Judge Halts Trump's Tax-Funded TV Commercials

A federal judge on Sunday ordered the Trump administration to stop airing taxpayer-funded television advertisements that prominently feature and promote the president, ruling that the ads are likely illegal.

U.S. District Judge Jennifer Rochon in New York issued a four-page order late Sunday barring the administration from using government funds to distribute the ads. The judge, appointed by former President Joe Biden, directed officials to cancel “any slot, placement, reservation, or arrangement for the airing or dissemination of the challenged advertisements.”

The order took effect immediately for any ads scheduled later Sunday night. It was not immediately clear whether the ruling blocked additional spots from airing.

The advertisements, which predominantly feature President Trump and highlight administration policies, began running on national television in September. They were funded by the Department of Homeland Security. The Wall Street Journal has reported that Trump personally pushed for the ads and was involved in their creation.

The ruling responded to a lawsuit filed by the advocacy group Common Cause and a Democratic candidate for office in Alabama. 

The plaintiffs argued that the spending was not authorized by Congress and violated restrictions on using public funds for political propaganda.

“There is no legal justification—and no precedent—for the president to use the machinery of the government and funds set aside by Congress for other uses to influence electoral outcomes that further his own agenda,” the plaintiffs said after the decision.

The White House did not immediately respond to a request for comment. In a weekend court filing, the Justice Department said the ad buy was scheduled to end on Sunday.

Last week, Trump said he plans to continue the advertisements using money from his MAGA Inc. super PAC rather than federal funds.

Trump Admin Ups Ante On Intimidating News Media

The Justice Department is investigating whether ABC, CBS, CNN, NBC, and Fox News violated federal antitrust laws (Sherman Act) when they briefly suspended the shared White House television press pool in September.

The networks halted pooled coverage for several days after President Trump barred CNN, MS NOW, and Politico from White House grounds (preventing CNN from participating in the pool). This left some events, such as a meeting with China’s Xi Jinping, without major network footage.⁠

DOJ officials contacted the networks on Friday with civil investigative demands for communications and materials related to the pool. A DOJ spokesperson described the action as a “proudly boycotted” group boycott among competitors and said the Antitrust Division is examining potential violations.

Bruce Brown, president of the Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press, told The Hill the probe appears to be “a pretext for seeking records from the networks” on how they cover regular White House events amid Trump’s ban.

“The decisions news organizations make about coverage are protected by the First Amendment, and summoning antitrust authority, on top of the retaliatory actions the White House has already taken to bar certain outlets, is another and even more brazen attempt to try to intimidate journalists,” Brown said in a statement.

The probe widely viewed as a sharp escalation in the administration’s tensions with the press. Related litigation by the barred outlets continues, with a temporary court pause on the ban

ABC News Reposts Deleted Story About Trump's Sons

ABC News removed and then republished a corrected version of an Oct. 7 investigation into financial ties between President Donald Trump’s sons and defense contractors, including a major Navy deal with Anduril Industries, after initially telling subjects the story had been published “prematurely.” The network later acknowledged factual errors in company investments, government contracts, and event timelines, according to reporting by Semafor. 

The episode drew broader attention amid ongoing tensions between the Trump administration and major media outlets, including prior ABC settlements and FCC-related scrutiny. 

The original story, headlined “Trump sons’ investments have won billions in Pentagon contracts since his election,” focused on a new $6.6 billion public-private partnership between Anduril and the U.S. Navy to build a high-tech submarine shipyard in Maryland. It highlighted Donald Trump Jr.’s role as a partner at the venture firm 1789 Capital, stating that the firm “claimed a major stake in Anduril in June 2025 from a $2.5 billion investment into the company.” An ABC analysis claimed defense companies linked to the president’s sons had secured more than $6 billion in active or promised government contracts after related investments. The piece also referenced other firms.⁠

By Thursday, ABC removed the article from its website without a public explanation, resulting in 404 errors on the original URL. An unnamed source familiar with the matter and ABC producer communications to Anduril and another company described the removal as due to premature publication while reporting was finalized. Reporter Nathan Lee, who wrote the original piece, used similar language in outreach.⁠

On Friday evening, ABC republished a substantially revised version under the new headline “New shipyard announced amid earlier Democratic concerns about potential conflicts of interest.” It carried a generic “ABC News” byline (replacing Lee’s) and this editor’s note: “CORRECTION: A version of this story published on Oct. 7 contained errors in the description of certain company investments, government contracts and event chronologies. After subsequent reporting, this version contains corrected information and additional context regarding some of those investments, contracts and events.”⁠

The revised reporting clarified that 1789 Capital invested $50 million in Anduril as part of a broader $2.5 billion funding round—a relatively small stake in a company valued at more than $60 billion. It noted that Trump Jr. is one of six partners (alongside three founders) and does not sit on the three-person investment committee that makes allocation decisions, according to the firm. Earlier characterizations of a “major stake” and the scale of the investment were corrected.⁠

Study: Fox News Criticizes News Media Most Often

Fox News attacks the media roughly every 14.5 minutes—far more often than MSNBC (every 61 minutes) or CNN (every 140 minutes)—according to a new analysis of 15 years of cable news transcripts.

“Disparaging journalism is a far more central part of Fox News programming than it is of either MSNBC or CNN programming,” researchers concluded. The study examined “inter-journalism disparagement,” defined as negative statements about the conduct or content of an explicitly identified journalism target, such as a specific outlet or the news media in general.⁠

According to Niemanlab, tesearchers from Duke University’s DeWitt Wallace Center for Media & Democracy analyzed a random sample of one week of programming per year from 2011 to 2025 across CNN, Fox News, and MSNBC (later MS NOW). The resulting dataset included 3,543 transcripts and nearly 19 million words—roughly 62,000 pages of text. Because of the volume, they trained OpenAI’s GPT-5.5 model with a detailed 20-page instruction document; the model achieved 99.5% accuracy in identifying instances of disparagement compared with human coding.⁠

The stark difference between the networks held across the full 15-year period. Fox News showed some dips in the two years leading up to the 2016 and 2024 elections, but levels rebounded to near-peak in 2025. CNN and MSNBC rates converged somewhat after 2017, with MSNBC declining slightly and CNN rising slightly. Researchers noted that the networks should not be viewed as mirror images of partisan journalism on this dimension.⁠

On Fox News, the most common target by far was “the media,” followed by CNN and the “mainstream media,” with The New York Times, MSNBC, and The Washington Post also appearing frequently. The network focused more on attacking journalism as an institution than on specific outlets. In contrast, both CNN and MSNBC most often targeted Fox News, followed by “the media” and “right-wing media,” though at much lower overall frequencies. The most frequent individual disparagers were predominantly Fox hosts, led by Sean Hannity, Greg Gutfeld, and Tucker Carlson.⁠Niemanlab

The findings come amid record-low trust in journalism. Gallup data from 2025 showed only 8% of Republicans expressing trust in the news media, compared with 51% of Democrats, with the partisan gap remaining wide even after a slight recent uptick among Republicans. The researchers suggest high-volume disparagement of journalism may contribute to this decline and plan further study of whether exposure reduces trust. They also note that some scholars describe this pattern as moving beyond traditional partisan journalism into “anti-media media,” which uses the appearance of journalism to undermine the institution’s democratic role—a characterization they say fits Fox News based on the data.⁠Niemanlab

The study was led by Philip M. Napoli of Duke University, with contributions from Adam Meskouri, Anjini Mani, Grant Socol, and Harrison Walley. Full methodological details appear in a related paper.

TV Ratings: NFL Averaging 20.2M Viewers Per Game

NFL viewership rebounds to average 20.2 million viewers through Week 4

The NFL has recovered from early-season declines, with the average regular-season game drawing a Nielsen-measured 20.2 million viewers from Sept. 9 through Oct. 7—up 4% from the same period a year ago.

NBC’s “Sunday Night Football” is the strongest performer at 23.2 million viewers. CBS Sunday games average 20.5 million, ABC/ESPN’s “Monday Night Football” 19.3 million, Fox Sunday afternoon games 17.9 million, and Amazon Prime Video 17.4 million. CBS is up 7% year-over-year and Prime Video up 9%, while NBC is down 2%. Fox’s average is lower than its 23.2 million figure from the comparable period last year.

Where Things Stand: The AM Radio Act

Radios have long been standard equipment in cars, and the vast majority of vehicles still include them. In recent years, however, automakers including Tesla, Volkswagen, and Volvo have dropped analog AM radios from some newer models—particularly electric vehicles and plug-in hybrids—because EV motors and high-voltage systems can generate electromagnetic interference that distorts AM signals and produces static.

John Bozzella, CEO of the Alliance for Automotive Innovation, told Congress in April 2024 that “EVs and AM broadcasting technologies don’t always mix,” describing the interference as creating a “really staticky” listening experience. Auto industry research also indicates that drivers rarely tune in to traditional analog AM, preferring streaming services, satellite radio, or digital AM and FM broadcasts.

The National Association of Broadcasters (NAB) counters that analog AM remains essential for public safety. Fewer households keep a traditional radio at home, yet it can serve as a critical source of emergency alerts during hurricanes, wildfires, or other crises when cell networks fail or become overloaded. “When the power goes out, radio can often be that sole lifeline, and AM radio in particular has a reach and a durability that other media just don’t simply have,” said NAB CEO Curtis LeGeyt.

Car listening is also economically vital for radio: according to the NAB, 53 percent of the AM/FM audience tunes in while driving. More than 4,000 AM stations still operate nationwide, per the Federal Communications Commission, carrying sports, talk, religious programming, and foreign-language content. The NAB estimates that 82 million Americans listen to AM radio each month, with the service especially important in rural and tribal areas where internet and cellular service can be unreliable.

R.I.P.: Kim Leslie, Radio Personality, Nashville Music Executive

(1962-2026)

Kim Leslie, a longtime Nashville radio personality, music industry executive, and Country Music Association staffer who helped create key industry awards, died Oct. 9 in Gallatin, Tennessee, from Lewy body dementia. She was 64.

A Bronxville, New York, native, Leslie built a multi-decade career that bridged on-air radio work, music direction, label promotion, and organizational leadership in the country music industry. She began at WMZQ in Washington, D.C. (98.7), then moved to Nashville, where she served as afternoon host and music director at WSM-FM (95.5). She later worked in promotion at Asylum Records.

In 2001 she joined the Country Music Association as senior manager of industry relations, where she oversaw the creation of the CMA National Broadcast Personality of the Year award. She co-hosted afternoons at WKDF (103.3) starting in 2003, added part-time work at Sirius Satellite Radio in 2007, and spent more than a decade as a morning co-host on Midwest Communications’ adult contemporary “Mix 92.9” WJXA. She also served nearly a decade on the Country Radio Broadcasters board.

R.I.P.: Mike Horn, Radio Veteran, Founder of Cable Radio Network

Mike Horm (1952-2026)

Mike Horn, founder of CRN Digital Talk Radio and a longtime Los Angeles radio personality, has died. He was 74.

Horn died after a long illness. He spent his career finding new outlets for radio, from local cable systems to platforms for talk hosts including Ed McMahon and Robert Conrad.

Horn founded Cable Radio Network in 1983 to supply commercial radio programming to local cable television systems. The idea began after he learned that KMET in Los Angeles was earning ratings in the Phoenix market because a local cable system carried the signal. He took the concept to King Cable in the San Fernando Valley, programming a country music channel that later switched to oldies. Valley Cable and Falcon Cable soon showed interest, and the business grew as more local systems signed on.

When phone-line distribution became too costly, Horn moved the network to satellite. As noncommercial music channels from Digital Planet and DMX reached cable providers, he shifted CRN to talk radio. The network became CRN Talk, then CRN Digital Talk Radio in 2007.

Radio HIstory: Oct 12

➦In 1937...'Mr. Keen, Tracer of Lost Persons' debuted on the NBC Blue Network.  It was one of radio's longest running shows, airing to April 19, 1955, continuing well into the television era. It was produced by Frank and Anne Hummert, who based it upon Robert W. Chambers' 1906 novel The Tracer of Lost Persons. The sponsors included Whitehall Pharmacal (as in Anacin, Kolynos Toothpaste, BiSoDol antacid mints, Hill's cold tablets and Heet liniment), Dentyne, Aerowax, RCA Victor and Chesterfield cigarettes. It aired on the NBC Blue network until 1947, when it switched to CBS.

➦In 1944...What would come to be known as the "Columbus Day Riot" took place in New York City, when 35,000 hysterical teenage girls crowded into the Paramount Theatre for a chance to see the return of Frank Sinatra. The crowd of teen "bobbysoxer" girls stopped traffic in Times Square and  refused to leave between shows.

➦In 1950…The George Burns and Gracie Allen Show, sometimes called The Burns and Allen Show, made it debut on TV.   The is a half-hour series broadcast from 1950 to 1958 on CBS.

Burns and Allen were headliners in vaudeville in the 1920s, and radio stars in the 1930s and 1940s.

Their show was initially staged live and broadcast every other Thursday at 8 pm ET. In fall 1952, it became a weekly series filmed on the West Coast. From March 1953 through September 1958, The Burns and Allen Show aired Mondays at 8 pm ET.

The show was an immediate success.

➦In 1955...Chrysler introduces the world's first sound system for it cars.  The system consisted of -- record player mounted under the dashboard.

➦In 1969...Pop Culture's "Paul is Dead" hoax began when Tom Zarski, a student at Eastern Michigan University, called WKNR in Detroit and informed DJ Russ Gibb on air of the rumor that Paul McCartney died in a car crash, perhaps as long ago as 1966. Zarski told Gibb that by playing a section of the band's "Revolution 9" backwards, a clue emerges: the phrase "Turn me on, dead man." Gibb proceeds to do just that. Many listeners were stunned.