Trump – Golf or Gulf?


Article in the Columbia Journalism Review by Yona TR Golding, 2/21/24

Headline: “The Gulf Between Trump and the Press”

Subhead: “Trying to make the ‘Gulf of America’ happen.”

When President Trump signed an order renaming the Gulf of Mexico as the “Gulf of America” back in January, I couldn’t stop thinking about a scene from the 2004 teen classic Mean Girls, in which queen bee Regina George snaps at Gretchen Weiner, her underling, for trying to make the word fetch a synonym for cool. (“Stop trying to make ‘fetch’ happen!” Regina says. “It’s not going to happen!”) . . . The Associated Press, it seems, was on the same page as me: two days after the order was signed, the agency issued an update to its stylebook—which is widely followed throughout the news business—recommending the continued use of the original name, though it would acknowledge the new name as well. “Trump’s order only carries authority within the United States. Mexico, as well as other countries and international bodies, do not have to recognize the name change,” the AP reasoned in an announcement about the decision. ‘As a global news agency that disseminates news around the world, the AP must ensure that place names and geography are easily recognizable to all audiences.’

“But Trump, it turned out, was determined to make “Gulf of America” happen. Last week, an AP reporter was blocked from attending the signing of an executive order in the Oval Office; later in the day, Julie Pace, its executive editor, wrote in a statement that she had been informed that the decision was the White House’s response to the new stylebook guidance. “It is alarming that the Trump administration would punish AP for its independent journalism,” she wrote. “Limiting our access to the Oval Office based on the content of AP’s speech not only severely impedes the public’s access to independent news, it plainly violates the First Amendment.”

https://www.cjr.org/the_media_today/trump_associated_press_ban_gulf_of_mexico.php

 

Some Media Got it Right on Ukraine

Article in Poynter by Tom Jones, 2/20/25

Headline:  “Opinion | Good on the media for calling out President Trump’s falsehoods on Ukraine”

“Just when you thought our politics couldn’t get any more bizarre and divisive and distressing, something else transpired.

“As happens far too often these days, it was something said by President Donald Trump.

“In a truly stunning post on Truth Social, Trump called Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy ‘A Dictator without Elections.’ He also called Zelenskyy a ‘modestly successful comedian’ and, just as he did a day earlier, seemingly blamed Zelenskyy for starting the war with Russia even though it was Russia that invaded Ukraine. Trump wrote that Zelenskyy ‘talked the United States of America into spending $350 Billion Dollars, to go into a War that couldn’t be won, that never had to start, but a War that he, without the U.S. and “TRUMP,” will never be able to settle.’ ”

“In a positive sign, the media appropriately and responsibly covered Trump’s comments. . .”

https://www.poynter.org/commentary/2025/trump-truth-social-statements-ukraine-zelenskyy-elected-media/

Scared Media


Article in FAIR by Gregory Shupak, 2/20/25

Headline:  “Media Afraid to Call Ethnic Cleansing by Its Name”

“Earlier this month, President Donald Trump said that the US will ‘take over the Gaza Strip’ and ‘own’ it for the ‘long-term’ (AP, 2/5/25), and that its Palestinian inhabitants will be ‘permanently’ exiled (AP, 2/4/25). Subsequently, when reporters asked Trump whether Palestinians would have the right to return to Gaza under his plan, he said ‘no’ (BBC, 2/10/25).

“After Trump’s remarks, United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres (Reuters, 2/5/25) said ‘it is essential to avoid any form of ethnic cleansing.’ ”

https://fair.org/home/media-afraid-to-call-ethnic-cleansing-by-its-name/

A Media Template for the U.S.


Andras Petho – Viktor Orban Documentary

Article in Columbia Journalism Review by Josh Hersh, 2/14/25

Headline: “A Warning from a Hungarian Journalist: ‘Brace Yourself for the Worst’”

Subhead: “András Pethő has watched American media head down a familiar path.”

“András Pethő is a Hungarian journalist and a cofounder of Direkt36, an independent investigative news outlet.

“Over the past decade, he’s watched as the government of Viktor Orbán—the world leader whom Steve Bannon once praised as Trump before Trump’—has systematically eroded the freedom of the press in his country, in ways that may feel familiar to Americans watching corporate news leaders succumb to pressure from the administration.

“András’s 2022 essay on the lessons he learned from experiencing Hungary’s crackdown on a free press ‘Direkt36’s latest investigation: a documentary about the secret wealth of Orbán and his allies . . . ‘ ”

https://www.cjr.org/kicker/hungary-viktor-orban-direkt36-andras-petho.php

Ukraine Media Frozen


Article in The Washington Post by David Stern & Robyn Dixon, 2/7/25

Headline:  “Independent media in Russia, Ukraine lose their funding with USAID freeze”

Subhead:    “Independent media in Russia and Ukraine have been critical of their governments and provide alternative reporting, but much of it relied on U.S. grants.”

“The suspension of USAID has had a dramatic effect on both Ukrainian and Russian independent news outlets that relied on the grants to operate and produced work often critical of their governments.
Get concise answers to your questions . . .”

“The program that provides billions in U.S. assistance internationally is better known for its humanitarian and medical work, but the funding has also been used for democracy promotion as well as supporting journalism.”

https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/2025/02/07/ukraine-russia-independent-media-trump-usaid/

Reporting on “Gaza Takeover”


Article in Media Matters by Noah Dowe, 2/6/23

Headline:  “Right-wing media defend Trump’s call to “take over” Gaza and expel Palestinians”

Subhead:  “Fox host Jesse Watters: Trump “can finally bring peace and prosperity and seaside condos” to Gaza”

“On Tuesday, during a joint press conference with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, President Donald Trump said the United States “will take over” and take “ownership” of Gaza, displacing its population and redeveloping it into “the Riviera of the Middle East.”

“Right-wing media immediately justified — and, in some cases, outright endorsed — Trump’s statements, with some figures arguing Palestinians and others in the region “should be grateful” and declaring that “the strategic goal in Gaza is now and has always been ethnic cleansing.” Others argued Trump was “negotiating” or “playing four-dimensional chess” by “just kind of floating an idea.”

https://www.mediamatters.org/donald-trump/right-wing-media-defend-trumps-call-take-over-gaza-and-expel-palestinians

Fake Russian Media

Article in Reporters Without Borders by Staff, 2/5/25

Headline:  “International Reporters: the new website where foreign propagandists spread Russian disinformation”

“For over a year, the Kremlin-funded website International Reporters has been masquerading as a professional news outlet in order to spread Russian disinformation. Using a misleading name that implies its content contains real journalism, the website assembles propagandists from all corners of the globe to promote the Kremlin’s false narratives that justify the full-scale invasion of Ukraine and celebrate Russia’s foreign policy. Reporters Without Borders (RSF) condemns this new propaganda tool, which pollutes the information space and intentionally misleads the public.”

https://rsf.org/en/international-reporters-new-website-where-foreign-propagandists-spread-russian-disinformation

Protecting Journalists


Recent posts on international journalism from Committee to Project Journalists, 2/6/25

“No accountability after Ghanaian journalists attacked while covering illegal mining investigation”

“Sri Lankan top prosecutor seeks to discharge key suspects in journalist’s murder”

“Swedish public broadcaster SVT’s building vandalized”

“Taliban detains 2 media workers, suspends women-run broadcaster Radio Begum

“Azerbaijan jails 21st journalist in 15 months amid intensifying media crackdown”

https://cpj.org/about/

Monsters Against Media


Article in Columbia Journalism Review by Jon Alsop, 2/4/25

Headline: “USAID and the Media in a ‘Time of Monsters’ ”

Sunhead: “What the aid funding freeze means for independent journalism around the world.”

“. . . In the recent past, USAID had boasted of supporting more than six thousand journalists, around seven hundred independent newsrooms, and nearly three hundred media-focused civil society groups in thirty or so countries—and yet, RSF notes, the full impact of the freeze is hard to measure, since many recipients are “hesitant to draw attention for fear of risking long-term funding or coming under political attacks.”

https://www.cjr.org/the_media_today/usaid-and-the-media-in-a-time-of-monsters.php