Stop the Presses

10/14/2025

It alarms me when people complain that you can’t trust anything in the media. That’s what MAGA wants – to erode the entire concept of facts and cause us to disengage from politics, leaving all the power to them.

Despite the right-wing pressure on news outlets, some do a good job of battling disinformation and exposing Donald Trump’s power grabs. Others do a terrible job. People often ask me what journalism I trust. So today I’m handing out letter grades to some major players.

These grades are just my opinions, based on whether the outlets follow the facts to expose the assault on our democratic system.

The Guardian: A

It’s a sad sign of the failure of U.S. mainstream media that one of the most credible news outlets on American politics is run by a British-based trust. In its news and commentary, the Guardian understands what authoritarianism looks like and calls it out every day.

ProPublica: A

This news outlet is scrupulously fact-based and nonpartisan. It exposed Supreme Court corruption when the rest of the media failed to do so for decades.

The New Republic: A

This site provides news analysis, not straight news. It’s actively anti-fascist, which means anti-Trump. TNR is scrupulously fact-based, and Greg Sargent is one of the most clear-minded political observers around.

MSNBC: B+

This outlet would get a better grade if it fired Joe Scarborough and John Kasich. But on the plus side, it features stalwarts Lawrence O’Donnell, Ali Velshi, Rachel Maddow, Chris Hayes, and Nicolle Wallace. Picking up Washington Post refugee Carol Leonnig was another plus. Losing Mehdi Hasan was a minus. MSNBC is in the process of spinning off from NBC and being renamed MS NOW.