30 Years for Box of Magazines

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Article in FAIR by Dorothee Benz, 7/22/25

Headline:  “Prairieland Was a Test, and Corporate Media Failed”

” ‘Thirty-Year Sentence for Transporting Zines Is a Five-Alarm Fire for Free Speech,’ an Intercept headline (6/26/26) shouted days after a federal court sentenced eight anti-ICE protesters to a combined 450 years in prison. . .”

“One of the defendants, Daniel Sanchez Estrada, was not even at the protest. He was, as the Intercept’s headline correctly reported, sentenced to 30 years because he moved a box of zines. . .”

“Yet the extremely harsh sentences for Sanchez Estrada and the others did not set off any alarm bells among corporate media. . .”

Read the full article at:

https://fair.org/home/prairieland-was-a-test-and-corporate-media-failed/

Media Merger Clock is Ticking

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Article in Reuters by Brody Godoy, 7/24/26

Headline: “Paramount agrees to pause Warner Bros deal while case plays out”

“. . .​on Friday agreed to pause its acquisition of Warner ‌Bros. Discovery until after a ruling on a challenge by states to the deal, plunging the $110 billion deal into further uncertainty.  . .”

Read the full article at:

https://www.reuters.com/world/paramount-agrees-pause-warner-bros-deal-while-case-plays-out-2026-07-24/

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Article in Alternet America by Ryan Rose and Alternet America, 7/23/26

Headline:  “We Have 11 Days Until the Free Press Shrinks”

“They don’t call it censorship. They call it a merger.

“Twelve state attorneys general just sued to block Paramount Skydance’s $110 billion takeover of Warner Bros. Discovery. They say the deal would gut competition, raise prices, and shrink an already hollowed-out industry. A federal judge agreed enough to pump the brakes by issuing a 14-day restraining order.

“Three of those days are already gone.It’s not censorship when it’s a merger. That’s the whole trick. . .”

Read the full article at:

https://www.alternetamerica.com/

No Diving Under Tables This Time?

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Article in AP by Jocelyn Noveck, 7/24/26

Headline:  “White House correspondents’ dinner, redux: What will Trump have to say?”

“. . .But it’s also clear that some people felt the dinner should not be rescheduled at all.

“Many never thought it was much of a good look in the first place, with the sight of journalists in formal wear cozying up to their sources, or the objects of their reporting.

“ ‘It undermines the public faith in how the press does its work, and it makes it look like we are pals with the people we cover,’ Kelly McBride, an ethics expert at the Poynter Institute, a journalism think tank, said when the deliberations were taking place.

“The new dinner comes during a time of fast-increasing tension between the media and a president . . .”

Read the full article at:

https://apnews.com/article/correspondents-dinner-trump-shooting-white-house-dfa0ecdbe3552910903d5c23a8e96a35

Real Fake News!

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Article in Mediaite by Kathryn Wilkens

Headline: “Ex-60 Minutes Journo Says She Was Asked to Cover Nonexistent Events Under Weiss”

Subhead: “While Vega did not directly name Weiss as having personally made the requests, she pointed to changes under the network’s ‘new administration at CBS News’ “

According to an audio recording obtained by Oliver Darcy’s Status, former 60 Minutes correspondent Cecilia Vega accused CBS News chief Bari Weiss of leading a push to include claims in stories that her reporting team could not verify, alleging she was asked to report on incidents that ‘never happened.’ ”

Read the full article at:

https://www.mediaite.com/media/news/ousted-60-minutes-reporter-says-she-was-asked-to-report-on-things-that-didnt-happen-under-bari-weiss/

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Article in Status by Oliver Darcy 7/23/26

Headline: “Vega Breaks Her Silence”

Subhead:  “The fired ’60 Minutes’ correspondent revealed stunning new details about how CBS News management tried to meddle in her reporting, according to an audio recording obtained by Status.“

Read the article at:

https://www.status.news/p/cecilia-vega-cbs-60-minutes-bari-weiss

Media Monopoly Deal Delayed Again

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Article in The Wrap by Benjamin Lindsay, 7/23/26

Headline:  “Paramount-WBD Deal Delayed Again as Judge Extends Restraining Order by 2 Weeks”

Subhead:  “With Thursday’s ruling, the earliest David Ellison’s deal for Warner Bros. Discovery can close is Aug. 17″

“The Paramount-Warner Bros. Discovery merger was delayed further on Thursday after a federal judge extended the temporary restraining order pausing the deal by an additional two weeks, pushing the earliest date David Ellison could close the $110 billion deal to Aug. 17. . .”

Read the full article at:

https://www.thewrap.com/industry-news/deals-ma/paramount-warner-bros-restraining-order-extended-2-weeks/

Will Press Event Be Like Scotland “Black Dinner”?

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Article in Media Matters by Matt Gertz, 7/22/26

Headline:  “The White House Correspondents’ Association takes another futile crack at celebrating the First Amendment with Donald Trump”

“What would it take for the White House Correspondents’ Association to withdraw its invitation to President Donald Trump to attend and speak at its annual dinner on Friday?

“The event theoretically functions as ‘a celebration of a free press and the vital role of journalism in our democracy’ — two things it is comical to propose the president values. Trump’s treatment of the media in his second term has been characterized not only by vitriolic attacks on journalists and lawsuits aimed at a slew of news outlets but also by the use of the law enforcement and regulatory apparatus to punish reporters and steer news outlets into the hands of his cronies. . . .”

Read the full article at:

https://www.mediamatters.org/donald-trump/white-house-correspondents-association-takes-another-futile-crack-celebrating-first

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Article in Poynter by Tom Jones, 7/23/26

Headline: “Opinion | Is the White House Correspondents’ dinner headed for another mess?”

Subhead:  “The association says the dinner celebrates a free press. Trump will likely use it to attack the press.”

“Friday’s rescheduled White House Correspondents’ Association dinner has all the makings of a complete clown show.

“I was going to say it has all the makings of a complete disaster, but that is how you would describe the first attempt back in April. That dinner, you recall, had to be shut down after a gunman trying to enter the event shot a Secret Service agent. . .”

Read the full article at:

https://www.poynter.org/commentary/2026/white-house-correspondents-dinner-rescheduled-trump/

Subpoena Against Reporters Burned

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Article in UPI by Stephen Feller, 7/23/26

Headline: “Justice Department withdraws subpoenas for New York Times reporters”

“The Department of Justice on Thursday agreed in court to withdraw subpoenas it sent to three journalists at the New York Times to force them to reveal their sources.

“The Justice Department ‘unilaterally’ withdrew the subpoenas after U.S. District Judge Arun Subramanian threatened to quash them if it did not do so, ABC News and The New York Times reported. . .”

Read the full article at:

https://www.upi.com/Top_News/US/2026/07/23/justice-department-withdraws-subpoenas-new-york-times/1801784850308/

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Article in The Guardian by Victoria Bekiempis, 7/23/26

Headline: “Trump’s DoJ drops effort to subpoena New York Times over Qatari jet story”

Subhead:  “Journalists had reported on security concerns about US president flying on $400m Air Force One plane from Qatar”

Read the article at:

https://www.theguardian.com/media/2026/jul/23/new-york-times-reporter-subpoenas-withdraw

Who Can Block Media Merger?

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Article in Columbia Journalism Review by Amos Barshad, 7/13/26

Headline:  “If They Can’t Block This Merger, Can Anyone?”

Subhead:  “State attorneys general are trying to stop Paramount Skydance from merging with Warner Bros. Discovery. It’s the best shot left at preventing—or at least stalling—what seems inevitable.”

Last month, the Department of Justice officially blessed Paramount Skydance’s merger with Warner Bros. Discovery (WBD), praising the proposed deal for its potential to boost competition “across the media and entertainment ecosystem.” On July 13, a coalition of twelve state attorneys general, including Rob Bonta of California and Letitia James of New York, filed a federal lawsuit in the Northern District of California arguing more or less the opposite. . .”

Read the full article at:

https://www.cjr.org/analysis/if-they-cant-block-this-merger-can-anyone-paramound-skydance-warner-bros-discovery-merger-state-attorneys-general-northern-district-california.php

Dig Into Reporter Families Now?

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Article in Freedom of the Press Foundation by Staff, 7/20/26

Headline:  “Trump admin escalates attacks on journalists, probing family communications”

“The New York Times reported today that the Trump administration issued third-party subpoenas seeking communications not only of journalists’ phone and text records but those of their relatives, including spouses and parents.

“The subpoenas were part of the government’s investigation into the source of reporting that President Donald Trump’s Qatari-gifted Air Force One replacement was deemed unsafe to fly him back from the NATO summit. . .”

Read the full article at:

https://freedom.press/issues/trump-admin-escalates-attacks-on-journalists-probing-family-communications/

Don’t Like Writing? – Call it Treason

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Article in Columbia Journalism Review by Jem Bartholomew, 7/20/26

Headline:   “The Uses of ‘Treason”

Subhead:  “By repeatedly blasting the press as traitors, Trump is trying to solidify his splintering MAGA base.”

“. . .David E. Sanger—the New York Times’ White House and national security correspondent . . .asked about the war with Iran. ‘What would the use be of repeating the bombing? You did it for thirty-eight days, and you did not get the political changes in Iran—’ Trump jumped in: ‘No, I got, I had a total military victory,’ he said, . . . . Then he leaped into a tirade against the press. ‘I actually think it’s sort of treasonous what you write,’ Trump concluded. . .”

Read the full article at:

https://www.cjr.org/the_media_today/the-uses-of-treason-donald-trump-press-traitors-air-force-one-qatar-sanger-subpoenas-maga-base-splinter.php