To Cover Crazy or Not?

Article in The Hill by Sophie Brams, 7/17/26

Headline:  “Carville criticizes CNN, ABC, NBC for not airing Trump speech”

“Veteran Democratic strategist James Carville on Friday criticized major television networks for not airing President Trump’s speech on election security the previous night, saying that it was a mistake for CNN, NBC and ABC not to provide ‘blanket coverage’ of what he sees as the president’s deteriorating mental state.

“ ‘I think the president of the United States acting loonier than a tune is newsworthy,’ Carville told CNN host Wolf Blitzer during an appearance on the network. ‘I don’t think we should have hidden that from the American people.”. . .”

Read the full article at:

https://thehill.com/homenews/media/5975040-carville-trump-speech-network-coverage/

JD Vance OP-Ed Fireworks

Article in The Atlantic by Peter Wehner, 7/4/26

Headline: “What J. D. Vance Once Knew”

Subhead:  “Ten years ago, the vice president wrote that one day, voters would realize the truth about Donald Trump. That day has now arrived.”

“. . .In the midst of a social crisis, Vance observed, Trump offered ‘an easy escape from the pain. To every complex problem, he promises a simple solution.’ But, he argued, such promises were a cheap high. ‘He never offers details for how these plans will work, because he can’t. Trump’s promises are the needle in America’s collective vein.’

“ ‘Trump is cultural heroin,’ Vance wrote. ‘He makes some feel better for a bit. But he cannot fix what ails them, and one day they’ll realize it’. . .”

Read the full article at:

https://www.theatlantic.com/ideas/2026/07/jd-vance-trump-independence-day/687779/

Editor’s Words Still Ring True


Article in Poynter by Staff, 7/4/26

Headline: “A message about the importance of the free press”

Subhead:  “On America’s 250th birthday, we reprint the words of the late Poynter chairman Eugene C. Patterson”

“Eugene C. Patterson fought Nazis as a tank platoon leader in World War II. He fought for civil rights as a crusading editor at The Atlanta Constitution in the 1960s. He fought for high standards and ethical journalism in all his roles as a newspaper editor, including as CEO and chairman of the St. Petersburg Times. . .”

“He wrote these words, which in 1984 were published in a book by the Society for Professional Journalists. . .” [words are above]

Read the full article at:

https://www.poynter.org/ethics-trust/2026/eugene-patterson-free-press-message/

Rt. Wing Media Worry About Cuba

Article in Media Matters by Janos Balazs, 7/2/26

Headline: “Right-wing Spanish-language media caution that attacking Cuba won’t be as straightforward as the Maduro raid”

Subhead: “One guest said any potential U.S. military action in Cuba ‘would have to be much larger than Venezuela’ “

“As tensions have risen between the U.S. and Cuba, some Spanish-language right-wing media voices have cautioned that regime change in Cuba won’t be as easy as President Donald Trump’s raid to capture Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro in early January. While hosts have generally expressed support for such actions, they’ve claimed that the Cuban government is ‘more closed off’ than Venezuela; that former Cuban leader Raúl Castro has ‘the whole army as personal security’; and that ‘there is no Delcy Rodríguez’ in Cuba, referring to the former vice president of Venezuela who replaced Maduro. . .”

Read the full article at:

https://www.mediamatters.org/spanish-language-media/right-wing-spanish-language-media-caution-attacking-cuba-wont-be

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/