# EP5 WORKSHEET — series_rightwing_threat / Newsmax
**Author:** WSA-RWT | **Authored:** 2026-09-02 | **Schema:** DELIVERY_PLAYBOOK.md §Part 4 + §Part 5 (rightwing_threat row)
**Role:** PLANNING ONLY. This worksheet modifies nothing. No TTS, no renders, no composites. All disk-state below verified via tool calls 2026-09-02.

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## 1. HEADER

| Field | Value |
|---|---|
| Episode | EP5 — Newsmax (manifest ep 5; **scope from zero**) |
| Working title | **"Newsmax: The Walk-Back Pipeline"** |
| Thesis | The complete cycle in one network: platform the claim → ride it nightly → the claim ages into legal exposure → the network's own lawyers force a walk-back — and the retraction text itself proves "we report what they say" is a framing, not a defense. |
| Manifest why | "Mainstream pipeline for Trump election-fraud narrative; platformed guests pushing conspiracy." (series_manifest.json:9) |
| Manifest hook URL | https://www.npr.org/2021/04/27/newsmax-issues-retraction-and-apology-to-dominion-election-company-over-election-stories (Tier-2 documentation of a Tier-1 artifact — the retraction itself) |
| Precedent receipt (series directive) | Dominion v. Fox precedent context for Newsmax's own Dominion-related retraction (April 27 2021, per NPR) — Fox/Dominion record used as CONTEXT card with its own provenance; never merged into Newsmax claims |

**Disk-state receipt (verified 2026-09-02, tool calls):**

| Artifact | State |
|---|---|
| `ep5_newsmax/` | **DOES NOT EXIST** — scope from zero |
| Factbase | **DOES NOT EXIST** (series-wide) |
| Presenter route | no entry (EP3 SA-PLAN pattern) |
| NPR URL | manifest-provided; Tier-2 locator for the retraction document, which must itself be archived as Tier-1 |

## 2. STATE TODAY

- **Exists:** manifest row + pitch line + NPR retraction locator. Nothing else.
- **Scope-from-zero checklist:** same SA-RES-first pattern as EP3/EP4 (factbase block → `ep5_newsmax/` dir + plan JSON in the 8-section contract → routing-receipt entry → downstream).

## 3. DUAL-LENS READ

### LENS 1 — EDU
- **E1:** the retraction IS a Tier-1 artifact — Newsmax's own words about its own claims. Factbase spec: (a) the retraction statement verbatim + archive link (April 27, 2021 retraction/apology re Dominion-related stories, per NPR locator); (b) the underlying claim segments (guest/platformed claims) captured verbatim; (c) NPR piece as Tier-2 locating context; (d) Dominion-v.-Fox precedent CONTEXT lines with independent provenance — used once, clearly labeled as a different case.
- **E2 framing mandates:** never "Newsmax admitted it lied" — air the retraction text verbatim and characterize exactly what it did and did not say (what was retracted, what was apologized-for, what was conceded). The walk-back's exact scope IS the lesson. Guest claims attributed to guests by name ON the receipt card; Newsmax's act = platforming (its own words about carrying them when sourced).
- **E3–E6:** the cycle (platform → ride → exposure → walk-back) is a four-beat comprehension loop; run it as a visible 4-stage graphic like the Fox series pipeline device.

### LENS 2 — ENT
- **T1:** 0:00–0:03 = the claim chyron from a broadcast segment verbatim, with the retraction line stamped beneath it. Question over both.
- **T2:** label machine; T5 verdict wall = the retraction document itself, full-frame, with the conceded lines highlighted — the series' most self-incriminating exhibit.
- **T3/T8:** standard presenter slots; steelman face-to-face is the pivot beat.
- **T4:** 90s rhythm = the 4-station cycle, one station per segment.
- **T6:** muffled "The Narrative" on the nightly-claim montage; crisp+hit on the retraction text — native sonic contrast.

## 4. CRAFT LAYER

- **Pretest hook (E1×T1), drafted now:** show a claim segment, then: *"A network airs this claim nightly for weeks. What forces a walk-back — a fact-check, advertisers, or its own lawyers? Pick one."* Wrong plausible answer on screen: "A fact-check would do it." Reveal = the retraction document and what actually moved (as the record shows).
- **Gap ledger:** open = "what does a network owe you when the story it sold turns out unsupportable?"; hold = each cycle station names what's still owed; close = the retraction's exact scope read on air.
- **Amplification-map beat:** network broadcast → guest clip virality → audience/official pickup → the legal-record hop. Sourced nodes only.
- **"Who funds/carries it" card:** carriage + funding lines ACQUISITION-GATED.
- **Math beat (E4):** the claim-to-retraction interval — days between the first claim segment and the walk-back date, computed on screen from two factbase dates (segment date + retraction date April 27 2021 per NPR; both must be captured lines). This IS the shareable 1:1 clip beat.
- **Anchor conversion (E5):** interval gets a companion ("about [X] nightly shows" — computed from interval + air-cadence factbase lines).
- **E7 technique tags:** **false attribution** (guest claims laundered as network content), **single-source breath**, **motivated timing** (post-election window — if factbase dates support), **definitional dodge** (what "retraction" covered vs what it didn't).
- **Steelman staging (E8×T3):** outlet's own defense: "we report what they say" / "we're just covering the news of the day" framing (capture actual wording). Honored, then answered WITH THE RETRACTION TEXT ITSELF: their own statement about their own reporting is the record that tests the defense.
- **One-ask close (E10):** *read one network retraction end-to-end — the whole statement, not the headline about it — and comment what it actually concedes.* No suppression ask.
- **E9 tease:** EP6 gap: *"Next: the network where denial content didn't get a report — it got a rally stage every night. Real America's Voice."*

## 5. STEPS

Same chain as EP1–EP4, EP5 deltas:

- **SA-RES:** factbase Newsmax block: retraction statement verbatim + archive (Tier-1) + claim-segment captures (Tier-1) + NPR locator (Tier-2) + Dominion-v.-Fox context lines (independent provenance, labeled CONTEXT); ≥3 Tier-1 lines.
- **SA-PLAN:** dir + plan + routing entry (EP3 pattern, real ref-video path).
- **SA-SCR:** retraction-scope read is the mandatory beat — what it retracted, what it apologized for, what it conceded, verbatim on screen; no scope-inflation beyond the text; guest attribution by name on cards.
- **SA-CARD:** the 4-station cycle card is the recurring graphic; retraction exhibit is the T5 wall with exact-scope highlights.
- **SA-MATH:** date-interval beat inputs wired to two fact date lines; fails qualitative if either date is uncaptured.
- **SA-PUB:** `episode_newsmax.json` + `_broadcast_newsmax.json`.

**QC GATE (2026-09-02):** After SA-QC-FINAL, executor **SA-QC-VIS** runs the multimodal QC gate (C:/DandyDon/smm/QC_GATE.md): frames extracted, the rendered master VIEWED by an independent multimodal reviewer and scored on the 10-dimension rubric (engagement, educational quality, audio quality, visual quality, visual relevance, duration/sync integrity, receipt legibility, presenter discipline, fact-accuracy spot-check, platform-cut QA). PASS thresholds: ≥7.0 overall / no dimension <6 / zero hard-fails. Receipt: `smm/receipts/QC_series_rightwing_threat_EP5_<date>.md` — REQUIRED for ship.

## 6. PRESENTER PLAN

- **Route:** NOT YET PINNED — SA-PLAN registers EP5 in `PRESENTER_ROUTING_RECEIPT.json` (3 PRESENTER segment IDs, `ep5_newsmax/presenter_clips/`, 1080×1080, voice `sasha`).
- **Slot assignment:** slot 1 = forces-a-walkback pretest hook beside the claim chyron; slot 2 = 4-station cycle walk ("the math the network won't do" date-interval beat) + "we report what they say" steelman face-to-face; slot 3 = retraction-scope read + one-ask close.
- **Tone constraint (EP5-specific):** the retraction is the exhibit; the presenter reads it, never dramatizes it. The document performs the outrage.
- **Share budget:** 3 slots ≤18% of master; locked at SA-SCR.
- **BLOCKED on RWT-B3:** real ref-video path at plan creation.

## 7. BLOCKERS

- **EP5-B1 — factbase absent:** SA-RES first; the retraction capture (archive.today/Wayback of the actual statement, not the NPR page about it) is the load-bearing line. (Series RWT-B1/RWT-B2.)
- **EP5-B2 — precedent-contamination risk:** Dominion v. Fox record is powerful but is NOT this episode's case; if cards blur the two, the episode inherits the E4 inverted-attribution failure class. Context card gets independent provenance and an explicit "different case" label; gate checks it. (Series RWT-B4 adjacent.)
- **EP5-B3 — retraction-scope honesty:** the walk-back lesson collapses if its scope is inflated; "retraction" language restricted to what the text says. Same discipline family as EP4's suit-as-verdict ban.
- **EP5-B4 — defamation-adjacent discipline (binding, manifest note verbatim):** *"This is a media-criticism series, not a call to censor. The goal is to name amplification mechanics and hold the behavior to receipts, not silence opposition."* The retraction does the accusing; we quote it. On air, characterizations stay inside the retraction's own words. (Series RWT-B4.)
- **EP5-B5 — ref video:** real path at SA-PLAN. (Series RWT-B3.)

## 8. RECEIPT INDEX

At landing: `ep5_newsmax/` dir with plan JSON (filled) · script_segments.json · routing entry · factbase Newsmax block (retraction verbatim + segment captures + context lines) · receipts_archive/ (retraction statement + segment captures) · cycle card + retraction-exhibit wall + amplification map + funds/carries card · presenter_clips/ · master + 9:16 + 1:1 · `episode_newsmax.json` + `_broadcast_newsmax.json` + QC receipt w/ verdict line · acquisition receipts.
- [ ] QC GATE PASS receipt: smm/receipts/QC_series_rightwing_threat_EP5_<date>.md (10-dimension multimodal review per smm/QC_GATE.md) — REQUIRED for ship

`EDU: FAIL (E1 gate unmet — retraction document not yet captured; scope-inflation ban enforced) / ENT: PASS (4-station cycle is the tidiest T4 spine of the series; retract-exhibit wall authored) / CRAFT: PASS (forces-a-walkback pretest authored; date-interval math beat specced; 4 consistent E7 tags; the defense answered by the defense's own text) — one line per face.`