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- FCC Set to Require EAS Firewalls and Unique Passwords
The FCC, exasperated by cyberattacks on EAS equipment that “continue to occur with disturbing frequency,” appears ready to issue several new requirements. It is expected to mandate that radio stations, TV stations and other Emergency Alert System participants install network firewalls on EAS equipment as well as other potential weak links like STLs that carry EAS content. Stations would also be required to change default passwords on their EAS systems, and to test and install security patches and upgrades from equipment manufacturers promptly. These requirements are in a draft report and order. The FCC plans to vote on it at its June 25 meeting. According to the draft, the order “aims to preserve the public’s trust in EAS by requiring targeted cybersecurity improvements that will help protect against hijacking by cybercriminals and our nation’s adversaries.” This is a scaled-back version of an earlier proposal that included broader cyber management and threat assessment components. But it still has teeth. In the draft, the FCC writes that for years it has been urging EAS participants to implement basic cybersecurity hygiene but that some have still not taken adequate precautions. “Despite our repeated efforts urging EAS participants to take basic steps to secure their networks … successful attacks have continued into 2026.” The draft notes that bad actors have gained control of radio broadcasters’ systems “by exploiting improperly secured, remotely accessible equipment in the broadcast signal processing system to transmit unauthorized audio that included EAS alert tones, an offensive song that included racial slurs and promotional content.” Here’s more on the pending requirements: Passwords — If adopted, the order will require that “default passwords for EAS equipment, studio transmitter link equipment and any remotely managed equipment that routes, processes or inserts content into the EAS participant’s programming stream be changed prior to any use to broadcast to the public.” Passwords would have to have a minimum of 15 characters, not use dictionary words and not be reused elsewhere. The plan would allow stations to use certain alternative authentication measures as highlighted by the National Institute of Standards and Technology. Firmware and Software Patching — “Prompt firmware and software patching are key to reducing the risk that bad actors will exploit known vulnerabilities to infiltrate broadcast and cable systems to insert false EAS tones or alerts.” If adopted, the order will make EAS participants responsible for ensuring that their devices are properly patched and… [TheTopNews] Read More.41 mins ago - Trump Announces America’s 250th Celebration Will Now Be a ‘Rally To End All ...
AP Photo/Alex Brandon President Donald Trump said on Thursday that the U.S. semiquincentennial celebration will now be a “rally” featuring a handful of musical acts, as well as “a fine and highly dignified gentleman” – himself. Last week, the president canceled his “Freedom 250” concert series at the Kennedy Center after six of the nine musical acts canceled their appearances. The series had been touted as the “Great American State Fair,” featuring artists such as Vanilla Ice, Bret Michaels, and the surviving member of Milli Vanilli. The day before, a federal judge ruled that Trump’s name must be removed from the Kennedy Center, where the president’s name had been added by his handpicked board at the center. In response, Trump fired off an angry post on Truth Social. “Cancel it,” he wrote, “just like I canceled my involvement with the failing and unsafe to be in Kennedy Center, because a Highly Conflicted, Crooked Federal Judge, said that I should not be allowed to spend my time and money in order to MAKE THE CENTER GREAT AGAIN, actually, far greater than it ever was before!” On Thursday, Trump announced a new plan, stating that later this month, “the Great Rally, EVER” will take place in the nation’s capital: On Wednesday, June 24th, at 7 P.M., in magnificent Washington, D.C., now totally beautified, and one of the Safest Cities anywhere in the World, and in celebration of our Country’s 250 Year History, we will be bringing you, LIVE, the Greatest Rally, EVER! It will be special at every level — A Rally to end all Rallies! We don’t want singers with no talent, but big fees to put you to sleep, we’ve told them all to stay home. All we want is you, me, a few speakers, and the Greatest Music ever played, the same Music you have listened to for years! We will have the fabulous Lee Greenwood introducing me with what has turned out to be one of the Greatest Hits of All Time, GOD BLESS THE U.S.A., and the amazing Christopher Macchio, who will sing Nessun Dorma, Hallelujah, Ave Maria, God Bless America, and others — Not since the legendary Luciano Pavarotti has there been such a voice! The Rally will also be featuring the wonderful U.S. Army Band “Pershing’s Own” and Armed Forces Choir, and “The President’s Own” Unites States Marine Band, with the Joint Armed Forces Chorus,… [TheTopNews] Read More.2 hours ago - ‘Hell of a First Week!’ New ’60 Minutes’ EP Commits to ‘Journalistic I...
Screenshot via CBS The new executive producer of CBS News’s 60 Minutes, Nick Bilton, sent an email to staffers on Thursday seeking to calm the waters following a week of turmoil at legendary news magazine. New York Times media reporter Ben Mullin obtained the email sent in the wake of the firing of longtime correspondent Scott Pelley. Bilton was named executive producer on May 28, despite having experience as a broadcast TV news producer. “It has been a trying and difficult few days. I know that,” Bilton began his email. “I’ve spent a lot of time in conversation with many of you, and especially with Lesley [Stahl], Bill [Whittaker], and Jon [Wertheim].” NEWS: "60 Minutes" EP Nick Bilton emails staff, commits to editorial independence of the program, praises Lesley Stahl, Bill Whitaker and Jon Wertheim. Full memo: pic.twitter.com/RNtwUgdMf8 — Ben Mullin (@BenMullin) June 4, 2026 “There are a few things I want to emphasize now,” Bilton wrote of the “extraordinary show.” He continued: The foundation of 60 Minutes is its journalistic independence. We will always pursue stories without fear or favor. We will always make the story the North Star — Not relationships nor politics nor anything else. We will be guided always by what makes the best piece for our viewers. And it should go without saying, but I’ll say it anyway: We will never be instructed by the ownership of the company on those stories. Sunday night works. It’s the best hour of television journalism anywhere. We’re going to continue to do the things we do that make is so great — the scheduled screenings, the the detailed script work, the editing, the long format of the pieces. I am a curious person and I love stories, and as executive producer I will shape the show writ large. I’ll bat around idea with you, I’ll dive into scripts and edits with you, and I will sign off on pieces. The fearless correspondents and the intrepid producers will continue to be the core of each piece we broadcast. Bilton added, “Discussion, debate, and disagreement are essential to the making of good journalism. All will be done in good faith, and always with respect and trust — and with fidelity to the practices that have served us well for 48 years.” Those themes echoed Bilton’s termination letter to Pelley, where he wrote of the correspondent’s lack… [TheTopNews] Read More.3 hours ago - Viral Candace Owens Interview Brings New Attention to Ex-CNN, MSNBC Host Who Mov...
Screenshot via RT A viral interview featuring far-right podcaster Candace Owens has put the spotlight on former CNN and MSNBC anchor Rick Sanchez. — who actually moved to Moscow a year ago. The interview was one of the most notable since Sanchez began his latest venture in Moscow. Last June, the former anchor launched his show Sanchez Effect with Russian state-controlled outlet RT. He first joined RT in 2019, and made the move to Moscow in 2025 in response to U.S. sanctions imposed on the outlet. The reason he left, according to a press release at the time? He wanted to find truth. “When only one side of a story is permitted, that’s when I push harder,” Sanchez said. “If Moscow is deemed off-limits, it’s precisely where I want to be. Because more often than not, truth resides in the places we’re told not to look.” Sanchez worked at MSNBC for two years starting in 2001. After a year in local news, he moved to CNN in 2004, and was fired in 2010 after he attacked Daily Show host Jon Stewart for repeated jokes at his expense. He accused Stewart of being a “bigot” and even implied that Jews run American media. His firing came just hours after the comments aired. He spent the better part of the next decade bouncing around the industry — working jobs varying from local radio host in South Florida, to college football broadcaster. Then in 2019, he joined RT America — but was forced to step down in 2024 due to sanctions imposed on Russia. So in 2025, he made the move to Moscow. Owens spoke to Sanchez while attending the Russian economic forum. The viral moment came when Sanchez asked Owens about the possibility of her running for president. In response, Owens said she would never run for president but would “only run for dictator.” She went on to explain that she would not want to be burdened by congressional approval and would prefer to rule with absolute authority. “I’m just going to be like, ‘Here’s what we’re doing and here’s what we’re not doing,'” Owens said. “So I tell them, vote for me if the terms are acceptable, that I will be dictator of the United States, and that is it.” Owens also claimed she’d back Tucker Carlson if he were to run for president. The interview was one of… [TheTopNews] Read More.3 hours ago - ‘It Hurt’: Graham Platner’s Exes Accuse Him of Getting Physical and Other ...
X/@PodSaveAmerica Ex-girlfriends of Graham Platner, the presumptive Democratic nominee for Senate in Maine, accused him of demeaning women, calling his controversial tattoo “my Totenkopf,” and even getting physical in a bombshell New York Times report. The most serious allegations come from Lyndsey Fifield, “a Virginia conservative” who reportedly dated Platner between 2013 and 2015, and disputed his claim that he was unaware of the connection between the tattoo across his chest. “After all, she said, he had taught her the word for it years earlier, referring to it as ‘my Totenkopf,'” reported the Times‘ Katie Glueck and Lisa Lerer. From the story: Mr. Platner could be rough with her, Ms. Fifield said, particularly when they were drinking, leaving her shaken and sometimes afraid. In the interviews, Ms. Fifield grappled with how to process her experiences. She was quick to note that he “never hit me, he never punched me.” But she said he regularly grabbed her by the shoulders —sometimes hard enough to leave marks — and, on one occasion, yanked her out of a cab by her wrist after an argument when she wanted to stay in the car. During one argument, she recalled, he twisted her arm behind her back, shoved her into a bedroom and held the door closed from the other side so she couldn’t get out, telling her to remain there until she was “calm.” Eventually, Ms. Fifield said, she fell asleep and left the next morning. “It hurt,” she said. But she added: “It didn’t cause an injury, it didn’t break my arm.” Fifield also recalled that “He [Platener said this a lot: If anybody ever broke in here, I would rape them,” but not in “a sexual way, not in a gay way.” “He was like, I would rape them to show them that I’m dominant,” she said. Platner’s campaign said he disputed Fifield’s claims about physical altercations between the pair, but did not dispute his comments about sexual assaulting an intruder. “Mr. Platner, who had overlapping relationships with other women while he and Ms. Fifield dated, also referred to women as ‘hatchet wounds,’ Ms. Fifield said, a crude term for female anatomy,” noted the Times. The other woman to go on the record publicly about Platner, Jenny Racicot, said she was not surprised by the past Reddit posts that have plagued his campaign. “Ms. Racicot, who said she agreed with many of Mr.… [TheTopNews] Read More.4 hours ago - ‘They Found a Lot of Mail-In Ballots!’ Trump Baselessly Accuses California o...
During a meandering press conference Wednesday, President Donald Trump baselessly accused California of “rigging” the election as Democratic candidates are gaining in the vote counting and Republicans Steve Hilton and Spencer Pratt are losing ground. California election law provides for “jungle primaries” in which all the candidates appear on a single ballot for each race, and the top two vote-getters advance even if they are both in the same party. This means that a party can find itself totally shut out of the general election, especially if multiple candidates from that party divide the vote and make it easier for the other side to coalesce around a smaller group of candidates. (In the governor’s race, the top two advance to the general election; in the mayor’s race, the top two advance unless one candidate manages to get over 50% of the vote.) This year, current Gov. Gavin Newsom (D) is term-limited. Candidates to succeed him include Democrats Tom Steyer and Xavier Becerra and Republican Hilton, who was endorsed by Trump. The Los Angeles mayor’s race is officially nonpartisan but incumbent Mayor Karen Bass and progressive LA councilmember Nithya Raman are registered Democrats and are running on progressive platforms, while former reality television star Spencer Pratt is a registered Republican and has drawn fawning coverage from conservative media, in no small part because of his outspoken attacks on Bass, Newsom, and other Democrats. Pratt has also been expressly praised by Trump. California’s primary election was held Tuesday, June 2, but the results are not yet known for many races, and the state has habitually taken weeks to certify elections, drawing bipartisan criticism. State law allows counties to process ballots up to 30 days after elections and can count late-arriving ballots as long as they were postmarked by Election Day and arrive by June 9. As CNN’s Ethan Cohen reported, Democratic candidates “typically” end up improving their numbers as votes are counted, “because votes cast on Election Day are almost entirely reported on election night, while the votes counted later are predominately mail ballots,” and it’s been the trend for Democrats to be “much more likely to vote by mail, while Republicans have preferred to vote on Election Day.” “And there’s reason to believe that effect could be even more significant this year,” Cohen wrote, “as Democratic voters appeared to be returning their ballots at a slower pace than past… [TheTopNews] Read More.4 hours ago
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