Actionable media intel: The Brand Brief delivers a daily snapshot of the conservative media ecosystem - FOX News, podcasts, and more. | Brought to you by On Brand Strategies | Written by Carly Moran and Nathan Brand

📣 Driving the Conversation…

1,202 words | 5 minute read | Written to be skimmable (12+ hours of media covered in The Brand Brief)

What Matters: Lake America
New Media Voices: Meta, TikTok, and Lindsay Clancy
Leading FOX: Jamie Raskin, Karoline Leavitt, and the Big 10
Trending: Lake America
What the Right is Writing: Smithsonian, Karoline Leavitt, and Abdul El-Sayed

✍️ WHAT MATTERS AND WHERE WE’RE GOING…

Nathan’s quick take on where we’re headed…

Finally, a slow-news-week distraction we can all appreciate.

It’s late August, and unless it’s a murder trial, a ballgame, or an executive order rebranding a lake, no one is paying attention.

Soak up the rest of your summer (maybe a day out on Lake America) while the news cycle is out of office. - NRB

NOTE: Speaking of Summer vacation, The Brand Brief will be off this Friday (8/28) and next Friday (9/4).

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🎙️ NEW MEDIA VOICES

The Megyn Kelly Show - 8/26

Kelly argues actress Melissa Gilbert is being a hypocrite for speaking out about child actor exploitation after defending her husband, Timothy Busfield, against multiple accusations of sexual assault
She analyzes the “battle of the experts” in the Lindsay Clancy trial, drawing a comparison between her insanity defense and Jeffrey Dahmer’s rejected plea
Kelly discusses how Justin Baldoni will have to pay less than expected to Blake Lively

The Ben Shapiro Show - 8/26

Shapiro argues Meta’s $16.7B settlement is a necessary step, but recommends minors never use social media
He points out the hypocrisy of “AI doomers” using the tech boom to advocate for government regulation and global redistributionism
Shapiro says both Republican and Democrat leaders, like TX Gov. Greg Abbott and PA Gov. Josh Shapiro, are creating AI policies based on fear over facts
He argues Dolly Parton was one of the last unifying celebrities in America

The Brett Cooper Show - 8/26

Cooper believes most modern therapy is ineffective because it prioritizes affirmation and simple root causes like blaming parents
She says TikTok and other social media platforms have monetized grievances and exacerbated mothers’ struggles, particularly through filming angry postpartum mom content and performative rage
Cooper argues the Lindsay Clancy trial has politicized and rendered unproductive discussion on legitimate postpartum experiences
She shares her personal experiences with postpartum exhaustion, anger, and “sundown scaries,” emphasizing that while sharing struggles with close friends and family is healthy, online validation is not

Relatable with Allie Beth Stuckey - 8/26

Stuckey reverses her initial stance that Lindsay Clancy was mentally unwell, now asserting Clancy is criminally responsible for murder
She argues “toxic empathy” extends to this case, with women baselessly accusing Patrick Clancy while defending an alleged murderer
Stuckey calls out influencers claiming to use astrology and tarot cards to solve the murder trial, describing it as spiritual warfare
She praises Dolly Parton for her unifying legacy and use of free enterprise through the Dollywood Foundation and Imagination Library

Spot On With Link Lauren - 8/27

Lauren roasts Meghan Markle and Prince Harry as “professional freeloaders and couch surfers” for their return to the UK on a private jet
He argues the couple’s “worldwide privacy tour” was a sham, asserting they are “crawling back” to the UK because they’ve run out of money
Lauren speculates Prince Harry’s return to the UK is partly driven by a visa situation and a potential divorce
He references a Page Six report that Markle and Harry struggled to find staff in the UK due to Markle’s “snobbish and rude” reputation

📺 LEADING FOX NEWS

The Five

Hillary Clinton dismisses the extremist socialist faction of Democrats as an “experiment”
Rep. Jamie Raskin compares President Trump to Putin, calling him a “psychotic dictator”
Soros-backed DA Larry Krasner dreams about blowing up the White House ballroom
Deportations hit a second-term high, while NY Gov. Kathy Hochul gets in a dispute with law enforcement over an anti-ICE bill
SNL star James Austin Johnson claims playing Trump cured his TDS

FOX & Friends

Flood in Nepal causes 270 deaths, 1,300 missing
The closing arguments begin in the Lindsay Clancy trial
Former Democrat State Sen. Dave Aronberg says his party faces an internal split over Israel ahead of the midterm elections
Meta agrees to a $17.1B settlement for teen social media addiction
A Delta pilot diverted his flight as he faced a medical emergency
President Trump will headline a GOP fundraiser and the midterm convention in Texas
Several different states have faced water system cyberattacks
DSA candidate in Oklahoma N’Kiyla Jasmine Thomas supports universal childcare and abolishing ICE
The FDA approves a lifesaving pancreatic cancer drug
Karoline Leavitt gives her final FOX interview as press secretary
Tech companies are recruiting thousands of trade workers
A new federal mail-in voting bill faces legal challenges
The Big 12 joins the SEC and Big Ten in banning former NFL players from playing college football

🍿 TRENDING AND POUNCING

Tomorrow’s news today…

President Trump drops this absolute banger where — by stroke of pen — he personally crosses out “Lake Ontario” in the Oval Office to name it Lake America. [X, Daugherty]
Lindsay Clancy’s stare is like straight out of a horror movie. [X, End Wokeness]
Jessica Tarlov says she wishes Trump won in 2020. “I believe without COVID that Trump would’ve won reelection — and I wish that he had! I wish we were done now — because he, like Ursula, got stronger in those four years.” [X, Cohen]

🗞️ WHAT THE RIGHT IS WRITING

FOX News Digital

Karoline Leavitt heads for White House exit as speculation builds over replacement [FOX News]
How the Smithsonian’s woke push ‘infiltrated’ America’s most beloved Zoo [FOX News]
Jury set to weigh Lindsay Clancy case [FOX News]

Breitbart

Ayanna Pressley: ‘The Confederacy Is Still Alive and Well — That’s All MAGA Is’ [Breitbart]
Alex Pretti’s Parents, Sister Interviewed Seven Months After Fatal Shooting [Breitbart]
Democrats Appear to Be Colluding with Canada’s Anti-Trump Government [Breitbart]

Wall Street Journal Editorials

Meta’s Sensible Social-Media Settlement [WSJ Ed]
A Pancreatic Cancer Revolution [WSJ Ed]
Alaska Voters, Seeing Double Dan Sullivan [WSJ Ed]
Texas School Choice Helps the Not-Rich [WSJ Ed]

New York Post

Parents who blame kids’ deaths on social media celebrate Meta’s $18B settlement — but ‘it’s like losing her again’ [NYP]
Brian Hickerson pursued another woman months before Hayden Panettiere’s death, private DMs reveal [NYP]

Washington Free Beacon

Soros-Funded Fake News Site Falsely Identified Abdul El-Sayed as ‘Veteran’ in Mailer Sent to Michigan Voters [WFB]

Washington Reporter

Rep. Carlos Gimenez: The Port of Chancay is a Trojan Dragon [Reporter]

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An August day on the lake