Corporate Media

A Threat to Some Media?

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Article in FAIR by Jim Naurekas, 2/19/26

Headline:   “Why Corporate Media Needed to Misrepresent Jesse Jackson”

“If there’s one person onto whom establishment media have projected their anxieties about race, class and democracy, it’s the Rev. Jesse Jackson, who died this week at the age of 84.

“The civil rights icon, a protege of Martin Luther King and a brilliant community organizer, made history with his groundbreaking runs for the presidency in 1984 and 1988 (Extra!, 3–4/88). He put together what he aptly called a Rainbow Coalition. . .”

“Advocating for these constituencies with an unabashedly left agenda—a brave move in Reaganite America—Jackson did well in both of his races for the Democratic nomination. . .”

“And that kind of politics terrified an elite that thrives on keeping the 99 Percent divided and conquered. ‘Jesse Jackson scares the bejesus out of me,’ then–New York Times publisher Arthur ‘Punch’ Sulzberger Sr. confided to FAIR’s Jeff Cohen in a private meeting in 1990 (Extra!, 3–4/90).

“And this fear was palpable in corporate media coverage, from the right to what passed as the centrist ‘left,’ from 1984 well into the 21st century. . .”

Read the full article at:

https://fair.org/home/why-corporate-media-needed-to-misrepresent-jesse-jackson/

CBS Loses Training Wheels?

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Article in Poynter by Tom Jones, 2/19/26

Headline:  “Opinion | CBS keeps finding new ways to have a bad week”

Subhead:  “Anderson Cooper’s exit from ‘60 Minutes’ and Stephen Colbert’s clash with the network add to months of ugly news for CBS“

“It has been another awkward and miserable week at CBS.

“The network has been in the news a lot. And not in a positive way.

“First, CBS News lost one of the most respected journalists in the business when Anderson Cooper announced he was stepping away from the venerable ’60 Minutes’ after nearly two decades. . .”

“Then came the whole Stephen Colbert drama. . .”

Read the full article at:

https://www.poynter.org/commentary/2026/cbs-news-anderson-cooper-stephen-colbert/

Covering War Buildup or Not?

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Article in Common Dreams by Stephen Prager, 2/18/26

Headline:  “As Trump Marches US Toward Iran War, Critics Ask: Where’s the ‘Pushback’ From Dems and Media?”

Subhead:  “It’s astonishing that we’re building up for a significant military clash, and Congress isn’t involved, no real case is being made to the public, and the average American has no clue.”

“Amid reports that President Donald Trump is pushing the US toward a “massive” war in Iran, critics have found themselves shocked by the lack of ‘pushback’ from top Democrats and mainstream media institutions.

“Barak Ravid reported for Axios on Wednesday that, with a deal between the US and Iran appearing increasingly out of sight, “the Trump administration is closer to a major war in the Middle East than most Americans realize’ and ‘It could begin very soon.’. . .”

Read the full article at:

https://www.commondreams.org/news/trump-iran-war-pushback

CBS Censored Interview for FCC?

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Article in The Hill by Sophie Brams, 2/18/26

Headline:  “Colbert dismisses CBS statement on Talarico interview: ‘I’m just so surprised’ “

” ‘Late Show’ host Stephen Colbert on Tuesday dismissed CBS’s denial that it blocked his interview with Democratic Texas Senate candidate James Talarico from airing as ‘crap.’

“ ‘They know damn well that every word of my script last night was approved by CBS lawyers, who, for the record, approve every script that goes on the air,’ Colbert said during his show Tuesday evening.

“ ‘In fact, between the monologue I did last night, and before I did the second act talking about this issue, I had to go backstage,’ he continued. ‘I got called backstage to get more notes from these lawyers. Something that had never, ever happened before.’

Colbert told viewers on Monday that CBS, which is owned by Paramount, said he could not have Talarico on the broadcast over concerns about the Federal Communications Commission’s (FCC) ‘equal time’ rule. . .”

Read the full article at:

https://thehill.com/homenews/media/5743078-colbert-cbs-talarico-interview/

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Article in The Guardian by Jeremy Barr, 2/18/26

Headline:  “FCC chair Brendan Carr says media were ‘lied to’ over Stephen Colbert controversy”

Subhead: “Carr says the Federal Communications Commission has also opened an enforcement action into ABC’s the View“

“The chair of the US’s top media regulator claimed on Wednesday that journalists had been tricked into covering claims by the late-night host Stephen Colbert that he had been blocked by his network from interviewing a Texas Senate candidate. . .”

Read the full article at:

https://www.theguardian.com/tv-and-radio/2026/feb/18/fcc-brendan-carr-stephen-colbert

Grim Reaper for WaPo?

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Article in Poynter by Tom Jones, 2/18/26

Headline:  “Opinion | Will The Washington Post exist in five years? A veteran insider weighs in.”

Subhead:  “Former Post media reporter Paul Farhi joined ‘The Poynter Report Podcast’ to explain how the newsroom reached this moment and what may come next”

“It’s still hard to believe what happened at The Washington Post.

“In just one day earlier this month, owner Jeff Bezos and then-publisher and CEO Will Lewis took a sledgehammer to one of the most respected and legendary news outlets in history by laying off more than 300 journalists, accounting for, according to some reports, more than 40% of the staff. . .”

Read the full article at:

https://www.poynter.org/commentary/2026/future-washington-post-for-sale-closed-down/

Manipulating the News?

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Article in The Guardian by JAne Martinson, 2/14/26

Headline:  “Learn this from Bezos and the Washington Post: with hyper-capitalists in charge, your news is not safe”

Subhead:  “His shameful stewardship of a once great title highlights how much we lose when private interest eclipses the public good”

“. . .Job cuts in an industry that has struggled financially since the internet came into existence and killed its business model is hardly new, but last week’s brutal cull of hundreds of journalists at the Bezos-owned Washington Post marks a new low. . .”

“Why it happened is still baffling, at least for anyone not inside the head of one of the world’s richest men. Marty Baron, the Post’s former editor, highlighted the owner’s “sickening” efforts to curry favour with Donald Trump in a “case study in near-instant, self-inflicted brand destruction”. . .

Read the full article at:

https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2026/feb/14/jeff-bezos-washington-post-news-not-safe

Surprise! – Layoff 1/3 of News Staff is Traumatic?

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Article in The Guardian by Jeremy Barr, 2/11/26

Headline:  “Washington Post editor acknowledges ‘genuine trauma’ over mass layoffs”

Subhead:  “Matt Murray defends paper’s strategy as ‘demoralized’ staffers ask tough questions in contentious town hall”

“Top Washington Post editor Matt Murray acknowledged “a widespread sense of loss, of genuine trauma” in a contentious town hall meeting with staff on Wednesday after the company laid off nearly a third of its employees a week ago – though he expressed confidence that the Post was now on a path to success.

“There’s no doubt that just the sheer depth of the cuts – and also, with that, the reality of what we face at the Post – has been a very hard thing to wrap our heads around and to grapple with,” Murray said, according to a recording of his remarks obtained by the Guardian. . .”

Read the full article at:

https://www.theguardian.com/media/2026/feb/11/washington-post-layoffs-matt-murray

Media Napalm in the Morning?

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Article in FAIR by Gregory Shupak, 2/10/26

Headline:  “Leading Papers Call for Destroying Iran to Save It”

“The United States has no right to wage war on Iran, or to have a say who governs the country. The opinion pages of the New York Times and Washington Post, however, are offering facile humanitarian arguments for the US to escalate its attacks on Iran. These are based on the nonsensical assumption that the US wants to help brighten Iranians’ futures.

“In two editorials addressing the possibility of the US undertaking a bombing and shooting war on Iran, the Washington Post expressed no opposition to such policies and endorsed economic warfare as well. . .”

Read the full article at:

https://fair.org/home/leading-papers-call-for-destroying-iran-to-save-it/

WaPo = CBS Future?

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Article in Daily Kos by Lisa Neeham, 2/9/26

Headline: “Washington Post chief’s firing should terrify new regime at CBS News”

“Will Lewis is out at The Washington Post. Since he was a fancy ‘chief executive,’ his departure is being reported with the genteel framing of him ‘stepping down,’ even though it is very evident that Post owner Jeff Bezos sent Lewis packing.

“Ostensibly, Amazon billionaire Bezos felt that Lewis didn’t handle the complete decimation of the newspaper with enough gravitas and was instead partying in San Francisco at Super Bowl-related events. . .”

Read the full article at:

https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2026/2/9/2367949/-Washington-Post-chief-s-firing-should-terrify-new-regime-at-CBS-News

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Article in Poynter by Tom Jones, 2/9/26

Headline: “Opinion | The Washington Post just experienced a week that will live in infamy”

Subhead:  “The week’s upheaval ended with CEO Will Lewis stepping aside after being missing in action as the newsroom was cut”

“What a bizarre week at The Washington Post. Bizarre and puzzling and heartbreaking — not necessarily in that order.

It started last Wednesday with massive layoffs in what former editor Marty Baron called one of the “darkest days in the history of one of the world’s greatest news organizations.” Another former star reporter, Ashley Parker, called it a murder.

The week ended in startling fashion on Saturday when publisher and CEO Will Lewis abruptly resigned in a short (less than 100 words) note to staff. He said it was the “right time” to step away. . .:

Read the full article at:

https://www.poynter.org/commentary/2026/washington-post-layoffs-will-lewis-gone/

How Does Cable News Cover Racism?

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Article in Mediaite by Colby Hall 2/9/26

Headline:  “Trump Shares Racist Imagery. Cable News Reveals Its Priorities”

Subhead:  “The most revealing part of Trump sharing a video that depict the Obama as apes is not the post itself, but how uncertain the media is in how to cover it.”

“The most revealing part of President Donald Trump sharing a video that depicts Barack and Michelle Obama as apes is not the post itself. It is how clearly cable news has shown where it believes this kind of story belongs, and where it does not.

“That distribution of attention not only matters, but is truly revealing. . .”

“Programming that forces that audience into moral conflict with Trump cuts against the business model. Avoidance protects the product. . .”

Read the full article at:

https://www.mediaite.com/opinion/trump-shares-racist-imagery-cable-news-reveals-its-priorities/