O’Reilly Decides Who is a Journalist?


Article in The Wrap by Jacob Bryant, 7/1/26

Headline: “Tucker Carlson Are Only Anti-Trump Because They’re ‘Personalities,’ Not Journalists.  ‘I’m not in it for clicks,’ he adds”

“. . .While talking with Piers Morgan on ‘Piers Morgan Uncensored,‘ O’Reilly was asked why he thought Kelly, Carlson and even people like Marjorie Taylor Greene had all started attack Trump more often. . .”

“O’Reilly thought that it all came down to one very important thing: Kelly and Tucker were personalities and not real journalists.

“ ‘Well, look, I can’t speak for them as far as their motivation is concerned. I can tell you that they’re not journalists! None of them are,’ he said. ‘They are personalities and very successful personalities. . .”

Read the full article at:

https://www.thewrap.com/media-platforms/journalism/bill-o-reilly-slams-megyn-kelly-tucker-carlson-anti-trump/

Handling Reporting Mistakes


Article in The Atlantic by Charlie Warzel, 6/30/26

Headline:  “A Tough Day for NPR

Subhead:  “Are there any lessons to the newsroom’s Supreme Court error?”

“It was all a ‘misunderstanding.’ That’s the word that NPR Editor in Chief Thomas Evans used to describe why, today, the outlet erroneously published a report by the veteran Supreme Court reporter Nina Totenberg that Justice Samuel Alito had retired. . . In the story, Totenberg attributed her reporting to the Court itself, not to an anonymous source. Minutes later, the Supreme Court’s public-information office said that the Court had not made any such announcement.

NPR, to its credit, quickly retracted the story, issued a correction, and apologized. . . .”

Read the full article at:

https://www.theatlantic.com/technology/2026/06/npr-alito-supreme-court-retraction/687750/

What’s Hiding in FCC’s Safe?

Article in Ars Technica by Jon Brodkin, 6/28/26

Headline:  “FCC accused of hiding Chairman Carr’s messages with DOGE and Musk”

Subhead:  “FCC refuses to provide messages, has ‘wasted a year’ of court’s time, filing says.”

“. . .’The evidence clearly demonstrates that the FCC has acted in bad faith by withholding documents responsive to Plaintiffs’ FOIA [Freedom of Information Act] request,’ journalist Nina Burleigh and advocacy group Frequency Forward said in a filing yesterday in US District Court for the District of Columbia. ‘The FCC acted in bad faith when it redefined the search criteria without notice to Plaintiffs or this Court. Further, the FCC acted in bad faith by concealing the fact that the Chairman Carr has a Signal account on a phone he uses to conduct government business.’. . .”

Read the full article at:

https://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/2026/06/fcc-accused-of-hiding-chairman-carrs-messages-with-doge-and-musk/

Media Turmoil – Newspaper Stands Out


Article in The New Republic by Perry Bacon, 6/29/26

Headline:  “The British Paper That Americans Are Rushing to Read”

Subhead:  Guardian US managing director Steve Sachs says the paper’s audience has grown vastly in the United States because it is free, independent, and global.”

“The news about the news has been terrible over the last year: CBS News taken over by Bari Weiss; Jeff Bezos pushing The Washington Post opinion section to the right; CNN, The New York Times, and other outlets often choosing to downplay the radicalism of President Trump so they can portray themselves as neutral and objective; numerous local and national outlets laying off reporters. But The Guardian US is the rare positive news media story. . .”

Read the full article at:

https://newrepublic.com/article/212480/british-paper-americans-rushing-read

Reporters too Close to Sources?


Article in Poynter by Tom Jones, 6/25/26

Headline: “Opinion | The Dianna Russini story isn’t over — and neither are the ethics questions”

Subhead: A New York Times deep dive revisits the former Athletic reporter’s relationship with sources and a revealing dispute over what’s ‘off the record’ “

“Not that long ago, Dianna Russini was at the top of her profession as an NFL insider for The Athletic. She was reportedly making nearly $800,000 and was considered one of the faces of the company, which is owned by The New York Times.

That all came crashing down with a series of photos that appeared in the New York Post in early “April. The photos showed Russini hanging out at an Arizona resort with Mike Vrabel, head coach of the New England Patriots. . .”

Read the full article at:

https://www.poynter.org/commentary/2026/the-athletic-new-york-times-dianna-russini-story-off-record/

Sometimes, Media Admit Error


Article in Daily Kos by Staff, 6/23/26

Headline:  “Conservative writer learns the hard truth about Trump”

” ‘CNN was right about the war, and I was wrong,’ reads The Hill headline of a column by Becket Adams.

“When it comes to President [Donald] Trump’s disastrous attempt this year at playing war chief, a whole lot of conservatives got it wrong, this author included,” Adams writes. . .”

“In fact, Adams deserves more credit than most conservatives simply for acknowledging the mistake instead of pretending it never happened or screaming, ‘Fake news!’. . .”

Read the full article at:

https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2026/6/23/800059611/media-and-culture/conservative-writer-learns-hard-truth-about-trump/

Did Press Cover Iraq or Iran Better?


Article in Columbia Journalism Review by Jem Bartholomew, 6/22/26

Headline:  “How’d We Do?”

Subhead:  “The press corps failed badly in the run-up to the US invasion of Iraq. Was coverage of the Iran war any better?

“. . .’Does this mean—whisper it—that overall the press has had a ‘good’ war, at least compared with the debacle of the run-up to Iraq? I’m still making up my mind. And I’m curious what CJR’s readers think about this—so do respond to this email or send me a note if you’d like to share your thoughts. . .”

Read the full article at:

https://www.cjr.org/the_media_today/howd-we-do-iran-war-press-corps-iraq-invasion-trump-bush-netanyahu-new-york-times-haberman-swan.php

Media Hawks are Angry

Article in Media Matters by Matt Gertz. 6/17/26

Headline:  “Right-wing hawks absolve Trump of Iran MOU responsibility, blame Vance instead”

“The right-wing media’s hawks recognize the reported memorandum of understanding that President Donald Trump and Vice President J.D. Vance signed with Iran on Sunday is a dog’s breakfast that fails to achieve the administration’s stated war goals and leaves the U.S. in a weaker geostrategic position than before it began. But they also understand that the cult-like structure of the MAGA movement means that criticizing Trump directly could trigger an audience revolt . .”

Read the full article at:

https://www.mediamatters.org/us-iran-relations/right-wing-hawks-absolve-trump-iran-mou-responsibility-blame-vance-instead.

Local Stations – Exploding Prices?


Article in Media Matters by Zachary Pleat & Gideon Taaffe, 6/15/26

Headline:  Sinclair’s national programs offer a Trump-friendly spin on his costly oil and gas prices, while local broadcasts show harm to Americans”

Subhead: “Local stations — including some owned by Sinclair — have been at the forefront of documenting American pain at the pump”

“Americans are feeling pain at the pump and elsewhere thanks to the ongoing surge in oil and fuel prices from President Donald Trump’s war on Iran, and local television news stations have been at the forefront of documenting that pain, with even some local stations owned by the right-wing Sinclair Broadcast Group airing such coverage. Sinclair’s national programming, however, has often applied a Trump-friendly spin while discussing high gas prices, downplaying the increases and suggesting they’ll be short-lived. . .”

Read the full article at:

https://www.mediamatters.org/fuel-files-rising-gasoline-oil-and-fertilizer-prices/sinclairs-national-programs-offer-trump

60 Minutes Losing its Glow?


Article in Poynter by Tom Jones, 6/12/26

Headline:  “Opinion | Will we recognize the country’s most-watched news program after this overhaul?”

Subhead: ’60 Minutes’ is at a crossroads, and some wonder how — and if — the show will recover from recent changes”

“. . .This past season, the show had seven people introduce themselves: Anderson Cooper, Scott Pelley, Sharyn Alfonsi, Cecilia Vega, Lesley Stahl, Bill Whitaker and Jon Wertheim. All of them, superb journalists.

That number is now down to four. Cooper left the show on his own accord after the season, saying his schedule had become too busy and that he wanted to spend more time with his family. Vega and Alfonsi were fired by CBS News editor in chief Bari Weiss, who also fired the show’s executive producer, Tanya Simon, and replaced her with Nick Bilton, who has no real experience in TV news. . .”

Read the full article at

https://www.poynter.org/commentary/2026/will-60-minutes-be-recognizable-new-york-knicks-win/