enarcmot

Public Media Are Sueing

by


Article in The Hill by Dominick Mastrangelo, 5/30/25

Headline: “PBS sues Trump administration in wake of calls to strip funding”

“PBS is suing President Trump’s administration on First Amendment grounds, arguing the president is trying to pull funding the from the broadcaster because of editorial coverage he disagrees with.

“The suit filed Friday in federal court in Washington, D.C., accused the president of trying to “upend public television” and argues the law “forbids” him from pulling funding to it and other public broadcast outlets.

“PBS’s suit follows a similar lawsuit filed earlier this week by NPR. . .”

Read the full article at:

https://thehill.com/homenews/media/5326430-pbs-sues-trump/

Media Joining the Parade?

by


Article in The Guardian by Judith Levine, 5/30/25

Headline:  “We’re minimizing the horror of Trump’s military birthday parade”

Subhead:  “The media has focused on the price tag and potholes. But history may mark 14 June as the ceremonial birth of US fascism”

“In 2017, watching a two-hour Bastille Day procession, Donald Trump told the French president that we’d have one too, only better. . .”

“This time, as Washington prepares for a huge military shindig on 14 June, Trump’s 79th – and, oh yes, the US army’s 250th – birthday, the generals are silent. The Republicans have sworn allegiance to the king. And the media are focused on the price tag, the potholes and the impending pomp; on tensions between the blue city of Washington and the red capital; and on the decimation of veterans’ healthcare, housing, and pensions while the administration throws $25m to $45m at a circus of war. . .”

Read the full article at:

https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2025/may/30/trump-military-parade-fascism

PBS Station Caves?

by


Article in The Intercept by Nikita Mazurov, 5/29/25

Headline:  “PBS Station Wipes Drag and Trans Content After DOGE Outcry”

Subhead:  “PBS producer WNET quietly erased episodes containing a drag queen and a trans character from its platforms.”

“The New York-area PBS station WNET has scrubbed its archives of at least three educational TV episodes that discuss transgender identity and drag expression, The Intercept has learned, as Congress and the Trump administration target public broadcasters with attempts to strip their funding.

“The station’s educational program ‘Let’s Learn’ became an object of ire for the House Subcommittee on Delivering on Government Efficiency this spring over the 2021 episode. . .The subcommittee’s chair, Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, R-Ga., opened the ‘Anti-American Airwaves’ hearing in March by claiming that ‘PBS News is not just left-leaning, but it actively uses taxpayer funds to push some of the most radical, left positions like featuring a drag queen on the show . . .”

Read the full article at:

https://theintercept.com/2025/05/29/drag-trans-pbs-wnet-censorship-doge/

FCC Commissioner Defends Press Freedom

by


Article in Free Press by Staff, 4/28/25

Headline:  “At Lively Public Forum, FCC Commissioner Gomez Rallies Angelenos in Defense of First Amendment Rights and a Free Press”

“On Wednesday, FCC Commissioner Anna Gomez took a forceful stand against government censorship and intimidation of U.S. media during a boisterous Los Angeles forum co-hosted by Free Press.

“ ‘I launched this First Amendment tour to bring attention to this administration’s campaign of censorship and control — and I want to be clear, this is an administration-wide campaign,’ Gomez said during the event. ‘Freedom of the press requires journalists that are able to do their job without interference from their corporate parents. We are not seeing that today because of the actions of this administration and it is so dangerous. We all need to understand what is happening and we need people to speak up and to push back. . .’

Read the full article at:

https://www.freepress.net/news/fcc-commissioner-gomez-rallies-angelenos-defense-first-amendment-rights

Newsletter Journalism

by


Article in Columbia Journalism Review by Klaudia Jazwinska, 5/29/25

Headline:  “The Long Peak of Newsletters”

Subhead:  “A medium that connects journalists to their readers seems to have fresh momentum.”

“n October 2022, the New York Times asked, ‘Are we past peak newsletter?’ ‘After a rush of excitement around the potential for paid email newsletters to transform the media industry,’ the paper wrote, ‘there are indicators that the bubble may be popping’; Meta had just killed a newsletter product, while the newsletter publishing platform Substack was cutting back on the advances it was paying to writers. Recent trends, however, suggest that the format is experiencing renewed momentum. Press Gazette reported, for example, that Substack had, for the first time, entered its ranking of the top fifty news websites in the UK, reaching a larger share of the country’s population than CNN in March. . .”

Read the full article at:

https://www.cjr.org/the_media_today/peak_newsletter_substack_beehiiv_ghost.php

Domino Effect on Journalism

by

Article in Poynter by Angla Fu, 5/29/25

Headline:  “America’s top journalism schools may lose a generation of international talent”

Subhead:  “The Trump administration is pausing visa interviews for students and fellows while it drafts new vetting rules”

“Foreign media workers and students coming to the United States for journalism schools and fellowships could get caught up in the Trump administration’s pause on certain visa interviews.

“Secretary of State Marco Rubio instructed all American embassies and consulates Tuesday to stop scheduling student and exchange visitor visa interviews, Politico reported. . .”

Read the full article at:

https://www.poynter.org/educators-students/2025/foreign-journalism-students-visa-pause/

Nasty Taco Question?

by


Article in Mediaite by Zachary Leeman, 5/28/25

Headline:  “Trump Rages at Reporter Asking ‘Nasty Question’ About Accusations He ‘Chicken Outs’ On Tariffs”

“President Donald Trump lashed out at a reporter on Wednesday over her ‘nasty question’ on critics accusing him of ‘always chickening out.’

“At the Wednesday swearing-in ceremony for Jeanine Pirro as Washington, D.C.’s top prosecutor, Trump took some questions and at one point was educated on the term TACO, meaning ‘Trump Always Chickens Out.’ The term was reportedly first coined by Financial Times columnist Robert Armstrong, and it’s since picked up steam with Wall Streeters who believe Trump’s tariff negotiations first tank the markets, leading to him inevitably backing off.

“ ‘Mr. President, Wall Street analysts have coined a new term called the taco trade. They’re saying Trump always chickens out on your tariff threats. And that’s why markets are higher this week. What’s your response to that?’ CNBC White House correspondent Megan Casella asked Trump. . .”

Read the full article at:

https://www.mediaite.com/media/news/trump-rages-at-reporter-asking-nasty-question-about-accusations-he-chicken-outs-on-tariffs/

– – – – –

Article in Axios by Emily Peck, 5/28/25

Headline:  “How a columnist’s catchphrase caused an Oval Office stir”

“At a press conference Wednesday, President Trump had a very unhappy reaction to being asked about the ‘TACO trade’ — a shorthand for Trump Always Chickens Out.

“Why it matters: Traders have been using TACO to describe the belief that the president will back off on a big tariff threat if the markets sink in response. . .”

“State of play: Trump was asked about a spate of TACO-related headlines while taking questions in the Oval Office Wednesday.

” ‘I’ve never heard that, you mean because I reduced China from 145%,’ he said, then detailing how he stepped down that threat, as well as the higher rate on the EU.

” ‘But don’t ever say what you said. That’s a nasty question’. . ..”

Read the full article at:

https://www.axios.com/2025/05/29/trump-taco-trade-tariffs

Planted Media Falsehoods on Fire?

by


Article in Media Matters by Jane Lee & Isabella Corrao, 5/28/25

Headline:  “An intelligence report debunked MAGA media claims about Tren de Aragua and Venezuela. A Trump official is now under fire for reportedly ordering the report be redone.”

“The New York Times reported that Trump intel official Joe Kent ordered the assessment to be edited to protect Donald Trump and Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard”

“Intelligence community assessments rejected the Trump administration’s claim that the Venezuela-based gang Tren de Aragua is being directed by Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro’s administration to infiltrate the United States.

“In response, the Trump administration dismissed the head of the National Intelligence Council and his deputy, making claims about the pair that an observer noted are ‘extremely difficult to believe’ given that they served the country ‘faithfully’ for decades. Administration official Joe Kent — a former fixture in far-right media and currently top aide to Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard — also ordered analysts to revise the intelligence assessment, reportedly in order to protect President Donald Trump and Gabbard. . .”

Read the full story here:

https://www.mediamatters.org/fox-news/intelligence-report-debunked-maga-media-claims-about-tren-de-aragua-and-venezuela-trump

Can Student Journalists do Their Jobs?

by

Article in Poynter by Adelina Yankova, 5/27/25

Headline:  “Student reporters are under pressure to protect sources — and still tell the truth”

Subhead:  “As fear spreads on campuses, journalists face a new dilemma: How do you build trust when few are willing to be named?”

“Last December, Andrew Massie got a text from his roommate: He thought he had story for him. An hour later, Massie, who is a journalist at The Fordham Ram student newspaper, returned home to find several people waiting to talk. The ensuing three-month reporting journey led Massie to sift through documents and interview 26 people about alleged administrative negligence by a Fordham dean.

“Still, when the story was published in the Ram on March 5, it featured only two named sources.

“Most of the interviewees, who feared for their current jobs and future employment prospects, would only speak to Massie, the features editor of the Ram, under the condition of anonymity. In some cases, the interviews were fully off the record, meaning Massie had to confirm their testimony with others.

“Massie’s experience is increasingly common for student journalists across the country as they reckon with people’s hesitance to be named in stories. . .”

Read the full story here:

https://www.poynter.org/reporting-editing/2025/student-journalism-challenges-anonymous-sources-off-record/

Reporting a Hidden War

by

Article in Columbia Journalism Review by Nalova Akua, 5/27/25

Headline:  “The Hidden Toll of Reporting on the Sudanese Civil War”

Subhead:  “Local journalists say it often feels like belligerents are waging an undeclared war against the press.”

“In June 2023, Nader Shilkawi, a thirty-four-year-old journalist working with the Sudan Radio and Television Corporation, was returning home from a reporting trip when he was seized by members of a paramilitary group known as the Rapid Support Forces. The group—a party in a brutal civil war that has torn the country apart since April 2023—accused the reporter of working with the Sudanese army to monitor its movements. ‘I was subjected to torture in detention,’ Shilkawi said recently via a WhatsApp message. ‘I was beaten. I received threats.’

“He was eventually released, after three days of detention. But Shilkawi’s story is not so uncommon. The Sudanese civil war, now in its third year, has left more than 150,000 people dead and an estimated fourteen million more displaced. It has also quietly become one of the most dangerous conflicts in the world for journalists. . .”

Read the full story at:

https://www.cjr.org/news/journalism-reporters-sudan-civil-war.php