DAVID BAUDER Media Writer, Author at The Rapid City Post

FILE - FOX Business Network anchor Maria Bartiromo, right, arrives at the White House, March 6, 2025, in Washington. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon, File)

Defamation case against Fox News highlights role of its hosts in promoting 2020 election falsehoods

August 21, 2025

A $2.7 billion defamation lawsuit against Fox News for its coverage after the 2020 presidential election focuses on the roles of hosts Jeanine Pirro, Maria Bartiromo and Lou Dobbs in spreading false stories about fraud in Democrat Joe Biden’s victory over President Donald Trump. New details about Fox’s coverage emerged in court papers filed in New York this week in a case brought by the Smartmatic election technology company. Pirro, now U.S. attorney in Washington, D.C., and the other two hosts were most active in spreading conspiracy theories, even though most at Fox knew they were untrue, court records show. Fox has said it was covering the news and accuses Smartmatic of exaggerating claims.

Rough times for broadcast networks illustrate changing media landscape

July 15, 2025

Two milestones revealed this week illustrated the diminishing power of broadcast television in a new media world. Nielsen said Tuesday that the number of people who watched streaming services in June exceeded those who were watching broadcast and cable television. That’s only happened one time before — in May — but that was only by a fraction of a percentage point. The margin widened considerably in June, driven in large part by young people who got out of school and have more time to watch shows like “Ginny & Georgia” and “Squid Game” on Netflix. Fox News Channel last week eclipsed all of the broadcast networks in prime-time weeknight viewing for the third week in a row.

This photo combination shows Jon Stewart, left, posing for a photo outside the Department of Veterans Affairs, July 26, 2024, in Washington and Stephen Colbert being interviewed at The Vatican, June 14, 2024. (AP Photo/Kevin Wolf, Riccardo De Luca)

The Paramount comics, Colbert and Stewart, are sharp critics of the ’60 Minutes’ deal

July 15, 2025

Stephen Colbert returned from vacation loaded for bear. The CBS late-night comic referred to the settlement between his parent company, Paramount Global, and President Donald Trump over a “60 Minutes” interview as a “big, fat bribe.” The deal was made while Paramount is awaiting Trump administration approval of its sale to Skydance Media. Colbert’s comments on his show Monday came a week after Jon Stewart of Comedy Central, another Paramount-owned company

Jane Ferguson, founder of Noosphere, and Sebastian Walker, head of content, are photographed in the site's office, in New York, Wednesday, June 25, 2025. (AP Photo/Richard Drew)

Award-winning international correspondent launches a new journalism platform

July 2, 2025

Reporting in Somalia, Afghanistan and Syria was tough work for reporter Jane Ferguson. So is launching a new journalism platform from scratch. That’s Ferguson’s latest project — Noosphere, a subscription-based site for independent reporters looking for a place to showcase their work. Some are international reporters she knew from the field, but Ferguson also has signed on some domestic U.S. reporters, including former “Meet the Press” moderator Chuck Todd and Chris Cillizza, formerly of CNN. Ferguson says founding the startup is a high pressure challenge, but that she’s “used to pressure in the field.”

The queens of collaboration in Lucius are finding themselves again musically

June 3, 2025

Singers Holly Laessig and Jess Wolfe have worked with a roster of greats in the two decades they’ve been together — people like Harry Styles, Brandi Carlile, Sheryl Crow, Jeff Tweedy and the Killers. They showed up for one of Joni Mitchell’s “Joni Jams” and performed one of Paul McCartney’s lesser-known songs for him. They played on tour in Roger Waters’ band. All those collaborations bring a danger, too, that they lose themselves and their own music in other people’s worlds. They self-produced and used the simple title “Lucius” for a new album, even though it’s their fourth disc, and say it feels like they’ve come home.

FILE - The CBS Broadcast Center is 0n 57th Street in New York City on April 20, 2023. (AP Photo/Ted Shaffrey, File)

Trump suffered ‘mental anguish’ from disputed CBS News interview with Harris, lawyer says

May 29, 2025

Donald Trump’s lawyer says that the president suffered “mental anguish” from CBS News’ editing of an interview last fall with his Democratic election opponent Kamala Harris. That argument was made in court papers opposing Paramount Global’s efforts to get Trump’s $40 billion lawsuit dismissed. Trump has claimed the interview was edited to make Harris look good, a contention that CBS and its parent company Paramount reject. Nevertheless, Paramount and Trump lawyers are engaged in settlement talks, which could lead to some trouble of its own. A press advocacy group that says it is a Paramount shareholder says it will sue if there is a settlement.

FILE - The Philadelphia Inquirer and Daily News building in Philadelphia is shown in a file photo from Tuesday, Jan. 2, 2007. (AP Photo/Matt Rourke, File)

Fictional fiction: A newspaper’s summer book list recommends nonexistent books. Blame AI

May 21, 2025

There’s another artificial intelligence blunder impacting news organizations. The content distributor King Features said it was firing a writer who produced a recommended summer reading list that contains non-existent books. The writer admitted to using AI to help him on the story, and took full responsibility for the mistake. His feature was carried in special sections that were included during the past week in the Chicago Sun-Times and Philadelphia Inquirer. The newspapers involved said they’re stripping the special section, titled “Heat Index,” from their digital editions and investigating to see whether it contained any other false material.

DAVID BAUDER Media Writer.