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Advertiser Boycott, Free-Speech?

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Article in Status by Oliver Darcy, 5/22/25

Headline:  “Muzzling Media Matters”

Subhead:  “What began as Elon Musk’s personal vendetta against Media Matters has now escalated into a full-blown government-backed campaign, with Donald Trump’s FTC launching a probe into the non-profit group”.

On Wednesday morning, an IT staffer at Media Matters for America received a letter, hand-delivered by a process server. The staffer didn’t panic. These days, being served legal documents has become an almost routine occurrence at the progressive watchdog group, a direct consequence of the litigation unleashed by Elon Musk and other prominent right-wing figures. . .”

“That casual demeanor didn’t last. The moment the executive began to read the document, her tone shifted dramatically. It was not merely another legal missive; it was an official demand letter from the Federal Trade Commission. The federal government, it appeared, was initiating a formal probe into Media Matters. . .”

Read the full article at:

https://www.status.news/p/ftc-investigates-media-matters-elon-musk

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Article in The Guardian by Staff, 5/22/25

Headline:  “FTC investigates media watchdog over Musk’s X boycott claims, document shows”

Subhead:  “Media Matters faces government inquiry into whether it helped advertisers coordinate to pull ad dollars from X”

“The US Federal Trade Commission has demanded documents from Media Matters about possible coordination with other media watchdogs accused by Elon Musk of helping orchestrate advertiser boycotts of X, according to a document seen by Reuters on Thursday.

“The civil investigative demand seen by Reuters seeks information about Media Matters’ communications with other groups that evaluate misinformation and hate speech in news and social media, including a World Federation of Advertisers initiative called Global Alliance for Responsible Media. X has ongoing lawsuits against both organizations. . .”

“Last year, X sued the World Federation of Advertisers and a group of major brands in federal court in Texas, accusing them of illegally conspiring to curtail ad spending. . .”

Read the full article at:

https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025/may/22/ftc-media-matters-x-investigation

Buy the Media, Buy an Election

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Article in The Hill by Sarah Fortinsky, 3/30/25

Headline:  “Musk says he is giving out two $1 million checks to ‘get attention’ from ‘legacy media’ “

“Tech billionaire Elon Musk handed out oversized $1 million checks to two attendees of his town hall in Wisconsin on Sunday evening, saying the stunt is cheaper and more effective than paying for the same amount of media coverage.

“ ‘The reason for the checks is that it’s really just to get attention. It’s like, we need to get attention. And it’s somewhat inevitably, when I do this, these things. . . it causes the legacy media to, like, kind of lose their minds, and then they’ll run it on every news channel,’ Musk said on stage at the town hall, before giving out the large checks.”

“ ‘And I’m like, I couldn’t pay them to, it would cost, like, 10 times more… to get the kind of coverage that we get’  without distributing the checks, Musk said.”

https://thehill.com/homenews/campaign/5222859-musk-says-he-is-giving-out-two-1-million-checks-to-get-attention-from-legacy-media/

LA Times Masks Phony News?

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Article in Status by Oliver Darcy, 3/13/25

Headline:  “Paper-Thin Ethics”

Subhead:  “The Los Angeles Times is facing ethical questions after one of its shows aired what looked like a news story—but was actually an undisclosed promotion for billionaire owner Patrick Soon-Shiong’s drug company.”

“Earlier this week, Angelica Coronado, a host for the Los Angeles Times’ daily podcast and web show that highlights the day’s biggest headlines, was going through the program’s rundown when she landed on a story that caught the attention of some newsroom staffers. Unlike the other stories that Coronado was spotlighting on the show, this one was rather peculiar. It wasn’t a top story at the national or local level, or a viral feel-good piece you might see on ABC’s ‘World News Tonight.’ Instead, it was an advertisement for billionaire Times owner Patrick Soon-Shiong’s drug company masquerading as a news story. . . ”

https://www.status.news/p/patrick-soon-shiong-la-times-companies-coverage

Threat to Broadcasters

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CPJ Photo

Article in Committee to Protect Journalists by Staff, 3/11/25

Headline: “CPJ, partners urge FCC to stop threatening press freedom and free speech”

Subhead: “The Committee to Protect Journalists and 16 other organizations, led by the nonprofit group Public Knowledge, sent a letter to Federal Communications Commission (FCC) Chairman Brendan Carr on March 7, expressing concern about recent developments that threaten to erode long-established safeguards for editorial independence and free expression.”

“The agency recently launched investigations into public broadcasting for allegedly airing advertising and threatening to investigate the northern California radio station KCBS after it reported on planned U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement raids. FCC investigations can result in fines and license revocations, undermining the ability of news organizations to operate freely and without fear of government retaliation.

The signatories underscored that a free press requires the FCC to uphold journalistic independence with impartiality and without political bias.. .”

https://cpj.org/2025/03/cpj-partners-urge-fcc-to-stop-threatening-press-freedom-and-free-speech/

Send the Smelling Salts to the Post!

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Article in Columbia Journalism Review by Yona TR Golding, 2/24/25

Headline: “Spiking and Swooning at the Washington Post“

Subhead:  “What the paper’s killing of endorsements, ads, and cartoons has inadvertently revealed about our fragile Fourth Estate.”

“Earlier this month, Common Cause, a DC-based watchdog, submitted a proof copy of a “wraparound” advertisement meant to run on a Tuesday on the front and back pages of the Washington Post. The ad, later published on the organization’s X account, featured an image of Elon Musk against a red backdrop, eyes closed and grinning in apparent mirth, with an image of the White House aslant in the foreground. The main text of the ad read, ‘Who’s running this country: Donald Trump or Elon Musk?’ Below, in a smaller font, it continued: ‘Since day one, Elon Musk has created chaos and confusion and put our livelihoods at risk. And he is accountable to no one but himself.’ The ad ended with a tagline, ‘No One Elected Elon Musk,’ and a link: FireMusk.org.

“Common Cause, along with the Southern Poverty Law Center Action Fund, which collaborated on the campaign, had a vision: that staffers in the White House, Pentagon, and congressional offices would receive a striking message along with their morning copy of the Post. Together with a full-page ad scheduled to run inside the paper on the same day, the wraparound was set to cost the organizations $115,000.

“It wasn’t to be. Three days after it submitted the proof, Common Cause received notice that the main ad would not be allowed to run, though a sales representative had previously indicated that the copy should not present a problem. In the end, though, ‘they said, ‘You can have something inside the paper but you can’t do the wrap,’ Virginia Kase Solomón, president of Common Cause, told The Hill. ‘We said ‘Thanks, no thanks,’ . . .”

“The Post has so far declined to clarify why the Common Cause ad wasn’t allowed to run, leading to widespread speculation that the decision may have had something to do with the will of Jeff Bezos, the billionaire owner of both Amazon and the Post, and his desire to make nice with Trump’s new administration. ‘Is Jeff Bezos more worried about an angry phone call from the White House than his paper’s journalistic duty?’  Common Cause asked . . . ”

https://www.cjr.org/the_media_today/spiking-swooning-washington-post-wapo-bezos-endorsement-ad-cartoon-kill.php

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Article in Common Cause by Staff, 2/24/25

Headline: “NEW: The Washington Post Censored Our #FireMusk Ad”

Subhead:  “The Washington Post – which has a responsibility to hold a magnifying glass up to powerful people like Elon Musk and Donald Trump – refused to run our ad calling them out.​”

https://www.commoncause.org/