TV News LIES

Iraqi authorities are continuing the search for American journalist Shelly Kittleson who was kidnapped March 31 on a busy street in central Baghdad, Reuters reported.

The Iranian-aligned militia group Kataib Hizballah was responsible for Kittleson's kidnapping, according to The New York Times, which reported that the group offered on April 1 to negotiate with the Iraqi government for her release in exchange for several militia members being held by authorities.

“We will continue to coordinate with the FBI to ensure their release as quickly as possible,” Dylan Johnson, assistant secretary of state for global public affairs, said in a March 31 post on X. Johnson did not refer to Kittleson by name.

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A federal judge blocked President Donald Trump's executive order to end federal funding for NPR and PBS, ruling it unconstitutional under the First Amendment because it targeted the broadcasters based on their speech. The decision was welcomed by the networks, while the White House signaled it may appeal.

U.S. District Judge Randolph Moss issued a March 31, 2026 ruling that the Trump administration cannot enforce the executive order cutting federal funding to National Public Radio (NPR) and the Public Broadcasting Service (PBS).

The executive order, signed by President Donald Trump in May 2025, directed federal agencies and the Corporation for Public Broadcasting to terminate all funding for NPR and PBS, and the corporation was dissolved in January 2026.

Judge Moss found the order violated the First Amendment because it lacked neutral criteria and singled out the two broadcasters for the content of their speech.

White House spokesperson Abigail Jackson said the administration “looks forward to ultimate victory on this issue” and called the ruling “ridiculous.”

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The New Civil Liberties Alliance, on behalf of its clients Jill Hines and Dr. Aaron Kheriaty, has reached a settlement agreement and Consent Decree concluding the landmark Missouri v. Biden lawsuit against government-induced social media censorship.

This is the same case that previously went to the U.S. Supreme Court as Murthy v. Missouri when the Biden Administration appealed a Preliminary Injunction that the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit awarded NCLA’s clients. The Consent Decree awaits final court approval by Judge Terry Doughty of the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Louisiana, along with the attorneys’ fees.

The unprecedented settlement prohibits the U.S. Surgeon General, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), and Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) from threatening social media companies into removing or suppressing constitutionally protected speech on Facebook, Instagram, X (formerly Twitter), LinkedIn and YouTube.

It also bars these government authorities from directing or vetoing the companies’ social media content moderation choices. Representing individual plaintiffs in this lawsuit who were censored on social media as part of the Biden Administration’s “whole of government” effort to oppose speech it disliked, NCLA celebrates this milestone victory for First Amendment free speech rights.https://nclalegal.org/press_release/ncla-reaches-historic-settlement-strikes-major-blow-against-governments-social-media-censorship/

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The Defense Department will issue new press credentials but is still looking to keep some reporters out of the building by closing its media offices after a federal judge ruled last week that the Pentagon’s restrictive press policy was unconstitutional.

U.S. District Judge Paul Friedman in Washington, D.C., sided with The New York Times, which had sued the Trump administration for banning journalists who refused to sign a contract that put limitations on how they could solicit or report on information on the military.

The nonprofits’ case was consolidated with a similar suit brought by a group of 14 states last year.

The groups brought four claims, including that DOGE staffers lacked legal authority to carry out the firings and grant eliminations and violated the separation of powers in doing so. They also alleged Musk violated the Constitution by exercising “the power of a principal officer without having received Senate confirmation.”

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CBS News said Friday it will shut down its storied radio news service after nearly 100 years of operation, ending an era and blaming challenging economic times as the world moves on to digital sources and podcasts. Said longtime CBS News anchor Dan Rather: "It's another piece of America that is gone."

When it went on the air in September 1927, the service was the precursor to the entire network, giving a youthful William S. Paley a start in the business. Famed broadcaster Edward R. Murrow's rooftop reports during the Nazi bombing of London during World War II kept Americans listening anxiously.

Today, CBS News Radio provides material to an estimated 700 stations across the country and is known best for its top-of-the-hour news roundups. The service will end on May 22, the network said Friday.

"Radio is woven into the fabric of CBS News and that's always going to be part of our history," CBS News editor-in-chief Bari Weiss said in delivering the news to the staff. "I want you to know that we did everything we could, including before I joined the company, to try and find a viable solution to sustain the radio operation."

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Federal Communications Commission Chair Brendan Carr threatened to revoke broadcasters' licenses over coverage of the Iran war, after President Trump accused news outlets of "intentionally misleading" the American public.

Trump criticized print media outlets, including the Wall Street Journal, for reporting Friday that Iranian strikes damaged five U.S. Air Force refueling planes in Saudi Arabia. The president said four of the five tanker planes suffered "virtually no damage and are already back in service."

"The New York Times and The Wall Street Journal (in particular), and other Lowlife "Papers" and Media actually want us to lose the War," Trump said in a social media post, calling the journalists "sick and demented people."

Carr in a follow-up post warned the FCC would consider Iran war coverage when renewing broadcasters licenses.

"Broadcasters that are running hoaxes and news distortions - also known as the fake news - have a chance now to correct course before their license renewals come up," he wrote in a social media post. "The law is clear. Broadcasters must operate in the public interest, and they will lose their licenses if they do not."

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