International Media

Lack of Accurate News Bites Back?

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Article in The Washington Post by the editorial board, 12/5/25

Headline:  “Trump’s closure of Voice of America is coming back to bite him”

Subhead:  “As the president threatens Venezuela, Russia and China are filling the information vacuum.”

“President Donald Trump has said he won’t rule out anything when it comes to removing Venezuelan dictator Nicolás Maduro from power. Yet he is missing an important tool from the arsenal: the Voice of America.

“Since Trump’s March executive order dismantling the news agency, most of VOA’s 1,300 staff members and contractors have been fired or placed on administrative leave, its website has been frozen and the 83-year-old broadcaster has gone dark for the first time since its founding during World War II. . .”

Read the full article at:

https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2025/12/05/venezuela-voa-voice-of-america-maduro-trump/

Credibility to Media Also Sinking?

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Article in The New Republic by Greg Sargent, 12/3/25

Headline:   “Trump Tirades at Media Darken as MAGA Bloodlust on Bombings Boils Over”

Subhead:  “As Trump and MAGA hit new levels of depravity on his boat bombings and anti-immigrant crackdown, the writer of a piece connecting these dots discusses the centrality of sadism to Trump-MAGA politics.”

“. . .Trump just unleashed a hateful rant to the media about Somali immigrants to set the stage for a coming campaign to arrest them en masse. Meanwhile, MAGA excitement over the Caribbean Sea bombings is spiking: Pete Hegseth tweeted out a deeply sadistic cartoon celebrating these extrajudicial killings. . .”

Read the full article at:

https://newrepublic.com/article/203887/trump-seethes-darkly-media-maga-bloodlust-bombings-boils

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Article in Media Matters by Matt Gertz & Rob Savillo, 12/2/25

Headline:  “Scrounging for a Hegseth defense, right-wing commentators seize on NY Times report”

Subhead:  “Hegseth’s supporters split hairs over his culpability”

“Right-wing commentators have seized upon a New York Times report on the U.S. military’s September 2 extrajudicial killing of 11 people on board a boat the Trump administration alleged was carrying drugs in the Caribbean, claiming that the article ‘DEBUNKED’ a previous Washington Post report that triggered congressional scrutiny over potential war crimes. But the Times actually confirmed, rather than undermined, the Post’s account. . .”

Read the full article at:

https://www.mediamatters.org/pete-hegseth/scrounging-hegseth-defense-right-wing-commentators-seize-ny-times-report

Community Radio Through Difficulties

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Article in Reporters Without Borders by Staff 11/28/25

Headline:  “RSF documentary “Community Radios: The Fight to Keep the Sahel Informed” now available on Arte”

“As of 27 November, the Reporters Without Borders’ (RSF) documentary titled, ‘Community Radios: The Fight to Keep the Sahel Informed’ , will be available to watch on Arte, the Franco-German public service television channel. Through a series of interviews with directors of three community radios in Mali, Burkina Faso and Niger, the film reveals the challenges faced by journalists operating in a deteriorating security situation. . .”

Read the full article at:

https://rsf.org/en/rsf-documentary-community-radios-fight-keep-sahel-informed-now-available-arte

Wait! Aren’t Media Always Correct?

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Article in Columbia Journalism Review by Carolina Abbott Galvão, 11/26/25

Headline:  “Could Public Skepticism of the Press Actually Be Good for Democracy?”

Subhead:  “An expert on political communication explains how Argentina’s history of public lying created a protective barrier between citizens and information, and how distrust can help fight autocracy.”

“. . .the authors of The Patina of Distrust, a new book that explores how people interpret misinformation, argue that that perspective overlooks a crucial piece of the puzzle. Basing their findings on extensive research conducted in the wake of Argentina’s 2019 elections, they conclude that news consumers are less susceptible to falsehood than we might anticipate. . .”

Read the full article at:

https://www.cjr.org/the-interview/public-skepticism-press-good-thing-patina-distrust-argentina-eugenia-mitchelstein.php

Fake Media War?

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Article in Media Maters by Zachary Pleat, 11/24/25

Headline:  “Right-wing media praise Trump’s made-up excuses for war against Venezuela”

Subhead:  “Trump massively inflated threat from Venezuelan “narco-terrorists” smuggling fentanyl into the US”

“President Donald Trump and right-wing media have been quick to cite fentanyl interdiction as the supposed justification for the administration’s likely illegal strikes against vessels in the Caribbean Sea and Pacific Ocean, which they have blamed on so-called “narco-terrorists” tied to the regime of President Nicolas Maduro of Venezuela. But reporting has shown the Trump administration’s excuses are built on lies. . .”

Read the full article at:

https://www.mediamatters.org/national-security/right-wing-media-praise-trumps-made-excuses-war-against-venezuela

Arm And A Leg Coverage?

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Article in Columbia Journalism Review by Ivan L. Nagy, 11/20/25

Headline:  “Adding Insult to Injury”

Subhead:  “As Washington braced for the release of the Epstein files, Trump’s red-carpet welcome of Mohammed bin Salman and threats directed at an ABC News reporter made his hostility to journalists chillingly clear.”

“. . .This was Mohammed bin Salman’s first visit to the White House since 2018, when Jamal Khashoggi, a Saudi journalist, was brutally assassinated at the age of fifty-nine. . .”

“. . .’US intelligence concluded that you orchestrated the brutal murder of a journalist,’ Mary Bruce, the chief White House correspondent for ABC, said, facing MBS. ‘Nine-eleven families are furious that you are here in the Oval Office. Why should Americans trust you? And the same to you, Mr. President.’. . .”

read the full article at:

https://www.cjr.org/the_media_today/adding-insult-to-injury-trump-mbs-crown-prince-mohammed-bin-salman-jamal-khashoggi-saudi-mary-bruce-abc-fake-news.php

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Article in The Hill by Tara Sutter, 11/20/25

Headline:  “Jon Stewart rips Trump, tech leaders over Saudi crown prince visit”

“. . . ‘Jon, what do you think about all of the CEOs attending the White House dinner for MBS [Mohammed bin Salman]?” Brittany Mehmedovic, Stewart’s producer, asked on his “The Weekly Show with Jon Stewart” podcast.

” ‘What did we think they were? Honestly? Like, I — are people surprised by it? Are people — ‘I cannot believe that the head of Apple, the head of Meta … all the different — would sit at a state dinner with the guy who is funneling billions and billions of dollars into their businesses,’ Stewart replied in the Thursday episode highlighted by Mediaite. . .”

Read the full article at:

https://thehill.com/blogs/in-the-know/5616043-stewart-trump-tech-ceos-saudi-ties/

War and Media

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Article in FAIR by Ricardo Vaz, 11/19/25

Headline: “Corporate Media Parrot Dubious Drug Claims That Justify War on Venezuela”

“. . .Over the years, Western media have endorsed Washington’s Venezuela regime-change efforts at every turn, from cheerleading coup attempts to whitewashing deadly sanctions (FAIR.org, 6/13/22, 6/4/21, 1/22/20). Now, with a possible military operation that could have disastrous consequences, corporate outlets are making little effort to hold the US government accountable. . .”

Read the full article at:

https://fair.org/home/corporate-media-parrot-dubious-drug-claims-that-justify-war-on-venezuela/

Not “Pure Enough” Now?

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Article in Media Matters by John Knefel, 11/14/25

Headline:  “MAGA media figures are furious over Trump’s immigration apostasy”

Subhead:  “The president’s comments on H-1B visas were “a little hard to stomach,” said one Fox News host.”

“. . .For years, Trump has benefited from a symbiotic relationship with his hardcore supporters in right-wing media, allowing him to achieve narrative dominance that extends beyond conservative spaces. Now he’s showing signs of faltering; even Trump isn’t nativist enough for the top influencers on the right.

“The current feud stems from Trump’s Tuesday interview with Fox News’ Laura Ingraham, during which the president defended the H-1B visa program, which allows employers to sponsor foreign-born workers for some high-skilled jobs. . .”

Read the full article at:

https://www.mediamatters.org/immigration/maga-media-figures-are-furious-over-trumps-immigration-apostasy

Loony-Bin Reporting?

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Article in Columbia Journalism Review by Aida Alami, 11/3/25

Headline:  “Twin Assaults on Press Freedom”

Subhead:  “The ICE detention of Sami Hamdi closely follows the deportation of Mario Guevara.”

“Hamdi’s arrest was first announced by Laura Loomer, the far-right anti-Muslim troll with close ties to the Trump administration, via a triumphant post on X with the word ‘SCOOP’ and a siren emoji: ‘As a direct result of Amy [Mekelburg]’s report and my relentless pressure on the State Department and Department of Homeland Security, US officials have now moved to take action against Hamdi’s visa status and his continued presence in this country’. . .”

Read the full article at:

https://www.cjr.org/the_media_today/twin-assaults-press-freedom-sami-hamdi-ice-abduction-loomer-amy-mek-dhs.php

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Article in The Washington Post by By Scott Nover and Drew Harwell, 11/3/25

Headline:  “Laura Loomer is now credentialed to cover the Pentagon”

Subhead:  “The far-right activist and former congressional candidate has repeatedly criticized defense officials on her website and social media accounts while boasting of her close ties to President Donald Trump.”

“Laura Loomer, the far-right political activist and former congressional candidate in Florida, has been credentialed to cover the Defense Department, according to one person familiar with the matter, joining a new cohort of right-wing media that have agreed to the Pentagon’s new press policy. . .”

Read the full article at:

https://www.washingtonpost.com/business/2025/11/03/laura-loomer-pentagon-credentials/

The Best Media Attackers

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Photo from Reporters Without Borders

Article in Reporters Without Borders by Staff, 11/1/25

Headline:  “2025 Press Freedom Predators”

“For International Day to End Impunity for Crimes against Journalists, celebrated on 2 November, Reporters Without Borders (RSF) is unveiling the profiles of 34 press freedom predators who attacked journalists and the right to information in 2025. What do they have in common? A hatred of press freedom. Their methods differ, but their objectives converge: silencing independent media voices and trampling on the right to news and information. . .”

Read the full article at:

https://rsf.org/en/2025-press-freedom-predators