Fox Stands Up

I’m no fan of Fox News. 

It bears responsibility to a large degree for the rise of Trump and a large portion of his cabinet has been drawn from the ranks of former Fox hosts, including perhaps the worst secretary of defense in history, Pete Hegseth.

And it is Hegseth’s new policy barring Pentagon correspondents from doing their jobs reporting inside military headquarters that has caused an uproar among those defending the First Amendment.

Almost universally, media organizations have condemned Hegeth’s policy, and that includes Fox News.

So credit where credit is due. For once, Fox has done the right thing for the right reason.

Without an effective press aggressively covering the Trump administration’s reach for authoritarian power, our democracy is doomed.

Perhaps, even the decision-makers at Fox now recognize this is the case.

HEADLINES:

• News organizations, including Hegseth’s former employer Fox, reject new Pentagon reporting rules (AP)

• Hegseth’s legal fixer at the center of Pentagon’s new media restrictions (WP)

• Why I’m handing in my Pentagon press pass (NPR)

• News outlets broadly reject Pentagon rules before deadline for signing (WP)

• The Beacon of Democracy Goes Dark (Atlantic)

• Mental health, substance abuse staffers fired amid government shutdown (ABC)

• ICE’s use of full-body restraints during deportations raises concerns over inhumane treatment (AP)

• Marjorie Taylor Greene, tearing into her own party, says GOP men in Congress are ‘weak’ (WP)

• America Needs a Mass Movement—Now (Atlantic)

• Supreme Court reopens debate on key part of Voting Rights Act (WP)

• Trump’s gamble on Argentina looms over IMF-World Bank summit (Politico)

• Six killed after US strikes another boat off coast of Venezuela (CNN)

• Israel limits aid and keeps Rafah crossing closed in dispute over hostage remains (Guardian)

• Madagascar army says it has taken control after President Rajoelina impeached (France24)

• Jimmy Kimmel’s Rare Praise Of Donald Trump Ends With A Biting Twist (HuffPost)

• He supported the U.S. war in Afghanistan. Now he may be deported to the Taliban. (WP)

• Can America recover from Trump? Here’s what new data says. (Vox)

• Kathy Mattea Inducted Into Grand Ole Opry As Suzy Bogguss Invited To Join The Family (MusicRow)

• Google Meet launches an AI-powered makeup feature (TechCrunch)

• Financial Advisors Recommend Throwing Away Unopened Bills (Onion)