Several musical artists have canceled their performances at the Great American State Fair in Washington, D.C., which was planned June 24-July 10 to celebrate America’s 250th anniversary. The musicians said they were misled about the event being nonpartisan. Our analysts rated media coverage in our Topic of the Week.

An article on the CBS News website lists the musicians who had pulled out of the event and reports that President Trump has considered canceling it. It says that on Saturday the Freedom 250 organization had announced President Trump would kick off the event himself, and then Trump suggested later that day that the concert be canceled and replaced with a Make America Great Again rally. Our analysts found the article to be “simple fact reporting” with a “middle/balanced” bias.

An article from Breitbart received similar scores. It also reports that Trump is considering canceling the event or rebranding it as a MAGA rally. The article includes Trump’s Truth Social comments in full, as well as social media posts about Vanilla Ice choosing to perform and not cancel. The article ends with a statement from a Freedom 250 spokesperson who says the Great American State Fair is “inherently unpolitical.”

The website ZeroHedge posted an article with the headline, “Anti-Trump Entertainers Bolt From Freedom 250 Celebration.” The article says, “the cancellations add to the long-running tensions between Americans and the politically progressive entertainment industry.” It includes quotes from several musicians who have canceled their performances, including Martina McBride, Milli Vanilli and Morris Day. Analysts rated the article as “analysis” with a “middle/balanced” bias.

MS NOW (MSNBC) reported on the cancellations on both its website and during its TV show “The Weekend Primetime.” On the website, an opinion article begins with this headline: “Trump’s ‘Great American State Fair’ is anything but. Bret Michaels and Martina McBride proved it.” The author says that the music cancellations reveal “something striking about the current toxicity of the president’s brand.” It describes Trump as “clearly enraged” when he reacted on Truth Social, and it includes comments from many of the musicians who pulled out of the event. The author suggests that the cancellations demonstrate “just how culturally corrosive Trump has become during his second term.” Analysts rated the article as “opinion” with a “strong left” bias.

On “The Weekend Primetime” a panel of hosts discusses the significance of musical artists dropping out of the 250th celebration because of its partisan nature, stating that Trump is attempting to “yolk the celebration of the country to him, to make this indistinguishable.” Eddie Glaude Jr. describes the political climate during previous American centennial celebrations and says that Trump and the Freedom 250 committee are trying to “tell a story of the country that emphasizes a particular understanding of America as white.” Glaude says that writing from Hiram Wesley Evans, Imperial Wizard of the KKK, in 1926 “sounds exactly like MAGA.” Analysts noted that the entire panel was “anti-Trump,” and they rated the video as “opinion” with a “hyper-partisan left” bias.

Over on Newsmax, hosts of “The Right Squad” slam the musical artists for dropping out of the Freedom 250 celebration. James Rosen says that maybe some of them decided “they would have a greater publicity spike by backing out of this than by actually participating in it.” Mercedes Schlapp says the event seems to be nonpolitical, and she calls the musicians who canceled “cowardly artists” who are “bowing down to the woke mob.” Tim Doescher calls the artists “washed up” musicians who are “protecting their own skin in their nostalgia existence.” Terry Schilling says he’s glad they canceled because now they can get “people that are actually going to bring about greatness and bring crowds to this concert.” Alex Swoyer says Martina McBride “had no problem performing for the Obamas,” and she hopes “they lose following.” Analysts rated the video as “opinion” with a “hyper-partisan right” bias.

If you’d like to follow along on our weekly Topic of the Week exercise, you can do so by visiting our website. New Topics of the Week are posted each Monday. Read the articles and watch the videos yourself, then come back on Wednesday to compare your scores with those of our analysts. Learn more here.

Beth Heldebrandt is Director of Communications at Ad Fontes Media. She has more than 35 years of experience in the fields of journalism and public relations, and was an adjunct instructor of journalism for 17 years at Eastern Illinois University. Beth has a B.A. in journalism from Southern Illinois University-Carbondale and an M.A. in English from Eastern Illinois University. She’s a mom and grandma, and enjoys traveling, puzzles and reading.