Events

Current Activites of FCM and in the past

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

Rt. Wing Media Upset?

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Article in Media Matters by Noah Dowe, Alex Guiden & Ben Van Bloem, 3/18/26

Headline: “Some right-wing media figures are urging Trump to declare early victory and leave Iran”

Subhead:  “Newsmax host Michael Savage: ‘Is it possible we could just pack up and go home? Or must we kill half the population in the name of peace?’ “

“As President Donald Trump’s war with Iran continues, some right-wing commentators are urging the administration to ‘declare victory’ and ‘get out’ of Iran ‘before it gets much worse’. . .”

“Some right-wing figures are fearful of what a military quagmire in the Middle East would “do to us at the midterms,” and a number of right-wing media personalities are now urging the administration to save face by declaring victory. . .”

Read the full article at:

https://www.mediamatters.org/us-iran-relations/some-right-wing-media-figures-are-urging-trump-declare-early-victory-and-leave

A Plate Full of –

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Article in Status by Oliver Darcy, 3/6/25

Headline:  “Ellison’s CNN Platitudes”

Subhead:  “David Ellison finally addressed CNN’s future—but his rehearsed talking points offered few clues about what he’ll actually do with the news network.”

“Early Thursday morning, on the sunny Paramount lot in Los Angeles, David Ellison sat for an interview with CNBC. . .”

“What Ellison did not address on his own, though, was the elephant in the room: CNN, the prized news asset that played an outsized role in the war over WBD’s assets. Indeed, since making the winning offer for the David Zaslav-led empire, Ellison had been absolutely mum about the future of the globally recognized news brand. . .”

Read the full article at:

https://www.status.news/p/david-ellison-cnn-cbs-news-future

Media Sue Government for a Change

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Article in Columbia Journalism Review by Ivan L Nagy, 3/4/26

Headline: “The New York Times Takes the Pentagon to Court”

Subhead:  “As the US wages war on Iran, journalists’ fight for access enters a new phase.”

“. . .Hegseth and Caine spoke for twenty-nine minutes, then opened the floor for questions. . .In the first few rows of the briefing room, MAGA-friendly reporters passed the microphone to one another for a total of thirteen minutes before Hegseth and Caine left the stage. (Kingsley Wilson, the Pentagon press secretary, denied that Hegseth had chosen the questioners in advance. . .”

“In December, the Times sued the Defense Department, Hegseth, and Sean Parnell, the department’s chief spokesman, arguing that the reporting guidelines violate the First Amendment. . .”

Read the full article at:

https://www.cjr.org/news/new-york-times-takes-pentagon-court-hegseth-parnell-lawsuit.php

CBS Turning on Trump?

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Article in The Daily Beast by Laura Esposito, 1/26/26

Headline: “MAGA-Curious CBS Boss’ Outlet Calls Out ICE Barbie ‘Lies’ “

“Even CBS News’ new, controversial editor-in-chief couldn’t look away from the killing of yet another U.S. citizen in Minneapolis.

“Bari Weiss’s anti-woke Substack, The Free Press, broke ranks with the Trump administration in a blistering editorial that slammed Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem’s defense of a border patrol agent who fatally shot VA nurse Alex Pretti, 37. . .”

Read the full article at:

https://www.thedailybeast.com/maga-curious-cbs-boss-outlet-calls-out-ice-barbie-lies/

Washington Post Raid on Hold

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Article in The Guardian by Jeremy Barr, 1/21/26

Headline:  “Prosecutors barred from reviewing material seized from Washington Post reporter”

Subhead:  “Judge issues temporary order after paper had sought return of Hannah Natanson’s devices taken in ‘outrageous seizure’ “

“A US judge temporarily blocked federal prosecutors on Wednesday from reviewing material seized when the FBI raided a Washington Post reporter’s home.

“Hours earlier, the Post asked a federal court in Virginia to force the US government to return electronics belonging to Hannah Natanson.

“US magistrate judge William Porter directed prosecutors not to examine any information seized at . .”

Read the full article at:

https://www.theguardian.com/media/2026/jan/21/washington-post-reporter-fbi-search

Community Radio Back in St. Louis

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Headline:  “Community Radio St. Louis Goes Live February 1”

Subhead:  “Over 60 former KDHX volunteers plus new broadcasters will revive local music and arts services online”

“At noon Central time on Sunday, February 1, 2026, eclectic music and perspectives will once again beam into St. Louis and around the world from a new all-volunteer internet station, Community Radio St. Louis (CRSTL). Commercial-free webcasting from CRSTL.FM will revive the strong grassroots voice supporting regional culture that was silenced last year by the radio frequency sale and demise of KDHX-FM. . .”

Read the full article at:

https://www.crstl.fm/

FCC Chair in Hot Water Again?

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Article in Free Press by Staff, 12/17/25

Headline: “Trump’s Censorship Czar Faces Senate Grilling on Efforts to Silence and Control the Media; Backpedals on Earlier Acknowledgement of FCC Independence”

“During a Wednesday Senate oversight hearing, Federal Communications Commission Chairman Brendan Carr faced a thorough grilling from Commerce Committee Democrats — and even some Republicans . . .”

“. . . recent polling from The Economist and YouGov shows 68 percent of the American public found it “unacceptable” for the government to pressure broadcasters to remove programming that includes speech it disagrees with. . .”

Read the full article at:

https://www.freepress.net/news/trumps-censorship-czar-brendan-carr-faces-senate-grilling-fcc-efforts-censor-and-control-media

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Article in Huffpost by Sanjana Karanth

“Headline: “Trump FCC Stooge Tries tp Rewrite History on Jimmy Kimmel Firestorm”

Subhead: “FCC Chair Claims Agency Never Threatened To Pull License Over Kimmel”

“FFC Chairman Brendan Carr told senators on Wednesday he never threatened to pull ABC’s license over late-night host Jimmy Kimmel’s employment, calling it “nothing more than projection and distortion by Democrats.”

Read the Full Article at:

https://www.huffpost.com/entry/brown-university-shooting-rob-reiner-death_n_693fda79e4b0775c50782f40/liveblog_6942e501e4b0fd459eef59ca?origin=home-latest-news-unit

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Article in The Guardian by Richard Luscombe & Vhris Stein, 12/17/25

Headline:  “FCC chair suggests agency is not independent amid fears of Trump power-grab”

“Brendan Carr’s declaration to senators raised concerns of a further power-grab by the White House, amid concerns surrounding efforts by Donald Trump and his officials to exert greater control over independent agencies since his return to office in January.

“The FCC, Carr told the Senate’s commerce, science, and transportation committee on Wednesday, ‘is not an independent agency, formally speaking’. . .”

Read the full article at:

https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025/dec/17/trump-fcc-brendan-carr

First Amendment Threat?

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Article in Committee to Protect Journalists by Staff, 12/17/25

Headline: “CPJ: Trump’s BBC lawsuit is yet another attack on US media freedom”

“Washington, D.C., December 17, 2025— The Committee to Protect Journalists condemns President Donald Trump’s $10 billion lawsuit against British public broadcaster, the BBC, and calls on the president to stop engaging the media in lawsuits that appear to challenge the fundamentals of the First Amendment. . .”

Read the full article at:

https://cpj.org/2025/12/cpj-trumps-bbc-lawsuit-is-yet-another-attack-on-us-media-freedom/