Media Corruption

FCC Moving Further Right

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Article in Poynter by Tom Jones, 8/11/26

Headline:  “Opinion | Trump’s FCC is poised for a further shift to the right”

Subhead:  “Trump’s latest nominee could give Republicans enough votes to conduct business without the commission’s lone Democrat”

“In a move that could further politicize the Federal Communications Commission, President Donald Trump has nominated Danielle Thumann Severs, a longtime aide to FCC Chairman Brendan Carr, to fill one of the agency’s two vacant seats.

“Axios’ Sara Fischer writes, ‘If confirmed by the Senate, Thumann Severs would make it much easier for the Republican-led FCC to hold and pass votes unilaterally without any Democratic friction’. . .”

Read the full article at:

https://www.poynter.org/commentary/2026/trump-nominated-danielle-thumann-severs-fcc/

FCC Free Speech Threat?

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Article in Free Press by Staff, 8/6/26

Headline:  “Free-Speech Advocates Mark Out Chairman Carr’s History of Censorship as the FCC Convenes Its August Meeting”

“On Thursday, sign-holding volunteers and advocates marked out FCC Chairman Brendan Carr’s disturbing history of censorship outside the entrance to the agency’s Washington headquarters. . .”

“The Corruption Walk exposes the FCC chairman’s role as President Donald Trump’s censorship czar. This shameful history, recounted in a series of 11 signs, details the chairman’s corrupt attempts to silence and bully any media that refuse to bow to Trump’s anti-democratic White House agenda. . .”

Read the full article at:

https://www.freepress.net/news/free-speech-advocates-mark-out-chairman-carrs-history-censorship-fcc-convenes-its-august

More Media Agglomeration?

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Article in CNN Business by Brian Stelter, 7/15/26\

Headline: “FCC moves to deliver long-sought win for Trump-aligned broadcasters”

“The Federal Communications Commission is changing its rules so that local TV station owners can get much, much bigger. . .”

“Carr announced on Wednesday that the FCC will vote next month to repeal its national broadcast ownership rule, which prohibits a single company from reaching more than 39% of US TV households.

Read the full article at:

https://www.cnn.com/2026/07/15/media/fcc-carr-trump-broadcasters-sinclair-nexstar

FCC Hobby, Getting Gifts?

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Article in AlterNet by Corey G. Johnson – ProPublica, 7/15/26

Headline:  “Busted: Paramount gave FCC officials gifts while seeking approval for billion-dollar dea

“The rich and famous who filed into the Kennedy Center’s opera house in December. . .”

“Federal Communications Commissioner Olivia Trusty cast a decisive vote approving Paramount’s historic $8 billion merger with Skydance Media. Now, the commissioner and a guest enjoyed the star-studded celebration thanks to tickets gifted to her by Paramount worth more than $12,000. . .

“The other commissioner who approved the merger watched from a prized perch. FCC Chair Brendan Carr and his wife sat in a private skybox with Paramount CEO David Ellison and other executives from Paramount and CBS. Such seats sold for $125,000 a ticket, according to Kennedy Center guidelines. . .”

Read the full article at:

https://www.alternet.org/fcc-paramount/

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Article in Daily Kos by Lisa Needham, 7/15/26

Headline:  “Trump’s FCC cronies get in on the sweet bribe action”

“Why should President Donald Trump have all the fun of extorting money from people with business before the government? How ‘bout letting the folks in charge of the Federal Communications Commission get a taste, hmmm?

“ProPublica broke the news that both FCC Commissioner Olivia Trusty and FCC Chair Brendan Carr got a little treat. . .”

Read the full article at:

https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2026/7/15/800070473/news/trumps-fcc-cronies-get-in-on-the-sweet-bribe-action/

Stomping Out Reporting?

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Article in The Guardian by Margaret Sullivan, 7/14/26

Headline: “With New York Times subpoenas, Trump is brazenly escalating his attacks on the press”

Subhead:  “Federal agents showed up at reporters’ homes, targeting journalists for doing exactly what the first amendment protects”

“To non-journalists, receiving a government subpoena is a serious thing but probably not a violation of basic rights. . .”

” ‘“When the public’s right to know is crushed, as the Trump administration is trying to do … all of us suffer irreparable harm,’ responded Stephen Adler, chairperson of the Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press. . .”

Read the full article at:

https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2026/jul/14/new-york-times-subpoenas-trump-media

WaPo Tipping the Scale?

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Article in FAIR by Pete Tucker, 7/9/26

Headline:  “One Year Into Clampdown, WaPo Opinion Cheers for MAGA, Billionaires and AI”

“It’s been an eventful year since Washington Post owner Jeff Bezos tapped Adam O’Neal for the prestigious job of Post Opinions editor. O’Neal was an unusual hire, a 33-year-old with little by way of managerial experience. But O’Neal had a redeeming quality: He was ready to shill for Bezos, and the man Bezos has been desperately wooing, President Donald Trump. . .”

Read the full article at:

https://fair.org/home/one-year-into-the-clampdown-wapo-opinion-cheers-for-maga-billionaires-and-ai/

Media Say People Envy the Gold?

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Article in The Guardian by Arwa Mahdawi, 6/30/26

Headline:  “Doubt that Elon Musk ‘earned’ his trillion? Rightwing media says you’re in an ‘impotent envy cult’ “

Subhead:  “The lovefest from Musk’s conservative fans completely overlooks the unscrupulous tactics behind his immense wealth”

“. . .The National Review dismisses anyone who questions Musk’s wealth as being part of ‘an impotent envy cult’. Per the National Review: ‘There are such things in history as great men, and Musk is one of them.’ The Los Angeles Times (owned by another billionaire born in South Africa) is similarly enthusiastic; columnist Jonah Goldberg explained that Musk’s trillionaire status ‘is a good thing, actually’ because the economy is not a ‘static pie’: innovation grows the pie, meaning more pie for everyone. . .”

“Are you wondering where your slice is? Or how the world’s richest people have claimed, according to Oxfam, more of this pie than half of humanity?. . .”

Read the full article at:

https://www.theguardian.com/global/commentisfree/2026/jun/30/elon-musk-trillion-rightwing-media

Buying President – Media Empire Victory?

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Article in The Nation by Jeet Heer, 6/29/26

Headline:  “For Larry Ellison, Buying Trump Is the Bargain of the Century”

Subhead:  “The billionaire has gotten media dominance and cozy government deals for what amounts to chicken feed.”

“For most people, $45 million is a staggering sum of wealth, enough to satisfy all their dreams of avarice and more. But for tech plutocrat Larry Ellison, $45 million is just a drop in the bucket.  . . To put that in perspective, for someone with $200 billion, spending $45 million is the equivalent of a person with a net worth of $200,000 spending $45. In other words, it’s chicken feed rather than real money. And it was all Ellison needed to get in Donald Trump’s good graces. . .

Read the full article at:

https://www.thenation.com/article/politics/larry-ellison-trump-corruption/

Et Tu NBC?

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Article in Status by Natalie Korach, 6/17/26

Headline:  “NBC’s Ballroom Blowback”

Subhead: “An NBCUniversal executive’s candid remarks justifying Comcast’s donation to Trump’s ballroom stunned reporters in the room and reignited questions about the company’s motives, Status has learned.”

“On Wednesday, NBC-owned stations news directors and NBC News investigative reporters gathered for a network training day ahead of the 2026 Investigative Reporters & Editors conference in National Harbor, Maryland. But amid a day of the usual presentations and speeches, some attendees were surprised to hear what sounded like an NBCUniversal executive suggesting that parent company Comcast’s multimillion-dollar donation to Donald Trump’s controversial White House ballroom project was simply a cost of doing business. . .

Read the full article at:

https://www.status.news/p/comcast-ballroom-donation-trump-nbc-news

Media and 2020 Election

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Article in AlterNet by D. Earl Stephens, 6/10/26

Headline:  “Opinion | Veteran reporter tells complicit media to ‘go to hell’ “

“As the smoke finally started to clear following Joe Biden’s victory in the 2020 election, and Donald Trump’s violent attack aimed at overthrowing our government just two months later, I wrote a piece castigating our disintegrating working press in the United States.

“The thrust of my write was this: If you were addressing ANY Republican about ANYTHING, your first question simply had to be, “Do you believe Donald Trump lost the 2020 election?. . .”

Read the full article at:

https://www.alternet.org/alternet-exclusives/complicit-media-trump/