Legal Info

Group Legal documents

Newspaper Breaking Out of the Cage?

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Article in Poynter by Tom Jones, 12/5/25

Headline:  “The New York Times draws a line on Pentagon press limits”

Headline:  “The Times sues the Pentagon, highlighting a pivotal moment for press freedom”

“The New York Times did something Thursday we haven’t seen enough of as President Donald Trump and his administration continue to strip away press freedoms.

“They took the fight to the administration.

“In a sign that they are sick and tired and aren’t going to take it anymore, the Times filed a lawsuit against the Pentagon, claiming that their First Amendment rights are being violated by the Pentagon’s new press restrictions. . .”

Read the full article at:

https://www.poynter.org/commentary/2025/new-york-times-sues-pentagon-npr-underage-women/

Documenting Frivolous Press Lawsuits

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Article in Columbia Journalism Review by Liam Scott, 12/4/25

Headline:  “The SLAPP Problem Is Worse Than We Thought”

Subhead:  “As Donald Trump tests the limits of anti-press litigation, a new initiative aims to document the wave of nuisance suits.”

Press freedom advocates and media lawyers in the United States have long warned about the rise of frivolous lawsuits intended to intimidate and silence journalists through expensive legal battles. But despite anecdotal evidence, the problem has remained amorphous. No one has been able to say just how bad it is because no one has closely tracked the filings, known as strategic lawsuits against public participation, or SLAPPs.

“A free speech group at New York University is trying to change that. . .”

Read the full article at:

https://www.cjr.org/analysis/slapp-lawsuit-problem-worse-trump-test-nuisance-limits-litigation.php

Courts & Media Intimidation?

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Article in Axios by Sara Fisher and Kerry Flynn, 11/25/25

Headline:  “Trump’s media lawsuits keep falling flat”

“Despite two very visible settlements with ABC and CBS in the past year, President Trump’s legal pressure on media companies has still faced ample pushback in court.

“Why it matters: Lawsuits, even if eventually dismissed are extremely costly and burdensome for news organizations to fight. . .”

Read the full article at:

https://www.axios.com/2025/11/25/trump-media-lawsuits-dismissed

Media Frivolity Cases?

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Article in Mediaite by Sarah Rumpf, 11/24/25

Headline: “Judge Throws Out Truth Social’s Defamation Lawsuit Against The Guardian“

“A Florida judge granted motions to dismiss to The Guardian and other defendants in a defamation lawsuit filed by Truth Social’s parent company, Truth Media & Technology Group Corp. (TMTG), the latest example of President Donald Trump’s legal actions against media companies not holding up in court.

The dispute arose from two articles published by the UK-based Guardian in March 2023 ‘reporting on a federal criminal investigation related to TMTGs receipt of two payments totaling $8 million,’ . . .”

Read the full article at:

https://www.mediaite.com/lawcrime/judge-throws-out-truth-socials-defamation-lawsuit-against-the-guardian/

More Media Judgements?

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Article in Mediaite by Sean James, 11/19/25

Headline:  ” ‘They Will Win!’ Dan Abrams Urges Media Orgs To Fight Trump on ‘Meritless’ Lawsuits After CNN’s Court Victory”

“Dan Abrams urged media companies on Wednesday to punch back against President Donald Trump whenever he files a “ridiculous” lawsuit against them, because, as CNN just showed in court, “they will win!”

Abrams made his plea to outlets one day after a U.S. appeals court upheld the dismissal of a Trump lawsuit against CNN. The president sued the cable channel in 2022 for $475 million after several of its reporters referred to his claims that the 2020 presidential election was rigged as ‘The Big Lie.’. . .”

Read the full article at:

https://www.mediaite.com/politics/they-will-win-dan-abrams-urges-media-orgs-to-fight-trump-on-meritless-lawsuits-after-cnns-court-victory/

One Company – One Media?

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Article in Freepress by Staff, 11/19/25

Headline:  “Proposed Nexstar-Tegna Merger Is Blatant Violation of the Law Prohibiting One Company from Too Much Control of Local Airwaves”

Subhead:  “The $6.2 billion deal would also violate the FCC’s few remaining local-ownership limits in nearly 30 markets. In some, it would leave Nexstar in control of three of the top-four-ranked stations.”

“On Tuesday, Nexstar Media Group announced that it had filed an application with the Federal Communications Commission seeking agency approval to acquire Tegna, Inc.’s broadcast licenses in a proposed $6.2 billion deal first reported in August. . .”

If approved, the deal would combine the nation’s largest television-station conglomerate with its fourth largest. . .”

Read the full article at:

https://www.freepress.net/news/proposed-nexstar-tegna-merger-blatant-violation-law-prohibiting-one-company-too-much-control

Broadcasting Blow-Up

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Article in Columbia Journalism Review by Joel Simon, 11/13/25

Headline:  “How Donald Trump Blew Up the BBC“

Subhead:  “The president set out to undermine public broadcasters in the US. Now, with help from British allies, he’s taking his strategy global.”

“Last week, I wrote about the BBC’s big ambitions for the US market and its confidence that a just-the-facts approach, combined with a global sensibility, would give it a competitive edge in Trump’s America. . .’

“The same day my column ran, The Telegraph published a story that seemed to utterly upend those plans. Based on a leaked internal memo, it alleged that a documentary aired just before the 2024 US presidential election on the BBC program Panorama had ‘doctored’ a Donald Trump speech by making him appear to encourage the Capitol Hill riot” of January 6, 2021. . .”

Read the full article at:

https://www.cjr.org/analysis/how-donald-trump-blew-up-bbc-us-market-telegraph-panorama-jan-6.php

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Article in the New Republic by Malcolm Ferguson, 11/13/25

Headline: “BBC Apologizes to Trump but Refuses to Pay Up Like He Demanded”

Subhead:  “The BBC is warning Donald Trump that he doesn’t have a real defamation case.”

“The British Broadcasting Corporation has apologized to President Donald Trump for editing his speech on an episode of Panorama, but will not fork over the $1 billion he threatened to sue for. . .”

Read the full article at:

https://newrepublic.com/post/203183/bbc-apologizes-trump-refuses-pay-defamation

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Article in Daily Kos by Alix Breeden, 11/11/25

Headline:  “Trump’s war on the media goes global”

“President Donald Trump is trying to take his war on the media across the pond, but the United Kingdom isn’t having it.

“Trump’s attorney threatened a $1 billion lawsuit on the British Broadcasting Corporation Tuesday over a doctored clip of Trump speaking to his beloved Jan. 6 insurrectionists.

Read the full article at:

https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2025/11/11/2353343/-Trump-s-war-on-the-media-goes-global?pm_campaign=front_page&pm_source=top_news_slot_4&pm_medium=web

Bag of Cash? – Nothing Wrong Here

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Article in The New Republic by Malcolm Ferguson, 10/14/25

Headline:  “Trump Lashes Out at ABC Reporter After Disastrous Vance Interview”

Subhead:  “Donald Trump refused to take a question from an ABC reporter in his meeting with Argentine President Javier Milei.”

“President Trump refused to answer a question from an ABC reporter at his sitdown with Argentine President Javier Milei on Tuesday, citing host George Stephanopoulos’s embarrassment of Vice President JD Vance on Sunday. . .”

“Stephanopoulos didn’t “do” anything to Vance—he simply called him out on his B.S. regarding the $50,000 cash bribe the FBI caught current White House border czar Tom Homan accepting in a sting operation in 2024. Vance and the Trump administration continue to state that Homan committed no crime while being unable to say where the $50,000 went. . .”

Read the full article at:

https://newrepublic.com/post/201760/trump-refuses-answer-abc-reporter-jd-vance-interview

NPR vs. CPB

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Article in The Washington Post by Scott Nover, 9/27/25

Headline:  “NPR challenges CPB’s authority to redirect millions in funding”

Subhead:  “The public radio network asked a federal judge to block the Corporation for Public Broadcasting from transferring $57.9 million to a new nonprofit.”

“NPR has asked a federal judge in D.C. to block the Corporation for Public Broadcasting from transferring millions in satellite funding to a newly formed nonprofit run by a coalition of public media organizations.

“The legal filing Friday came just hours after CPB announced it was awarding as much as $57.9 million over five years to Public Media Infrastructure (PMI), the nonprofit group that counts such radio mainstays as New York Public Radio, American Public Media and PRX as founding partners. . .”

“NPR argued in its court filing that CPB, which is set to wind down operations starting with mass cuts in the coming days, has carried out an executive order that it considers illegal by doling out congressionally appropriated satellite funds to another group. . . ”

Read the full article at:

https://www.washingtonpost.com/business/2025/09/27/npr-cpb-funding/

Court Defends Reporting

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Article in Free Press by Staff, 9/26/25

Headline:  “A Big Win for the First Amendment in Retaliatory Case Filed Against Journalist Timothy Burke”

“On Friday, Judge Kathryn Kimball Mizelle of the U.S. District Court for the Middle District of Florida dismissed seven of the 14 charges filed in the federal criminal prosecution against reporter Timothy Burke. . .”

“Prosecutors are seeking to convict reporter Burke for publishing unaired footage from the former Fox News talk show Tucker Carlson Tonight. Prosecutors are using the Wiretap Act, which prohibits ‘intercepting’ ‘electronic communications,’ in an attempt to convict Burke for finding and publicizing footage of, among other things, an antisemitic rant by Ye — formerly known as Kanye West — during a taping of Tucker Carlson’s since-cancelled Fox News show. . .”

Read the full article at:

https://www.freepress.net/news/big-win-first-amendment-retaliatory-case-filed-against-journalist-timothy-burke