Category: Media

As we finish up the four weeks of Trump’s war on Iran, it’s time to offer some key observations from Southern California.

• Trump is lying about the pace of “negotiations” with Iran in order to garner more time to accumulate more US troops in the region; this is all his “art of the deal” — confuse your opponent, make them believe you’re about to “walk away” from any talks on resolution. In this case, Trump has confused the American people, the mainstream media, European allies — even his own staff at the White House. On Thursday, he stated he didn’t care about the negotiations.
• Trump earned his TACO nickname, and changed his deadline for Iran, again for the third time. Trump Always Chickens Out.
• Despite Trump’s claims the “war is already won”, Iran and Israel continue to shell each other — even escalated attacks — and more deaths and injuries mount. Iran says 1400 of its people have been killed in the strikes over the last 4 weeks.
• The Straits of Hormuz are still closed to Iran’s adversaries. Trump couldn’t get any NATO or other ally to help free the fiery zone.
• Troops, marines, sailors are on their way; there’s reports that Trump has ordered another 10,000 soldiers to the region; there’s two ships filled with sailors and marines on their way to the Mid-East; there’s a brigade of the 82th Airborne Division on its way.
• America is on the verge of experiencing the largest protest — No Kings — in history, tomorrow March 28th as over 7 million people will be marching and protesting. Thousands of San Diegans will be protesting at the  22 events just in San Diego County. (The Rag will host an all-day liveblog about the events.)
• San Diego is about to enter the war big time: thousands of Marines from Camp Pendleton have been mobilized to go; many of their families live in the San Diego region, and if there are boots on the ground, expect to see many locals on casualty lists.

For a Mere $6.2 billion, Nexstar Bought Tegna, Which Owned CBS 8 Affiliate and The CW

By Teri Figueroa / The San Diego Union-Tribune / March 20, 2026

Questions and anxiety deepened in some of San Diego’s TV stations Friday, a day after the federal government approved a deal that puts the region’s FOX, CBS and CW affiliates, plus KUSI, under the same ownership.

It’s not clear what the ownership changes could mean for San Diego’s TV news landscape. It’s also unclear what the changes mean for viewers of the stations’ non-news programming. It appeared KUSI had aired some CW programming Thursday and Friday evenings, and the logo displayed on KUSI’s Friday afternoon newscast read “KUSI San Diego CW.”

Nexstar Media Group Inc. on Thursday closed a $6.2 billion acquisition of Tegna after the Federal Communications Commission and the Department of Justice approved the deal. The combination gives Nexstar and partners 265 television stations in 44 states and the District of Columbia, ultimately reaching 80% of households, the company said.

In San Diego, Nexstar already owned Fox affiliate KSWB and independent station KUSI. Tegna’s local stations included CBS affiliate KFMB and The CW. On Friday, leadership from the local stations either could not be reached for comment or did not respond to an emailed request for comment. One station referred questions to a Nexstar spokesperson, who did not respond to an email seeking comment.

Olivia Rosane / CommonDreams / Mar 14, 2026

In a move one administration critic described as “fragrantly unconstitutional,” Federal Communications Commission Chair Brendan Carr wrote a post on social media on Saturday that appeared to threaten the broadcast license of any media outlet that reported information concerning President Donald Trump’s war on Iran that the president did not like.

“Broadcasters that are running hoaxes and news distortions—also known as the fake news—have a chance now to correct course before their license renewals come up. The law is clear. Broadcasters must operate in the public interest, and they will lose their licenses if they do not,” Carr’s message began.

Carr also shared a screenshot of a Trump post on Truth Social complaining about “Fake News Media” coverage of five US Air Force refueling planes that were reportedly hit and damaged in an Iranian missile strike on Prince Sultan air base in Saudi Arabia.

“The[is] is the federal government telling news stations to provide favorable coverage of the war or their licenses will be pulled,” wrote Sen. Chris Murphy (D-Conn.) on social media in response to the post. “A truly extraordinary moment. We aren’t on the verge of a totalitarian takeover. WE ARE IN THE MIDDLE OF IT. Act like it.”

Judge Admonishes SDSU Lawyer for “Uncivil Comments” about Publisher

From La Prensa News Desk / March 11, 2026

La Prensa San Diego Publisher Arturo Castañares won a lawsuit last week against San Diego State University over its failure to release documents related to an offer for a free sports arena in Mission Valley, with the judge admonishing the University’s lawyer for making “uncivil” comments about Castañares in an official court filing.

The lawsuit was filed after SDSU failed to provide records Castañares requested about a trip to Texas taken by SDSU officials and local civic leaders to tour the University of Texas sports arena in Austin in May 2021.

That trip was scheduled by Oak View Group, which developed the Austin arena, and had indicated interest in entering into a similar deal with SDSU to build and operate a sports arena alongside Snapdragon Stadium at no cost to the University.

The disclosure of the trip and subsequent offer of interest from Oak View Group helped put important events regarding a potential sports arena in San Diego into perspective.

After the trip to Texas in May 2021, California State University trustee Jack McGrory, who went on the trip, met with San Diego Mayor Todd Gloria to relay the news about a potential deal for a new sports arena.

McGrory later testified in a sworn deposition that Gloria asked him not to pursue the offer because he was about to move forward with an alternative plan at the existing site of the Sporta Arena in the Midway area of the City.

by Roberto Camacho / Times of San Diego • Palabra / March 1, 2026

In a typically cool spring morning in San Diego, muralist Daniel Angeles took a phone call that chilled his soul: His first piece of public art in the city’s Latino-centric Barrio Logan, a large mural called “Birth of the Hummingbird,” was being erased. He clicked on a live video and was horrified that his masterwork was being painted over — the vibrant colors of his mural gradually covered by mundane, muddy browns.

Angeles called the property’s owner, who, years before, had allowed him to paint the building’s street-facing wall and fence. Angeles thought of invoking the California Art Preservation Act and the federal Visual Artist Rights Act of 1990, written to help artists preserve public works. Damaging or modifying works without an artist’s consent can be unlawful. Property owners are supposed to send notice three months before demolition or repainting, giving artists time to remove, document or relocate their murals.

“I was shocked. I couldn’t do anything since I was at a music performance for my oldest daughter,” Angeles said. “She was performing when this youngster FaceTimed me as he was running toward the wall to show me a couple of guys were going over the art with rollers and dark paint. I couldn’t believe that it was going away.”

Angeles, who paints under the name Dentlok, is a celebrated muralist, tattoo artist and long-time resident of the neighborhood. He said he received no warning before his prized mural was erased.

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by Dave Schwab  / Times of San Diego / Feb. 17, 2026

Near Valentine’s Day 1964, a young, recently married couple, Johnny and Joyce Swindle, were killed by a lone sniper as they stood behind the Ocean Bean seawall watching the sunset.

This random double murder was never solved.

Nor were the homicides of four more young couples killed at isolated California locations near water, at dusk, and with the same .22-caliber bullets.

Those killings were attributed to the infamous Zodiac Killer, who taunted police, was never apprehended, and who went silent six years later. Some criminologists became convinced that the Ocean Beach Valentine’s Day murders were an early trial experiment of this serial killer.

Please join the Ocean Beach Historical Society on Thursday, February 19, 2026, 7pm, at Water’s Edge Community, 1984 Sunset Cliffs Blvd. Local author Jill Hall discusses her recent novel “On a Sundown Sea”

OB Rag Staff Report

KPBS Public Media informed staff on February 11 that News Director Terence Shepherd and Director of People and Culture Lois Hoyt were “no longer with” the station. The internal memo signed by Chief of Staff Travis Tamasese gave no specifics about why both senior executives were leaving simultaneously.

“We recognize that these announcements, though unrelated, are being shared at the same time and reflect a great amount of change for the organization,” Tamasese wrote. “Please know that we are here to support you if you would like to touch base.”

Shepherd joined KPBS in 2022 after eight years as news director of WLRN, Florida’s major public news outlet. He previously worked as a business editor at the Miami Herald.

It’s amazing. Saturday morning, January 24 — the morning that ICE / border patrol agents shot and murdered Alex Pretti — was 3 days ago – and today we still don’t know who shot him. We still don’t know which agent or agents fired the 10 bullets into his body at point-blank range.

Is it because there were so many agents surrounding Alex and pummeling him that investigators can’t figure out the individual identities?

No, authorities know who it is – they’re just not saying. ICE agents operate with impunity, under masks and with loaded machine guns.

Okay, so Greg Bovino is leaving with a few other agents and ol’ Tom Horman is coming in to quiet everybody down. You know Horman, he’s the gruff-speaking, bulldog looking guy from central casting — he reminds me of actor Broderick Crawford of the TV show Highway Patrol — who allegedly accepted a bag of $50,000 cash from FBI agents during a crime investigation — and got to keep it and who of course was not charged.

Meanwhile, Senate Democrats are getting ready to shut the government down unless funding for ICE is removed from the spending packages.

Well what do we know? What have authorities said about the trigger happy agent? (What happened to the idea that multiple agents actually fired into Pretti?)