Brian Stelter

If you work in the media industry or care about the quality of the information ecosystem we all inhabit, you need to pay attention to Sora 2.

“For a brief moment in history, video was evidence of reality. Now it's a tool for unreality.” — @brianstelter.bsky.social

That is my fear. With every kind of social media, Sora will degenerate into more deepfakes, conspiracies and disinformation. Slop.

view.newsletters.cnn.com/messages/175...

Today's Reliable Sources lead:

When seeing stops believing

Thinking through what Sora, Vibes and the AI-generated-everything era means for media and society: cnn.it/46Mi204

‘The Joe Rogan Experience’ & ‘Call Her Daddy’ Among 25 Podcasts In Golden Globes Consideration The Joe Rogan Experience' and 'Call Her Daddy' are among the top 25 Podcasts in Golden Globes 2026 consideration.

Here are the 25 shows "that have qualified for the new Best Podcast category" at the Golden Globes >>> deadline.com/2025/10/gold...

Welcome to October. Here's the latest on Sora, Jane Fonda, Jimmy Kimmel, Amazon, Bari Weiss, YouTube TV, "SNL," Hunter S. Thompson, and much more...

"Arrested while covering a protest. Shot in the face with a pepper ball. Shoved to the ground and taken away on a stretcher.

Journalists have repeatedly been injured & impeded while reporting on action by masked ICE officials" view.newsletters.cnn.com/messages/175... by @brianstelter.bsky.social

Scoop: @ashleyallison.bsky.social is acquiring The Root and returning it to Black ownership. She plans to invest in video content, strike new partnerships with experts, and launch in-person experiences. "This isn't about making more content but rather about making meaning of this moment," she says

This morning's Reliable Sources:

New low for media trust; Elon targets Netflix; The Root goes back to its roots. ➕ much more here 🔗 cnn.it/4nAMul8

Experts now rate the U.S. as a "mixed" or "illiberal" democracy Experts say political violence, Trump's attacks against non-partisan agencies and institutions, and partisan gerrymandering are their top concerns

A new report from Bright Line Watch finds experts now rate the U.S. as a "mixed" or "illiberal" democracy. The rating is dragged down by Trump's attacks on institutions, a weak legislature, political violence, and partisan gerrymandering www.gelliottmorris.com/p/experts-no...

Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker has cited the treatment of reporters as part of a broader pattern. "In any other country, if federal agents fired upon journalists and protesters when unprovoked, what would we call it?" He answered: Authoritarianism. cnn.it/4pK7hUF

Journalist shot in the face with pepper ball at Illinois ICE facility protest Journalist Raven Geary was shot in the face with a pepper ball by federal officers while reporting on protests outside …

In one recent instance, Unraveled Press co-founder Raven Geary said she was struck in the cheek by a pepper ball while covering a protest in Broadview, Illinois. "To me it felt like a direct attack on reporters," she told the @pressfreedomtracker.us.

Arrested while covering a protest.

Shot in the face with a pepper ball.

Shoved to the ground and taken away on a stretcher. 

Journalists have repeatedly been injured and impeded while reporting on action by masked ICE agents in recent days.

Student journalists fight Trump’s anti-speech deportations ‘Whether working for or speaking to our newspaper, no one should fear deportation for what they have to say,’ said The Stanford Daily Editor-in-Chief Greta Reich

Corporate media could learn a thing or two from @stanforddaily.com.web.brid.gy about fighting back.

With the help of @thefireorg.bsky.social, the Daily is suing over Trump’s anti-speech deportation tactics.

Read more about why, in our interview with Editor-in-Chief Greta Reich.

🔌 Today's Reliable Sources, featuring Sora, Jane Fonda, Jimmy Kimmel, Amazon, Bari Weiss, YouTube TV, "SNL," Hunter S. Thompson, and more... cnn.it/4pK7hUF

“South Dakota Focus” (on PBS affiliates across South Dakota), “Almanac North” (on WSDE in Duluth, Minnesota) and “Headline Humboldt” (on KEET in Eureka, California) have all been cancelled in recent weeks. Broadcasters will fill some of the local holes with national programming. Ironic?

Trump and his allies argued in favor of the rescission by railing against the perceived political bias of national NPR and PBS programs.

But those programs aren’t going away. However, some LOCAL public affairs shows and newsmagazines are...

Just as a government shutdown feels distant and "political" until it affects you personally, the defunding of public media is more tangible now that stations are cutting back on programming.

The impacts are "just beginning to sink in" among the public at large, CPB CEO Patricia Harrison says.

PBS and NPR funding cuts are hitting home as government shutdown looms | CNN Business Cuts to NPR, PBS and other public media outlets have been in the news all year long, but now the federal funds have actually run out.

This is the day NPR and PBS hoped would never come: The day federal funding to the Corporation for Public Broadcasting dries up.

CPB is winding down its operations and local stations are making big changes to cope with budget shortfalls. Here's a thread about what stands out to me the most...

61% of Americans say Trump has gone "too far" in "pressuring media organizations" that treat Trump unfavorably. Even more notably, a mere 7% of Americans say he hasn't gone far enough, per this new NYT/Siena poll:

BTW, the appeals court did side with the Trump admin earlier this year, but The AP's case is still being litigated in the DC court of appeals. The newswire said yesterday that oral arguments are set for Nov. 24.

Trump telling warfighters about his war with The AP: "We won in court. How bout that? Isn't that so cool?"

Reminder that one of the first things this guy did was install a TV makeup studio at the Pentagon

Seems like an ideal outcome!

Judge suspends Trump administration's plan to eliminate hundreds of jobs at Voice of America's parent agency A U.S. district judge in D.C. ruled that the U.S. Agency for Global Media cannot implement a reduction in force eliminating 532 jobs for full-time government employees.

US Agency for Global Media acting CEO Kari Lake was hoping to institute a reduction in force at Voice of America today, but US District Judge Royce Lamberth has ordered her to hold off for the time being. A (temporary) win for sidelined VOA journalists. www.cbsnews.com/news/us-agen...

Today >> Public media staffers are saying their farewells, press freedom groups are staging a protest outside the FCC, YouTube TV and NBCU are bracing for a blackout, and Jimmy Kimmel and Stephen Colbert are visiting each others' shows. We're previewing it all here >> cnn.it/3Wlzd3D

"As the US government barrels toward a shutdown, President Donald Trump shared a racist video on social media..." www.cnn.com/2025/09/29/p...

Exclusive | YouTube to Pay $24.5 Million to Settle Lawsuit Brought by Trump The Google subsidiary is the final Big Tech company to resolve a trio of personal lawsuits that Donald Trump filed against social-media platforms.

The WSJ says YouTube "has agreed to pay $24.5 million to settle a 2021 lawsuit that President Trump brought against the company and its chief executive over its suspension of Trump’s account after that year’s riot at the U.S. Capitol." www.wsj.com/us-news/law/...

Musk’s X is ‘go-to platform’ for antisemitism, study finds | CNN Business The new year-long study found that X’s content restrictions are not having much effect on antisemitic content.

A new year long study says X is the 'go-to' platform for antisemitic content www.cnn.com/2025/09/29/b...

Pritzker: "In any other country, if federal agents fired upon journalists & protesters when unprovoked what would we call it? If officials marched down streets harassing civilians & demanding their papers, what would we say? I don't think we'd have trouble calling it what it is: authoritarianism"

Trump’s TikTok Deal Gives Control of Platform to Media Moguls President Donald Trump says he’s approved a plan that will see American investors take majority ownership and control of TikTok in the United States. Trump has confirmed a few names of those who will ...

"We're seeing a very disturbing consolidation of American mass media in the hands of big business... that is politically related to the administration."

— @jeffjarvis.bsky.social on NBC's "Sunday Today" www.today.com/video/how-tr...

After Charlie Kirk's killing, Utah Gov. Spencer Cox says we must "stop hating our fellow Americans" After the assassination of Charlie Kirk in Utah, that state's governor, Spencer Cox, called for an end to political violence and urged healthier political discourse.

Algorithms are "destroying us" — learning our political leanings and then attacking like a "pack of wolves," ⁦‪Utah Gov. Spencer Cox‬⁩ says.

"We have this collective problem... that we can't solve because we're all sucked in, and we don't know how to get out." www.cbsnews.com/news/charlie...

Whether Trump is sharing a "medbed" conspiracy theory that he sees in his social media feed, or calling Portland "war ravaged" based on what he's shown on TV, the issue is the same: Faulty sources of information.