Broadcasting

Following the Leader – or Not

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Article in Huffpost by Lydia O’Connor, 7/15/25

Headline:  “Right-Wing Media Is Now Falling In Line With Trump On Epstein”

Subhead:  “Days after criticizing his administration for closing the Epstein case, conservative personalities suddenly don’t want to talk about it anymore.”

“Conservative media’s outrage over Attorney General Pam Bondi saying she wouldn’t release more Jeffrey Epstein files appears to have been short-lived. After President Donald Trump stomped his feet and told his supporters to move on over the weekend, his base seems to have fallen in line.

“An assessment by the journalism watchdog group Media Matters found that Fox News has largely stopped talking about Epstein over the past two days. By noon on Monday, the network had mentioned Epstein zero times, the group found. That’s compared to 46 mentions of former President Joe Biden in that window . . ”

Read the full article at:

https://www.huffpost.com/entry/right-wing-media-trump-epstein_n_6876888fe4b0eb54312b8108

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Article in Media Matters by Gideon Taafffe & Reed McMaster, 7/16/25

Headline:  “Right-wing shows field angry calls about Epstein and the Trump administration”

“The Trump administration’s release of the Epstein memo has caused turmoil in right-wing media, and some callers on conservative radio shows are demanding answers. They’ve said they’re “angry,” accused President Donald Trump of “the ultimate betrayal,” and claimed Attorney General Pam Bondi “messed up” in her handling of the situation. . .”

Read the full article at:

https://www.mediamatters.org/salem-media-group/right-wing-shows-field-angry-calls-about-epstein-and-trump-administration

Cuts Coming Soon?

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Article in Common Dreams by Stephen Prager, 7/16/25

Headline: “Senate GOP Set to Eviscerate Public Media Funding, ‘Dismantle’ Outlets Relied on by Millions”

“The bill threatens “emergency alerts that save lives, local journalism that informs communities, and educational tools that support families, job seekers, and teachers,” according to Protect My Public Media

“The Republican-controlled U.S. Senate is on the verge of stripping more than a billion dollars from the Corporation for Public Broadcasting, which could decimate local news stations.

“On Tuesday, the chamber voted 50-50, with a tie broken by Vice President JD Vance to move forward with debate on the package, which is underway as of Wednesday morning. . .”

Read the full article at:

https://www.commondreams.org/news/senate-gop-set-to-eviscerate-public-media-funding-dismantle-outlets-relied-on-by-millions

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Article in The Hill by Aris Folley, 7/15/25

Headline:  “Bill to claw back public media, foreign aid funds clears key Senate hurdle with Vance breaking tie”

“Senate Republicans on Tuesday narrowly cleared a key procedural hurdle on the path to clawing back billions of dollars in funding previously authorized by Congress for foreign aid and public broadcasting.

“Vice President Vance had to break the 50-50 tie vote after three Republicans — Sens. Lisa Murkowski (Alaska), Susan Collins (Maine) and Mitch McConnell (Ky.) — voted against a motion to discharge the rescissions package out of the Senate Appropriations Committee, allowing the full upper chamber to advance to consideration of the package.

“The bill, which passed the House last month, calls for $8.3 billion in cuts to the United States Agency for International Development and foreign aid, and more than $1 billion in cuts to the Corporation for Public Broadcasting (CPB). . .”

Read the full article at:

https://thehill.com/homenews/senate/5403141-public-media-foreign-aid-cuts-senate/

Tribally-Licensed radio in Jeopardy

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Article in Indian Country Today by Kolby KickingWoman, 7/14/25

Headline:  “Impending legislation could gut tribal media funding”

Subhead:  “The Corporation for Public Broadcasting funds more than 1,500 public radio and television stations, and of these, 36 tribally-licensed radio stations would be affected”

“The funding cuts to the Corporation for Public Broadcasting affect the 2026 and 2027 fiscal years that worries many in Indian Country.

“Without the funding, many communities, especially rural communities, could become isolated as public media stations and radio may go off the air. Of the federal funding the Corporation for Public Broadcasting receives, more than 70 percent goes directly to local public media stations, according to its website. . .”

Read the full article at:

https://ictnews.org/news/impending-legislation-could-gut-tribal-media-funding/

Press Secretary in a Huff

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Article in The New Republic by Greg Sargent, 7/9/25

Headline:  “Trump Press Sec’s Fury at Media Over Texas Flood Exposes Worst of MAGA”

Subhead:  “As Karoline Leavitt rages at the media and Democrats for probing whether Trump policies made the Texas disaster worse, a writer on climate change argues that this absolutely is the time for such hard questions.”

“At least 109 people have died amid devastating flooding in Texas. Distressingly, 27 deaths occurred at a summer camp for girls, and the toll continues to rise. This week, White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt angrily lashed out at the news media and Democrats for asking whether Trump administration policies bear any blame for the disaster’s impact. What struck us, though, is her demand that we all treat this as a ‘national’ tragedy. She’s right that we should do this. But that solicitude is precisely what Donald Trump and MAGA deny to non-MAGA America at other urgent moments. And that’s the true MAGA ethic at its ugliest. . .”

Read the full article at:

https://newrepublic.com/article/197723/trump-press-sec-fury-media-texas-flood-exposes-worst-maga

End of Political Broadcasting Humor?

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Article in Status by Oliver Darcy, 7/8/25

Headline:  “Ellison’s Late Night Limbo

“Subhead:  “As the Ellisons Prepare to Take Over Paramount,  the Future of Stephen Colbert, Jon Stewart, and CBS’ Appetite for Political Comedy Hangs in the Balance”

“Jon Stewart opened Monday’s episode of ”The Daily Show’ not mincing words, calling Paramount’s settlement with Donald Trump ‘shameful.’ Just as he was digging in, a fake Arby’s ad suddenly appeared on screen, as if to cut him off mid-rant for criticizing Comedy Central’s parent company. ‘Did they? Son of a bitch!’ Stewart exclaimed, playing along with the bit—yet nodding to a deeper fear that his commentary might soon be silenced amid all the corporate upheaval.

“Later in the episode, Stewart continued to needle Paramount, sitting down with former ’60 Minutes’ correspondent Steve Kroft for a candid and unsparing conversation. Kroft described the settlement in clear terms: ‘It was a shakedown.’ . . .”

Read the full article at:

A Sad Day for Journalism?

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Article in The Guardian by Anna Betts, 7/3/25

Headline:  “Former CBS anchor slams Paramount settlement with Trump: ‘It was a sellout’ “

Subhead:  “Dan Rather laments ‘sad day for journalism’ after company settles for $16m over 60 Minutes Kamala Harris interview”

“A former CBS News anchor and 60 minutes correspondent, Dan Rather, has blasted the $16m settlement between Paramount, the parent company of CBS News, and Donald Trump, calling it a ‘sad day for journalism’.

“ ‘It’s a sad day for 60 Minutes and CBS News,’ Rather, a veteran journalist who was a CBS News anchor for over 20 years, told Variety in an interview published on Wednesday. ‘I hope people will read the details of this and understand what it was. It was distortion by the president and a kneeling down and saying, “yes, sir,” by billionaire corporate owners.’ . . .”

Read the full article at:

https://www.theguardian.com/film/2025/jul/03/dan-rather-cbs-paramount-settlement-trump

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Article in Columbia Journalism Review by Kyle Paolettam 7/2/25

Headline:  “Paramount Will Pay President Trump $16 Million to Settle 60 Minutes Lawsuit”

Subhead:  ” ‘It is a dark day for independent journalism,’ says Sen. Bernie Sanders.”

“Late last night, Paramount, the corporate parent of CBS News, agreed to pay Donald Trump $16 million to settle the president’s lawsuit over the network’s editing of a 60 Minutes interview with Kamala Harris during the 2024 election. This agreement comes six months after ABC paid $15 million to Trump’s foundation to end his suit over how George Stephanopoulos characterized the president’s sexual assault of E. Jean Carroll. Taken together, these settlements represent a troubling compromise of editorial independence for two of the standard-bearers of American broadcast journalism. . .”

Read the full article at:

https://www.cjr.org/news/paramount-will-pay-president-trump-16-million-to-settle-60-minutes-lawsuit.php

Blackmailing the Media

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Article in The Washington Post by Sara Ellison & Jeremy Barr, 7/2/25

Headline:  “How Trump’s media war brought Paramount to its knees”

Subhead:  “Tuesday night’s $16 million settlement with Trump followed months of tension between CBS’s journalistic mission and its corporate interest.”

“The breaking point came on a Saturday night in the middle of May. CBS President George Cheeks called news division chief Wendy McMahon with a suggestion: “It’s probably time.”

“Two days later, McMahon announced her departure.

“The forced resignation marked a turning point: The network of Edward R. Murrow, which stood against McCarthyism and once defined American broadcast journalism, was capitulating to White House pressure as its corporate owner sought approval for a lucrative merger. . .”

Read the full article at:

https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2025/07/02/trump-paramount-cbs-settlement-media/

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Article in The Washington Post by Eric Wemple, 7/2/25

Headline:  “Paramount betrays ‘60 Minutes’ and the rest of us

Subhead:  “Parent company caves to baseless suit by Donald Trump.”

“. . .On Tuesday night came the news that Paramount had agreed to pay $16 million to settle the suit, which stemmed from a ‘60 Minutes’ interview with then-vice president and Democratic presidential nominee Kamala Harris. The money, which covers the president’s legal fees and costs, will go to his future presidential library.

What happened between disputation and capitulation? . . .”

Read the full article at:

https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2025/07/02/paramount-settlement-trump-betrayal/

Talk Show Bias?

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Article in FAIR by Keiwana Grant-Floyd & Julie Hollar, 7/1/25

Headline:  “FAIR Study: Sunday Talkshows Downplayed Criticism During Trump’s Second Transition”

“. . . After Donald Trump was declared the winner of the 2016 and 2024 elections, the Sunday shows had an opportunity to hold up both his campaign promises and his cabinet picks to scrutiny. With his campaigns’ racist attacks on immigrants and diversity initiatives, as well as his movement’s assaults on the rights of women and trans people, inviting guests who more accurately reflect the diversity of the country would seem to be a journalistic imperative. Yet a new FAIR study finds that the Sunday shows’ coverage of the Trump transitions were even more heavily white and male than usual.”

read the full article at:

https://fair.org/home/fair-study-sunday-talkshows-downplayed-criticism-during-trumps-second-transition/

A Media Icon Has Died

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“Democracy Now” photo – Public media is NOT state-controlled media

Article in Common Dreams by Steven Harper, 6/30/25

Headline:  “A Personal Tribute to Bill Moyers, Who Never Stopped Pushing”

Subhead: “I would never claim to be an heir to Bill Moyers’ legacy, but I am among the millions of ordinary Americans for whom he was a powerful source of inspiration:

“A partial summary of Bill Moyers’ impressive life fills entire pages of The New York Times and The Washington Post—treatment reserved for royalty and rock stars. Bill was both.

“In those pages you’ll read about his illustrious political career as President Lyndon Johnson’s special assistant, press secretary, and key architect of the “Great Society”—a collection of programs that are now in danger, including the War on Poverty that produced Medicare, Medicaid, the Food Stamp Act, and the Economic Opportunity Act; the Civil Rights Act of 1964; the Voting Rights Act of 1965; the National Foundation on the Arts and the Humanities Act of 1965; and more.

Read the full article at:

https://www.commondreams.org/opinion/bill-moyers

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Article in The Washington Post by Fred A. Bernstein, 6/26/25

Headline: “Bill Moyers, eminence of public affairs broadcasting, dies at 91”

“He was White House press secretary under Lyndon B. Johnson and Newsday publisher before becoming an acclaimed television journalist, mostly for PBS.”

“Bill Moyers, who served as chief White House spokesman for President Lyndon B. Johnson and then, for more than 40 years, as a broadcast journalist known for bringing ideas — both timely and timeless — to television, died June 26 at a hospital in Manhattan. He was 91. . .”

Read the full article at:

https://www.washingtonpost.com/obituaries/2025/06/26/bill-moyers-lbj-pbs-broadcasting-dead/

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Article in Democracy Now by Staff: 6/26/25

Headline:  “Remembering Bill Moyers: Public Broadcasting Legend Dies at 91”

“The legendary journalist Bill Moyers has died at the age of 91. In the 1960s, Moyers was a founding organizer of the Peace Corps and served as press secretary for President Lyndon Johnson. . .”

“In 2011 Bill Moyers said on Democracy Now: ‘I think this country is in a very precarious state at the moment. I think, as I say, the escalating, accumulating power of organized wealth is snuffing out everything public, whether it’s public broadcasting, public schools, public unions, public parks, public highways. Everything public has been under assault since the late 1970s, the early years of the Reagan administration, because there is a philosophy that’s been extant in America for a long time that anything public is less desirable than private. . ”

Read the full article at:

https://www.democracynow.org/2025/6/26/remembering_bill_moyers_public_broadcasting_legend

Ask a Question – Get Yelled-At

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“The List” photo

Update:

Article in Poynter by Tom Jones, 6/27/25

Headline:  “Opinion | Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth targeted a Fox reporter. The journalism community had her back”

Subhead:  “In defending Jennifer Griffin, journalists signal that truth-telling still matters — no matter the network.”

“The Trump administration continues its signature bashing of the media. This time, it was Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth insulting Fox News’ Jennifer Griffin. . .”

“What was noticeable, however, was just how many journalists came to Griffin’s defense, including those from rival news outlets.

Say what you will about Fox News and how many of the network’s hosts fawn over Trump and conservatives. Griffin is a top-notch, plugged-in and unbiased reporter.

During a press conference with Hegseth on Thursday, Griffin posed a completely legitimate question. . .”

“She suggested that satellite imagery showed there might have been movement from the facility leading up the attack.

“Hegseth snapped, ‘Of course we’re watching it. Jennifer, you’ve been about the worst, the one who misrepresents the most intentionally what the president says.’

“Griffin wasn’t having it. She pushed back . . .”

Read the full article at:

https://www.poynter.org/commentary/2025/pete-hegseth-attacks-fox-reporter-journalists-respond/

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Article in The Hill by Dominick Mastrangelo, 6/26/25

Headline:  “Hegseth slams Fox reporter at press conference: ‘You’ve been about the worst’ ”

Subhead:  “Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth attacked Jennifer Griffin, his former colleague at Fox News and a longtime member of the Pentagon press corps, amid a broader push to discredit media outlets reporting on intelligence laying out the extent of damages done by U.S. strikes to Iranian nuclear sites.”

“ ‘Do you have certainty that all the highly enriched uranium was inside the Fordow mountain?’ Griffin asked Hegseth during a contentious press conference early Thursday morning. . .”

“ ‘Of course we’re watching it,’ Hegseth said before attacking the reporter. ‘Jennifer, you’ve been about the worst. The one who misrepresents the most intentionally.’  ”

Read the full article at:

https://thehill.com/homenews/media/5370774-hegseth-briefing-jennifer-griffin-fox/

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Article in Huffpost by Ron Dicker, 6/26/25

Headline:  “Pete Hegseth Calls Former Fox News Colleague ‘The Worst’ In Tense Iran Presser”

Subhead:  “The defense secretary zeroed in on Fox News’ Jennifer Griffin as he continued to rail against the lack of media fawning over the Iran strikes”

“Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth called former Fox News colleague Jennifer Griffin ‘the worst’ as he faced more questions about the U.S. bombing of Iran’s nuclear sites on Thursday.

“The Pentagon press conference turned downright hostile as Hegseth, who once occupied the curvy couch of ‘Fox & Friends’ before he got his Cabinet gig, slammed Griffin, the network’s chief national security correspondent. . .”

Read the full article at:

https://www.huffpost.com/entry/pete-hegseth-jennifer-griffin-the-worst_n_685d4e2ae4b0f78c57383fb2