MAGA Media and Women

Article in Media Matters by John Knefel, 12/10/25

Headline:  “Right-wing media are poised to escalate attacks on women as MAGA cracks emerge”

Subhead:  “As MAGA begins to fracture, elements of the coalition may seek to rally behind anti-feminism”

“The right-wing media and policy ecosystem appears poised to escalate its attacks on the basic rights of women as a weakened President Donald Trump lurches toward the end of the first year of his second term. The campaign to roll back decades of material gains for women is coming from both the gutter sexists and the would-be high-brow elements of the conservative media world, and it could serve as a rallying point for an increasingly fractured MAGA movement. . .”

Read the full article at:

https://www.mediamatters.org/diversity-discrimination/right-wing-media-are-poised-escalate-attacks-women-maga-cracks-emerge

Mega-Media Monsters Good?


Article in Democracy Now! by Staff, 12/9/25

Headline:  ” ‘Merger Madness’: Trump at Center of Rival Netflix-Paramount Bids for Warner Bros.”

“President Donald Trump says he will be personally involved in the potential sale of Warner Bros. Discovery, with two enormous buyout offers on the table that risk further exacerbating U.S. media concentration. Netflix announced an $83 billion deal last week to buy Warner Bros. Discovery, which would give the tech giant control of the Warner Bros. movie studio and rival streaming service HBO Max. . .”

Read the full article at:

https://www.democracynow.org/2025/12/9/warner_bros_discovery_sale

– – – – –

Article in Business Insider by Paige Bruton, Sarah Jackson, and Henry Chandonnet; 12/9/25

Headline: “Meet David Ellison, the 42-year-old Paramount Skydance CEO trying to throw a monkey wrench in Netflix’s plan”

“David Ellison is officially the CEO of Paramount Skydance. After a successful Paramount merger, next on his wish list is Warner Bros. Discovery — and he’s launched a hostile takeover bid in an effort to scoop it out from Netflix’s hands. . .”

Read the full article at:

https://www.businessinsider.com/meet-david-ellison-paramount-skydance-ceo-2025-12?utm_source=reddit&utm_medium=social&utm_campaign=BusinessInsider-post-rentertainment

– – – – –

Article in Status by Oliver Darcy, 12/8/25

Headline: “Ellison’s Endgame”

“What began as quiet courtship by David Ellison has morphed into a hostile takeover attempt of Warner Bros. Discover – with the battle only likely to get messier in the days ahead. . .”

Read the article at:

https://www.status.news/p/david-ellison-david-zaslav-warner-bros-paramount-bids

Free Speech Disappearing?

Article in Free Press by Staff 12/8/25

Headline:  “Comprehensive New Report Uncovers a Pervasive Pattern Driving the Trump Administration’s Year of Attacks Against Free Speech”

Subhead:  “In an analysis of hundreds of assaults on the First Amendment, Free Press reveals a systemic speech-chilling campaign.”

“WASHINGTON — On Monday, Free Press published an authoritative report analyzing the hundreds of incidents involving possible First Amendment violations over the first year of the Trump White House. The report — CHOKEHOLD: Donald Trump’s War on Free Speech & the Need for Systemic Resistance — sheds new light on a pattern driving an administration-wide campaign to silence dissent. . .”

Read the full article at:

https://www.freepress.net/news/report-uncovers-pervasive-pattern-driving-trump-administrations-year-attacks-free-speech

Lack of Accurate News Bites Back?

Article in The Washington Post by the editorial board, 12/5/25

Headline:  “Trump’s closure of Voice of America is coming back to bite him”

Subhead:  “As the president threatens Venezuela, Russia and China are filling the information vacuum.”

“President Donald Trump has said he won’t rule out anything when it comes to removing Venezuelan dictator Nicolás Maduro from power. Yet he is missing an important tool from the arsenal: the Voice of America.

“Since Trump’s March executive order dismantling the news agency, most of VOA’s 1,300 staff members and contractors have been fired or placed on administrative leave, its website has been frozen and the 83-year-old broadcaster has gone dark for the first time since its founding during World War II. . .”

Read the full article at:

https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2025/12/05/venezuela-voa-voice-of-america-maduro-trump/

Documenting Frivolous Press Lawsuits

Article in Columbia Journalism Review by Liam Scott, 12/4/25

Headline:  “The SLAPP Problem Is Worse Than We Thought”

Subhead:  “As Donald Trump tests the limits of anti-press litigation, a new initiative aims to document the wave of nuisance suits.”

Press freedom advocates and media lawyers in the United States have long warned about the rise of frivolous lawsuits intended to intimidate and silence journalists through expensive legal battles. But despite anecdotal evidence, the problem has remained amorphous. No one has been able to say just how bad it is because no one has closely tracked the filings, known as strategic lawsuits against public participation, or SLAPPs.

“A free speech group at New York University is trying to change that. . .”

Read the full article at:

https://www.cjr.org/analysis/slapp-lawsuit-problem-worse-trump-test-nuisance-limits-litigation.php

Clowning Around in the Pentagon?

Article in Status by Oliver Darcy, 12/2/25

Headline:  “The Pentagon’s Propagandists”

Subhead:  “The Pentagon held its first media briefing in months, hand-selecting a group lf MAGA influences to lob softballs – a charade that disgusted the actual journalists Pete Hegseth exiled earlier this year”

Read the article at:

https://www.status.news/p/pentagon-media-briefing-propagandists

– – – – –

Article in The Washington Post by Scott Nover & Drew Harwell, 12/2/25

Headline:  “Pentagon upbraids mainstream media in briefing with pro-Trump press corps”

Subhead:  “Defense Department press secretary lays into “legacy media,” especially The Washington Post, at a news conference for the Pentagon’s now largely right-wing outlets.”

“The Pentagon’s press secretary excoriated the mainstream press, and particularly The Washington Post, at a news briefing Tuesday for the Pentagon’s newly credentialed media representatives, the first such event since Defense Department press restrictions spurred a mass exodus of established news organizations in October. . .”

Read the full article at:

https://www.washingtonpost.com/business/2025/12/02/pentagon-media/

Fake News on “Media Offenders” Website?

Article in Irish Star by Hannah Broughton, 11/30/25

Headline:  “Trump humiliated as he is forced to take down anti-media website hours after launch”

Subhead:  “In a whirlwind of irony, Trump’s latest venture to expose ‘media bias’ backfired spectacularly, leaving the White House scrambling to correct its own missteps”

https://www.irishstar.com/news/us-news/trump-humiliated-forced-take-down-36329415

– – – – –

Article in Daily Beast by Jack Revell, 11/30/25

Headline:  “White House Forced to Correct Childish Anti-Media Site”

https://www.thedailybeast.com/white-house-forced-to-correct-childish-anti-media-site/

– – – – –

Article in Huffington Post by Bryan Grenoble, 12/1/25

Headline:  “White House Media Attack Falls Apart After It Calls Fox ‘Woke’ “

Subhead: Fox News said its inclusion on a White House webpage of ‘Media Offenders’ was a case of mistaken identity.

https://www.huffpost.com/entry/white-house-media-hall-of-shame-fox-woke_n_692db994e4b0c8c3c7ce6e19?origin=home-latest-news-unit

Looking at Media You Don’t Like?

Article in Poynter by Tom Jones

Headline:  “The White House’s ‘media offender’ list will fizzle. The reporting won’t.”

Subhead:  “The Trump administration’s latest attack on reporters won’t stop newsrooms from holding it accountable”

https://www.poynter.org/commentary/2025/white-house-media-offender-list-trump-press-attacks/

– – – – –

Article in Committee to Protect Journalists by Staff

Headline:  “Trump administration’s ‘media bias’ list raises alarm, CPJ says”

https://cpj.org/2025/12/trump-administrations-media-bias-list-raises-alarm-cpj-says/

– – – – –

Article in The Guardian by Marina Dunbar, 11/29/25

Headline:  “White House launches website to excoriate media for ‘biased’ stories”

Subhead:  “Trump administration lists reporting it objects to in latest escalation of attacks on US journalism”

https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025/nov/29/white-house-media-website-trump

Buying All The Media?

Article in Common Dreams by Robert Reich, 11/26/25

Headline:  “The Billionaires Destroying Our Media System and What To Do About It”

Subhead: “In an era when wealth is concentrated in the hands of a few individuals who have bought up key media, there is a growing danger that the public will not be getting the truth it needs to function in this democracy”

“The third-richest man owns Facebook, Instagram, and WhatsApp.

“The fourth-richest man owns The Washington Post and Amazon MGM Studios.

“Another billionaire owns Fox News, The Wall Street Journal, and the New York Post.

“Why are the ultra-rich buying up so much of the media? Vanity may play a part, but there’s a more pragmatic — some might say sinister — reason. . .”

Read the full article at:

https://www.commondreams.org/opinion/billionaire-ownership-media

Courts & Media Intimidation?

Article in Axios by Sara Fisher and Kerry Flynn, 11/25/25

Headline:  “Trump’s media lawsuits keep falling flat”

“Despite two very visible settlements with ABC and CBS in the past year, President Trump’s legal pressure on media companies has still faced ample pushback in court.

“Why it matters: Lawsuits, even if eventually dismissed are extremely costly and burdensome for news organizations to fight. . .”

Read the full article at:

https://www.axios.com/2025/11/25/trump-media-lawsuits-dismissed