The Enemy Media

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Article in The guardian by Betsy Reed, 11/6/25

Headline:  “In his first term, Donald Trump called journalists the enemy. This time around, he’s treating us like one”

“From Hungary to Russia, authoritarian regimes have made silencing independent media one of their defining moves. Sometimes outright censorship isn’t even required to achieve this goal. In the United States, we have seen the administration apply various forms of pressure on news outlets in the year since Trump’s election. One of my great disappointments is how quickly some of the most storied US media organizations have folded . . .”

Read the full article at:

https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2025/nov/05/trump-journalists-enemy

Media and the New Distortion

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Article in The Guardian by Arwa Mahdawi, 11/4/25

Headline:  “Trump and his media buddies are taking the muddling of reality to a whole new level”

Subhead:  “How scared should we be by Trump’s heavily edited appearance on a US news programme this weekend, and Elon Musk’s Grokipedia?

“. . .As we all know, a good journalist should always make the rich and powerful feel comfortable.

“While I wait for that day to come, I’m watching and learning from the head honchos at CBS. Trump appeared on CBS News’s 60 Minutes on Sunday night for his first sit-down with the show in five years and commented on how much better the network has become after its owner, Paramount, was taken over by his billionaire allies, the father-and-son duo Larry and David Ellison. . .”

Read the full article at:

https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2025/nov/04/trump-media-buddies-are-muddling-reality-whole-new-level

Big Brother WaPo Now?

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Article in The New Republic by Michael Tomasky, 11/3/25

Headline:  “The Washington Post Has Become Right-Wing Even Faster Than I Thought”

Subhead:  “It’s not going to happen. It’s happening: The mainstream media is becoming right-wing. What are wealthy liberals going to do about it?”

“I almost wrote a column about The Washington Post’s new but increasingly clear editorial slant last week after I read the editorial headlined ‘In defense of the White House ballroom.‘ That’s the kind of headline, opening with ‘in defense of,’ that might be tongue-in-cheek; a bit catty. But no, it was a dull, moronic, straightforward defense of the president of the United States crushing to dust one-third of a building of singular historic importance that is owned by the American people, and doing so while not merely ignoring but saying a colossal fuck you to the rules and procedures that normally govern such changes. . .”

Read the full article at:

https://newrepublic.com/article/202581/washington-post-right-wing-bezos

Loony-Bin Reporting?

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Article in Columbia Journalism Review by Aida Alami, 11/3/25

Headline:  “Twin Assaults on Press Freedom”

Subhead:  “The ICE detention of Sami Hamdi closely follows the deportation of Mario Guevara.”

“Hamdi’s arrest was first announced by Laura Loomer, the far-right anti-Muslim troll with close ties to the Trump administration, via a triumphant post on X with the word ‘SCOOP’ and a siren emoji: ‘As a direct result of Amy [Mekelburg]’s report and my relentless pressure on the State Department and Department of Homeland Security, US officials have now moved to take action against Hamdi’s visa status and his continued presence in this country’. . .”

Read the full article at:

https://www.cjr.org/the_media_today/twin-assaults-press-freedom-sami-hamdi-ice-abduction-loomer-amy-mek-dhs.php

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Article in The Washington Post by By Scott Nover and Drew Harwell, 11/3/25

Headline:  “Laura Loomer is now credentialed to cover the Pentagon”

Subhead:  “The far-right activist and former congressional candidate has repeatedly criticized defense officials on her website and social media accounts while boasting of her close ties to President Donald Trump.”

“Laura Loomer, the far-right political activist and former congressional candidate in Florida, has been credentialed to cover the Defense Department, according to one person familiar with the matter, joining a new cohort of right-wing media that have agreed to the Pentagon’s new press policy. . .”

Read the full article at:

https://www.washingtonpost.com/business/2025/11/03/laura-loomer-pentagon-credentials/

CBS News – “Lotta Money”

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Article in The Guardian by Jeremy Barr, 11/3/25

Headline:  “CBS News heavily edits Trump 60 Minutes interview, cutting boast network ‘paid me a lotta money’ “

Subhead:  “Trump said Paramount’s sale to David and Larry Ellison was ‘greatest thing that’s happened in a long time’ for free press”

“. . .The edits are notable because, exactly one year before Trump was interviewed by O’Donnell at his Mar-a-Lago resort on Friday he had sued CBS over the editing of a 60 Minutes interview with then-Vice President Kamala Harris, which he alleged had been deceptively edited to help her chances in the presidential election.

While many legal experts widely dismissed the lawsuit as ‘meritless’ and unlikely to hold up under the first amendment, CBS settled with Trump for $16m in July. . .”

Read the full article at:

https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025/nov/03/trump-cbs-60-minutes-interview-edited

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Article in Mediaite by Sean James, 11/2/25

Headline:  ” ‘Paid Me a Lotta Money!’ Trump Takes Victory Lap Over ’60 Minutes’ — In Part of Interview That Didn’t Air Live On ’60 Minutes’ “

“One part of President Donald Trump’s 60 Minutes interview on Sunday that did not air live: The president gloating that CBS paid him millions of dollars to settle his lawsuit against the program for its editing of an interview with Kamala Harris last year. . .”

He also complimented Bari Weiss, the new head of CBS News, and said he believed she will do a good job leading the news operation. . .”

Read the full article at:

https://www.mediaite.com/media/paid-me-a-lotta-money-trump-takes-victory-lap-over-60-minutes-in-part-of-interview-that-didnt-air-live-on-60-minutes/

Departing Reporters – On Wrong Tracks

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Article in The New Republic by Jason Linkins, 11/2/25

Headline:  “This Is the Media’s Worst Euphemism for Trump’s Tyrannical Abuses”

Subhead:  “Readers beware—and be on the lookout for the ‘departure.’ ”

“. . .Behold, the ‘departure.’ Back on September 10, The New York Times used the term in their report of the Trump administration’s extrajudicial killings on the high seas. Their sources, per the report, provided ‘new details about a military operation that was a startling departure. . .’ ”

“. . .More recently, a CNN report on Trump having collected a $130 million private donation to pay military service salaries—a highly impeachable offense for what is a comically paltry sum of money—explained that the move ‘marks a striking departure. . .’ ”

Read the full article at:

https://newrepublic.com/post/202475/media-euphemism-trump-sanewashing-departure

 

This Week – The West Wing!

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Article in the Washington Post by By Scott Nover and Andrew Jeong, 11/1/25

Headline:  “White House restricts media access in key area of the West Wing”

Subhead:  “The move limiting free press access to Room 140, which houses the offices of the press secretary and other staff, was said to be based on national security.”

“The White House said Friday that reporters could no longer access an area in the West Wing known as ‘Upper Press’ that houses the offices of key communications staff members, triggering pushback from White House correspondents, who said the move would hurt the press’s ability to cover the president. . .”

Read the full article at:

https://www.washingtonpost.com/business/2025/10/31/white-house-media-access-west-wing/

The Best Media Attackers

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Photo from Reporters Without Borders

Article in Reporters Without Borders by Staff, 11/1/25

Headline:  “2025 Press Freedom Predators”

“For International Day to End Impunity for Crimes against Journalists, celebrated on 2 November, Reporters Without Borders (RSF) is unveiling the profiles of 34 press freedom predators who attacked journalists and the right to information in 2025. What do they have in common? A hatred of press freedom. Their methods differ, but their objectives converge: silencing independent media voices and trampling on the right to news and information. . .”

Read the full article at:

https://rsf.org/en/2025-press-freedom-predators

 

Media Literacy – Important to Everyone

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Article in Poynter by Renata Salvini & Brittani Kollar

Headline:  “A journalist in Brazil is showing seniors how to outsmart misinformation, one WhatsApp message at a time”

Subhead:  “Through hands-on workshops, Talita Rosa is proving that media literacy can empower people of any age”

“The International Center for Journalists’ (ICFJ) Disarming Disinformation initiative is a three-year program, supported by the Scripps Howard Foundation, that aims to slow the spread of disinformation through multiple programs such as investigative journalism, capacity building and media literacy education. ICFJ partnered with MediaWise from the Poynter Institute to develop and deliver media literacy programming. . .”

Read the full article at:

https://www.poynter.org/fact-checking/media-literacy/2025/a-journalist-in-brazil-is-showing-seniors-how-to-outsmart-misinformation-one-whatsapp-message-at-a-time/

 

Chippin’ Away at the Media

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Article in The Washington Post by Brianna Tucker, 10/31/25

 

Headline:  “N.C. GOP spokesman urges reporter to drop news story, citing Trump ties

Subhead:  “Communications director Matt Mercer later says in a social media post that Trump should ‘feed ProPublica to the USAID wood chipper.’ ”

“A spokesman for the North Carolina Republican Party appeared to threaten the news outlet ProPublica — citing ‘connections’ to the Trump administration — over a story it reported and ultimately published on a prominent conservative state Supreme Court judge. . .:

“The story examined state Supreme Court Chief Justice Paul Newby, his starkly conservative transformation of the court and power over the state’s politics. . .”

“. . .the publication said it received a response from North Carolina GOP spokesman Matt Mercer, attempting to coerce ProPublica to kill the story.

“ ‘I’m sure you’re aware of our connections with the Trump Administration and I’m sure they would be interested in this matter,’ Mercer said in an email that ProPublica published. . .”

Read the full article at:

https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2025/10/31/republican-north-carolina-propublica-trump/