DeProgram with Ted Rall and John Kiriakou: “Will AI Kill Journalism?”

Join the “DeProgram show” with political cartoonist Ted Rall and CIA whistleblower John Kiriakou, now Monday-Friday 5 pm LIVE and streaming anytime!

Technology keeps devastating news publishing, from Craigslist killing classifieds to AI like ChatGPT and Google’s AI Overview slashing news site traffic by nearly 50%. Generative AI like ChatGPT, trained on vast internet data, faces accusations of stealing publishers’ intellectual property, prompting lawsuits from the New York Times and Disney against firms like OpenAI.

Big Tech defends with “fair use” claims, but publishers argue AI undermines their business. Hollywood joins the fight, suing AI companies for similar violations. Publishers fight back with lawsuits and lobbying against Big Tech’s data theft. Publishers face plummeting traffic and revenue as AI delivers content directly on search platforms. Is it too late to save a vital industry that’s long been on the ropes?

Plus:

• Democrats in Deep Doodoo: Democrats lost 4.5 million registered voters to Republicans across 30 states from 2020 to 2024, with sharp declines in battlegrounds like Pennsylvania. The party’s fading appeal among men, younger voters, and Latinos signals a brand crisis. Strategists warn of a “reckoning” by 2028.

• Fox News Hosts Caught Shilling for Trump: It’s an ugly look. Smartmatic’s $2.7 billion defamation lawsuit against Fox News, filed in 2021, exposes hosts like Jeanine Pirro pushing pro-Trump election fraud narratives despite deep internal skepticism. Unredacted texts reveal Pirro’s motives, including seeking a pardon for her ex-husband.

• Oklahoma’s Teacher Screening: The state’s new teacher screening test, developed by Prager University, targets applicants from blue states to block “woke indoctrinators,” requiring perfect scores on a 50-question exam. Critics label it a political stunt amid a teacher shortage. Unions argue it violates state law.

• Israel Reinvades Gaza: The IDF mobilizes 60,000 reservists for an additional Gaza City offensive, approved by Defense Minister Israel Katz, prompting evacuation orders. Allies like France warn of humanitarian disaster, and the UN worries about ethnic cleansing. Israel stalls a ceasefire proposal in which Hamas has already agreed to a full hostage release.

• Israel Declares Death of Two-State Solution: Israel’s E1 settlement project will build 3,400 housing units on stolen land in the West Bank, further slicing and dicing Palestinian communities. The plan, condemned by allies like Germany, is an attempt to finally kill off any possibility of a two-state solution.