Media Corruption

Loony-Bin Reporting?

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Article in Columbia Journalism Review by Aida Alami, 11/3/25

Headline:  “Twin Assaults on Press Freedom”

Subhead:  “The ICE detention of Sami Hamdi closely follows the deportation of Mario Guevara.”

“Hamdi’s arrest was first announced by Laura Loomer, the far-right anti-Muslim troll with close ties to the Trump administration, via a triumphant post on X with the word ‘SCOOP’ and a siren emoji: ‘As a direct result of Amy [Mekelburg]’s report and my relentless pressure on the State Department and Department of Homeland Security, US officials have now moved to take action against Hamdi’s visa status and his continued presence in this country’. . .”

Read the full article at:

https://www.cjr.org/the_media_today/twin-assaults-press-freedom-sami-hamdi-ice-abduction-loomer-amy-mek-dhs.php

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Article in The Washington Post by By Scott Nover and Drew Harwell, 11/3/25

Headline:  “Laura Loomer is now credentialed to cover the Pentagon”

Subhead:  “The far-right activist and former congressional candidate has repeatedly criticized defense officials on her website and social media accounts while boasting of her close ties to President Donald Trump.”

“Laura Loomer, the far-right political activist and former congressional candidate in Florida, has been credentialed to cover the Defense Department, according to one person familiar with the matter, joining a new cohort of right-wing media that have agreed to the Pentagon’s new press policy. . .”

Read the full article at:

https://www.washingtonpost.com/business/2025/11/03/laura-loomer-pentagon-credentials/

Someone Wants to Control All Media

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Article in The Guardian by Owen Jones, 10/29/25

Headline:  “From CBS to TikTok, US media are falling to Trump’s allies. This is how democracy crumbles”

Subhead:  “We’re watching the Orbánisation of the US – and as in Hungary, control of the media is key to consolidating power”

“Democracy may be dying in the US. Whether the patient receives emergency treatment in time will determine whether the condition becomes terminal. Before Donald Trump’s return to the presidency, I warned of ‘Orbánisation’ – in reference to Hungary’s authoritarian leader Viktor Orbán. There, democracy was not extinguished by firing squads or the mass imprisonment of dissidents, but by slow attrition. . .”

Read the full article at:

https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2025/oct/29/cbs-tiktok-us-media-donald-trump-allies-democracy

 

Entertaining Propaganda?

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Article in The Atlantic by Anne Applebaum, 10/27/25

Headline:  “The Pentagon’s Version of Regime Propaganda”

Subhead:  “The Trump administration is trying to muddle reality—and create apathy.”

“When you imagine media in a dictatorship, you probably think of something dull and gray. Maybe a Soviet state-television program, extolling the annual harvest. Perhaps a smudgy newspaper photograph of Chairman Mao or General Pinochet, surrounded by blocks of turgid prose.

“But if that is your mental picture, then your imagination is out of date. Nowadays, authoritarian propaganda can be varied, colorful, even mesmerizing. . .”

“For the first time in our history, the Department of Defense has been carefully preparing to offer Americans something similar: not information but entertainment, scandal, sycophancy, and jokes. . .”

Read the full article at:

https://www.theatlantic.com/ideas/archive/2025/10/pentagon-press-restrictions-new-media-propaganda/684706/

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Article in Media Matters by Matt Gertz, 10/27/25

Headline:  “Pete Hegseth is replacing the Pentagon press corps with MAGA propagandists”

“Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth is stifling the Pentagon’s channels for public information and cutting off avenues for accountability as U.S. forces deploy on missions of dubious legality that are fraught with potential danger. . .”

Read the full article at:

https://www.mediamatters.org/pete-hegseth/pete-hegseth-replacing-pentagon-press-corps-maga-propagandists

Sir! – Your Loyal Press Corps is Here!

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Article in Poynter by Tom Jones, 10/23/25

Headline:  “Opinion | The Pentagon’s new press corps — journalists or advocates?”

Subhead:  “When real reporters walked out, the Pentagon handed press badges to the MyPillow crowd and MAGA influencers”

“For years, the Department of Defense — one of the most important, scrutinized and reported-on departments in our government — has been covered extensively by reporters from inside the Pentagon. This included journalists from some of the most respected and accomplished news outlets in the business, such as The New York Times, The Washington Post, NBC, CBS, ABC, and CNN, just to name a few. . .”

“But those outlets are no longer in the Pentagon after refusing to sign a new press policy that prohibits journalists from accessing or soliciting information that the Defense Department doesn’t make available to them, including even unclassified information. . .”

Read the full article at:

https://www.poynter.org/commentary/2025/pentagon-press-corps-mypillow-tv-lindell-tim-pool/

Propaganda Journalists Selected

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Article in The Guardian by Eric Berger, 10/22/25

Headline:  “Pentagon names new press corps from far-right outlets after reporter walkout”

Subhead:  “Spokesperson calls journalists who refused to agree to new rules ‘self-righteous media who chose to self-deport’”

“After the recent departure of Pentagon reporters due to their refusal to agree to a new set of restrictive policies, the defense department has announced a “next generation of the Pentagon press corps” featuring 60 journalists from far-right outlets, many of which have promoted conspiracy theories. . .”

Read the full article at:

https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025/oct/22/pentagon-press-corps

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Article in Daily Kos by Oliver Willis, 10/22/25

Headline:  “Pentagon’s new press corps is the stuff of nightmares”

“The Trump administration announced Wednesday that a group of far-right media outlets have been given press access to the Pentagon. . .”

“The Pentagon’s new right-wing press corps is beyond ill-equipped to handle independent reporting. But when it comes to producing stories that get Hegseth’s approval, it’ll pass with flying colors.”

Read the full article at:

https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2025/10/22/2349917/-Pentagon-s-new-press-corps-is-the-stuff-of-nightmares?pm_campaign=front_page&pm_source=top_news_slot_1&pm_medium=web

Grabbing All the Media?

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Article in The Guardian by Laura Aratani, 10/21/25

Headline:  “Warner Bros Discovery considers sale as potential buyers show interest”

Subhead:  “Netflix, Comcast and Paramount Skydance are reportedly among possible bidders in sale that could shake up industry”

“Warner Bros Discovery is considering putting the entire company up for sale, a move that could see huge restructuring in an industry that has seen ripples of changes since Donald Trump took office. . .”

“Warner Bros Discovery is the parent company of several subsidiaries including CNN, HBO, DC Studios and the Harry Potter franchise. . .”

Read the full article at:

https://www.theguardian.com/film/2025/oct/21/warner-bros-discovery-considers-sale

Fox in a Whitehouse

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Article in Media Matters by Tyler Monroe, 10/20/25

Headline: “Star Fox host Laura Ingraham is now in business with the president’s son”

“Fox News star Laura Ingraham spent years railing against the purported corruption caused by the business interests of President Joe Biden’s son. But now she’s going into business with Donald Trump Jr., federal records show, a wildly and obviously unethical conflict of interest that no credible news outlet would tolerate. . .

Read the full article at:

https://www.mediamatters.org/donald-trump-jr/star-fox-host-laura-ingraham-now-business-presidents-son

Unhealthy Media Claim

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Article in Media Matters by Zachary Pleat & Craig Harrington, 10/14/25

Headline:  “Right-wing media falsely claim benefits go to undocumented immigrants as millions of Americans face health coverage losses”

Subhead:  “Right-wing media join the Trump administration’s campaign to dismantle American health care system”

“. . .Right-wing media responded to Democrats’ demands by falsely claiming that the health care coverage losses Democrats are trying to reverse are actually benefits that will illegally go to undocumented immigrants.

“To this end, right-wing media are conflating lawfully present immigrants, who can qualify for some health benefits, with undocumented immigrants, who cannot. . .”

Read the full article at:

https://www.mediamatters.org/health-care/right-wing-media-falsely-claim-benefits-go-undocumented-immigrants-millions-americans

Bag of Cash? – Nothing Wrong Here

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Article in The New Republic by Malcolm Ferguson, 10/14/25

Headline:  “Trump Lashes Out at ABC Reporter After Disastrous Vance Interview”

Subhead:  “Donald Trump refused to take a question from an ABC reporter in his meeting with Argentine President Javier Milei.”

“President Trump refused to answer a question from an ABC reporter at his sitdown with Argentine President Javier Milei on Tuesday, citing host George Stephanopoulos’s embarrassment of Vice President JD Vance on Sunday. . .”

“Stephanopoulos didn’t “do” anything to Vance—he simply called him out on his B.S. regarding the $50,000 cash bribe the FBI caught current White House border czar Tom Homan accepting in a sting operation in 2024. Vance and the Trump administration continue to state that Homan committed no crime while being unable to say where the $50,000 went. . .”

Read the full article at:

https://newrepublic.com/post/201760/trump-refuses-answer-abc-reporter-jd-vance-interview

In the Shredder?

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Article in Daily Beast by Janna Brancolini, 10/6/25

Headline:  “Murdoch Paper Shreds Trump’s ‘Self-Destructive’ Fiasco”

“Rupert Murdoch’s Wall Street Journal blasted President Donald Trump’s tariff policy as “self-destructive folly” in response to plans to bail out farmers whose markets the administration has destroyed.

“Trump is considering a $10 billion relief package for soybean farmers, who have seen their sales plummet, thanks to the president’s trade war with China, which has hit American soybeans with a 23-percent import tax. . .”

Read the full article at:

https://www.thedailybeast.com/rupert-murdoch-paper-shreds-donald-trumps-self-destructive-tariff-fiasco/