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This has been one of those days…
I have been attempting to get this newsletter out for hours, but things just keep happening.
And I can almost guarantee that the moment I press “Send,” some other story will break.
In the meantime, I just got off a call with a reporter in Norway in which I attempted to explain the career of Maria Bartiromo.
It is a strange world we live in.
Maria Bartiromo’s Price For Being A True Believer
Fox News said Thursday that it had parted ways with longtime anchor Maria Bartiromo, a vocal defender of President Donald Trump who hosted Mornings with Maria and Maria Bartiromo’s Wall Street on Fox Business, while also anchoring Sunday Morning Futures on the Fox News Channel.
“We thank Maria for her work over the lasts 12½ years and wish her all the best on her next chapter,” a spokesperson said in a statement that did not elaborate further. The statement also noted her departure was “effective immediately.”
So what is going on here?
Well, Puck’s Dylan Byers is reporting that the firing was over some leaked emails:
Maria Bartiromo wanted to pursue a story related to China and 2020 election voting conspiracies... a major sensitivity for the network given its Dominion and Smartmatic lawsuits.
A Fox Business executive sent a text to Fox Business producers informing them that that story could not go to air.
Bartiromo took a screen shot of the guidance and sent it to senior White House officials.
Fox News leadership learned about that after receiving a call from the White House, which they viewed as a fireable offense.
Fox pulled Bartiromo from air after Aug. 9. She was fired today. I have also learned that her executive producer Patrick Ignozzi was also fired after the announcement.
Maria had resigned her contract with Fox last February.
There is similar reporting from some other outlets and this tracks with what I had previously heard about the situation. I had learned Fox execs were furious about being confronted by the White House over their guidance on election fraud stories and I expected someone would end up losing their job.
I didn’t know it would be Bartiromo. And if true, this was an insanely destructive move by her. She was the centerpiece of the Dominion lawsuit against Fox that the network ended up settling for nearly $800 million. She is knee deep in Smartmatic’s ongoing case against Fox. And Fox Business was sued again this summer, after Bartiromo allowed Kevin O’Leary to appear on her show and claim that the Chinese government was behind opposition to his proposed data centers. Expecting the network to approve taking another run at the election fraud story after all of that is a Mike Lindell level of obsession.
This will no doubt end up in court and I hear Bartiromo has hired the well-known lawyer Bryan Freedman.
In a related note, this is why you don’t take money from a prediction market when you are a journalist. Also, the fact that you don’t use the platform is the least of your problems:
And I’ll leave you with this very strange him/her tweet:
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How The Federal Public Media Rescissions Act Has Impacted Local PBS Stations
I reported last week that Twin Cities PBS station TPT was renaming itself as “Minnesota PBS” after it made a deal to partner with the southern Minnesota PBS local station KSMQ:
The transition to Minnesota PBS comes just over a year after the elimination of federal funding for public broadcasting in July 2025. Without that funding, it was increasingly possible that KSMQ would go dark after more than 50 years on the air.
The introduction of Minnesota PBS will prevent that from happening, preserving public media in southern Minnesota and maintaining trusted news and local shows for communities throughout the region.
In addition to continuing local programs, Minnesota PBS will provide southern Minnesota viewers with dependable access to more options than ever before: regional and national PBS programming, legislative coverage, high-quality children’s content from PBS KIDS, and critical health and safety alerts.
I was curious what other smaller-market PBS partner stations might have closed down or partnered up in some way following the funding cuts and according to a PBS spokesman, this is breakdown so far:
In addition to the Minnesota merger, WPSU/Penn State hopes to merge with WHYY/Philadelphia this fall. The university and the Philadelphia-based public broadcasting station reached agreement on the details of the transfer and filed an application with the Federal Communications Commission on July 30th, 2026. FCC approval is needed before the transfer can be completed. The sale price is $1.
Two PBS PDP Stations have dropped their PBS affiliation and shutdown TV broadcast. (PDP stands for Program Differentiation Plan stations — they are secondary or tertiary public TV stations whose coverage area is overlapped by another, bigger station. They typically broadcast a reduced portion of the main PBS schedule under a specific localized market arrangement.)
WEIU/Charleston, IL (Eastern Illinois University): dropped PBS in fall 2025 and shut down broadcast operations in April 2026.
KWSU/Pullman, WA. Northwest Public Broadcasting, licensed to Washington State University, shut down one of its two TV stations, KWSU, a PDP station in the Spokane area, on December 31, 2025. NWPB’s other station, KTNW, a full PBS station in Richland, WA remains on the air.
WBGU / Bowling Green, OH (licensed to Bowling Green University) dropped PBS July 1, 2026 and is now passing through the signal of WGTE, the PBS station in Toledo, OH, as well as the Ohio Channel.
I have been speaking with local PBS station execs over the past couple of months (and I have more on the way), and the general consensus at the smaller stations is that they can make cuts in overhead and local programming to buy themselves a bit of time. But while local donations and memberships have increased, that can’t make up for the federal funding cuts.
My sense is that a few of the financially weaker stations didn’t have any runway to replacing that lost funding. It’s going to be interesting to see where other stations are at in 2-3 years, if some version of the federal funding doesn’t return.
This Is What Being Your Own Worst Enemy Looks Like
I have been accused over the years of not knowing when to shut up. Which tbh, is a valid criticism. But I also like to think that I don’t punch down and I don’t threaten people.
Jeff Sneider can be a talented journalist and has broken a number of Hollywood and media stories on his InSneider website. But he is also the textbook example of being your own worst enemy, and exhibit one might be this series of tweets:
Odds & Sods
The new documentary Band Of Brothers: Legacy will premiere Wednesday, September 9th on HBO Max. Here is a first look at the trailer and here is the official logline: “Band Of Brothers: Legacy serves as a tribute to the groundbreaking series that helped preserve the story of Easy Company and deepened public appreciation for the sacrifices of the Greatest Generation. The documentary features new interviews with Band Of Brothers cast members including Damian Lewis, Ron Livingston, Michael Cudlitz, Capt. Dale Dye, USMC (Ret.), David Schwimmer, and more. Through personal reflections and behind-the-scenes stories, participants revisit the experience of making the series and explore its lasting cultural resonance. Band Of Brothers: Legacy also includes never-before-seen archival footage and photographs of Easy Company and World War II.”
This interview in the Guardian with Mr. T is absolutely astounding.
The 2026 Soul Train Awards will air Friday, November 27th at 8 p.m. on both BET and CBS, with simulcasts on VH1, MTV2, Logo and BET Her. This revives the awards broadcast after a three-year hiatus.
Sweet Deceit will premiere Monday, October 5th on the Food Network. Here is the official logline: “Sweet Deceit takes place in real-world locations and requires its contestants to take a bite to decipher the deceptive, hyperrealistic sweets hiding in plain sight. Escalating in difficulty round by round, the teams work together to determine what is cake and prove it with their teeth by biting into their best guess, all in pursuit of a total prize up to $12,000.”
Season three of Prosecuting Evil With Kelly Siegler premieres Saturday, October 3rd on Oxygen. Here is a first look at the trailer and here is the official logline: “In nine new episodes, Oxygen’s Prosecuting Evil with Kelly Siegler examines some of the most high-profile murder investigations and shocking trials through the expert perspective of veteran prosecutor Kelly Siegler. The series explores a mix of Siegler’s own cases and other impactful trials she watched unfold during her career, with each case offering a unique legal focus. In each episode, Kelly shares why these cases were significant and how they helped change laws, shape the judicial landscape and forge new approaches to investigating and prosecuting crimes.”
Paramount+ has renewed MobLand for a third season.
Disney reached a new carriage agreement with Optimum TV that will include subscriber access to ESPN Unlimited.
Netflix Announces A ‘Famous Last Words’ Episode With Gloria Steinem
Netflix has just released a Famous Last Words interview with Gloria Steinem, the writer, lecturer, and feminist organizer who spent more than half a century at the heart of the global struggle for equality. In accordance with the series’ unique mission, this conversation was recorded in private in February 2025 and held in trust until after her passing.
Conducted by Brad Falchuk in February 2025, the episode “captures Steinem not just as a media spokeswoman, but as a lifelong traveler on the road to justice. While the world often recognizes her as a face of modern feminism, this interview delves into her deep-seated interests in the shared origins of sex and race caste systems, the cultures of Indigenous peoples, and the vital necessity of organizing across boundaries for equality.”
According to the streamer, Steinem “also takes advantage of the Famous Last Words format to speak freely about her loves, her family, the complicated personal politics within the feminist movement and her regrets.”
This special is the third installment in the series, which previously featured episodes with Eric Dane and Dr. Jane Goodall.
What’s Coming Tonight And Tomorrow
THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 3RD:
Chad Powers Season Premiere (Hulu)
Clash Of The Thundermans (Nickelodeon)
Crossroad Springs Season Two Premiere (Great American Pure Flix)
Fito Páez: The World Within A Song (Netflix)
Gandahari (Netflix)
The Gentlemen Season Two Premiere (Netflix)
FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 4TH, 2026:
Earle Meets World Series Premiere (Netflix)
Instadocs: The Decoy Plane (Netflix)
Mayday (Apple TV)
Jagamae Sangeetham (Prime Video)
Parasomnia (Shudder)
The Grand Tour Series Premiere (Prime Video)
The Program: Texas Tech (Paramount+)