Media obsequiousness

Selective News Coverage?

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Article in FAIR by Belen Fernandez, 7/9/25

Headline:  “Massive Expansion of Trump’s Deportation Machine Passes With Little Press Notice”

“And so it has come to pass: US President Donald Trump’s ‘big, beautiful bill’ has set the stage for tax cuts for the rich, slashed services for the poor, and a host of other things that qualify as ‘beautiful’ in the present dystopia. Some cuts, like those to Medicaid, have been heavily covered by the corporate media. But one key piece of the bill has gotten much less media scrutiny: The preposterous sum of $175 billion has been allocated to fund Trump’s signature mass deportation campaign, which, as a Salon article (7/3/25) points out, exceeds the military budget for every single country in the world aside from the US and China. . .”

Read the full article at:

https://fair.org/home/massive-expansion-of-trumps-deportation-machine-passes-with-little-press-notice/

A Sad Day for Journalism?

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Article in The Guardian by Anna Betts, 7/3/25

Headline:  “Former CBS anchor slams Paramount settlement with Trump: ‘It was a sellout’ “

Subhead:  “Dan Rather laments ‘sad day for journalism’ after company settles for $16m over 60 Minutes Kamala Harris interview”

“A former CBS News anchor and 60 minutes correspondent, Dan Rather, has blasted the $16m settlement between Paramount, the parent company of CBS News, and Donald Trump, calling it a ‘sad day for journalism’.

“ ‘It’s a sad day for 60 Minutes and CBS News,’ Rather, a veteran journalist who was a CBS News anchor for over 20 years, told Variety in an interview published on Wednesday. ‘I hope people will read the details of this and understand what it was. It was distortion by the president and a kneeling down and saying, “yes, sir,” by billionaire corporate owners.’ . . .”

Read the full article at:

https://www.theguardian.com/film/2025/jul/03/dan-rather-cbs-paramount-settlement-trump

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Article in Columbia Journalism Review by Kyle Paolettam 7/2/25

Headline:  “Paramount Will Pay President Trump $16 Million to Settle 60 Minutes Lawsuit”

Subhead:  ” ‘It is a dark day for independent journalism,’ says Sen. Bernie Sanders.”

“Late last night, Paramount, the corporate parent of CBS News, agreed to pay Donald Trump $16 million to settle the president’s lawsuit over the network’s editing of a 60 Minutes interview with Kamala Harris during the 2024 election. This agreement comes six months after ABC paid $15 million to Trump’s foundation to end his suit over how George Stephanopoulos characterized the president’s sexual assault of E. Jean Carroll. Taken together, these settlements represent a troubling compromise of editorial independence for two of the standard-bearers of American broadcast journalism. . .”

Read the full article at:

https://www.cjr.org/news/paramount-will-pay-president-trump-16-million-to-settle-60-minutes-lawsuit.php

Blackmailing the Media

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Article in The Washington Post by Sara Ellison & Jeremy Barr, 7/2/25

Headline:  “How Trump’s media war brought Paramount to its knees”

Subhead:  “Tuesday night’s $16 million settlement with Trump followed months of tension between CBS’s journalistic mission and its corporate interest.”

“The breaking point came on a Saturday night in the middle of May. CBS President George Cheeks called news division chief Wendy McMahon with a suggestion: “It’s probably time.”

“Two days later, McMahon announced her departure.

“The forced resignation marked a turning point: The network of Edward R. Murrow, which stood against McCarthyism and once defined American broadcast journalism, was capitulating to White House pressure as its corporate owner sought approval for a lucrative merger. . .”

Read the full article at:

https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2025/07/02/trump-paramount-cbs-settlement-media/

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Article in The Washington Post by Eric Wemple, 7/2/25

Headline:  “Paramount betrays ‘60 Minutes’ and the rest of us

Subhead:  “Parent company caves to baseless suit by Donald Trump.”

“. . .On Tuesday night came the news that Paramount had agreed to pay $16 million to settle the suit, which stemmed from a ‘60 Minutes’ interview with then-vice president and Democratic presidential nominee Kamala Harris. The money, which covers the president’s legal fees and costs, will go to his future presidential library.

What happened between disputation and capitulation? . . .”

Read the full article at:

https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2025/07/02/paramount-settlement-trump-betrayal/

Talk Show Bias?

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Article in FAIR by Keiwana Grant-Floyd & Julie Hollar, 7/1/25

Headline:  “FAIR Study: Sunday Talkshows Downplayed Criticism During Trump’s Second Transition”

“. . . After Donald Trump was declared the winner of the 2016 and 2024 elections, the Sunday shows had an opportunity to hold up both his campaign promises and his cabinet picks to scrutiny. With his campaigns’ racist attacks on immigrants and diversity initiatives, as well as his movement’s assaults on the rights of women and trans people, inviting guests who more accurately reflect the diversity of the country would seem to be a journalistic imperative. Yet a new FAIR study finds that the Sunday shows’ coverage of the Trump transitions were even more heavily white and male than usual.”

read the full article at:

https://fair.org/home/fair-study-sunday-talkshows-downplayed-criticism-during-trumps-second-transition/

Media Cheerleader for Republicans?

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Article in Daily Kos by Oliver Willis, 6/28/25

Headline:  “Why Republicans desperately want the media to be their cheerleaders”

“Following the decision to bomb Iranian nuclear targets without first seeking congressional approval, the Trump administration renewed its ongoing war against the media for reporting factual information.
Republicans want cheerleading, not journalism.

“President Donald Trump, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt, and other Republicans challenged reporting that revealed that the Pentagon did not believe Iran’s nuclear capability had been decimated. In fact, the Trump administration argued that journalists should celebrate Trump’s actions. . .”

Republicans, particularly Trump and his orbit, have spent more than a decade whining about media coverage—which has largely been laudatory of him and has promoted his favored (false) narratives—but this week’s behavior explicitly argued that the press should “cheer” for Trump, as Hegseth said. . .”

Read the full article at:

https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2025/6/28/2330499/-Why-Republicans-desperately-want-the-media-to-be-their-cheerleaders?pm_campaign=front_page&pm_source=top_news_slot_1&pm_medium=web

Ask a Question – Get Yelled-At

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“The List” photo

Update:

Article in Poynter by Tom Jones, 6/27/25

Headline:  “Opinion | Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth targeted a Fox reporter. The journalism community had her back”

Subhead:  “In defending Jennifer Griffin, journalists signal that truth-telling still matters — no matter the network.”

“The Trump administration continues its signature bashing of the media. This time, it was Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth insulting Fox News’ Jennifer Griffin. . .”

“What was noticeable, however, was just how many journalists came to Griffin’s defense, including those from rival news outlets.

Say what you will about Fox News and how many of the network’s hosts fawn over Trump and conservatives. Griffin is a top-notch, plugged-in and unbiased reporter.

During a press conference with Hegseth on Thursday, Griffin posed a completely legitimate question. . .”

“She suggested that satellite imagery showed there might have been movement from the facility leading up the attack.

“Hegseth snapped, ‘Of course we’re watching it. Jennifer, you’ve been about the worst, the one who misrepresents the most intentionally what the president says.’

“Griffin wasn’t having it. She pushed back . . .”

Read the full article at:

https://www.poynter.org/commentary/2025/pete-hegseth-attacks-fox-reporter-journalists-respond/

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Article in The Hill by Dominick Mastrangelo, 6/26/25

Headline:  “Hegseth slams Fox reporter at press conference: ‘You’ve been about the worst’ ”

Subhead:  “Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth attacked Jennifer Griffin, his former colleague at Fox News and a longtime member of the Pentagon press corps, amid a broader push to discredit media outlets reporting on intelligence laying out the extent of damages done by U.S. strikes to Iranian nuclear sites.”

“ ‘Do you have certainty that all the highly enriched uranium was inside the Fordow mountain?’ Griffin asked Hegseth during a contentious press conference early Thursday morning. . .”

“ ‘Of course we’re watching it,’ Hegseth said before attacking the reporter. ‘Jennifer, you’ve been about the worst. The one who misrepresents the most intentionally.’  ”

Read the full article at:

https://thehill.com/homenews/media/5370774-hegseth-briefing-jennifer-griffin-fox/

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Article in Huffpost by Ron Dicker, 6/26/25

Headline:  “Pete Hegseth Calls Former Fox News Colleague ‘The Worst’ In Tense Iran Presser”

Subhead:  “The defense secretary zeroed in on Fox News’ Jennifer Griffin as he continued to rail against the lack of media fawning over the Iran strikes”

“Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth called former Fox News colleague Jennifer Griffin ‘the worst’ as he faced more questions about the U.S. bombing of Iran’s nuclear sites on Thursday.

“The Pentagon press conference turned downright hostile as Hegseth, who once occupied the curvy couch of ‘Fox & Friends’ before he got his Cabinet gig, slammed Griffin, the network’s chief national security correspondent. . .”

Read the full article at:

https://www.huffpost.com/entry/pete-hegseth-jennifer-griffin-the-worst_n_685d4e2ae4b0f78c57383fb2

 

Special Media Strategy

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Article in The New Republic, 6/25/25

Headline:  “Nancy Mace Is the Future of the Republican Party”

Subhead:  “The South Carolina representative isn’t just a bigot and a laughingstock. She’s pioneering a media strategy that her GOP colleagues will follow.”

“. . .If there is a through line connecting the incongruous halves of Mace’s political career, it is an all-consuming desire for attention . . . Mace eagerly played the right notes for reporters in search of the GOP’s next generation. . .”

“Outlets like Washingtonian and Slate claim that some congressional offices, like Mace’s, ‘have become PR firms for attention-hungry members who see their job … as building a personal brand.’  Like Trump, Mace is fashioning an identity built on short-term populism. Meanwhile, staffers spoke with Washingtonian about Mace’s mistreatment and the fact she used her office as a means to get on TV. . .”

Read the full article at:

zhttps://newrepublic.com/article/196207/nancy-mace-future-republican-party

MAGA Hates Fox News?

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Article in Daily Beast by Jack Revell, 6/20/25

Headline:  “Trump Has a Fiery New Excuse for Why MAGA ‘Hates’ Fox News”

Subhead:  “It’s all the fault of a single host who won’t toe the line.”

“President Donald Trump has taken a fresh swipe at Fox News, claiming his MAGA base ‘hates’ the network, following the stinging rejection of recent polling. Trump has appeared to pin the blame for falling ratings—which he describes as the ‘highest ever’—on a single Fox News critic who is ‘soiling’ his otherwise ‘record-breaking’ performance.

“ ‘Why does Fox News allow failed TV personality Jessica Tarlov to ‘soil The Five?’ Trump raged on Truth Social. ‘Her voice, her manner, and above all else, what she says, are a disgrace to television broadcasting’. . .”

Read the full article at:

https://www.thedailybeast.com/trump-has-a-fiery-new-excuse-for-why-maga-hates-fox-news/

Media Caused War?

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Article in The Guardian by Jason Stanley, 6/13/25

Headline:  “The mainstream media has enabled Trump’s war on universities”

Subhead:  “For the past decade, the US press has fueled a moral panic over leftists on campus while failing to report on the right’s assault”

“. . .The US mainstream media has waged a decade-long propaganda campaign against American universities, culminating in the systematic misrepresentation of last year’s campus anti-war protests. This campaign has been the normalizing force behind the Trump administration’s attack on universities, as well as a primary cause of his multiple electoral successes. Unless the media recognizes the central role it has played, we cannot expect the attack to relent. . .”

Read the full article at:

https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2025/jun/13/mainstream-media-trump-universities

Media Execs Were Shocked!

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Article in Mediaite by Colby Hall, 6/9/25

Headline:  “The Fake Outrage at ABC’s Terry Moran Exposes How Dishonest Independent Media Can Be”

“Terry Moran made a mistake.

“Not a big, career-killing one —more like the kind of late-night lapse that happens when the filter slips and the truth comes out a little too unvarnished. In the bleary hours between Saturday night and Sunday morning, the ABC News senior correspondent let fly a tweet about Stephen Miller, calling him ‘richly endowed with the capacity for hatred,’ . . .” nourishment.”

“The blunt bit of analysis was deleted quickly. The damage was already done, his post having landed squarely in the middle of the culture war mosh pit, where such commentary is chum for partisan sharks desperate for engagement. . .”

Read the full article at:

https://www.mediaite.com/opinion/the-fake-outrage-at-abcs-terry-moran-exposes-how-dishonest-independent-media-can-be/