Media News Daily: Top Stories for 07/23/2026

WHCA to Honor Secret Service Officer

The White House Correspondents’ Association will honor Secret Service Police Officer Victor Gonzales with its “President’s Award for Exceptional Service” at its rescheduled dinner on July 24 in Washington, D.C. The association said Gonzales played a key role in stopping a gunman who attempted to enter the ballroom during the annual dinner earlier this spring. WHCA President Weijia Jiang said the group is grateful law enforcement prevented the suspect from entering and credited Gonzales for running toward danger to protect attendees. The dinner program will also include a salute to the First Amendment, journalism awards, scholarship recognition, remarks by President Trump, and entertainment by mentalist Oz Pearlman. (Read More) (The Hill Rating)

PolitiFact Launches Health Information Service

PolitiFact has launched Well Informed, a new service designed to provide credible, research-backed health information to consumers and news organizations. The project will focus heavily on social media platforms, where many people encounter health claims and misinformation, offering videos and stories on topics such as infectious disease outbreaks, vitamin K shots, GLP-1 side effects, peptides, diet soda, and other wellness claims. PolitiFact Editor-in-Chief Katie Sanders said the goal is to cut through unreliable health information and elevate science-backed reporting. Well Informed content will also be available on PolitiFact’s website and to partner news organizations, currently at no charge. (Read More) (Poynter Rating)

Meta AI Layoff Lawsuit Adds Worker Allegations

26 current and former Meta workers allege the company used AI-based systems that disproportionately selected employees who had taken or requested protected medical, family, disability, or pregnancy-related leave for layoffs. The lawsuit claims Meta used internal AI tools to score and rank workers based on factors such as performance ratings, productivity metrics, “AI-native” ratings, and AI-token consumption, which plaintiffs say penalized employees whose output was reduced because of protected leave or disability. The workers allege violations of federal employment laws and are seeking a preliminary injunction to stop Meta from finalizing their separations. Meta denied the claims, saying workforce decisions were made by people, not AI. (Read More) (Social Media Today Rating)