Censorship

Journalistic Values Kaput?

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Article in The New Republic by Jeffrey Sonnenfeld, Steven Tian, Stephen Henriques, 7/28/25

Headline: “The “Tiffany Network” Shatters as Paramount-CBS Sells Its Soul Cheap”

Subhead: “The new, post-merger head of CBS donated to Biden—but apparently wants to make Bari Weiss a network star. How worried should we be?”

“The sellout of the Columbia Broadcasting System’s journalistic values to commercial interests was foreshadowed in 1976, in Sidney Lumet and Paddy Chayefsky’s dark comedy satire Network; in James Brooks’s 1987 romantic comedy Broadcast News; and in Michael Mann and Eric Roth’s 1999 drama The Insider, explicitly calling out the revered CBS. However, it was insider Shari Redstone who completed the dreaded desecration last week.

“Surely the capitulation to President Trump by Redstone, controlling owner of Paramount-CBS, to secure Federal Communications Commission clearance to sell her dwindling media empire to David Ellison of Skydance and Redbird Capital was a moment of tragic irony. . .”

Read the full article at:

https://newrepublic.com/article/198492/paramount-cbs-sells-soul-trump-cheap

Goal: Bankrupt Opposition Media?

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Article in the New York Times by Kenneth Vogel, Kate Conger, Ryan Mac; 7/25/25

Headline:  “Under Siege From Trump and Musk, a Top Liberal Group Falls Into Crisis”

Subhead:  “Scrambling to pay legal fees, Media Matters has dialed back its criticism, trimmed its staff and contemplated closing entirely.”

“Media Matters, a nonprofit group that has played a key role in liberal politics, is struggling to withstand months of legal assaults by President Trump’s allies, offering a glimpse of what might be in store for even well-funded targets of his retribution campaigns.

“The organization, which is funded by some of the Democratic Party’s biggest donors, has racked up about $15 million in legal fees over the past 20 months to defend itself against lawsuits by Elon Musk, in addition to investigations by Mr. Trump’s Federal Trade Commission and Republican state attorneys general. . .”Read the full article at:

https://www.nytimes.com/2025/07/25/us/politics/media-matters-musk-crisis.html

FCC Slides Major Deal Through

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Article in the New York Times by Benjamin Mullin, 7/24/25

Headline:  “F.C.C. Approves Skydance’s $8 Billion Merger With Paramount”

Subhead:  “The deal, which came under intense scrutiny by the Trump administration, was hailed by the F.C.C. chief, who welcomed “significant changes” at CBS, a unit of Paramount.”

“The Federal Communications Commission said Thursday that it would allow Paramount to merge with the Hollywood studio Skydance, clearing the way for one of the most highly scrutinized media deals in the last decade.

“Brendan Carr, the chairman of the F.C.C., said in a statement that the agency had approved the deal after receiving assurances from Skydance that the new company would be committed to unbiased journalism and would not establish programs related to diversity, equity and inclusion. . .”

Read the full article at:

https://www.nytimes.com/2025/07/24/business/media/fcc-skydance-merger-paramount.html

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Article in The Washington Post by Jeremy Barr, 7/24/25

Headline: “FCC approves $8 billion Paramount-Skydance merger after lengthy review”

Subhead:  “The commission voted 2-1 in favor of the transaction amid accusations of political pressure on Paramount and Skydance, with Biden-appointed Commissioner Anna M. Gomez in opposition.”

“. . .Gomez, who has expressed concern that the administration was unduly pressuring Skydance and Paramount to make concessions to secure approval of the merger, blasted the outcome in a statement. ‘After months of cowardly capitulation to this administration, Paramount finally got what it wanted,’ she said. ‘Unfortunately, it is the American public who will ultimately pay the price for its actions.’ . . .”

Read the full article at:

https://www.washingtonpost.com/business/2025/07/24/fcc-approves-8-billion-paramount-skydance-merger-after-lengthy-review/

Media Deal or Bribe?

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Article in Democracy Now by Jeff Cohen, 7/23/25

Headline: “Big Fat Bribe: Stephen Colbert’s Show Canceled After He Slams Trump & Paramount/Skydance Merger”

The top-ranked show on late-night television, CBS’s The Late Show with Stephen Colbert, has been canceled, just days after Colbert skewered Paramount, the parent company of CBS, for settling a lawsuit brought by President Donald Trump. The lawsuit accused another CBS show, 60 Minutes, of biased editing in an interview with Kamala Harris during the 2024 election. Its settlement comes as Paramount works to finalize a lucrative merger with Skydance Media that must be approved by the Federal Communications Commission. On his show, Colbert called the settlement ‘a big fat bribe.’

“So many media conglomerates had already given thinly disguised bribes to Trump to settle lawsuits they could not possibly lose in court,” explains Jeff Cohen, co-founder of the online action group RootsAction and the media watch group FAIR, Fairness & Accuracy in Reporting. Cohen says he suspects Paramount agreed to cancel Colbert’s show — and will likely remove other programming critical of Trump — as part of a deal with the administration to win favorable conditions for its merger. . . It’s profit maximization. . .”

Read the full article at:

https://www.democracynow.org/2025/7/23/stephen_colbert

Probing Questions? Hang Up!

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Article in AlterNet by Carl Gibson, 7/22/25

Headline:  “ ‘Got to be kidding’: Trump abruptly hangs up on CNN when asked about new Epstein photos”

“Previously unseen photos of President Donald Trump and convicted pedophile Jeffrey Epstein were released by CNN on Tuesday night, and he has yet to answer the network’s questions about them. . . ”

“According to CNN reporters Andrew Kaczynski and Em Steck, the president put a quick end to a phone call the moment he was asked about the photos of him and Epstein at Trump’s wedding to Marla Maples in 1993 at New York’s Plaza Hotel. The network also published footage of Trump and Epstein smiling and laughing with each other during a 1999 Victoria’s Secret fashion show. The new photos and video took place several years before Epstein’s first conviction.

“In a brief call with CNN on Tuesday, President Trump, asked about the wedding photos, responded, ‘You’ve got to be kidding me,’ before repeatedly calling CNN ‘fake news’ and hanging up,” Kaczynski and Steck wrote. . .”

Read the full article at:

https://www.alternet.org/trump-epstein-photos-2673663251/

Radio Lifeline Disappearing

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Article in The Washington Post by Staff, 7/22/25

Headline:  “Congress cut public media funding. Now what?

Subhead:  “What one rural community in Alaska could be losing now that Congress has defunded public media. And why this became a priority for President Donald Trump.”

“KYUK is the oldest Native American-owned radio station in the country. It broadcasts morning newscasts in both English and Yup’ik, the local Indigenous language, to 56 remote communities in Southwest Alaska. When there’s a weather emergency or even just a local basketball game, these communities turn to KYUK for information. But soon, that could all change.

“Late last week, Congress passed a rescissions bill that claws back the money set aside for public broadcasting for the next two years. For KYUK, this money represents close to 70 percent of its entire budget. Without it, the station could go dark. . . .”

Read the full article at:

https://www.washingtonpost.com/podcasts/post-reports/congress-cut-public-media-funding-now-what/

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Article in The Guardian by Edward Helmore, 7/22/25

Headline:  “NPR’s editor-in-chief to step down days after Congress cuts $1.1bn in funding”

Subhead:  “Edith Chapin’s announcement comes after Congress approves Trump bill to cancel all federal funding for public broadcasters”

“The editor-in-chief of the US public radio network NPR has told colleagues that she is stepping down later this year.

“Edith Chapin’s announcement comes just days after federal lawmakers voted in support of Donald Trump’s plan to claw back $1.1bn from the Corporation for Public Broadcasting, the umbrella organization that funds both NPR and the non-commercial TV network PBS. . .”

Read the full article at:

https://www.theguardian.com/media/2025/jul/22/npr-editor-in-chief-to-step-down

Jack-booting the Press

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Article in The Atlantic by Paul Farhi, 7/21/25

Headline: “Trump’s Campaign to Crush the Media”

Subhead: “The president has launched a frontal assault on the journalism business. So far, he’s winning.”

“President Donald Trump’s latest assault on the news media came in the form of another lawsuit last week. After The Wall Street Journal reported that Trump had allegedly written a birthday note, complete with ‘bawdy’ doodling, to the convicted sex trafficker Jeffrey Epstein in 2003, Trump boiled over with indignation. He denied writing the note and filed a libel suit the next day, demanding $10 billion in damages from the Journal, its parent company, and its principal owner, Rupert Murdoch, a sometime Trump ally.

“Although Trump faces considerable legal obstacles to win in court, betting against him would be unwise. In his first six months in office, he has been on a winning streak in his campaign to punish and diminish the press. His dispute with the Journal, after all, hijacked the news cycle from another Trump “victory”: eliminating federal support for public broadcasting. Early Friday morning, Congress voted to cancel $1.1 billion in subsidies for NPR, PBS, and their affiliated stations, marking the first time Congress has cut off public broadcasters since its funding began nearly 60 years ago. . .”

Read the full article at:

https://www.theatlantic.com/ideas/archive/2025/07/donald-trump-campaign-media/683600/

How to Control: Ban Access

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Article in the New York Times by Katie Robertson, 7/21/25

Headline: “White House Bans Wall Street Journal From Press Pool on Trump’s Scotland Trip”

Subhead: “The president sued the publication last week, accusing it of defamation for an article about his ties to the disgraced former financier Jeffrey Epstein.”

“The White House said on Monday that it had barred Wall Street Journal reporters from the traveling press pool for President Trump’s coming trip to Scotland, attacking the publication again for its reporting on ties between the president and the convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein.

“On Thursday, The Journal published an article saying that Mr. Trump had sent Mr. Epstein a lewd birthday note in 2003. It included a drawing of a nude woman, The Journal reported, and ended with Mr. Trump writing, “Happy Birthday — and may every day be another wonderful secret. . .”

Read the full article at:

https://www.nytimes.com/2025/07/21/business/media/trump-scotland-wsj-press-pool.html

Goodbye to Some Media

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Public media is NOT state-controlled media

Article in Columbia Journalism Review by Andrew Mercein, 7/18/25

Headline:  “Inside the Radio Stations Devastated by Public Funding Cuts”

Subhead:  “ ‘If we have to make cuts, there’s no easy choice,’ one station manager said.”

“At noon on Friday, just hours after Congress revoked more than 1.1 billion dollars in funding for the Corporation for Public Broadcasting, more than a hundred and fifty member stations joined a closed-door Zoom call with NPR leadership. The federal funding they had spent months trying to save was gone. What remained was a shared sense of loss, exhaustion, and the daunting task of reevaluating their mission and programming.

“In an emotional hour-long call, station leaders grappled with fallback plans and infrastructure gaps. Some large stations offered to share resources with smaller ones. Others voiced gratitude for NPR’s efforts in Washington. But no one believed the damage could be undone quickly—if at all. ‘It was, in some ways, a postmortem,’ said one person who listened to the call. . .”

Read the full article at:

https://www.cjr.org/news/public-radio-stations-funding-cuts-rescission.php

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Article in Poynter by Tom Jones, 7/18/25

Headline:  “Opinion | Defunding NPR and PBS passed the Senate — and it’s a direct hit to rural America”

“As feared, President Donald Trump, with the help of Congress, is making good on his threat to cut federal funding for NPR, PBS and other public broadcasting.

‘It’s a dark day for journalism, the free press and, perhaps most importantly, everyday Americans who are going to feel the effects of what happened Thursday. . .”

Read the full article at:

https://www.poynter.org/commentary/2025/defunding-npr-and-pbs-passed-the-senate/

Fallout from Paramount / CBS

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Article in The Guardian by Cecelia Nowell, 7/18/25

Headline:   “Democrats condemn CBS for axing Colbert show: ‘People deserve to know if this is politically motivated’ “

Subhead:   “Lawmakers note cancellation follows Colbert’s criticism of parent company Paramount for settling Trump suit”

“Democrats are condemning CBS for its recent decision to cancel The Late Show with Stephen Colbert, noting the news comes just a few days after its host criticized the network’s parent company, Paramount, for settling a $16m lawsuit with Donald Trump. . .”

“In early July, Paramount settled a ‘frivolous’ lawsuit with Trump over the president’s claim that CBS News deceptively edited an interview with then presidential candidate Kamala Harris. Paramount is also seeking approval from the US Federal Communications Commission for an $8.4bn merger with Skydance Media. . .”

Read the full article at:

https://www.theguardian.com/tv-and-radio/2025/jul/18/democrats-cbs-colbert-show

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Article in NBC News by Tim Stelloh and Steve Kopack, 7/17/25

Headline: “Stephen Colbert’s ‘Late Show‘ run will come to an end next year as CBS cancels franchise”

Subhead: ” ‘The decision “is not related in any way to the show’s performance, content or other matters happening at Paramount,’ the network said.”

“The Late Show with Stephen Colbert” will broadcast its final show in May, CBS said Thursday.

“The network, which has aired ‘The Late Show’ with Colbert as its host since 2015, said it is ending the franchise after a ‘historic run.’

” ‘We consider Stephen Colbert irreplaceable and will retire ‘”THE LATE SHOW” franchise at that time,’ CBS executives said in a joint statement. “We are proud that Stephen called CBS home. He and the broadcast will be remembered in the pantheon of greats that graced late night television.

” ‘This is purely a financial decision against a challenging backdrop in late night’. . .”

Read the full article at:

https://www.nbcnews.com/pop-culture/tv/stephen-colbert-late-show-end-cbs-rcna219499?utm_source=firefox-newtab-en-us