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☆ Newsmax Admits It Was All About Money
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-26 | by ( The Editorial Board | ) www.wsj.com time to read: 1 min

Newsmax and DirecTV have settled their commercial dispute over licensing fees, and we’re happy to see Newsmax Media CEO Chris Ruddy ’s tacit admission that his political pressure campaign was really cover for a fight over money. On Wednesday Newsmax and DirecTV issued a joint press release announcing that they had reached a multi-year “mutually beneficial agreement” settling their carriage dispute. “Newsmax recognizes and appreciates that DIRECTV clearly supports diverse voices, including conservative ones,” said Mr. Ruddy.

☆ Texts from the Dominion lawsuit reveal the real Fox News
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-22 | by ( Brent D. Griffiths | Rebecca Zisser | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +8 min

Among the messages is a thread where Tucker Carlson privately bashes Trump. Dominion captured a number of texts that show Fox employees' apprehension about the growing conspiracy claims about the company's voting machines in the wake of the election. Top Fox News hosts, including Tucker Carlson, privately insulted Chris Wallace and hatched a plot for a rebellion — November, 16, 2020. In a group chat between the three biggest hosts, Carlson, Hannity, and Ingraham, few colleagues, including then-"Fox News Sunday" host Chris Wallace, were spared. In a group chat between the three biggest hosts, Carlson, Hannity, and Ingraham, few colleagues such as then-"Fox News Sunday" host Chris Wallace were spared.

☆ DirecTV and Newsmax end ugly dispute as the satellite carrier strikes deal to resume broadcasting the right-wing channel
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-22 | by ( Oliver Darcy | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +2 min

CNN —DirecTV said Wednesday that it has reached a multi-year distribution agreement with Newsmax, putting to end a bitter carriage dispute that waded into political waters and saw the right-wing channel and satellite carrier savage one another in public. “This resolution with Newsmax, resolving an all-too-common carriage dispute, underscores our dedication to delivering a wide array of programming and perspectives to our customers,” said Bill Morrow, chief executive of DirecTV. Newsmax advanced a wholly different narrative, accusing DirecTV of working to censor conservative voices, even though the carrier offers right-wing talk channels such as Fox News and The First on its lineup. DirecTV said that it found such behavior “troubling,” calling out Newsmax for promoting “inaccurate and misleading information” about the dispute as the outlet published an endless stream of content targeting the satellite carrier. GOP Rep. Byron Donalds, a House Oversight Committee member, told Newsmax last month that Republicans were “definitely looking into” holding a hearing.

☆ DirecTV reaches deal to distribute right wing network Newsmax after long dispute
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-22 | by ( Lillian Rizzo | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +1 min

DirecTV said Wednesday it reached a deal with Newsmax Media to once again carry the right wing network in its satellite-TV and streaming packages. DirecTV had not carried Newsmax on its services since late January, when carriage negotiations broke down between the two companies. Initially, DirecTV carried the network without paying fees and Newsmax relied on advertising revenue, which is typically the case for new TV channels. Throughout the public dispute, DirecTV said such blackouts were a common occurrence in the pay-TV industry, and consumers were often "caught in the middle." Pay-TV providers like DirecTV have been bleeding customers in recent years due to the rise of streaming services.

☆ Rupert Murdoch appears to confirm that Kimberly Guilfoyle left Fox News due to 'inappropriate' behavior, after reports claimed she faced a sexual harassment accusation
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-11 | by ( Alia Shoaib | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

An email from Rupert Murdoch said Kimberly Guilfoyle was fired from Fox due to "inappropriate behavior." In 2020 reports emerged suggesting she had faced a sexual harassment accusation from a female assistant. The reports said that Fox had been in the midst of a year-long investigation into the allegation when she left. Kimberly Guilfoyle during the final round of the Bedminster Invitational LIV Golf tournament in Bedminster, N.J., Sunday, July 31, 2022. Representatives for Fox News and Kimberly Guilfoyle were not immediately reachable for requests for comment from Insider.

☆ Donald Trump's lawyer Jenna Ellis got a slap on the wrist for admitting she misrepresented evidence while trying to overturn the 2020 election in court
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-09 | by ( Grace Eliza Goodwin | Sonam Sheth | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +2 min

Trump lawyer Jenna Ellis admitted that she misrepresented evidence while pushing election fraud lies. Ellis conceded to misrepresenting the facts 10 times in interviews with Fox News and other outlets. She was publicly censured in Colorado disciplinary proceedings, but will still be able to practice law. Ellis admitted in a Colorado disciplinary proceeding to getting the facts wrong about the results of the 2020 election. In a statement after the judge's opinion, Colorado's Office of Attorney Regulation Counsel said it wasn't pursuing any other charges against Ellis.

☆ Trump pledges to stay in 2024 presidential race even if he is criminally charged
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-04 | by ( Rebecca Picciotto | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +1 min

Former U.S. President Donald Trump speaks about the recent derailment of a train carrying hazardous waste, during an event at a fire station in East Palestine, Ohio, February 22, 2023. Former president Donald Trump said on Saturday he will remain in the 2024 presidential race even if he faces criminal charges in the ongoing investigations into his handling of White House documents and alleged 2020 election tampering. Trump launched his 2024 White House bid in November, a week after Republicans lost a number of important midterm races. Ron DeSantis, widely deemed Trump's main competition, would beat Trump if the two came head-to-head. The FBI seized nearly 200,000 pages of documents from Trump's Mar-a-Lago property in September.

☆ We asked CPAC attendees what they think 'woke' means. Their answers were all over the place.
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-04 | by ( Bryan Metzger | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +7 min

The word "woke" has quickly shot to the forefront of Republican politics in recent years. We asked CPAC attendees what they thought the word means. The word "woke" originally emerged from African American vernacular English, signifying a general awareness of systems of injustice. For Francis, who said he homeschools his own children, the word "woke" invokes the idea of a system of education that's stoking divisions between groups. "Political correctness" appeared to be the most popular short-hand among attendees.

☆ Rupert Murdoch could face FEC fines if he tipped off Jared Kushner about Biden's presidential ads before they aired
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-03 | by ( Madison Hall | Jacob Shamsian | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +5 min

Dominion claims Rupert Murdoch shared info about Biden ads with Trump's campaign in 2020. "During Trump's campaign, Rupert provided Trump's son-in-law and senior advisor, Jared Kushner, with Fox confidential information about Biden's ads, along with debate strategy (providing Kushner a preview of Biden's ads before they were public)," Dominion's lawyers alleged in the filing. "If the allegations are true, this is precisely what Murdoch provided to the Trump campaign," he said. After Trump lost, Murdoch shifted attention to two runoff elections in Georgia for US Senate seats. "My friend Jared Kushner called me saying, 'This is terrible,' Murdoch wrote.

☆ The 10 biggest revelations from Dominion’s explosive Fox News legal filing
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-28 | by ( Oliver Darcy | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +6 min

Murdoch rejected that Fox News, as an entity, endorsed former President Donald Trump’s election lies. They endorsed,” Murdoch said, according to the filing, when asked about the hosts’ promotion of false claims about the election. ► Behind the scenes, Paul Ryan repeatedly warned the Murdochs to stop allowing the spread of election lies. “Maybe best to let Bill go right away,” which would “be a big message with Trump people” the filing said. These documents reveal that Fox News executives and hosts knew the truth and yet they peddled election lies to the audience.

In a text message with his producer, Alex Pfeiffer, Mr. Carlson appeared livid that viewers were turning against the network. On Nov. 7, 2020, Mr. Carlson told Mr. Pfeiffer that claims about manipulated software were “absurd.” Mr. Pfeiffer replied later that there was not enough evidence of fraud to swing the election. A video of Carlson from “Tucker Carlson Tonight.” Said publicly on Nov. 19, 2020 Carlson: “We did not dismiss any of it. It aired on the programs hosted by Mr. Dobbs, Ms. Bartiromo and Jeanine Pirro. On Feb. 5, 2021, one day after Smartmatic filed a defamation lawsuit against Fox, Fox Business canceled “Lou Dobbs Tonight.” At the time, Fox said it regularly reviewed its lineup.

☆ Fox News hosts and executives privately mocked pro-Trump election conspiracy theories after he lost, internal texts show
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-17 | by ( Jacob Shamsian | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +12 min

It enrages me," Tucker Carlson wrote in a text message to his producer Alex Pfeiffer. "Not a single Fox witness testified that they believe any of the allegations about Dominion are true," Dominion lawyers wrote. Imho they need to address but wtf do I know," Hannity wrote in a text message, referring to Newsmax. That email, Dominion's lawyers write, came from an unnamed author who claimed to be a beheaded ghost who talks to the wind. President Trump not only was the sitting President, he was the key figure that day," Dominion's lawyers wrote.

☆ Analysis: Fox News has been exposed as a dishonest organization terrified of its own audience
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-17 | by ( Oliver Darcy | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +5 min

Trump was enraged that Fox News was the first network to call the critical swing state of Arizona for now-president Joe Biden. In the days and weeks after the presidential contest had been called, Fox News’ audience listened to Trump and rebelled against the channel. Behind the scenes, Fox News executives and hosts were in panic. Did I mention Cavuto?”The fear that Fox News’ audience would abandon it for good also appeared to drive programming decisions. When Lindell appeared on Newsmax and criticized Fox News, executives at Fox News “exchanged worried emails about alienating him,” the legal filing said.

“From the top down, Fox knew ‘the dominion stuff’ was ‘total bs,’” Dominion wrote in its filing for summary judgment in its favor. Dominion must prove that the network either knew the statements it aired were false or recklessly disregarded their accuracy. Dominion said in its brief that Murdoch internally described the election claims as “really crazy” and “damaging,” but declined to wield his editorial power to stop them. In its summary judgment filing, Fox argued that Trump’s claims about the election were “undeniably newsworthy” and that viewers understood they were merely being reported as allegations. Fox also argued that Dominion’s suit advances overbroad interpretations of defamation law, takes quotes from its coverage out of context and ignores its reporting of Dominion’s rebuttals to the false claims.

☆ DirecTV blasts Newsmax for pushing ‘inaccurate and misleading’ attacks after the right-wing network was dropped
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-14 | by ( Oliver Darcy | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +3 min

New York CNN —All niceties have been thrown out the window as DirecTV finds itself ensnared in an ugly carriage dispute with Newsmax. The satellite carrier, which refuses to buckle to pressure and pay millions of dollars to broadcast the network’s low-rated programming, unleashed on the right-wing talk channel on Tuesday. At the center of the dispute: Newsmax has demanded DirecTV pay millions in carriage fees to continue including the channel in its lineup. They’ve accused DirecTV — which just added another right-wing talk channel to its lineup — of censoring conservative voices. Newsmax, led by Chris Ruddy, who is well-connected in GOP circles, has in recent weeks used its platform and political power to pressure DirecTV into paying up.

☆ Rep. George Santos adds to the chorus of insults by describing himself as 'simple-minded' in Newsmax interview
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-10 | by ( Joshua Zitser | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +2 min

George Santos referred to himself as "simple-minded" in an interview with Newsmax's Greg Kelly. The self-own comes shortly after Mitt Romney described him as a "sick puppy" at the SOTU address. He also referenced a tense exchange with Sen. Mitt Romney during Tuesday's State of the Union address. Santos told Semafor's Kadia Goba that Romney called him an "ass," although CNN reported that Romney simply told Santos: "You don't belong here." "When Mitt Romney told me I didn't belong here, this isn't the first or will it be the last time when somebody told me I didn't belong," Santos told Newsmax.

☆ Republicans are lashing out at DirecTV for supposedly ‘censoring’ conservative voices. Here’s what’s really going on
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-01 | by ( Oliver Darcy | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +3 min

Several Republican senators unleashed on the satellite carrier Wednesday over its move to drop the right-wing channel Newsmax from its lineup, adding to mounting pressure DirecTV has faced over the matter. The senators suggested DirecTV’s move was all part of a nefarious plot to “censor” conservative viewpoints. DirecTV also balked at paying for the same content that streams to users for free on other platforms, such as Roku. But the right-wing channel, led by Chris Ruddy, who is well-connected in GOP circles, has sought to leverage its political power to pressure DirecTV into paying up. Last week, it added to its lineup the right-wing channel The First, which features hosts such as Bill O’Reilly, Dana Loesch, Liz Wheeler, and Jesse Kelly.

☆ DirecTV Adding Conservative Channel The First After Dropping Newsmax
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-27 | by ( Kathryn Hardison | ) www.wsj.com time to read: 1 min

Bill O’Reilly’s show ‘No Spin News’ is one of the programs on The First television network. DirecTV will add The First, a conservative opinion and commentary network, to its lineup after recently dropping right-wing channel Newsmax. The satellite service said Thursday that The First will soon be available to its DirecTV, DirecTV Stream and U-Verse customers at no additional cost through a multiyear agreement. The new channel, which features programs such as “No Spin News” with Bill O’Reilly, will also be available on its DirecTV TV Everywhere websites and apps.

☆ DirecTV drops Newsmax
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-26 | by ( Jordan Valinsky | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +2 min

New York CNN —DirecTV has dropped Newsmax, a right-wing TV network, from its channel lineup over a carriage fee dispute. “We continually evaluate the most relevant programming to provide our customers and expect to fill this available channel with new content,” DirecTV said. Newsmax noted it offers its feed for free on its website, on YouTube and on multiple streaming platforms such as Roku, so viewers with DirecTV service will still be able to watch. Newsmax responded to getting the boot by accusing DirecTV of bias and censorship. “This is a blatant act of political discrimination and censorship against Newsmax,” CEO Christopher Ruddy said in a statement that was posted on Newsmax’s website.

☆ Trump supporter ‘Diamond’ died of heart disease, death certificate says
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-24 | by ( The Associated Press | ) www.nbcnews.com time to read: +2 min

RALEIGH, N.C. — Lynette Hardaway, a zealous supporter of former President Donald Trump whose death had prompted widespread speculation over its cause, died earlier this month of a heart condition, according to a death certificate obtained Monday by The Associated Press. Known by the stage name “Diamond” of the conservative political commentary duo Diamond and Silk, Hardaway, 51, died Jan. 8 of heart disease caused by chronic high blood pressure. Hardaway and her sister, Rochelle “Silk” Richardson, found internet stardom as Black women who ardently backed Trump during his 2016 presidential campaign. The cause of Hardaway’s death, which was not released by the family, had become a topic of broad speculation. Joined on stage at the memorial by Trump, Richardson said her sister died after returning to her North Carolina home from a relative’s birthday celebration.

☆ Trump wants to ditch his deal to post first on Truth Social and return to Twitter, report says
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-23 | by ( Mia Jankowicz | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

Trump wants to end an exclusivity deal with Truth Social and get back on Twitter, Rolling Stone reported. Truth Social CEO Devin Nunes denied an earlier report that Trump wants to make the switch. While Trump has just shy of 5 million followers on Truth Social, he has almost 88 million followers on Twitter. Nonetheless, according to Rolling Stone, a person close to the president said there is "no way" Nunes' statement is true. Among the ideas being floated is for a WWE-style campaign video post, or one comparing himself to Superman, according to Rolling Stone.

☆ How Scripps News, the streaming and broadcast network formerly known as Newsy, is pivoting to anti-partisan, 'fact-based' reporting
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-19 | by ( Claire Atkinson | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +9 min

Streaming and broadcast news network Newsy has been rebranded as Scripps News. The network formerly known as Newsy has a presence on TV stations owned by Scripps and its ION Media stations and is accessible via free over-the-air digital antenna and several streaming platforms — including Roku, Amazon Fire and Apple TV. The company, which pulled Newsy from cable packages in 2021, boasts that Scripps News offers the only free 24/7 national news broadcast. Scripps News is also absorbing scores of executives from a national desk that fed the company's 61 local stations. Its local stations pulled in $208 million in ad revenue thanks to the midterm elections.

Diamond of the pro-Trump entertainers Diamond and Silk has died, the former president as well as the duo's verified Twitter account announced Monday night. Both women, sisters whose names are Lynette Hardaway and Rochelle Richardson, were born in 1971, with Diamond making her debut on Thanksgiving Day, according to their 2020 book, "Uprising." Then-President Donald Trump hugs conservative social media figures Lynnette Hardaway, known as Diamond, and Rochelle Richardson, known as Silk, in 2019. In late November, the Diamond and Silk Twitter account made a plea for prayers for Diamond. Diamond and Silk soon landed at fringe network Newsmax with "Diamond and Silk: Crystal Clear."

☆ House Democrats brace for Speaker McCarthy to block their committee assignments in retaliatory strike
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-10 | by ( Warren Rojas | Nicole Gaudiano | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

House Speaker Kevin McCarthy has pledged to bar three Democrats from sitting on two committees. Republicans are targeting Democratic Reps. Adam Schiff, Eric Swalwell, and Ilhan Omar. Democrats declined to speculate on next steps if McCarthy follows through on his plan. Swalwell has served on the Intelligence committee since 2015, and is also a member of the Homeland Security Committee and Judiciary Committee. Staff for House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries did not immediately respond to Insider's request for comment about defending Democratic members' committee assignments.

☆ Trump invited the press to a 'media availability' slot at Mar-a-Lago. Not a single cable news network covered it.
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-01 | by ( Joshua Zitser | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +2 min

Donald Trump invited the press to a "media availability" slot at Mar-a-Lago on New Year's Eve. No cable news network covered it, not even Newsmax, according to Raw Story. But in a likely blow to Trump's ego, not a single cable news network covered it, according to Raw Story. On Saturday, MSNBC host Alex Witt announced that the former president would host a surprise New Year's Eve "media availability" slot at approximately 9 p.m. on New Year's Eve. A video of the "media availability" slot, which was covered by the fringe conservative media outlet Right Side Broadcasting Network (RSBN), shows that Trump spoke about the FBI, his 2024 presidential campaign, and Russia's war in Ukraine.

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