F-word & Obliterating Media


Article in Poynter by Angela Fu, 6/24/25

Headline:  “News outlets don’t usually publish the f-word. Then came Trump’s Israel-Iran ceasefire rant.”

Subhead:  “Some censored the word in text, but not in video. Others published it in full.”

“Mainstream outlets generally don’t include profanity in their news reports. But when President Donald Trump condemned Israel and Iran for breaking their ceasefire Tuesday, some outlets broke from tradition.

“ ‘We basically have two countries that have been fighting so long and so hard that they don’t know what the f— they’re doing,’ Trump told a group of reporters Tuesday morning just outside the White House. He was railing against Israel and Iran for launching attacks against each other just hours after he had announced a ceasefire agreement. . .”

Read the full story at:

https://www.poynter.org/ethics-trust/2025/trump-censored-bleeped-f-bomb-media-coverage/

– – – – –

Article in Raw Story by Daniel Hampton, 6/24/25

Headline: ” ‘Getting slammed!’ Trump rages at CNN and NYT for trying to ‘demean’ Iran strike”

“President Donald Trump unloaded a late-night tirade Tuesday against multiple top media outlets whom he accused of trying to ‘demean’ what he called one of the ‘most successful military strikes in history,’ referring to the U.S. bombing of three Iranian nuclear facilities.

“After Trump’s Middle East envoy melted down on Fox News over the leaking of an intelligence report to CNN, Trump himself blasted CNN, along with The New York Times, which also received the top secret report. The initial U.S. intelligence assessment undercut Trump’s boast that Iran’s nuclear program had been ‘obliterated.’ . . .”

Read the full story at:

https://www.rawstory.com/trump-iran-2672428007/

Old Media Blowing in the Wind?


Article in Columbia Journalism Review by Jon Alsop 6/24/25

Headline:  “Old Media Meets New on Primary Day in New York”

Subhead:  “Is the race between Andrew Cuomo and Zohran Mamdani a proxy for changes in our media environment?”

“. . . If old media is now irrelevant in shaping voter perceptions, someone seemingly forgot to tell the Mamdani supporters (and others) who have criticized coverage of the candidate in major outlets, particularly when it comes to his positions on Israel. (Writing for In These Times earlier this month, Adam Johnson accused the Times of trying to manufacture tension between Mamdani and Jewish voters when he was not polling notably badly with that group; Lach, of The New Yorker, wrote yesterday that ‘outlets like the New York Post and the Free Press have tried to make him a bogeyman,’ though Lach allowed that ‘part of the reason that reporters have kept asking Mamdani about Israel is because his answer isn’t very convincing.’ . . .”

Read the full article at:

https://www.cjr.org/the_media_today/old-new-media-new-york-primary-cuomo-mamdani-brad-lander.php

– – – – –

Article in AP by David Bauder, 6/24/25

Headline:  “Life on the other side: Refugees from ‘old media’ flock to the promise of working for themselves”

“Six months ago, Jennifer Rubin had no idea whether she’d make it in a new media world. She just knew it was time to leave The Washington Post, where she’d been a political columnist for 15 years.

The Contrarian, the democracy-focused website that Rubin founded with partner Norm Eisen in January, now has 10 employees and contributors like humorist Andy Borowitz and White House reporter April Ryan. Its 558,000 subscribers also get recipes and culture dispatches.

“In the blink of an eye, Rubin became a independent news entrepreneur. ‘I think we hit a moment, just after inauguration, when people were looking for something different and it has captured people’s imaginations,’ she says. ‘We’ve been having a ball with it.’

YouTube, Substack, TikTok and others are spearheading a full-scale democratization of media and a generation of new voices and influencers . . .”

read the full article at:

https://apnews.com/article/new-media-mainstream-substack-youtube-influencers-076dfb132475aa42c3e4ebe81f63eb9a

“Media Matters” Sues FTC


Article in Media Matters by Staff, 6/23/25

Headline:  Media Matters files suit in federal court to block retaliatory FTC investigation and protect its First Amendment rights”

Subhead:  “Investigation into Media Matters is the latest example of Trump administration abusing power to target perceived political opponents”

Media Matters for America filed suit today in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia to block an investigation launched by the Federal Trade Commission. The investigation is the latest effort by Elon Musk and his allies in the Trump administration to retaliate against Media Matters for its reporting on X, the social media site Musk controls, and it’s another example of the Trump administration weaponizing government authorities to target political opponents. The suit alleges that the FTC has violated Media Matters’ First Amendment rights by retaliating against the organization for its reporting on Elon Musk and X. . .”

Read the full article at:

https://www.mediamatters.org/justice-civil-liberties/media-matters-files-suit-federal-court-block-retaliatory-ftc-investigation

MAGA Media Turning on Themselves?


Update:

Article in Status by Oliver Darcy, 6/23/25

Headline: “The Fractured Faithful”

Subhead: “Donald Trump’s strikes on Iran have poured fuel on an already raging MAGA Media feud, forcing its stars to choose between a hawkish foreign policy and isolationist ideals”

“Over the weekend, Donald Trump unilaterally plunged the U.S. into war with Iran, ordering strikes on three nuclear sites inside the country. The decision has sent shockwaves through the MAGA Media ecosystem, where over the last week its top personalities have clashed over what action Trump should—or should not—take.

“As hawks like Mark Levin and Sean Hannity celebrated Trump’s move as historic and heroic, the more isolationist wing of the new right-wing media ecosystem have been far more quiet. . .”

Read the full article at:

https://www.status.news/p/maga-media-trump-iran-strikes

– – – – –

Article in Status by Oliver Darcy, 6/16/25

Headline:  “Tucker’s War Cry”

Subhead:  “Tucker Carlson’s fiery attacks on Fox News and pro-Israel MAGA Media figures have exposed a rare and consequential rift within the far-right ecosysten”

“On Monday morning, Tucker Carlson joined Steve Bannon’s “War Room” and launched a broadside at some of his peers in MAGA Media, accusing them of fanning the flames of war in the Middle East. Carlson singled out Mark Levin as ‘terrible on TV’ and claimed the talk show host “kind of controls” Sean Hannity ‘in this weird way.’ But his harshest words were reserved for his former employer, Fox News. . .”

“ ‘What they’re doing is what they always do, which is just turning up the propaganda hose to full blast and just trying to knock elderly Fox viewers off their feet and make them submit to where you want them to,’ Carlson said. . .”

Read the full article at:

https://www.status.news/p/tucker-s-war-cry-4126715f1915019b

Media Caught Off-Guard


Article in Poynter by Tom Jones, 5/23/25

Headline:  “Opinion | ‘Extraordinary and unprecedented’: The media reaction to Trump’s Iran attack”

Subhead:  “Trump’s order to bomb Iran drew sharp media scrutiny over its timing, global risks and potential to drag the US into war”

“Stunning news broke Saturday night when it was learned the United States, under the orders of President Donald Trump, bombed three sites in Iran in an effort to dismantle that country’s nuclear program. . .”

“So, what has been some of the media reaction?. . .”

“Speaking on MSNBC, host Rachel Maddow said, ‘There have been factions within U.S. politics who have advocated for the United States to go to war with Iran for decades. President Trump is generally politically credited with standing in opposition to those kinds of factions in U.S. politics. But he has now made their dreams come true without really making a case to the U.S. public that there is a need to urgently act right now, to have done this — and that has a few different consequences’. . .”

Read the full article at:

https://www.poynter.org/commentary/2025/trump-iran-airstrikes-media-reaction/

Media Rabbit Hole?


Article in The Washington Post by Eric Wemple, 6/23/25

Headline:  “Does the media need to take a closer look at Trump’s acuity? I answered your questions.”

Q:  “To what extent should mainstream media explain ways to resist this administration?

Is it OK to write about tactics people use to avoid cooperating with ICE? Is it OK to remind people of protest dates and locations? Is it OK for media to call out hatred, as Terry Cowan did recently?

What can media do to help Americans challenge the unconstitutional acts of the Trump administration? . . .”

A: “. . .Yes, in my opinion, it’s fine to report on how people are avoiding cooperation with ICE; that’s a newsworthy trend with implications for everyone. The protests that have occurred in American cities and towns in recent months are also quite newsworthy, and so it’s appropriate that news organizations would write about plans for, say, the next wave of “No Kings” demonstrations or whatever. But providing how-to advice about joining such protests, in my opinion, is a loser’s undertaking, simply because fairness would require doing so for all kinds of other causes as well — and that would send editors and reporters down a rabbithole. . .”

Read the full article at:

https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2025/06/23/erik-wemple-media-live-chat/

Sinking Media Outlet?


Article in AP by Staff, 6/23/25

Headline:  “With its stock in sharp decline, Trump’s media company will buy $400 million of its own shares”

“President Donald Trump’s media company plans to buy back up to $400 million of its stock, which have lost 46% of their value this year. . .”

“The company said early this year that it lost $400.9 million in 2024 and its annual revenue declined 12% to $3.6 million.

“After winning the U.S. presidential election in November, Trump transferred all of his shares in the company — worth around $4 billion on paper — as a gift to the Donald J. Trump Revocable Trust. Trump’s shares amounted to more than half of the company’s stock. . .”

Read the full article at:

https://apnews.com/article/trump-media-buyback-stock-truth-social-385a1389bbc8508477fb272a4bfcf179

Media Beating a War Drum?


Article in The New Republic by Edith Olmsted, 6/23/25

Headline:  Fox News Played Unsettling Role in Trump’s Decision to Bomb Iran”

Subhead:  “Here’s where Donald Trump got the idea to strike three of Iran’s nuclear facilities”

“Donald Trump’s decision to drag the United States into a war in the Middle East was all about how it would look on television.

“The New York Times reported Sunday that Trump had been effusive about Israel’s sweeping military operation in Iran, targeting the latter country’s ballistic missile and nuclear facilities, military officials, and nuclear scientists.

” ‘Ever the entertainer, Trump asked an ally how the Israeli strikes were “playing” on Friday June 13. ‘He said that “everyone” was telling him he needed to get more involved,’ the Times reported, but it’s not clear who exactly Trump was talking about.

“The next day, Trump’s team reportedly paid close attention to how his supporters were responding to Israel’s military campaign. Meanwhile, Trump kept his eyes glued to Fox News as it aired “wall-to-wall praise” of Israel’s operation and hosted guests urging the president to wade into the conflict. . .”

“Last week, CNN’s Brian Stelter reported that Fox News had gone all in on attacking Iran. . .”

Read the full article at:

https://newrepublic.com/post/197110/donald-trump-bomb-iran-fox-news-role-decision

 

No Voice for America

Article in Salon by CK Smith, 6/21/25

Headline:  ” ‘Dark day for truth’: Kari Lake slashes U.S. global media agency by 85%”

Subhead: “Critics say layoffs at Voice of America and others threaten press freedom and U.S. soft power abroad”

“Once a Cold War-era powerhouse for U.S. diplomacy, the U.S. Agency for Global Media has been gutted under a Trump executive order — slashing 1,400 jobs, or 85% of its workforce — in a move Kari Lake calls a win for taxpayers and critics warn is a death knell for press freedom. . .”

“But journalists and press advocates say the move silences independent reporting and undermines U.S. credibility abroad. ‘This spells the death of 83 years of independent journalism,’ said VOA White House bureau chief Patsy Widakuswara. Sen. Jeanne Shaheen, D-N.H., called it ‘a dark day for the truth.’. . .”

Read the full article at:

https://www.salon.com/2025/06/21/dark-day-for-truth-kari-lake-slashes-us-global-media-agency-by-85/

– – – – –

Article in The Guardian by Marian Dunbar, Maya Yang, and Tom Ambrose, 6/20/25

Headline:  “Trump administration lays off hundreds of Voice of America employees”

Subhead:  “The layoffs will reduce the staff at the agency to fewer than 200, around one-seventh of its total at the start of 2025”

“The Trump administration sent layoff notices today to more than 600 employees at Voice of America, a federally funded news organization that provides independent reporting to countries with limited press freedom, the New York Times reports.

“The layoffs will reduce the staff at the agency to fewer than 200, around one-seventh of its total at the start of 2025. The notices put journalists and support staff on paid leave until they are officially let go on 1 September.

“In March, Donald Trump accused Voice of America of spreading ‘anti-American’ and partisan ‘propaganda’ and called it ‘the voice of radical America’. . .”

https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/live/2025/jun/20/us-politics-latest-news-donald-trump-national-guard-ice-republicans-democrats-live

Facts for the Media?


Article in FAIR by Emma Llano, 6/20/25

Headline:  “Top Papers Dutifully Echo Cooked-Up Charges Against Abrego Garcia”

“Kilmar Abrego Garcia was returned to the United States on June 6, after being wrongly deported to El Salvador almost three months earlier. Abrego Garcia had been detained in El Salvador’s Terrorism Confinement Center since March 15, along with more than 250 other immigrants accused of belonging to the Latin American gangs Tren de Aragua and MS-13. . .”

“Though there are plenty of reasons to cast doubt on the charges made against Abrego Garcia, in the seven articles published in the wake of his return, the New York Times . . . and Wall Street Journal, . . .  present them mostly at face value. Given that the publications are the top two largest newspapers in America, their deficient coverage of one of the most important immigration cases of the second Trump administration is noteworthy. . .”

Read the full article at:

https://fair.org/home/top-papers-dutifully-echo-cooked-up-charges-against-abrego-garcia/