Received this email from a friend? Sign up here.

TGIF. Here's the latest from Dana Bash, Fred Pleitgen, Jay Caspian Kang, Meenakshi Ravi, Maggie Haberman, Tucker Carlson, Axel Springer and more...

Reporting under Israel's military censor during wartime

As the war in Iran continues, we'll endeavor to explain how reporters are gathering info from the war zone and why their work is trustworthy. 

Today we'll begin with CNN's Jerusalem bureau chief Oren Liebermann, who has filed a really helpful piece for CNN.com about what it's like to report under Israel's military censor during wartime. 

"Every reporter in Israel — and every member of the public — is subject to a military censor," Liebermann writes. "On the grounds of national security, the regulation authorizes the censor to prohibit reporting or broadcasting any material that could reveal sensitive information or pose a threat to the country's security interests."

"This is particularly sensitive during wartime," he writes, as "the military censor has made clear that broadcasting any images that reveal the location of interceptor missiles or military sites hit by enemy projectiles is forbidden, especially in live broadcasts."

Crucially, though, "it does not give the censor any editorial control over CNN’s coverage at all. It does allow them to make sure no sensitive information is unintentionally revealed. CNN has been transparent about this process when we go through it."

How Israel's censorship rules have been tightened

There has been some misinformation about this subject on social media this week, so I'm grateful to Liebermann for explaining it.

Normally, he writes, "the international media would only deal with the censor on embeds with the Israel Defense Forces. Reporting teams would shoot video and allow the censor to review the footage before it airs, a standard practice for embeds with other militaries as well. CNN has reached agreements with the US military before joining missions or seeing certain training exercises."

But the rules in Israel have tightened in this war.

"After the Hamas-led attack on October 7, 2023, when Hamas launched thousands of rockets at Israel, there was no problem showing intercepts in the skies over southern and central Israel," he writes. "Now the censor has prohibited live broadcasts showing the interception of Iranian ballistic missiles, even as the vast majority have been stopped.

So, the key takeaway from Liebermann: "CNN has not submitted any video to the censor for review since the war started on Saturday morning. But the censor does prohibit us from putting out live broadcasts of intercepts that could reveal the accuracy of Iranian ballistic missiles or the location of interceptor missile arrays." 

A misunderstanding of foreign reporting basics...

There has also been some misinfo about the circumstances of CNN correspondent Fred Pleitgen and photojournalist Claudia Otto's reporting from inside Iran.

Yesterday, when the CNN team first entered the country, "a senior Trump administration official accused CNN of spreading 'pro-Iran regime propaganda,'" Mediaite's David Gilmour wrote.

The criticism of Pleitgen is unfair and suggests an all-too-common unfamiliarity with the basic tenets of journalism. Foreign correspondents want to "go there," as that old CNN marketing campaign said, and tell the rest of us what's happening. It was helpful, then, to hear Pleitgen report on everyday life at a gas station along a highway to Tehran. "You just don't see any sort of degree of panic anywhere," he said.

A State Department official, Dylan Johnson, had an over-the-top reaction to Pleitgen's straightforward report. Johnson implied on X that the Iranians bought off Pleitgen for the low price of a cup of coffee, since the correspondent was holding one in his video. Pleitgen responded to Johnson, "I bought the coffee."

 >> CNN is also being transparent: Pleitgen's dispatches — like this one labeled "on the ground in Tehran" — are accompanied by a note that "CNN operates in Iran only with government permission."

Hearing from Iranians, one voice note at a time

Another way to glean info from inside Iran: voice notes from civilians using virtual private networks (VPNs) to get around the ongoing internet blackout. CNN's Leila Gharagozlou has been listening to the notes and sharing them with viewers. (Here's one of her IG videos from yesterday.)

Today, a Tehran resident told her, "There's no information and communication" right now: "Sure, the satellite TV tells you some of the news, but really, it's the Telegram channels that give people information and allow people to tell each other what is going on. Blocking those has made a big impact."

 >> Related: CNN's team has a new story about Iranians feeling "trapped." The story notes that many of the sources "spoke to CNN under the condition of anonymity, citing concerns for their safety."

Trump: 'I hope you're impressed'

President Trump continues to talk with reporters by phone — an "unconventional" media strategy that WaPo's Scott Nover and Liam Scott analyzed earlier this week. This morning, Trump spoke with CNN anchor Dana Bash and asserted that Cuba "is going to fall pretty soon."

I was struck by this part of Trump's call with ABC's Jon Karl yesterday: Trump said, "I hope you are impressed. How do you like the performance? I mean, Venezuela is obvious. This might be even better. How do you like the performance?"

When Karl "said nobody questions the success of the military operation, the concern is what happens next," Trump said, "Forget about next..."

A POV from Al Jazeera's media critic

Al Jazeera English's media criticism arm, The Listening Post, is always worth listening in on. (See what I did there?) In this new video, executive producer Meenakshi Ravi makes the case that "when the US and its allies go to war, the media ecosystems around them too often fall into line, building narratives and finding voices that help reframe wars of aggression as wars of liberation."

'The No-Explanation War'

That's the headline on Jay Caspian Kang's latest for The New Yorker. "The Trump administration has decided that it need not make a case for military action," he writes. "In the current media environment, that approach makes a disturbing kind of sense."

Kang says the administration is exploiting the disorienting feeling of our digital age: "We are aware that stuff is happening that we should care about, but the fog of bullshit surrounding this stuff is so thick that we can barely make out its shape or heft." Read the full column here...

Key hearing in NYT v. Pentagon this morning

CNN's Devan Cole writes: A federal judge is set to hear arguments this morning in The New York Times' challenge to the Pentagon's restrictive press policy. The hearing is before senior US District Judge Paul Friedman.

 >> The Times challenged the Pentagon's press pass rules late last year, alleging violations of the First Amendment and due process rights. The publication is asking the judge to declare it unlawful and block the Pentagon from enforcing it. 

 >> "The First Amendment flatly prohibits the government from granting itself the unbridled power to restrict speech because the mere existence of such arbitrary authority can lead to self-censorship," lawyers for the Times told the judge in court papers.

Did the reporting about Noem finally catch up to her?

"For Kristi Noem, it was one controversy too many." And now "she is the first Cabinet member to be fired by President Trump during his second term," Kaitlan Collins said on "The Source" last night.

Collins and her guest, Maggie Haberman, highlighted a few media angles about Sen. Markwayne Mullin taking over for Noem.

For one, "there has been a crush of reporting recently" about Noem and Homeland Security, Haberman said. This ProPublica headline from last November was pivotal: "Firm Tied to Kristi Noem Secretly Got Money From $220 Million DHS Ad Contracts."

"It took this long, though, for it" to reach Trump, Collins said, even though Noem's opponents had been "trying to get this in front of the president for months."

 >> As for Mullin, "he is often on TV," and "the president loves watching" him, Collins said.

Nashville reporter detained by ICE

Estefany Rodríguez Flores, a reporter for Nashville Noticias and Univision 42 Nashville, was detained by ICE on Wednesday, and she is apparently still in custody this morning. Her attorneys have filed an emergency petition on her behalf.

Per Reuters, Flores is "from Colombia, has lived in the U.S. for five years, and 'frequently reports on stories critical of ⁠ICE,' her lawyers said." She previously filed for asylum and has been pursuing lawful permanent resident status, according to the legal filing.

Trump vs. Tucker continues...

In that aforementioned phone call with Jon Karl, Trump said Iran war critic Tucker Carlson is not MAGA: "MAGA is saving our country. MAGA is making our country great again. MAGA is America first, and Tucker is none of those things. And Tucker is really not smart enough to understand that."

 >> Carlson responded by telling Oliver Darcy, "There are times I get annoyed with Trump, right now definitely included. But I'll always love him no matter what he says about me."

NEW THIS MORNING

Axel Springer agrees to buy The Telegraph

Liam Reilly writes: Axel Springer has acquired the Telegraph Media Group for $766 million, outbidding a previous offer from the Daily Mail's owner. The deal still faces regulatory scrutiny from the UK's Department of Culture, Media and Sport. In a statement, Axel Springer CEO Mathias Döpfner said the company aims to grow The Telegraph into "the most read and intellectually inspiring center-right media outlet in the English-speaking world." Axel Springer also emphasized plans to expand the publication's US footprint. The WSJ has more on the deal here...

ICYMI from David Ellison...

Paramount CEO David Ellison lauded CNN as "an incredible brand with an incredible team" during yesterday's interview on CNBC. If you missed it, we recapped his comments here...

SNEAK PEEK

HuffPost launches 'Voices of Disabled People'

Liam Reilly writes: HuffPost is launching Voices of Disabled People, a new section dedicated to covering disability. The vertical — part of HuffPost Voices — is the first of its kind at a major outlet and debuts as the 2026 Paralympics kick off. Its inaugural piece is an exclusive interview with hard-of-hearing professional dancer Samantha Figgins.

 >> "With Voices of Disabled People, we are creating a dedicated space where individuals can share their stories authentically, on their own terms, and without being reduced to narratives of limitation or struggle," HuffPost Voices Director Raj Punjabi-Johnson said.

Briefly…

 >> This morning, Trump has "posted 8 times in the last 5 minutes about his feud with Bill Maher from last month," VF's Aidan McLaughlin observes. (X)

 >> "More than 200 journalists at Law360, a legal news outlet, and its sister publications have signed a letter demanding that their parent company RELX drop its contract" with Homeland Security, Angela Fu reports. (Poynter)

 >> "FIFA will allow broadcasters to cut away to advertisements during the 'hydration breaks' that will split up each half of every 2026 World Cup match," Henry Bushnell notes. (NYT)

 >> Sen. Mike Lee has sent a letter to the DOJ and FTC "calling for an antitrust review of the NFL's dealings with streaming platforms," Lucas Manfredi reports. (TheWrap)

Lawsuit challenges Trump's TikTok deal

The Public Integrity Project, a new anti-corruption group, has filed a lawsuit against Trump and A.G. Pam Bondi "over the deal that sold TikTok's U.S. operation to a group of administration-backed investors," NBC's Ryan Reilly reports.

The suit argues that "the deal violates a law intended to prevent the spread of Chinese government propaganda and has enriched Trump's allies," Reilly writes. The DOJ declined to comment and TikTok U.S. didn’t respond to requests for comment...

More of today's tech talk

 >> "Anthropic says the Pentagon's supply chain risk label will have less business impact than feared," Hadas Gold writes. (CNN)

 >> Elon Musk testified in court this week as he defended himself against a class action lawsuit claiming he misled Twitter investors "and caused them to lose millions of dollars," Barbara Ortutay reports. (AP)

 >> Meta "is facing a new lawsuit over its AI smart glasses and their lack of privacy, after an investigation by Swedish newspapers found that workers at a Kenya-based subcontractor are reviewing footage from customers' glasses, which included sensitive content, like nudity, people having sex, and using the toilet," Sarah Perez reports. (TechCrunch)

 >> Roblox "is using AI to alter the content of chat messages on its platform in real time," Stevie Bonifield writes. Roblox says banned words and phrases can now be "translated into more respectful language." Imagine if there was a swear filter like this in your offline life...! (The Verge)

Netflix acquires Ben Affleck's AI startup

Netflix is buying Ben Affleck's InterPositive, giving the streaming giant "an AI-powered filmmaking technology company that Affleck quietly founded a few years ago," THR's Alex Weprin reports. This feels like a big deal, for all the reasons Weprin outlines here...

A few more Hollywood headlines

 >> Last night Jimmy Fallon serenaded Stephen Colbert with a swan song of sorts — a personalized version of "My Way," recast as "Stephen's Way," with jokey references to Trump and "The Colbert Report." (YouTube)

 >> "Disney is looking to crank up its streaming subscriber numbers for the first quarter of 2026 — introducing a 62% price discount on the ad-supported Disney+/Hulu bundle for a three-month period," Todd Spangler writes. (Variety)

 >> Oscars voting has officially closed ahead of the award show next Sunday. "It's difficult to find another year when the race was this wide open, this late in the game," Dan Heching writes. (CNN)

This edition of Reliable Sources was edited by Andrew Kirell and produced with Liam Reilly. Email us your feedback and tips here.