Editorial Content

Mental Media Malpractice?

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Article in AlterNet by Adam Lynch, 10/9/25

Headline:  ” ‘The right is in deep trouble’: Expert says far-right media ‘promotes mental degeneration’ “

“UnHerd Editor Sohrab Ahmari tells the Washington Post that the ravings of the right-wing media’s pundit class have lately gotten even crazier.

“ ‘Much of right-wing media now resembles star-child radio: a vast chamber of oft-malignant fantasies, where even once-reasonable minds go to get euthanized,’ said Ahmari. ‘Each flick of the feed pulls up a paranoia-monger more wild-eyed than the previous, warning about the evil machinations of all-powerful … apparitions of their fever dreams’. . . .”

Read the full article at:

https://www.alternet.org/right-wing-media-mental/

Future of CBS News?

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Article in Democracy Now! by Amy Goodman, 10/9/25

Headline:  “Bari Weiss to Head CBS News as Pro-Trump, Pro-Israel Billionaire Ellison Family Expands Media Emire”

“We speak to journalist David Klion about the Trump-affiliated right wing’s increasing grip on mainstream news media, as “anti-woke” pundit Bari Weiss takes the helm as the new editor-in-chief of CBS News. The former New York Times opinion writer . . .in reality has a 20-year history of suppressing speech that she finds objectionable. . .”

Read the full article at:

https://www.democracynow.org/2025/10/8/bari_weiss_david_klion_cbs_paramount

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Article in Status by Oliver Darcy, 10/9/25

Headline: “The Weiss House”

“As Bari Weiss settles into CBS News, she’s moving fast – taking anchors to lunch, phoning potential hires, and plotting a new “Evening News” with names like Norah O’Donnell and Tony Dokoupil in the mix. . .”

Read the full article at:

https://www.status.news/p/bari-weiss-cbs-news-evening-news

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Article in The Guardian by Jeremy Barr, 10/7/25

Headline: “CBS News staffers react to Bari Weiss being named editor-in-chief: ‘It’s utterly depressing’ “

Subhead:  “Six network employees expressed a mix of emotions over the appointment in conversations with the Guardian”

“. . .In conversations with The Guardian, six current network employees who were not authorized to comment publicly expressed a mixture of apprehension, skepticism and frustration . . .”

Read the full article at:

https://www.theguardian.com/media/2025/oct/07/cbs-news-staffers-react-bari-weiss-appointment

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Article in The Verge by Elizabeth Lopatto, 10/7/25

Headline:  “Memo to Bari Weiss Re: CBS News: You’re doomed”

“. . .No one can save CBS News, because it was made for a media ecosystem that is now dead. Broadcast television is slowly circling the drain, its aging audience drifting toward the great inevitable. . .”

Read the full article at:

https://www.theverge.com/business/793525/bari-weiss-cbs-news-glass-cliff

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Article in Poynter by Tom Jones, 10/7/25

Headline:  “Opinion | What will Bari Weiss do as head of CBS News? Her past may offer clues.”

Subhead:  “Weiss promises courage and truth at CBS News. Her track record running The Free Press shows what that might look like.”

“. . .The acquisition puts one of the country’s most traditional news institutions — the former home of Edward R. Murrow and Walter Cronkite — under the editorial guidance of a journalist who rose to fame in part by critiquing old-line media. . .”

Read the full article at:

https://www.theverge.com/business/793525/bari-weiss-cbs-news-glass-cliff

In the Shredder?

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Article in Daily Beast by Janna Brancolini, 10/6/25

Headline:  “Murdoch Paper Shreds Trump’s ‘Self-Destructive’ Fiasco”

“Rupert Murdoch’s Wall Street Journal blasted President Donald Trump’s tariff policy as “self-destructive folly” in response to plans to bail out farmers whose markets the administration has destroyed.

“Trump is considering a $10 billion relief package for soybean farmers, who have seen their sales plummet, thanks to the president’s trade war with China, which has hit American soybeans with a 23-percent import tax. . .”

Read the full article at:

https://www.thedailybeast.com/rupert-murdoch-paper-shreds-donald-trumps-self-destructive-tariff-fiasco/

 

Shape of Things to Come?

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(Penguin Books)

Article in Columbia Journalism Review by Jem Bartholomew, 10/6/25

Headline:  “Unbelievable Stupidities”

Subhead:  “How the press can rise to the moment.”

“In April 1944, in one of his early Tribune columns, George Orwell described the feeling of coming across a newspaper from before the outbreak of World War II, which at the time had been raging for almost five years, and ‘marvelling at its almost unbelievable stupidity.’

“The stupidity that Orwell saw was a naive disregard—or in some cases a willful downplaying—of the danger signs of the coming global war. . .”

“. . .Ten years from now, or eighty years from now, what might future observers look back on as the media’s ‘unbelievable stupidities’? Will they think the press of today rose to the moment? . . .”

Read the full article at:

https://www.cjr.org/the_media_today/unbelievable-stupidities.php

Media Resistance?

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Article in The Guardian by Rachel Leingang, 10/5/25

Headline:   “How two blond suburban moms gave Democrats an answer to the rightwing media ecosystem”

“. . .Jennifer Welch and Angie ‘Pumps’ Sullivan have risen up the podcast charts, buoyed by Democrats looking to commiserate and find their party’s answer to the bro-filled atmosphere that helped propel Trump’s victory in 2024. . .”

“In early episodes, listeners wrote in to tell them to stay out of politics and use fewer swear words .  . .In turn, they started talking about politics more and more. They dropped the ‘dead weight’ of people who only came for entertainment, Welch said.

“ ‘And it turns out, when you believe in something and you defend it vigorously, some people are going to dislike you for your beliefs, and that’s fine, but the people who like you, that turns into love, and you create a community,’ she said.”

Read the full article at:

https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/ng-interactive/2025/oct/05/ive-had-it-podcast-democrats-liberals

More Wapo News

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Article in Daily Beast by Ewan Palmer, 10/2/25

Headline:  “Bezos’ Washington Post Hires New MAGA-Friendly Columnists”

“Jeff Bezos’ Washington Post has take a massive stride in its turn to the right by hiring three new conservative writers after losing high-profile liberal columnists.

“The Post is bringing in Kate Andrews, Spectator magazine’s U.S. deputy editor; Dominic Pino, economics editor at National Review; and Carine Hajjar, a Boston Globe Editorial Board member and frequent Fox News talking head, as opinion writers. . .”

Read the full article at:

https://www.thedailybeast.com/jeff-bezos-washington-post-hires-new-maga-friendly-columnists-kate-andrews-dominic-pino-carine-hajjar/

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

Some Media People Don’t Bow

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Article in Poynter by Tom Jones, 9/25/25

Headline: “Opinion | Jimmy Kimmel came back defiant — and viewers rewarded him”

Subhead:  “The late-night host walked back onstage without apology, defended free speech and turned a suspension into record-breaking ratings”

“On Tuesday, ABC late-night host Jimmy Kimmel returned from his suspension with an empathetic but defiant monologue and included a joke about President Donald Trump. Kimmel said, “You almost have to feel sorry for him. He tried his best to cancel me. Instead, he forced millions of people to watch the show. That backfired bigly. . .”

Read the full article at:

https://www.poynter.org/commentary/2025/jimmy-kimmel-monologue-disney-nexstar/

Standing For Free Speech

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Article in The New Republic by Perry Bacon, 9/24/25

Headline:  “Jimmy Kimmel Just Showed the Rest of the Media How to Fight Trump”

Subhead:  “New York Times writer E.J. Dionne says that the late-night host essentially forced ABC to end his suspension because of the broad, strong coalition that defended him”

“Jimmy Kimmel strongly defended free speech and slammed President Trump in his return to late night after a brief suspension. In the latest edition of Right Now With Perry Bacon, New York Times opinion writer E.J. Dionne and Perry discussed why Kimmel’s fast return was such a coup for pro-democracy voices. . .”

Read the full article at:

https://newrepublic.com/article/200871/kimmel-brilliant-anti-trump-campaign

 

Cracks in Republican Media Wall

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Article in The Guardian by Edward Helmore, 9/22/25

Headline: “Republican slams FCC chair’s comments on Kimmel suspension: ‘absolutely inappropriate’ “

Subhead:  “Rand Paul, a Kentucky senator, also said Disney and ABC have no obligation to employ the late-night host”

“Republican US senator Rand Paul broke with Federal Communications Commission chair Brendan Carr for seemingly putting his finger on the scale in the ongoing dispute between suspended talkshow host Jimmy Kimmel and his employer, Disney-owned ABC. . .”

“Paul told Meet the Press that Carr’s comments were ‘absolutely inappropriate’ and the FCC chair ‘has got no business weighing in on this’.

“ ‘Any attempt by the government to get involved with speech – I will fight,’ Paul added. . .”

Read the full article at:

https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025/sep/22/rand-paul-fcc-brendan-carr-jimmy-kimmel-suspension