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Court Protects Journalists

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Article in USA Today by Maureen Groppe, 6/29/26

Headline:  “Supreme Court lets landmark journalist protection stand”

“. . .The Supreme Court on June 29 declined to revisit a landmark decision about press freedom that limited when a public figure can sue for libel or defamation. . .”

Read the full article at:

https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/politics/2026/06/29/supreme-court-press-freedom-dershowitz-cnn/90298532007/

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Article in CBS News by Melissa Quin, 6/29/26

Headline:  “Supreme Court turns away Alan Dershowitz’s defamation case against CNN”

“The Supreme Court on Monday declined to take up former Harvard law professor Alan Dershowitz’s case alleging CNN defamed him with its coverage of remarks made during President Trump’s 2020 impeachment trial.

“The dispute presented the high court with the chance to revisit its landmark 1964 decision in New York Times v. Sullivan, which set a high bar for public figures to win defamation lawsuits against media companies. . .”

Read the full article at:

https://www.cbsnews.com/news/supreme-court-alan-dershowitz-cnn-defamation-case/

What’s Hiding in FCC’s Safe?

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Article in Ars Technica by Jon Brodkin, 6/28/26

Headline:  “FCC accused of hiding Chairman Carr’s messages with DOGE and Musk”

Subhead:  “FCC refuses to provide messages, has ‘wasted a year’ of court’s time, filing says.”

“. . .’The evidence clearly demonstrates that the FCC has acted in bad faith by withholding documents responsive to Plaintiffs’ FOIA [Freedom of Information Act] request,’ journalist Nina Burleigh and advocacy group Frequency Forward said in a filing yesterday in US District Court for the District of Columbia. ‘The FCC acted in bad faith when it redefined the search criteria without notice to Plaintiffs or this Court. Further, the FCC acted in bad faith by concealing the fact that the Chairman Carr has a Signal account on a phone he uses to conduct government business.’. . .”

Read the full article at:

https://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/2026/06/fcc-accused-of-hiding-chairman-carrs-messages-with-doge-and-musk/

Some Media – Climate? No-Problem

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Article in Media Matters by Evlondo Cooper, 6/29/26

Headline:   “Right-wing media could use a quieter 2026 hurricane forecast to downplay climate risk before storms form”

Subhead:  “El Niño may reduce Atlantic storm formation, but fewer expected storms does not mean lower public risk”

“Right-wing media have repeatedly cited the impacts of El Niño, short-term weather variability, and quieter stretches of hurricane season to argue that storm risks from climate change are exaggerated, and now the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s ‘below-normal’ 2026 Atlantic hurricane forecast gives that playbook a new opening. . .”

Read the full article at:

https://www.mediamatters.org/broadcast-networks/right-wing-media-could-use-quieter-2026-hurricane-forecast-downplay-climate-risk

CBS in the Crystal Ball

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Article in Poynter by Tom Jones, 6/29/26

Headline:  “Opinion | What’s next for CBS News, CNN and ‘60 Minutes?’ “

Subhead: “Wall Street Journal reporter Isabella Simonetti breaks down the upheaval at CBS News and what the Paramount merger could mean for CNN”

“Has there been a bigger media story in 2026 than the upheaval at CBS News?

“CBS has a new owner who has a cozy relationship with President Donald Trump. The news division is being run by someone who had no meaningful TV news experience before she was hired. The evening news has a new anchor whose tenure is off to an uneven start. And even the network’s most dependable and respected product — the venerable ’60 Minutes’ — has been besieged by controversy, massive changes and unpopular firings. . .”

Read the full article at:

https://www.poynter.org/commentary/2026/whats-next-cbs-news-cnn-60-minutes-paramount-bari-weiss/

Media Turmoil – Newspaper Stands Out

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Article in The New Republic by Perry Bacon, 6/29/26

Headline:  “The British Paper That Americans Are Rushing to Read”

Subhead:  “Guardian US managing director Steve Sachs says the paper’s audience has grown vastly in the United States because it is free, independent, and global.”

“The news about the news has been terrible over the last year: CBS News taken over by Bari Weiss; Jeff Bezos pushing The Washington Post opinion section to the right; CNN, The New York Times, and other outlets often choosing to downplay the radicalism of President Trump so they can portray themselves as neutral and objective; numerous local and national outlets laying off reporters. But The Guardian US is the rare positive news media story. . .”

Read the full article at:

https://newrepublic.com/article/212480/british-paper-americans-rushing-read

Buying President – Media Empire Victory?

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Article in The Nation by Jeet Heer, 6/29/26

Headline:  “For Larry Ellison, Buying Trump Is the Bargain of the Century”

Subhead:  “The billionaire has gotten media dominance and cozy government deals for what amounts to chicken feed.”

“For most people, $45 million is a staggering sum of wealth, enough to satisfy all their dreams of avarice and more. But for tech plutocrat Larry Ellison, $45 million is just a drop in the bucket.  . . To put that in perspective, for someone with $200 billion, spending $45 million is the equivalent of a person with a net worth of $200,000 spending $45. In other words, it’s chicken feed rather than real money. And it was all Ellison needed to get in Donald Trump’s good graces. . .

Read the full article at:

https://www.thenation.com/article/politics/larry-ellison-trump-corruption/

Not Bari Happy!

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Article updated in Daily Beast by Julia Ornedo, 6/28/26

Headline: “CNN Star Issues Bombshell Warning to MAGA-Curious Boss”

“Anderson Cooper has made it clear how he feels about working with Bari Weiss.

“The star anchor, 59, has told colleagues at CNN that he does not want to work for the beleaguered CBS News chief, two sources told The New York Times. His comments came amid reports that Weiss is being considered for a top role at the network, which is slated to soon come under the control of Trump-friendly CEO David Ellison. . .”

Read the full article at:

https://archive.ph/XEmxZ#selection-1641.0-1649.178

Mega-Media Manipulation

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Article in UPI by Joe Fisher, 6/29/26

Headline: “Comcast, NBCUniversal splitting into separate companies”

“. . .Comcast announced Monday that it is planning to split into separate media and technology companies over the coming year.

“Comcast will split into two independent publicly traded companies in what it said is a “tax-free spin-off” of NBCUniversal and Sky. The companies will be NBCUniversal and Comcast. . .”

Read the full article at:

https://www.upi.com/Top_News/US/2026/06/29/comcast-nbcuniversal-publicly-traded-spin-off/6931782742823/

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Article in Status by Oliver Darcy, 6/29/26

Headline: “Carving Up Comcast“

“Brian Roberts insisted the seismic breakup of Comcast’s media and broadband business is about creating two stronger companies – but no one in the industry is buying it, with insiders telling Status they believe Roberts has other intentions in mind. . .”

Read the full article at:

https://www.status.news/p/comcast-nbcuniversal-spin-off-plan-brian-roberts

Transporting Zines = Jail?

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Article in The Intercept by Seth Stern and Jeremy Busby, 6/26/26

Headline:  “30-Year Sentence for Transporting Zines Is a Five-Alarm Fire for Free Speech”

Subhead: “The harsh sentence for a defendant who wasn’t even at the Prairieland protest is likely only the start of the Trump administration’s efforts to outlaw free speech.”

“The Trump administration attacking the right to publish or report information is a given at this point. The president has threatened journalists for everything from questioning the wisdom of his failed war with Iran to touching the peeled lining of his renovated reflecting pool.

“Tantrums like those may now feel routine, but this week marked a new front in Trump’s war on information: Daniel ‘Des’ Sanchez Estrada was sentenced to 30 years in federal prison for transporting a box of zines he didn’t even write. He’s one of eight defendants sentenced on Tuesday to a combined 450 years — the first prison sentences against so-called “antifa” handed down under the framework of NSPM-7, President Donald Trump’s sweeping ‘counterterrorism’ memorandum to clamp down on dissent from the left. . .”

Read the full article at:

https://theintercept.com/2026/06/26/daniel-sanchez-estrada-zines-prairieland-free-speech/

No Climate for News Change

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Article in FAIR by Olivia Riggio, 6/26/26

Headline:  “Covering the Impact of Climate Change—Without Mentioning Climate Change”

“. . .With extreme weather events worsening each year, and the world on track to surpass by 2030 the Paris Agreement’s attempt to limit global heating to 1.5°C above pre-industrial levels, connecting these disruptive and deadly events to climate change is a key part of the story.

“Yet on the evening of Tuesday, June 23, despite leading their shows with severe weather headlines, nightly news shows on NBC, ABC and CBS failed to mention climate even in passing. . .”

Read the full article at:

https://fair.org/home/covering-the-impact-of-climate-change-without-mentioning-climate-change/