She Called Journalists “Monsters”and Liars

Hey there, Meteor readers,

We are entering that special time of the year I like to call The Vortex, where time is meaningless and we are all just hauling ourselves across various finish lines. But before we fully get sucked in, I’ve got a special request.

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In today’s newsletter, we turn to Trump’s latest hire. Plus, your weekend reading list.

With appreciation,

Shannon Melero

WHAT’S GOING ON

Another one: Yes, we are talking about yet another questionable Trump appointee, but this one hits uncomfortably close to home for those of us who work in media. Yesterday, Donald Trump announced that he’d nominated former news anchor, election denier, and known hater of the free press Kari Lake to be the new head of Voice of America.

A little refresher on VOA: It’s a federally funded international news provider that reaches more than 300 million people. Congress gives VOA $300 million a year, a sum Kari Lake would be responsible for managing despite her calls in 2022 to defund the media. The entire mission of VOA is to provide unbiased, fact-forward news and the organization even has a “firewall” rule which “prohibits interference by any U.S. government official in the objective, independent reporting of news.”

This won’t be the first time a Trump loyalist has been given power over VOA. In 2020, Trump put one of his cronies, Michael Pack, in charge of the U.S. Agency for Global Media, which oversees VOA, and a judge found that he’d violated the First Amendment rights of VOA journalists and employees by attempting to censor and retaliate against those he deemed “insufficiently supportive of President Trump.”

This time, we’ve got a woman who knowingly spreads disinformation and refers to journalists as “monsters,” a Republican-controlled Congress, and a news organization that relies on both journalists and Congress to function. What could possibly go wrong?

Well, in the absolute worst-case scenario: You could end up with government-funded media that is loyal not to facts, but to one man’s agenda of revenge. That leaves the door open for worsening levels of misinformation that could border on propaganda. I hate to throw around that P word, but it’s gravely concerning that someone with such disdain for the truth could be given this much power over the telling of it.

AND:

• Speaking of the man with the fake tan, Donald Trump has been named Time’s 2024 Person of the Year again. It’s frustrating but unsurprising; president-elects are typically chosen for this honor. But the accompanying profile is too much: “The world’s most powerful man entered with an air of unhurried bonhomie.” Describing this septuagenarian—who cannot string two cohesive sentences together and tried to overthrow the government—the way you might a movie star (“she entered with unhurried bonhomie, sipping her Erewhon smoothie”)? Absolutely not.

• Yesterday FIFA announced that Saudi Arabia will host the 2034 World Cup in Riyadh. This marks the biggest acquisition in the kingdom’s yearslong mission to become a global sporting destination—or, as others see it, sportswashing their human rights abuses. Saudi has also put in a bid to be the host of the 2035 Women’s World Cup, which begs the question: What (if any) policy changes are the kingdom willing to roll out in the next ten years, and will athletes who speak out against Saudi’s discriminatory practices be safe?

• The United Kingdom will be making its ban on puberty blockers for minors permanent after a temporary ban was introduced in May. “It is a scandal that medicine was given to vulnerable children without the proof that it was safe or effective,” Health Minister Wes Streeting charges. But trans rights advocates and others who oppose the bans have called them discriminatory. However, this ban does not apply to the upcoming National Health Service clinical trial, which will study the effects of the drugs on minors to find out whether Streeting and others are right. Should the results show the drugs to be safe, the ban could be overturned when it is next reviewed in 2027.

• Meanwhile, in Montana, some good news on the subject: The state’s supreme court has upheld a lower court ruling that will allow gender-affirming care for minors to continue while a current proposed ban works its way through the legal system. An attorney involved in the case said, “The Montana Supreme Court understands the danger of the state interfering with critical healthcare.” Wow, it’s almost like healthcare decisions should be up to doctors and not lawmakers. What a thought!

WEEKEND READING 📚

On a growing movement: No one thought Puerto Rico’s Alliance coalition could win the election. But more than a hundred years of history points to exactly why their candidate, Juan Dalmau, came so close. (Truthout)

On the other property brothers: Three brothers, two of whom were luxury real estate brokers, were arrested for their roles in a 14-year-long sex trafficking scheme. Their story is so heinous, it reads like an implausible horror film. (New York Times)

On money and menopause: Millennial women are entering perimenopause in droves, and a new wave of health-adjacent companies are taking notice. In Retrospect co-host Jessica Bennett dives into what’s real and what’s a scam. (The Cut)

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