Media Intimidation

Report and . . . Off You Go

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Article in Common Dreams by Brett Wilkens, 6/18/25

Headline:  “Journalist Who Decried Trump’s ‘Deportation of Dissent’ Says He Was Deported for Dissent”

Subhead:  ” ‘Alistair Kitchen’s deportation is a clear case of retaliation in connection with his reporting, and such action sends a chilling message to journalists,’ said one press freedom defender.”

“A leading press freedom advocate on Tuesday condemned the United States’ ‘disturbing pattern’ of screening and expelling international visitors for their political viewpoints following the detention and removal of an Australian journalist who criticized the Trump administration’s targeting of Palestine defenders on college campuses.

“Alistair Kitchen said he was detained for 12 hours and interrogated by U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) agents in Los Angeles International Airport while en route from Melbourne, Australia to New York last week. . .”

Read the full article at:

https://www.commondreams.org/news/alistair-kitchen

Still Attacking Media

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Article in Poynter by Editorial Staff, 6/17/25

Headline:  “Opinion | 10 years of Trump, 10 years of media attacks”

Subhead:  “Donald Trump has turned phrases like ‘fake news’ and ‘enemy of the people’ into rallying cries to undermine the free press”

“It was 10 years ago Monday that Donald Trump rode down his golden escalator and announced that he was running for president. . .”

“But the world and our country — and the media — have definitely changed. . .”

“Among Blake’s items is “The decline of truth.” Blake writes, “At this point, Trump’s falsehoods often aren’t even treated as news. And that’s because, strictly speaking, they’re not new. He spouted more than 30,000 false and misleading claims in his first term, according to The Washington Post. That averages out to nearly one every hour for four years. And it hasn’t stopped. . .”

Read the full article at:

https://www.poynter.org/commentary/2025/decade-donald-trump-fight-free-press/

Media History Repeated?

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Article in Columbia Journalism Review by John Alsop, 6/16/25

Headline:  “The Other Echoes of 2020”

Subhead:  “How this media moment mirrors the aftermath of George Floyd’s killing, beyond police attacks on the press.”

Last week, I wrote in this newsletter about attacks, mostly perpetrated by law enforcement, on journalists covering the protests that followed the recent immigration raids in Los Angeles, and how they echoed the summer of 2020, when police assaulted journalists covering the protests that followed the murder of George Floyd: an Australian TV reporter was hit while talking to camera, which also happened in 2020; ditto the on-air detention of a CNN correspondent; as of last Monday, the US Press Freedom Tracker was working to document at least twenty-six anti-press incidents in LA . . . As last week progressed, the echoes continued: the confirmed number of injured Australian journalists alone jumped to three; an LA police officer was caught on camera shoving and screaming at an ABC journalist; as of Friday, the Press Freedom Tracker was working to document at least fifty anti-press incidents.  . .”

Read the full article at:

https://www.cjr.org/the_media_today/other-echoes-2020-floyd-padilla-australia.php

Journalist Survival Kit

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Article in Poynter by Al Tompkins, 6/13/25

Headline: “25 guidelines for journalists to safely cover unrest”

“Your goal should be to get close enough to observe the scene without endangering yourself or others, or interfering with security or rescue operations”

“With protests scheduled around the country on Saturday, Poynter is republishing a 2021 article with tips about covering unrest. . .”

“1. Your attitude is crucial. Show respect, follow police orders, don’t argue while tensions are high. To avoid being mistaken for a demonstrator, use your best judgment and try not to wear clothing that matches what demonstrators are wearing (e.g., all black). Also, engage with police before the event so they know who you are and may be less likely to arrest you. . .”

Read the full article at:

https://www.poynter.org/reporting-editing/2025/25-guidelines-for-journalists-to-safely-cover-unrest/

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Article in FAIR by Shirlynn, 6/13/25

Headline:  “For Media, Unruly Protesters Are Bigger Problem Than Trump’s Police State”

Subhead: ” ‘Violence’ and ‘anarchists’ “

“While major media sources described these protests as ‘mostly peaceful,’ they nevertheless tended to dwell on what was depicted as rioting and protester violence. In its morning newsletter, the New York Times (6/9/25) set the scene:

” ‘Hundreds of National Guard troops arrived in the city, and crowds of people demonstrated against President Trump’s immigration raids. They clashed with federal agents, leaving burned cars, broken barricades and graffiti scrawled across government buildings downtown.’ ”

Read the full article at:

https://fair.org/home/for-media-unruly-protesters-are-bigger-problem-than-trumps-police-state/

Clawing Public Media

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Public Media is NOT State-media

Article in Democracy Now by Staff 6/13/25

Headline:  “House Approves Trump Request to Rescind $9.4B for Foreign Aid and Public Media”

“The U.S. House on Thursday approved in a 214-212 vote President Trump’s request to claw back $9.4 billion in funding for international aid and the Corporation for Public Broadcasting, which funds NPR and PBS. Only four Republicans voted against the measure, which will freeze $8.3 billion in appropriated foreign aid and $1.1 billion for public media, pending another vote in the Senate.”

Read the full article at:

https://www.democracynow.org/2025/6/13/headlines/house_approves_trump_request_to_rescind_94b_for_foreign_aid_and_public_media

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Article in the New York Times by Megan Mineiro & Catie Edmondson, 6/13/25

Headline:  “Trump’s $1.1 Billion Public Broadcasting Clawback Faces Pushback in the Senate”

Subhead: “Some Republican senators are voicing concern over the House-passed bill that would rescind $9 billion that Congress already approved, including money for NPR and PBS stations in their states.”

“Dakota Talk Radio in the tiny town of Lake Andes, S.D., is one of dozens of rural radio stations across the United States that could see more than half of its budget vanish.

“The station in Unalakleet, Alaska, a remote village in the western Arctic, could lose more than 90 percent of its funding.

“President Trump’s plan to claw back $9 billion in spending already approved by Congress, which Republicans pushed through the House this week and is pending in the Senate, would slash $1.1 billion for the Corporation for Public Broadcasting. . .”

Read the full article at:

https://www.nytimes.com/2025/06/13/us/politics/trump-public-broadcasting-senate.html

No Protection for Journalists?

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Article in Common Dreams by Eloise Goldsmith, 6/9/25

Headline:  “Reporters Without Borders Decries ‘Wave of Violence’ Against Journalists at LA Protests”

Subhead:  ” ‘These protests are a matter of huge public interest and the public has a right to know exactly what’s going on,’ said the executive director of RSF USA.”

“The press freedom group Reporters Without Borders, also known as RSF, on Monday condemned recorded attacks carried out largely by law enforcement, but also by protestors, against journalists reporting on protests that took place in Los Angeles this past weekend. . .”

” ‘The wave of violence against journalists on the streets of Los Angeles this weekend is unacceptable. These protests are a matter of huge public interest and the public has a right to know exactly what’s going on. The only way that can happen is if journalists are allowed to do their jobs freely,’ said Clayton Weimers, the executive director of RSF USA.

Read the full article at:

https://www.commondreams.org/news/los-angeles-rsf-reporters-immigration

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Article in in Committee to Project Journalists by Staff, 6/9/25

Headline:  “Law enforcement injure multiple journalists, others assaulted while covering Los Angeles protests”

“We are greatly concerned by the reports of law enforcement officers’ shooting non-lethal rounds at reporters covering protests in Los Angeles. Any attempt to discourage or silence media coverage by intimidating or injuring journalists should not be tolerated,” said CPJ U.S., Canada, and Caribbean Program Coordinator Katherine Jacobsen. ‘ . . .“

Read the full article at:

https://cpj.org/2025/06/law-enforcement-injure-multiple-journalists-others-assaulted-while-covering-los-angeles-protests/

War on Media Continues

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Article in The Hill by Ellen Mitchell, 6/8/25

Headline:“Hegseth brings warfighter men  tality to media relations “

“The Defense Department’s relationship with reporters has gone from bad to worse following a string of missives from Secretary Pete Hegseth and his office aimed at controlling the Pentagon press corps.

“Hegseth’s war on the media includes taking desks away from legacy outlets, locking the doors to one of the few places reporters have access to the internet in the Pentagon, and restricting their movement within the building. . .”

Read the full article at:

https://thehill.com/policy/defense/5338740-hegseth-brings-warfighter-mentality-to-media-relations/

This Time – Could Need New Journalists

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Article in The Washington Post by Larry Tye, 6/2/25

Headline:  “This journalist was the real hero behind Joe McCarthy’s takedown”

Subhead:  “Drew Pearson rebuked Sen. Joseph McCarthy early and often. History gives him little credit for it.”

“The mythology of Sen. Joseph McCarthy — in fresh focus as the Broadway version of George Clooney’s “Good Night, and Good Luck” smashes box-office records — gets it right that a legendary American journalist played a vital role in toppling the red-baiting Republican in the 1950s. But it casts the wrong journalist.

“It wasn’t, as most accounts suggest, crusading radio and TV personality Edward R. Murrow, although Murrow did broadcast two bare-knuckle takedowns of McCarthy. Rather, it was radio and newspaper commentator Drew Pearson, who went after “Low-Blow Joe” six years before Murrow, stayed on the story longer and uniquely ignited the senator’s wrath. . .”

Read the full article at:

https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2025/06/02/mccarthy-murrow-pearson-clooney-broadway/

Newspapers and Polls

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Article in Raw Story by Travis Gettys, 6/6/25

Headline:  ” ‘Corrupt as hell’: Trump wakes up seething about his polling in two newspapers “

Subhead:  “President Donald Trump lobbed another attack against the nation’s two leading newspapers over their polling.”

“The president started off Friday morning with a fresh complaint about his approval rating measured by the New York Times and the Washington Post, suggesting that ‘real polls’ showed he was actually more popular than ever.

” ‘The Failing New York Times and the Washington ComPost, two ‘papers’ that have ruthlessly fought me for years, have each done Polls where a vast majority of those sampled are Democrats,’ Trump posted on Truth Social at 7:20 a.m. EST . . .”

Read the full story at:

https://www.rawstory.com/donald-trump-approval-rating-2672321734/

 

Too Scared to Report?

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Article in The Atlantic by David Frum, 6/4/25

Headline:  “Why Are the Media So Afraid of Trump?”

Subhead:  “How Trump is bullying the media and why it’s working”

“On this episode of The David Frum Show, The Atlantic’s David Frum opens with a warning about how Donald Trump’s second term has brought a more systematic and punishing assault on American media, through regulatory pressure, retaliatory lawsuits, and corporate intimidation. . .”

“David closes the episode by reflecting on the recent media overhyping of President Joe Biden’s age issues. . .”

Read the full article at:

https://www.theatlantic.com/podcasts/archive/2025/06/david-frum-showwhy-are-the-media-so-afraid-of-trump/683029/