To air or not to air? The nation’s TV networks and their news operations spent the hours leading up to President Donald Trump’s address Thursday night debating how to cover it. They were struggling to balance delivering the news with handing over their airwaves to potential falsehoods about the 2020 elections. The dilemma took place against a backdrop of deep tension between the media and a president working to exert control over it by whatever means he can. Even in his speech itself, Trump excoriated networks that chose not to carry it live. He said “NBC and ABC fake news” avoided it and threatened consequences, using the presidential pulpit to suggest they should be sanctioned for their editorial decisions.