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** OPINION
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** Despite what your feed shows, Los Angeles isn’t a war zone
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Protesters against federal immigration raids gather outside the Metropolitan Detention Center in Los Angeles on Wednesday. (AP Photo/Damian Dovarganes)

Let’s start by acknowledging that this Los Angeles immigration protest story is ongoing and has the potential to change at any moment. A somewhat peaceful demonstration can suddenly become violent with one false move, one bad decision or one reckless act.

With a heavy police presence, bolstered by President Donald Trump ordering in the National Guard and Marines against the wishes of local and state authorities, tensions are at a higher level. It’s the exact reason why local authorities did not want Trump to send in more enforcement.

All this is to say that between the time this was written and the time you are reading this, the scene in LA could have taken a dark turn.

However, it should also be noted that what is playing out in LA — at least through early Wednesday evening — might not exactly match what we’re seeing on some TV newscasts and social media posts.

Late Tuesday, CNN’s Sean Lyngaas and Brian Stelter wrote ([link removed]) , “The powerful algorithms that fuel social media platforms are feeding users days-old and sometimes completely fake content about the recent unrest in L.A., contributing to a sense of nonstop crisis that doesn’t exist beyond a small part of the sprawling city.”

ESPN’s Mina Kimes, who lives in Los Angeles, posted this on Bluesky ([link removed]) on Tuesday: “The disparity btwn what’s actually happening in Los Angeles and the way it’s being mischaracterized is one of the biggest stress tests of modern media in recent memory. Botted socials, AI, old clips, declining literacy—it’s like seeing a broken emergency response system hit by a storm.”

That is not to say what has been going on in LA is much ado about nothing. The Los Angeles Times’ Brittny Mejia and James Queally reported ([link removed]) Wednesday afternoon, “At least 14 people are facing federal charges tied to immigration protests that have roiled L.A. in recent days, with alleged crimes ranging from assaults on officers and possession of explosive devices to conspiracy to impede arrests.”

What about those arrests? The Times wrote, “Some are charged in criminal complaints with extremely serious offenses — including hurling a Molotov cocktail at Los Angeles County sheriff’s deputies last weekend or throwing cinder blocks at federal law enforcement — but others face prison time for extremely minor skirmishes with immigration agents that one former federal prosecutor called ‘sad and pathetic.’ No one has been indicted thus far.”

But as far as how things really are in LA, the Los Angeles Times’ Karen Garcia, Howard Blume, Nathan Solis and James Queally wrote ([link removed]) earlier this week, “Media outlets outside California and social media users have been calling the entirety of Los Angeles a war zone as demonstrators and law enforcement have clashed since Friday.”

The truth of the matter? The actual city encompasses around 500 square miles. The Times writes, “Demonstrations and skirmishes between law enforcement and protesters have largely stayed within downtown L.A.’s Civic Center, an area spanning a few city blocks that is home to courthouses, federal buildings and LAPD headquarters. Some protests have also spilled onto a stretch of the 101 Freeway near a downtown immigration detention center.”

Reporting from Los Angeles, The Washington Post’s Reis Thebault wrote ([link removed]) , “Despite Trump’s assertions that Los Angeles was beset by widespread lawlessness, a chaos he insisted could be quelled only by thousands of National Guard troops and Marines, the protests that have unfolded here since Friday in response to immigration raids have been mostly confined to a few downtown blocks.”

A man visiting LA from Nebraska told Thebault, “If you’re not here, you think L.A.’s burning to the ground. But you come out here, you look around and you just say, ‘My God, this is where I want to be.’”

Meanwhile, AI-generated images and videos are also giving rise to false information.

Renée DiResta, an associate research professor at Georgetown University’s McCourt School of Public Policy and an expert on how conspiracy theories spread online, told CNN, “What’s happening on social media is similar to the chaos of the information environment around the 2020 George Floyd protests. People are trying to discern between real current footage and recycled sensational old footage repurposed for political or financial ends.”

Many on the right, including some conservative media, are only too happy to paint LA as a chaotic mess right now. Why? It fits the Trump playbook that he is tough on immigration, while furthering conservatives’ accusations that big cities in blue states are out of control and lawless. Along the way, Trump gets to pick a fight with California Democratic Gov. Gavin Newsom, a potential presidential candidate in 2028.

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** Washington, D.C. Event: Poynter’s 50th Anniversary Exhibit
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Register for the events ([link removed]) .


** About that narrative …
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In a way, Trump has put himself in a no-lose position. If the protests do turn violent, that backs his case that extra troops were needed. The fact that things, through Wednesday evening, were relatively quiet also allows Trump to claim he made the right decision.

In fact, he has already done so, posting on his Truth Social, “If I didn’t ‘SEND IN THE TROOPS’ to Los Angeles the last three nights, that once beautiful and great City would be burning to the ground right now.” It’s the same thing he told reporters on Tuesday: “If we didn’t send in the National Guard quickly, right now Los Angeles would be burning to the ground.”

Still, the concern is that Trump is using force to quell protests as a threat to the First Amendment.

That topic came up during a White House briefing on Wednesday. Mediaite’s Joe DePaolo wrote ([link removed]) about how a reporter asked about peaceful protests for this Saturday’s parade in Washington to celebrate the Army’s 250th birthday. (Saturday also is Trump’s 79th birthday.)

Trump recently said, “For those people that want to protest, they’re going to be met with very big force.”

It’s hard not to be reminded that on Jan. 6, 2021, Trump supporters violently stormed the Capitol, and Trump later pardoned most of those convicted of crimes for their actions that day. But now Trump is threatening those who might protest Saturday.

White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt was asked Wednesday, “Can you clarify what kind of protest President Trump does support or find acceptable?”

Leavitt said, “The president absolutely supports peaceful protests. He supports the First Amendment. He supports the right of Americans to make their voices heard. He does not support violence of any kind. He does support assaulting law enforcement officers who are simply trying to do their job. It’s very clear for the president what he supports and what he does not.”

(Again, let’s not forget that police officers were attacked on Jan. 6.)

Leavitt then lost her cool when she was asked this follow-up question: “So if there were peaceful protests on Saturday for the military parade, President Trump would allow that?”

Leavitt said, “Of course, the president supports peaceful protests! What a stupid question!”


** Saturday’s parade
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Variety’s Brian Steinberg reports ([link removed]) that ABC, CBS and NBC are unlikely to preempt regular programming to air Saturday’s parade. The news divisions, however, will cover it on their streaming platforms. The guess is that cable news will have varying coverage, and C-SPAN is scheduled to air it.

Steinberg wrote, “On one hand, a display of national military capabilities on U.S. soil is unique, even propagandistic. It’s the sort of thing one sees in authoritarian nations like North Korea. Even some Republicans appear to oppose the concept, likening it to the sort of maneuver one sees in dictatorships abroad.”

“On the other hand,” Steinberg continued, “the event will cost an eye-popping amount — between $25 million and $45 million, according to a U.S. Army spokesperson. It will result in street closures in the nation’s cramped capital, Washington, D.C, and there have been concerns that the heavy vehicles and armaments will damage roadways. It’s not the kind of thing Americans see every day, and coverage would give them an opportunity to do so.”


** Making up?
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President Donald Trump, left, and Elon Musk, shown here at a rally last October in Pennsylvania. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon)

Have President Donald Trump and billionaire Elon Musk made up?

The two had a very bitter and public feud last week, which started when Musk criticized Trump’s Big Beautiful Bill. The highlight — or lowlight, depending on your point of view — was Musk saying Trump would never have become president without his help and that Trump’s name was the Jeffrey Epstein files.

But over the past couple of days, it appears the two have mended fences. At 3:04 a.m. Eastern on Wednesday, Musk posted on X ([link removed]) , “I regret some of my posts about President @realDonaldTrump last week. They went too far.”

Then ABC News’ Rachel Scott and Will Steakin reported ([link removed]) Wednesday that Musk called Trump on Monday night. That call, apparently, came before his tweet regretting some of his previous posts.

Before these latest developments, Trump had expressed disappointment in Musk, but sounded as if he was giving the whole ordeal very little thought, saying on a podcast that he had not “thought too much about him in the last little while.”

And before that, Trump had said a variety of things, such as that Musk had disrespected the office of the president, that he didn’t think the relationship would be repaired, and that Musk would “pay very serious consequences” if he switched over to the Democratic Party.

But the Monday call might have started to smooth out their differences. The New York Times’ Jonathan Swan and Theodore Schleifer reported ([link removed]) , “Mr. Musk’s outreach to Mr. Trump came after the tech entrepreneur spoke privately on Friday with Vice President JD Vance and the White House chief of staff, Susie Wiles, about a path to a truce between the two men, according to two of the people.”


** Moran to … guess where?
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Where do journalists usually go when they leave the place they’ve worked at for decades? Substack, of course. Add Terry Moran to that list.

Moran’s contract was not renewed by ABC News this week following a now-deleted tweet he posted calling Trump and Trump adviser Stephen Miller “world-class haters.”

He is now on Substack and posted a video ([link removed]) Wednesday saying he can’t wait to get to “the important work we all have to do in this time of such trouble for our country.”

Moran said he will be reporting and interviewing, but that it will be a “few more days or maybe longer” before he starts, adding, “gotta get some stuff sorted out.”

Moran didn’t get into any specifics about his departure from ABC News.


** That’s his opinion
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The Washington Post has hired Adam O’Neal as its opinion editor. O’Neal is the Washington correspondent for The Economist, where he has been since 2023. Before that, O’Neal was executive editor of The Dispatch, an editorial page writer at The Wall Street Journal, a Vatican correspondent at the international TV news agency Rome Reports, and a reporter at RealClearPolitics.

O’Neal takes over for David Shipley, who resigned in February after the Post’s owner, Jeff Bezos, said the section would prioritize personal liberties and free markets, and not publish dissenting views on those topics.

The New York Times’ Benjamin Mullin tweeted ([link removed]) that a memo to Post staff said O’Neal will follow Bezos’ edict.


** Food for thought
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For the first time ever, The New York Times will have co-chief restaurant critics. Tejal Rao and Ligaya Mishan have been named to provide coverage the Times is calling “more.”

In a staff note ([link removed]) , Emily Weinstein, the editor-in-chief of food and cooking, and Sam Sifton, an assistant managing editor, wrote that means: “More starred reviews. More engaged with our audience. More visual. More online. More transparent. More personal. More helpful. And, crucially, more national: Having two critics allows us to expand our starred restaurant reviews across the entire country.”

Rao will be based in California and travel to restaurants across the country. Mishan will review restaurants in New York City and do some national travel.

But here’s the part I found particularly interesting. The note said, “Our chief critics will no longer hide their faces publicly. Maintaining that level of anonymity — a policy that goes back decades — is just not possible anymore. Critics did it to avoid special treatment when they were dining at restaurants, though as Pete (Wells, the Times’ former chief restaurant critic) will tell you, a restaurant on the lookout for critics will just about always spot them in the room. Ligaya and Tejal will still do everything they can to eat at restaurants undetected, making reservations and using credit cards under aliases. The Times will also continue to pay for their meals, in accordance with our ethics policy, and they will not accept invitations to dine from restaurants or publicists.”

Here’s more ([link removed]) about the co-chief restaurant critics.


** Media tidbits
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* For the Columbia Journalism Review, Liam Scott with “Small-Town Newspapers Are Dying Because No One Wants to Run Them.” ([link removed])
* The Wall Street Journal’s Suzanne Vranica, Dana Mattioli and Jessica Toonkel with “X’s Sales Pitch: Give Us Your Ad Business or We’ll Sue.” ([link removed])
* For The New York Times, Calum Marsh with “Want More Excitement From the N.B.A.? Try the Korean Broadcast.” ([link removed])
* Former tennis stars Serena and Venus Williams are launching a video podcast series on X. Variety’s Todd Spangler has more ([link removed]) .


** Hot type
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* The brilliant Brian Wilson, the genius behind the Beach Boys, has died. He was 82. Here’s an excellent remembrance ([link removed]) from The New York Times’ Ben Sisario.
* Here’s the Los Angeles Times’ August Brown with “13 of the late Brian Wilson’s finest songs to revisit.” ([link removed])
* It has been a rough week in music. The great Sly Stone died earlier this week. He, too, was 82. The Washington Post’s Chris Kelly has “Sly Stone’s 10 essential tracks, from ‘Dance to the Music’ to ‘Family Affair.’” ([link removed])


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Have feedback or a tip? Email Poynter senior media writer Tom Jones at [email protected] (mailto:[email protected]) .

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