Entertaining Propaganda?


Article in The Atlantic by Anne Applebaum, 10/27/25

Headline:  “The Pentagon’s Version of Regime Propaganda”

Subhead:  “The Trump administration is trying to muddle reality—and create apathy.”

“When you imagine media in a dictatorship, you probably think of something dull and gray. Maybe a Soviet state-television program, extolling the annual harvest. Perhaps a smudgy newspaper photograph of Chairman Mao or General Pinochet, surrounded by blocks of turgid prose.

“But if that is your mental picture, then your imagination is out of date. Nowadays, authoritarian propaganda can be varied, colorful, even mesmerizing. . .”

“For the first time in our history, the Department of Defense has been carefully preparing to offer Americans something similar: not information but entertainment, scandal, sycophancy, and jokes. . .”

Read the full article at:

https://www.theatlantic.com/ideas/archive/2025/10/pentagon-press-restrictions-new-media-propaganda/684706/

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Article in Media Matters by Matt Gertz, 10/27/25

Headline:  “Pete Hegseth is replacing the Pentagon press corps with MAGA propagandists”

“Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth is stifling the Pentagon’s channels for public information and cutting off avenues for accountability as U.S. forces deploy on missions of dubious legality that are fraught with potential danger. . .”

Read the full article at:

https://www.mediamatters.org/pete-hegseth/pete-hegseth-replacing-pentagon-press-corps-maga-propagandists

Don’t Look in the Media-Mirror!

Article in Comic Sands by Amelia Mavis Christnot, 10/23/25

Headline:  Fox News Host’s Gripe About The ‘Slobbering Media’ Is An Awkward Self-Own For The Ages”

Subhead:  “Greg Gutfeld called out the ‘allied slobbering media’ while criticizing former White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre’s new book—and the hypocrisy is off the charts. . .”

“Gutfeld, a well-documented media minion for MAGA Republican President Donald Trump, made the hypocrisy of his gripes evident by including effusive, over-the-top praise of Trump as part of his indictment of the media coverage of President Biden. . .”

“Gutfeld, apparently unaware of his own network’s programming or reality, claimed:

” ‘Who is the most successful politician this century? Donald Trump, with 98% of the media against him.’

” ‘Then you look at the KJPs, you look at the Joe Bidens, you look at the Kamala Harrises. They are all abject, pathetic figures. They’re failures, and they had the media on their side. They failed.’

” ‘What does that tell you? An allied slobbering media does you no favors. It leaves you as an incompetent, arrogant, entitled fool’. . .”

Read the full article at:

https://www.comicsands.com/greg-gutfeld-slobbering-media

Media Ignore Bombing?


Article in FAIR by Belen Fernandez, 10/21/25

Headline:  “To Media, Gaza Ceasefire Holds Despite Repeated Israeli Strikes”

“. . .In the ten days following the implementation of the ostensible truce, the Israeli military reportedly killed at least 97 Palestinians in Gaza and wounded 230, violating the ceasefire agreement no fewer than 80 times. One might have expected, then, to see a headline or two along the lines of, I dunno, “Israel violates ceasefire”—or maybe “So much for ‘peace’ in Gaza.”

“No such headlines turned up in the Western corporate media—not that there weren’t some pretty spectacular violations to choose from. . .”

Read the full article at:

https://fair.org/slider/to-media-gaza-ceasefire-holds-despite-repeated-israeli-strikes/


Article in FAIR by Janine Jackson, 10/17/25

Headline: ” ‘You Had US Media Carrying Out Incitement to Genocide, and Then Shifting to Genocide Denial’ “

Subhead: “CounterSpin interview with Gregory Shupak on how to deny genocide”

“. . .The Committee to Protect Journalists states that in the first 10 weeks after the October 7, 2023, Hamas attacks, Israel had already killed more media workers in Gaza than had ever been killed in a year anywhere. Israel has systematically targeted journalists and their families for reporting the realities of genocide, famine and displacement, with the murders often followed by official PR efforts depicting the journalists as Hamas propagandists, or simply as ‘terrorists.’. . .”

Read the full article at:

https://fair.org/home/you-had-us-media-carrying-out-incitement-to-genocide-and-then-shifting-to-genocide-denial

Unhealthy Media Claim


Article in Media Matters by Zachary Pleat & Craig Harrington, 10/14/25

Headline:  “Right-wing media falsely claim benefits go to undocumented immigrants as millions of Americans face health coverage losses”

Subhead:  “Right-wing media join the Trump administration’s campaign to dismantle American health care system”

“. . .Right-wing media responded to Democrats’ demands by falsely claiming that the health care coverage losses Democrats are trying to reverse are actually benefits that will illegally go to undocumented immigrants.

“To this end, right-wing media are conflating lawfully present immigrants, who can qualify for some health benefits, with undocumented immigrants, who cannot. . .”

Read the full article at:

https://www.mediamatters.org/health-care/right-wing-media-falsely-claim-benefits-go-undocumented-immigrants-millions-americans

Trump Press Conference Highlights

Article in AlterNet by Alex Henderson, 10/14/25

Headline  ” ‘My body is a little bit larger than’ Biden’s: Here are 5 wild moments from Trump’s presser”

“U.S. President Donald Trump’s schedule, on Tuesday afternoon, October 14, included a meeting with visiting Argentine President Javier Milei in the White House.

“The Trump Administration is giving Argentina, whose currency, the peso argentino, has suffered major problems in recent years, a $20 million bailout. . .”

“Here are five of the wildest moments from Trump’s Tuesday afternoon at the White House. . .”

Read the full article at:

https://www.alternet.org/trump-milei-stephanopoulos/

Mental Media Malpractice?


Article in AlterNet by Adam Lynch, 10/9/25

Headline:  ” ‘The right is in deep trouble’: Expert says far-right media ‘promotes mental degeneration’ “

“UnHerd Editor Sohrab Ahmari tells the Washington Post that the ravings of the right-wing media’s pundit class have lately gotten even crazier.

“ ‘Much of right-wing media now resembles star-child radio: a vast chamber of oft-malignant fantasies, where even once-reasonable minds go to get euthanized,’ said Ahmari. ‘Each flick of the feed pulls up a paranoia-monger more wild-eyed than the previous, warning about the evil machinations of all-powerful … apparitions of their fever dreams’. . . .”

Read the full article at:

https://www.alternet.org/right-wing-media-mental/

Conspiracy Theories in Media?


Article in Media Matters by Matt Gertz, 10/7/25

Headline:  “Why the right-wing media apparatus is suddenly yelling about Jack Smith supposedly spying on GOP senators”

“Republicans and their right-wing media allies yesterday spun out frothy allegations about former special counsel Jack Smith purportedly ‘spying on Republican senators’ in order to forestall tough questions about the state of the Justice Department. But their dark conspiracy theory immediately collapses under scrutiny. . .”

Read the full article at:

https://www.mediamatters.org/fox-news/why-right-wing-media-apparatus-suddenly-yelling-about-jack-smith-supposedly-spying-gop

 

Fake Media Experts?

Article in Mediaite by Alex Griffing, 110’3’25

Headline:  “Candace Owens and Tucker Carlson’s Conspiracy Theories Totally Wreck the Credibility That Alternative Media is Trying to Gain”

“. . .As traditional media continues to shed viewers and more and more Americans, especially young people, tune into podcasts and scroll social media for their news, the likes of Owens and Carlson are shaping the discourse more than ever. Unfortunately, much of their content is utter and total nonsense, and leans into age-old stereotypes and bigotry to grab headlines and remain provocative. . .”

Read the full article at:

https://www.mediaite.com/opinion/candace-owens-and-tucker-carlsons-loony-conspiracy-theories-totally-wreck-the-credibility-that-alternative-media-is-trying-to-gain/

 

Media Hide Project 2025?

Article in Common Dreams by Stephen Prager, 10/3/25

Headline: “Media Faces Reckoning After Helping Trump Downplay Project 2025 on Campaign Trail”

Subhead:  ” ‘A Trump denial is not a fact,’ said one media critic.”

“As President Donald Trump openly embraces Project 2025, mainstream media outlets are facing criticism for their role in helping him downplay his ties to the wildly unpopular far-right governing playbook in the lead-up to his reelection last year. . .”

“She [Kamala Harris] and other Democrats warned that if he retook power, he would swiftly enact many of its most extreme and unpopular proposals and dramatically expand executive power while doing it. . .”

“After nine months back in power, the website Project 2025 Tracker estimates that Trump has already implemented approximately 48% . . .”

“ ‘Nothing showed the difference between mainstream and independent media better than the response to Trump’s obvious lie about not knowing anything about Project 2025,’ said David Pepper, author of the book Saving Democracy: A User’s Manual.”

Read the full article at:

https://www.commondreams.org/news/project-2025-media-backlash