Media Intimidation

“Project 2025” and the Media

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Article in Poynter by Angela Fu, 12/29/25

Headline:  “Here’s how many of Project 2025’s media proposals were implemented in 2025”

Subhead: “Outlets that received federal funding have been hit hardest, but even fully independent organizations have been affected”

“. . .Those goals include reforming the government’s relationship with the press. Indeed, many of Trump’s actions against journalists this year draw directly from Project 2025’s media proposals, and contributors to the project have played key roles in the administration’s attempts to stymie the press. Outlets that received federal funding — public broadcasters and United States Agency for Global Media affiliates — have been hit hardest. But even fully independent outlets have been affected. . .”

Read the full article at:

https://www.poynter.org/reporting-editing/2025/project-2025-actions-against-press/

Not All Media Crashed and Burned

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Article in The Guardian by Moira Donegan, 12/29/25

Headline:   “As the US media floundered this year, I couldn’t help but think: ‘Thank God I’m at the Guardian”

Subhead:  “Other outlets have asked their writers to compromise, but the Guardian has never – and would never – ask me to pull a punch”

“. . .On the other hand, US media organizations are also facing tremendous pressure from the Trump administration – and from Donald Trump personally, who has used a combination of frivolous defamation suits and weaponized regulatory agencies to extract vast sums from outlets that publish coverage he does not like and threaten the licenses of broadcasters who host voices critical of his movement. . .”

Read the full article at:

https://www.theguardian.com/media/2025/dec/29/us-media-trump-era-guardian

 

All Hail Legacy Media!

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Article in AlterNet by Earl Stephens, 12/27/25

Headline:  “Veteran journalist issues ruthless takedown of legacy media”

“. . .As many of you are aware, Trump and his lying, subservient Republican Orcs are in a war against the truth, and trying to crush anybody who dares report it. On Sunday, CBS News once again fell at the orange fascist’s fat little feet and spiked a story that was set to run on the once-venerable 60 Minutes news program, about the “the brutal and tortuous conditions” of his detention camps .

“This was only the latest surrender by our diminishing legacy media to the convicted felon who attacked us on January 6, 2021. . .”

Read the full article at:

https://www.alternet.org/alternet-exclusives/legacy-media-2026/

Media – Laugh or Cry?

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Article in Poynter by TyLisa Johnson, 12/26/25

Headline:  “Here are your favorite Poynter journalism memes from 2025”

Subhead:  “We laughed. We cried. It was a weird time to be a journalist, but comedy helped carry us through.”

“It’s a weird time to be a journalist. Digital news archives are disappearing. Generative AI is giving em dashes a bad name. Layoffs. Consolidations. Buyouts. Burnout. Countless, daily insults from the nation’s most powerful people. At the same time, the work to share truth and report the news is needed now more than ever.

“It’s a nonstop grind, and a nearly nonstop news cycle.

“Well, as the saying goes, you have to laugh to keep from crying . .”

Read the full article at:

https://www.poynter.org/reporting-editing/2025/poynter-journalism-memes-2025-news-humor-comedy/

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Article in Daily Kos by Brian McFadden, 12/26/25

Headline:  “Cartoon: Incredible global news 2025”

Cartoons by Brian McFadden

Read the Full Story at:

https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2025/12/26/2359573/-Cartoon-Incredible-global-news-2025?pm_campaign=front_page&pm_source=top_news_slot_2&pm_medium=web

Trump, the Knife?

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Article in Poynter by Angela Fu, 12/22/25

Headline:  “The numbers that defined the Trump administration’s attacks against the press in 2025”

Subhead:  “Nine hours into his term, Trump took his first action against the media. The attacks only escalated from there.”

“After waiting four years to return to the White House, President Donald Trump did not hesitate.

“Congratulations from foreign leaders were still pouring in on Inauguration Day when Trump signed his first directive. That day, he issued a raft of executive orders, proclamations and pardons that remade vast swaths of public policy and upended lives around the globe. Among those affected by his actions were journalists. Just nine hours into his term, Trump suspended hundreds of millions of dollars of foreign aid meant to support press freedom overseas. . .:

Read the full article at:

https://www.poynter.org/reporting-editing/2025/united-states-press-freedom-donald-trump/

Killing the News

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Article in Reporters Without Borders, 12/22/25

Headline: “2025, a deadly year for journalists: this is where hate and impunity lead”

Subhead:  “Journalists do not just die – they are killed. The number of murdered journalists has risen again, due to the criminal practices of military groups — both regular and paramilitary — and organised crime. . .”

“. . .“This is where the hatred of journalists leads! It led to the death of 67 journalists this year – not by accident, and they weren’t collateral victims. They were killed, targeted for their work. It is perfectly legitimate to criticise the media — criticism should serve as a catalyst for change that ensures the survival of the free press, a public good. But it must never descend into hatred of journalists, which is largely born out of — or deliberately stoked by — the tactics of armed forces and criminal organisations. . .”

Read the full article at:

https://rsf.org/en/2025-deadly-year-journalists-where-hate-and-impunity-lead

Disappeared People, Disappeared News

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Article in Mediaite by Jennifer Bowers Bahney, 12/21/25

Headline: “Critics Lash Out at Bari Weiss After 60 Minutes Yanks Segment on Trump Deportations Last Minute: ‘SHAME, SHAME, SHAME!’ “

“New CBS News boss Bari Weiss was bashed by a number of media critics on Sunday night, immediately after 60 Minutes abruptly postponed a report on a “brutal” El Salvador prison that President Donald Trump deported suspected gangsters and illegal immigrants to. . .”

Read the full article at:

https://www.mediaite.com/media/critics-lash-out-at-bari-weiss-after-60-minutes-yanks-segment-on-trump-deportations-last-minute-shame-shame-shame/

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Article in Daily Beast by Julia Ornedo, 12/22/25

Headline: “ ‘60 Minutes’ Suddenly Drops Segment on Major Trump Controversy”

“60 Minutes abruptly canceled a segment about a notorious El Salvador megaprison that houses deportees who have been kicked out of the U.S. by President Donald Trump.

“The iconic CBS newsmagazine show announced that the scheduled segment covering the Terrorism Confinement Center—dubbed CECOT or Centro de Confinamiento del Terrorismo in Spanish—will air at a later date instead. . .”

Read the full article at:

https://www.thedailybeast.com/60-minutes-suddenly-drops-segment-on-major-trump-controversy/

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Article in Showbiz411 by Roger Friedman, 12/21/25

Headline:  “CBS News Pulls ’60 Minutes‘ Story on Trump Sending Venezuelans to El Salvador Prison — and Torturing Them — Promoted, Then Erased (Photo, Teaser)”

“The story was about Trump and something called CECOT — aka Centro de Confinamiento del Terrorismo, the El Salvadoran prison where he was sending Venezuelans.

“But now the newly conservative network has pulled the plug, announcing there will be no segment even though it was promoted. CBS says it will air sometime in the future. But it’s very rare for a ’60 Minutes’ piece to get axed right before showtime. This reeks of new CBS News editor in chief, conservative website owner Bari Weiss, who’s been given control of the department. . .”

Read the full article at:

https://www.showbiz411.com/2025/12/21/cbs-news-pulls-60-minutes-story-on-trump-sending-venezuelans-to-el-salvador-prison-and-torturing-them-promoted-then-erased

Media Imploding or Exploding?

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Article in Columbia Journalism Review by Betsy Morais, 12/20/25

Headline: “A Year Under Pressure”

Subhead:  “Assaults on press freedom, at home and abroad—which CJR is uniquely positioned to cover.”

“This week, Jem Bartholomew writes about a new report shared with CJR by the US Press Freedom Tracker, led by the Freedom of the Press Foundation (FPF), which documented thirty-two instances of journalists being arrested or charged for doing their jobs in America in 2025. The report also recorded a hundred and seventy assaults against journalists in the past year: ‘nearly as many as across the previous three years combined,” Bartholomew notes.’. . .”

Read the full article at:

https://www.cjr.org/editors-note/year-pressure-press-freedom-attack-journalism.php

New Attack on Media?

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Article in AP by David Bauder, 12/19/25

Headline:  “Another line of attack: White House sets up a hall of shame for news outlets”

“NEW YORK (AP) — President Donald Trump’s White House is taking on the role of media critic and asking for help from ‘everyday Americans.’

The White House launched a web portal it says will spotlight bias on the part of news outlets, targeting the Boston Globe, CBS News, The Independent and The Washington Post in its first two “media offenders of the week.”

It’s the latest wrinkle in the fight against what Trump, back in his first term, labeled “fake news.” The Republican president has taken outlets like CBS News and The Wall Street Journal to court over their coverage, is fighting The Associated Press in court over media access and has moved to dismantle government-run outlets like Voice of America. . .”

Read the full article at:

https://apnews.com/article/trump-press-media-bias-hall-of-shame-4571e8bfc924de0d83529b635be0a68c

FCC As Media Attack-Dog?

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Article in FAIR by Janine Jackson, 12/19/25

Headline:  “FCC Fights First Amendment and ‘Democracy Itself’ “

“. . .Under Trumpist Brendan Carr, the FCC is, as is well known, threatening stations that deliver content they disapprove (FAIR.org, 2/26/25), very much in violation of the First Amendment. Asked in a Senate hearing (Variety, 12/17/25) if it’s ‘appropriate to use your position to threaten companies that broadcast political satire,’ Carr responded that ‘any licensee that operates on the public airwaves has a responsibility to comply with the public interest standard.’

“But Trump’s FCC is also seeking to further loosen ownership limits and allow powerful media conglomerates to usurp more of the airwaves (CJR, 10/20/25; FAIR.org, 10/8/25). . .”

Read the full article at:

https://fair.org/home/fcc-fights-first-amendment-and-democracy-itself/