Media Consolidation

Down the Drain?

by

Article in UPI by Mike Heuer, 2/4/26

Headline:  “The Washington Post fires nearly a third of its news staff”

More than 300 reporters and others are being let go from The Washington Post amid financial troubles, the Jeff Bezos-owned company announced on Wednesday.

“The firings amount to about a third of the total workers at the award-winning newspaper that once broke the Watergate break-in and other important news events. . .”

Read the full article at:

https://www.upi.com/Top_News/US/2026/02/04/washington-post-firings/4841770239709/

– – – – –

Article in Columbia Journalism Review by Amos Barshad & Siddhartha Mahanta, 2/4/26

Headline:  “A Dismantling of the Washington Post”

Subhead:  “Our leadership destroyed our brand.”

‘In a staffwide call with employees Wednesday morning, Matt Murray, the executive editor of the Washington Post, and Wayne Connell, the paper’s chief human resources officer, announced sweeping staff cuts. ‘Every department across the newsroom will be impacted to some degree,’ Murray said, in a recording of the call shared with CJR. The sports department and books section will be closed; Post Reports, a politics podcast, will be suspended. The paper’s international footprint will shrink. . .”

Read the full article at:

https://www.cjr.org/news/layoffs-dismantling-washington-post-bezos-murray.php

Playing a Game With The Media

by

Article in The Hill by Dominick Mastrangelo, 2/3/26

Headline:  “Netflix, Warner Bros Discovery execs grilled by Senators over megamerger”

“Executives for entertainment giants Netflix and Warner Bros. Discovery on Tuesday faced a grilling from lawmakers on Capitol Hill, with senators raising concern about a planned megamerger between the two companies that would create one of the largest media conglomerates in the world. . .”

“Critics of the deal say it would harm competition in the entertainment production and film industry, giving Netflix too much control of the way millions of people in the U.S. and abroad see the world. . .”

Read the full article at:

https://thehill.com/media/5721455-netflix-warner-brothers-merger-hearing/

Fighting Media Consolidation

by

Article in Free Press by Staff, 1/27/26

Headline: “Dozens of Groups Send FCC a Letter of Support for Petition to Deny Illegal Nexstar-Tegna Merger”

Subhead: “This massive broadcast-industry merger would be a blatant violation of the law prohibiting one company from too much control over local airwaves”

“On Tuesday, 28 public-interest groups, labor unions and civil-rights organizations sent the Federal Communications Commission a letter of support for a public-interest petition to deny the proposed merger of Nexstar and Tegna.

The petition — filed at the end of 2025 by Free Press, the National Association of Broadcast Employees and Technicians—Communications Workers of America (NABET-CWA), The NewsGuild—Communications Workers of America (TNG-CWA), the United Church of Christ Media Justice Ministry and Public Knowledge — calls on the agency to reject a merger that would create an illegal broadcast conglomerate. The deal would exceed the 39-percent audience-reach “National Cap” Congress set. . .”

Read the full article at:

https://www.freepress.net/news/dozens-groups-send-fcc-letter-support-petition-deny-illegal-nexstar-tegna-merger

CBS Turning on Trump?

by

Article in The Daily Beast by Laura Esposito, 1/26/26

Headline: “MAGA-Curious CBS Boss’ Outlet Calls Out ICE Barbie ‘Lies’ “

“Even CBS News’ new, controversial editor-in-chief couldn’t look away from the killing of yet another U.S. citizen in Minneapolis.

“Bari Weiss’s anti-woke Substack, The Free Press, broke ranks with the Trump administration in a blistering editorial that slammed Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem’s defense of a border patrol agent who fatally shot VA nurse Alex Pretti, 37. . .”

Read the full article at:

https://www.thedailybeast.com/maga-curious-cbs-boss-outlet-calls-out-ice-barbie-lies/

Takeover of Local Newspapers?

by

Article in Columbia Journalism Review by Lois Parshley, 1/26/26

Headline:  “Carpenter Media’s Ominous Takeover of Local News”

Subhead:  “In just a few years, a publisher based in Tuscaloosa, Alabama, has become the country’s fourth-largest newspaper operator. Some reporters wonder if it isn’t the cruelest.”

“. . .Carpenter Media Group, based in Tuscaloosa, Alabama, has grown into a media empire at a rapid clip. When the company bought the Homer News, in March of 2024, it operated just twenty-seven publications in a handful of states. Today, it runs more than two hundred and fifty outlets in the United States and Canada and is America’s fourth-largest newspaper company. . .”

Read the full article at:

https://www.cjr.org/feature/carpenter-media-ominous-takeover-local-news-tuscaloosa-alabama-homer-alaska-pleznac-charlie-kirk.php

Even More Duopoly Rules Discarded?

by


Article in Free Press by Staff, 12/31/25

Headline:  “Labor Unions and Media Justice Groups File Petition Urging the FCC to Reject Nexstar’s Proposed Takeover of Tegna“

“The petition to deny the transfer of broadcast licenses from TEGNA to Nexstar was filed by Free Press, the National Association of Broadcast Employees and Technicians—Communications Workers of America (NABET-CWA), The NewsGuild—Communications Workers of America (TNG-CWA), the United Church of Christ Media Justice Ministry and Public Knowledge. In their filing the petitioners state that the merger would result in an illegal broadcast conglomerate, exceeding the 39-percent audience-reach ‘National Cap’ set by Congress.

“Though Nexstar and TEGNA seek a waiver of this limit, the commission is prohibited by law from waiving, altering, or eliminating this National Cap. . .”

Read the full article at:

https://www.freepress.net/news/labor-unions-and-media-justice-groups-file-petition-urging-fcc-reject-nexstars-proposed

State Controlled Media Around the Corner?

by

Article in Democracy Now by Amy Goodman & Denis Moynahan, 12/24/15

Headline:  “CBS 60 Minutes Censorship Rings Another Alarm, Warning of Corporate Media’s Threat to Democracy”

“This week, we learned another lesson about how corporate media consolidation corrupts democracy. A story on President Donald Trump’s mass deportation of shackled Venezuelan men to El Salvador’s notorious CECOT prison was to air on CBS’s flagship news magazine, ’60 Minutes.’ The segment was spiked by CBS’ newly-installed Editor-in Chief Bari Weiss. This censorship exposes a web of conflicts of interest, and demonstrates, yet again, that democracy depends on a strong, independent media that is a true fourth estate, not “for the state.’. . .”

Read the full article at:

https://www.democracynow.org/2025/12/24/cbs_60_minutes_censorship_rings_another

Media 2025, What happened?

by

Article in Statusnews by Oliver Darcy, 12/23/25

Headline:  “Status Check: The Winners and Losers of 2025:”

Subhead:  “In a year defined by consolidation, political pressure, and audience upheaval, these are the media figures who finished 2025 on top—and those who watched their influence fade.”

“2025 was a bruising year for the media industry. Established giants from New York to Hollywood were pushed deeper into upheaval by relentless consolidation, fleeing audiences, and mounting political pressure. At the same time, artificial intelligence posed a growing dilemma for newsrooms, audience trust continued to fray, and Donald Trump’s return to power once again warped executive decisions. . .”

Read the full article at:

https://www.status.news/p/media-winners-losers-2025

Grave News?

by

Article in Status by Natalie Korach, 12/22/25

Headline:  “Bari’ing The News”

Subhead:  “The decision to spike a ready-to-air ’60 Minutes’ segment has frayed trust at CBS News and renewed fears of interference by Paramount management amid its WBD bid.”

“In August, David Ellison and the new executive team for Paramount held a press conference with media reporters as the Skydance acquisition closed, where Status’ own Oliver Darcy pointedly asked whether executives would ;commit to not meddling or interfering in any way with ‘60 Minutes.’  Ellison refused to directly answer his inquiries about the editorial independence of CBS News, though investor Gerry Cardinale insisted that interference in editorial programming would be ‘bad business.’

“On Sunday, those concerns regarding CBS News’ editorial direction became tangible, as Bari Weiss, Ellison’s hand-picked editor-in-chief, pulled a ’60 Minutes’ investigation into conditions at El Salvador’s CECOT prison. . .”

Read the full article at:

https://www.status.news/p/bari-weiss-60-minutes-segment-cbs-news

Are Media Sick?

by

Article in The Guardian by Margaret Sullivan, 12/20/25

Headline:  “The tug-of-war over CNN shows how dysfunctional US media has become”

Subhead:  “The network’s fate has become a battle of corporate ownership, not a question of what benefits Americans”

“. . .Whatever the outcome, the fate of CNN has become part of a high-stakes game of corporate ownership, not as a question of what benefits the information-seeking public.

“America’s media system isn’t set up for that lofty goal. It’s set up for corporate profitability, for shareholder gain, for ever-increasing size and ever-decreasing competition. . .”

“Policies that strengthen independent news organizations, bolster local journalism, fund public media, and prohibit the concentration of media power in too few hands are not only possible – they are necessary for a functioning democracy.”

Read the full article at:

https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2025/dec/20/cnn-us-news-media-corporate-ownership