TV News LIES

Senate Democrats introduced a new bill on Thursday to roll back Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth’s news media restrictions at the Pentagon, stating that those are suppressing independent reporting at the department.

The legislation, called the Protecting Pentagon Press Access Act, was introduced by Sen. Brian Schatz (D-Hawaii) that would restore journalists’ access within the Pentagon that was available before the new measures imposed by Hegseth, including the “Correspondents’ Corridor,” a decades-old workspace inside the building that national security reporters utilized.

The bill, which will have a hard time getting traction in the GOP-controlled Senate, would also restore unescorted access to reporters to areas of the department that were accessible without an escort before the late 2025 Trump administration restriction went into effect.

“At a time of war, transparency and independent, accurate reporting matter more than ever,” Schatz said in a statement. “Our bill will reverse the Pentagon’s effort to shut out the free press and make sure the public gets the information it deserves.”

More...

One of the nation’s largest broadcasters is accusing the Trump administration of retaliation, alleging the Federal Communications Commission is unfairly policing ABC and ABC-owned stations by conducting an unprecedented early review of its broadcast licenses because the president personally dislikes its programming.

“The retaliation against ABC is a signal to every media company in the country: accommodate the Administration’s view of what news coverage should look like or pay the price,” lawyers for the network said in a Wednesday filing.

Disney-owned ABC has found itself a target of the administration’s attacks on the press as President Donald Trump tests his power to weaponize government agencies in an effort to intimidate and deter the media from covering him in a negative light.

During his second term, the president has repeatedly demanded the network have its licenses revoked and called for the firing of late-night host Jimmy Kimmel over political remarks he made. The FCC announced the early review of ABC’s broadcast licenses earlier this year, along with a number of other investigations into the network.

Most recently, the president demanded ABC — and any other network that refused to air his July 16 primetime speech — have its licenses revoked.

More...

The Atlantic is asking a judge to toss a lawsuit brought by FBI Director Kash Patel against the outlet over its reporting alleging excessive drinking and questioning his performance in the job.

The lawsuit, filed by Patel in April, alleges the magazine defamed him and relied on sources who were “not in a position to know the facts” and were part of an orchestrated smear campaign against him.

The Atlantic, in a statement on Monday, called Patel’s suit “meritless” and said it was asking the court to permit it to begin seeking factual discovery from the FBI and the Department of Justice — including documents and depositions of key individuals, which it called “appropriate given the allegations in this matter.”

“If Director Patel did not want to face this process, he should not have filed this suit,” the outlet’s editor in chief, Jeffrey Goldberg, said. “These legal filings are consistent with the promise I made to our staff and to our readers in May: we will defend The Atlantic and its staff vigorously.”

More...

President Donald Trump attended his first-ever White House Correspondents Association Dinner, with this year's rescheduled gala held Friday evening in Washington, D.C., and delivered some pointed remarks to the assembled journalists in a rambling speech that stretched on for just over an hour — and during which he personally insulted several journalists, politicians and celebs that he's sparred with.

"I am delighted to be here at the White House Correspondents' Dinner. Amazing people, a lot of people that I like," Trump said. "Some I don't like at all, but I respect most of them."

At first, Trump seemed unsure of the tone he wanted to impart, and suggested that — compared with barbs he was planning to deliver at the original WHCA dinner, which was disrupted by a gun-wielding attacker — he was pulling his punches. "I said, 'What do we do here? Is this supposed to be fun? Am I supposed to be serious? Am I supposed to be a comedian?' So I guess you said, maybe a little bit of everything."

But Trump quickly started bashing the press. "This evening it's really all about the fake news media and your handling of prizes — writing and producing and performing made-up stories like the Academy Awards," Trump said. The Academy Awards "used to be the the epitome of ratings outside of the Super Bowl… Now it's down in the dumps. Nobody wants to watch it anymore because they took on Trump. They hit me all night long."

More...

Former “60 Minutes” correspondent Cecilia Vega is speaking out about the events that led up to her firing from the flagship news program earlier this year.

On Thursday, Status published a report on Vega’s appearance at the 2026 National Association of Hispanic Journalists Conference & Expo, which is taking place this week in New Orleans. According to the article, Vega spoke at length about her dismissal during an onstage interview with ABC News’ John Quiñones.

On Thursday, Status published a report on Vega’s appearance at the 2026 National Association of Hispanic Journalists Conference & Expo, which is taking place this week in New Orleans. According to the article, Vega spoke at length about her dismissal during an onstage interview with ABC News’ John Quiñones.

On Thursday, Status published a report on Vega’s appearance at the 2026 National Association of Hispanic Journalists Conference & Expo, which is taking place this week in New Orleans. According to the article, Vega spoke at length about her dismissal during an onstage interview with ABC News’ John Quiñones.

More...

Lawyers with the Department of Justice on Thursday agreed to unilaterally withdraw a series of subpoenas that sought to compel New York Times journalists to testify about their sources and to access their phone records. 

U.S. District Judge Arun Subramanian said he would quash the subpoenas if the Department of Justice refused to withdraw them. 

"It's a matter of basic compliance with the law," Judge Subramanian said.

Attorneys for the New York Times were in court Thursday to fight a series of grand jury subpoenas they allege were an attempt to retaliate against and intimidate reporters whose work angered President Donald Trump. 

Lawyers for the newspaper had asked the judge to quash the subpoenas, which sought to compel the journalists to testify about their sources, as well as access the phone records of the reporters and some of their family members. 

Sean Buckley, the chief counsel to the U.S. attorney for the Southern District of New York, said that prosecutors would return to the judge if they decide to seek new subpoenas in the future. 

"Upon further consideration, the government is prepared unilaterally to withdraw the subpoenas at this time," he said.

More...