Article in Al Jezerra by Staff, 9/3/26
Headline: “Trump calls media ‘treasonous scum’ over reports of low Iran war munitions”
“US President Trump has again pushed back on media reports detailing dangerously low munitions stockpiles as the US-Israel war on Iran stretches into its seventh month.
“In a post on his Truth Social account, Trump said the military was producing munitions at ‘levels never seen before” and has “far more than we could ever use’. . .”
Read the full article at:
Article in Status by Oliver Darcy, 9/3/26
Headline: “Bartiromo’s Fox Betrayal”
Subhead: “Fox News offered no explanation for Maria Bartiromo’s abrupt firing. But Status has learned what happened behind the scenes, and why it put the longtime host at odds with her own network.”
“On Thursday afternoon, Fox News issued a press release that reverberated through the media and political worlds. In a terse statement, the network announced that it had severed ties with Maria Bartiromo, the once-respected business journalist who in recent years became consumed by right-wing conspiracy theories. . .”
“Status has learned that Bartiromo’s termination stems from an incident, which has not previously been reported, that occurred in July. After Trump delivered his unhinged prime time speech. . .”
Read the full article at:
https://www.status.news/p/maria-bartiromo-fox-news-announcement-departure
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Article in The Guardian by Jeremy Barr, 9/3/26
Headline: “Fox News Media abruptly ousts longtime anchor Maria Bartiromo”
Subhead: “Bartiromo had been a host at the network for more than a decade and Fox gave no explanation for the decision”
Read the full article at:
https://www.theguardian.com/media/2026/sep/03/maria-bartiromo-fox-news-departure
Article in Columbia Journalism Review by Joel Simon, 9/2/26
Headline: “Why ABC Self-Censored”
Subhead: “In a lawsuit, the network cops to making coverage decisions based on government pressure. It’s a striking admission—and an untested legal strategy.”
“A cardinal rule of journalism: never back down in the face of intimidation. And yet, in a lawsuit filed in August by ABC and its parent, Disney, in the US District Court for the District of Columbia, lawyers argued that for months, as the Trump administration “steadily increased the pressure on ABC,” the actions of the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) effectively undermined the network’s First Amendment rights. In the filing, ABC says that led to self-censorship—a seemingly unprecedented admission, and an untested legal strategy for a media organization. . .”
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Article in Poynter by Tom Jones, 9/1/26
Headline: “Opinion | Trump’s threats against the press don’t have to succeed to do damage”
Subhead: “The FCC has no authority to punish Kristen Welker for her Trump analysis. That doesn’t make the president’s threat harmless.”
“. . .The FCC really can’t do anything to Welker over her critique of Trump’s candidate endorsements. As Anna Gomez, the lone Democratic commissioner on the FCC, tweeted, ‘As I’ve said many times, the FCC has no authority to punish journalists this administration doesn’t like.’
“However, Gomez added, ‘These threats to press freedom are dangerous. They undermine the foundation of our democracy, and they have no place in it.’. . .”
Read the full article at:
https://www.poynter.org/commentary/2026/trump-purposeful-inaccuracy-fcc-threat/
Article in The Guardian by Mehdi Hassan, 9/1/26
Headline: “The media’s Hasan Piker obsession is letting Republican Mike Rogers off the hook”
Subhead: “Mike Rogers isn’t merely campaigning alongside a controversial supporter. His campaign put an extremist on its faith leadership team”
“Turn on cable news. Pick up a newspaper. Log on to Twitter. It doesn’t seem to matter where you get your political news: for the past month, the leftist Twitch streamer has become one of the dominant subjects of coverage, conversation and controversy surrounding the crucial Michigan Senate race between the Democrat Abdul El-Sayed and the Republican Mike Rogers. . .”
Read the full article at:
https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2026/sep/01/hasan-piker-mike-rogers-media
Article in The Daily Beast by Lauren Hartley, 8/31/26
Headline: “MS NOW Star Torches Trump On-Air For ”Rage Posting’ Against NBC Host”
Subhead: “The journalist sounded the alarm on Trump’s tendency to kill the messenger”
“MS NOW’s Peter Alexander blasted President Donald Trump on air on Monday, saying, ‘The truth is still the truth, and you deserve to know it, whether a president likes it or not.’
”
“Alexander’s remark came after Trump attacked the journalist’s former colleague, Meet the Press host Kristen Welker.
“On Sunday, Welker said on D.C.’s local NBC station that there had been “mixed results” for Trump’s endorsed candidates. . .”
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Article in Status by Oliver Darch, 8/30/26
Headline: “CBS’ El-Sayed Scandal”
Subhead: “The Bari Weiss-led outlet is being pummeled by a storm of outrage over a story about Abdul El-Sayed—and Status has learned that within the network, some staffers have raised the matter with standards.”
“At 8:18 a.m. on Monday morning, CBS News published a post on X that immediately drew an avalanche of criticism: ‘As the nation prepares to mark 25 years since Sept. 11, 2001,’ the post said, ‘ Abdul El-Sayed, the Democratic nominee for U.S. Senate in Michigan, may be facing the risk of renewed scrutiny and fresh political attack.’. . .”
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Article in Poynter by Tom Jones, 8/31/26
Headline: “Opinion | Trump calls on the FCC to punish Kristen Welker — for accurate commentary”
Subhead: “He once again called on federal regulators to punish journalism he dislikes, despite the FCC having no authority to do so”
“. . .President Donald Trump is calling on the Federal Communications Commission to do something that it does not have the authority to do. And why? Because he’s angry about something a journalist said on television.
“Prior to the airing of Sunday’s ‘Meet the Press’ on NBC, moderator Kristen Welker spoke with WRC-TV, the NBC affiliate in Washington, D.C.
“Welker pointed out that Trump is ‘going to loom large’ over the upcoming midterm elections. Then she accurately noted, ‘He, of course, has endorsed a slate of candidates in the primaries. He’s had some mixed results.’. . .”
Read the full article at:
https://www.poynter.org/commentary/2026/trump-kristen-welker-rebuke-punishment/
Article in The Atlantic by David A. Graham, 8/31/26
Headline: “Trump Is Trying New Ways to Quelch Americans’ Press Freedom”
Subhead: “The president’s latest attacks are dangerous, unconstitutional—and maybe self-defeating.”
Desensitization is one of Donald Trump’s most powerful tools: Through repetition, he acclimates Americans to troubling and dangerous ideas. Occasionally, though, his statements and actions are so outrageous that they can still provide a shock. . .”
Yesterday morning, Trump started off with a post on Truth Social demanding that the Federal Communications Commission do something about “THE FAKE POLLS USED BY OUR CROOKED MEDIA.” About 15 minutes later, he followed this with a long rant about Kristen Welker of Meet the Press, complaining that she had noted that Trump’s record in recent endorsements had been ‘a mixed bag.’ . . . ‘Because of this purposeful inaccuracy, she will be reported to the FCC for rebuke or punishment.’ . . .”
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Friends of Community Media conducted a workshop in August called, “How to expose media lies and have fun doing it.”
You can hear an interview about the event conducted by Spencer Graves on of Terresa Wilke and Ann Suellentrop exploring the workshop.
You can hear the interview on KHOI community radio in Ames, Iowa at http://khoifm.org by scrolling down to Wednesday August 26th – 5 am.