Media Intimidation

Pay to Play?

by


Article in FAIR by Janine Jackson, 9/26/25

Headline:  “‘The White House Is Shaking Down Media Owners to Get Them to Follow the Trump Agenda’:

Subhead:  “CounterSpin interview with Tim Karr on media capitulation”

“. . .And this is all part of a project by the Trump administration to basically control the message, to control the media. And they have been more effective in this administration than he was in his first administration, of figuring out where those pressure points are.

And those pressure points are often with massive media corporations that have business before government. They’re seeking approval of a merger, as is the case with Nexstar and TEGNA, as was the case for Paramount. . .”

And in order to get onto the government’s good side, they have to capitulate. They have to do whatever the chairman of the FCC, Brendan Carr, tells them to do, and whatever the White House tells them to do. / /”

Read the full article at:

Reporting Limitations at Pentagon

by


Article in Status by Oliver Darcy, 9/25/25

Headline:  “Predicament at the Pentagon”

Subhead:  “News organizations face a looming deadline from Pete Hegseth’s Pentagon which is demanding they sign restrictive new rules, or risk being expelled from the building entirely”

Read the full article at:

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

Booted Off the Air?

by


Article in Columbia Journalism Review by Carolina Abbott Galvao & Riddhi Setty, 9/25/25

Headline: “Local ABC Affiliates Are Getting Slammed”

Subhead:  “Brendan Carr, the chairman of the Federal Communications Commission, promised to bring power to community stations. But it’s their corporate owners who make the big decisions—while regional reporters and station managers take the heat.”

“Fewer and fewer local broadcasters are independently owned: “In the early eighties, it was north of fifty companies that owned or controlled 90 percent of broadcast media. And I think over the last decade or so, it’s become five or six, depending on how you break it down,” Reed Showalter, the former antitrust enforcer now running for Congress in Illinois, said. . .”

“. . .”Louis Wall, the president of Sagamore Hill Broadcasting, a privately owned broadcaster in Georgia . . . who considers himself to be “very supportive” of the First Amendment, has suddenly had to navigate a complex and often contradictory set of political, ideological, and financial concerns. “Broadcast is under attack from so many different mediums and video sources, we don’t need another piece of our armor or another piece of our programming to be lost,” he said.

Read the full article at:

https://www.cjr.org/news/local-abc-affiliates-nexstar-sinclair-getting-slammed.php

 

Flag Flying Over All Media?

by


Article in The Atlantic by David Karpf, 9/24/25

Headline:  “The MAGA Media Takeover”

Subhead:  “Trump and his powerful friends are creating a dangerous moment for free speech.”

“American mass media has been transformed in these early months of President Donald Trump’s second administration. We’re about 35 weeks into a term that will last for 173 more, and in that time, we have seen a tech titan gut a once-great newspaper in an apparent act of capitulation to the commander in chief, government accounts gleefully spreading hateful memes on X (the far-right platform owned by a billionaire tech oligarch), a defamation lawsuit filed by Trump against The New York Times (and quickly dismissed by the judge as ‘superfluous’), and, of course, the assault on free speech carried out by Trump’s Federal Communications Commission chairman. Big things can happen very quickly. . .”

Read the full article at:

https://www.theatlantic.com/technology/2025/09/maga-media-takeover-tiktok/684351/

 

Gotta Catch ‘Em All

by


Article in The New York Times by Cecelia Kang, 4/24/25

Headline:  “Brendan Carr Plans to Keep Going After the Media”

Subhead:  “While “Jimmy Kimmel Live!” returned to ABC on Tuesday, the chairman of the Federal Communications Commission has promised to continue his campaign against what he sees as liberal bias in broadcasts.”

“. . .Driven by the belief that liberal tech and media companies have unfairly silenced viewpoints on the right, Mr. Carr is working to transform the F.C.C. from a once sleepy agency best known for licensing local TV stations and expanding 5G cellular networks into a protector of conservative speech. . .”

Read the full article at:

https://www.nytimes.com/2025/09/24/technology/brendan-carr-fcc-kimmel.html

The Media “Enforcer”

by


Article in The Washington Post by Tom Benner, 9/22/25

Headline:  “Brendan Carr, the FCC muscle behind Trump’s anti-media crusade”

Subhead:  “FCC chair Brendan Carr has emerged as one of the top lieutenants in President Trump’s war against the media. How much power does he really hold?”

“Hours before the suspension was announced, Carr seemed to threaten FCC action against networks, saying ‘we can do this the easy way or the hard way,’ and advising Disney and other media companies to ‘find ways to change conduct.’ Carr denies playing a direct role in the Kimmel suspension, but critics say Carr has emerged as Trump’s top enforcer in the president’s war against the media. . .”

Read the full article at:

https://www.washingtonpost.com/podcasts/post-reports/brendan-carr-the-fcc-muscle-behind-trumps-antimedia-crusade/

 

Cracks in Republican Media Wall

by


Article in The Guardian by Edward Helmore, 9/22/25

Headline: “Republican slams FCC chair’s comments on Kimmel suspension: ‘absolutely inappropriate’ “

Subhead:  “Rand Paul, a Kentucky senator, also said Disney and ABC have no obligation to employ the late-night host”

“Republican US senator Rand Paul broke with Federal Communications Commission chair Brendan Carr for seemingly putting his finger on the scale in the ongoing dispute between suspended talkshow host Jimmy Kimmel and his employer, Disney-owned ABC. . .”

“Paul told Meet the Press that Carr’s comments were ‘absolutely inappropriate’ and the FCC chair ‘has got no business weighing in on this’.

“ ‘Any attempt by the government to get involved with speech – I will fight,’ Paul added. . .”

Read the full article at:

https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025/sep/22/rand-paul-fcc-brendan-carr-jimmy-kimmel-suspension

Don’t like what you hear? – Attack!

by


Article in Columbia Journalism Review by Amos Barshad, 9/18/25

Headline:  “The Campaign Against Network Television Picks Up Steam”

Subhead:  “The suspension of Jimmy Kimmel’s show was just the latest result of an ongoing conservative effort to stamp out unfavorable voices.”

“Carr and his conservative allies have made no secret of their desire to use the power of the FCC to change what Americans see and hear on the radio and television stations that rely on public airwaves. Since January, Carr’s FCC has opened inquiries into Saturday Night Live, 60 Minutes, and the entirety of NPR. When Paramount, the parent company of CBS, sought to merge with the production company Skydance, the FCC required CBS News to appoint a conservative ‘bias monitor’ before granting its approval. . .”

Read the full article at:

https://www.cjr.org/analysis/abc-jimmy-kimmel-fcc-brendan-carr.php

Media Godfather?

by


Article in The New York Times by Staff, 9/19/25

Headline:  “Trump Administration Live Updates: Cruz Calls F.C.C. Threats to Media ‘Dangerous as Hell’ “

“Cruz comments: Senator Ted Cruz, Republican of Texas, harshly criticized the Federal Communications Commission chairman, Brendan Carr, accusing him of mafia-like tactics and saying his threat to retaliate against media companies for speech on their airwaves was ‘dangerous as hell.’ President Trump said that news reporters who cover his administration negatively have broken the law, a significant broadening of his attacks on journalists . . .”

Read the full article at:

https://www.nytimes.com/live/2025/09/19/us/trump-news

– – – – –

Article in The Washington Post by Alec Dent, 9/19/25

Headline:  “Republican Ted Cruz says FCC chair’s threats about Kimmel are ‘dangerous’ “

Subhead: “The conservative senator warns that letting the government threaten to censor voices it doesn’t like could hurt the political right if Democrats return to power.”

“. . .’No, no, no, no,’ Cruz said on his show after playing Carr’s comments. ‘What he said there is dangerous as hell.’ He added: ‘That’s right out of “Goodfellas.” That’s right out of a mafioso coming into a bar. “God, nice bar you have here. It’d be a shame if something happened to it”. . .”

Read the full article at:

https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2025/09/19/ted-cruz-carr-fcc-jimmy-kimmel/

 

Free Speech Firestorm

by

LINKS TO HEADLINES ON THREATS TO FREE SPEECH 9/18/25

 

Article inVox by Cameron Peters:   “Trump’s brazen attack on free speech”

https://www.vox.com/the-logoff-newsletter-trump/461990/jimmy-kimmel-trump-carr-free-speech-attack

– – – – –

Article in The Guardian by Joseph Gedeon & Marina Dunbar :  “Trump suggests punishing TV networks for ‘negative’ coverage amid outrage over Kimmel suspension –  President says Jimmy Kimmel was ‘not a talented person’ as critics decry show’s suspension as an attack on free speech”

https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025/sep/18/jimmy-kimmel-show-trump

– – – – –

Article in The Hill by Brett Samuels:  “Trump on Jimmy Kimmel: Networks that only criticize him ‘not allowed to do that’ “

https://thehill.com/homenews/administration/5510784-trump-jimmy-kimmel-criticism/

– – – – –

Article in Mediaite by Michael Luciano:  “FCC Commissioner Rebukes Agency’s Chair, Says ‘We Don’t Have the Authority’ To Retaliate Against Broadcasters”

ttps://www.mediaite.com/media/news/fcc-commissioner-rebukes-agencys-chair-says-we-dont-have-the-authority-to-retaliate-against-broadcasters/

– – – – –

Article in Meidasnews by Aaron Parnas :  “Rep. Robert Garcia Launches Probe Into Trump Administration, ABC, and Sinclair – Oversight Ranking Member Denounces ‘Corrupt Schemes’ Amid Censorship Concerns”

https://meidasnews.com/news/rep-robert-garcia-launches-probe-into-trump-administration-abc-and-sinclair

– – – – –

Article in AlterNet by Carl Gibson:” ‘Blatant assault on freedom of speech’: Colbert issues scathing takedown of ABC and Trump”

https://www.alternet.org/colbert-trump-kimmel/

– – – – –

Article in Common Dreams by Julia Conley :   ” ‘Red Alert Moment’ for Free Speech as ABC Cowers to Trump FCC and Cancels Kimmel – These companies are turning the public airwaves into another propaganda arm of the Trump regime,’ said one critic.”

https://www.commondreams.org/news/jimmy-kimmel-show-canceled

– – – – –

Article in Raw Story by Robert Reich:  “Trump just opened another front in his all-out war on U.S. media”

https://www.rawstory.com/trump-kimmel-2674006230/?utm_source=breaking

– – – – –

Article in Poynter by Ellen Clegg:  “Opinion | Why unsigned newspaper editorials no longer work – The Boston Globe’s response to Charlie Kirk’s murder highlighted how anonymous editorials can sound hollow and out of touch”

https://www.poynter.org/commentary/2025/boston-globe-charlie-kirk-editorials-problem/

– – – – –

Article in Media Matters by Matt Gertz:  “Jimmy Kimmel and the MAGA strong-arming of American media”

https://www.mediamatters.org/donald-trump/jimmy-kimmel-and-maga-strong-arming-american-media