Tag: mainstream media

Former Iranian State Media Editor Now Works for ‘Nonpartisan’ US Media Bias Group That Rates Conservative Publishers as Untrustworthy Compared With ‘Reliable’ Liberal Outlets

A former paid scribe for an Iranian state-affiliated newspaper now works for a U.S. media watchdog group that produces a controversial “media bias” chart that consistently rates liberal outlets as more reliable than conservative ones, the Free Beacon’s Alana Goodman reports. Universities like Cornell and journalism nonprofits like Poynter have cited and praised the media bias ratings of this organization, Ad Fontes Media, like it’s a neutral third party.

Meet Meisam Zamanabadi, an Ad Fontes Media analyst who was raised in Iran and served as an editor at Hamshahri, an Iranian newspaper owned and operated by Tehran’s municipal government that has been associated with hardline politicians and drew international condemnation after holding a Holocaust denial cartoon contest in 2006. Posts from his blog indicate that Zamanabadi worked at the paper in 2008 and 2009, when Iranian parliament speaker and chief regime negotiator Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf served as mayor of Tehran.

Zamanabadi now resides in California and works for Ad Fontes, the Colorado-based “public benefit corporation” behind the Media Bias Chart, which evaluates U.S. news outlets by political leaning and trustworthiness. The chart “consistently rates left-wing sources as more reliable and often less biased than their conservative counterparts,” writes Goodman. Socialist magazine Jacobin, for example, enjoys a higher “reliability” rating than long-established, edited publications such as National Review, the New York Post, and the Free Beacon. On television, the chart says Fox News hosts Laura Ingraham and Jesse Watters are less reliable than their MS Now counterparts Chris Hayes and Jen Psaki.

News of Zamanabadi’s work for Ad Fontes—which markets its “analysis” to schools as a tool for teaching media literacy and claims that its ratings are “non-partisan”—comes as the watchdog faces questions about its own objectivity and ethics. Last summer, the Federal Trade Commission requested records about Ad Fontes’s business practices as part of an investigation into “possible collusion” in a scheme to get advertisers to withdraw their support for conservative content, the New York Times reported. The Trump FTC says these spending pullbacks are illegal boycotts.

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REPORT: The Latest ‘Shadow Docket’ Scandal Proves Between the Justices and Legacy Media, SCOTUS Is Toast

This week seems to be rife with journalistic malpractice from outlets either running with leaked and unsubstantiated material that tries and fails to put Trump administration officials in a bad light or works to erode and undermine our nation’s institutional bodies of governance. 

The latest installment from The New York Times involves leaked memos from the United States Supreme Court, verified by more anonymous sources. 

The Times spoke to 10 people, liberals and conservatives, who were familiar with the deliberations over the pivotal emergency order and who spoke on the condition of anonymity because confidentiality was a condition of their employment.

Amazing how one can fail so spectacularly on this basic tenet of integrity. God help us.

The papers expose what critics have called the weakness at the heart of the shadow docket: an absence of the kind of rigorous debate that the justices devote to their normal cases.

After obtaining the papers, The Times confirmed their authenticity with several people familiar with the deliberations and shared them with a spokeswoman for the court. The Times posed detailed questions to the justices who wrote the memos; they did not respond.

Nor should they. 

As RedState reported in February, Chief Justice Roberts took action to secure the integrity of the court’s processes after the 2022 leak of the draft opinion in Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health. Two months later, if this latest tranche of leaked memos is any indication, it hasn’t worked. Between justices Sonia Sotomayor and Ketanji Brown Jackson publicly criticizing their constitutionalist colleagues, and the legacy media’s breathlessly publishing unsourced and leaked material, soon there will not be a Supreme Court left to preserve.

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FBI director says he is suing Atlantic on Monday over story claiming alcohol abuse

FBI Director Kash Patel said on Sunday that he is formally suing The Atlantic on Monday over a story claiming alcohol abuse. 

“See you and your entire entourage of false reporting in court… But do keep at it with the fake news, actual malice standard is now what some would call a legal lay up,” he wrote on X on Saturday.

Patel was responding to an MS Now segment on the Atlantic’s reporting. 

Patel’s attorney posted the letter on X that he wrote to the outlet about the article.

Patel confirmed on “Mornings with Maria” on Sunday that he is going to be filing the lawsuit.

“Yes, for defamation and because, you know what? We have to fight back against the fake news,” he said. “I won’t tolerate their attacks on me.”

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Wife of Ex-Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer Bails Out NPR With $80 Million Donation After Trump Cut Federal Funding

National Public Radio (NPR) has secured $113 million in donations as it continues to grapple with the fallout from major federal funding cuts under the Trump administration.

The largest donation, $80 million, came from philanthropist Connie Ballmer, the wife of former Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer.

NPR said it is the biggest donation from a living donor in the network’s history.

The company said in a statement:

These gifts will be used to expand audience connection, accelerate digital transformation, and increase the sustainability of the national NPR Network. These gifts are extraordinary and unprecedented commitments that will help secure NPR’s future as America’s premier public service journalism network.

Philanthropist Connie Ballmer has given $80 million to support the digital innovation that is essential to meeting the needs and serving the interests of public media audiences wherever they are and whenever they seek information.

Further gifts from an anonymous donor totaling $33 million will go towards strengthening and increasing the sustainability of the NPR Network, enabling NPR to build and acquire tools and services that will be shared with public media organizations serving communities across the nation.

I support NPR because an informed public is the bedrock of our society, and democracy requires strong, independent journalism,” said Ballmer. “My hope is that this commitment provides the stability and the spark NPR needs to innovate boldly and strengthen its national network.

Despite being a public broadcasting organization, NPR is notorious for its aggressive left-wing bias and support for the Democratic Party.

The funding boost comes after Congress slashed roughly $1.1 billion from public broadcasting last year, putting over 200 NPR stations and hundreds of PBS outlets at risk.

NPR CEO Katherine Maher said the donations would help secure the network’s long-term financial footing.

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WaPo: More Than 10K Troops Headed for Persian Gulf as U.S. Blockades Strait of Hormuz

Another 10,200 American troops are heading to Iran, apparently to persuade Iran to agree to U.S. terms in peace talks during the two-week ceasefire that ends next week.

But yet another reason, The Washington Post explained in its report on the deployment, is staging more forces there for a ground invasion of Iran.

Already, 50,000 Americans are in the region. Their latest mission: blockading the Strait of Hormuz to squeeze Iran economically.

The deployment coincides with today’s vote in the U.S. Senate not to block Trump from continuing to attack Iran. 

Some 6,000 Americans are headed to the region on the USS George H.W. Bush, officials told the Post, along with “4,200 others with the Boxer Amphibious Ready Group and its embarked Marine Corps task force, the 11th Marine Expeditionary Unit,” which will land there “near the end of the month.”

The newly-arriving forces will mean three aircraft carriers and their contingent of jet fighters and other aircraft are now in the region. The USS Abraham Lincoln and USS Gerald R. Ford are the others.

“The USS George H.W. Bush was close to the Cape of Good Hope, near South Africa, on Tuesday and expected to make an unusual hook around the bottom of the continent on its way to the Middle East, two officials familiar with the matter said,” the Post reported. The Boxer Amphibious Ready Group, which comprises three ships, left Hawaii last week, and included an infantry battalion of more than 800 Marines. 

On Sunday, after U.S. negotiators led by Vice President J.D. Vance failed to force Iran to bow to U.S. demands to reopen the Strait of Hormuz and end its nuclear ambitions, President Donald Trump announced a blockade of the strait.

U.S. warships in the Abraham Lincoln’s Strike Group are executing the blockade, U.S. Central Command reported today, and vessels are patrolling the Gulf of Oman.

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Blue Double Standards: California’s Swalwell Case

Media outlets across the country lit up in mid-April with the same jaw-dropping headline: California’s top Democratic contender for governor had just been forced out of the race over explosive sexual misconduct accusations.

In a matter of hours, Rep. Eric Swalwell lost every major endorsement, watched his campaign collapse, and was effectively tossed into the political dumpster.

On the surface it looked like another MeToo reckoning in a party that loves to lecture the rest of us about women’s rights. But scratch the surface, and the real story is far uglier – a textbook case of Blue double standards.

California’s 2026 gubernatorial race was already shaping up as a nightmare for Democrats.

Golden State voters are fed up with years of progressive experiments that delivered sky-high taxes, rampant homelessness, and a cost-of-living crisis that’s driving families out.

For the first time since Arnold Schwarzenegger left office in 2011, Republicans have a genuine shot at flipping the state red.

Recent polls told the tale. Conservative TV host Steve Hilton and Riverside County Sheriff Chad Bianco were trading the top spots with support in the 14-17 percent range.

Democrats were scattered behind them, with Swalwell – until the scandal hit – polling as the strongest in the fragmented Blue field.

Don’t forget California’s peculiar “jungle” primary system. All candidates run on one ballot in June. The top two vote-getters – regardless of party – advance to November.

That means the general election could feature two Republicans, two Democrats, or one of each. With the Democratic vote split among a half-dozen hopefuls, the math was already terrifying for the party of Gavin Newsom. A strong Republican showing could lock them out entirely.

Then came the bombshell. In the first week of April, detailed allegations of sexual assault and misconduct poured out – including claims from a former staffer who said Swalwell assaulted her in a New York hotel room.

More women came forward with stories of inappropriate messages, unwanted advances, and worse. Within days Swalwell suspended his gubernatorial bid and later resigned from Congress.

Democratic leaders raced to distance themselves. House Democratic Leader Hakeem Jeffries called for him to drop out. Nancy Pelosi said the allegations should be handled “outside of a gubernatorial campaign.”

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MEDIA MALPRACTICE: Liberal Outlet Politico Reportedly Had the Swalwell Story in 2019 But Dropped it When He Ended His Presidential Run

One thing that everyone seems to agree on is that the Swalwell scandal was one of those ‘open secrets; in Washington that everyone knew about but no one mentioned in polite company. If you’re a Democrat, people will do that as long as you are helpful to the cause.

One of the things everyone is trying to figure out now is exactly who knew what and when. Democrat politicians are denying it across the board but now there is a media wrinkle in the story.

According to at least one Democrat operative, the liberal outlet Politico had the goods on Swalwell back in 2019 but they dropped the story when he ended his presidential campaign.

The entire text of the tweet below reads:

One note on the Swalwell stuff – (this isn’t confirmed) but a reporter with Politico was working on verifying the rumors on Swalwell when he was running for President. (he’s no longer with the publication) Two days before he was scheduled to sit down with this reporter Swalwell dropped out of the race. The energy disappeared to potentially take him out, the victims if they were even willing to go on the record never did. He slithered back to his safe house seat. December 2025 was too early to take down Swalwell we had to wait til his paperwork was ALL IN running for governor March 2026, so the head of the snake could be chopped off and he had no safe house seat to slither back to this time. Hate the strategy fine, but for folks unsure if this would work, we had to make sure he couldn’t get away like he did in 2020.

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Péter Magyar: The Insider Who Toppled Orbán – And the Uncomfortable Questions About His Past That Lingered in the Shadows

Today in the early hours, Budapest’s streets erupted in celebration. Fireworks lit the sky over the Danube as Péter Magyar, the 45-year-old leader of the Tisza Party, declared victory in Hungary’s parliamentary elections.

His centre-right opposition movement had just crushed Viktor Orbán’s Fidesz party, securing a stunning 53.6% of the vote and 138 seats in the 199-seat parliament – a supermajority that will let him rewrite the constitution, dismantle Orbán’s “illiberal democracy,” and unlock frozen EU funds. Orbán, the man who had ruled Hungary for 16 unbroken years, conceded defeat in a terse speech, calling the result “painful but clear.”

European leaders could barely contain their glee. Ursula von der Leyen, President of the European Commission, posted immediately: “Hungary has chosen Europe. Europe has always chosen Hungary. Together, we are stronger.

A country returns to its European path.” French President Emmanuel Macron, German Chancellor Friedrich Merz, and NATO Secretary-General Mark Rutte were among those who phoned Magyar that night.

For Brussels, it was more than an election result – it was the end of a long nightmare. Orbán had blocked EU sanctions on Russia, vetoed aid to Ukraine, and turned Hungary into the bloc’s internal troublemaker. Now, von der Leyen and others hailed Magyar as the man who would “save Hungary” and bring it back into the European mainstream.

But as the champagne corks popped in Brussels and Budapest, a quieter question echoed in Hungarian pro-government circles and among some international observers: Why has so little been said – especially in Western media – about Péter Magyar’s own troubled past?

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Noted Theologian Joy Behar of The View: Jesus Didn’t Run Around Saying ‘I’m the Messiah’

Joy Behar of The View just made some comments about Jesus Christ that were so off the wall that even her co-hosts chimed in to point out how wrong she was.

The ladies were complaining about Trump’s recent social media post in which he appeared to be presented in the image of Jesus. Naturally, this gave the cast of The View something to be outraged about, even though some people on the show are clearly not even qualified to discuss the topic.

Maybe Joy should stick to other topics that are easier for her.

NewsBusters reported:

ABC News’s joyless Joy Behar was on a roll Tuesday. Aside from claiming The View wasn’t a group you wanted to pick a fight with (despite them being too cowardly to invite conservatives on the show), the nagging crone suggested that Jesus Christ would be “narcissistic” if he had acknowledged he was the Messiah. She flaunted her profound ignorance because even after she was told that Jesus in fact did say he was the Messiah, she insisted that even the Messiah would be “narcissistic” for saying such.

The conversation was sparked by President Trump’s now-deleted Truth Social post where many argued that he was portrayed like Jesus. In an attempt to argue how un-Christ-like Trump was, Behar falsely claimed Jesus never acknowledged that he was the messiah:

BEHAR: Yeah, but Jesus himself did not run around saying, “I’m the messiah. I’m the messiah.”

FARAH GRIFFIN: Uh, Jesus did kind of say ‘I am the messiah.’

[Crosstalk]

SARA HAINES: That’s exactly what Jesus said, ‘I am the messiah.’

[Laughter]

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SHAMELESS: CNN’s Brian Stelter Credits Journalists With Ending Eric Swalwell’s Bid for California Governor 

Like many people in media, Brian Stelter has an inflated sense of the worth of mainstream journalists. We are used to this fact about him, but sometimes, even we are surprised by the lengths he will go to heap praise on his broken industry.

Today on the air, Stelter gave journalists the credit for ending Eric Swlawell’s bid for governor of California.

This is amazing when you consider the fact that people are coming out of the woodwork now, claiming that Swalwell’s behavior has been an open secret among Democrats and the media for years.

And by the way, don’t his victims who have come forward deserve more credit than the media?

The Blaze reported on this:

CNN’s chief media analyst is applauding the mainstream media for exposing sexual misconduct allegations against the top Democratic candidate for California governor, including an alleged rape, and now faces the wrath of online critics.

California Rep. Eric Swalwell had a tenuous lead above the other Democrats, but he has suspended his campaign in the wake of allegations of sexual assault from a former staffer and accusations from others about sexual misconduct. He has denied the claims.

On Monday, Brian Stelter of CNN said the report was a victory for journalism while ignoring that many had looked the other way for a decade about rumors of the allegations.

Stelter said it was a “testament to the power of investigative reporting” and credited CNN and the Chronicle for ending Swalwell’s gubernatorial hopes.

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