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Welcome to October. (No, I can't believe it, either.) In this edition: Malcolm Gladwell, Reddit, Christine Brennan, CBS News, CNN Films, George Soros, A.O. Scott, Disney+, and "sanewashing."

EXCLUSIVE

Journalists on edge

Michael Ciaglo/Getty Images/File

Next month's presidential election could make America's hostile media climate even worse for journalists. And it's not just Americans who have something at stake: Reporters in other countries are watching the United States with apprehension. That's the takeaway from a new Committee to Protect Journalists report about the state of press freedom in the U.S. The report will come out later today, but we have a sneak peek here.

Many causes for concern

"Media workers are confronting challenges that include an increased risk of violence, arrest, on- and offline harassment, legal battles, and criminalization," the report's author Katherine Jacobsen wrote. Her research pointed to additional causes for concern, like political polarization, "a lack of police accountability for their treatment of journalists," and the legacy of the January 6 attack on the US Capitol. While the Biden administration "has tried to restore an air of normalcy around media freedom," Jacobsen wrote, Trump-era "hatred of the press" has "gone unchecked in much of the country" and continues to have deleterious effects.

Will they sign this pledge?

"Overseas," Jacobsen wrote, "journalists fear that a second Trump term would again embolden foreign leaders to restrict their own media, negatively affecting the global press freedom landscape and undermining those in regions that rely on U.S. aid and support."

CPJ CEO Jodie Ginsberg wrote to both Trump and Kamala Harris and asked the candidates to "publicly affirm the rights guaranteed by the First Amendment and abide by basic principles to respect and promote media freedom at home and abroad." Neither candidate has committed to the pledge yet, according to the group.

Coming up today

President Biden will receive another Helene recovery briefing at 11 a.m. ET.

New nonfiction releases include Malcolm Gladwell's "Revenge of the Tipping Point," Ta-Nehisi Coates's "The Message," Jessica Valenti's "Abortion," Trey Yingst's "Black Saturday," and Ina Garten's "Be Ready When the Luck Happens."

The MLB Playoffs begin with four Wild Card games.

VANCE V. WALZ

The final debate of the year?

CBS News

Trump's opinion of JD Vance's performance at tonight's VP debate may determine whether Trump agrees to debate again later this month. "I will be doing a personal play by play," Trump said on Truth Social yesterday. It's safe to say Harris will not be reviewing Tim Walz live in public.

The CBS-produced debate begins at 9 p.m. ET. "In Walz vs. Vance, we might have a VP debate that actually matters," The Daily Beast's Eleanor Clift writes/hopes. Politico Playbook has an excellent viewers' guide to the debate here...

Facts unchecked

CBS News executives are signaling that Norah O'Donnell and Margaret Brennan will not fact-check flagrantly false claims made on stage. The moderators will give the candidates "the opportunity to fact-check each other in real time," CBS SVP Claudia Milne told the NYT. (Repeating what I wrote last month: Moderators are damned if they fact-check and damned if they don't.)

 >> Michael Grynbaum and John Koblin report that a QR code "will appear onscreen for long stretches of the CBS telecast. Viewers who scan the code will be directed to the CBS News website, where a squad of about 20 CBS journalists will post fact-checks of the candidates' remarks in real time." (The QR code will not appear on the debate simulcast that other networks will show.)

The "sanewashing" problem

Media critics like Aaron Rupar, Parker Molloy and Dan Froomkin have been calling attention to so-called "sanewashing" since the summertime. Rupar says it happens when journalists take incoherent and irresponsible Trump speeches and portray his remarks as, well, sane. Ultimately it's a question of accuracy and honesty: Is it honest to round off Trump's proverbial rough edges? Trump's opponents say it's not right at all. The New Republic editor Michael Tomasky says it happened again last weekend when Trump spewed "dangerous nonsense" and the press polished it "into palatability." Expect to hear the term "sanewashing" more in the next month...

Political media notes and quotes

 >> Mother Jones national affairs editor Mark Follman says, "Trump's hate speech against migrants has taken an even darker and more dangerous turn at his rallies over the past few days. This is really worrisome incitement. National news media should be treating this as a far bigger story."

 >> In a heartbreaking essay for Vanity Fair, Rudy Giuliani's daughter Caroline says Donald Trump took my dad from me. Please don't let him take our country, too."

 >> "Will the Real Midwest Please Stand Up?" A.O. Scott has a brilliant essay about Vance and Walz's biographical appeals.

Soros group gains radio approval

Liam Reilly writes: Radio giant Audacy emerged from Chapter 11 bankruptcy yesterday after the FCC approved the transfer of its licenses to a George Soros-funded nonprofit. The radio giant, which slashed its debt load 80%, to $350 million, expects to become a private company. More here...

 >> What will change about the editorial bent of the 200+ stations? The incoming owners aren't saying yet...

How the NY Post shielded Adams

As we wait to see whether New York Gov. Kathy Hochul will force out indicted NYC mayor Eric Adams, Noah Shachtman is out with a must-read NYMag story about how Rupert Murdoch's New York Post helped Adams gain and maintain power. He describes how the tabloid went "all in for Adams" in 2021 and looked the other way, for far too long, when embarrassing stories emerged. Read on...

NEW THIS MORNING

Australia's ABC apologizes

"Australia's national broadcaster has released an internal review that found 'systemic' racism within its ranks, prompting an apology from the managing director to all current and former staff," CNN's Hilary Whiteman reports. Details here...

Whiteboards and Walkie Talkies

As towns in western North Carolina begin to clean up from Helene's catastrophic floodwaters, the news is being shared in some strikingly old-fashioned ways. My old friend Jessica Wakeman posted a picture of a whiteboard outside a firehouse in Asheville on Monday. Roads, water, gas, cell, food – this is just about the most efficient recap of the news I can imagine:

Jessica Wakeman

Over in Boone, another old friend, Chris Moody, said "there's very limited cell service, so people have been communicating by Walkie-Talkies."

In Black Mountain, someone hung up a white tarp and left some Sharpies so people could write down their names if they were alive and well. Evan Fisher, who snapped that picture, also shared a recap from an in-person town meeting later in the day. Hundreds of residents gathered to hear updates from local officials.

Survivors are benefiting from state-of-the-art tech too, like Starlink, but in a crisis, sometimes archaic ways to communicate are still the best...

Three great reads

 >> Nicole Sperling writes about CNN, under the leadership of Amy Entelis, "again financing and releasing documentary series and films after backing away from the genre two years ago." (NYT)

 >> Jeremy Barr asks: "Tucker Carlson is filling arenas, but does he have anything to say?" (Wash Post)

 >> "An Oregon paper was repeatedly denied public records. Its fight for transparency ended in a major victory," Nicole Slaughter Graham reports. (Poynter)

Christine Brennan's fair question

"The players union for the WNBA is lashing out at a widely respected veteran journalist named Christine Brennan," Jake Tapper reported on Monday's "The Lead." Brennan asked a "perfectly legitimate question" of Dijonai Carrington last week and the players union blasted Brennan for it. Tapper talked with Brennan about the controversy and what it signified.

 >> Poynter's Tom Jones: The union "is trying to protect its players. But in this case, they chose the wrong target and the wrong message."

Briefly (part one!)

 >> On the "Decoder" pod, NBC's direct-to-consumer boss Matt Strauss talks about the "back to the future" nature of streaming services moving toward bundling. (The Verge)

 >> Speaking of everything old being new again: "Disney+ has added four more live channels." (Deadline)

 >> "CBS News has hired Rob Marciano as part of the expanding CBS News weather network," Oliver Darcy scoops. (Status)

 >> Fox Nation is looking to launch "a new 'Fox Faith' vertical showcasing religious content," Brian Steinberg reports. (Variety)

>> Pop quiz: What is the fastest growing site in Press Gazette's global news top 50? Answer: Newsweek. (Press Gazette)

Today in tech

 >> "SoftBank's Vision Fund has agreed to invest $500 million in OpenAl's latest funding round, which values the developer of ChatGPT at $150 billion before the investment," Kate Clark and Cory Weinberg report. (The Information)

 >> "Reddit is making sitewide protests basically impossible." (The Verge)

 >> Fortnite maker Epic Games is accusing Google and Samsung "of conspiring to protect Google's Play store from competition." (Reuters)

Super "SNL" premiere ratings

Elizabeth Wagmeister writes: The Season 50 premiere of "SNL" drew 5.3 million viewers in live same-day viewing, the show's best season premiere viewership since 2020, according to NBC. The episode also performed well on streaming, ranking as the most-watched "SNL" episode of all time on Peacock. Host Nate Bargatze and musical guest Coldplay are coming up this weekend...

Briefly (part two!)

 >> The Onion is bringing back its "once-popular video parodies of cable news," and hiring former MSNBC and NPR host Joshua Johnson to be the face of the first episodes, Will Sommer reports. (Wash Post)

 >> A New Mexico judge has denied "Rust" armorer Hannah Gutierrez Reed's request for new trial and upheld her involuntary manslaughter conviction. (CNN)

 >> Lionsgate is the latest studio to offer "a voluntary severance and early retirement program." (Deadline)

Thank you for reading. This newsletter was produced with Liam Reilly and edited by Jon Passantino. Email us your feedback and tips here.