Editorial Content

Mega Media Money Melting?

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Headline:  “Trump Library Saga Takes Dark Turn: Where Did Millions in Funding Go?”

Subhead:  “Four huge media conglomerates forked over $63 million in ‘settlements’ earmarked for Trump’s presidential library. Democrats are trying to track that money—and the latest developments don’t inspire confidence.”

“Last year, four huge companies pledged tens of millions of dollars to help fund the creation of Donald Trump’s presidential library, a planned monstrosity in Miami that—in a perfect Trumpian twist—may also double as a hotel. The companies—ABC; Paramount; Meta; and X, formerly Twitter—entered into the agreements with Trump to settle legal cases he’d brought against them which experts had dismissed as dubious.

“After the companies agreed to these shakedowns—sorry, settlements—the fund created to receive donations was dissolved last September. Since then, Senate Democrats have been asking: What happened to the money?. . .”

Read the full article at:

https://newrepublic.com/article/209254/trump-library-funding-millions-media-companies

Critical Reporting Survives

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Article in Columbia Journalism Review by Jem Bartholomew, 4/20/26

Headline:  “Lawfare”

Subhead:  “A string of court decisions have gone against Donald Trump and his administration, blocking efforts to shut down critical reporting.”

“. . .here is what we do know: In a string of court cases, judges have ruled against Trump and his administration’s efforts to shut down critical journalism. These decisions have revealed that many of Trump’s executive actions and legal threats against the press are hollow—and exposed the capitulation by some prominent outlets as needless, cowardly, and self-defeating.

Trump has sought to use defamation suits to intimidate the press, only to see a number of them shatter on impact with the court system. . . .”

Read the full article at:

https://www.cjr.org/the_media_today/lawfare-trump-court-decisions-first-amendment-new-york-times-wall-street-journal-whca-correspondents-dinner.php

Who Benefits from Erasing History?

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Article in Gadget Review by A1 Landes, 4/13/26

Headline:  “23 Major News Sites Have Blocked the Wayback Machine – Digital History In Danger”

Subhead:  “Major news organizations including New York Times and USA Today block Wayback Machine amid AI training concerns”

“Major news outlets block Wayback Machine, preventing public access to archived content

“Twenty-three sites including New York Times cite AI training fears as justification

“Journalists lose critical fact-checking tool that exposed editorial changes and accountability issues . .”

Read the full article at:

https://www.gadgetreview.com/23-major-news-sites-have-blocked-the-wayback-machine-digital-history-in-danger

Media Climate-Coverage Vital

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Article in The Nation by Staff, 4/16/26

Headline:  “A Burning House, a Quiet Media, a Silenced Majority”

Subhead: “A white paper from Covering Climate Now on the state of climate journalism.”

“All parts of the media—news media, social media, entertainment media—play a decisive role in how humanity confronts the climate challenge. These media are largely responsible for what people know and feel about that challenge, and what people know and feel in turn shapes what they say and do: whether and how they vote, what products they buy or don’t buy, how they talk with friends and family, whether they act or not.

“News media play a particularly important role, both because huge numbers of people still read, watch, or listen to their reporting and because that reporting shapes the narrative that politicians, social media, and the public engage with. . .”

Read the full article at:

https://www.thenation.com/article/environment/covering-climate-now-white-paper/

Last Correspondent’s Supper?

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Article in Poynter by Kelly McBride, 4/16/26

Headline: “Opinion | The White House Correspondents’ Dinner has always been a cringefest. Trump just makes it obvious.”

Subhead:  “This year’s disaster has been decades in the making”

“The certain awkwardness of President Donald Trump gloating about his presidency in front of a silent press corps at this year’s White House Correspondents’ Dinner — a gala intended to celebrate both free speech and the work of the watchdogs who hold the president accountable — is a trainwreck that should have been averted years ago. . .”

“Journalists and their corporate bosses are going to dress up in gowns and tuxes on Saturday, April 25, and sit down at the Washington Hilton with a man who not only says he despises them, but who repeatedly has used his power to undermine their credibility. . .”

Read the full article at:

https://www.poynter.org/commentary/2026/white-house-correspondents-dinner-trump-criticism/

Journalism Compass Burning?

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Article in AP by David Bauder, 4/16/26

Headline:  “In address on media ethics, former Washington Post editor worries about fading moral compass”

“. . .Worries that ‘to each his own’ is replacing an ethical compass

“While conceding he risked sounding sanctimonious, Baron dove right in. He said he worried that journalists can’t agree on an ethical compass — seeking the truth with humility is his suggestion — and that “to each his own” is becoming the evolving ethos for many who cover and talk about the news. . .”

Read the full article at:

https://apnews.com/article/journalism-baron-ethics-trump-coverage-7e2e01e8d447c75c22a41695cdb2e498

Disappearing Climate Coverage

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Article in FAIR by Olivia Riggio, 3/14/26

Headline: “Climate Coverage Plunges, Though Crisis More Dire Than Ever”

“The UN just released its 2025 Global Climate Report, and, predictably, the outlook for our earth is incredibly dire.  . .”

“There is no shortage of urgent climate news right now. The scientific consensus that we need to phase out fossil fuels fast has not changed, despite President Donald Trump’s anti-climate policies rolling back environmental protections and clean energy growth. But data shows coverage about climate change in US news outlets has plunged. . .”

Read the full article at:

https://fair.org/home/climate-coverage-plunges-though-crisis-more-dire-than-ever/

 

Media Concerned About Cuckoos?

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Article in Media Matters by Jason Campbell, 4/14/26

Headline:  “Even some in right-wing media are now asking questions about Trump’s age and mental acuity”

“In the past few days, some right-wing media pundits have criticized 79-year-old President Donald Trump over concerns about his age and mental acuity, describing him as an ‘old man.’ The New York Times recently scrutinized Trump’s potentially diminished mental and physical capacities to serve as president, and polls indicate that a majority of the American people are growing increasingly concerned that Trump’s advanced age is causing him to be more erratic.

“Over the past two months, a growing chorus of dissident voices in right-wing media have broken with Trump over his war with the Islamic Republic of Iran. . .”

Read the full article at:

https://www.mediamatters.org/donald-trump/even-some-right-wing-media-are-now-asking-questions-about-trumps-age-and-mental-acuity

Democracy Needs Journalism

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Article in FAIR by Janine Jackson, 4/10/26

Headline:  ” ‘Local News Is a Genuine Public Good We Need for Our Democracy’ “

Subhead:  “CounterSpin interview with Alex Frandsen on Local News Day”

“Janine Jackson: News media can be like the old joke about the weather: Everybody complains, but nobody does anything. But as we’ve seen billionaire owners turning news into yet another profit-driven enterprise—not, to be clear, entities that need to sustain themselves, but that need to generate ever-higher quarterly profits for shareholders—the truth is there has been plenty of, not just protest and criticism, but ground-level organizing to find other ways to support the work we need from journalism in the public interest. . .”

Read the full article at:

https://fair.org/home/local-news-is-a-genuine-public-good-we-need-for-our-democracy/

Surrender or Victory?

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Article in Media Matters by Giddeon Taaffe, tri Lonergan, Noah Towe, 4/8/26

Headline:   “How fractured right-wing media are spinning Trump’s Iran capitulation”

Subhead:  “Right-wing media have been split over the war. As a ceasefire is agreed to, some figures claim Trump ‘negotiated the deal of his life,’ others argue he ‘chickened out again’ and warn the deal ‘could be an amazing victory for Iran.’ “

“Right-wing media are split on the temporary two-week ceasefire between Iran and the United States, with some calling it ‘victory’ and crediting Trump’s ‘hyperbolic rhetoric,’ while others remain skeptical, going as far as to call it ‘total U.S. defeat’ and arguing the deal is ‘very difficult to accept.’ Both critics and supporters of the war have criticized the terms of the ceasefire, saying it is a ‘defeat’ and that ‘Iran practically got everything that they wanted.’ ”

Read the full article at:

https://www.mediamatters.org/us-iran-relations/how-fractured-right-wing-media-are-spinning-trumps-iran-capitulation