The Door is Closing on Salon

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Article in The Wrap by Benjamin Lindsay, 11/5/26

Headline: “Salon, Pioneering Digital News Website, Shutters After 31 Years”

Subhead:  “It’s difficult to find the right words for the end of something that has meant so much to so many people,” site leadership writes in an open letter”

“. . .Founded by a small group of journalists on an aspirational idea of “what journalism could be,” the site touted a “strong voice, a curiosity about the world and a belief that the internet could bring journalism and readers together in new ways.” Its founding editors helped pioneer the internet news medium that came “to define an entirely new era of publishing,” the letter reads. . .”

Read the full article at:

https://www.thewrap.com/media-platforms/journalism/salon-shuts-down/

President Rage-Texts Live, On-Air Fox Host

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Article in Mediaite by David Gilmour, 11/3/26

Headline: “Greg Gutfeld Gets Angry Text From Trump While on Air: ‘You Wouldn’t Believe This One…’”

“President Donald Trump rage-texted Fox News host Greg Gutfeld during a live broadcast on Election Day, demanding that he deliver a blistering attack to co-host Jessica Tarlov, who had just been reporting on political spam bombarding Americans’ phones as the midterms approached. . .”

Read the full article at:

https://www.mediaite.com/media/tv/greg-gutfeld-gets-angry-text-from-trump-while-on-air-you-wouldnt-believe-this-one/

 

MAGA Media Pointing. . .

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Article in Media Matters by Noah VanDowe & Zachary Pleat, 11/5/26

Headline: “‘A clown show’: The right-wing media blame game over the midterms is full steam ahead”

Subhead: “Reeling from Republican losses, conservative hosts blamed each other, the party, and Donald Trump himself”

“Following the 2026 midterm elections, which resulted in massive Democratic victories to flip control of both the U.S. Senate and House of Representatives, as well as an end to decades of Republican dominance in Texas and other Southern and Midwestern states, right-wing media commentators wasted little time before searching for scapegoats. . .”

Read the full article at:

https://www.mediamatters.org/donald-trump/clown-show-right-wing-media-blame-game-over-midterms-full-steam-ahead

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Article in Status by Natalie Korach, 11/4/26

Headline:  “MAGA’s Midterm Meltdown”

Subhead: “After Democrats’ historic victory Tuesday night, MAGA Media figures are turning on one another over the GOP debacle – and telling Status the party must move on from Trump”

“. . .By the end of the night, of course, the picture looked dramatically different. Democrats had delivered a stunning rebuke of Republicans, flipping longtime GOP strongholds in the Senate, including Texas and South Carolina, and leaving right-wing media figures scrambling to explain how they had so badly misread the electorate. . .”

Read the full article at:

https://archive.ph/74jty#selection-639.0-679.104

Trump a Media Predator?

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Article in Reporters Without Borders by Staff, 11/4/26

Headline: “Donald Trump joins the 2026 Press Freedom Predators List”

Subhead: “To mark the International Day to End Impunity for Crimes against Journalists on 2 November, Reporters Without Borders (RSF) is profiling 33 ‘press freedom predators’ who targeted journalists . . .”

“After narrowly missing the cut last year, US President Donald Trump earned his spot on the 2026 Press Freedom Predators List as a result of his appalling record of attacks on the press after less than two years of his second term. . .”

Read the full article at:

https://rsf.org/en/2026-press-freedom-predators-list

AI and NYT Subscriptions?

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Article in The Wrap by A.j. Karz, 11/4/26

Headline:  “New York Times Faces AI Questions as Digital Subscriber Growth Shines”

Subhead:  “Publisher beats Wall Street expectations as CEO Meredith Kopit Levien addresses AI risks to its subscription business”

“. . .Even a strong quarter of subscriber growth couldn’t free New York Times CEO Meredith Kopit Levien from questions about the risks that artificial intelligence poses to the publisher. . .”

“The strong results come amid an undercurrent of concern over the potential impact of AI, from Google’s AI summaries reducing the need to people to actually read stories to AI agents proactively canceling subscriptions in an effort to save their users money. . .”

Read the full article at:

https://www.thewrap.com/industry-news/business/new-york-times-adds-420000-subscribers-as-q3-digital-revenue-rises/

Media Say “Wow”!

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Article in Poynter by Tom Jones, 11/4/126

Headline: “Opinion | As Democrats swept the midterms, news anchors struggled to find the words”

Subhead:  “‘Wow’ was the word of the night as a historic blue wave stunned election-night broadcasters”

“. . .On Tuesday night, the word “wow” might have been uttered on TV more than any other interjection ever. Anchors, analysts, election experts — you name it — all ran out of words to express their surprise at a variety of races. NBC’s Steve Kornacki might have been the league leader in ‘wows.’ Or it might have been CNN’s Jake Tapper. Or maybe it was MS NOW’s Rachel Maddow. . .”

Read the full article at:

https://www.poynter.org/commentary/2026/2026-midterms-democratic-sweep-election-night-media-coverage/

MAGA Media at Odds

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Article in The Washington Post by Scott Nover, 11/4/26

Headline:  “A MAGA media civil war erupts over who’s to blame for the GOP’s thrashing”

Subhead:  “Trump’s allies cite the Iran war, the economy and one another after Republicans’ election rout exposed deep divisions in the MAGA media world.”

“. . .These pronouncements from the Republican Party’s two standard-bearers did little to quell the finger-pointing from right-wing influencers and media personalities after the massive blue wave on election night.

“By Wednesday morning, the party’s media firebrands sought not only answers but also scapegoats. Commentators and influential right-wing personalities offered sharply different accounts of what went wrong. . .”

Read the full article at:

https://www.washingtonpost.com/business/2026/11/04/maga-media-civil-war-erupts-over-whos-blame-gops-thrashing/

Fox News Falling

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Article in The Guardian by Jeremy Barr, 11/4/26

Headline:  “Fox News suffers ratings slump on bleak election night for Republicans”

Subhead:  “In early, preliminary figures, the news channel trailed several other networks in prime-time viewership”

“On a midterm election night that was a huge disappointment for Republicans, with Democrats taking control of the US House and Senate, the country’s most prominent conservative television network felt the brunt of viewer disillusionment with Donald Trump and his party, according to preliminary audience numbers.

“The Fox News Channel, which often leads in viewership on election night, appears to have come out far behind the competition. . .”

Read the full article at:

https://www.theguardian.com/media/2026/nov/04/fox-news-midterm-ratings

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Article in Media Matters by Matt Gertz, 11/4/26

Headline:  “The midterm results are a crushing rebuke to Fox News’ Trump propaganda”

“. . .For Fox’s troubles, the network received a significant drop in viewership leading up to Election Day — one apparently triggered by disaffected Republicans changing the channel — and election night attacks from a president who called in and lashed out at the network for being insufficiently supportive. . .”

Read the full article at:

https://www.mediamatters.org/fox-news/midterm-results-are-crushing-rebuke-fox-news-trump-propaganda

MAGA-Media Apocalypse?

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Article in The Bulkwark by Will Sommer, 11/2/26

Headline:  “MAGA Preps for the World to End—Literally”

Subhead: “With Republicans fearing electoral doom, right-wing pundits send their audience to the bunker.”

“ROUGHLY TWENTY-FOUR HOURS FROM NOW, the Republican party could be looking at a set of catastrophic results in the midterm elections. If polls are to be believed, the party’s defeat could be severe enough to represent a repudiation of the party’s entire direction over the past decade.

“Yet pro-Trump media figures are urging their audiences to focus their attention on an even more dire possibility: a total global apocalypse. Whether it’s the prospect of a world-ending war, a debilitating cyberattack, or some other kind of catastrophe, luminaries on the right increasingly feel the end may be nigh. . .”

Read the full article at:

https://www.thebulwark.com/p/maga-preps-doomer-prepper-for-the-world-to-end-literally

Media Michigan Shockwave

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Article in Poynter by Tom Jones, 11/2/26

Headline: “Haley Stevens’ stunning endorsement set off a media firestorm. Will Michigan voters care?”

Subhead:  “The Michigan Democrat withdrew her support for Abdul El-Sayed and endorsed Republican Mike Rogers just days before Election Day”

“. . .The New York Times’ Bayliss Wagner, Reid J. Epstein and Tim Balk wrote, “The extraordinary development reflected both the bitter disagreements over Israel and the personal animosity between the two prominent Michigan Democrats. . .”

Read the full article at:

https://www.poynter.org/reporting-editing/2026/haley-stevens-endorses-mike-rogers-michigan-senate-race/