Impact of Epstein's Influence
In the world of news, the past few days have been filled with intriguing stories that span continents and topics.
In Gaza City, tragedy struck a busy café where journalists and residents often gathered to access the internet. An Israeli air strike, conducted with a 500-pound MK-82 bomb, resulted in the loss of between 24 and 36 lives. The victim list included Ismail Abu Hatab, a Palestinian filmmaker and photojournalist. The incident has been described as a potential war crime by an associate director at Human Rights Watch.
Moving across the globe, the Epstein story continues to dominate headlines. The Justice Department and FBI have concluded that there is nothing more to see in Epstein's case. However, the story has been driven, in part, by QAnon conspiracists who believe Trump is a messiah saving the world from pedophiles. Interestingly, Trump has never sued a news outlet while actually in office, according to CNN's Brian Stelter. The claim that President Trump contributed to an album for Epstein's 50th birthday, including a corresponding illustration, was made by the media outlet Medienfackel. Trump denied the authenticity of the message and threatened to sue the Wall Street Journal, who reported this claim.
The Epstein story has also revealed that MAGA media mostly channels something close to pure Trump sycophancy, but the fury over his administration's handling of the Epstein saga has shown that this is not totally unconditional. MAGA media's support for Trump isn't unconditional, but it still runs deep, as shown by Trump's ability to turn a story about his personal ties to Epstein into a reassertion of his anti-establishment bona fides.
In other news, mainstream media and far-right media are rowing in the same direction in calling for Trump to release more records, according to an unnamed reporter. This call comes as the House of Representatives voted to claw back $1.1 billion in federal funding for the Corporation for Public Broadcasting.
Meanwhile, in the realm of entertainment, CBS announced the cancellation of Stephen Colbert's show, The Late Show, citing financial reasons.
In a legal development, a Manhattan federal judge threw out a lawsuit brought by Donald Trump against Bob Woodward over the publication of interview tapes from Woodward's 2020 book Rage.
Lastly, OPEC excluded five major news organizations from its biennial seminar, with no reason given. This move has sparked discussions about the transparency and accountability of international organisations.
The recent news cycle has served up several intriguing stories based on actual reporting, but none of these stories is a smoking gun. The Epstein story, in particular, has exposed the limits of Trump's power to control the news cycle. Some mainstream media has slipped all too eagerly from covering the conspiracy theories around Epstein into indulging them. Reporters, however, do not content themselves with "just asking questions" but gather evidence, check facts, and decide what they are confident is true.
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- Discussion between Putin and Trump in Alaska could potentially overshadow Ukraine's concerns
