Broadcasting

Broadcasting Blow-Up

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Article in Columbia Journalism Review by Joel Simon, 11/13/25

Headline:  “How Donald Trump Blew Up the BBC“

Subhead:  “The president set out to undermine public broadcasters in the US. Now, with help from British allies, he’s taking his strategy global.”

“Last week, I wrote about the BBC’s big ambitions for the US market and its confidence that a just-the-facts approach, combined with a global sensibility, would give it a competitive edge in Trump’s America. . .’

“The same day my column ran, The Telegraph published a story that seemed to utterly upend those plans. Based on a leaked internal memo, it alleged that a documentary aired just before the 2024 US presidential election on the BBC program Panorama had ‘doctored’ a Donald Trump speech by making him appear to encourage the Capitol Hill riot” of January 6, 2021. . .”

Read the full article at:

https://www.cjr.org/analysis/how-donald-trump-blew-up-bbc-us-market-telegraph-panorama-jan-6.php

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Article in the New Republic by Malcolm Ferguson, 11/13/25

Headline: “BBC Apologizes to Trump but Refuses to Pay Up Like He Demanded”

Subhead:  “The BBC is warning Donald Trump that he doesn’t have a real defamation case.”

“The British Broadcasting Corporation has apologized to President Donald Trump for editing his speech on an episode of Panorama, but will not fork over the $1 billion he threatened to sue for. . .”

Read the full article at:

https://newrepublic.com/post/203183/bbc-apologizes-trump-refuses-pay-defamation

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Article in Daily Kos by Alix Breeden, 11/11/25

Headline:  “Trump’s war on the media goes global”

“President Donald Trump is trying to take his war on the media across the pond, but the United Kingdom isn’t having it.

“Trump’s attorney threatened a $1 billion lawsuit on the British Broadcasting Corporation Tuesday over a doctored clip of Trump speaking to his beloved Jan. 6 insurrectionists.

Read the full article at:

https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2025/11/11/2353343/-Trump-s-war-on-the-media-goes-global?pm_campaign=front_page&pm_source=top_news_slot_4&pm_medium=web

Billionaires Buy the Media

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Article in The Guardian by Robert Reich, 11/13/25

Headline:  “Ultra-rich media owners are tightening their grip on democracy. It’s time to wrest our power back”

“The richest man on Earth owns X.

“The family of the second-richest man owns Paramount, which owns CBS, and could soon own Warner Bros, which owns CNN.

“The third-richest man owns Facebook, Instagram and WhatsApp.

“The fourth-richest man owns the Washington Post and Amazon MGM Studios.

“Another billionaire owns Fox News, the Wall Street Journal and the New York Post.

“Why are the ultra-rich buying up so much of the media? Vanity may play a part, but there’s a more pragmatic – some might say sinister – reason. . .”

Read the full article at:

https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2025/nov/13/trump-media-ultra-rich-democracy

Media Natives Are Restless

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Article in The Washington Post by Laura Wagner and Scott Nover, 11/7/25

Headline: “Bari Weiss’s first month at CBS News unfolds in a newsroom culture clash”

Subhead:  “The opinion journalist took over as editor in chief in October, launching a new era for the network amid layoffs, confusion and shifting expectations.”

“. . .A shake-up might have been what Ellison had in mind by hiring Weiss, an opinion journalist with no experience running a large newsroom. For years, ‘CBS Evening News’ has run in third place behind the evening news programs from NBC and ABC, and some staffers welcomed new ideas.

“ ‘My guess is that what they’re trying to do is appeal to those who feel they are alienated from CBS because they think that it’s too left-leaning or too biased in one way or another,’ said Jacob Nelson, a communications professor at the University of Utah. The risk Weiss and Ellison take on, he added, ‘is that they are just going to alienate even the people that they already have.’ . . .”

Read the full article at:

https://www.washingtonpost.com/business/2025/11/07/bari-weiss-cbs-news-remake/

CBS News – “Lotta Money”

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Article in The Guardian by Jeremy Barr, 11/3/25

Headline:  “CBS News heavily edits Trump 60 Minutes interview, cutting boast network ‘paid me a lotta money’ “

Subhead:  “Trump said Paramount’s sale to David and Larry Ellison was ‘greatest thing that’s happened in a long time’ for free press”

“. . .The edits are notable because, exactly one year before Trump was interviewed by O’Donnell at his Mar-a-Lago resort on Friday he had sued CBS over the editing of a 60 Minutes interview with then-Vice President Kamala Harris, which he alleged had been deceptively edited to help her chances in the presidential election.

While many legal experts widely dismissed the lawsuit as ‘meritless’ and unlikely to hold up under the first amendment, CBS settled with Trump for $16m in July. . .”

Read the full article at:

https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025/nov/03/trump-cbs-60-minutes-interview-edited

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Article in Mediaite by Sean James, 11/2/25

Headline:  ” ‘Paid Me a Lotta Money!’ Trump Takes Victory Lap Over ’60 Minutes’ — In Part of Interview That Didn’t Air Live On ’60 Minutes’ “

“One part of President Donald Trump’s 60 Minutes interview on Sunday that did not air live: The president gloating that CBS paid him millions of dollars to settle his lawsuit against the program for its editing of an interview with Kamala Harris last year. . .”

He also complimented Bari Weiss, the new head of CBS News, and said he believed she will do a good job leading the news operation. . .”

Read the full article at:

https://www.mediaite.com/media/paid-me-a-lotta-money-trump-takes-victory-lap-over-60-minutes-in-part-of-interview-that-didnt-air-live-on-60-minutes/

Radio Shutdown Coincidence?

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Article in The Guardian by Staff 10/30/25

Headline:  “Radio Free Asia suspends news operations amid cuts and US government shutdown”

Subhead:  “RFA will begin closing overseas bureaus, as well as laying off and paying severance to staff members, with the hope that it could return in the future”

“RFA was founded nearly three decades ago to report on China and other Asian countries without independent media.

“It has been operating with a skeleton staff the past few months, primarily producing a few stories online as the administration sought to choke off its funding. . .”

“Long a thorn in Beijing’s side, RFA’s closure comes after the US president met Chinese leader Xi Jinping on a trip to Asia. . .”

Read the full article at:

https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025/oct/31/radio-free-asia-suspends-news-operations-amid-cuts-us-government-shutdown

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Article in Human Rights Watch by Staff, 12/23/25

Headline:  “Afghanistan: Taliban Tramples Media Freedom”

Subhead:  “Journalists Face Arrest, Torture; Journalists in Exile at Risk of Forced Return”

“The Taliban have gutted Afghan media since taking control of the country in August 2021 through the use of surveillance and censorship and by punishing media workers for perceived criticism.

“As the Taliban’s oppression of the media has increased, the need for independent news outlets in Afghanistan has become even greater. Journalists described both the harsh conditions in Afghanistan and growing challenges facing those living in exile. . .”

Read the full article at:

https://www.hrw.org/news/2025/10/23/afghanistan-taliban-tramples-media-freedom

Someone Wants to Control All Media

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Article in The Guardian by Owen Jones, 10/29/25

Headline:  “From CBS to TikTok, US media are falling to Trump’s allies. This is how democracy crumbles”

Subhead:  “We’re watching the Orbánisation of the US – and as in Hungary, control of the media is key to consolidating power”

“Democracy may be dying in the US. Whether the patient receives emergency treatment in time will determine whether the condition becomes terminal. Before Donald Trump’s return to the presidency, I warned of ‘Orbánisation’ – in reference to Hungary’s authoritarian leader Viktor Orbán. There, democracy was not extinguished by firing squads or the mass imprisonment of dissidents, but by slow attrition. . .”

Read the full article at:

https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2025/oct/29/cbs-tiktok-us-media-donald-trump-allies-democracy

 

Attacks by Media Attacked

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Article in Mediaite by Zachary Leeman, 10/28/25

Headline:  “Michael Moore Goes Off On ‘Racist and Disgusting Attacks’ From Media Against Mamdani: ‘Level of Hate Is Sickening’ “

“The Bowling for Columbine director praised Mamdani for handling himself with ‘courage, dignity, and class’ amid the attacks.

“ ‘From open violent threats directed at Zohran and his family, to hateful and bigoted TV ads, to racist and disgusting attacks from the media and his opponents, the level of hate is sickening, Moore wrote. . .’ ”

Read the full article at:

https://www.mediaite.com/media/michael-moore-goes-off-on-racist-and-disgusting-attacks-from-media-against-mamdani-level-of-hate-is-sickening/

St. Louis Community Radio – Gone

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Article in Stlpr.org by Jeremy D. Goodwin, 10/29/25

Headline:  “Christian radio station Worship One will debut on 88.1 FM in January “

Subhead:  “Christian radio network Gateway Creative Broadcasting is expected to launch its third St. Louis-area station in January: 88.1 Worship One.“

“A new Christian radio station will debut on 88.1 FM in January. The new station will be known as 88.1 Worship One, with call letters KLJT.

“For about two months the 88.1 FM frequency, which is designated by the FCC for nonprofit and community use, has been in Top 40 purgatory — temporarily carrying a simulcast of 95.5 Jams after previous operator KDHX formally ceased operations in September.

“Double Helix, the nonprofit corporation behind KDHX, had been broadcasting prerecorded content since late January. It filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in March and put KDHX’s broadcast license on sale to settle $2 million in debt. . . .”

Read the full article at:

https://www.stlpr.org/news-briefs/2025-10-29/christian-radio-station-worship-one-will-debut-on-88-1-fm-in-january-report

News in the Eye of the Beholder

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Article in Status by Natalie Korach, 10.29.25

Headline: “Paramount’s Eye Strain”

Subhead:  “It was a ‘traumatic’ day at CBS News, as David Ellison’s Paramount unleashed a fresh wave of layoffs across the company, hitting the news division hard.”

“On Wednesday morning, shortly after Paramount staffers received a memo from David Ellison outlining a ‘tough day’ of layoffs ahead, CBS News staffers joined the regular 9 a.m. editorial call where newly minted editor in chief Bari Weiss and president Tom Cibrowski addressed them on the forthcoming cuts. “\’This is just an enormously difficult day for so many people that have given years of their lives to this company,’ Weiss said.

“Indeed, it was another rough day inside CBS News, which has experienced no shortage of them in recent months. . .”

Read the full article at:

https://www.status.news/p/cbs-news-layoffs-paramount

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Article in The Guardian by Jeremy Barr, 10/29/25

Headline:  “CBS News staffers lose jobs in ‘bloodbath’ as part of sweeping cuts from Paramount”

Subhead:  “Paramount laying off about 1,000 staffers, including some in news, on Wednesday amid longer-term cost-cutting plan”

“For months, CBS News staffers have been on edge waiting for a long-expected round of layoffs as part of the $2bn in cost-cutting that had been promised after parent company Paramount’s successful merger with Skydance Media.

“Those cuts began on Wednesday morning and are expected to affect fewer than 100 people. The company declined to provide a specific number. . .”

Read the full article at:

https://www.theguardian.com/media/2025/oct/29/cbs-news-layoffs-paramount

One Media, One Country!

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Article in Columbia Journalism Review by Jem Bartholomew, 10/27/25

Headline:  “The CEOs of Everything”

Subhead:  “Larry and David Ellison are poised to become the Trump era’s reigning media moguls.”

“. . .Larry Ellison’s net worth is currently 342.5 billion dollars, according to Forbes. As a businessman, Ellison characterizes his approach by paraphrasing Genghis Khan: “It is not sufficient that I succeed. Everyone else must fail.’. . .”

“The Ellisons are not the only billionaires buying newspapers, seizing power over TV networks, and remaking social media platforms. But what makes their efforts more formidable is the vertical integration they would command: movie studios, news networks, part of a social media platform, and user data on millions of people, all in one package.. . .”

Read the full article at:

https://www.cjr.org/the_media_today/ceos-everything-david-larry-ellison-oracle-skydance-paramount-kimmel-carr.php

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Article in The New Republic by Alex Shephard, 10/27/25

Headline:  “Larry and David Ellison Are Building a Pro-Trump Media Behemoth”

Subhead:  “With the president’s blessing, the Ellisons’ Skydance merged with Paramount, gaining control of CBS News. Now the new giant might gobble up Warner Bros. Discovery, which includes CNN.”

“Donald Trump is about to give Larry Ellison and his son David another present. In July, the Trump administration gifted the mogul Paramount, whose properties include Paramount Studios and CBS, allowing it to merge with the Ellisons’ Skydance, despite antitrust concerns. . .”

Read the full article at:

https://newrepublic.com/article/202272/larry-david-ellison-paramount-warner-pro-trump-media-behemoth

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Article in The Daily Beast by Eboni Boykin-Patterson, 10/23/25

Headline:  “Jon Stewart Predicts ‘Bloodletting’ From His New Billionaire Boss”

Subhead:  “ ‘Just one guy controls all of the media—what could go wrong?’ Stewart said Thursday.”

“Jon Stewart joked that his new boss should “have it all,” as his network’s new overlord Skydance continues to gobble up the country’s biggest media companies.

“Skydance CEO David Ellison now has his sights set on acquiring Warner Bros. Discovery after its acquisition of Paramount, The Daily Show’s parent company.

“ ‘He should have it all,’ Stewart quipped on The Weekly Show Thursday. ‘My guy should have it all. He should be the leader of all… Why are there other media companies? Shouldn’t they all just be one?. . .”

Read the full article at:

https://www.thedailybeast.com/jon-stewart-sounds-off-on-his-new-billionaire-boss-david-ellison/