Media Intimidation

Political Threat to Licenses

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Article in Free Press by Staff, 9/10/26

Headline:  “Latest Kimmel Censorship Is Part of the Trump FCC’s Lawless Crusade Against a Free Press”

“On Wednesday’s broadcast of Jimmy Kimmel Live, Kimmel told viewers that ABC would not air his scheduled interview with James Talarico, the Democratic Senate nominee from Texas.

Kimmel indicated that the broadcast cancellation of the interview is a result of Federal Communications Commission Chairman Brendan Carr’s ongoing campaign against ABC. After President Trump repeatedly demanded that ABC lose its broadcast licenses over Kimmel’s jokes, Carr retaliated by forcing all ABC broadcast stations into a highly unusual early license-renewal process. . .”

Read the full article at:

https://www.freepress.net/news/latest-kimmel-censorship-part-trump-fccs-lawless-crusade-free-speech

Fighting Authoritarian Media Control

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Article in Columbia Journalism Review by Emily Bell and Heather Chaplin, 9/10/26

Headline: “The Fight to Save Journalism in Georgia”

Subhead: “How independent media organizations are standing together against an authoritarian government.”

“In Georgia, since a new party took power in 2024, founded by a billionaire oligarch with links to Russia, journalists are facing unprecedented attacks. All sorts of repression have become more common: physical assaults, arrests, arbitrary fines, suspensions of accreditation, and more. But perhaps the most devastating blow was less direct. After the government clamped down on all foreign funding and grants to Georgian organizations, citing them as examples of malign foreign interference, many independent media outlets lost as much as 90 percent of their budgets. . .”

Read the full article at:

https://www.cjr.org/kicker/the-fight-to-save-journalism-in-georgia-zeg-tbilisi-sinatle-chai-khana-lights-must-stay-on-antadze-bakradze.php

Censoring Information From Military

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Article in The Atlantic by Erik Slavin, 9/9/26

Headline: “The Inside Story of What Happened at Stars and Stripes“

Subhead: “For generations, the newspaper has served American military families. That work must continue. And it must remain editorially independent.”

“. . .Uniformed military leaders have not lost the means to analyze and act on useful journalism. But publicly denouncing the reporting or the news outlet makes it far less likely that they will. Attacking people for telling the truth creates a chilling effect for truth tellers—including those who are themselves in the military.

“The best journalism unearths information that complex bureaucracies overlook or suppress, intentionally or not. . .”

Read the full article at:

https://www.theatlantic.com/ideas/2026/09/pentagon-military-newspaper-independence-supression/688547/

Insulting Women in the Media

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Article in The Wrap by Alyssa Ray, 9/8/26

Headline:  “Trump Launches Back-to-Back Attacks on ‘3rd Rate’ Kaitlan Collins and ‘Unattractive’ Maggie Haberman

Subhead: “’Fake News is getting worse and worse in the U.S.A.,’ the president writes”

“Donald Trump once again publicly criticized CNN’s Kaitlan Collins and the New York Times’ Maggie Haberman, launching back-to-back attacks against the female journalists on social media.

On Tuesday, the president kicked off his renewed attacks on female journalists by zeroing in on Collins on Truth Social, where he blasted her as a “3rd rate” anchor. . .”

Read the full article at:

https://www.thewrap.com/media-platforms/journalism/trump-attacks-kaitlan-collins-maggie-haberman-truth-social/

Media – Digging Out the Facts

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Article in Mediaite by Kathryn Wilkens, 9/8/26

Headline:  “Trump Rages at Maggie Haberman and New York Mag Over 9/11 Reports: ‘Liars and Scoundrels’

“President Donald Trump erupted at New York Times reporter Maggie Haberman and New York magazine on Tuesday over reporting about his whereabouts following the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks and his plans for this year’s 25th anniversary commemoration, demanding retractions while calling journalists ‘liars and scoundrels’ and attacking Haberman as ‘unattractive both inside and out.’. . .”

“. . .During Tuesday’s Tunnel to Towers event on the Ellipse, Trump recounted being near One Liberty Plaza when two firefighters, fearing the building was about to collapse, grabbed him under the arms, ‘literally lifted me up,’ and carried him away. . .”

Read the full article at:

https://www.mediaite.com/politics/trump/trump-rages-at-maggie-haberman-and-new-york-mag-over-9-11-reports-liars-and-scoundrels/

Report Weapons Use – Treason?

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Article in Al Jezerra by Staff, 9/3/26

Headline:  “Trump calls media ‘treasonous scum’ over reports of low Iran war munitions”

“US President Trump has again pushed back on media reports detailing dangerously low munitions stockpiles as the US-Israel war on Iran stretches into its seventh month.

“In a post on his Truth Social account, Trump said the military was producing munitions at ‘levels never seen before” and has “far more than we could ever use’. . .”

Read the full article at:

https://www.aljazeera.com/news/liveblog/2026/9/4/iran-war-live-us-rules-out-iran-talks-until-ship-attacks-stop?update=4915298

FCC Wrecking Broadcasting?

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Article in Poynter by Tom Jones, 9/1/26

Headline: “Opinion | Trump’s threats against the press don’t have to succeed to do damage”

Subhead:  “The FCC has no authority to punish Kristen Welker for her Trump analysis. That doesn’t make the president’s threat harmless.”

“. . .The FCC really can’t do anything to Welker over her critique of Trump’s candidate endorsements. As Anna Gomez, the lone Democratic commissioner on the FCC, tweeted, ‘As I’ve said many times, the FCC has no authority to punish journalists this administration doesn’t like.’

“However, Gomez added, ‘These threats to press freedom are dangerous. They undermine the foundation of our democracy, and they have no place in it.’. . .”

Read the full article at:

https://www.poynter.org/commentary/2026/trump-purposeful-inaccuracy-fcc-threat/

Rage Against Media by Computer!

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Article in The Daily Beast by Lauren Hartley, 8/31/26

Headline:  “MS NOW Star Torches Trump On-Air For ”Rage Posting’ Against NBC Host”

Subhead:  “The journalist sounded the alarm on Trump’s tendency to kill the messenger”

“MS NOW’s Peter Alexander blasted President Donald Trump on air on Monday, saying, ‘The truth is still the truth, and you deserve to know it, whether a president likes it or not.’
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“Alexander’s remark came after Trump attacked the journalist’s former colleague, Meet the Press host Kristen Welker.

“On Sunday, Welker said on D.C.’s local NBC station that there had been “mixed results” for Trump’s endorsed candidates. . .”

Read the full article at:

https://www.thedailybeast.com/ms-nows-peter-alexander-torches-donald-trump-on-air-for-rage-posting-against-nbc-host-kristen-welker/

“Meet The Press” Word Irks Trump?

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Article in Poynter by Tom Jones, 8/31/26

Headline:  “Opinion | Trump calls on the FCC to punish Kristen Welker — for accurate commentary”

Subhead:  “He once again called on federal regulators to punish journalism he dislikes, despite the FCC having no authority to do so”

“. . .President Donald Trump is calling on the Federal Communications Commission to do something that it does not have the authority to do. And why? Because he’s angry about something a journalist said on television.

“Prior to the airing of Sunday’s ‘Meet the Press’ on NBC, moderator Kristen Welker spoke with WRC-TV, the NBC affiliate in Washington, D.C.

“Welker pointed out that Trump is ‘going to loom large’ over the upcoming midterm elections. Then she accurately noted, ‘He, of course, has endorsed a slate of candidates in the primaries. He’s had some mixed results.’. . .”

Read the full article at:

https://www.poynter.org/commentary/2026/trump-kristen-welker-rebuke-punishment/

Only Approved-Speech Allowed?

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Article in The Atlantic by David A. Graham, 8/31/26

Headline:  “Trump Is Trying New Ways to Quelch Americans’ Press Freedom”

Subhead:  “The president’s latest attacks are dangerous, unconstitutional—and maybe self-defeating.”

Desensitization is one of Donald Trump’s most powerful tools: Through repetition, he acclimates Americans to troubling and dangerous ideas. Occasionally, though, his statements and actions are so outrageous that they can still provide a shock. . .”

Yesterday morning, Trump started off with a post on Truth Social demanding that the Federal Communications Commission do something about “THE FAKE POLLS USED BY OUR CROOKED MEDIA.” About 15 minutes later, he followed this with a long rant about Kristen Welker of Meet the Press, complaining that she had noted that Trump’s record in recent endorsements had been ‘a mixed bag.’ . . . ‘Because of this purposeful inaccuracy, she will be reported to the FCC for rebuke or punishment.’ . . .”

Read the full article at:

https://www.theatlantic.com/newsletters/2026/08/trump-new-attacks-american-press-freedom/688478/?utm_source=reddit&utm_campaign=the-atlantic&utm_medium=social&utm_content=edit-promo&utm_term=short