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Fool the Judge on Press Access?

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Article in The Guardian by Jeremy Barr, 3/30/26

Headline: ” ‘What’s going on?’: US judge calls aspects of new Pentagon press policy ‘weird’ “

Subhead: “Judge seems skeptical of Pentagon’s restrictive protocol but did not rule on forcing compliance with an earlier order”

“Federal judge Paul Friedman seemed skeptical of the new press policy implemented by the Pentagon last week, calling aspects of it “weird” and Kafkaesque.

“Friedman struck down key aspects of the previously implemented Pentagon media policy on 20 March, but at the latest hearing on Monday stopped short of ruling on a motion filed by the New York Times to force compliance of his decision.

“Friedman was particularly skeptical about the ways in which press space was being provided to the seven New York Times reporters, whom he previously ruled should have their press access badges returned. . .”

Read the full article at:

https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2026/mar/30/judge-pentagon-press-policy-weird

Pyrrhic Victory over Evil Media?

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Article in Status by John Passantino. 3/28/26

Headline:  “Carr Blares the Horn”

Subhead:  “The FCC chairman’s comments at CPAC laid bare the Administration’s views controlling the media and sidelining critics as a political victory”

“On Friday afternoon, Brendan Carr took the stage at the annual Conservative Political Action Conference in Grapevine, Texas, where thousands of MAGA faithful gathered to cheer on the movement’s right-wing agenda. The chairman of the Federal Communications Commission sat on a comfortable white chair in front of the crowd and bragged about Donald Trump’s dismantling of media outlets and the journalists who have lost their legacy platforms. . .”

Read the full article at:

https://www.status.news/p/brendan-carr-media-cpac-trump-fcc

Rt. Wing Media – Bread or War?

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Article in Media Matters by John Knefel, 3/27/26

Headline:  “Divisions emerge in right-wing media as Iran war stirs anxiety about food production, fertilizer”

Subhead:  “Some conservative pundits are calling for escalation, while others criticize the war for surging fertilizer costs”

“The U.S.-Israeli war on Iran — which has been largely but not entirely supported by major right-wing media outlets — is threatening to upend not just international oil markets but also world food production, with fertilizer costs soaring just as farmers in the global north enter the spring planting season.

Some figures in right-wing media have taken notice, alarmed that a spike in domestic food prices could be disastrous for President Donald Trump and Republicans in the fall midterms. . .”

Read the full article at:

https://www.mediamatters.org/us-iran-relations/divisions-emerge-right-wing-media-iran-war-stirs-anxiety-about-food-production

War on CNN Too?

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Article in The Guardian by Agence France-Presse, 3/38/26

Headline:  “Media association condemns ‘violent assault’ on CNN crew by Israeli soldiers”

Subhead:  “CNN team detained while reporting on aftermath of attack by settlers in West Bank, Foreign Press Association says”

“An international media association has condemned what it described as a “violent assault” by Israeli soldiers who detained a CNN crew in the occupied West Bank this week.

“A CNN team was reporting on the aftermath of an assault by Israeli settlers and the establishment of an illegal outpost near the Palestinian village of Tayasir on Thursday when it was detained by Israeli soldiers, the Foreign Press Association said on Saturday. . .”

Read the full story at:

https://www.theguardian.com/world/2026/mar/28/israeli-soldiers-cnn-crew-west-bank-foreign-press-association

Shaping the Media

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Article in Mediaite by Kathryn Wilkens, 3/27/26

Headline:  “ ‘Trump Is Winning’: FCC Chair Boasts He’s Remaking the Media by Pushing Out Left-Leaning Figures”

“During a Friday CPAC appearance, FCC Chair Brendan Carr bragged that he’s remaking the media by pushing out left-leaning figures, declaring, ‘[President Donald] Trump is winning.’

“ ‘When he ran for office, he ran directly at the fake news media,’ said Carr. ‘He said, “You don’t get to decide what we say, what we think, how we’re gonna vote inside the voting booth.” President Trump took on the fake news media, and President Trump is winning.’

“Look at the results so far,” he continued. “PBS — defunded. NPR — defunded. Joy Reid — gone from MSNBC. Sleepy-eyed Chuck Todd — gone. Jim Acosta — gone. John Dickerson — gone.”

“[Stephen] Colbert is leaving,” Carr continued. “CBS is under new ownership, and soon enough, CNN is gonna have new ownership as well.” After this list, cheers could be heard from the audience.

Read the full article at:

https://www.mediaite.com/media/news/trump-is-winning-fcc-chair-boasts-hes-remaking-the-media-by-pushing-out-left-leaning-figures/

ICE & Rt. Wing Media

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Article in Media Matters by Gideon Taaffe & Sage Hodil, 3/27/26

Headline:  “Right-wing media are calling for ICE to ‘surround the polls’ in midterms”

Subhead:  “Right-wing media figures claim Democrats are ‘basically admitting they’re cheating’ by opposing ICE at polling stations. But noncitizen voting is a fake problem and ICE has racially profiled US citizens.”

“Right-wing media personalities are pushing for Immigration and Customs Enforcement to be deployed to polling stations during the 2026 midterm elections, claiming it will ‘fix the fraud’ of alleged noncitizen voting and suggesting the only reason Democrats oppose the idea is that ‘they want to cheat’ and ‘protect illegals’ voting rights.’ Department of Homeland Security officials, meanwhile, have put out mixed messaging regarding whether or not the department will consider this course of action.

“In reality, according to experts, instances of noncitizen voting are negligible and the presence of ICE agents at polling stations would be illegal, as it could intimidate voters into staying away and have a ‘chilling effect’. . .”

Read the full story at:

https://www.mediamatters.org/voter-fraud-and-suppression/right-wing-media-are-calling-ice-surround-polls-midterms

Time to Speak Out?

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Article in The Guardian by David Smith, 3/27/26

Headline: ” ‘Break your silence’: Jane Fonda leads rally against Trump crackdown on arts and media”

Subhead:  “Actor outside Kennedy Center urges Americans to ‘stand tall against authoritarianism’ and resist free-speech threats”

“The actor Jane Fonda joined journalists, musicians and writers outside Washington’s John F Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts on Friday. . .”

“At a damp but defiant rally hosted by Fonda’s Committee for the First Amendment, around a hundred invited guests gathered to hear speakers and singers rail against book bans, political censorship and other threats to free speech under Donald Trump.

“ ‘Today, books are being banned, plaques and monuments depicting historical events this administration wants to forget are being removed,’ Fonda said from a stage under a grey, rainy sky. ‘Museums, the National Endowment for the Arts, state arts councils, public broadcasting – they’re all being defunded.’. . .”

Read the full article at:

https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2026/mar/27/jane-fonda-kennedy-center-rally-trump

On the Radio – Listening for the Aether

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Article in Poynter by Amaris Castillo, 3/26/25

Headline:  “A quarter of US radio stations are religious, and most listeners aren’t tuning in for politics, study finds”

Subhead:  “The Pew-Knight study shows religious programming is nearly ubiquitous in the U.S. and often blends faith with lifestyle content”

“About a quarter of all AM/FM radio stations in the United States have a faith focus, and 98% of U.S. adults live within range of at least one religious radio station, a study from the Pew-Knight Initiative released Thursday found.

“The research found that while religion is a throughline, programming often interweaves lifestyle advice, conversations about family, parenting and education, and social commentary or discussions of politics and current events. Among listeners, 62% of those surveyed said they tune in because the content is “spiritually uplifting.”

“Most did not cite news and politics coverage as a core reason for tuning in. . .”

Read the full article at:https://www.poynter.org/reporting-editing/2026/christian-news-radio-united-states/

Neuter All Critics?

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Article in FAIR by Ari Hall, 3/25/26

Headline:  “Trump’s FTC Wages a War on Media Criticism”

“NewsGuard, a company that rates news outlets’ accuracy using what it calls apolitical journalistic criteria…to identify reliable sources of information, has filed a lawsuit to block the Federal Trade Commission’s demand for a list of all its customers.

“The FTC in May 2025 launched a wide-ranging probe into NewsGuard and 16 other groups—including left-leaning watch group Media Matters for America, and the Global Disinformation Index, a nonprofit media ratings service. The agency alleged the groups were part of ‘a conspiracy to boycott conservative and independent media.’. . .”

Read the full article at:

https://fair.org/home/trumps-ftc-wages-a-war-on-media-criticism/

Fabricated Media are Here!

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Article in Columbia Journalism Review by Emily Bell  3/26/26

Headline: “Did I Really Say That?”

Subhead:  “A European journalist apologized for using AI to fabricate quotes—including from me. But there’s little accountability in blaming a chatbot.”

“Three weeks ago, a Dutch freelancer named Menno van den Bos contacted CJR and the Tow Center for Digital Journalism to tell us he had found a writeup of our Journalism 2050 issue in his country’s press that he suspected of containing AI-generated inaccuracies. In itself this is not surprising. As we have written here before, the incidence of fake quotes and citations from journalists and academics is a growing menace. . .”

Read the full article at:

https://www.cjr.org/tow_center/did-i-really-say-that-dutch-journalist-ai-fabricate-quotes-vandermeersch-mediahuis.php