There was one predominant topic occupying the minds of the press - the looming, then arriving, government shutdown. The days ahead were filled with dark portents and blame, and those cries only ramped up once the closure took place.
Two trends were seen across the press complex, both of which aided the Democrats. The first was denying that the Senate Democrats who voted against the Continuing Resolution were responsible for the shutdown. The second was the wave of Democratic House members casting bile and blame at the GOP members, despite the fact that the House passed the CR.
With these foundational issues in place, it was not difficult to spot the news dysfunction playing out. It is time to tug on the hip waders and begin the slog through the past week of reporting, and see which outlet distinguished itself on this flawed media landscape.
THE CONTENDERS
National Public Radio – October marks the start of the federal funding cuts that affect the radio network. On “Morning Edition” they gave a bold statement on how they will not be silenced - when nobody has been trying to silence them. Scott Simon insisted they were still going strong and were vital, seemingly unaware that this show of strength dispelled the years of hearing how dire the pulling of funding would be. David Folkenflick draws a sympathetic picture of South Dakota stations that could suffer, while many locals he interviewed told him they listen to Fox News.
CBS News – The arrival of Bari Weiss as a new editorial voice to steer the news content has rankled many inside the network. Liz Warren had to scold morning host Tony Dokoupil for daring to deviate from Democratic talking points. The network actually has a Bad Bunny correspondent.
MSNBC – The changeover from NBC News reliance has begun, and the cable channel will now be relying on content provided by Sky News. Joe and Mika had a testy exchange on “Morning Joe” over who to blame for the shutdown. John Kasich tripped over himself when warning that the GOP will not like lawfare used on them, but called it “retribution”, unaware that he was describing Democrat lawfare being used on them today.
CNN – Kaitlan Collins was a constant source of material. Kate debated Scott Jennings and tried to slide in her slant that the debate is about illegal aliens getting Obamacare, which no one is saying. She was debunked by her own colleague, Jake Tapper. Then Ms. Collins was bothered that the shaming of President Trump for his “racist” sombrero videos was not working. When Mike Johnson was speaking on the shutdown, Pamela Brown cut the feed and felt the need to deliver an instant fact check. Johnson quickly proved she was entirely incorrect. Daniel Dale attempted to fact-check on the matters of illegals and health care, but on the same episode, Jake Tapper basically confirmed it was the case.
THE WINNER
ABC NEWS
There was just something very ardent and also bitter in many of the examples from the network.
George Stephanopoulos was agitated with Speaker Mike Johnson arriving with facts about the Democratic Party's spending demands.
Jimmy Kimmel’s ratings, which the press had been crowing about when he returned, have already cratered back to his usual low levels.
Martha Raddatz covered the Pete Hegseth speech to military leaders, denigrating him as merely a “Former weekend Fox and Friends host”, and not a 20-year decorated veteran.
The investigation into the Autopen scandal involving Biden exposed more of his infamous notecards, and one shows White House Correspondent Mary Bruce had questions provided ahead of time.
In one dose of comedy, as there was outrage surrounding the video images shared by the president showing Hakeen Jefferies in a cartoonish sombrero and mustache, ABC News helpfully let us know this was not an accurate portrayal.
I need to alert everyone the investigative sleuths at @ABCNews uncovered somethibng:
— Brad Slager: CNN+ Lifetime Subscriber (@MartiniShark) October 1, 2025
Concerning that clip shared by President Trump portraying Hakeem Jeffries in a sombrero? It has been determined that this was, in fact, an AI-crafted altered video.
Govern yourselves accordingly! pic.twitter.com/QnLLg8R3RX
Editor’s Note: The Schumer Shutdown is here. Rather than put the American people first, Chuck Schumer and the radical Democrats forced a government shutdown for healthcare for illegals. They own this.
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