Media News Daily: Top Stories for 08/05/2026

DOJ Subpoenas New York Times Freelancer

The Justice Department subpoenaed freelancer Matthew Cole over his 2025 reporting for The New York Times on a failed U.S. military operation in North Korea. Cole’s story alleged that Navy SEALs killed several unarmed North Koreans in 2019 while attempting to plant a listening device near the country’s coast, citing unnamed sources. Prosecutors in Virginia are seeking more than two years of Cole’s notes and testimony to identify his sources. The Times is funding Cole’s legal defense and called the subpoena another attack on press freedom, following similar recent subpoenas involving The Washington Post and The Wall Street Journal. (Read More) (Reuters Rating)

Former 60 Minutes Correspondents Join Columbia Journalism School

Former 60 Minutes correspondents Scott Pelley and Sharyn Alfonsi are joining Columbia Journalism School as journalists-in-residence for the 2026-27 academic year. Columbia said the two will work with students on investigative reporting and sourcing through lectures, workshops, special events, and contributions to the Columbia Journalism Review. The appointments come after Pelley was fired from CBS following a public clash with CBS News leadership, including Bari Weiss and 60 Minutes executive producer Nick Bilton. Alfonsi’s contract expired after she criticized alleged corporate meddling at CBS News. (Read More) (Mediaite Rating)

New Jersey Outlet Challenges Judge’s Gag Order

New Brunswick Today is asking a New Jersey appeals court to lift a judge’s order restricting its coverage of a school lockdown incident involving a student who brought an airsoft pistol to New Brunswick High School. The order bars the outlet and other journalists from identifying the 16-year-old student and from publishing unredacted surveillance footage of the incident. The outlet’s lawyers argue the order is an unconstitutional prior restraint on the press, noting that the Supreme Court has almost never permitted such censorship and has protected publication of truthful information of public concern even when leaked by sources. (Read More) (Reason Rating)