Media Intimidation

Disappearing Media Freedom

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Article in Al Jazeera by Mohamad Elmasry, 9/8/25

Headline:  “The capitulation of the US media is not an aberration”

Subhead:  “The Trump administration is bringing to the fore weaknesses that have long plagued US democracy.”

“American democracy is arguably in more peril than at any moment in recent history. Not only are United States President Donald Trump and his Republican allies seeking to guarantee that Americans never again participate in a truly free and fair election, but public officials and Trump-aligned figures in the media industry are also manipulating the information environment at an unprecedented scale. . .”

Read the full article at:

https://www.aljazeera.com/opinions/2025/9/8/the-capitulation-of-the-us-media-is-not-an-aberration

CBS Watchdog Has Master?

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Article in FAIR by Saurav Sarkar, 9/9/25

Headline: “CBS Drifts Further Toward Right-Wing State Television”

“After Trump’s Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem (X, 8/31/25) complained that several minutes of her August 31 Face the Nation interview had been ‘shamefully edited…to whitewash the truth,‘ CBS News announced that its flagship Sunday morning program will no longer edit its interviews, except for ‘legal or national security’ reasons (AP, 9/5/25). . .”

Read the full article at:

https://fair.org/home/cbs-drifts-further-toward-right-wing-state-television/

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

Headline:  “CBS’ Conservative Cop”

Subhead:  “David Ellison’s new CBS News ombudsman tried to erase parts of his digital trail – but a Status review of what remains reveals him to be a Trump-supporting advocate”

“Donald Trump ‘is the ultimate outsider.’ He’s a “bold businessman who asks uncomfortable questions that typical policymakers are too squeamish to ask. People may dislike Trump’s methods, but they should appreciate his clarity about power dynamics.’ . . .”

“Those words aren’t from Fox News host Sean Hannity’s nightly sycophantic monologue. They come from Kenneth Weinstein, who lavished Trump with praise in a column published this summer. On Monday, David Ellison’s Paramount named Weinstein the new ombudsman of CBS News. . .”

Read the article at:

https://www.status.news/p/cbs-news-ombudsman-kenneth-weinstein

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Article in Poynter by Tom Jones, 9/9/25

Headline:  Opinion | Paramount named an ombudsman to oversee CBS News. Who is he?

Subhead:  “The new ombudsman, Kenneth Weinstein, steps into a role created to safeguard fairness, though political questions linger”

“. . . On the surface, an ombudsman should be a welcome addition to any network newsroom, which should be practicing fair and honest journalism free of bias.

“But this particular announcement came off as a bit suspicious. It has been seen as a way to placate President Donald Trump, whose FCC had to sign off on the sale. . .”

Read the full article at:

https://www.poynter.org/commentary/2025/cbs-ombudsman-kenneth-weinstein-who/

FCC Getting in Range of Networks

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Article in NOTUS by Violet Jira, 9/3/25

Headline:  “Trump Is Targeting Broadcast Networks. The FCC Is Poised to Help Him.”

Subhead:  “Federal Communications Commission decisions ‘were meant to be beyond the reach of the current occupant of the White House,’ the agency’s sole Democratic commissioner told NOTUS.”

“As President Donald Trump continues to attack media organizations, the Federal Communications Commission is uniquely positioned to weaponize its regulatory framework to help him. Critics say it’s already started.

“The FCC is turning into a “wing of the MAGA movement” under its Trump-appointed chair, Brendan Carr, said Timothy Karr of Free Press, a nonprofit that promotes free speech and press freedom. . .”

Read the full article at:

https://www.notus.org/policy/trump-media-fcc-brendan-carr

Reporters – Forced to Flee

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Article in Columbia Journalism Review by Paulina Milewska & Ksenia Mironova, 9/3/25

Headline:  “How to Survive the (Media) Apocalypse”

Subhead:  “Lessons from journalists who have lived through all this”

“The ongoing deterioration of press freedom and independence in the United States is deeply concerning to many journalists who don’t know where their country is heading. That chilling uncertainty is one we have lived through ourselves. We are journalists from Russia and Poland. Ksenia has been forced to leave her home in order to continue working, and has watched countless friends and colleagues do the same. . .”

Read the full article at:

https://www.cjr.org/analysis/russia-poland-media-exile-strategies.php

Evil CBS in Trouble Again!

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Update:

Article in The New Republic by Greg Sargent, 9/2/25

Headline: “ICE Barbie Kristi Noem’s Ugly New Attack on CBS Exposes Big Trump Scam”

Subhead:  “The network was right to edit out her lies about Kilmar Abrego Garcia. The rest of the media should do the same.”

“If you need more evidence that there’s zero percentage in trying to appease or bargain with authoritarians, check out what happened this weekend when Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem attacked CBS News for supposedly editing her Face the Nation appearance in a deceptive way. Unsurprisingly, it concerned the wrongfully deported Kilmar Abrego Garcia, about whom Noem and other Trump officials have lied relentlessly for months on end. . .”

Read the full article at:

https://newrepublic.com/article/199889/kristi-noem-attack-cbs-kilmar-garcia-trump-scam

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Article in The Hill by Sarah Fortinsky, 9/1/25

Headline: “Noem accuses CBS of ‘deceptively’ editing interview about Abrego Garcia”

“Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem accused CBS News of selectively editing footage from her Sunday interview, cutting some of her remarks about Kilmar Abrego Garcia, the Salvadoran national who was mistakenly deported and returned to the U.S. to face separate charges. . .”

“CBS News, however, maintains that the interview was edited to fit its allotted time slot in the hourlong broadcast and that the full interview was published online. . .”

Read the full article at:

https://thehill.com/homenews/media/5480324-noem-abrego-garcia-cbs-interview-editing/

Controlling Foreign Press

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Article in Daily Beast by Farrah Tomazin, 8/28/25

Headline:  “Trump Reveals Sinister New Plot for Curbing the Media”

Subhead:  “The administration says the changes would prevent the likelihood of ‘visa abuse.’ “

“President Donald Trump has moved to curb the number of foreign journalists who can work in America by significantly reducing the time they can stay in the country.

“After embarking on a mass deportation plan to get rid of illegal immigrants, the administration has now set its sights on legal immigration, with a dramatic shakeup of visas for members of the media, as well as students and cultural exchange visitors. . .”

Read the full article at:

https://www.thedailybeast.com/trump-reveals-sinister-new-plan-for-curbing-the-media/

Stomping the Networks

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Article in Common Dreams by Brad Reed, 8/25/25

Headline:  “As Trump Threatens News Outlets, Experts More Concerned About Capitulation of Corporate Owners”

Subhead:  “The commercial news media, which helped elevate Trump to power, have proven repeatedly that they are ill-equipped to withstand such pressures,” warned one scholar.”

“As US President Donald Trump late on Sunday lashed out against the American media and threatened to pull broadcasting licenses from networks for their alleged “biased” coverage of him, media experts said the danger to the news media lies partially in corporate outlets’ potential capitulation to the Trump administration. . .”

Read the full article at:

https://www.commondreams.org/news/trump-nbc-abc-licenses

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Article in Reuters by David Shepardson, 8/25/25

Headline: “Trump again pushes US agency to revoke NBC, ABC station licenses”

“. . .President Donald Trump reiterated a long-running push for the Federal Communications Commission to revoke station licenses of two major U.S. broadcasters and charge them for using the public airwaves, as he criticized their news programming. . .”

Read the full article at:

https://www.reuters.com/business/trump-again-pushes-us-agency-revoke-nbc-abc-station-licenses-2025-08-25/

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Article in Newsweek by Robert Birsel, 8/25/25

Headline:  “Trump Calls For ‘Fake News’ Networks To Have Licenses Revoked by FCC”

“U.S. President Donald Trump on Sunday called the ABC and NBC networks two of the “most biased” broadcasters ever and said the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) should revoke their licenses. . .”

“Media outlets promote a healthy democracy by providing the public with fact-checked information, particularly on those in power, and offering essential context. . .”

Read the full article at:

https://www.newsweek.com/trump-media-nbc-abc-fcc-license-revoked-fees-2118632

 

Media Plan: Better Vote Right

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Article in Media Matters by John Knefel, 8/21/25

Headline:  “Steve Bannon just laid out the MAGA media playbook to subvert the midterms”

Subhead:  “The right-wing media plan for undermining the 2026 elections includes pushing for ICE to stalk polling sites and sending a band of election deniers on tour”

“War Room host and former Trump adviser Steve Bannon this week spelled out a vision of how MAGA media could attempt to subvert the 2026 midterm elections, including by advocating for the presence of Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents at polling places, extreme Congressional redistricting, and a mail-in voting ban. . .”

Read the full article at:

https://www.mediamatters.org/steve-bannon/steve-bannon-just-laid-out-maga-media-playbook-subvert-midterms

No Speaking to the Media!

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Article in AlterNet by Carl Gibson, 8/20/25

Headline:  ” ‘They say it’s a felony’; Police yank Dem lawmeker out of bathroom for speaking to media”

“One Democratic state representative in Texas speaking out against the Republican effort to redraw congressional district boundaries was just threatened with a felony charge for speaking to journalists. . .”

“That’s according to a Wednesday article in the Houston Chronicle, which reported that Rep. Nicole Collier (D) had to abruptly end a press conference she joined from a bathroom at the Texas State Capitol. A video of the moment posted to X shows Collier being interrupted mid-speech while on a Democratic National Committee video stream with California Governor Gavin Newsom (D) and Sen. Cory Booker (D-N.J.) while speaking to police.

” ‘Sorry, I have to leave. They said it’s a felony for me to do this,’ Collier said. . .”

Read the full article at:

https://www.alternet.org/police-democratic-lawmaker-bathroom/

Alaska Was Great Success!

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Article in AlterNet by David Badash, 8/19/25

Headline:  ” ‘Pure cult spin’: Leavitt uses press conference to rage against media after Trump’s failed summit”

“In a series of sharp criticisms, White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt blasted the media for its coverage of President Donald Trump’s Alaska Summit with Russian President Vladimir Putin on Friday, claiming despite the goalposts that Trump himself had set but did not meet, it was ‘highly productive’ and ‘successful. . .”

Read the full article at:

https://www.alternet.org/media/leavitt-press-conference/