Media Consolidation

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Article in The Guardian by Blake Montgomery, 9/24/25

Headline:  “Murdoch’s TikTok? Trump offers allies another lever of media control”

Subhead:  “Under the known terms of the deal with China, TikTok would get a new board, including Murdochs and Ellisons”

“Donald Trump revealed last week the US and China are close to inking a deal to let TikTok continue operating in the US. Details are not final, but should the agreement go through as has been reported, the owners of the US’s most powerful cable TV channels may soon also steer the nation’s most influential social network. The arrangement would gift Trump’s billionaire allies a degree of control over US media that would be vast and unprecedented. . .”

Read the full article at:

https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025/sep/24/tiktok-trump-murdoch-ellison

All the Eggs in Someone’s Basket

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Article from Poynter by Angela Fu , 9/15/25

Headline:  “Media consolidation is shaping who folds under political pressure — and who could be next”

Subhead:  “ABC sidelining Jimmy Kimmel and Paramount canceling Stephen Colbert underscore how corporate interests weigh on free speech in the Trump era”

“. . .Media watchers called Kimmel’s sidelining an alarming act of capitulation — one that fit into a larger pattern of media giants self-censoring in anticipatory obedience to President Donald Trump and his administration.

“Kimmel’s show, though popular, was just one cog in the Disney media empire (ABC’s parent company), and its distribution relied in part on two other media behemoths, Nexstar Media Group and Sinclair Broadcasting Group. That made it especially vulnerable to political pressure since both Nexstar and Sinclair are exploring acquisitions regulated by Carr’s agency, the Federal Communications Commission. . .”

Rad the full article at:

https://www.poynter.org/business-work/2025/which-media-outlets-could-capitulate-to-trump/

Media Megaphones

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Article in Daily Kos by Olliver Willis, 9/22/25

Headline:  “Trump gives his Fox News pals a new platform to push propaganda”

“President Donald Trump has reportedly chosen Rupert and Lachlan Murdoch, owners of Fox News, as part of a group that will have control over TikTok’s influential algorithm.

The move further consolidates right-wing media control while the Trump administration engages in a full-scale assault on the First Amendment. . .”

Read the full article at:

https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2025/9/22/2344922/-Trump-gives-his-Fox-News-pals-a-new-platform-to-push-propaganda?pm_campaign=front_page&pm_source=top_news_slot_1&pm_medium=web

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Article in The New York Times by David Streitfeld and Theodore Schleifer, 9/23/25

Headline:  “Larry Ellison, a Media Mogul Like No Other”

Subhead: “The database billionaire and his son, David, are Trump favorites. The family could soon control an empire that includes CBS, Paramount, Warner, CNN and a piece of TikTok.”

” . . . At any other time, the regulatory hurdles to owning TikTok, CBS and CNN along with a major swath of Hollywood would have been insurmountable. This is a decidedly different era, where being in the good graces of Mr. Trump counts for a great deal. . .”

Read the full article at:

https://www.nytimes.com/2025/09/23/technology/larry-ellison-oracle-tiktok.html

One Party, One Media

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Article in FAIR by Ari Paul, 9/19/25

Headline: “As Ellison Buys Out TikTok, US Moves Toward One-Party Media”

Larry Ellison, founder of the software firm Oracle, is the second-richest billionaire in both the US and the world, and for a brief moment was No. 1 in the world (AP, 9/11/25). . .”

“Former CBS Evening News star Dan Rather (Hollywood Reporter, 9/15/25) said Americans “have to be concerned about the consolidation of huge billionaires getting control of nearly all of the major news outlets. . .”

“Rather and others are right that the Ellison duo taking over both CBS and CNN, as well as controlling a major social media network like TikTok, would be dangerous for democracy. And given their closeness to the Trump regime, that seems to be the point.”

Read the full article at:

https://fair.org/home/as-ellison-buys-out-tiktok-us-moves-toward-one-party-media/

Media Monopoly?

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Article in Mediaite by Colby Hallm 9/17/25

Headline: “Can Larry Ellison and TikTok Rescue the TV Industry?”

“Once upon a time, television was the fireplace around which America gathered. Paramount’s movies filled the multiplex, CBS’s anchors narrated history, CNN beamed wars and elections into living rooms.

“Now the hearth has been replaced by a five-inch rectangle that no one can put down . . .”

Read the full article at:

https://www.mediaite.com/opinion/can-larry-ellison-and-tiktok-rescue-the-tv-industry/

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Article in Democracy Now by Staff, 9/16/25

Headline:  “Billionaire Larry Ellison Could Add TikTok to Media Empire as U.S. and China Reach Deal”

“Larry Ellison has a decades-long history with the Republican Party and has frequented Trump’s Mar-a-Lago for dinners and has met Trump in the Oval Office. . .”

“This comes just months after the Trump administration cleared the way for an $8 billion merger between Paramount and Skydance, which is run by David Ellison, son of Larry Ellison.  . .”

Read the full article at:

https://www.democracynow.org/2025/9/16/headlines/billionaire_larry_ellison_could_add_tiktok_to_media_empire_as_us_and_china_reach_deal