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FCC Creating Media Monopoly?

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Article in The Guardian by Jeremy Barr, 7/8/26

Headline:  “FCC scraps limit on local TV ownership in win for media conglomerates”

Subhead:  “The 2-1 vote along party lines repealed ‘national cap’ that served as a key check on consolidation of the TV industry”

“In a historic vote on Thursday morning, the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) voted along party lines to overturn a key check against the consolidation of the television industry, throwing out a rule that prevented any one company from owning stations that collectively reach more than 39% of all US TV households.

“The vote is a win for television conglomerates that aim to expand their reach across the country, particularly conservative-leaning companies like Sinclair Broadcast Group and Nexstar. . .”

Read the full article at:

https://www.theguardian.com/media/2026/aug/06/fcc-overturns-limit-local-tv-ownership

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Article in Common Dreams by Timothy Karr, 8/6/26

Headline: “Free Press Plans to Take Carr to Court in Response to Thursday’s Unlawful Decision to Eliminate a Vital Limit on Media Consolidation”

“. . .Free Press and allies plan to appeal this unlawful decision in court.

“Congress enshrined the national ownership cap in federal law; it prohibits a single company from owning TV stations that reach more than 39 percent of the national broadcast audience. The FCC does not have the power to get rid of this limit, but Chairman Brendan Carr decided to move ahead. . .”

Read the full article at:

https://www.commondreams.org/newswire/free-press-plans-to-take-carr-to-court-in-response-to-thursday-s-unlawful-decision-to-eliminate-a-vital-limit-on-media-consolidation

Foreign Journalists Interrogated

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Article in Reuters by Simon Lewis, 8/6/26

Headline:  “US to vet social media of foreign journalists applying for visas, report says”

“The U.S. State Department will ​vet the social media accounts of foreign journalists applying for visas to work in the United ‌States, according to a media report on Thursday.

“The report in the conservative news outlet The Daily Signal cited an internal memo that said an initiative by President Donald Trump’s administration that requires applicants for many visa types to make their social media accounts public ​for screening was being expanded to include foreign media representatives. . .”

Read the full article at:

https://www.reuters.com/legal/government/us-vet-social-media-foreign-journalists-applying-visas-report-says-2026-08-06/

CBS Scoop Put in Grave?

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Article in Alternet America by Ryan Rose, 8/4/26

Headline:  “Bari Weiss’ CBS Had an Epstein Exclusive and Buried It”

Subhead: “60 Minutes Killed Story About Epstein’s Shady Bank Transactions”

“. . .CBS’s 60 Minutes had the story on Jeffrey Epstein’s shady bank transactions months ago. Correspondent Sharyn Alfonsi interviewed Democratic Senator Ron Wyden in March about her own reporting into how Wall Street banks and the U.S. Virgin Islands government enabled Epstein.

“Wyden found that Deutsche Bank AG failed to promptly notify authorities of more than $250 million in questionable transfers tied to Epstein, including cash to pay women in Russia and Eastern Europe. . .”

Read the full article at:

https://www.alternetamerica.com/p/bari-weiss-cbs-had-an-epstein-exclusive

Judge Stops Media Supression

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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?

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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?

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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?

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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

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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?

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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?

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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