Keeping the viewer-in-chief happy?
Does Fox News avoid booking certain Republican Party critics of President Trump to protect its own relationship with the viewer-in-chief?
That’s what Rep. Thomas Massie claims.
Massie — who has become an undeniably newsworthy figure by challenging Trump on multiple fronts — says Fox News has not invited him “on a single show” for the “last 18 months.”And that’s been a big deal in the run-up to today’s GOP primary in Kentucky since, as Massie put it, Fox has “a monopoly on the screens in a lot of Republican houses.”
When CNN’s Jeff Zeleny interviewed voters in Massie’s district recently, several said they’d noticed that they never see Massie on Fox — and wondered why.
Massie is “a rare contrarian in a compliant era for Republicans,” Zeleny wrote in this CNN.com piece about Massie’s primary opponent Ed Gallrein.
The race has become “the latest stop” on Trump’s revenge tour, and as such, it’s getting plenty of national news media attention.
But Massie says Fox has “blacklisted” him. “And why are they doing that? Because they’re afraid that if they give me venue to speak, that the White House will shut them out,” he said in a recent interview with Cincinnati Public Radio.
“And they want access more than anything,” Massie continued. “They need access in this Trump presidency, whether it’s cabinet secretaries to come on their shows… or to get a special scoop on something.”
The result, Massie said in the radio interview, is that “I have to pay to be on Fox now, with my ads.”
Massie will be on Fox today |
A Fox rep told me he was on the network with Will Cain 14 months ago, so his “last 18 months” claim was not quite right. But 14 months is a long time, given how much Massie has been in the news for defying Trump over the Epstein files, federal spending and the Iran war. So I’d say his broader argument still seems credible. Plus, it’s well known that MAGA antagonists like Marjorie Taylor Greene have also been persona non grata at Fox. Notably, though, Massie is booked on “America’s Newsroom” during the 10 a.m. ET hour today. (One has to wonder if that election day booking is meant to blunt his complaints about Fox.) Gallrein, meantime, was on Laura Ingraham’s show last night, delivering his Massie-bashing closing argument to Kentucky voters… |
Massie’s other megaphones |
Fox aside, Gallrein has been almost “invisible in the district and in the media,” Ben Jacobs writes in this new Slate piece from Northern Kentucky. Massie, on the other hand, “has never been press shy. In the home stretch, he’s been featured in a profile in the left-wing Mother Jones and been trailed by a posse of right-wing influencers, who have descended from across the country to attend Massie’s events and boost his campaign online. It is a combination that certainly appeals to those Republican primary voters with an independent streak.” Polls start to close in Kentucky at 6 p.m. ET… |
Lots of live coverage tonight |
And Kentucky isn’t the only state voting today. It’s Election Day in six states, “setting up another major test of President Trump’s political influence and power,” as Kate Bolduan said on “CNN News Central” just now. All the cable newsers will have special coverage tonight… |
Paramount says Bari Weiss has David Ellison’s ‘full support’ |
Paramount supported embattled CBS News editor in chief Bari Weiss on the record last night after Puck’s Dylan Byers reported that Paramount’s leaders “have had informal discussions about changing Bari’s mandate at CBS News — and, eventually, CNN — in ways that would give her less control over the linear product.” Byers wrote that Weiss “would likely cede day-to-day control over Evening News, CBS Mornings, and 60 Minutes… shifting her focus to the news division’s digital growth while maintaining broad editorial influence across all the company’s platforms.” Paramount said in response that “Bari has the full support of Paramount and David Ellison as the editorial leader overseeing CBS News and 60 Minutes. Reports suggesting otherwise are inaccurate.” |
‘Press crackdowns in Gulf spike following Iran war’ |
And the crackdowns “risk becoming permanent,” the Committee to Protect Journalists says in this new report. CPJ has documented “a crackdown on the press across the Gulf, and tracked unpublicized cases of arrests, intimidation, legal and financial actions against journalists and their media outlets.” “Many of these incidents have not been disclosed publicly, as journalists and media outlets fear further retaliation from authorities,” CPJ says, warning “that this points to a widening crackdown that is reshaping how, and whether, the Iran war is reported.” Read on… |
NYT files another lawsuit against the Defense Department |
The New York Times is suing the Defense Department a second time. In Monday’s new suit, the paper accused the department “of violating the First Amendment by requiring journalists to have an official escort at all times when visiting the Pentagon,” Erik Wemple reports. “The new lawsuit says the Pentagon escort policy is unconstitutional because it imposes unreasonable burdens on reporters,” Wemple writes. The Pentagon didn’t respond to his request for comment… |
>> In the latest signs of the NYT’s growing video ambitions, Brooke Minters has been named the director of the new Shows department, with Lisa Tobin as director of development. (NYT) >> “After writing bestsellers about the military, the oil and gas industry and the state of democracy, Rachel Maddow is now working on a history of the Justice Department.” Her book will come out on November 10. (AP) >> MS NOW announced another live event with Maddow and other hosts, this time in Philly and pegged to America’s 250th anniversary, taking place June 25. (Inquirer) |
NPR’s latest restructuring |
NPR is “restructuring its newsroom, including cutting some reporting and editing jobs, as it attempts to keep pace with changing audience habits while adjusting to an era without federal subsidies,” the outlet’s media guru David Folkenflik reports. About 300 employees are being offered buyouts. >> The financial reality post-federal defunding: NPR CEO Katherine Maher “said the network expects to earn $15 million less in station fees this year and is anticipating a drop in corporate sponsorship revenue.” |
Today’s new nonfiction releases |
>> The Oklahoman deleted an op-ed that compared the Oklahoma City Thunder to the state of Israel, Sean Keeley writes. (Awful Announcing) >> Sports Illustrated deleted writer Parker Loverich “and his entire archive of articles” from its website “following allegations of AI plagiarism,” Maggie Harrison Dupré reports. (Futurism) >> “The NYT’s standards editor Susan Wessling sent out a memo” yesterday reminding staffers that they “cannot bet on prediction markets on subjects they cover” or are likely to cover, Bobby Allyn reports. (X) >> The union representing Reuters editorial staff is alleging that “Reuters retaliated against a journalist for raising concerns about the company’s ties to ICE,” Angela Fu writes. (Poynter) >> Amazon has “cut affiliate commissions up to 50% for some publishers, leaving them reeling,” Mark Stenberg reports. (Adweek) |