Judge Stops Media Supression


Article in Free Press by Staff, 8/4/26

Headline:  “Civil-Liberties and Press-Freedom Groups Applaud First Circuit Ruling in Rodríguez-Cotto v. González-Colón, Affirming First Amendment Rights”

“On Tuesday, civil-liberties and press-freedom organizations praised the First Circuit’s ruling in Rodríguez-Cotto v. González-Colón. The First Circuit’s ruling upholds a district court’s permanent injunction, preventing use of a Puerto Rican law criminalizing information shared about states of emergency.

“Article 5.14(a) of Puerto Rico law, known as the ‘Fake News’ law, was enacted during the COVID-19 crisis and criminalized raising a ‘false alarm’ or spreading false information about public emergencies . . .”

Read the full article at:

https://www.freepress.net/news/civil-liberties-and-press-freedom-groups-applaud-first-circuit-ruling-puerto-rico-law

What Will Happen to CNN?


Article in Poynter by Tom Jones, 8/5/26

Headline:  “Opinion | David Ellison broke months of silence on CNN’s future. His biggest critics won’t be reassured.”

Subhead:  “The Paramount CEO explained his vision for CNN and CBS News in a New York Times essay — but left key concerns unanswered”

“For months, the biggest media story has been Paramount’s attempt to acquire Warner Bros. Discovery for $111 billion. . .”

“There is another concern: that Paramount, which already owns CBS News, would also take control of CNN and, many fear, shift the network to the right because of Paramount CEO David Ellison’s evidently cozy relationship with President Donald Trump. . .”

Read the full article at:

https://www.poynter.org/commentary/2026/david-ellison-cnn-nyt-op-ed/

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Article in The Hill by Dominick Mastrangelo, 9/5/26

Headline: “Ellison defends Paramount merger, argues he can ‘be trusted as a steward of CNN“

“Media executive David Ellison is defending Paramount’s bid to purchase Warner Brothers Discovery and defending himself against accusations of implementing political bias at his media properties. . .”

Read the full article at:

https://thehill.com/homenews/media/6007503-media-exec-denies-political-bias/

WSJ Bawdiness Lawsuit?

Article in The Guardian by Jeremy Barr, 8/5/26

Headline:   “Judge signals Trump’s defamation lawsuit against Wall Street Journal may be dismissed again”

Subhead:  “Obama-appointed judge seemed unmoved by Trump attorneys’ arguments in case also naming Murdoch”

“A federal judge in Florida seemed skeptical of arguments from Donald Trump’s legal team on Wednesday over whether the court should allow a $10bn defamation lawsuit against the Wall Street Journal to move forward.

“Trump sued the Journal and the News Corp founder Rupert Murdoch over a July 2025 article about a “bawdy” letter reportedly from Trump that was included in a 2003 birthday book for disgraced financier Jeffrey Epstein. . .”

Read the full article at:

https://www.theguardian.com/media/2026/aug/05/trump-defamation-lawsuit-murdoch-dismissal

Late Night TV Disappearing?

Article in AP by Maria Sherman, 8/5/26

Headline:  “Space for music on late-night TV has dwindled. New media seeks to offer an alternative”

“When CBS ended ‘The Late Show With Stephen Colbert’ earlier this year, it also shuttered the program’s robust music offerings — a major blow for artists whose television platform was already dwindling. . .”

Read the full article at:

https://apnews.com/article/late-night-television-musical-performances-55763d0c6170c9b645290582efb4219f

After CECOT – LULAC Begins News

Article in FAIR by Carolina Abbott Galvão. 8/4/26

Headline: ‘The Most Accurate Truth’

Subhead: “After CBS News hit the brakes on a 60 Minutes story about CECOT prison, the League of Latin American Citizens decided it was time to start their own newsroom. Within months, El Grito Media has become a definitive resource.”

“n July 7 in Houston, an Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agent shot and killed Lorenzo Salgado Araujo, a fifty-two-year-old Mexican man. Audrey Colocho and Katherine Torres of El Grito Media—which this spring started publishing stories directly on Instagram, X, YouTube, and TikTok instead of on a dedicated site—tried to piece together what happened, beginning with a social media post. Soon, they had collected more footage, from more angles—providing a definitive account that became a source for major news outlets. . .”

Read the full article at:

https://www.cjr.org/getting-the-story/the-most-accurate-truth-el-grito-media-ice-salgado-killing-shooting-cecot-el-salvador-venezuela-60-minutes-cbs-news.php

Fox News Ignoring Something in the Room?


Article in Media Matters by Tyler Monroe & Kayla Gogarty, 8/3/26

Headline:  “Fox News and podcasters in the right-wing media ecosystem bury recent reporting on alleged domestic abuse by Ohio GOP Rep. Max Miller”

Subhead:  “The Benny Show, The Joe Rogan Experience, The Megyn Kelly Show, Steve Bannon’s War Room, The Ben Shapiro Show, Loomer Unleashed, Tim Pool Daily Show, and Timcast IRL all ignored the story”

“The right-wing media ecosystem has largely buried recent reporting detailing reports of alleged domestic abuse by Rep. Max Miller (R-OH), with Fox News spending just 4 minutes discussing the story and several popular podcasters ignoring it completely. . . ”

Read the full article at:

https://www.mediamatters.org/congress/fox-news-and-podcasters-right-wing-media-ecosystem-bury-recent-reporting-alleged-domestic

Running from a WaPo Crash?

Article in Status by Natalie Korach. 8/2/26

Headline:  “The Post’s Opinion Parting”

Subhead:  “Days before his abrupt exit from The WaPo, Adam O’Neal was privately boasting that he had pushed the Opinion section further to the right—raising new questions about what really drove his departure.”

In the days leading up to his shocking exit last week, Adam O’Neal gave no indication he was on his way out as The Washington Post’s Opinion editor. In recent private conversations, Status has learned, he struck precisely the opposite tone, sounding triumphant and boasting that he had pushed the paper’s storied opinion section further to the right. . .”

Read the full article at:

https://www.status.news/p/adam-oneal-washington-post-opinion-exit

Media Literacy Events

Source:  Neutrality Studies

NATIONALLY KNOWN  AUTHOR, ROBIN ANDERSEN

CONDUCTS MEDIA LITERACY EVENT AND BOOK TALK

 On August 4th  at 6:00 CST, Robin Andersen, Professor Emerita from Fordham University, New York City, and author of a dozen books and hundreds of articles on media, war, refugees, etc., will conduct a workshop on how to “Expose media lies and have fun doing it” in joint with two others in the “large meeting room” in the Plaza Branch Library, 4801 Main Street in Kansas City, Missouri.

Andersen collaborates in this workshop with Katerina Canyon, Executive Director of the Peace Economy Workshop, headquartered in St. Louis. The workshop will be moderated by Spencer Graves, President of Friends of Community Media. This workshop is designed to promote critical thinking about what appears in the media.  The public is encouraged to attend and may register with email for free at savethemedia@cs.com. The event begins with a reception at 5:30 PM.

In addition Robin Andersen will speak August 5th at 7 PM at Rainy Day Books in 2706 W 53rd Street, Fairway Kansas, on her new book, The Complicit Lens: US Media Coverage of Israel’s Genocide in Gaza (OR Books, published June 2, two months ago).

Friends of Community Media (FCM, ourfcm.org) is a 501(c)(3) not-for-profit organization based in Kansas City, whose mission includes educating citizens on the nature of the media and encouraging media to be responsive to the public. FCM also has a daily blog that examines national media from a progressive viewpoint.

Harassing Freelancers Now?


Article in The New York Times by Devlin Barrett, 8/1/26

Headline:  “Justice Dept. Subpoenas Times Freelancer in Effort to Identify Sources”

Subhead:  “A previously undisclosed subpoena, involving reporting on a failed SEAL Team 6 mission in North Korea, reflects the government’s expanding campaign to investigate leaks of secrets.”

“A freelance reporter has been fighting a subpoena from the Trump administration seeking to force him to reveal his sources for a New York Times article about a failed top secret mission in North Korea, according to people familiar with the matter. . .”

“In the months since Mr. Cole’s subpoena, The Times, The Wall Street Journal and The Washington Post have faced similar subpoenas seeking information about their reporting. The news organizations have resisted. . .”

Read the full article at:

https://www.nytimes.com/2026/08/01/us/politics/times-subpoena-reporter-trump-north-korea.html