US Cuts Independent Media


Article in The Nation by Rani Chor, 10/23/25

Headline:  “Independent Media in Cambodia Is Collapsing. Washington Made It Worse.”

Subhead:  “The Thai-Cambodian border conflict is just one of the many stories going underreported in the country as Trump’s funding cuts leave citizens and journalists scrambling.”

“. . .All the while, independent local journalists struggle to tell the stories of those in Run Ta Ek and across the country as funding for their reporting runs dry. . .”

“In January 2025, President Donald Trump signed an order to suspend foreign assistance—resulting in a devastating drop in funding for independent media, particularly in fragile or authoritarian contexts where support is most needed. . .”

Read the full article at:

https://www.thenation.com/article/society/independent-media-cambodia-usaid-budget-cuts/#

Journalist Opinion Not Allowed

Article in The Guardian by Michael Sainato, 10/26/25

Headline:  “ICE detains British journalist after criticism of Israel on US tour”

Subhead:  “Trump ally Laura Loomer took credit for Sami Hamdi’s detainment in move denounced as ‘affront to free speech’ “

“British journalist Sami Hamdi was reportedly detained on Sunday morning by federal immigration authorities at San Francisco international airport, and the Council on American-Islamic Relations (Cair) says that action is apparent retaliation for the Muslim political commentator’s criticism of Israel while touring the US. . .”

Read the full article at:

https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025/oct/26/ice-detains-british-muslim-journalist-laura-loomer

Where’s the Beef?

 

Article in Daily Dot by Rachel Kiley, 10/21/25

Headline:  “Trump rebukes ‘young lady’ reporter questioning Argentina bailout as farmers rips his beef deal”

Subhead: “Just found out that the first A in MAGA stands for Argentina.”

“. . .A reporter recently questioned Trump about this backlash, asking, “What do you have to say to U.S. farmers who feel that the deal is benefiting Argentina more than it does them—”

“Look, Argentina’s fighting for its life, young lady,” he said, cutting her off. “You don’t know anything about it. They’re fighting for their life. . .”

Read the full article at:

https://www.dailydot.com/viral-politics/trump-backlash-beef-trade-deal-argentina/

Media Ignore Bombing?


Article in FAIR by Belen Fernandez, 10/21/25

Headline:  “To Media, Gaza Ceasefire Holds Despite Repeated Israeli Strikes”

“. . .In the ten days following the implementation of the ostensible truce, the Israeli military reportedly killed at least 97 Palestinians in Gaza and wounded 230, violating the ceasefire agreement no fewer than 80 times. One might have expected, then, to see a headline or two along the lines of, I dunno, “Israel violates ceasefire”—or maybe “So much for ‘peace’ in Gaza.”

“No such headlines turned up in the Western corporate media—not that there weren’t some pretty spectacular violations to choose from. . .”

Read the full article at:

https://fair.org/slider/to-media-gaza-ceasefire-holds-despite-repeated-israeli-strikes/

Article in Democracy Now! by Amy Goodman and Denis Moynihan, 10/16/25

Headline:  “Too Many Palestinian (and Certain Israeli) Voices Are Excluded from the U.S. Media”

“. . .In Israel, twenty families reunited with their loved ones who endured two years of captivity in Gaza following October 7th, 2023. Their pain and joy received blanket coverage in the US, and rightly so. But the ongoing suffering of the Palestinians rarely appears in the mainstream US media. It is absolutely essential that people here, the source of Israel’s arsenal, have access to the full breadth of debate on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. . ”

Read the full article at:

https://www.democracynow.org/2025/10/16/too_many_palestinian_and_certain_israeli


Article in The New Republic by James North, 10/15/25

Headline:  “The Media Is Blowing a Big Story in Venezuela”

Subhead:  “With the president and his cronies ratcheting up their belligerence, the political press is failing to grasp how close we are to another regime change war.”

“How’s this for history repeating? The mainstream American media is botching its coverage of the Trump administration’s mounting military threats to Venezuela, and that failure is contributing to what looks to be a prolonged and violent disaster for both nations. . .”

Read the full article at:

https://newrepublic.com/article/201512/media-courting-colossal-failure-venezuela

Community Radio – Last Hope For News


Article in Reporters Without Borders by Partager, 9/17/25

Headline:  “RSF releases new documentary on community radio stations, the last bastions of reliable news in the Sahel”

“As several Sahel countries face growing insecurity and their media are heavily pressured, Reporters Without Borders (RSF) is screening ‘Community radios: the fight to keep the Sahel informed,’ its new documentary dedicated to community radio stations, in Dakar. The film delves into the daily lives of three journalists from Mali, Burkina Faso and Niger, essential workers in the news industry.

Read the full article at:

https://rsf.org/en/rsf-releases-new-documentary-community-radio-stations-last-bastions-reliable-news-sahel

Falling Media, Not Just in U.S.

Article in The Guardian by Jason Burke, 9/10/25

Headline:  “Global press freedom suffers sharpest fall in 50 years, report finds”

Subhead: “The International IDEA’s survey of democratic markers finds US is offering ‘encouragement’ to populist leaders”

“The International IDEA’s survey – the Global State of Democracy Report 2025 – is published every five years and considered the most comprehensive of its kind, covering 174 countries and measuring democratic performance from 1975.

“The survey found that the freedom of the press had worsened in a quarter of the countries, marking the broadest deterioration since the beginning of the dataset. . .”

Read the full article at:

https://www.theguardian.com/media/2025/sep/11/global-press-freedom-suffers-sharpest-fall-in-50-years-report-finds

Media Gulf-Confusion


Article in NOTUS by Dave Levinthal, 9/11/25

Headline:  “Behind the Apparent Media Blackout Around Trump’s ‘Gulf of America’ Name Change”

Subhead: “New internal emails obtained by NOTUS detail confusion at the U.S. Geological Survey and the State Department.”

“Three days after Donald Trump’s inauguration as president, a State Department official sent a seemingly exasperated email to Michael Tischler, director of the U.S. Geological Survey’s National Geospatial Program.

“The problem: How to manage press inquiries ‘left and right’ about Trump’s plan to rename the Gulf of Mexico to the ‘Gulf of America’. . .”

Read the full article at:

https://www.notus.org/donald-trump/gulf-of-america-mexico-name-change-foia-documents

Rt. Wing Media Push for War


Article in Media Matters by Staff , 9/5/25

Headline: “Right-wing media’s campaign for military intervention and regime change in Venezuela”

Subhead: “Conservative pundits have spent August and September beating the drums of war”

“Right-wing media outlets have spent August and September agitating for the Trump administration to take military action against Venezuela, including possibly toppling the government of President Nicolas Maduro. . .”

Read the full article at:

https://www.mediamatters.org/fox-news/right-wing-medias-campaign-military-intervention-and-regime-change-venezuela