TV News LIES

Neil Cavuto, a staple of Fox News and Fox Business programming for years, is leaving the network after nearly three decades.

Fox News confirmed Cavuto’s departure; his last day on air will be Thursday.

Cavuto’s contract with the network is up next week. A source familiar told The Hill the network offered a new deal, but Cavuto declined to accept.

News of Cavuto’s departure was first reported by Mediaite.

“Neil Cavuto’s illustrious career has been a master class in journalism and we’re extremely proud of his incredible 28-year run with Fox News Media,” the network said in a statement. “His programs have defined business news and set the standard for the entire industry. We wish him a heartfelt farewell and all the best on his next chapter.”

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The Russian security council deputy head, Dmitry Medvedev, has described the editors of the Times newspaper in Britain as “legitimate military targets” in response to the newspaper’s coverage of the assassination of a Russian general.

Medvedev’s vitriolic comments on Wednesday followed a Times editorial in which the newspaper described the assassination of Lt Gen Igor Kirillov as “a legitimate act of defence” by Ukraine, which has claimed responsibility for the killing.

Kirillov, head of the military’s chemical, biological and radiological weapons unit, was killed along with his assistant when a device attached to an escooter exploded as the two men left a building in a residential area in south-east Moscow on Tuesday morning. Kirillov is the most senior Russian military official to be killed in an assassination away from the frontlines since the start of the Kremlin’s offensive in Ukraine nearly three years ago.

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The Committee to Protect Journalists strongly denounces the killings of four Palestinian journalists in Gaza during the past week and calls for the international community to hold Israel accountable for its attacks against the media.

“At least 95 journalists and media workers have been killed worldwide in 2024,” CPJ’s CEO Jodie Ginsberg said in New York. “Israel is responsible for two thirds of those deaths and yet continues to act with total impunity when it comes to the killing of journalists and its attacks on the media. The international community has failed in its obligations to hold Israel accountable for its actions.”

• On December 15, Ahmed Al-Louh, a 39-year-old Palestinian journalist who freelanced with multiple outlets including Qatar-funded Al Jazeera, was killed in an Israeli airstrike on the Nuseirat camp in Gaza city, on December 15, 2024, according to Al Jazeera and multiple news reports. Al Jazeera reported that Al-Louh was wearing a “Press” vest and helmet, considered the attack to be targeted. Al-Louh is the seventh Al Jazeera-affiliated journalist killed by Israel since the war began. Israel Defense Forces (IDF) spokesperson for Arabic Media, Avichay Adraee, acknowledged the targeting of Al-Louh and accused him of being an Islamic Jihad militant in a post on X, but provided no proof for the allegation.
• On December 14, Mohammed Balousha, a 38-year-old Palestinian journalist and the reporter for the Emirati-owned, Dubai-based Al Mashhad Media was killed in a direct Israeli drone strike when he was returning from a medical checkup at the Sheikh Radwan neighborhood clinic in northern Gaza City, according to the outlet and multiple news reports. Al Mashhad TV said it considered the attack deliberate.
• On December 14, Mohammed Al Qrinawi, a Palestinian journalist and the editor at the local Snd news agency, was killed along with his wife and their three children, in an Israeli airstrike on Al Bureij refugee camp in central Gaza Strip, according to his outlet and multiple news reports.

ABC News and anchor George Stephanopoulos agreed to settle a defamation suit brought by President-elect Trump by issuing a public apology and providing $15 million to fund Trump’s future presidential library, according to court documents filed Saturday.

The settlement enables both the anchor and Trump to avoid sitting for court-ordered depositions next week.

Trump sued the network and the anchor in March after Stephanopoulos repeatedly said during a “This Week” interview that a jury found Trump “liable for rape” in a lawsuit brought by advice columnist E. Jean Carroll. The jury had found Trump liable for sexual abuse under New York law, but not rape.

Under the settlement agreement, the network will put the $15 million in escrow to ultimately be used toward Trump’s future presidential library and foundation. ABC also agreed to pay $1 million in attorneys’ fees and add an editors’ note to the bottom of the relevant article, court documents show.

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Rupert Murdoch’s three adult children will retain control over their father’s media empire upon his death, a Nevada court has ruled after Murdoch launched a campaign to wrest away their power and give it all to his oldest son.

The New York Times reported on Murdoch’s loss, citing a sealed court decision that was filed on Saturday. The family battle took place outside of the public’s eye, despite attempts from the media to gain access to the trial.

Murdoch took three of his adult children, James, Elisabeth and Prudence, to court as he tried to completely remove their voting power over the trust Murdoch set up. The current trust structure gives all four adult children equal voting power over Murdoch’s empire, which includes Fox News and News Corp, but Murdoch wanted to give Lachlan, his oldest son and most likeminded child, complete control over the media companies. The change would have only impacted the voting power of the siblings, not their financial inheritance.

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The United States has launched airstrikes against ISIS camps in Syria, U.S. Central Command (CENTCOM) said in a statement.

The operation consisted of “dozens of precision airstrikes” and struck more than 75 targets in central Syria using Air Force assets, including B-52s, F-15s and A-10s.

“The strikes against the ISIS leaders, operatives, and camps were conducted as part of the ongoing mission to disrupt, degrade and defeat ISIS, in order to prevent the terrorist group from conducting external operations and to ensure that ISIS does not seek to take advantage of the current situation to reconstitute in central Syria,” CENTCOM’s statement said.