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Broadcasting
Senators ask FCC to end Hunt?
Article in Reuters by David Shepardson, 7/16/25
Headline: “Senators urge FCC chair to end probes into CBS News, other media outlets”
“Two Democratic U.S. senators on Wednesday urged Federal Communications Commission chair Brendan Carr to end investigations into CBS News and other media outlets.
“Senate Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer and Senator Ed Markey, in a letter to Carr first reported by Reuters, urged the commission ‘to end its partisan attacks on CBS and cease interfering with the judgment of independent news organizations. . .”
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Following the Leader – or Not
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 . . ”
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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. . .”
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Cuts Coming Soon?
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. . .”
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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). . .”
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https://thehill.com/homenews/senate/5403141-public-media-foreign-aid-cuts-senate/
Tribally-Licensed radio in Jeopardy
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. . .”
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https://ictnews.org/news/impending-legislation-could-gut-tribal-media-funding/
Press Secretary in a Huff
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. . .”
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https://newrepublic.com/article/197723/trump-press-sec-fury-media-texas-flood-exposes-worst-maga
End of Political Broadcasting Humor?
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.’ . . .”
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A Sad Day for Journalism?
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.’ . . .”
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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. . .”
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Blackmailing the Media
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. . .”
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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? . . .”
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https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2025/07/02/paramount-settlement-trump-betrayal/
Talk Show Bias?
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.”
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