Media Intimidation

More Media Targets!

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Article in Washington Post by Will Oremus, 2/13/26

Headline:  “Trump’s campaign against ‘left-wing’ media finds a new target: Apple News“

Subhead:  “Federal Trade Commission Chairman Andrew Ferguson said in a letter to Apple that he’s “not the speech police” but warned the company that its choice of articles could violate the law.”

“Apple News, the popular newsreader app that comes installed on every iPhone, is the latest media property to be warned by a regulator appointed by President Donald Trump over charges of liberal bias.

“On Wednesday, Federal Trade Commission Chairman Andrew Ferguson sent a letter to Apple chief executive Tim Cook expressing concern about ‘reports that Apple News has systematically promoted news articles from left-wing news outlets and suppressed news articles from more conservative publications.’. . .”

Read the full article at:

https://www.washingtonpost.com/technology/2026/02/12/apple-news-bias-ftc-ferguson-letter/

Authoritarians Always Attack Media

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Article in Common Dreams by Stephen R. Weissman, 2/12/26

Headline:  “Don Lemon’s Travail Is a Warning of Rising Authoritarianism; I Would Know”

Subhead:  “My experience as a university professor in Congo demonstrates that repressive governments may go after a variety of observers sympathizing with militant protesters by purveying false or distorted reports of their actions. . .”

“Former CNN anchor Don Lemon is under federal indictment for participating in a Minnesota protest group’s obstruction of a church service. He is scheduled to be arraigned Friday. News of his prosecution took me back more than five decades to when I was a young university professor in Zaire (now the Democratic Republic of the Congo). At that time, President Mobutu Sese Seko’s government threatened to arrest me for my alleged involvement in student disruptions.

“In both cases, increasingly authoritarian governments decided to clamp down on independent observers—journalists or others—who sympathized with community activists. . .”

Read the full article at:

https://www.commondreams.org/opinion/don-lemon-authoritarianism

Journalist Hires Prosecutor to Prosecute

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Article in New York Times by Ernesto Lodonu

Headline:  “Don Lemon Hires Federal Prosecutor Who Quit Over Immigration Crackdown”

Subhead:  “Facing charges over his role at a church protest, Mr. Lemon, a journalist, retained a veteran litigator who recently resigned from the U.S. attorney’s office in Minnesota.”

“The federal prosecution of the journalist Don Lemon took an unlikely turn on Tuesday.

“Facing charges over his presence at a church protest challenging the immigration crackdown in Minnesota, Mr. Lemon has hired as one of his defense lawyers a veteran criminal litigator who, until just weeks ago, was helping lead the prosecutor’s office that has charged Mr. Lemon with felonies.

“Joseph H. Thompson, a former senior federal prosecutor who resigned from the U.S. attorney’s office in Minnesota in mid-January over the Justice Department’s handling of the immigration operation, has joined Mr. Lemon’s defense team, according to a court filing. . .”

Read the full article at:

https://www.nytimes.com/2026/02/10/us/joseph-thompson-don-lemon-minneapolis-protest.html

FCC Probes ABC Now?

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Article in The Hill by Tara Suter, 2/8/26

Headline:  “FCC opens probe into ABC’s ‘The View’ after James Talarico interview: Reports “

“The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) launched a probe into ABC’s “The View” after the program held an interview with Democratic Texas Senate candidate James Talarico, according to multiple outlets.

Reuters reported Saturday that, per a source, the FCC began an investigation on whether “The View” broke rules for equal time when it comes to interviewing political candidates. . .”

“In January, the agency shook up rules, which exempted some late-night and daytime talk shows from having to give equal airtime to opposing political candidates. . .”

Read the full article at:

https://thehill.com/homenews/media/5728540-equal-time-rule-fcc-the-view/

Justice Coming for Prosecutor?

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Article in Common Dreams by Staff, 2/9/26

Headline: “FPF complaint targets prosecutor over Washington Post reporter raid”

“WASHINGTON – On Friday, Freedom of the Press Foundation (FPF) filed an attorney disciplinary complaint against Gordon Kromberg, the federal prosecutor who reviewed and signed the search warrant application targeting Washington Post reporter Hannah Natanson.

“. . . Recently unsealed court records disclose what many suspected: The government failed to alert the court that authorized the warrant to the Privacy Protection Act of 1980, a federal law that, in most cases, forbids the use of search warrants for journalistic work product and documentary materials.

Read the full article at:

https://www.commondreams.org/newswire/fpf-complaint-targets-prosecutor-over-washington-post-reporter-raid

Snapping at the Media

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Article in The New Republic by Greg Sargent, 2/6/26

Headline:  “Trump Press Sec Snaps at Media as Spin on Threat to Rig 2026 Goes Awry”

Subhead:  “After Trump called for Republicans to “nationalize” the midterms, Karoline Leavitt struggled to spin it away. We talked to an election law expert who explains the nightmare scenarios we should fear the most.”

White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt lost her temper with a reporter who asked if Donald Trump intends to flood polling places with ICE agents during the midterms. She called the question’silly’ and ‘hypothetical’ and ‘disingenuous,’ even though Steve Bannon, who’s influential in the White House, explicitly said this week that this will happen. This comes as Trump himself called for Republicans to ‘nationalize the voting.’ Leavitt also struggled to spin this threat from Trump, suggesting that’s not what he meant, only to have Trump undercut her by reiterating his demand soon after. . .”

Read the full article at:

https://newrepublic.com/article/206228/trump-press-sec-snaps-media-spin-threat-rig-2026-goes-awry

Media Smiling Time!

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Article in Huffpost by Ed Mazza, 2/5/26

Headline:  ” ‘Truly Unhinged’: Critics Rip Trump After Uncomfortably ‘Weird Exchange’ With Reporter”

Subhead:  “Trump is facing heavy criticism over comments he made to CNN’s Kaitlan Collins.”

“Collins had asked the president about justice for victims of the late convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein, who was once his close friend. . .”

” ‘You are the worst reporter,’ Trump fired back. ‘CNN has no ratings because of people like you. You know, she’s a young woman ― I don’t think I’ve ever seen you smile. I’ve known you for 10 years, I don’t think I’ve ever seen a smile on your face.’

“Collins tried to interject that she was asking about Epstein survivors, but Trump kept going. . .”

Read the full article at:

https://www.huffpost.com/entry/trump-kaitlan-collins-smile-reaction_n_6982cdece4b074c50785b319?origin=top-ad-recirc

What You Report is a Crime?

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Article in The Atlantic by The Editors, 2/2/26

Headline:  “Trump’s Relationship With the Media”

Subhead:  “Panelists joined to discuss the arrest of former CNN anchor Don Lemon, and more.”

“The former CNN anchor Don Lemon was arrested yesterday for covering a protest inside a church in Minnesosta. On Washington Week With The Atlantic, panelists joined to discuss what implications this may have, Donald Trump’s relationship with the media, and more.

“ ‘It’s true that Donald Trump has gone after the press’ before, Susan Glasser, a staff writer at The New Yorker, said last night. But ‘this is the first time he’s ordered the arrest of a journalist—so I do think a line has been crossed here.’. . .”

Read the full article at:

https://www.theatlantic.com/national/2026/01/don-lemon-arrest-washington-week/685847/

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Article in Democracy Now! by Staff, 2/2/26

Headline: ” ‘Journalism Is Not a Crime’: Georgia Fort & Don Lemon Arrested for Covering St. Paul Church Protest”

Read the article at:

https://www.democracynow.org/2026/2/2/georgia_fort

Media Threats – Democracy Menace?

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Article in Poynter by Tom Jones, 2/2/26

Headline:  “Opinion | This is what it looks like when a government tries to intimidate reporters”

Subhead: “The arrest of journalists Don Lemon and Georgia Fort signals a dangerous escalation in the Trump administration’s campaign against the press”

“President Donald Trump and his administration, over the past 10 years, have stooped to many low and distressing levels in their all-out assault on the media: lawsuits, threats of lawsuits, bans, funding cuts and insults.

But last week, the administration did what was previously thought of as unthinkable. It reached for an even more ominous attack. It arrested two journalists. . .”

Read the full article at:

https://www.poynter.org/commentary/2026/trump-arrest-don-lemon-georgia-fort/

Legal Journalist Protections Ignored?

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Article in the New York Times by Charlie Savage, 2/2/26

Headline:  “U.S. Failed to Alert Judge to Press Law in Application to Search Reporter’s Home”

Subhead:  “The Justice Department did not address a 1980 law that generally bars warrants for reporting material when it sought to seize a Washington Post reporter’s devices, an unsealed filing shows”

“The Justice Department failed to tell a magistrate judge about a 1980 law protecting journalists in its application materials for a warrant to search a Washington Post reporter’s home last month as part of a leak investigation, an unsealed court filing shows. . .”

“The 1980 law, the Privacy Protection Act, says ‘it shall be unlawful’ for investigators to search for or seize journalistic work product and documentary materials unless the reporters themselves are suspected of committing certain crimes related to those materials. . .”

Read the full article at:

https://www.nytimes.com/2026/02/02/us/politics/doj-press-law-warrant-application-washington-post-journalist.html