Nothing to fear, no April Fool's pranks here. There's a lot going on: ESPN is taking control of NFL Network. Gmail is celebrating a birthday. "Super Mario Galaxy" is coming out in theaters. But there are some serious headlines to sort through first, so let's get to it... |
A moonshot and a war address |
For my money, the biggest television event of the day is the Artemis II launch. NASA will be "circumnavigating the moon and returning humans to deep space for the first time in five decades," as CNN's Jackie Wattles and Ashley Strickland report here.
As my kids already know, because we've been counting down to liftoff for days already, "the current target for takeoff is a two-hour launch window that opens at 6:24 p.m. ET on Wednesday."
All the TV networks have special coverage plans, and so do some streamers. CNN alum Kristin Fisher is promoting "Launch Party," a live stream that she bills as "not your grandpa's launch coverage." I'll probably have three or four screens running simultaneously at launch.
But President Trump is planning another big TV event for later in the evening: A 9 p.m. address to the nation.
John Berman set it up this way on "CNN News Central" this morning: "A brand new poll shows the president's approval on the economy at an all-time low for him, as he will address the nation tonight with a, quote, 'important update' on the war with Iran. Perhaps the two thoughts there are connected."
"There are signs he is looking for a way to end the conflict, now saying it could be over in 2 to 3 weeks," Berman said. "And after saying Iran was begging for a deal, the president now says it doesn't matter whether Iran agrees to one."
You can check out that new CNN poll here. As for Trump's talk of the war concluding soon, this CNN banner captures the tension well: "TRUMP SAYS WAR WILL END IN 2 TO 3 WEEKS; IRAN SAYS IT'S READY TO FIGHT FOR AT LEAST 6 MONTHS."
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Trump White House asks broadcasters for airtime |
Yesterday, the White House asked the broadcast networks for airtime for the speech, which is customary since the broadcasters have to preempt shows for POTUS. I believe the WH made the same request after Operation Midnight Hammer last June.
"What's not customary," Vulture’s Joe Adalian wrote on Bluesky, is "speaking at 9 p.m. ET when two of the Big Three nets have shows that run from 8-9:30 (Survivor) or 8-10 (Masked Singer season finale)."
Adalian asserted that "previous White Houses would've worked with nets to start at 8," and surmised that Trump wanted to speak at 9 instead because overall television usage numbers are higher in the 9 p.m. hour...
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American journalist kidnapped in Iraq |
Everyone's thoughts are with freelance journalist Shelly Kittleson right now. Kittleson "was kidnapped in Baghdad, Iraq, on Tuesday," as CNN's Jennifer Hansler, Mohammed Tawfeeq, and Jeremy Diamond reported here. While it's "unclear who is responsible," sources told CNN "she was warned of threats against her, including kidnapping, from Iranian proxy group Kataib Hezbollah."
>> The Committee to Protect Journalists said it's "deeply concerned," and called on "Iraqi authorities to do everything in their power to locate Shelley Kittleson." Reporters Without Borders said Kittleson is "very familiar with Iraq, where she stays for extended periods," and the organization "stands alongside her loved ones and colleagues during this painful wait."
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A violation of the Constitution |
That's how Judge Randolph Moss depicted Trump's executive order targeting PBS and NPR. Yesterday, Moss ruled on a pair of lawsuits by the public broadcasters alleging First Amendment violations — and public media execs said the ruling matters a lot, even though Republicans have already zeroed out federal funding, because it's vital to defend the principle that the government cannot wield its power to punish speech.
"The court made clear that the government cannot use funding as a lever to influence or penalize the press, whether as a national news service or a local newsroom," NPR CEO Katherine Maher said.
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Opening the door for future grants? |
Yesterday's ruling will not reverse the Trump-led campaign to strip NPR and PBS stations of federal funding, since Congress passed that rescission last summer. But it could — emphasis on could — lead to some funding for PBS and NPR in the future.
That’s because public broadcasters also used to receive grants from federal agencies. For instance, in May 2025, the Department of Education scrapped $23 million in funding for educational TV shows in accordance with Trump's executive order. Judge Moss now says that the order is unlawful because it "singles out two speakers and, on the basis of their speech, bars them from all federally funded programs."
Moss issued a permanent injunction barring the Trump admin from implementing the executive order, so now folks are wondering if the public broadcasters will try to claw those grants back. Here's my full story...
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Appeals court halts VOA return |
Last night, a federal appeals court "paused a lower-court ruling that ordered the Trump administration to reinstate all full-time Voice of America reporters and support staff who were put on paid leave," preventing "about 1,000 Voice of America journalists from quickly returning to work," the NYT’s Minho Kim reports.
USAGM, VOA's parent agency, said "it was 'encouraged' by the appeals court ruling, which it said would allow it to continue to ‘advance President Trump’s agenda without disruption as the legal process moves forward,'" Kim writes.
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We're a Webby nominee 🎉🥳🎉 |
...Which means we need you to vote! Reliable Sources is nominated in the Business, News & Technology newsletter category, and we're up against some strong competitors, so click here to cast a vote. And while you're there, click through to some of the other Webbys nominees — CNN is up for 12 awards total. Voting is open through April 16...
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YOU HEARD IT HERE FIRST... |
'Rebuilding trust,' starting locally |
Philip Bump, one of the most media-savvy writers at The Washington Post, has lined up an intriguing new job at Hearst. In an essay he is publishing later today, he says he was growing "disenchanted with the national political conversation, the frequent futility of it and its incessant toxicity" even before exiting the Post last summer.
It's an "oversaturated" environment, he says. So he's looking elsewhere, joining Hearst as an editor and columnist, "working both with the newsroom in Connecticut and with a national team that builds tools that can be deployed across Hearst's newsrooms." Maybe, he says, "rebuilding trust in the media also begins at the local level..." |
CBS News ratings: Good news, bad news |
First, the good news: "60 Minutes" was "the #1 primetime program for the week," across all the networks, a fact that CBS touted in a press release yesterday. The newsmagazine averaged 10.3 million viewers last Sunday.
And now the bad news: "CBS Evening News" fell back below 4 million viewers last week. ABC's press release about the first quarter noted that "World News Tonight" scored its "largest total viewer advantage" over CBS in decades. (Nielsen's electronic database goes back to 1991.) David Muir is more than doubling Tony Dokoupil's viewership.
CBS is in rebuilding mode, of course, and the "Evening News" was in a bad spot when Dokoupil took over...
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Bipartisan complaints from Capitol Hill about the FCC |
"Sen. Ted Cruz and Sen. Maria Cantwell, the chair and ranking member of the Senate Commerce Committee, wrote in a letter to FCC Chairman Brendan Carr that the greenlight given to the [Nexstar-Tegna] merger earlier this month raises 'serious concerns' about the ‘use of delegated authority in matters involving significant legal, policy, and economic consequences,'" Deadline's Ted Johnson reports.
In other words: The "unprecedented" station mega-merger should have been given a full commission vote...
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Nexstar responds to restraining order |
And here's one more from Johnson: Nexstar has "weighed in for the first time on a judge's order that halted its merger with Tegna, warning the court that it will have difficulty fully complying because certain aspects of the closed transaction 'cannot be reversed.'" Nevertheless, the temporary restraining order is in place... |
This NOTUS story by Violet Jira got a lot of attention yesterday:
TMZ has stepped up its presence in DC and on the politics beat. With photos of vacationing senators, the site is "slamming lawmakers for skipping town as the partial government shutdown stretches into its seventh week."
>> "TMZ has covered politics for years, but several months ago we decided to amp up our presence and our voice," Harvey Levin told Jira in a statement.
>> A skeptical voice: "They can certainly try, but this type of coverage isn't remotely close to what Punchbowl or Politico do," former Politico spox Brad Dayspring wrote on X.
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ESPN takes control of NFL Network today |
"Many NFL Media employees will transition over to ESPN" today, "as part of the network buying NFL Network and RedZone Channel," SBJ's Austin Karp reports. "No immediate talent move announcements are expected to be announced," but "some well-known names at NFL Network have already signed deals to stay aboard," and there will be a "noticeable crossover of talent and content between ESPN and NFL Network..."
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>> Meta and the Motion Picture Association have come to an agreement over Meta's use of the term "PG-13." (THR)
>> Spotify is "branching beyond audio-only formats and into visual and interactive ads." (Adweek)
>> The Salt Lake Tribune will "remove its paywall" next month. Exec editor Lauren Gustus says "we believe trusted, independent journalism is a right — not a luxury." (SLT)
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"The iconic email service debuted 22 years ago on April 1, forever altering what people expected from free email," Ars Technica's Ryan Whitwam writes. "But 22 years is a long time, and the username you chose when you finally got your hands on an invite in 2004 may not have stood the test of time. Starting today, Google will let US-based users ditch an old username without creating a new account." Here's how to change your username...
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Eurovision heads eastward |
"Eurovision is seeking to expand into the Asian market by hosting a version of its song contest in Bangkok this year, just as the original annual event is being buffeted by discord and boycotts on the eve of its 70th anniversary edition," The Guardian's Philip Oltermann writes. The spinoff will launch with 10 countries participating in November...
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'Super Mario Galaxy' is out today |
"Three years after 'The Super Mario Bros. Movie' smashed the Easter weekend and video game adaptation box office records, Universal, Illumination and Nintendo are back with 'The Super Mario Galaxy Movie,' a film that is expected to make the Mario series only the third in animation history to reach the $1 billion mark worldwide with both of its first two installments, joining Disney's 'Frozen' and 'Zootopia,'" TheWrap's Jeremy Fuster reports.
To that point, Anthony D’Alessandro has the video game flick "set to do around $350 million worldwide."
"That's $175 million over five days at 4,000 theaters in the U.S./Canada and another $175 million in 79 markets," he writes.
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