Media Intimidation

ABC Fighting Back

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Article in Reuters by David Shepardson, 6/22/26

Headline: “ABC launches on-air campaign urging viewers to back network in Trump agency fights”

“. . .Disney-owned . . .ABC said ​on Monday it was launching an on-air campaign encouraging viewers to show support for the ‌network in its two ongoing battles with the U.S. government.

“The Republican-led Federal Communications Commission ordered ABC in April to file early license reviews for its eight company-owned television stations after President Donald Trump pressured the regulatory agency to take action. The FCC is also ​investigating ABC daytime talk show “The View” after declaring it is subject to federal equal time rules for ​political candida”

Read the full article at:

https://www.reuters.com/business/abc-launches-on-air-campaign-urging-views-back-network-trump-fights-2026-06-22/

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Article in The Guardian by Jeremy Barr, 6.22.26

Headline:  “ABC encourages viewers to back network amid FCC investigations”

Subhead:  “Network launches ad on The View, which is target of one of two FCC investigations currently seeking public comment”

Read the article at:

https://www.theguardian.com/media/2026/jun/22/abc-fcc-investigations

Media Defiance

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Article in AlterNet by Thom Hartman, 6/7/26

Headline: “Opinion | One defiant stand is sending shockwaves through Trump’s media takeover”

Over the past year and a half, we’ve watched Brendan Carr, Trump’s hitman at the FCC, go to CPAC conferences and brag about how he’s going to assault stations that say things he and Trump dislike. He’s trying to intimidate ABC affiliates into muzzling Jimmy Kimmel — again. And he succeeded in taking down Stephen Colbert.

“And a Trump-adjacent billionaire nepo-baby has acquired CBS and is systematically stripping it of its journalistic integrity,

Read the full article at:

https://www.alternet.org/alternet-exclusives/scott-pelley-trump/

No Questions From Her!

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Article in Mediaite by Michael Luciano, 6/3/26

Headline:  “Kaitlan Collins Responds To Trump’s Oval Office Outburst at Her, Points Out She ‘Had Yet To Ask the President a Question’ “

“. . .the president seemed clearly irritated when he was asked earlier today why his administration says it is not moving forward with that $1.8 billion anti-weaponization fund, as they have called it,’ she said. ‘And just to note, as you’re about to listen to this, this first exchange actually occurred before I had yet to ask the president a question’. . . .”

” ‘CNN’s a very corrupt organization with a corrupt reporter standing right there,’ Trump said. ‘Never smiles. A young, beautiful woman. Never smiles. I never see a smile on her face. I see her standing there with hatred in her eyes’. . .”

Read the full article at:

https://www.mediaite.com/media/tv/kaitlan-collins-responds-to-trumps-oval-office-outburst-at-her-points-out-she-had-yet-to-ask-the-president-a-question/

CBS Firings – Weiss Responds

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Article in The Hill by Sarah Davis, 6/3/26

Headline:  “Bari Weiss: Scott Pelley fired from ’60 Minutes’ for breaking ‘foundation’ of trust “

The head of CBS News told staff on Wednesday that the network’s decision to fire a longtime ‘60 Minutes’ correspondent involved a breach of trust, according to an audio transcript of an editorial call reported by The New York Times.

“ ‘’m only interested in working in a newsroom that is built on trust and mutual respect; we cannot do our work without it. That foundation was broken on Monday,’ Editor-in-Chief Bari Weiss reportedly told the newsroom on the morning call.

Read the full article at:

https://thehill.com/homenews/media/5909018-scott-pelley-fired-cbs-weiss-trust/

Reporter Not in Jail Yet?

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Article in Babylon Bee by Staff, 5/28/26

Headline: “Impatient Liberal Journalist Starting To Suspect Trump Will Never Send Her To A Concentration Camp”

“ATLANTA, GA — An impatient liberal journalist employed by . . . began to express doubts this week that President Trump will ever send her to a concentration camp.

“Sources said that Ginny Balton, a field reporter based in Atlanta, felt well-informed until only recently when she had to report on Trump exposing more government fraud and limiting the power of government, which was nothing at all like the actions of Adolf Hitler. . .”

Read the full article at:

https://babylonbee.com/news/impatient-liberal-journalist-starting-to-suspect-trump-will-never-send-her-to-a-concentration-camp

Killing Late Night TV too Softly?

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Article in AlterNet by Adam Lynch, 5/21/26

Headline: “Inside Trump’s growing frustration as his revenge tour loses its grip on media”

“Even as late-night comedian and critic Stephen Colbert prepares to end his show this week, President Donald Trump is raging that his administration hasn’t managed to kill even more late-night shows. . . .”

“Suebsaeng added that sources inside the White House say Trump is furious at the lack of progress. . .”

Read the full article at:

https://www.alternet.org/trump-late-night-comedy-colbert/

Attacking Media as the Enemy?

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Article in Common Dreams by Scott Griffen, 5/21/26

Headline:  “When Trump Targets the Media, the World’s Autocrats Are Taking Notes”

Subhead: “Trump’s words and actions against the news media at home are inspiring copycat behavior by authoritarians and dictators around the world, fueling a growing global crisis of press freedom.“

“. . .Trump first tweeted the now-ubiquitous phrase ‘fake news’ and infamously labelled the news media the ‘enemies of the American people,’ such insults just don’t land like they used to.

“Yet Trump’s words do in fact matter. While many of Trump’s rhetorical attacks against the press during his first term were dismissed as bluster from a president known for his flair for the dramatic, they laid the groundwork for the broad attack on the media that we’re seeing under Trump 2.0. . .”

Read the full article at:

https://www.commondreams.org/opinion/trump-targets-media

News Access or Not?

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Article in Poynter by Tom Jones, 5/19/26

Headline: “Opinion | Why The New York Times is suing the Pentagon — again”

Subhead: “The news outlet says the Pentagon’s latest press-access restrictions are unconstitutional and retaliatory after an earlier court loss”

“For the second time, The New York Times is suing the Department of Defense, claiming it’s a violation of the First Amendment for journalists to be required to have an escort while working inside the Pentagon.

“This is just the latest volley in a continuing conflict between the press and President Donald Trump’s Defense Department, led by Defense Secretary and former Fox News talking head Pete Hegseth. . .”

Read the full article at:

https://www.poynter.org/commentary/2026/new-york-times-pentagon-lawsuit-escort/

To Leave Dungeon, Reporters Need Minders

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Article in AP by Jocelyn Noveck, 5/18/26

Headline: “The New York Times sues the Pentagon a second time over Hegseth’s media restrictions”

“The New York Times sued the Defense Department on Monday for the second time in five months, arguing that a requirement that journalists be escorted while on Pentagon grounds violates the First Amendment.  . .”

Read the full article at:

https://apnews.com/article/pentagon-press-access-new-york-times-lawsuit-df3330d202a87f41f25effc9ab96abab

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Article in The Guardian by Anna Betts, 5/18/26

Headline: “New York Times sues Pentagon again over ‘utterly unreasonable’ press restrictions”

Subhead:   “Trump administration unveiled sweeping restrictions on press access at the US defense department last September”

“. . .The Trump administration unveiled sweeping restrictions on press access at the US Department of Defense, which it calls the Department of War, last September. . .”

Read the full article at:

https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2026/may/18/new-york-times-pentagon-press-restrictions-lawsuit

Treasonous Journalists?

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Article in Media Matters by Matt Gertz, 5/13/26

Headline:  “As Trump accuses news outlets of “TREASON,” Fox models MAGA Iran coverage”

“While President Donald Trump accuses news outlets of committing “virtual TREASON” by producing reporting that suggests the United States is losing his war against Iran, the president’s loyal Fox News propagandists keep telling him that he’s doing a great job, saying he’s on the verge of victory, and suggesting he can fail only by backing down. . .”

Read the full article at:

https://www.mediamatters.org/fox-news/trump-accuses-news-outlets-treason-fox-models-maga-iran-coverage