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…
1,494 words | 6 minute read | Written to be skimmable (12+ hours of media covered in The Brand Brief)
What Matters: What are they talking about instead?
New Media Voices: Al Sharpton, Tamika Good, and Wilber Garces Perez
Leading FOX: Converse, Xi Jinping, and Hallie Shoffner
Trending: Sunny Hostin, Obamacare, and the lesbian bar
What the Right is Writing: Ukraine, James Talarico, and Abdul El-Sayed
✍️ WHAT MATTERS AND WHERE WE’RE GOING…
Nathan’s quick take on where we’re headed…
The Wall Street Journal published a fascinating analysis of 70,000 hours of conservative podcasts today. However, their framing repeats the same mistakes others in legacy media continue to make about conservative podcasters.
Regarding their framing: “MAGA Podcasters” isn’t the correct label for much of conservative media. Yes, they support the President, but their shows are focused on almost anything but politics. The left’s media is all politics with a little culture, while the right is all culture (and faith) with a little politics.
For some perspective: Brett Cooper spent time focused on Nikole Hannah-Jones, Glen Beck and Michael Knowles talked about the hilarious lesbian bar in Boston, and Will Cain and Steven Crowder discussed Lindsay Clancy and The View. This is the norm. It’s not to say no one is talking about Trump (Shapiro, Bongino, and Regan focused on his UN speech today), but hyper-focusing on him is simply not the standard operating procedure on the right like it is on the left.
The WSJ reported that mentions of Trump are down from before the 2024 election, which shouldn’t be surprising. They also noted that the left’s coverage of Trump remains close to 2024 levels, which is honestly the more interesting media story. - NRB
🎙️ NEW MEDIA VOICES
The Megyn Kelly Show - 9/22
Kelly and attorney Russ Latino criticize Benjamin Crump and Al Sharpton for stoking a false racial narrative after a Mississippi jury cleared drowning victim Nolan Wells’ friends of any wrongdoing
She argues Presley Gerber’s parents failed their son by allowing childhood modeling that led to DUIs, face tattoos, and a fentanyl overdose
Kelly condemns defense attorney Kevin Reddington for attempting to investigate and harass the holdout juror
She makes fun of Nikole Hannah-Jones for sending her daughter to a failing school to be woke, and her husband for comparing her to MLK
The Ben Shapiro Show - 9/22
Shapiro defends President Trump’s decision to revoke White House press credentials for CNN, MS Now, and Politico, arguing there’s no constitutional right to White House access
He dismantles the myth of objective journalism, tracing American media’s partisan roots from Thomas Jefferson to Walter Cronkite
Shapiro makes the point that Trump has given major media accessibility compared to Joe Biden’s restrictions, who banned over 440 reporters and used pre-submitted questions
He also calls out Barack Obama’s administration for monitoring FOX reporter James Rosen and seizing AP phone records
Shapiro blasts Sen. Chris Murphy for proposing government regulation of social media, and defends The Daily Wire’s transparent conservatism over legacy media’s false objectivity claims
The Matt Walsh Show - 9/22
Walsh exposes how criminals stole billions in COVID relief funds through fake companies and fraudulent PPP loans
He explains how these PPP loans were allegedly used to fund the 2021 assassination of Haitian President Jovenel Moïse with Colombian mercenaries
Walsh argues the justice system refuses to crack down on unapologetic criminals, pointing to Tamika Good, who illegally occupied a $2.3 million Maryland mansion, served only 11 days, then moved back in
He connects widespread fraud to third-world immigration, citing Somali daycare scams with Minnesota phone numbers throughout Maine
Walsh condemns ICE shooting victim defenders, as well as DoorDash for employing illegal aliens, calling for mass deportations
The Brett Cooper Show - 9/22
Cooper calls out New York Times reporter Nikole Hannah-Jones, creator of the controversial 1619 Project, for deliberately sacrificing her daughter’s education by forcing her into failing low-income schools
Hannah-Jones admits her daughter fell drastically behind academically, yet the family remained “stuck” despite earning up to $1.4 million annually
Cooper blasts her for hiring private tutors and eventually choosing affluent white schools she had professionally opposed
She argues funding isn’t the solution, noting New York City spends $52,000 per student versus Mississippi’s $12,000
Timcast IRL - 9/22
Guest host Jack Posobiec criticizes mainstream media for boycotting President Trump’s United Nations speech, forcing Real America’s Voice to provide the only pool feed
He points out how a shocking poll reveals 59% of Democrats favor a military coup against Trump and 32% support his assassination
The panel discusses the shooting of illegal alien Wilbur Garces Perez in Austin, and obtains exclusive body cam footage showing the pursuit
They warn Flock surveillance cameras and AI tracking technology represent dystopian mass surveillance, though they acknowledge their utility in high-crime areas
📺 LEADING FOX NEWS
The Five
President Trump threatens Iran at the UN assembly
IL Gov. JB Pritzker admits he uses GLP-1 medication to lose weight
AOC says a potential run for president would be “all or nothing:”
Kamala Harris claims Trump ending DEI mandates is an attack on black mothers
The 1619 Project founder Nikole Hannah-Jones admits she messed up by having her daughter attend a failing, diverse school
Converse apologizes for an ad some are saying looks like a lynching
FOX & Friends
President Trump tells the UN he’s not slowing AI growth, threatens Iran
Retail stores are already selling Christmas decor
More than 760,000 fraudsters were removed from Obamacare, with half of them being fake people
A new study ties parents’ screen time to the age-appropriateness of video games their children play
AOC hints at a 2028 run, while Kamala Harris doesn’t rule it out
Two University of Mississippi students died with kratom in their system
Sen. Tom Cotton reacts to Chinese President Xi Jinping’s visit, and Arkansas candidate Hallie Shoffner preferring illegal migrants over American farmers
Bryan Kohberger attempts to withdraw his guilty plea
First Lady Melania Trump speaks about Fostering the Future ahead of ringing the opening bell at the NYSE
Actor Dolph Lundgren shares his new memoir Fights Worth Fighting
🍿 TRENDING AND POUNCING
Tomorrow’s news today…
Sunny Hostin brags about being a holdout juror that prevented The Butcher of Thompson Square Park from going to prison. She admits “once he killed her, he chopped up her body parts, yes, boiled her body parts ... and fed her body parts to the unhoused.” [X, Fondacaro]
Of the 760,000 people purged from the Obamacare rolls by the Trump admin, many of them were not even real people. The slashing is expected to save $2.2 billion dollars. [X, Daugherty]
I am releasing my full documentary exposing the mosque closest to Ground Zero. This is my craziest video yet. In this video, you will hear a man say those who don’t pray to Allah are worse than rapists. He also refused to answer whether or not we deserved 9/11 and so did many others. [X, Friedman]
🗞️ WHAT THE RIGHT IS WRITING
FOX News Digital
China’s Xi set to arrive in DC for high-stakes summit with Trump [FOX News]
Trump-Mamdani meeting could unravel midterm message [FOX News]
Trump signals breakthrough with Ukraine-Russia war [FOX News]
Breitbart
James Talarico’s Pastor and Mentor Doubts Resurrection of Jesus: ‘Maybe Jesus Rose from the Dead, but Maybe Not’ [Breitbart]
Trump to UNGA: There Is ‘No Human Right to Illegal Immigration’ [Breitbart]
Wall Street Journal Editorials
Republicans Are Running on Empty [WSJ Ed]
Federal School Choice Could Be Huge [WSJ Ed]
Trump’s U.N. Message to the World [WSJ Ed]
Welcome to New York (Hours Late) [WSJ Ed]
New York Post
Super Bowl champion’s attempted murder case ending via plea offer ‘he couldn’t refuse’ [NYP]
Washington Free Beacon
Abdul El-Sayed Called on Egypt’s Muslim Brotherhood To ‘Purge the Media and Police’ Shortly Before Islamic Government Arrested Reporters for ‘Insulting Islam’ [WFB]
Washington Reporter
Rep. Gabe Evans holds narrow lead in key Colorado battleground despite tough environment for Republicans [Reporter]
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