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All niceties have been thrown out the window as DirecTV finds itself ensnared in an ugly carriage dispute with Newsmax.

The satellite carrier, which refuses to buckle to pressure and pay millions of dollars to broadcast the network's low-rated programming, unleashed on the right-wing talk channel on Tuesday.

In a letter sent to prominent Jewish Newsmax supporters who had expressed concern about the matter, DirecTV effectively accused the network of waging a dishonest pressure campaign against the company that mischaracterized a run-of-the-mill carriage dispute as a nefarious act of anti-conservative censorship.

"Put simply, this is a typical business dispute that has nothing to do with ideology, politics or censorship – despite unfounded accusations to the contrary by Newsmax, its CEO, its commentators and others," DirecTV said.

At the center of the dispute: Newsmax has demanded DirecTV pay millions in carriage fees to continue including the channel in its lineup. DirecTV has refused, saying that it does not want to pass on added costs to its subscribers for a channel that a small percentage of viewers actually watch. DirecTV has also balked at paying for the same content that streams to users for free on other platforms, such as Roku.

But Newsmax — and Republican lawmakers on Capitol Hill — have advanced a wholly different narrative, one unsupported by the facts in the case. They've accused DirecTV — which just added another right-wing talk channel to its lineup — of censoring conservative voices. 

Newsmax, led by Chris Ruddy, who is well-connected in GOP circles, has in recent weeks used its platform and political power to pressure DirecTV into paying up.

DirecTV said that it found such behavior "troubling," calling out Newsmax for promoting "inaccurate and misleading information" about the dispute as it publishes an endless stream of content targeting the satellite carrier. 

"In our view these efforts are obscuring facts in pursuit of Newsmax’s own commercial interests," DirecTV said, "not elucidating the news."

Newsmax did not respond to a request for comment on Tuesday evening. 

However, the letter from DirecTV comes as Republicans on Capitol Hill continue to hint that they will hold a hearing about the matter. GOP Rep. Bryon Donalds, a House Oversight Committee member, told Newsmax this week that Republicans are "definitely looking into" holding a hearing.

"We obviously have an issue with a lot of media companies silencing conservative thought and conservative speech," Donalds said, "and the one thing we're committed to is doing everything we can to put an end to it."

———  BELOW THE FOLD  ———

Off the Rails:  The Ohio train disaster is finally getting a good dose of national media attention — as evidenced by both Fox News and MSNBC leading with the story in the 8pm hour. But the environmental hazard is being covered in dramatically different ways. Over on Fox News, Tucker Carlson spotlighted the issue, while also repeatedly mocking Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg's sexuality. Carlson accused Buttigieg of being "flamboyantly incompetent," telling his audience that it is "almost to the point of evil." And Carlson, who advances white nationalist themes on his program, asserted to viewers that the reason the Ohio situation hadn't received more attention was because it was impacting a predominantly white community.

Carlson was effectively helping Chris Hayes make his point over on MSNBC. "Whenever there is a problem or crisis, folks on the right have got someone or some group that is out to get you — and maybe it's the openly gay secretary of transportation or fictional elites conspiring against white people," Hayes said. The MSNBC host contended that there should have "probably been better regulation" to prevent such a disaster. But he added that people like Carlson never offer "any real solutions" to such problems. Instead, Hayes argued, they choose to simply whip up their audiences into the latest culture war. He's not off the mark.

Vice's Lifeline: Vice Media "has secured more than $30 million in debt financing from Fortress Investment Group," The WSJ's Alexandra Bruell, Alexander Saeedy, and Jessica Toonkel scooped Tuesday. The trio reported that the media company owes millions to venders and advisers, some who haven't been paid in months and have referred the debts to collection agencies. The news, of course, comes as Vice tries to sell itself to a suitor. Read the full story here.

YouTube Yanks Safeguards: Misinformation is no longer a problem over at YouTube. At least, that's what one might think, given the Google-owned social media platform's recent move. The NYT's Steven Lee Myers and Nico Grant reported Tuesday that YouTube "quietly reduced its small team of policy experts in charge of handling misinformation" last month, as part of Google's mass layoffs. The cuts, the duo reported, have "left only one person in charge of misinformation policy worldwide." Read the full story here.

🔭 Zooming out: "The cuts reflect a trend across the industry that threatens to undo many of the safeguards that social media platforms put in place in recent years to ban or tamp down on disinformation," Myers and Grant write. "Faced with economic headwinds and political and legal pressure, the social media giants have shown signs that fighting false information online is no longer as high a priority."

'Father's' Alarm Over AI: Internet trailblazer Vint Cerf, known as the "father of the internet," has a warning for Google and Microsoft about rushing to activate AI tech: "Don't." Speaking at a Silicon Valley conference, Cerf acknowledged AI is a "hot topic" these days, but said there are ethical issues to consider with the technology. Cerf encouraged the conference's attendees to "be thoughtful" about how they approach AI, given "we can't always predict what's going to happen with these technologies." CNBC's Jennifer Elias has details here.

'Rust' to Resume: Production on the set of "Rust" will resume this spring following the shooting death of cinematographer Halyna Hutchins, the producers announced Tuesday. In the wake of the deadly shooting, the film will no longer use working firearms and will include "safety officers" on the set, they said. Bianca Cline will take on the role of cinematographer to complete the film, and Hutchins' widower, Matthew Hutchins, will join the project as executive producer. He will also produce a documentary about his wife's work. CNBC's Rebecca Picciotto has details here.

Thank you for reading! This newsletter was edited by Jon Passantino. Have feedback? Send us an email here. We will see you back in your inbox about this time tomorrow.