Censorship

Disappear Reporters – No News

by


Article in Common Dreams by John Marks, 8/12/25

Headline:  “Killing the Witness: Gaza’s Journalists and the Global Blueprint of Disappearance”

Subhead:  “The Israeli missile that hit Al Jazeera’s tent targeted more than five people; it struck at the principle that the public has a right to know and at the belief that truth should outlive the men and women who report it.”

“On the night of August 10, 2025, the air over Gaza City hung heavy with dust and the steady thrum of generators. In a modest press tent pitched outside the bomb-scarred shell of al-Shifa Hospital, Al Jazeera’s last reporting team in the city worked with the quiet urgency of people who knew each second could be their last chance to bear witness. . .”

Read the full article at:

https://www.commondreams.org/opinion/killing-witness-gaza

Journalists Targeted?

by


Article in The Guardian by Jason Burke, 8/11/25

Headline: ” ‘I risked everything’: remembering six media workers killed by Israel in Gaza”

Subhead: “CJP says the period since 7 October 2023 has been the most deadly for journalists since it began gathering data in 1992”

“Journalists have been prominent among casualties since the war in Gaza was triggered by Hamas’s incursion into Israel in October 2023. . . ”

The Committee to Protect Journalists, an independent non-profit organisation based in the US that promotes press freedom worldwide, says at least 186 journalists and media workers have been killed in Gaza . . .”

Read the full article at:

https://www.theguardian.com/world/2025/aug/11/i-risked-everything-remembering-six-media-workers-killed-by-israel-in-gaza

– – – – –

Article in Al Jazeera by Mat Hashed and Abdelhakim Abu Riash, 8/11/25

Headline:  “Anas and Mohammed, journalists slain by Israel, remembered as role models”

Subhead:  “Colleagues pay tribute to assassinated Gaza journalists, vowing to continue their work.”

“Late Sunday evening, Israel’s military targeted Al Jazeera Arabic’s Gaza correspondents Anas al-Sharif, Mohammed Qreiqeh and three others, killing them in a drone strike against their media tent at the gate of al-Shifa Hospital in Gaza City. . .”

Read the full article at:

https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2025/8/11/anas-and-mohammed-journalists-slain-by-israel-remembered-as-role-models

– – – – –

Article in Mother Jones by Julianne Mcshane, 8/11/25

Headline: “Israel Has Killed Nearly 200 Palestinian Journalists in Gaza”

Subhead: “The latest killings were targeted attacks on reporters covering the war in Gaza, according to the news network that employed them.”

Read the article at:

https://www.motherjones.com/politics/2025/08/israel-gaza-palestinian-war-journalists-killed/

– – – – –

Story in Democracy Now by Mohamed Moawad, 8/11/25

Headline:  “Silencing the Coverage”: Israel Assassinates 5 Al Jazeera Journalists in Targeted Strike in Gaza”

Read the story at:

https://www.democracynow.org/2025/8/11/al_jazeera

Who Monitors the Monitor?

by


Article in The Guardian by Margaret Sullivan. 8/9/25

Headline: “A ‘bias monitor’ for CBS News is a bad idea. Here’s why”

Subhead: “I was a public editor at the New York Times, handling complaints from the public. That is a better path than CBS’s one”

“For years before I became the public editor at the New York Times, I admired the work of journalists doing the job of holding their own newsrooms accountable to high standards.

“And when I heard that CBS News would get a position something like that, I thought – briefly – that this could be a positive development. After all, the network’s credibility and independence has come under fire after its parent company settled a frivolous lawsuit brought by Donald Trump. . .”

“I quickly changed my mind once I learned the details. This is not a traditional ombudsman but what some have dubbed a ‘bias monitor’ who will receive and evaluate claims of bias in the network’s journalism and report on them to the corporation’s president. . .”

Read the full article at:

https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2025/aug/09/bias-monitor-cbs-news

– – – – –

Article in Poynter by Rick Edmonds, et al., 8/8/25

Headline:  “Opinion | Skydance and Paramount complete their merger – whither CBS News?”

Subhead: “New chairman talks about ‘empowered’ journalists; critic assails trading principles for profit”

“The headline-chewing Skydance Media takeover of Paramount Global was formally concluded Thursday. . .

Red the full article at:

https://www.poynter.org/commentary/2025/skydance-and-paramount-complete-their-merger-whither-cbs-news/

– – – – –

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

Headline: “The Skydance Sidestep”

Subhead: “David Ellison admirably showed up to take tough, unscreened questions from a room full of reporters – but he danced around the biggest ones about Donald Trump. ’60 Minutes’, and more”

“Naturally, the assembled group of journalists didn’t ignore the elephant in the room, and the first was about Donald Trump. Specifically, whether Ellison, the Silicon Valley tech scion, had cut a secret side deal to air upwards of $20 million worth of public service announcements for causes Trump supports. . .”

Read the full article at:

https://www.status.news/p/david-ellison-paramount-trump-side-deal-60-minutes

– – – – –

Article in Reuters by Deborah May and David Shepardson, 8/7/25

Headline:  “Paramount closes $8 billion merger with Skydance after settling ’60 Minutes’ lawsuit”

“. . .The merger was approved after Skydance agreed to ensure CBS news and entertainment programming would be free of bias, hire an ombudsman for at least two years to review complaints, and end diversity programs. . .”

Read the full article at:

https://www.reuters.com/legal/transactional/paramount-closes-8-billion-merger-with-skydance-after-settling-60-minutes-2025-08-07/

Independent Media – Future U.S?

by


Article in Reporters without Borders by Parteger, 8/8/25

Headline:  “ ‘Almost all independent media were eradicated’ in Belarus: after detention and forced exile, journalist Ihar Karnei speaks out”

“Ihar Karnei, a Belarusian journalist with Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty (RFE/RL), has talked to Reporters Without Borders (RSF) about his ordeal for the first time since the Belarusian authorities released him on 21 July and forced him into exile. His account illustrates the regime’s total control of the media five years after President Alexander Lukashenko’s rigged reelection in 2020 and the ensuing violent crackdown. RSF reiterates its call for the release of the 39 Belarusian journalists still held. . .”

Red the full article at:

https://rsf.org/en/almost-all-independent-media-were-eradicated-belarus-after-detention-and-forced-exile-journalist

Authoritarians Hate Free Speech

by


Article in Columbia Journalism Review by Daniel Golden, 8/4/25

Headline:  “Joseph McCarthy’s War on Voice of America”

Subhead:  “A largely forgotten campaign of harassment and persecution from the 1950s that still echoes today.”

“In nationally televised hearings, Senate Republicans denounce Voice of America. They accuse the government’s international broadcasting arm of harboring saboteurs, misspending taxpayer funds, condoning anti-Semitism, compromising security by relying on foreign-born workers, and denigrating the country it is supposed to serve. . .”

“These hearings that gripped the country were not part of the Trump administration’s recent campaign against VOA. They took place in 1953, and the committee chair running them was none other than Wisconsin senator Joseph McCarthy, then at the peak of his power. . .”

Read the full article at:

https://www.cjr.org/analysis/joseph-mccarthy-voice-of-america.php

Public Media – Gone Now

by


Public Media are NOT state-controlled media

Article in The Guardian by Joseph Gedeon, 8/1/25

Headline: “Corporation for Public Broadcasting to close after US funding cut”

Subhead:  “Closure of public broadcasting group follows House Republicans’ decision to strip $1.1bn in funding over two years”

“The Corporation for Public Broadcasting announced on Friday it will shut down operations after losing federal funding, delivering a blow to America’s public media system and the more than 1,500 local stations that have relied on its support for nearly six decades.

“The closure follows the Republican-controlled House’s decision last month to eliminate $1.1bn in CPB funding over two years, part of a $9bn reduction to public media and foreign aid programs.

“Despite the extraordinary efforts of millions of Americans who called, wrote, and petitioned Congress to preserve federal funding for CPB, we now face the difficult reality of closing our operations,” said Patricia Harrison, corporation’s president and chief executive. . .”

Read the full article at:

https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025/aug/01/corporation-for-public-broadcasting-closure

– – – – –

Article in The Hill by Aris Folley, 8/1/25

Headline:   “Corporation for Public Broadcasting says it is beginning to shut down “

“The Corporation for Public Broadcasting (CPB) said Friday it will begin “an orderly wind-down of its operations” after seeing its budget cut through GOP-led legislation. . .”

“The CPB said most of its employees jobs would conclude at the end of the fiscal year on Sept. 30, while a small transition team would work through January “to ensure a responsible and orderly closeout of operations. . .”

“Less than 5 percent of the nonprofit’s funding goes toward its operations, while more than 70 percent “goes directly to local public media stations,” the CPB states on its website. And almost half of its “total 544 radio and TV grantees are considered rural. . .”

Read the full article at:

https://thehill.com/media/5432389-corporation-for-public-broadcasting-shutting-down/

Subsaharan VOA impact

by


Article in Reporters without Frontiers by Partager, 7/30/25

Headline:  “Sub-Saharan Africa: community radio programmes shut down, access to information in jeopardy after Voice of America suspension”

“Disrupted programming, journalists sacked from their jobs: the US government’s suspension of Voice of America (VOA), whose programmes were broadcast in all sub-Saharan African countries via over a thousand local partners, undermines access to reliable and diverse information. Reporters Without Borders (RSF) condemns this major setback for the right to reliable information on the African continent, and urges the international community to find alternative solutions to remedy the situation.”

Read the full article at:

https://rsf.org/en/sub-saharan-africa-community-radio-programmes-shut-down-access-information-jeopardy-after-voice

Media on Life Support?

by


Article in The Guardian by Robert Reich, 7/29/25

Headline:  “US press and publishing We are witnessing the silencing of American media”

Subhead:  “From the Washington Post to CBS, companies are caving to Trump. This is how democracy dies”

“. . .Friends, this is how democracy dies.

“The silencing is happening across America because Trump cannot stand criticism, because he’s vindictive as hell, and because he’s willing and able to use every department and agency of the federal government to punish any media corporations or universities that allow criticism of him.

“Shame on any media outlet or university that allows Trump to silence it. . .”

Read the full article at:

https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2025/jul/30/trump-silencing-of-american-media

Exporting Anti-Journalism

by


Article in Reporters Without Borders by Staff, 7/28/25

Headline:  “Six months of Trump’s war on the press: importing and exporting authoritarian tendencies”

“Six months into US President Donald Trump’s second term, his administration has become increasingly hostile towards the press, both mimicking and inspiring authoritarian and quasi-authoritarian regimes around the world. Reporters Without Borders (RSF) warns of the dangers of a transnational anti-press movement that shares tactics across borders and has found in the American president one of its most powerful proponents yet.

“Donald Trump has grown into a key figure in a global anti-journalism political movement that has contributed to a recent decline in press freedom globally, and is currently on full display in the United States just six months into his second administration. . .”

Read the full article at:

https://rsf.org/en/six-months-trump-s-war-press-importing-and-exporting-authoritarian-tendencies

Use Courts to Punish Media?

by


Article in Vox by Noel King & Avishat Artsy, 7/25/25

Headline:  “Trump’s media war just got a $10 billion twist”

Subhead:  “It’s his latest move in an ongoing effort to silence critical news outlets and control the narrative.”

“President Donald Trump is using the courts to punish media outlets for publishing stories he doesn’t like.

“The latest example is a $10 billion lawsuit filed in federal court in Miami against the Wall Street Journal and its owners, including Rupert Murdoch, for publishing a story that described a sexually suggestive birthday card Trump allegedly sent to the late Jeffrey Epstein in 2003.

“Trump has made no secret of his disdain for the press. Even before taking office for his first term, he began dismissing the mainstream media as ‘fake news,’ and soon after assuming office he tweeted that the ‘FAKE NEWS media’ is ‘the enemy of the American people’. . .”

Read the full article at:

https://www.vox.com/today-explained-podcast/421116/trump-sues-murdoch-wall-street-ournal