Fox News Has Used This 'Convenient Distraction' To Depart From Epstein Coverage: Report
The conservative network mentioned Sweeney — whose 'great jeans' ad has generated backlash amid accusations that it glorified whiteness and nods to eugenics — on 62 occasions with a total of 85 minutes of coverage from Monday to midday Thursday, according to the nonprofit media watchdog.
Epstein received 14 mentions and was 'often brought up in passing or short headline reports,' adding up to a total of under three minutes of coverage, per the report.
The analysis also found that CNN, Newsmax and MSNBC mentioned Epstein overwhelmingly more than Sweeney in the same timespan, with the latter outlet not referring to the 'Euphoria' actor whatsoever.
The fixation on Sweeney marked a departure from covering the fallout of the Trump administration's handling of the Epstein files in the same week that the president didn't rule out pardoning the late sex offender's accomplice, Ghislaine Maxwell.
The president has also recently implied that Epstein 'stole' Virginia Giuffre — one of his most prominent accusers — from his Mar-a-Lago spa, comments that her family has since described as 'shocking.'
MMFA's latest findings arrive a week after its report that Fox News turned its attention toward a 'familiar boogeyman' in Barack Obama instead of covering Epstein, mentioning the ex-president three times more than the disgraced financier from July 18 to midday July 23.
Related...
Trump Fumes Over 'Loser' Fox News Host Moments After Her NYC Shooting Take
James Carville Gives Fox News Viewers Uncomfortable Reminder About Jeffrey Epstein
Fox News Apparently 'Largely Obeyed' This Trump Order On Epstein, New Report Finds
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Yahoo
6 minutes ago
- Yahoo
Broken Promise: Rate Hikes Guaranteed, Coverage Expansion Dubious, After Lara's Secretive Model Reviews, says Consumer Watchdog
LOS ANGELES, Aug. 1, 2025 /PRNewswire/ -- Insurance Commissioner Ricardo Lara is breaking his promise to Californians by guaranteeing rate hikes without guaranteeing more coverage, said Consumer Watchdog today, following his approval of another black-box wildfire model for use in pricing home insurance. The confidential closed-door review of a model owned by insurance ratings agency Moody's, and two others over the last week, confirmed that modeling companies will not have to provide regulators or the public access to their models. The models' inner workings remain secret, denying regulators and the public the ability to test the validity of the rate hikes they will now drive. Switch Auto Insurance and Save Today! Great Rates and Award-Winning Service The Insurance Savings You Expect Affordable Auto Insurance, Customized for You Lara's actions implement part of his deal with the insurance industry allowing them to use secret models to raise rates without public justification of the reasons for those increases. In return, Lara promised Californians he would expand access to home insurance in wildfire areas. However, the rules implementing that promise give insurance companies multiple ways to avoid selling more policies to those who have lost coverage. "Lara made a deal with the industry: let them raise rates with secret models, and in return, they'd offer more coverage in wildfire zones," said Carmen Balber, executive director of Consumer Watchdog. "Today's action fulfills the industry's wish list. But for consumers, the promised coverage has vanished into a maze of loopholes and delays. Nothing in the rules guarantees new sales to those who were non-renewed and dumped on the FAIR Plan." "Today's announcement is just more public relations cover for a strategy that is a direct assault on the transparency that Californians rely on to hold insurance companies accountable," said Will Pletcher, Litigation Director at Consumer Watchdog. Secret Models Guarantee Rate Hikes: The Department's review of the Moody's and Verisk wildfire catastrophe models — algorithmic pricing models insurance companies will now be allowed to use to increase rates in future rate filings—was conducted through a secretive, closed-door process known as PRID (Pre-Application Required Information Determination). While Commissioner Lara claims the review was open to the public, PRID lacks the procedural safeguards, transparency, and public access required under Proposition 103. The commissioner's action will replace the current use of transparent data about wildfire claims to set prices with the unverified predictions of these algorithmic pricing models. "You can't claim public participation while locking the public out of the data and deliberations that will now determine billions in future premiums," said Pletcher. "This is the antithesis of Proposition 103, which requires insurance companies to justify rate hikes in full view of the public." No Guarantee of More Insurance Sales to Consumers: The Insurance Commissioner has widely claimed that insurance companies will have to cover more homeowners in exchange for the right to raise rates with these models' secret algorithms. However, the text of the regulation contains no such guarantee. As Consumer Watchdog has documented, the rule is riddled with loopholes allowing insurance companies to opt for token compliance rather than meaningful expansion. The regulation says insurance companies may commit to selling a number of policies in wildfire areas equal to 85% of their market share in less-risky areas. But it also allows insurance companies to instead say they will increase coverage in fire areas by just 5 percent. Companies may also opt for a third, undefined, "alternative commitment." The loopholes are explained in this KGO-TV story. Insurance companies then do not have to report they've met their commitments until two years after their rate hikes take effect. If after two years they have not sold more policies as promised, the regulation allows insurers to change their commitments. And there are no mandated penalties if a company fails. Ultimately, insurers may never be held responsible for increasing sales to Californians, said Consumer Watchdog. Moody's and Verisk's significant financial conflicts of interest have also been ignored. The largest shareholder of insurance rating agency Moody's RMS is Berkshire Hathaway, through the Warren Buffett-owned insurance companies National Indemnity Co. and GEICO. Wall Street financial services companies The Vanguard Group and BlackRock Inc., which manage hundreds of billions in assets for insurance clients, are the second and third largest shareholders of Moody's. Vanguard and BlackRockare the largest shareholders of Verisk. These shareholders benefit financially if models push rates too high, and this conflict creates powerful financial incentives to use the models' undisclosed algorithms to artificially inflate insurance rates, said Consumer Watchdog. Meanwhile, private insurers continue to drive more and more Californians onto the FAIR Plan—which now covers nearly 600,000 policyholders statewide. Without enforceable requirements and stronger accountability, Lara's strategy won't deliver real coverage—it will entrench an overpriced, under–serving system where consumers lose and insurers win. View original content to download multimedia: SOURCE Consumer Watchdog Sign in to access your portfolio
Yahoo
6 minutes ago
- Yahoo
US sprint star Richardson out of trials following arrest
US sprint star Sha'Carri Richardson withdrew from the US Track and Field Championships in Oregon on Friday as it emerged she had been arrested and held at an airport detention center days earlier. Reigning world 100m champion Richardson, one of US sprinting's biggest stars, was held by police at Seattle-Tacoma International Airport on Sunday. Local correctional facility records showed she was released on Monday but did not specify any charges or the reason for the 25-year-old's arrest. Port of Seattle Police did not immediately respond to a request for further information. Richardson's management team also did not reply to a request for comment. News of Richardson's arrest came as USA Track and Field confirmed she would play no further part in this week's championships in Eugene after racing in the opening heats of the women's 100m on Thursday. Richardson -- who famously was barred from competing at the Tokyo Olympics in 2021 after testing positive for marijuana use after her victory at the US trials -- gave no clue of fresh controversy in her private life after her heat on Thursday. The Texan star laughed and joked with journalists as she discussed her form and fitness heading into September's World Championships in Tokyo. She did not mention her arrest earlier in the week and was not asked about it. As a defending world champion, Richardson already has a bye into the World Championships in Japan, and was under no obligation to race in Eugene this week. She clocked her fastest 100m of the season in Thursday's heat, with a time of 11.07sec. She had been due to run in this weekend's 200m but a USATF spokesman said she had scratched from both the 100m and 200m. Richardson's name remained on the 200m start list late Friday. A smiling Richardson said on Thursday she had been happy to compete in Eugene knowing that her place on the team for Tokyo was already assured. "USA is one of the hardest teams to make, so it definitely is a kind of a release of pressure knowing I have a bye," she told AFP. "It feels really good to not have that pressure and still be able to go to Tokyo. "Right now I'm cruising under the radar, but when it's time to hit -- it's gonna be a bang where y'all see my name," she said. Richardson's exit came as men's 100m world champion Noah Lyles withdrew from the remaining rounds of the short sprint. Lyles, who is also already qualified for Tokyo, will race in the 200m on Sunday. Olympic women's 200m champion Gabby Thomas has also withdrawn from the rest of the 100m, and will focus on the 200m. rcw/bb
Yahoo
6 minutes ago
- Yahoo
Who is Erika McEntarfer, the Bureau of Labor Statistics commissioner fired by Trump?
WASHINGTON (AP) — The head of the agency that compiles the closely watched monthly jobs report usually toils in obscurity, but on Friday, the current holder of that job was loudly fired by the president of the United States. Erika McEntarfer, a longtime government employee, bore the brunt of President Donald Trump's unhappiness with Friday's jobs report, which showed that hiring had slowed in July and was much less in May and June that previously estimated. He accused her without evidence of manipulating the job numbers and noted she was an appointee of President Joe Biden. McEntarfer, a longtime government worker who had served as BLS head for a year and a half, did not immediately respond to a request for comment by The Associated Press. But her predecessor overseeing the jobs agency, former co-workers and associates have denounced the firing, warning about its repercussions and saying McEntarfer was nonpolitical in her role. Here's what to know about Erika McEntarfer: McEntarfer has a strong background on economics McEntarfer, whose research focuses on job loss, retirement, worker mobility, and wage rigidity, had previously worked at the Census Bureau's Center for Economic Studies, the Treasury Department's Office of Tax Policy and the White House Council of Economic Advisers in a nonpolitical role. She has a bachelor's degree in Social Science from Bard College and a doctoral degree in economics from Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University. She was confirmed as BLS head on a bipartisan vote McEntarfer was nominated in 2023 to serve as BLS head, and the Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor and Pensions recommended that her nomination go to the full Senate for a vote. She was confirmed as BLS commissioner in January 2024 on a bipartisan 86-8 Senate vote. Among the Republican senators who voted to confirm her included then-Sen. JD Vance of Ohio, who is now Trump's vice president, and then-Sen. Marco Rubio of Florida, who is now Trump's secretary of state. Before her confirmation hearing, a group called the Friends of the BLS, made up of former commissioners who served in both Democratic and Republican administrations, members of statistical associations and credentialed economists, said McEntarfer's background made her a great choice for the job. 'The many reasons to quickly confirm Dr. McEntarfer as the new BLS Commissioner all boil down to this: the agency, like the entire statistical system, is undergoing an intense, significant period of change and Dr. McEntarfer's wealth of research and statistical experience have equipped her to be the strong leader that BLS needs to meet these challenges,' Friends of the BLS wrote. Her former associates and co-workers decry her firing William Beach, who was appointed BLS commissioner in 2019 by Trump and served until 2023 during President Joe Biden's administration, called McEntarfer's firing 'groundless' and said in an X post that it 'sets a dangerous precedent and undermines the statistical mission of the Bureau.' Former Labor Department chief economist Sarah J. Glynn, who received regular briefings from McEntarfer about BLS findings, said McEntarfer was generous with her time explaining what conclusions could or couldn't be reached from the data. If the data didn't support something an administration official was saying, McEntarfer would say so, Glynn said. She also never weighed in on how the administration should present or interpret the data, Glynn said — she would simply answer questions about the data. 'She had a sterling reputation as someone who is concerned about the accuracy of the data and not someone who puts a political spin on her work,' Glynn said. Heather Boushey, a senior research fellow at Harvard University, served with McEntarfer on the White House Council of Economic Advisers and said McEntarfer never talked politics at work. 'She showed up every day to focus on the best analysis and the best approach to her field and not get political. That is what I saw from her time and again. She is brilliant and well-respected among labor economists generally,' Boushey said. 'She wasn't coming into my office to talk politics or the political implications of something. She definitely wasn't engaging on that side of things.' ___ Olson reported from New York. Associated Press writer Christopher Rugaber in Washington contributed to this report. Fatima Hussein And Alexandra Olson, The Associated Press
