Links

Fairness in Broadcasting?

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Article in Babylon Bee by Staff, 3/13/26

Headline: “To Save Time, CNN Will Now Run Retractions Simultaneously With News Stories”

“ATLANTA, GA — As part of the channel’s ongoing quest to ensure accurate media reporting, CNN has elected to run live retractions simultaneously with the news stories being reported at the time.

“Retractions will appear on an additional ticker at the bottom of the screen, retracting the usual live news updates with corrections of everything the on-screen anchor is saying. . .”

Read the full article at:

https://babylonbee.com/news/to-save-time-cnn-will-now-run-retractions-simultaneously-with-news-stories

Join or Fight AI?

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Article in Columbia Journalism Review by Stephen J. Adler, 3/13/26

Headline:  “How Journalists Can Make AI Work for Them”

Subhead:  “A framework for newsrooms to use AI in ways that don’t sacrifice quality or lessen oversight.”

“Ask a working journalist about AI, and you’re likely to hear a string of expletives, an indictment of tech companies, and—especially if the person is over fifty—a searing lament for times past.

“The use of AI in journalism has recently created controversy everywhere from the Cleveland Plain Dealer to the Associated Press, as many reporters have passionately disagreed with managers who have insisted on its value in reporting and drafting stories. . .”

Read the full article at:

https://www.cjr.org/analysis/how-journalists-can-make-ai-work-for-them.php

Strait-Jacketed News?

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Article in Media Matters by Matt Gertz, 3/13/26

Headline:  “Dire Strait: Trump’s Fox Cabinet ignored Hormuz in the month before the U.S. attacked Iran”

“It’s little wonder that President Donald Trump didn’t seem to worry about the Strait of Hormuz in planning his war of choice against Iran: His Fox News advisers utterly ignored the possibility that Iran could respond by closing that critical shipping lane as they urged the president to launch the attack last month.

“Roughly 20% of global crude oil and liquified natural gas, along with a ‘dominant’ share of global fertilizers, reach world markets by flowing from the Persian Gulf through the narrow strait between Iran and Oman and into the Indian Ocean. . .”

Read the full article at:

https://www.mediamatters.org/us-iran-relations/dire-strait-trumps-fox-cabinet-ignored-hormuz-month-us-attacked-iran

Demanding Good News

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Article in Rolling Stone by Nikki McCamm Ramirez, 3/13/26

Headline:  “Hegseth Demands Favorable Coverage As Iran Death Toll Increases”

Subhead:  “Following the death of six more American service members, the Secretary of Defense is stressing over negative headlines”

“The American death toll in the U.S.-Israeli war against Iran climbed to 13 on Friday, and Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth would like everyone to tell him he’s doing a very good job. . .”

” ‘More fake news from CNN. Reports that the Trump administration underestimated the Iran war‘s impact on the Strait of Hormuz. Patently ridiculous, of course,’ Hegseth said, referencing reporting that officials within the Defense Department had underestimated Iran’s willingness to blockade the critical commercial strait, causing wild fluctuations in global energy prices. Hegseth added that he looks forward to Trump-aligned billionaire David Ellison taking control of the network. . . ”

Read the full article at:

https://www.rollingstone.com/politics/politics-news/pete-hegseth-berates-press-iran-death-toll-1235530124/

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“Pete Hegseth attacks media for not being positive enough about US attacks on Iran”

“US defense head is eager to frame operation as a success – and slam journalists for not portraying it in a positive light”

More from The Guardian at:

https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2026/mar/13/pete-hegseth-iran-was-us-press

After Purge, US Broadcasting Back?

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Article in Daily Beast by Cameron Adams, 3/12/26

Headline:  “Trump Picks New Propaganda Boss After MAGA Loser Kari Lake Ousted”

“Donald Trump has nominated a senior State Department official and free speech activist to oversee government broadcasters after the ousting of his previous appointee, Kari Lake.

“Sarah B. Rogers, who has been serving as Under Secretary of State for Public Diplomacy since October, was nominated as CEO for the U.S. Agency for Global Media in a court filing on Thursday, according to the Washington Post.

“The media agency oversees Voice of America and other government broadcasters, as well as funding international outlets including Radio Free Asia.

“Two-time failed gubernatorial candidate Lake was removed from the role after U.S. District Judge Royce Lamberth, a Reagan administration nominee, ruled on Saturday that she had been running the agency in violation of the law, labelling her a “de facto” CEO. . .”

Read the full article at:

https://www.thedailybeast.com/trump-picks-new-propaganda-boss-after-maga-loser-kari-lake-ousted/

Bad News Photos Not Allowed?

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Article in Poynter by Tom Jones, 3/12/26

Headline:  “Opinion | You won’t believe why the Pentagon barred photographers from its briefings”

Subhead:  “Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth’s aides objected to ‘unflattering’ photos of him — in the middle of a war”

“Boy, oh boy. These guys in the Trump administration. Just when you think they can’t get any more petty and thin-skinned and, to paraphrase one of their favorite words, snowflaky, they find another way to bellyache about something.

“The latest?

“The Washington Post’s Scott Nover writes, ‘The Defense Department has barred press photographers from briefings on the ongoing U.S.-Israeli military conflict with Iran after they published photos of Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth that his staff deemed ‘unflattering,’. . .”

Read the full article at:

https://www.poynter.org/commentary/2026/pete-hegseth-unflattering-photos/

Media and Regime Collapse

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Article in Media Matters by John Knefel and Sophie Lawton, 3/12/26

Headline: “Right-wing media embrace “regime collapse” in Iran”

Subhead: “Fox’s Jack Keane: ‘You’re going to take that regime and put it on a pathway for its eventual collapse, and what follows after that is not particularly clear. And I think that’s OK.’ ”

“Prominent right-wing media figures have embraced regime collapse as a desirable, or at least acceptable, outcome of the U.S.-Israeli war on Iran. Although most of these commentators are light on specifics, in many cases they acknowledge that what they’re calling for is something that looks more like a failed state than a transitional government. . .”

“. . .on March 4, prime-time host [Fox News] Jesse Watters praised the goal of regime collapse twice while cheerleading for the war in general. ‘Operation Epic Fury has entered a new phase — a shock and we campaign to trigger regime collapse,’ Watters said. ‘Anything can happen, but this war is off to the best start in American military history.’. . .”

Read the full article at:

https://www.mediamatters.org/us-iran-relations/right-wing-media-embrace-regime-collapse-iran

Reporters and Contradictions

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Article in Mother Jones by Anna Merlan, 3/11/26

Headline:  “The Pro-MAGA Press Can’t Agree on How to Cover Trump’s War on Iran”

Subhead:  “A combination of fight, flight, fawn, and freeze. ”

“Last week, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth conducted a remarkably peevish press conference on the United States and Israel’s attacks on Iran. At various points, journalists in the briefing room asked—reasonably enough—whether there was ‘a concern of this spiraling into a longer war.’

“ ‘Did you not hear my remarks?’ Hegseth responded, sounding indignant. . .”

“The prickly exchange was notable, considering that the current Pentagon press pool is almost entirely made up of right-wing outlets who typically provide overwhelmingly pro-Trump coverage. The previous Pentagon press corps walked out en masse in October after refusing to sign a restrictive media policy and were largely replaced by a variety of conservative media organizations and influencers. . .”

Read the full article at:

https://www.motherjones.com/politics/2026/03/maga-press-iran-war-donald-trump/

Boots on the Journalists?

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Article li FAIR, by Drew Favakeh. 3/11/26

Headline: “US News Orgs Nearly Silent on Israel’s Violent Suppression of Journalism”

“The Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) recently published two meticulous reports that further expose Israel’s violent repression of journalism, in its ongoing genocide in Gaza and elsewhere.

“CPJ published a report on February 19 titled ’We Returned From Hell’: Palestinian Journalists Recount Torture in Israeli Prisons.’ CPJ collected 59 in-depth testimonies from Palestinian journalists released from Israeli custody since October 7, 2023.

“The report goes into excruciating and painstaking detail about the experiences of 56 journalists, who told CPJ they were ‘repeatedly beaten inside prisons by authorities, as well as during arrest and transfer to the facilities.’. . .”

Read the full article at:

https://fair.org/home/us-news-orgs-nearly-silent-on-israels-violent-suppression-of-journalism/

Gambling With the News

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Article i in Columbia Journalism Review by Ivan L. Nagy, 3/11/26

Headline:  “Are Prediction Markets Actually Good for Journalism?”

Subhead:  “Dustin Gouker, the author of a Substack about prediction markets, says the media could benefit from keeping an eye on Kalshi and Polymarket.”

“By the time the US attacked Iran, on February 28, half a billion dollars had been wagered on Polymarket, one of the world’s top prediction markets, predicting when the strikes would happen. . .”

“Not long after the war started, Polymarket added a note to its Middle East markets. ‘The promise of prediction markets is to harness the wisdom of the crowd to create accurate, unbiased forecasts for the most important events to society,’ the company wrote. . . .”

Read the full article at:

https://www.cjr.org/the-interview/are-prediction-markets-actually-good-for-journalism-kalshi-polymarket-dow-jones-cnn.php