Earlier this month, Meta made the controversial decision to end its third-party fact-checking program with respected fact-checkers and journalists.

Controversial, yes. Surprising? Well, yes and no.

On the latest episode of “The Poynter Report Podcast,” Angie Drobnic Holan, director of the International Fact-Checking Network, told me, “I don’t think there was any indication that Meta was unhappy. I think there were lots of indications in the overall political environment. I mean, Jim Jordan in the U.S. House of Representatives had been attacking fact-checking — and even more so researchers — who study misinformation for quite a while. (President Donald) Trump said during his campaign he was going to attack trust and safety programs on social media because he believed it was censorship. So there were things in the environment that made you think fact-checking is under threat now. When it came on this particular day and before the new administration had taken office, that was surprising.”

(The IFCN, which served as the accrediting body for the independent fact-checking organizations involved in the program, is part of Poynter. Poynter’s PolitiFact was one of the partner fact-checkers.)

Still, it’s easy to see what made Meta take a 180 on fact-checking: Trump became president and, clearly, Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg gave in to please Trump and the right.

Drobnic Holan told me, “I think anyone who’s looked at the body of work that groups like PolitiFact or factcheck.org have worked on over the past few years — I mean, there’s clearly an asymmetrical problem on the right with misinformation, hoaxes and conspiracy theories … with Trump kind of at the top of that pyramid. He’s a president with a documented problem of speaking accurately. He often shares hoaxes and conspiracy theories. So this isn’t new to people. I mean, I don’t feel like what I’m saying is new or shocking. I think anyone who watched the first Trump administration knows exactly what I’m talking about. And it’s like, here we go. Here are another four years.”

Before becoming director of the IFCN, Drobnic Holan was editor-in-chief of PolitiFact and was there when the original fact-checking program with then-Facebook was put together.

In our conversation, Drobnic Holan and I talked about how the original program came together, how it worked, what the future might look like for Meta users looking for factual information, where artificial intelligence fits into all of this, and why, despite all that has happened in recent months, she is still optimistic about fact-checking. Be sure to check it out.

Follow “The Poynter Report Podcast” on Apple Podcasts, Spotify or Amazon Music, and please consider leaving us a rating and review. It really helps.

Speaking of which …

The Washington Post’s Naomi Nix and Elizabeth Dwoskin get into the Meta-Trump-fact-checking story in their latest piece: “Inside Mark Zuckerberg’s Trump pivot.”

Nix and Dwoskin write, “With Trump back in the Oval Office, Zuckerberg is rebranding the company to go all-in on a MAGA-dominated Washington, shelving Meta’s once-lauded fact-checking program, eliminating DEI initiatives and installing (Republican lobbyist Joel) Kaplan as the face of the company’s policy division to replace the liberal-leaning former British politician Nick Clegg.”

They add, “If Meta’s new political playbook works, the company may avoid attacks from a president known for punishing his opponents and gain a new ally to fight against a ballooning set of tech regulations around the world. The strategy, however, risks alienating employees, Democrats and users, many of whom have bristled at the company’s dramatic transformation.”

Trump attacks

Donald Trump took a break from being president to mount an attack on cable news in general and MSNBC’s Rachel Maddow in particular. In a Truth Social post on Saturday — at 1:05 a.m. Eastern time, to be exact — Trump wrote, “Wow! Rachel Maddow has horrible ratings. She’ll be off the air very soon. MSNBC IS CLOSE TO DEATH. CNN HAS REACHED THE BOTTOM. This is a good thing. They are the Enemy of the people!”

What set Trump off? As always, who knows?

AP’s statement on famous photo

On June 8, 1972, the world saw what some people called “the most important photo of the 20th century.” It showed five children fleeing their village in Vietnam after U.S.-backed South Vietnamese forces had dropped chemical bombs. At the center of the photo, a naked girl, Phan Thi Kim Phuc. The photo became known as “The Terror of War” and “Napalm Girl,” and some credit it with leading to antiwar sentiment that helped end the U.S. involvement in the war.

The photo was credited to Nick Ut, then a 21-year-old Vietnamese AP staff photographer. He eventually won a Pulitzer Prize for making it. However, a new documentary called “The Stringer” questions if Ut actually took the photo. As the Los Angeles Times’ Mark Olsen explained it, “‘The Stringer’ alleges the photo was actually taken by Nguyen Thanh Nghe, a driver for an NBC news crew present that day whose photos came into the AP‘s possession as a freelancer, also known as a stringer. The origin of the claim in the film comes from Carl Robinson, an AP photo editor in Saigon on that day. In the film, Robinson claims that Horst Faas, the chief of photos in Saigon, instructed him to ‘make it Nick Ut’ and for Robinson to incorrectly credit what would within a few hours become the photo known around the world.”

Before the film debuted last weekend at the Sundance Film Festival, The Associated Press, without seeing the film, published a 23-page report after a six-month investigation, standing behind Ut. That report came out on Jan. 15.

On Sunday, after seeing the film for the first time, The AP put out another statement. The AP claimed it asked filmmakers for six months to look at the film, but said the filmmakers did not allow it unless the AP signed a nondisclosure agreement or agreed to an embargo.

After finally seeing the film, the AP, citing its lengthy report, continued to push back on the documentary’s assertions. The wire service called them “completely false.”

The AP then added in its latest statement, “We continue to reiterate what we have said all along — and said publicly last week: AP stands ready to review any and all evidence and new information about this photo. To do so, the filmmakers would have to lift the restriction they placed on all their contributors who signed non-disclosure agreements. We would like to review the visual analysis and report by INDEX and speak with all involved, especially Nguyen Thanh Nghe. As an international news organization, we are deeply appreciative of the work of local journalists and rely on them for their expertise. We cannot state more clearly that The Associated Press is only interested in the facts and a truthful history of this iconic photo.”

The Washington Post’s Jada Yuan was in Park City, Utah, for Sundance and has more in “Controversial doc ‘The Stringer’ investigates famous Vietnam War photo.”

NBC News changes

NBC News is the latest media company to have layoffs, but it comes with a bit of a caveat.

Late last week, NBC News cut about 40 positions. Business Insider’s Lucia Moses wrote, “The roles were scattered across the organization, though some employees shared the perception that teams focused on covering culture and diverse populations were particularly impacted. Another insider said no diversity news teams were eliminated and that there are still eight digital news staffers covering diverse communities. Apart from the layoffs, about 12 new positions will be created, mostly in digital news. NBC News is encouraging those laid off to apply. The network is also hiring for over 50 other positions.”

Good stuff

Actor Timothée Chalamet, shown here earlier this month in Rome. (AP Photo/Gregorio Borgia)

Celebrating its 50th season, “Saturday Night Live” continues to try new things, and it has been working. Last week, host Dave Chappelle’s opening monologue was 17 minutes long — believed to be the longest opening monologue in show history.

Then, this past Saturday, host Timothée Chalamet not only hosted, but was the musical guest. It’s not unusual for a host to also be a musical guest, but that usually applies to those who are known, first and foremost, for their music — such as Ariana Grande, Billie Eilish, Halsey, Chance the Rapper, Justin Timberlake and the first person to do it, Paul Simon, back in the very first season. Those are just a few of many.

But it is rare for someone who is not really known for music to also be the musical guest. Chalamet not only hosted, but performed three Bob Dylan songs as the musical guest. Chalamet is the star of the recent biopic about Dylan, “A Complete Unknown.” Actor Gary Busey hosted “SNL” and also did a musical number in 1979. Busey was the title star of “The Buddy Holly Story” the year before.

Speaking of “SNL” and music, NBC will air a three-hour special tonight looking back at the history of musical guests of the late-night show. It starts at 8 p.m. Eastern.

“SNL50: The Anniversary Special” — a three-hour live event celebrating the actual show — will air on NBC and Peacock on Feb. 16.

Media tidbits

• The Los Angeles Times’ Kevin Rector with “Trump talks ‘free speech’ while moving to muzzle those he disagrees with.”
• Vice President JD Vance went on CBS’s “Face the Nation” on Sunday and defended President Donald Trump pardoning Jan. 6 insurrectionists who attacked law enforcement. The Hill’s Sarah Fortinsky has more.
• The New York Times’ Eli Tan and Mike Isaac with “Elon Musk, Video Game King? Well, Maybe Not.”
• Youyou Zhou, a graphics reporter at the opinions desk of The Washington Post, with “How the TikTok ban brought Americans and Chinese closer.”
• The Athletic’s Andrew Marchand with “NBC’s Mike Florio is wrong in his Fox criticism about Tom Brady.”

Hot type

• “CBS News Sunday Morning” and correspondent Lee Cowan with “Behind the scenes at Sundance.”
• Terrific work from The Wall Street Journal and reporters Katherine Sayre and Isabella Simonetti: “America Has Fallen in Love With Long-Shot Sports Bets.”

More resources for journalists

• The 2025 Poynter Journalism Prizes contest is open for entries. The early bird deadline is Jan. 31. Submit your entry today.
• Learn how to cover critical issues surrounding child protection and the foster care system. Apply by Feb. 14.
• Gain a deeper understanding of Polarization in America and Christian Nationalism. Enroll now.
• Focus on the critical skills that new managers need to help forge successful paths to leadership at our in-person workshop, in April. Apply by Feb. 14.

Have feedback or a tip? Email Poynter senior media writer Tom Jones at tjones@poynter.org.

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Update, Jan. 28, 12:26 p.m.: This story was updated to note that the IFCN and PolitiFact are part of Poynter.