Internet Media

Pods of Media-Fun

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Article in The Verge by Tina Nguyen, 3/27/25

Headline:  “Trump White House invites a bloc of conservative podcasters as a jab at legacy media”

Subhead:  ” ‘Podcast Row’ is going to be a recurring event.”

On Thursday, several conservative podcasters were invited to the White House to participate in Podcast Row, an event meant to engage alternative media by granting them hours of unprecedented access to senior Trump Administration officials. The White House intends to make this a recurring event.

“Bringing in new media outlets has obviously been a priority of this administration and we will explore all options that allow us to reach as many Americans as possible,” Kaelan Dorr, White House Deputy Communications Director, told The Verge.

According to NewsNation correspondent Libbey Dean, administration attendees included Cabinet and Cabinet-level officials . . .  Online figures streaming from the room included Natalie Winters from Bannon’s War Room, Canadian YouTuber David Freiheit, and podcaster Breanna Morello.

https://www.theverge.com/policy/637890/trump-white-house-podcast-row

Spreading Media Greatness South

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Article in The Guardian by Rachel Savage, 3/26/25

Headline:  “Trump names pro-Israel media activist as US ambassador to South Africa”

Subhead:  “Leo Brent Bozell III, founder of a conservative media group, is president’s nomination amid rising diplomatic tensions”

“Donald Trump has nominated a conservative, pro-Israel media activist as US ambassador to South Africa, at a time when the relationship between the two countries is at a nadir.

“Leo Brent Bozell III founded the Media Research Center – whose website states it is ‘a blog site designed to broadcast conservative values, culture, and politics [and] to expose liberal media bias’ – in 1987.

“His son Leo Brent Bozell IV was sentenced to 45 months in prison in May 2024 for assaulting police and smashing windows in the 6 January 2021 Capitol riots. He was released in January as part of Trump’s mass pardon.”

https://www.theguardian.com/world/2025/mar/26/trump-names-pro-israel-media-activist-as-us-ambassador-to-south-africa

Texting the Media

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Article in Media Matters by Matt Gertz, 3/27/25

Headline: “Fox defense for negligent texting of war plans: Top Trump national security officials are incompetent”

“Fox News personalities’ new argument in support of their former colleagues who discussed pending military strikes on an unsecured text chain is that those former colleagues — now America’s top military, national security, and intelligence officials — are easy to deceive. . .”

“But on Tuesday, they came up with a new excuse — one which amounts to arguing that the nation’s top national security officials are morons.

“When Fox host Laura Ingraham asked Waltz to explain Goldberg’s presence on the Signal chat, Waltz dissembled.

“ ‘I’m not a conspiracy theorist,’ Waltz began, before offering a conspiracy theory in which ‘somehow’ Goldberg ‘gets on somebody’s contact and then gets sucked into the group.’

The national security adviser added that Goldberg may have somehow ‘deliberately’ ensured that his contact information was attached to a Trump official’s contact name, adding that the administration has ‘the best technical minds’ trying to ascertain how such a thing happened. . .”

https://www.mediamatters.org/fox-news/fox-defense-negligent-texting-war-plans-top-trump-national-security-officials-are

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Article in Daily Kos by Oliver Willis, 3/26/25

Headline:  “Media downplays Trump team’s massive leak fiasco as mere ‘blunder'”

“Many mainstream media outlets are minimizing or trivializing the Trump administration’s leak of highly sensitive war plans, and in doing so, they are echoing President Donald Trump’s spin on the scandal.

“After The Atlantic reported on Monday that top Trump officials had mistakenly included the outlet’s top editor in an unsecured group chat, Trump told reporters that the breach was merely a ‘glitch.’ And Trump’s allies struck the same tone in appearances in right-wing media.

On Tuesday, USA Today described the incident as a ‘relatable fail.’ In the story, reporters Jessica Guynn and Bailey Schulz likened the leak of war plans to ill-timed responses in family group texts.

https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2025/3/26/2312682/-Media-downplays-Trump-team-s-massive-leak-fiasco-as-mere-blunder?pm_campaign=front_page&pm_source=top_news_slot_1&pm_medium=web

Media Diversity Not Politically Correct?

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Article in Washington Post by Taylor Tilfordm 3/21/25

Headline:  “FCC chair threatens to block mergers of media companies engaged in DEI”

Subhead:  “The agency is already investigating Comcast and NBCUniversal over their diversity, equity and inclusion policies.”

“The Federal Communications Commission is prepared to block mergers and acquisitions involving companies that continue promoting diversity, equity and inclusion policies, FCC Chairman Brendan Carr said Friday.

“President Donald Trump has ordered federal agencies such as the Justice Department to draw up lists of companies, nonprofits and other organizations to target over ‘illegal DEI efforts,’ which the administration has defined broadly. Now Carr is signaling that persisting with DEI could negatively affect media and communications companies’ dealmaking prospects.

“Any businesses that are looking for FCC approval, I would encourage them to get busy ending any sort of their invidious forms of DEI discrimination,” Carr said in an interview with Bloomberg News on Friday. . .”

https://www.washingtonpost.com/business/2025/03/21/fcc-dei-diversity-mergers-acquisitions-ma/

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Article in Free Press by Timothy Karr, 3/21/25

Headline:  “FCC Chairman Carr’s Egregious Attacks on Diversity Reach New Low With Merger Threats”

“FCC Chairman Brendan Carr’s racist attacks on U.S. businesses ramped up on Friday, when he announced, according to Bloomberg, that he would block mergers from companies that promote diversity, equity and inclusion. Carr’s latest tirade follows earlier threats against Comcast and Verizon.

Free Press Co-CEO Craig Aaron said, “There are many good reasons to block a media merger: for example, preserving competition, or preventing higher prices and job cuts. A company’s programs designed to promote diversity, equity and inclusion obviously don’t make that list. Carr’s crusade against so-called DEI programs is a blatant attempt to legitimize discrimination against people of color, women, people with disabilities, religious minorities and LGBTQIA+ people. It’s shameful and wrong.

“Corporate America needs to stand up against Carr’s bigotry and reject his offensive claims that programs designed to address discrimination are themselves discriminatory. . .”

https://www.freepress.net/news/press-releases/fcc-chairman-carr-attacks-dei-mergers

 

Historic U.S. Broadcaster Gagged

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AP – Andrew Harnik photo

Article in Columbia Journalism Review by Liam Scott, 3/18/25

Headline:  “The Last Days at Voice of America“

Subhead:  “Covering the press freedom beat at VOA, I got a front-row seat to its demise.”

“On Saturday, about thirteen hundred Voice of America staffers, myself included, were placed on administrative leave. VOA’s final broadcast went out; its website was updated one last time. For the first time since its creation, in 1942, to combat Nazi propaganda, VOA went silent.

As a press freedom reporter, I’ve spent the past few years constantly interacting with groups like the Committee to Protect Journalists and Reporters Without Borders. But this time, it was my editor, Jessica Jerreat, and I who reached out to sound the alarm. I wasn’t acting in an official capacity—in fact, I had been ordered not to work—but I felt I had to do something.

Dozens of VOA staffers in Washington are on J-1 visas, and if they lose them, they may have to return to countries whose governments have a record of jailing critics. Two VOA contributors are imprisoned in Myanmar and Vietnam, and I didn’t want them to be forgotten. . . .”

https://www.cjr.org/first_person/last-days-voice-of-america-voa-trump-kari-lake.php

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Article in The Hill by Dominick Mastrangelo, 3/18/25

Headline:  “Trump’s silencing of Voice of America sparks shock, outrage”

“President Trump’s decision to gut the government agency that oversees Voice of America (VOA) has shocked staffers, who have been ordered to stop working, and fueled concern about the U.S. retreating as a champion of press freedom worldwide. . .”

“Employees who spoke with The Hill this week described a chaotic span of 48 hours after employees received an email Saturday telling them to cease all reporting until further notice. . .”

https://thehill.com/homenews/media/5201754-voa-shut-down-trump/

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Article in Al Jezeera by Staff, 3/17/25

“United States President Donald Trump’s administration has begun laying off staff at Voice of America after signing an executive order placing nearly all employees at the government-funded media network on leave.

“VOA employees working on a contractual basis on Sunday received an email informing them that they were being terminated effective March 31.

“In the email, which was seen by Al Jazeera, the US Agency for Global Media (USAGM) said contractors must ‘cease all work immediately’ and were ‘not permitted to access any agency buildings or systems’ . . “.

“Trump’s directive is the latest in a series of moves to draw condemnation from media freedom advocacy groups, including Reporters Without Borders and the Committee to Protect Journalists, which branded the latest order ‘dystopian’. . . ”

https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2025/3/17/trumpadministration-starts-mass-layoffs-at-media-outlet-voice-of-america

No More Media Diplomacy?

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Article in Huffpost by Lydia O’Connor, 3/17/25

Headline:  “Trump Orders Closure Of Government-Backed, Anti-Propaganda Media Outlet”

Subhead:  “Voice of America has been broadcasting news into oppressive regimes since World War II.”

“. . . The order Trump signed Friday calls for the closure of the U.S. Agency for Global Media, which manages VOA and other diplomatic news efforts. More than 1,300 of VOA’s journalists and other staffers were placed on administrative leave Saturday, according to a Facebook post from VOA Director Michael Abramowitz obtained by The Washington Post.

Kari Lake, the Agency for Global Media’s special adviser who once called for the imprisonment of journalists, cheered its demise on social media, saying: “There’s a reason it’s referred to as ‘pound-for-pound the most corrupt agency in Washington DC.’ Because it is!”

A press release from the agency was even harsher, calling it “a giant rot and burden to the American taxpayer — a national security risk for this nation — and irretrievably broken. . .”

https://www.huffpost.com/entry/trump-voice-of-america-executive-order_n_67d852e9e4b0f3826e4c595b

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Article in Reporters Without Borders, 3/17/25

Headline:  “US Agency for Global Media shutdown: RSF warns of the dangers facing nine journalists detained abroad”

“Following the Trump administration’s orders to dismantle the US Agency for Global Media (USAGM), Reporters Without Borders (RSF) is sounding the alarm over the risks facing USAGM staffers around the world, including nine journalists currently imprisoned abroad for their work. RSF calls on the international diplomatic community to immediately mobilise to obtain the release of these journalists and ensure the safety of all USAGM journalists worldwide.

In a decree issued on 14 March 2025, US President Donald Trump ordered the dismantling of USAGM, the federal agency overseeing several independent media outlets, such as Voice of America (VOA), Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty (RFE/RL) and Radio Free Asia (RFA). On 15 March, Voice of America (VOA) employees received an email announcing they were immediately placed under administrative leave. ”

https://rsf.org/en/us-agency-global-media-shutdown-rsf-warns-dangers-facing-nine-journalists-detained-abroad

The Right Media

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Article in Media Matters by Kayla Gogarty, 3/14/25

Headline:  “The right dominates the online media ecosystem, seeping into sports, comedy, and other supposedly nonpolitical spaces”

Subhead:  “A new Media Matters analysis found 9 out of the 10 top online shows assessed are right-leaning”

“As Americans increasingly get their news from online shows and streamers, the influence of this media ecosystem becomes more prominent — and Media Matters has found that the most popular of this content is overwhelmingly right-leaning.”

“In a new study, Media Matters assessed the audience size of popular online shows — podcasts, streams, and other long-form audio and video content regularly posted online.  . . .”

“We found substantial asymmetry in total following across platforms: Right-leaning online shows had at least 480.6 million total followers and subscribers — nearly five times as many as left-leaning.
Across platforms — YouTube, Rumble, Twitch, Kick, Spotify, Facebook, Instagram, and TikTok — right-leaning online shows accounted for roughly 82% of the total following of the online shows we assessed.
Comparatively, left-leaning online shows had nearly 104 million followers and subscribers across the eight platforms — nearly five times less. . .”

https://www.mediamatters.org/google/right-dominates-online-media-ecosystem-seeping-sports-comedy-and-other-supposedly

LA Times Masks Phony News?

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Article in Status by Oliver Darcy, 3/13/25

Headline:  “Paper-Thin Ethics”

Subhead:  “The Los Angeles Times is facing ethical questions after one of its shows aired what looked like a news story—but was actually an undisclosed promotion for billionaire owner Patrick Soon-Shiong’s drug company.”

“Earlier this week, Angelica Coronado, a host for the Los Angeles Times’ daily podcast and web show that highlights the day’s biggest headlines, was going through the program’s rundown when she landed on a story that caught the attention of some newsroom staffers. Unlike the other stories that Coronado was spotlighting on the show, this one was rather peculiar. It wasn’t a top story at the national or local level, or a viral feel-good piece you might see on ABC’s ‘World News Tonight.’ Instead, it was an advertisement for billionaire Times owner Patrick Soon-Shiong’s drug company masquerading as a news story. . . ”

https://www.status.news/p/patrick-soon-shiong-la-times-companies-coverage

Hate in the Media

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Article in Mediaite by Alex Griffing, 3/12/25

Headline:  “Joe Rogan, Candace Owens, and the Mainstreaming of Anti-Semitism Exposes a Rot in American Media”

“In recent days, some of the most popular podcasts in the United States have hosted known anti-Semitic conspiracy theorists, leading many in the media to sound the alarm over the world’s oldest hate reaching new, younger audiences on the right.

“Joe Rogan, Theo Von, Stephen A. Smith, and Patrick Bet-David have all raised eyebrows for bringing on guests who regularly dabble in anti-Semitic tropes and accuse Jews — or Israel — of global manipulation and influence.

“Last week, avowed neo-Nazi and one-time Trump dinner guest Nick Fuentes praised the ongoing trend.

“Many of the podcasts Fuentes listed make up what has been dubbed the new right’s “manosphere.” President Donald Trump’s 2024 win was fueled by these personalities, which helped him reach younger, male voters across the country.”

https://www.mediaite.com/opinion/joe-rogan-candace-owens-and-the-mainstreaming-of-anti-semitism-exposes-a-rot-in-american-media/

Red Meat for the Media!

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Article in The Guardian by Editors, 3/7/25

Headline:  “The Guardian view on Trump and media: attention is power. Can Democrats grab it? – Editorial”

Subhead:  “The presidency is no longer just a ‘bully pulpit’. It’s become part of the disinformation machine”

“Donald Trump won the White House not with money, though he spent plenty of it, but by dominating the conversation. He hasn’t stopped campaigning. He uses attention to bolster his political power, and uses his office to make sure that everyone keeps watching.

“He was barred from leading social media platforms after the January 6 attack on the Capitol, but four years later, their owners attended his inauguration. Many of his key hires appear picked for their media presence as well as their ideological bent and sycophancy. Tuesday’s interminable address to Congress was garnished with the kind of wild claims or outright lies that he knows take off on social media. . .”

“. . .Like a social media algorithm made flesh, the president himself serves up an endless but unpredictable (and increasingly extreme) stream of material. It keeps admirers coming back for more and overwhelms critics, who don’t know where to focus. . . ”

https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2025/mar/07/the-guardian-view-on-trump-and-media-attention-is-power-can-democrats-grab-it