Get access to Brad Slager's "Riffed From the Headlines," a daily VIP feature where he looks to bring accountability to the mainstream media. Use promo code FIGHT to get 60% off your VIP membership!
Demo-lition Project – PUBLIC BROADCASTING SERVICE
This refusal to engage in commercial practice is looking more ridiculous.
In the wake of funding for public broadcasting being cancelled, one solution that has long been in play is the move to an ad-supported platform. As the Corporation for Public Broadcasting is set to be shuttered, outlets like PBS and NPR are facing steep challenges.
As one sign, it has been announced that PBS is set to lay off 15% of its workforce. It did not have to be this way.
PBS to slash 15% of workforce, lay off 100 staffers after Trump funding cuts https://t.co/fcr0yhCms6 pic.twitter.com/WD4aLFIMxP
— NY Post Business (@nypostbiz) September 5, 2025
Reporting on the Mirror – SESAME WORKSHOP
And there it is, the very thing we were told could not happen.
One of the flaccid arguments made ahead of the defunding of public broadcasters was that the Republicans wanted to kill off Big Bird and Elmo. As we tirelessly have to point out here at RFTH, Sesame Street has not been under the PBS ownership for a decade now. The show has been taken over from HBO-Max by Netflix for new programming and select past episodes. However, given that the show has been on the air for some 50-odd years, Netflix could not provide the entire back catalogue of its property.
Now comes the announcement that the Sesame Workshop has reached a secondary deal, this one with YouTube, to have a wealth of its prior broadcasts made available on the video streaming service.
See, it is possible to broker business arrangements for this kind of programming!
The Sesame Street library is coming to YouTube!
— Sesame Street (@sesamestreet) September 4, 2025
Beginning in January 2026, YouTube will have the largest digital library of Sesame Street content, with hundreds of full episodes coming to the Sesame Street channels.
Join us as we help children everywhere grow smarter, stronger,… pic.twitter.com/xlee77DvzG
Gilded Reframe – CBS NEWS
The question is, how many lawsuits will it take?
We recently covered how CBS News was caught deceptively editing its interview with Kristi Noem. Now the network that had claimed it did nothing improper has come out to declare that it will be adjusting its standards regarding interviews with politicians, where they will either be conducted live or taped and shown in their entirety.
New: CBS News has changed its interview format in reaction to complaints from DHS. According to a statement from a network spokesperson, Face The Nation will now only broadcast live or live to tape interviews https://t.co/KsxHM0a1fL pic.twitter.com/p3P7O2UVR3
— Max Tani (@maxwelltani) September 5, 2025
Both Kinds of Standards – CBS NEWS
See if you can spot the difference; Norah is hoping you cannot.
Recently, the former nightly news anchor Norah O’Donnell displayed what she is up to these days. Conducting a rare interview with Supreme Court Justice Amy Coney-Barrett, Norah was forceful and direct with some hard-hitting and challenging questions.
But in a telling side-by-side, we see clips of Norah’s interview from last Fall with another SCOTUS figure, Ketanji Brown-Jackson, and her glowing puffery for the newly-appointed justice serves as a rather notable juxtaposition.
Spot the difference between Supreme Court Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson's interview with CBS's Norah O'Donnell and Justice Amy Coney Barrett's interview with Norah O'Donnell.
— Conservative War Machine (@WarMachineRR) September 4, 2025
WATCH: pic.twitter.com/LgNlF9Inmq
Stealth Story Evolution – CNN
Tripping over a fact in the rush to dispute the Orange Menace.
CNN was there to report on and slyly condemn a recent effort by President Trump to suggest trans individuals should not be able to purchase guns.
But in their desire to cover this controversial move (we do not, for the record, agree), they detailed how this would affect the “right to possess a firearm”.
What’s that again? We have that right to do so??? Well, now, that flies in the face of much of the gun coverage seen on this same network.
"Right to possess firearms" you say? First I'm hearing of it from you guys. pic.twitter.com/nfQo40isiZ
— Caleb Howe (@CalebHowe) September 4, 2025
Reporting on the Mirror – NEWSMAX
We did not see this one coming, and it may have already left.
On Wednesday, Newsmax filed a lawsuit claiming that Fox News was forcing cable providers into channel carriage agreements that would create tougher conditions for its competition, such as Newsmax. The claim was that Fox wants to mandate that channel providers who offer Newsmax would be required to also carry additional Fox-branded channels, such as Fox Business.
But just after filing the suit on Wednesday of this week, a judge has already partially dismissed the suit, because it was improperly pleaded in the documents. The network has a week to amend its suit and refile by Septer 11.
Federal Judge Dismisses Newsmax-Fox News Complaint Due to ‘Shotgun’ Nature — For Now Newsmax has until Sept. 11 to amend its filing over Fox News allegedly stifling its conservative news competitionhttps://t.co/e3OsySlQms
— johnny dollar (@johnnydollar01) September 5, 2025
