock will now be called The Choice from MSNBC, and a new weekday hour will feature highlights from cable. Plus, "Morning Mika" and several other shows are in development... (THR)

-- "ViacomCBS and Charter, the No. 2 U.S. cable operator, have struck a new multi-year carriage deal that includes distribution for streaming services..." (Deadline)

QUOTE OF THE DAY

ESPN boss Jimmy Pitaro quoted in Brian Steinberg's quote-rich Variety story about ESPN venturing further and further into streaming:

"I honestly cannot tell you where I think the traditional side of our business will level off." But: "We will be right there with the fan..."

What will Maria Taylor do?

"NBC is trying to sign ESPN's Maria Taylor so she can be part of its Olympic coverage that begins in a little more than a week on July 23," NYPost's Andrew Marchand reports. "Taylor is hosting the NBA Finals for ESPN, but her contract runs out on July 20. Game 6 is Tuesday, July 20, while a potential Game 7 is scheduled for next Thursday, July 22. If Taylor were to leave, ESPN would have the unorthodox scenario of potentially having a different host to end a marquee event than the one who started it..."

Five pieces of news-about-Twitter

By Kerry Flynn:

-- Wired published the first installment of a three-part series, "A People's History of Black Twitter." Writer Jason Parham tweeted, "our genius is constantly erased or stolen. I wanted an official record of it. something that couldn't be taken away. this one was for us." Condé Nast announced Wired Studios is producing a documentary based on the feature in partnership with Culture House...

-- Prolific users of Twitter's crowdsourced fact-checking feature, Birdwatch, shared why and how they use it... (Poynter)

-- Hope King reports that Twitter has shared how its internal employee networks and support groups, also known as business resource groups, work... (Axios)

-- Issie Lapowsky analyzed Twitter's latest diversity report, including its new study on pay equity... (Protocol)

-- And Tim Marcin rounded up 15 tweets to honor Twitter's 15th birthday... (Mashable)

FOR THE RECORD, PART SIX

-- "Universal Pictures has set a release date for 'She Said,' the film about the Harvey Weinstein investigation starring Carey Mulligan and Zoe Kazan. The film will hit theaters on November 18, 2022..." (TheWrap)

-- "The afterlife of the Weinstein Co. continues," Gene Maddaus writes: "Spyglass Media — which acquired the Weinstein Co.'s film and TV library in a bankruptcy auction three years ago — announced that it had sold the bulk of the feature film library to Lionsgate Entertainment. The sale is part of a broader partnership, under which Lionsgate takes a 20% equity stake in Spyglass, and Spyglass gets a first-look TV deal with Lionsgate..." (Variety)

-- Read A.O. Scott on the new "screen culture:" He says that right now, "Cinephiles and streaming fans can both claim victory. But as we better understand the new screen culture taking shape, it looks like we may all lose in the long run..." (NYT)

-- "Nielsen said Thursday that Manifest on Netflix ran away as the most streamed program for the week of June 14-20 — the same week it was canceled by NBC after three seasons..." (Deadline)

Netflix Games?

Frank Pallotta writes: "Netflix will offer video games on its service within the next year, according to this report by Bloomberg's Lucas Shaw and Mark Gurman. They reported, and Netflix confirmed, that Mike Verdu, a former Oculus and EA exec, is coming on board as VP of game development. The company has been looking to diversify, and video games could be a smart way to do that. But there are caveats..."

Not much of a "Jam"

Brian Lowry writes: "The debate over the best basketball player of all time will continue, but LeBron James has clearly topped Michael Jordan in terms of starring in the worst 'Space Jam' movie. I actually was afraid I was being a bit harsh in my review until I began reading others, like LAT critic Justin Chang, who called the film and its assault of Warner Bros. tie-in references 'soullessly mercenary.' Subtitled 'A New Legacy,' it'll be interesting if this 25-years-later effort generates much business, but it's worth noting the merchandising tie-ins, timed to the NBA Finals, are pretty formidable..."

FOR THE RECORD, PART SEVEN

-- "Antonio Banderas is Harrison Ford's newest co-star in the anticipated next installment in the 'Indiana Jones' franchise," Justin Kroll reports... (Deadline)

-- Robert Downey Jr. will co-star in Viet Thanh Nguyen's espionage thriller "The Sympathizer" for HBO... (Variety)

-- Uproxx senior entertainment writer Mike Ryan writes about how when he opened up to Jason Sudeikis about the loss of his father, the actor personally reached out to him with a moving note... (Uproxx)

"McCartney 3,2,1" comes out Friday

Brian Lowry writes: "Listening to a septuagenarian reminisce about music isn't a classic elevator pitch, but if it's Paul McCartney, you listen. The former Beatle's forensic analysis of the music that he made and that influenced him becomes an extremely entertaining Hulu series, in advance of Peter Jackson's eagerly anticipated Disney+ Beatles project later this year." Read all about it here...

FOR THE RECORD, PART EIGHT

By Lisa Respers France:

-- Chrissy Teigen has opened up about her feelings after becoming part of the "cancel club..."

-- Jerry O'Connell has replaced Sharon Osbourne, becoming the first male co-host on "The Talk..."

-- The Foo Fighters' Madison Square Garden concert weeks ago in front of a vaccinated audience was hailed as a sign of a return to normality. Now the group has had to postpone an upcoming concert after a confirmed Covid-19 case within their organization...