Information Overload

Media Say “Wow”!

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Article in Poynter by Tom Jones, 11/4/126

Headline: “Opinion | As Democrats swept the midterms, news anchors struggled to find the words”

Subhead:  “‘Wow’ was the word of the night as a historic blue wave stunned election-night broadcasters”

“. . .On Tuesday night, the word “wow” might have been uttered on TV more than any other interjection ever. Anchors, analysts, election experts — you name it — all ran out of words to express their surprise at a variety of races. NBC’s Steve Kornacki might have been the league leader in ‘wows.’ Or it might have been CNN’s Jake Tapper. Or maybe it was MS NOW’s Rachel Maddow. . .”

Read the full article at:

https://www.poynter.org/commentary/2026/2026-midterms-democratic-sweep-election-night-media-coverage/

MAGA Media at Odds

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Article in The Washington Post by Scott Nover, 11/4/26

Headline:  “A MAGA media civil war erupts over who’s to blame for the GOP’s thrashing”

Subhead:  “Trump’s allies cite the Iran war, the economy and one another after Republicans’ election rout exposed deep divisions in the MAGA media world.”

“. . .These pronouncements from the Republican Party’s two standard-bearers did little to quell the finger-pointing from right-wing influencers and media personalities after the massive blue wave on election night.

“By Wednesday morning, the party’s media firebrands sought not only answers but also scapegoats. Commentators and influential right-wing personalities offered sharply different accounts of what went wrong. . .”

Read the full article at:

https://www.washingtonpost.com/business/2026/11/04/maga-media-civil-war-erupts-over-whos-blame-gops-thrashing/

Hear, Hear Mr. President?

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Article in AlterNet by Sarah K. Burris, 10/30/26

Headline: “Morning Joe has a new theory behind Trump’s ‘crazed rage’ at the media”

“. . .Jonathan Lemier noted that aides inside the White House have been saying for a while that the president simply can’t hear anymore and he frequently must lean in and ask people to repeat themselves. As his niece Mary Trump has noted several times, Trump doesn’t like to show weakness. So needing a hearing aid would likely make him feel weak. . . ”

Read the full article at:

https://www.alternet.org/trump-mental-health-2678170734/

Former Press Sec. a Bot?

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Article in The Hill by Finya Swai, 10/29/26

Headline: “Piers Morgan, Katie Zacharia tangle in contentious interview: ‘You sound like a robot’”

“. . .Zacharia refused to share details of the exchange, instead repeatedly declaring her loyalty to the president and accusing the media of trying to distract from his agenda. . .”

“ ‘Let’s cut the crap here and have a serious genuine conversation,’ Morgan said after several unsuccessful attempts to get Zacharia to answer his questions. ‘You sound like a robot. Has Donald Trump got some program plugged into you to make you come out with all this stuff?’. . .”

Read the full article at:

https://thehill.com/homenews/media/6181114-piers-morgan-katie-zacharia-clash/

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Article in Comic Sands by Alan Herrera, 10/29/26

Headline: “Katie Zacharia Just Tried To Blame ‘The Media’ For Her Ouster As Press Secretary—And Was Hit With An Instant Reality Check”

Subhead: “After lasting just five days as White House press secretary, Katie Zacharia went on Newsmax to try to claim that “the media” was really to blame—and nobody’s buying it.”

“. . .When Newsmax anchor Rob Schmitt asked her to explain why she thinks “this didn’t work out,” Zacharia responded:

“. . . ‘They would not let me do my job, which was to focus on him and focus on what he’s doing to win and it became too amassed over me.’ . .”

Read the full article at:

https://www.comicsands.com/zacharia-blames-media-ouster

Spanish-Language Media Shift

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Media Matters illustration

Article in Media Matters by Monica Rodriguez, Janos Balazs & Torri Lonergan, 10/15/26

Headline:  “Discontent in Spanish-language conservative media illustrates GOP’s deteriorating Hispanic coalition”

“Since early in his second term, President Donald Trump has been facing criticism from Spanish-language right-wing media figures over his approach to the economy, the Iran war, and mass deportation. This fall — as some of these figures have warned that Republicans will suffer in the midterm elections as a result of the administration ‘failing’ on immigration and economic policy — polls suggest that Latino voters could be a major swing demographic in November. . .”

Read the full article at:

https://www.mediamatters.org/spanish-language-media/discontent-spanish-language-conservative-media-illustrates-gops

If it Looks Like an Oligopoly. . .

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Article in The Wrap by Kayla Cobb, 10/8/26

Headline: “Skydance’s New TV Empire Explained: Who’s in Charge and What May Be Ahead | Analysis”

Subhead:  “With the acquisition of Warner Bros. Discovery, Skydance now owns almost 190 shows, over 70 cable networks and two major streamers”

“A lot of attention has been paid to the future of the film industry in the wake of Skydance acquiring Paramount and Warner Bros. Discovery, but few are talking about the other big entertainment play of this new merger: TV. With the acquisition of WBD, Skydance now owns nearly 190 shows, more than 70 cable channels and two major streamers.

“It’s a massive portfolio that threatens to disrupt the current order of television. Over the past 12 months, networks and streaming assets owned by Paramount and Warner Bros. . .”

Read the full article at:

https://www.thewrap.com/media-platforms/tv/skydance-tv-paramount-warner-bros-discovery-merger-analysis/

Media Havoc Likely to Continue

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Article in AP by Jocelyn Noveck, 9/28/26

Headline: “After a chaotic weekend in the Trump-media standoff, it’s now a wait-and-see game for networks”

“Is the standoff over between the White House and the nation’s main broadcast networks? Not exactly.

“Are we back to Square One? Also not exactly.

“One week after three news outlets filed a lawsuit against President Donald Trump and his abrupt ban of CNN, MS NOW and Politico journalists from White House grounds, the extraordinary First Amendment showdown has morphed into a wait-and-see game. . .”

Read the full article at:

https://apnews.com/article/trump-media-networks-pool-ea7fbf9c0a0506dde6f95738922640d4

Coming Storm in the Media

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Article in Columbia Journalism Review By Carolina Abbott Galvão, Ivan L. Nagy and Riddhi Setty, 9/23/26

Headline: “How Should We Cover the Climate Story?”

Subhead:  “Speaking with climate reporters about staying on the beat—because, as Bill McKibben put it, ‘for better or for worse, by this time next year, there’s no doubt in my mind that climate coverage will be at the forefront.’”

“. . .Climate journalism can feel like a series of devastating yet foreseeable tragedies, all happening against a drumbeat of bad news—like the United Nations report this month that global temperatures will rise past a dangerous threshold. Meanwhile, climate desks at legacy organizations have shrunk or disbanded, including at NPR. . .”

Read the full article at:

https://www.cjr.org/feature/how-should-we-cover-the-climate-story.php

How Do Media Cover “Name Change”

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Article in Poynter by Matthew Crowley, 9/14/26

Headline:  “Trump renamed Lake Ontario. Newsrooms still have to decide what to call it”

Subhead:  “The AP is sticking with Lake Ontario, as it did with Gulf of Mexico. Its decision shows why changing a name doesn’t necessarily change common usage.”

“For the Associated Press stylebook, Gulf of Mexico stayed. Lake Ontario will, too.. . .”

“But the AP kept Gulf of Mexico, saying the name had stuck for four centuries and that, as a global news agency, it needed to keep place names and geography easily recognizable to all audiences.

“On Tuesday, the AP again cited longevity when explaining why it will keep Lake Ontario. The new guidance, uploaded to the online stylebook, says, ‘Lake Ontario has carried that name for more than 400 years. Refer to it by its original name. If it is relevant to the story, acknowledge and explain the name Trump has chosen.’. . .”

Read the full article at:

https://www.poynter.org/ethics-trust/2026/trump-lake-ontario-lake-america-ap-style/

FCM Event Interview on 8/26/26

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Friends of Community Media conducted a workshop in August called, “How to expose media lies and have fun doing it.”

You can hear an interview about the event conducted by Spencer Graves on  of Terresa Wilke and Ann Suellentrop exploring the workshop.

You can hear the interview on KHOI community radio in Ames, Iowa at  http://khoifm.org  by scrolling down to Wednesday August 26th – 5 am.