Some Media Destroying Democracy?


Article in Common Dreams by Thom Hartman, 1/15/25

Headlline: “Right-Wing Control of Media Has Crushed the Promise of US Democracy”

Subhead:  “If progressives want to slow this speeding train heading toward single-party rule of America, they must get with the program and begin to support existing and build out new and powerful policy think tanks and media operations.”

“Republicans are using their massive structural media and social media advantage to try to destroy Gavin Newsom, Karen Bass, and the California Democratic Party.

It follows an old script, that’s recently been played out in Russia and Hungary, among other nations: Want to seize control of a nation and turn it into a neofascist state with the consent of the people? Just take control of the channels of public information and news, and then turn lies about your opponents and their supporters into a perceived reality. ”

https://www.commondreams.org/opinion/right-wing-control-of-media

Cartoon Kowtowing

Article in Columbia Journalism Review by Jon Alsop, 10/10/25

Headline:  “Moderating Content”

Subhead:  “What the genuflection of billionaires means for the press.”

“Before Christmas, Ann Telnaes, an editorial cartoonist at the Washington Post, submitted a drawing that depicted four billionaire media and tech executives and one mouse genuflecting before Donald Trump, shown standing on a garlanded dais. The cartoon, Telnaes wrote last weekend, was inspired by recent reports of “men with lucrative government contracts and an interest in eliminating regulations making their way to Mar-a-Lago” to visit Trump in the wake of his election win in November.

“. . .Meta is not the news media, but its latest policy change will clearly have ramifications for our industry. (For starters, many newsroom fact-checking initiatives have received financial support from Meta, the withdrawal of which is unlikely to be good for their free speech. . .”

https://www.cjr.org/the_media_today/bezos_zuckerberg_altman_soon-shiong_billionaires_media_telnaes.php

Snake Oil in the Media


Article in Raw Story by Carl Gibson, 1/4/25

Headline: ” ‘Failing to tell the central story’: Reporter reveals what media misses in Trump coverage”

“n a recent post to his blog, veteran journalist Dan Froomkin argued that mainstream media outlets’ coverage of President-elect Donald Trump has been dismal in its grasp of who Trump is on a fundamental level. He then relayed advice from another experienced reporter on how journalists can more accurately cover the incoming administration over the next four years.

“On his website Press Watch, Froomkin argued that Trump should be viewed not merely as a politician, but as a ‘proverbial snake-oil salesman.” He opined that media outlets that failed to ‘situate Trump’s words and actions in the context of an ongoing con” were engaging in ‘deception’ by ‘failing to tell the central story.’ Froomkin cited Pulitzer Prize winner David Cay Johnston, who referred to the 45th and 47th president of the United States as ‘the greatest con artist in the history of the world.’ ”

https://www.rawstory.com/trump-media-coverage/

Advertisers, the New Editors

Article in Slashdot by Editor David, 1/4/25

Headline:  “Advertisers Expand Their Avoidance to News Sites, Blacklisting Specific Words”

” ‘The Washington Post’s crossword puzzle was recently deemed too offensive for advertisers,’ reports the Wall Street Journal. ‘So was an article about thunderstorms. And a ranking of boxed brownie mixes.’

” ‘Marketers have long been wary about running ads in the news media, concerned that their brands will land next to pieces about terrorism or plane crashes or polarizing political stories.’ But That advertising no-go zone seems to keep widening.

“It is a headache that news publishers can hardly afford. Many are also grappling with subscriber declines and losses in traffic from Google and other tech platforms, and are now making an aggressive push to change advertisers’ perceptions… News organizations recently began publicizing studies that show it really isn’t dangerous for a brand to appear near a sensitive story. . . ”

https://news.slashdot.org/story/25/01/04/0613258/advertisers-expand-their-avoidance-to-news-sites-blacklisting-specific-words

Progressive Media Focus


Article in Common Dreams by Phil Wilson, 1/2/25

Headline:  “Why Don’t Lefty Media Emphasize Capitalism’s Greatest Crime—the Climate Crisis?”

Subhead:  “The cause and effect linking industry to extinction ought to be the greatest horror story ever told. Our hands should be sweating as we shakily turn the pages.”

“If climate overheating is the biggest threat to life on Earth, one might expect that progressive platforms would be all over this issue. Of all the great crimes of capitalism—war, imperial conquest, siphoning pocket change from workers into bloated coffers of corporate wealth, shaking down ordinary people for a false promise of healthcare, buying up housing with private equity to spike rents, etc.—the baking of the biosphere stands out as an act of unprecedented, monstrous proportions.”

https://www.commondreams.org/opinion/lefty-media-climate-crisis

Race and Media

University of Houston

Article in The Guardian by Gloria Oladipo 12/21/24

Headline:  “Media’s empathetic coverage of Luigi Mangione reveals an obsession with humanizing white male suspects”

Subhead:  “Interest in the United Healthcare CEO shooting suspect’s background underscores research that the media covers white and Black perpetrators differently”

“Luigi Mangione, the 26-year-old who allegedly shot and killed the United Healthcare CEO Brian Thompson, has received an avalanche of media attention as people attempt to understand what may have driven him to commit such a violent crime.”

“. . .Multiple studies have shown that white male perpetrators of gun violence, especially ones in high profile incidents such as mass shootings, are often depicted more compassionately by news outlets. According to one study, publications routinely speculate about white perpetrators’ mental health as a possible explanation for their actions, painting a complex picture of their motivations, whereas suspects of color are reduced to racial stereotypes.”

https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2024/dec/21/luigi-mangione-racism-media

Musk Talks Media Puppets

From TX Rep. Jasmine Crockett

Article in Mediaite by Zachary Leeman, 12/20/24

Headline:  “Elon Musk Blasts ‘Legacy Media Puppets’ Trying To Tear Him and Trump Apart with ‘President Elon’ Talking Points”

Elon Musk accused “legacy media puppets” of trying to drive a “wedge” between him and President-elect Donald Trump as critics question the pair’s power dynamic amid budget chaos on Capitol Hill.

A number of Democrats have taken to questioning whether Musk is truly in charge after led the charge to oppose an initial spending bill supported by House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA) that would have avoided a government shutdown. A second bill, supported by Musk and Trump, later failed to pass through the House, leaving lawmakers scrambling at the 11th hour.

Musk’s Friday message was in response to an X user highlighting a post from Rep. Pramila Jayapal (D-WA) in which she claimed Musk was more in charge of Republicans than Trump, calling him the “shadow president.”

https://www.mediaite.com/news/elon-musk-blasts-legacy-media-puppets-trying-to-tear-him-and-trump-apart-with-president-elon-talking-points/

Columnist Bows, Corrects View


Article in Raw Story by Erik De La Garze, 12/18/24

Headline: ” ‘Incredibly craven’: Social media slams NYT columnist’s reversal on ‘Never Trump’ “

“Social media users came out swinging against a conservative New York Times columnist who this week declared he was ‘done with never Trump,’ and suggested the movement defeated itself.

“The online backlash came in response to a Tuesday opinion piece by Bret Stephens, who said he believes Trump’s second term could be ‘as bad as his most fervent critics fear,’ but still urged readers to send warm wishes to the new administration and give his cabinet selections ‘the benefit of the doubt.’

“ ‘It is incredibly craven to pretend to take a principled stand against Trump only to rescind it when it becomes clear that Trump isn’t actually going away and there is nothing to be personally gained from the ostentatious display of ‘principle,’ University of Texas at Austin professor Mike Boyla-Kolchin wrote on Bluesky.”

https://www.rawstory.com/trump-2670492806/

Relax, Nothing to Report Here

Article in The Guardian by Dani Anguiano, 12/18/24

Headline:  LA Times owner asks editorial board to ‘take a break’ from writing about Trump – report”

Subhead:  “Billionaire Patrick Soon-Shiong, who said paper is ‘echo chamber’, also blocked paper’s board from endorsing Harris”

“Patrick Soon-Shiong, the owner of the Los Angeles Times, reportedly asked the newspaper’s editorial board to “take a break” from writing about Donald Trump, in the latest report of the billionaire owner’s growing influence over the newspaper’s coverage.

“The newspaper and its owner were embroiled in controversy for weeks this fall after Soon-Shiong blocked the board from endorsing Kamala Harris for president. The decision led to a wave of resignations on the editorial board and the loss of thousands of subscriptions.”

https://www.theguardian.com/media/2024/dec/18/la-times-patrick-soon-shiong-trump

Lawyers Fight Any Bad News


Article in The Hill by Dominick Mastrangelo & Brett Samuels, 12/17/24

Headline:  “ABC News settlement with Trump sends chill through media”

“ABC News’s decision to settle a defamation lawsuit brought by President-elect Trump is sending a chill through the media, with press organizations suggesting it is a major blow.

“It should not be seen as normal for powerful elected officials to wage legal campaigns against members of the press and their employers,” Caroline Hendrie, executive director of the Society of Professional Journalists, told The Hill on Monday.”

https://thehill.com/media/5042894-abc-news-settlement-with-trump-sends-chill-through-media/

—————

Article in The Hill by Zach Schonfeld, 12/17/24

Headline:  “Trump sues Des Moines Register, pollster”

“President-elect Trump sued The Des Moines Register and pollster J. Ann Selzer on Monday over a poll released just before Election Day indicating Vice President Harris had a sizable lead in Iowa.

The poll found Harris leading Trump in Iowa by 3 percentage points days before Trump won the Hawkeye State by 14 percentage points as voters sent him back to the White House.

Trump’s lawsuit, filed in Iowa state court in Polk County, accuses the outlet and pollster of violating Iowa’s consumer fraud laws by engaging in deception.

https://thehill.com/regulation/court-battles/5043821-donald-trump-des-moines-register-ann-selzer-lawsuit/

—————

Article in FAIR by Ari Paul, 12/16/24

Headline: ABC Settles With Trump in a Case It Could Have Won”

ABC has agreed to pay $15 million to President-elect Donald Trump’s presidential library and $1 million toward Trump’s legal fees “to settle a defamation lawsuit over anchor George Stephanopoulos’ inaccurate on-air assertion that the president-elect had been found civilly liable for raping writer E. Jean Carroll” (AP, 12/14/24).”

https://fair.org/home/abc-settles-with-trump-in-a-case-it-could-have-won/