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‘The View’ conducted a respectable (and respectful) interview with Vice President JD Vance

One of the more intriguing political interviews in a while occurred Tuesday when Vice President JD Vance appeared on ABC’s “The View.” Vance is on a book tour, promoting his new memoir, “Communion: Finding My Way Back to Faith.”

Vance opened with a joke, saying, “This is a show of MAGA Republicans, right? That’s what my media team told me.”

That was pretty much it for the humor.

The mostly liberal panelists at “The View” pushed Vance, who had to defend many of the things Trump has said and done, but also try not to insult the viewers and the interviewers with nonsensical answers. The conversation got a little testy, but overall, it was pretty respectful.

Politico Playbook’s Irie Sentner wrote, “The episode underscores the thin line Vance must walk as both MAGA’s heir-apparent and a fickle president’s highest-ranking deputy. Vance, a skilled messenger in the administration who is no stranger to combative interviews, held his ground and remained composed throughout the segment. But the hosts forced him onto his back foot throughout as he spoke directly to a far more liberal audience than he typically does.”

The New York Times’ Shawn McCreesh wrote, “The vice president’s outing to ‘The View’ on Tuesday was an early preview of how he might comport himself on the campaign trail and the ways in which he would defend against his role in some of the most polarizing aspects of his boss’s second term.”

That included tough questions about Jeffrey Epstein, the economy and immigration.

Co-host Ana Navarro was particularly solid, sitting right next to Vance and saying, “Over 50 people have died in ICE custody. There are thousands of children, 6,200, being held in places that people that have visited — I don’t know if you have visited — talk about the subhuman conditions, lack of clean water, medical attention, lack of education. I would urge you as a Christian and as a father to visit those detention centers where the children are being held and make sure that the conditions are up to the values that we hold in this country.”

Vance said the country needs to strike the right balance in enforcing laws, adding, “We don’t want to dehumanize people.”

The panelists asked Vance about his relationship with Trump, reminding him that he once called the president “America’s Hitler.” Co-host Sara Haines said that Vance’s past criticism of Trump wasn’t just about policy, adding it was about “what Christians were willing to excuse. That’s the part I can’t get past. What are you willing to excuse in the name of power?”

In the snarkiest exchange, Vance was asked about Trump’s recent comments that he loved inflation. When Vance tried to say that’s not what Trump said, co-host Joy Behar asked, “Are you his interpreter, or are you his vice president?” (Trump, by the way, did say he loved inflation.)

Perhaps the toughest part of the interview was when co-host Whoopi Goldberg asked about race.

Goldberg said to Vance, “What did Black people do to this administration that has allowed it to really stigmatize folks of color? And you know how hard it is, you have folks of color in your family.”

Goldberg was presumably talking about Vance’s wife, Usha Vance, who is Indian American, and his children.

When Vance said, “What exactly are you talking about, Whoopi?” the crowd booed. Co-host Sunny Hostin jumped in to say, “Black voter districts are being dismantled. Black leaders are being sidelined from our ranks. Where do Americans of color fit in this vision, because it doesn’t seem like we fit?”

Still, both Vance and the panelists remained civil, and while there might have been uncomfortable and awkward moments, there was no open disrespect.

McCreesh wrote in the Times, “The hard-edge, attack-dog demeanor that the public has seen from Mr. Vance in the past was gone. He was performing far outside the comforts of his usual MAGA media bubble and he toggled his behavior accordingly. He was warm and self-deprecating.”

That’s because Vance is smart enough to know that if he wants to be the next president, he needs to reach beyond the MAGA types who watch Fox News.

Study finds steep declines in local journalists and education and health coverage

For this item, I turn it over to my Poynter colleague Angela Fu.

The number of local journalists in the United States has fallen by 81% since 2002, according to a new study by Muck Rack and Rebuild Local News published Tuesday.

The report, conducted using Muck Rack’s database of journalists and their articles, found that on average, there is the equivalent of 7.8 full-time local journalists per 100,000 residents in the U.S. (That figure includes broadcast, digital and print reporters, as well as independent journalists like podcasters and Substack writers.) That is down from 2002, when there were roughly 40 local journalists per 100,000 residents.

The study also examined the density of local journalists at the state and county level. Roughly 70% of counties had fewer local journalists per capita than the national average of 7.8. Among states, Nevada, New Jersey and Delaware rank the lowest, with each having fewer than 5.5 local journalists per 100,000 residents. Meanwhile, Vermont tops the list with 19.1 local journalists per 100,000.

Other studies, most notably Northwestern University’s State of Local News Project, have tracked the decline of local journalism. But unlike those efforts, the Muck Rack and Rebuild Local News study attempts to count working reporters rather than news outlets.

Researchers at Muck Rack and Rebuild Local News also analyzed 4.2 million articles published online from January through March 2026. To identify local news articles, the researchers looked for stories that mentioned a specific town, city or community. They further categorized the stories based on their topic of coverage.

Among their findings was that counties with fewer journalists tend to have more crime coverage. Meanwhile, those same counties tend to lack education and health coverage.

“Among counties that have local reporting but low concentrations of local reporters, three-quarters produce no local education or health journalism at all,” the study reads. Researchers theorized that this was because newsrooms with fewer resources tend to prioritize beats that generate more website traffic like crime and sports. “Education, health and environment topics that require sustained reporting are often the first to disappear entirely.”

Are you sure about that?

If President Donald Trump ever appears on “Jeopardy!,” he probably won’t do well with geography questions. On Tuesday, Trump spoke at a press conference alongside the emir of Qatar, Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani, at the G7 summit in France.

Talking about Qatar, Trump said, “They are the closest to Iran physically, so, with other countries, I noticed that they had to travel about 45 minutes to get there. With you, you could walk right across the border, so you are in a more dangerous position.”

Actually, you can’t just walk across the border from Qatar to Iran, unless you can walk on water. The two countries are separated by 119 miles of the Persian Gulf.

This is not the first time Trump has made this particular claim. Last October on Air Force One, Trump told reporters, “They’re literally, you walk over from Iran to Qatar. You can walk it in one second. You go ‘boom boom,’ and now you’re in Qatar, that’s tough territory.”

Trump just turned 80 last Sunday, so if anyone needs to get him a belated gift, maybe he could use a map.

A predictable rejection

Last Sunday’s big UFC event on the White House lawn was broadcast on Paramount+. The Freedom of the Press Foundation had hoped to air a 30-second ad during the coverage.

But the ad never aired because it was critical of Paramount’s leadership and advocated for Paramount’s acquisition of Warner Bros. Discovery to be blocked.

The ad said, “Instead of defending press freedom, CBS’ billionaire owners cut deals and caved to Trump.”

CBS is owned by Paramount, which is run by billionaire David Ellison, the son of billionaire Larry Ellison. The Ellisons are Trump allies. David Ellison attended the UFC card at the White House.

The commercial then addressed the recent controversies at “60 Minutes,” quoting Scott Pelley: “One fired reporter said, ‘CBS demanded falsehoods and bias to appease Trump.’”

The ad then talked about Paramount’s deal to buy WBD, which owns CNN: “Now Trump wants the Ellisons to buy CNN, too. … Let’s stop Trump’s censorship and block this merger.”

Paramount refused to air the ad, telling The Freedom of the Press Foundation in an email that the ad was a “conflict of interest” for the company.

In a statement, Seth Stern, chief of advocacy for Freedom of the Press Foundation, criticized Paramount for refusing to air the ad, saying, “Ellison has already shown his cards on editorial independence, but, in case there was any doubt, his company has now declined to air a straightforward message about what his proposed takeover of CNN, HBO, and other outlets would mean for press freedom. Instead, it censored it. Ellison won’t air criticism of himself, his company, or his buddy Trump. These antics are bad for press freedom, bad for the public, and bad for Paramount – just look at CBS’ recent struggles under Ellison’s watch.”

Many might agree with the arguments made in the ad, but it should come as absolutely no surprise that Paramount refused to air it. At the end of the day, the Freedom of the Press Foundation is getting what it wants out of this: lots of attention on the ad, which people can seek out on YouTube or other social media platforms.

End of an era

Toronto Maple Leafs goaltender Joseph Woll (60) reaches for a high puck during a game in March. (AP Photo/Connor Hamilton)

This seems unbelievable. After more than half a century, the legendary “Hockey Night in Canada” will no longer air on the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation.

For hockey fans and Canadians, it’s a stunning end to what is a national treasure and deeply embedded tradition. “Hockey Night in Canada” first aired on CBC radio back in 1936. In 1952, the CBC began airing NHL games on television.

Things then began to shift in 2013. As Awful Announcing’s Manny Soloway explained, “​​Due to financial issues at CBC, the public broadcaster was unable to reach an agreement with the NHL. Instead, the NHL signed a 12-year, $5.2 billion exclusive deal with Sportsnet in November 2013. However, Sportsnet announced its intention to sublicense its broadcasts to CBC to maintain the Hockey Night in Canada brand. Unlike previous agreements, these broadcasts were produced by Sportsnet rather than CBC Sports.”

The CBC and Rogers Sportsnet put out a joint statement Tuesday saying, “After a successful 12-year partnership, Sportsnet and CBC today announced the public broadcaster will no longer carry NHL broadcasts after the current season as it moves forward with a new sports programming strategy following the unprecedented success of the Milano/Cortina Olympic Games. Watching hockey on Saturday night is a time-honoured tradition for Canadians, and Sportsnet is privileged to continue delivering that tradition. This has been a terrific partnership, and both parties look forward to continued opportunities to collaborate in the future.”

In place of hockey on Saturday nights, the CBC plans to air a show focused on Canadian athletes “competing at home and at the biggest events around the world.”

There will still, of course, be plenty of hockey to watch on Saturday nights in Canada. But after nearly a century, it won’t be on the CBC, which is hard to believe.

Media tidbits

• Speaking of the Ellisons and CNN, here’s Mediaite’s Zoe Engels with “‘I’m Just Not Staying’: Kara Swisher Jumping Ship At CNN As Soon As She Can Over ‘Incompetent’ Ellison Takeover.”
• Mallary Tenore Tarpley — journalism professor at the University of Texas at Austin, an award-winning author, and former Poynter managing editor — with “What journalists gain — and lose — when they go independent.”
• From Nieman Lab: “News sites are the new newspapers: People are abandoning them for social media.”
• Variety’s Todd Spangler with “Netflix Inks Exclusive Deals for Video Podcasts From Martha Stewart, Lele Pons, Kate and Oliver Hudson.”
• Don Van Natta Jr., a Pulitzer Prize-winning investigative reporter, has signed a contract extension with ESPN. Van Natta, one of the best sports investigative reporters in the business, has been with ESPN since 2012. He also happens to be one of the real good guys in this business. Here’s more from ESPN, including some of the many big stories he had worked on at ESPN.
• Variety’s Brian Steinberg with “Inside ESPN’s Big Bet on Women’s Sports for Sunday Nights (When Baseball Once Ruled).”
• The New York Knicks being in the NBA Finals was a huge deal for ABC/ESPN. The finals between the Knicks and San Antonio Spurs averaged 20.6 million over five games. That set an ABC and ESPN NBA Finals audience record, and it was the most-watched finals since 1998, which is when Michael Jordan won the last of his six NBA titles. The championship series was up 100% from last year’s seven-game NBA Finals between Oklahoma City and Indiana. Last Saturday’s Game 5, which saw the Knicks win their first NBA title in 53 years, averaged 24.5 million viewers. Viewership peaked during the closing seconds with 33 million watching.

Hot type

• A major investigative story from The New York Times’ Charles Homans, Steve Eder, Jan Ransom and Michael Rothfeld: “The Untold Story of Jeffrey Epstein’s Death.”
• And to go along with that, here’s the Times’ Patrick Healy talking to the Times reporters in “How Our Reporters Got at the Truth of Jeffrey Epstein’s Death.”

More resources for journalists

• Understand the business of journalism and make smarter decisions. Starts July 14. Enroll now.
• Learn from trusted experts how to create vertical videos that reach and engage your audience. Join a three-part live course starting July 16. Enroll now.
• Learn to navigate workplace dynamics, pitch ideas confidently and level up your leadership. Online group seminar: Aug. 20-Sept. 24. Apply now.

Have feedback or a tip? Email Poynter senior media writer Tom Jones at tjones@poynter.org.

Correction: This story has been updated to say the CBC started airing NHL games on radio in 1936.

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