TV News LIES

Anderson Cooper decides to walk away from broadcast TV’s most prestigious news show, 60 Minutes. Stephen Colbert takes his interview with a rising Democratic politician to YouTube instead of his own late-night show. The CBS Evening News anchor presents a misleading version of the network’s own exclusive reporting on Ice arrests. And a news producer writes a farewell note to her CBS News colleagues blaming the loss of editorial independence.

If you connect the dots, the picture of what’s happening at CBS becomes all too clear. That picture comes into even sharper focus once you recall an underlying factor: the network’s parent company is trying to get a big commercial deal done and needs the help of the Trump administration to bring it over the finish line.

“Media capture” is the name that University of Pennsylvania scholar Victor Pickard gives to what we’re seeing unfold before our eyes.

What’s happening at CBS and elsewhere “isn’t a singular breakdown”, Pickard writes in a new analysis.

It’s a whole cascade of layers – media ownership, control and market structure – that “endanger our information and communication systems, our First Amendment freedoms, and our democracy”.

In the CBS situation, the immediate motivation is easy to understand. The network’s parent company, Paramount Skydance, wants to buy Warner Brothers Discovery, which also owns CNN – one of Donald Trump’s favorite punching bags and a news organization he would love to see take the same rightward turn as CBS.

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President Donald Trump escalated his push to raise tariffs without the Supreme Court's backing on Feb. 21, announcing he would up the 10% worldwide tariff he announced after the nation's highest court ruled against him to 15%.

"Based on a thorough, detailed, and complete review of the ridiculous, poorly written, and extraordinarily anti-American decision on Tariffs issued yesterday, after MANY months of contemplation, by the United States Supreme Court," Trump wrote in a Truth Social post, the worldwide tariff would be raised to 15%, "effective immediately."

It came after Trump lashed out at the Supreme Court on Feb. 20 over what he called its "deeply disappointing" decision to overturn the emergency tariffs that he imposed on countries around the world.

At a press conference after the ruling, Trump said he was "ashamed" of some Supreme Court justices "for not having the courage to do what’s right for our country.”

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In a move that has sent shockwaves through Georgia’s media landscape, Eliso Kiladze, the editor-in-chief of Qronika Plus and Cnews news agancy, was detained by masked special forces on Wednesday morning.

While the government alleges her involvement in a high-stakes fraud ring, Kiladze and her supporters maintain that the arrest is a calculated attempt to suppress explosive investigative findings.

The arrest took place outside Kiladze’s home between 9:00 AM and 10:00 AM on Feb. 18. Despite her high public profile and consistent presence in the media, the authorities opted for a heavy-handed operation involving masked officers from the Investigative Service, according to local outlet Civil Georgia.

The Prosecutor’s Office has charged Kiladze with “membership in an organized criminal group” allegedly led by sanctioned former Prosecutor General Otar Partskhaladze and the Mikadze brothers. The state claims Kiladze was part of a transnational “call center” scheme involving money laundering and fraud.

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There are “multiple victims” in a shooting at a high school in the northeast part of the province of British Columbia, Canadian police said Tuesday.

Royal Canadian Mounted Police Staff Sgt. Kris Clark confirmed in a text message to Canadian Press that there are victims at the Tumbler Ridge Secondary School in British Columbia’s Peace region in what police have called an “active shooter” situation, but couldn’t say how many people were involved or the extent of their injuries.

Police earlier said a suspect is believed to be dead, but officers are working to determine whether a second suspect is involved.

They are asking residents of the town of Tumbler Ridge, which has a population of about 2,400 people, to stay inside as additional police resources are being deployed to the area from neighboring areas.

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The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) launched a probe into ABC’s “The View” after the program held an interview with Democratic Texas Senate candidate James Talarico, according to multiple outlets.

Reuters reported Saturday that, per a source, the FCC began an investigation on whether “The View” broke rules for equal time when it comes to interviewing political candidates.

Fox News, which was the first to report on the probe, reported that the investigation was prompted by Talarico’s “The View” appearance, according to an FCC source.

In January, the agency shook up its rules, which exempted some late-night and daytime talk shows from having to give equal airtime to opposing political candidates.

“Importantly, the FCC has not been presented with any evidence that the interview portion of any late night or daytime television talk show program on air presently would qualify for the bona fide news exemption,” the FCC said in a public notice last month.

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Washington Post CEO and publisher Will Lewis has tendered his resignation, according to reports.

Matt Viser, the Post's White House bureau chief, shared a screenshot of the email that newsroom staffed received in a Saturday, Feb. 7 X post.

"All - After two years of transformation at The Washinton Post, now is the right time for me to step aside," Lewis said. "I want to thank Jeff Bezos for his support and leadership throughout my tenure as CEO and Publisher. The institution could not have a better owner."

The announcement comes days after sweeping layoffs hit the Washington, D.C. based newsroom, causing hundreds of job cuts and the shuttering of multiple desks.

Jeff D'Onofrio, chief financial officer of the newspaper owned by Jeff Bezos, will serve as acting publisher and CEO, the Post said, according to Reuters.

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