Corporate Media

ABC Fighting Back

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Article in Reuters by David Shepardson, 6/22/26

Headline: “ABC launches on-air campaign urging viewers to back network in Trump agency fights”

“. . .Disney-owned . . .ABC said ​on Monday it was launching an on-air campaign encouraging viewers to show support for the ‌network in its two ongoing battles with the U.S. government.

“The Republican-led Federal Communications Commission ordered ABC in April to file early license reviews for its eight company-owned television stations after President Donald Trump pressured the regulatory agency to take action. The FCC is also ​investigating ABC daytime talk show “The View” after declaring it is subject to federal equal time rules for ​political candida”

Read the full article at:

https://www.reuters.com/business/abc-launches-on-air-campaign-urging-views-back-network-trump-fights-2026-06-22/

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Article in The Guardian by Jeremy Barr, 6.22.26

Headline:  “ABC encourages viewers to back network amid FCC investigations”

Subhead:  “Network launches ad on The View, which is target of one of two FCC investigations currently seeking public comment”

Read the article at:

https://www.theguardian.com/media/2026/jun/22/abc-fcc-investigations

Will Foreign Investors Control US Media?

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Article in The Wrap by Lucas Manfredi, 6/19/265

Headline:  “Senators Urge FCC to Prevent Paramount-WB Merger From Closing During Pending Foreign Ownership Review”

Subhead:  “Foreign investors would control 49.5% of the combined company’s equit”

“Three Democratic Senators are urging FCC Chairman Brendan Carr to prevent the $110 billion Paramount-Warner Bros. Discovery merger from closing until its pending foreign ownership review can be completed.

Paramount has maintained that the “indirect foreign ownership of equity interests” in the combined company will be 49.5% and will not result in a transfer of control. However, it has asked the FCC to allow foreign investors “in the aggregate to indirectly hold up to 100 percent of its equity and/or voting interests in light of routine fluctuations in publicly held equity interests and to account for potential future investments.”

Read the full article at:

https://www.thewrap.com/industry-news/deals-ma/paramount-warner-bros-merger-fcc-foreign-ownership-review-letter/

When Media Giants Collide

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Article in Free Press by Staff 6/17/26

Headline:  “The Fight to Stop a Hollywood Mega-Merger Is Far from Over”

“The Justice Department approved the tie-up between Paramount Skydance and Warner Bros. Discovery, but states can still sue to block it.”

Read the full article at:

https://www.freepress.net/news/fight-stop-hollywood-mega-merger-far-over

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Article in Democracy Now! by Staff, 6/15/26

Headline:  “DOJ Approves Paramount-Warner Bros. Merger Amid Fears Trump Allies Will Tighten Grip on Media”

“The Trump administration has approved media conglomerate Paramount’s $111 billion bid to acquire Warner Bros., one year after Paramount and Skydance Media signed a similar merger that placed Paramount’s movie studio, streaming service and broadcast network CBS under the control of the multibillionaire Ellison family, founders of Skydance and close allies of Donald Trump. The Warner Bros. merger, if completed, would bring an even larger slice of the industry’s market share into Ellison control. . .”

Read the full article at:

https://www.democracynow.org/2026/6/15/paramount_warner_bros_merger_david_ellison

CNN Moving Closer to the Edge

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Article in Status by Oliver Darcy, 6/16/26

Headline:  “The CBS-CNN Courtship”

Subhead:  “Behind the scenes, Status has learned that top executives at CNN and CBS News have quietly convened for meetings as Paramount moves closer to acquiring Warner Bros. Discovery, uniting the two news operations.”

“A few weeks ago, as CBS News and   inched closer to a corporate marriage, top executives from the two news organizations and their parent companies convened for an introductory meeting. . .”

Read the full article at:

https://www.status.news/p/cbs-news-cnn-merger-bari-weiss-mark-thompson-paramount

Local Stations – Exploding Prices?

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Article in Media Matters by Zachary Pleat & Gideon Taaffe, 6/15/26

Headline:  “Sinclair’s national programs offer a Trump-friendly spin on his costly oil and gas prices, while local broadcasts show harm to Americans”

Subhead: “Local stations — including some owned by Sinclair — have been at the forefront of documenting American pain at the pump”

“Americans are feeling pain at the pump and elsewhere thanks to the ongoing surge in oil and fuel prices from President Donald Trump’s war on Iran, and local television news stations have been at the forefront of documenting that pain, with even some local stations owned by the right-wing Sinclair Broadcast Group airing such coverage. Sinclair’s national programming, however, has often applied a Trump-friendly spin while discussing high gas prices, downplaying the increases and suggesting they’ll be short-lived. . .”

Read the full article at:

https://www.mediamatters.org/fuel-files-rising-gasoline-oil-and-fertilizer-prices/sinclairs-national-programs-offer-trump

60 Minutes Losing its Glow?

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Article in Poynter by Tom Jones, 6/12/26

Headline:  “Opinion | Will we recognize the country’s most-watched news program after this overhaul?”

Subhead: ” ’60 Minutes’ is at a crossroads, and some wonder how — and if — the show will recover from recent changes”

“. . .This past season, the show had seven people introduce themselves: Anderson Cooper, Scott Pelley, Sharyn Alfonsi, Cecilia Vega, Lesley Stahl, Bill Whitaker and Jon Wertheim. All of them, superb journalists.

That number is now down to four. Cooper left the show on his own accord after the season, saying his schedule had become too busy and that he wanted to spend more time with his family. Vega and Alfonsi were fired by CBS News editor in chief Bari Weiss, who also fired the show’s executive producer, Tanya Simon, and replaced her with Nick Bilton, who has no real experience in TV news. . .”

Read the full article at

https://www.poynter.org/commentary/2026/will-60-minutes-be-recognizable-new-york-knicks-win/

Media and 2020 Election

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Article in AlterNet by D. Earl Stephens, 6/10/26

Headline:  “Opinion | Veteran reporter tells complicit media to ‘go to hell’ “

“As the smoke finally started to clear following Joe Biden’s victory in the 2020 election, and Donald Trump’s violent attack aimed at overthrowing our government just two months later, I wrote a piece castigating our disintegrating working press in the United States.

“The thrust of my write was this: If you were addressing ANY Republican about ANYTHING, your first question simply had to be, “Do you believe Donald Trump lost the 2020 election?. . .”

Read the full article at:

https://www.alternet.org/alternet-exclusives/complicit-media-trump/

Press Freedom Groups Warn

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Article in The Wrap by Josh Dickey, 6/2/26
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Headline:  “Next After ’60 Minutes’ Amid ‘Existential Threat’ of Paramount Merger”

Subhead: “The coalition of nine journalism advocacy groups calls the ’60 Minutes’ firings ‘a grotesque effort … to appease a sitting president’ “

“A group of nine press freedom advocacy groups on Tuesday warned that the impending Paramount merger with Warner Bros. represents an ‘existential threat to the free press, independent media and free speech,’ suggesting CNN will be the next to suffer the drastic firings and turmoil that ‘60 Minutes’ has been going through in recent days. . .”

Read the full article at:

https://www.thewrap.com/media-platforms/journalism/press-freedom-groups-paramount-merger-threat-cnn-60-minutes/

Mickey Media Standing Up!

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Article in Slate byLizzie O’Leary 6/2/26

Headline:  “Disney Finds Its Spine”

“In normal times, in a normal Federal Communications Commission, Anna M. Gomez’s job might be described as wonky. But now is not that time.

“A large part of my role is to call out this administration’s abuses of the First Amendment, particularly when it chooses to weaponize the FCC in trying to shut down any voices that it doesn’t like,” said Gomez. “And we see this constantly, there is a constant infringement on the free press and on the First Amendment and on the rights of viewers and listeners to see and hear what they want to see. . .”

Read the full article at:

https://slate.com/business/2026/06/fcc-disney-abc-renewal-lawsuit-brendan-carr.html

Media – Murder, She Wrote?

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Article in The Guardian by Jeremy Barr, 6/1/6

Headline: “60 Minutes correspondent Scott Pelley accuses Bari Weiss of ‘murdering’ show”

Subhead: “Pelley reportedly rebuked CBS ousting show’s executive producer, executive editor and two top correspondents”

“Scott Pelley, a veteran 60 Minutes correspondent, called out CBS News management in a heated meeting on Monday morning, attacking the network’s decision on Thursday to fire the show’s executive producer, executive editor, and two fellow correspondents, Sharyn Alfonsi and Cecilia Vega, as part of a broader overhaul of the show, sources tell the Guardian. . .”

Read the full article at:

https://www.theguardian.com/media/2026/jun/01/60-minutes-scott-pelley-cbs-bari-weiss-cuts

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Article in The Washington Post by Scott Nover & Liam Scott, 6/1/26

Headline: ” ‘It was cruel’: Scott Pelley confronts new ‘60 Minutes’ boss in fiery meeting”

Subhead: “The veteran correspondent demanded answers on fired staff and the new executive producer’s qualifications for the job.”

“In a Monday-morning meeting, veteran ’60 Minutes’ correspondent Scott Pelley ripped into his new boss, Nick Bilton.

“ ‘What qualifies you to be in this position?’ Pelley demanded. . .”

“It was a hostile greeting for Bilton during his first meeting with the full ’60 Minutes’ staff since the technology journalist was announced Thursday as the show’s new executive producer. . .”

Read the full article at:

https://www.washingtonpost.com/business/2026/06/01/scott-pelley-confronts-new-60-minutes-boss-nick-bilton-fiery-meeting/