Media Intimidation

Nasty Taco Question?

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Article in Mediaite by Zachary Leeman, 5/28/25

Headline:  “Trump Rages at Reporter Asking ‘Nasty Question’ About Accusations He ‘Chicken Outs’ On Tariffs”

“President Donald Trump lashed out at a reporter on Wednesday over her ‘nasty question’ on critics accusing him of ‘always chickening out.’

“At the Wednesday swearing-in ceremony for Jeanine Pirro as Washington, D.C.’s top prosecutor, Trump took some questions and at one point was educated on the term TACO, meaning ‘Trump Always Chickens Out.’ The term was reportedly first coined by Financial Times columnist Robert Armstrong, and it’s since picked up steam with Wall Streeters who believe Trump’s tariff negotiations first tank the markets, leading to him inevitably backing off.

“ ‘Mr. President, Wall Street analysts have coined a new term called the taco trade. They’re saying Trump always chickens out on your tariff threats. And that’s why markets are higher this week. What’s your response to that?’ CNBC White House correspondent Megan Casella asked Trump. . .”

Read the full article at:

https://www.mediaite.com/media/news/trump-rages-at-reporter-asking-nasty-question-about-accusations-he-chicken-outs-on-tariffs/

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Article in Axios by Emily Peck, 5/28/25

Headline:  “How a columnist’s catchphrase caused an Oval Office stir”

“At a press conference Wednesday, President Trump had a very unhappy reaction to being asked about the ‘TACO trade’ — a shorthand for Trump Always Chickens Out.

“Why it matters: Traders have been using TACO to describe the belief that the president will back off on a big tariff threat if the markets sink in response. . .”

“State of play: Trump was asked about a spate of TACO-related headlines while taking questions in the Oval Office Wednesday.

” ‘I’ve never heard that, you mean because I reduced China from 145%,’ he said, then detailing how he stepped down that threat, as well as the higher rate on the EU.

” ‘But don’t ever say what you said. That’s a nasty question’. . ..”

Read the full article at:

https://www.axios.com/2025/05/29/trump-taco-trade-tariffs

Reporting a Hidden War

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Article in Columbia Journalism Review by Nalova Akua, 5/27/25

Headline:  “The Hidden Toll of Reporting on the Sudanese Civil War”

Subhead:  “Local journalists say it often feels like belligerents are waging an undeclared war against the press.”

“In June 2023, Nader Shilkawi, a thirty-four-year-old journalist working with the Sudan Radio and Television Corporation, was returning home from a reporting trip when he was seized by members of a paramilitary group known as the Rapid Support Forces. The group—a party in a brutal civil war that has torn the country apart since April 2023—accused the reporter of working with the Sudanese army to monitor its movements. ‘I was subjected to torture in detention,’ Shilkawi said recently via a WhatsApp message. ‘I was beaten. I received threats.’

“He was eventually released, after three days of detention. But Shilkawi’s story is not so uncommon. The Sudanese civil war, now in its third year, has left more than 150,000 people dead and an estimated fourteen million more displaced. It has also quietly become one of the most dangerous conflicts in the world for journalists. . .”

Read the full story at:

https://www.cjr.org/news/journalism-reporters-sudan-civil-war.php

Broadcaster Over the Volcano

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Article in MSN by Meg James, 5/27/25

Headline:  “Trump, ’60 Minutes’ and corruption allegations put Paramount on edge with sale less certain”

“One fateful October decision to trim two convoluted sentences from a ’60 Minutes‘ interview with then-Vice President Kamala Harris has snowballed into a full-blown corporate crisis for CBS’ parent company, Paramount Global, and its controlling shareholder, Shari Redstone.

“President Trump’s $20-billion lawsuit — claiming ’60 Minutes’ producers deceptively manipulated the Harris interview to make her look smarter — has festered, clouding the future of Paramount and the company’s hoped-for $8-billion sale to David Ellison’s Skydance Media.

“The dispute over the edits has sparked massive unrest within the company, prompted high-level departures and triggered a Federal Communications Commission examination of alleged news bias. The FCC’s review of the Skydance deal has become bogged down, according to people familiar with the matter who weren’t authorized to comment.. .”

Read the full article here:

https://www.msn.com/en-us/politics/government/ar-AA1FyJMu

Journalists Cover Real History

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Article in Huffpost by Jazmin Tolliver, 5/26/25

Headline:  ” ‘60 Minutes’ Reporter Rips Into Trump In Viral Commencement Speech”

Subhead:  “The veteran CBS News reporter also accused Trump of working to ‘rewrite history with grotesque false narratives.’ “

“Journalist Scott Pelley accused President Donald Trump of ‘attacking’ free speech and spreading ‘insidious fear’ among the public during a commencement address at Wake Forest University.

“The speech came as concerns grow over the country’s free speech rights amid Trump’s targeted attacks aimed at universities over a range of topics, including diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) practices and foreign students’ enrollment. Trump and Harvard University are currently embroiled in a heated legal battle over its enrollment of foreign students.

“Our sacred rule of law is under attack,” Pelley began his message. ‘Journalism is under attack. Universities are under attack. Freedom of speech is under attack, and insidious fear is reaching through our schools, our businesses and into our private thoughts.’. . .”

Read the full article at:

https://www.huffpost.com/entry/journalist-scott-pelley-trump-attack-free-speech_n_6834bbbce4b0b885650cba0a?swk

Restrict Press, Make Hegseth Safe

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Article in Status by Oliver Darcy, 5/26/25

Headline:  “Hegseth’s Safe Space”

Subhead:  “As backlash brewed over new restrictions on press access, the Pentagon made a second, quieter move—one that sent another troubling signal about how far it’s willing to go to create a safe space for Pete Hegseth”.

“On Friday afternoon, just before the holiday weekend was set to begin, word began to spread among Pentagon reporters: new, even more restrictive press limitations were imminent. Shortly after, the Pentagon Press Association was informed just how sweeping they would be. Pete Hegseth, the embattled Secretary of Defense, announced he would revoke journalists’ long-held ability to navigate the Pentagon’s unclassified hallways freely, cutting off access that has been permitted across Republican and Democratic administrations for decades. . .”

“Hegseth cloaked the decision in the language of national security. . .”

Read the full article at:

https://www.status.news/p/pete-hegseth-pentagon-press-access

VOA Angst

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Article in Poynter by Liam Scott, 4/23/25

Headline: ” ‘I am angry most of the time’: Inside a small VOA cohort’s return to work”

Subhead: “The bare-bones return has been marked by low morale, confusion and uncertainty, VOA sources say”

“Several weeks after the Trump administration began gutting Voice of America in March, the news agency is back — except, not really.

“A small cohort of Voice of America staffers quietly returned to the Washington office in early May, where they have been tasked with covering the news at a tiny fraction of the agency’s previous capacity.

“Instead of 49 languages, the congressionally funded but editorially independent news network is barely publishing in four. And instead of some 1,300 staffers, only about 30 are working. . .”

read the full article at:

https://www.poynter.org/business-work/2025/voice-of-america-staff-back-office-skeleton-crew/

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Article in The Hill by Dominick Mastrangelo, 5/22/25

Headline:  “Trump-related crisis deepens at CBS News“

“The departure of two top executives at CBS News in recent weeks has shaken journalists at the outlet and fueled speculation the network’s corporate parent will soon settle a high-profile lawsuit brought against the company by President Trump.

“The resignation this week of CBS President Wendy McMahon came just weeks after that of “60 Minutes” executive producer Bill Owens.

“The back-to-back resignations served as the latest sign that a brooding crisis for one of the country’s largest and oldest broadcast news networks is reaching an inflection point. . .”

Read the full article at:

https://thehill.com/media/5312467-cbs-executives-resign-trump-lawsuit/

Insulting Journalists Presidential?

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Article in Poynter by Tom Jones, 5/22/25

Headline:  “Opinion | Another day, another press conference with President Donald Trump insulting a journalist”

Subhead:  “Trump goes after NBC’s Peter Alexander for Qatari plane question during meeting with South African president”

“Stop me if you’ve heard this one before. A reporter asks a perfectly legitimate question of President Donald Trump. And because Trump doesn’t like the question, he verbally accosts the reporter, and the reporter’s news organization, with insults.

“Rinse and repeat.

“It’s getting tiresome, isn’t it? Not the story, but Trump’s repeated pettiness and attacks against the press that is unbecoming of the President of the United States. . .”

Read the full article at :

https://www.poynter.org/commentary/2025/another-day-another-press-conference-with-president-donald-trump-insulting-a-journalist-wesley-lowery-lady-gaga/

End Diversity, Get License

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Article in Ars Technica by John Brodkin, 5/20/25

Headline:  “FCC Chair Brendan Carr is letting ISPs merge—as long as they end DEI programs”

It’s shaping up to be a big year for telecom mergers, and it appears the Federal Communications Commission is eager to approve the deals—as long as companies involved drop any DEI (Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion) policies criticized by FCC Chairman Brendan Carr. Verizon just got a big merger approved, and cable giant Charter is seeking permission to buy Cox.

The FCC on Friday announced approval of Verizon’s purchase of Frontier, one day after Verizon committed to end DEI policies in a filing with the commission. Carr previously sent letters to Verizon and other companies alleging that their diversity policies are “invidious forms of discrimination” that violate federal law and threatened to block mergers pursued by firms that enforce such policies. . .”

Read the full article at:

https://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/2025/05/fcc-chair-brendan-carr-is-letting-isps-merge-as-long-as-they-end-dei-programs/

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Article in The Washington Post by Will Oremus and Andrea Jimenez, 5/20/25

Headline: “Carr’s FCC puts the political squeeze on media mergers”

“Now companies looking to close deals are also ditching diversity policies and, reportedly, responding to pressure to settle lawsuits with President Donald Trump.

“On Friday, Verizon won FCC approval to buy broadband internet provider Frontier for about $10 billion. The approval came the day after the company said in a letter to FCC Chairman Brendan Carr that it would end its diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) programs “effective immediately,” as the Intercept first reported.

“The agency cited that shift as a factor in its approval .  .  .”

Read the full article at:

https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2025/05/20/verizon-dei-carr-fcc-merger-cbs/

“60 Minutes” Fallout

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Article in Status by Oliver Darcy, 5/19/25

Headline:  “The Showdown Over ’60’ “

Subhead: “For months, CBS News boss Wendy McMahon faced mounting pressure over the network’s coverage of Donald Trump—and over the weekend, it hit a crescendo.”

“On Monday morning, Wendy McMahon walked into the CBS News offices on the west side of Manhattan and led the network’s daily editorial meeting as she always did. She congratulated “60 Minutes” on a standout season, acknowledged the unusual circumstances the newsmagazine had navigated, and went over programming plans. What she didn’t mention was that it would be one of her final days at the network. That came soon after, in a memo that stunned staffers across CBS News and sent a jolt through the broader media industry.

McMahon told staffers she was resigning from her role as president and chief executive of CBS News and Stations—a decision she’d quietly finalized over the weekend after a bruising, weeks-long battle with the company’s top brass. . .”

Read the fullarticle at:

https://www.status.news/p/cbs-news-60-minutes-wendy-mcmahon