Media Research Center President David Bozell joined WMAL’s The Derek Hunter Show on Friday to break down another wild week of media hypocrisy, exposing how legacy outlets continue to hyperventilate over White House press credentials while ignoring their own collapsing audience metrics. From crying "press freedom" to defending anonymous claims and panicking over new ownership, the media's self-important posturing has reached a fever pitch.
When the Trump administration temporarily revoked credentials for outlets like CNN, MS NOW, and Politico, mainstream newsrooms immediately launched into full-scale doom-mongering about threats to democracy and First Amendment rights.
As Hunter and Bozell noted, the press loves talking endlessly about "press freedom," but rarely bothers to mention press truthfulness or objectivity. Bozell underscores how legacy outlets gave up pretending to be neutral long ago, opting instead to act as political operatives intent on destroying their targets:
"They have no airs about their position at this point. They view their role in life... to destroy [President Trump], and they view it as justifiable."
MRC's @DavidBozell weighs in on if Sunny Hostin is lying about letting a murder avoid jail time on the Derek Hunter Show.
Turns out more NYC papers reported the holdout juror in the case was a man than those who reported it to be a woman. pic.twitter.com/R4BrpnyfUi— Media Research Center (@theMRC) September 26, 2026
Bozell singled out The Washington Post for relying on six anonymous sources to accuse the Commander-in-Chief of undercounting military casualties in the Middle East, a serious wartime charge flatly denied by the Pentagon.
When anonymous "palace intrigue" stories clash directly with official statements from military leadership, news consumers are left in an impossible spot. Bozell called this trend a true "Rubicon crosser," emphasizing that hiding behind unverified sources ruins what little credibility legacy outlets have left.
"Somebody is VERY wrong. If The Washington Post has the goods - let's see it. Stop hiding behind anonymous, palace intrigue type of source material."@DavidBozell says the Washington Post's anonymous source hit-piece claiming President Trump is intentionally undercounting the… pic.twitter.com/NfXYy8KjZ5
— Media Research Center (@theMRC) September 25, 2026
Hunter and Bozell likened the legacy broadcast and cable networks (CBS, NBC, ABC, CNN) to a power-conference sports dynamic, a closed club desperate to keep upstart journalists and alternative media outlets out of the room.
However, the real threat to legacy outlets isn't losing a seat in the press briefing room; it's their collapsing traffic. As users increasingly turn to AI search results (which carry their own distinct set of biases) rather than visiting traditional news websites, Bozell noted that these legacy operations have essentially become "distressed assets." Rather than welcoming fresh management, higher standards or basic workplace accountability, newsroom employees routinely panic on social media over the threat of having to be balanced.
While elitist media networks treat press credential disputes as national emergencies, ordinary Americans couldn't care less. The pool feeds keep running, cameras remain everywhere, and the public has long since moved on. As Bozell put it, these failing enterprises can continue to throw tantrums, but until they return to basic standards of fairness and truthfulness, they will keep driving audiences away.
