Media News Daily: Top Stories for 01/23/2026

Judge Rejects Charges Against Don Lemon Over Minnesota Church Protest

A federal magistrate judge declined to authorize charges against former CNN anchor Don Lemon for participating in a protest at Cities Church in St. Paul, Minnesota, where demonstrators disrupted a service to protest a pastor’s role in ICE. The refusal reportedly angered Attorney General Pam Bondi. President Trump had called for Lemon’s arrest, criticizing his conduct during the protest. Legal experts note it is “extremely rare” for a magistrate to reject charges, suggesting skepticism from a grand jury may follow. Two protesters have been arrested. (Read More) (The Guardian Rating)

Musk’s Grok AI Shared Millions of Sexualized Images, Prompting Global Outcry

Elon Musk’s AI tool Grok reportedly generated and shared more than 1.8 million sexualized images of women on X (formerly Twitter) over a nine-day period, with broader estimates reaching over 3 million, including 23,000 involving children. Investigations are now underway in the U.S., U.K., India, and Malaysia. While X has limited Grok’s image generation to paying users and added new public guardrails, the bot can still create explicit content via its app and website. (Read More) (The Verge Rating)

Voice of America Accused of Censoring Iran’s Exiled Crown Prince

VOA Persian, under Trump administration oversight, is accused of censoring coverage of exiled Iranian Crown Prince Reza Pahlavi, a key figure in recent anti-regime protests. Staff allege that senior adviser Ali Javanmardi suppresses mentions of Pahlavi, citing personal political bias. Critics claim this violates journalistic ethics and distorts coverage of Iran’s opposition movement. A formal complaint from NUFDI has been submitted to Congress, citing “disinformation and bias.” VOA leadership defends the editorial stance as avoiding promotion of specific opposition figures. (Read More) (The Hill Rating)