Big victory for VOA
In a long-sought victory for Voice of America staffers, a federal judge has ruled that Kari Lake unlawfully ran the US Agency for Global Media for several months last year.
Thus, the mass layoffs and other actions undertaken during that time “are void,” US District Judge Royce C. Lamberth wrote yesterday.
Lake reverted to one of her old talking points — that Lamberth is an “activist” standing in the way of President Trump’s agenda — and said the agency would appeal. But let’s recognize what this is: A remarkable rebuke of Lake, who failed to win office in Arizona and has largely failed to dismantle US-funded international broadcasters like VOA.
It’s not for lack of trying: We have been cataloguing Lake’s attempts to remake USAGM for months and months.
She has, of course, been following Trump’s lead. Around this time last year, Trump said he wanted the entire agency eliminated “to the maximum extent consistent with applicable law.” He later posted on Truth Social that Republicans should “KILL IT!”
But sidelined employees and outside observers questioned whether Lake’s installation atop USAGM was legal. Lamberth’s ruling says it was not. He cited violations of the Constitution’s appointments clause and the Federal Vacancies Reform Act. There was, he concluded, “an unlawful effort to transform Lake into the CEO of U.S. Agency for Global Media in all but name.” Here’s my full story…
Kari Lake’s role now in doubt |
”It is unclear whether Lake will be able to stay at USAGM given the constraints of the ruling,” WaPo’s Scott Nover wrote last night. “Lamberth asked that the government provide clarity on who is the acting CEO of the agency by March 11, and also lay out a ‘succession plan’ for that position.” In the meantime, the plaintiffs who sued Lake to save their jobs and defend the agency said they felt “vindicated and deeply grateful.” “The judge’s ruling that Kari Lake’s actions shall have no force or effect is a powerful step toward undoing the damage she has inflicted on this American institution that we love,” Patsy Widakuswara, Kate Neeper, and Jessica Jerreat said. “Even as we work through what this ruling means for colleagues harmed by her actions, it brings renewed hope and momentum to the next phase of our fight: restoring VOA’s global operations and ensuring we continue to produce journalism, not propaganda,” the plaintiffs added. Reporters Without Borders, which joined the staffers in filing suit, said the case was “proof that fighting for press freedom matters.” And recent events have underscored why international broadcasting matters. In the past week, as the US and Israel have attacked Iran and defended against Iranian retaliation, Lake has touted the agency’s broadcasts into Iran. Before the ruling was handed down on Saturday, Lake shared a Fox News headline that said, “Voice of America pushes Trump’s message inside Iran.” Speaking of court cases… |
Judge poised to side with NYT in Pentagon access suit |
CNN’s Devan Cole was at court on Friday for a key hearing in The New York Times v. Department of Defense. He says senior US District Judge Paul Friedman “looked skeptically” at the Pentagon’s restrictive press pass policy and “stressed the importance of press access to the Pentagon amid the war in Iran.” “A lot of things need to be held tightly and securely,” Friedman said in court. “But openness and transparency allows the public to know what their government is doing. That’s what the First Amendment is all about.” Cole concluded that Friedman “appears ready to rule at least partially in favor of the newspaper, which says the policy is unconstitutional, though he made no decision from the bench at the end of the lengthy hearing.” |
The job is to cover, not cheerlead |
At the end of this morning’s “SOTU,” Jake Tapper followed up on Pete Hegseth’s “bizarre accusation” that the press covers service member deaths to make the president look bad, and the Trump administration’s wider criticism of the coverage. “Let’s be clear: It is the news media’s responsibility to cover this war, not to cheerlead for it,” Tapper said. “It is our responsibility to ask questions of government officials, especially when the lives of American service members are on the line, especially when civilians abroad – whether in Iran or Israel or anywhere else — are being killed.” Tapper went on: “See, we remember what happened the last time not enough reporters challenged an administration launching a war in the Middle East.” “And now this administration is attempting to grab the same tired playbook,” Tapper said. “They’re attacking CNN for reporting inside Iran, showing what life looks like there. They’re attacking the news media for asking questions of the president or the secretary of defense. They’re attacking us for covering — covering — troop deaths. Guess what? We’re not going to stop. It doesn’t matter how many times the propaganda campaign that accompanies any war is deployed against us. So, get used to it.” |
‘We’re certainly investigating’ |
The investigations into a deadly strike on an Iranian elementary school reaffirm why independent reporting matters so much. When Trump casually claimed yesterday that the strike was “done by Iran,” he was contradicting detailed analyses from the NYT, CNN and other sources. Trump’s answer seemed defensive and dismissive, and most tellingly, Hegseth declined to back him up. “We’re certainly investigating,” Hegseth said. >> Fox’s Laura Ingraham linked to a WSJ story about the strike likely being caused by US forces and wrote on X, “If true, this is horrific news — and the U.S. military will have to address this publicly. Proximity of military compound obviously a factor, but our weapons also have pinpoint accuracy.” |
Fox admits ‘mistake’ in airing wrong footage |
“Fox & Friends” acknowledged a “mistake” today after, in the words of Griff Jenkins, “we inadvertently aired video from an older dignified transfer instead of the ceremony that took place yesterday.” Critics on X and Bluesky suggested that Fox ran the wrong footage to hide the fact that Trump wore a white “USA” hat during the solemn event — an act that was denounced as “disrespectful.” The error wasn’t limited to just “F&F.” A quick scan showed both last night’s “The Big Weekend Show” and this morning’s “Fox News Sunday” also used the wrong footage, while last night’s “My View with Lara Trump” used the correct video. >> About the hat: The NYT’s Shawn McCreesh wrote it “was similar to the one he wore that night last weekend when he launched the war from a makeshift situation room at Mar-a-Lago. Now, exactly one week later, he stared silently as some of the human consequences of that decision passed before his eyes.” |
We mentioned on Friday morning that Trump went on a posting spree about Bill Maher — behavior that would seem weird at any time, but even more so in wartime. Maher delivered a powerful response on Friday night, as recapped by THR’s Hilary Lewis here. “It’s a shame you can’t take criticism, because in an alternative universe where we could have further honest conversations, I could say things to you that might be quite helpful,” Maher said. Speaking directly to Trump, he continued, “I always want the American president to succeed, and I do give credit when you have, but there’s lots of stuff you do that is not my idea of success, and I have every right to say so in a democracy…” |
Grok struggles with war footage |
As CNN’s Daniel Dale noted this morning, X’s Grok AI tool is having a really hard time. Grok “keeps telling people that fake/wrongly described videos are actually real/correctly described, and that real/correctly described videos are actually fake/incorrectly described,” Dale tweeted. Last night, as the BBC’s Shayan Sardarizadeh documented here, Grok claimed that “videos of a boulevard in Tehran on fire” were from a 2017 fire in L.A., even though the scenes had been geolocated and confirmed as Tehran… |
Iran war coverage notes & quotes |
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>> Fred Pleitgen continues to file vital reports from Tehran, including this one about the “absolutely apocalyptic scene” at a burning oil depot. (CNN) >> “From Iran to Lebanon, journalists are under pressure” across the war zone, Reporters Without Borders said. (RSF) >> Sometimes, while trying to report on what’s going on inside Iran, “you feel like you’re looking through a keyhole,” Clarissa Ward said. (WaPo) >> Corbin Bolies interviewed Ward and other correspondents about the first week of war coverage. (TheWrap) >> “Grand Theft Auto,” “Top Gun,” NFL highlights: Drew Harwell assessed how the White House “is transforming the Iran strikes into a meme war.” (WaPo) >> Hayley Smith talked with Iranians living in L.A. (in the neighborhood affectionately nicknamed Tehrangeles) and found a strong preference for Fox News over other news sources, because, as one man put it, “they are against the Islamic Republic.” (LA Times) >> “Shifting objectives, an exaggerated threat, an ambiguous mission:” Anton Troianovski, who was in Moscow when Vladimir Putin launched Russia’s war in Ukraine, says “the many Russian echoes in the White House’s messaging on Iran underscore the risks of a vaguely defined, open-ended war in which the attacking party pins its hopes on regime change.” (NYT) >> “60 Minutes” is airing an interview with Hegseth tonight, along with a two-part report relating to “Havana Syndrome.” |
Nashville reporter remains in ICE custody |
CNN’s Elise Hammond, Caroll Alvarado and Alaa Elassar dug into the case of Estefany Rodriguez, a Nashville journalist who “has been covering ICE arrests in her community,” and has now been detained herself. ICE says Rodriguez “currently has no lawful immigration status.” But there is a dispute over the warrant shared by DHS. And advocates like Rep. Joaquin Castro say her detention is part of “the Trump Admin’s machine of cruelty that is attacking the free press and violating our rights.” Here’s the full story… |
Another blow to Trump’s Kennedy Center |
The NYT’s Adam Nagourney reports: “The executive director of the National Symphony Orchestra announced Friday that she was stepping down, the latest blow to the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts as it struggles with declining audiences, artist cancellations and the departure of its opera company in the wake of President Trump’s effort to put his imprint on the center.” Read on… |
Great weekend reads, part one |
>> Charlotte Tobitt details “how The Atlantic won ‘tortoise and hare’ race versus digital news start-ups.” The key pull quote from Jeffrey Goldberg: “I want to build the greatest collective of non-fiction writers in the English speaking world. I think I’m getting there.” (Press Gazette) >> Taylor Lorenz profiles “the TikTokers reading the Epstein files so you don’t have to.” (VF) >> Jessica Bennett and Katie Ryder talk with Peggy Siegal, “the once omnipresent New York publicist,” brought low by revelations about her relationship with Epstein. (NY Mag) >> Zoe Kleinman writes that “we have more privacy controls yet less privacy than ever.” (BBC) >> Meg James and Stacy Perman have the backstory as “Paramount is investigating whether its president, Jeff Shell, leaked corporate secrets to a Las Vegas high-roller.” (LAT) >> Daniel D’Addario asks whether “The View” should “bring back Elisabeth Hasselbeck as its conservative commentator.” (Variety) |
Behind the scenes of that Colbert/Talarico moment… |
Days before James Talarico flew to New York for his now-famous appearance on “The Late Show with Stephen Colbert,” Colbert’s producers “told them the network — nervous about federal regulators — would only post the interview online,” the NYT reported this weekend. In other words, the YouTube shuffle was not a last-minute surprise. It was planned. So “the Talarico campaign had a choice: Cancel the trip and crow about the Trump administration trying to muzzle him, or say nothing, film the segment, and hope Mr. Colbert would tell his audience the story of federal interference. They said nothing and filmed.” And it paid off. J. David Goodman, Shane Goldmacher and Reid J. Epstein write that “his win was also a victory for a proud combatant in the 2026 attention economy, reflecting the internet-first mind-set of a young candidate who leveraged an interview with Joe Rogan to catapult his candidacy even before it was official. The Colbert moment helped seal it at the end.” |
Great weekend reads, part two |
>> Mark Hertling writes that “loose talk of ‘fake news’ is bad for democracy.” (The Bulwark) >> Max Tani reports that Robert Allbritton is talking about “significantly expanding NOTUS… into a full-scale news operation.” A possible new name: The Washington Sun. (Semafor) >> “Niche-casting is on the rise”: Andrew Zucker says “creators are launching talk shows about the narrowest of topics, from trucking logistics to advertising to, well, the business of Hollywood.” (THR) >> Andrew Marchand argues that the real winner of the recent Paramount-WBD-Netflix tug of war is… the NFL. (NYT) >> Loree Seitz says the ratings for “A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms” “prove franchise IP can still hit while breaking the mold.” (TheWrap) |