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The St. Louis Park city council pledge of allegiance story is a perfect case study in how the Trump-Fox feedback loop turns the conservative network's culture war fixations into national news stories. Here's how it happens.
mediamatters.org/blog/2019/07/1…
mediamatters.org/blog/2019/07/1…
1. Fox & Friends put a dishonest spin on a culture war clash, depicting the decision by the city council of a population of 49,000 to stop saying the pledge at the beginning of meetings as a "ban on pledge" 
This sort of story is catnip for Fox, allowing its right-wing hosts to frame their antagonists as insufficiently patriotic effete liberals.
2. Trump, who frequently watches Fox, sees the story and tweets about it, adopting the spin. He is either a typical member of the Fox audience and is triggered by the story, sees an opportunity to become the story's hero with his base, or both.
3. National news outlets cover Trump’s comment. His drives the story from Fox & Friends into the mainstream press.
4. Taking its cue from the president, Fox “opinion” hosts and “news” anchors alike devoted significant coverage to the story.
When I say "significant coverage," I'm not kidding around. This was a ton of attention on what is again a story about the city council of a small community.
5. The Fox coverage triggers another Trump tweet...
6. ... leading to more coverage from other outlets.
And Fox's particular obsessions grab a bigger piece of the news hole. #end
