Reliable Sources with Brian Stelter

Plus... Will Bunch says the press saw Afghanistan as a chance to "pounce" on Biden; Trump's new fantasy about last year's election; new innovations in investigative reporting; and more. David Leonhardt, April Ryan, Will Bunch, Jean Guerrero, Emily Ramshaw, Evan Hill and Nadine Ajaka join Brian Stelter.

Publishing chains like Gannett are selling off some of their smaller papers to truly local owners. Brian Stelter speaks with two beneficiaries of this trend: Jennifer Allen, the new owner of the Hot Springs Village Voice in Arkansas, and Carol Wyatt, the returning editor of two local papers in Florida, the Holmes County Times-Advertiser and the Washington County News. Wyatt talks about rebuilding the papers by returning "to covering the local issues." She says "we are the scrapbooks of our commu...Show morenity; we are the keeper of milestones... Even something as simple as publishing the school district's honor roll plays a part in why the community looks to their local paper." She and Allen discuss the advantages, challenges and "growing pains" they've experienced in transitioning back to "hyperlocal" ownership.

Plus... Julie Pace on her vision for the future of The Associated Press; how Rep. Nunes is using the courts to bully press; Ken Burns on Muhammad Ali's enduring legacy, and the dangers of partisan echo chambers. Ayesha Tanzeem, Leonard Pitts, Jr., Spencer Ackerman, Michael Daly, Laura Edelson, Liz Mair, David Folkenflik, Julie Pace and Ken Burns join John Avlon.

Oliver Darcy and Kerry Flynn join Brian Stelter to debrief about the summer's biggest stories on the media beat, from BuzzFeed to Sally Buzbee, from right-wing media to Rachel Maddow. Flynn reflects on her conversations with new newsroom leaders and Darcy weighs in on the Biden White House's evolving relationship with the media. The trio also look ahead to the fall, discussing media companies' return to office plans, Big Lie lawsuits, and more.

Plus... WSJ reporter shares his reporting about ABC News scandal; succession talk at "Jeopardy!" and MSNBC; and more. Azmat Khan, Anna Nelson, James Fallows, Eric Boehlert, Joe Flint, Claire Atkinson and Colleen McCain Nelson join Brian Stelter.

Los Angeles Times columnist Jean Guerrero, an outspoken critic of Larry Elder, discusses the fraught media environment around the California gubernatorial recall, and why Elder is such a contentious candidate. She discusses different narratives about Gavin Newsom's time as governor and the recent increase in national news coverage of the recall effort. She says Elder's standoffs with the press hurt the public: "He's not being challenged on what he's actually proposing because he's refusing to ta...Show morelk to reporters who actually know what he stands for."

Plus... MAGA media outlets are on an anti-democratic crusade; Fox's vaccine rhetoric versus corporate reality; meet the reporter who upended "Jeopardy!" and unseated Mike Richards; and more. Clarissa Ward, Saad Mohseni, Matthew Dowd, Amanda Marcotte, Oliver Darcy and Claire McNear join Brian Stelter.

BuzzFeed reporter and Nieman fellow Joe Bernstein talks about his Harper's cover story on "Big Disinfo," the rise of a new industry dedicated to combating disinformation. "What I wanted to push back against is a kind of a dominant framing in the media... that implies or outright says that lies and propaganda on social media, specifically on Facebook, on YouTube, on Twitter, are measurably responsible for the deep issues in American society," he says. He also identifies ways forward for the study...Show more and coverage of disinformation.

Clarissa Ward, Susan Glasser and Fareed Zakaria analyze breaking news from Afghanistan; Discovery fights to protect its Polish news network; Rachel Maddow considers leaving MSNBC; and more. Clarissa Ward, Susan Glasser, Fareed Zakaria, Stephen Shackelford, Lachlan Cartwright and U.S. Surgeon General Dr. Vivek Murthy join Brian Stelter.

Megan Stack, a contributor to The New Yorker, discusses her recent article about the Pentagon's "de-facto press blackout" in Afghanistan, plus the threats to members of the media in the country. She describes the U.S. military's concerns about how coverage of the troop withdrawal could hurt America's image, saying "they know that any photograph that looks sort of unvictorious, that looks that looks like giving up and kind of quitting" might be useful "to foreign adversaries." Stack analyzes the ...Show moreTaliban's advances and says the image feared by U.S. officials -- a helicopter evacuation reminiscent of the Fall of Saigon -- could wind up being seen. Stack also reflects on two decades of Afghan war coverage and says "I found it very difficult to reconcile how little the U.S. public does seem to understand or engage with the extent of what's happened and what our government has done. I find that very jarring, especially because I gave so many years of my life and I have friends who died covering those stories, and it's sort of frustrating... I feel like people have done great coverage over the years and it just hasn't quite penetrated."