Media Ignore Something Important?

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Article in The Nation by Elie Mystal, 10/30/26

Headline: “Why Is the Media Ignoring the Stunning New Trump-Epsteim Allegations?”

Subhead: “In this week’s Elie v. U.S., our justice correspondent asks why the media is obsessing over Obama’s Cheesecake Factory joke while largely ignoring allegations of Trump’s sexual assaults. . .”

“. . .If asked, mainstream media types would no doubt argue that the lack of coverage of these latest rape allegations stems from the fact that previous rape allegations failed to ‘move the needle.’ Trump’s sexual misconduct (both alleged and litigated) is ‘baked in’ to people’s understanding of the man. . .”

Read the full article at:

https://www.thenation.com/article/politics/newsletter-why-is-the-media-ignoring-the-stunning-new-trump-epstein-allegations/

They Don’t Need No Stinkin’ Facts!

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Article in The Guardian by Jeremy Barr, 10/30/26

Headline: “Ousted 60 Minutes correspondent Cecilia Vega on overhaul at CBS News: ‘It hurts to watch’”

Subhead: “Vega said she still doesn’t know why she was fired from the show, which has experienced a slump in ratings”

“Cecilia Vega, the 60 Minutes correspondent fired as part of a dramatic overhaul of the CBS News show this spring, said it “hurts” to see what has happened to the storied newsmagazine and other segments of the network, and repeated allegations that she was told to insert “factually untrue” information into her work. . .”

Read the full article at:

https://www.theguardian.com/media/2026/oct/30/60-minutes-correspondent-cecilia-vega-cbs-news

Fox in a Whirlpool

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Article in AlterNet by Matthew Rosza, 10/29/26

Headline:  “Celebration as Dan Rather exposes Fox News crash and burn”

“. . .’It was satisfying to learn that Fox “News, long the biggest blight on American journalism, is losing viewers just before a momentous election,’ reported Dan Rather and Team Steady on Thursday. ‘And it’s not a small drop. Fox has lost more than a quarter of its viewers compared to a year ago. It was the largest decline of any cable news channel in the month before an election in a decade, according to The Hollywood Reporter. . .”

Read the full article at:

https://www.alternet.org/trump-rather/

Media Cases Pile Up

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Article in The Wrap by A.J. Katz, 10/29/26

Headline: “CNN, MS NOW and Politico Expand White House Lawsuit Over Continued Press Pool Ban”

Subhead:  “The outlets say their reporters remain shut out of Air Force One and Oval Office coverage despite a court order restoring their credentials”

“CNN, MS NOW and Politico have expanded their lawsuit against President Donald Trump’s administration, alleging that the White House is continuing to shut their reporters out of presidential press pools even after a federal judge ordered their press credentials restored.

“In an amended complaint filed Wednesday, the three news organizations accused the administration of retaliating against them over their coverage of Trump. . .”

Read the full article at:


https://www.thewrap.com/industry-news/public-policy-legal/white-house-press-pool-lawsuit-update-cnn-ms-now-politico/

Former Press Sec. a Bot?

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Article in The Hill by Finya Swai, 10/29/26

Headline: “Piers Morgan, Katie Zacharia tangle in contentious interview: ‘You sound like a robot’”

“. . .Zacharia refused to share details of the exchange, instead repeatedly declaring her loyalty to the president and accusing the media of trying to distract from his agenda. . .”

“ ‘Let’s cut the crap here and have a serious genuine conversation,’ Morgan said after several unsuccessful attempts to get Zacharia to answer his questions. ‘You sound like a robot. Has Donald Trump got some program plugged into you to make you come out with all this stuff?’. . .”

Read the full article at:

https://thehill.com/homenews/media/6181114-piers-morgan-katie-zacharia-clash/

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Article in Comic Sands by Alan Herrera, 10/29/26

Headline: “Katie Zacharia Just Tried To Blame ‘The Media’ For Her Ouster As Press Secretary—And Was Hit With An Instant Reality Check”

Subhead: “After lasting just five days as White House press secretary, Katie Zacharia went on Newsmax to try to claim that “the media” was really to blame—and nobody’s buying it.”

“. . .When Newsmax anchor Rob Schmitt asked her to explain why she thinks “this didn’t work out,” Zacharia responded:

“. . . ‘They would not let me do my job, which was to focus on him and focus on what he’s doing to win and it became too amassed over me.’ . .”

Read the full article at:

https://www.comicsands.com/zacharia-blames-media-ouster

Challenge: Keeping-up With the Lies

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Article in Poynter by Angie Drobnic Holan, 10/28/26

Headline:  “Fact-checking changed journalism. Then the falsehoods changed, too.”

Subhead:  “Twenty years after PolitiFact launched, fact-checkers face an information environment more chaotic than the one they set out to fix”

“PolitiFact started out of discontent with our own field of political journalism. We thought journalists parroted far too many talking points and messages they knew were not true, primarily out of deference to authority. . .”

“Today, whenever a candidate repeats a well-worn lie, it’s standard practice for a story to point out that the claim is false or unsupported by evidence. I think that is the most important accomplishment of the past 20 years. . .”

Read the full article at:

https://www.poynter.org/fact-checking/2026/history-fact-checking-challenges-future-ai/

Rt. Media Have Gas Problem

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Article in Media Matters by Zachary Pleat, `10/28/26

Headline:  “The prominent pro-Trump pundits who admit that the Iran war drove up gas prices — and have no regrets”

“Gasoline and diesel prices remain elevated eight months into President Donald Trump’s unauthorized war against Iran. Right-wing media commentators, in the weeks leading up to the midterm elections, have returned to defending high gas prices as a worthwhile sacrifice to stop an Iranian nuclear program that they claimed in 2025 had been “obliterated” by U.S. airstrikes that June. . .”

Read the full article at:

https://www.mediamatters.org/fox-news/prominent-pro-trump-pundits-who-admit-iran-war-drove-gas-prices-and-have-no-regrets

“60 Minutes” Sinking Lower

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Article in The Guardian by Jeremy Barr, 10/28/26

Headline: “Embattled CBS leader Bari Weiss downplays concerns about weak 60 Minutes ratings”

Subhead: “CBS News editor-in-chief sidesteps viewership concerns and says flagship show doing ‘tremendously well’”

“. . .Weiss completely overhauled 60 Minutes in late May, ousting the show’s executive producer and parting ways with three top correspondents, including Scott Pelley. But the show has struggled to even match last season’s viewership, which averaged 9.1 million viewers per episode.

“The show’s most recent episode drew just 5.64 million viewers, ‘one of the smallest audiences for the program in years’, Variety reported. . .”

Read the full article at:

https://www.theguardian.com/media/2026/oct/28/bari-weiss-cbs-news-60-minutes

New WH Press-Pool-Room Use?

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Article in Poynter by Tom Jones, 10/20/26

Headline:  “Opinion | Buried in Trump’s 1,300-word Bill Maher rant was some news about the press”

Subhead:  “In his record-long post, the president said he isn’t bringing back the White House pool. Moving the press, however, is apparently on the table.”

“. . .There were rumors recently that Trump was thinking of turning the White House briefing room into an indoor swimming pool.

“Trump wrote in his Truth Social post, “I am not building a swimming pool in the White House Briefing Room, and never had any intention of doing so.”

“But then Trump added, “I am thinking about moving the Press, and putting them in a different location, but I will use that location for very badly needed space. . .”

Read the full article at:

https://www.poynter.org/commentary/2026/trump-bill-maher-truth-social-post/

Time to Run Away From CBS?

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Article in the Daily Beast by Laura Esposito, 10/26/26

Headline:  “CBS News Staff Eye Escape From Trumpy Boss: ‘It’s Ugly’”

Subhead:  “’Folks are tired,’ a CBS News source told the Post.”

“David Ellison is offering buyouts to employees at CBS News and other Skydance properties. . .”

“The shake-up comes as Ellison, the son of Oracle billionaire Larry Ellison, succeeded in his bid to acquire Warner Bros. Discovery under the Skydance Paramount umbrella. . .”

Read the full article at:

https://www.thedailybeast.com/cbs-news-staff-eye-escape-from-trumpy-boss-david-ellison