Media Politicize

FCC Wrecking Broadcasting?

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Article in Poynter by Tom Jones, 9/1/26

Headline: “Opinion | Trump’s threats against the press don’t have to succeed to do damage”

Subhead:  “The FCC has no authority to punish Kristen Welker for her Trump analysis. That doesn’t make the president’s threat harmless.”

“. . .The FCC really can’t do anything to Welker over her critique of Trump’s candidate endorsements. As Anna Gomez, the lone Democratic commissioner on the FCC, tweeted, ‘As I’ve said many times, the FCC has no authority to punish journalists this administration doesn’t like.’

“However, Gomez added, ‘These threats to press freedom are dangerous. They undermine the foundation of our democracy, and they have no place in it.’. . .”

Read the full article at:

https://www.poynter.org/commentary/2026/trump-purposeful-inaccuracy-fcc-threat/

Media Frenzy?

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Article in The Guardian by Mehdi Hassan, 9/1/26

Headline: “The media’s Hasan Piker obsession is letting Republican Mike Rogers off the hook”

Subhead:  “Mike Rogers isn’t merely campaigning alongside a controversial supporter. His campaign put an extremist on its faith leadership team”

“Turn on cable news. Pick up a newspaper. Log on to Twitter. It doesn’t seem to matter where you get your political news: for the past month, the leftist Twitch streamer has become one of the dominant subjects of coverage, conversation and controversy surrounding the crucial Michigan Senate race between the Democrat Abdul El-Sayed and the Republican Mike Rogers. . .”

Read the full article at:

https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2026/sep/01/hasan-piker-mike-rogers-media

CBS Uses 9/11 for Political Attack?

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Article in Status by Oliver Darch, 8/30/26

Headline:  “CBS’ El-Sayed Scandal”

Subhead: “The Bari Weiss-led outlet is being pummeled by a storm of outrage over a story about Abdul El-Sayed—and Status has learned that within the network, some staffers have raised the matter with standards.”

“At 8:18 a.m. on Monday morning, CBS News published a post on X that immediately drew an avalanche of criticism: ‘As the nation prepares to mark 25 years since Sept. 11, 2001,’ the post said, ‘ Abdul El-Sayed, the Democratic nominee for U.S. Senate in Michigan, may be facing the risk of renewed scrutiny and fresh political attack.’. . .”

Read the full article at:

https://www.status.news/p/cbs-news-el-sayed-bari-weiss-9-11

“Meet The Press” Word Irks Trump?

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Article in Poynter by Tom Jones, 8/31/26

Headline:  “Opinion | Trump calls on the FCC to punish Kristen Welker — for accurate commentary”

Subhead:  “He once again called on federal regulators to punish journalism he dislikes, despite the FCC having no authority to do so”

“. . .President Donald Trump is calling on the Federal Communications Commission to do something that it does not have the authority to do. And why? Because he’s angry about something a journalist said on television.

“Prior to the airing of Sunday’s ‘Meet the Press’ on NBC, moderator Kristen Welker spoke with WRC-TV, the NBC affiliate in Washington, D.C.

“Welker pointed out that Trump is ‘going to loom large’ over the upcoming midterm elections. Then she accurately noted, ‘He, of course, has endorsed a slate of candidates in the primaries. He’s had some mixed results.’. . .”

Read the full article at:

https://www.poynter.org/commentary/2026/trump-kristen-welker-rebuke-punishment/

Media Claim on Illegal Voters, Deflated

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Article in Media Matters by Hanne MacDonald & Reed McMaster, 8/26/26

Headline:  “Right-wing media repeated Trump administration claims that over 250,000 noncitizens registered to vote — now that “inflated” number is falling apart”

Subhead:  “Right-wing media personalities used unsubstantiated figures from DHS to push for the SAVE America Act and to cast further doubt on election security”

Right-wing media ran with unsubstantiated claims from the Trump administration that the Department of Homeland Security found hundreds of thousands of noncitizens registered to vote in federal elections, often using the figures to cast doubt on state election systems and to push for voting restrictions like the SAVE America Act. However, new reporting shows the administration’s numbers are falling apart. . .”

Read the full article at:

https://www.mediamatters.org/index%2Ephp/election-denial-voter-fraud-and-suppression/right-wing-media-repeated-trump-administration-claims

Rt Wing Media Bomb

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Article in Media Matters by John Knefel, 8/28/26

Headline:  “The delusional right-wing media figures declaring victory in Iran”

Subhead:  “The Trump administration’s war of aggression against Iran has failed to achieve its stated objectives. Just don’t tell that to its most die-hard sycophants.”

“Fox News’ Sean Hannity, as reliable a hack for the Trump administration as you can find on cable news, argued on August 19 that the president hadn’t gotten enough “credit” for stopping Iran’s ability to build a nuclear bomb. (Of course, an obvious consequence of bombing a country, assassinating its leadership, and threatening to destroy its entire civilization is that the new government, entirely rationally, is more interested than ever in developing a nuclear deterrent to avoid such attacks being repeated.). . .”

Read the full article at:

https://www.mediamatters.org/index%2Ephp/us-iran-relations/delusional-right-wing-media-figures-declaring-victory-iran

Blocking Media Mega-Merger

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Article in Free Press by Staff, 8/27/26

Headline:  “Block the Merger Coalition Urges State AGs to Hold Strong in Antitrust Suit, Launches No Concessions Platform”

“WASHINGTON — The Block the Merger Coalition is launching a new public-facing petition thanking the 12 state attorneys general who sued to block the dangerous Warner Bros. merger and calling on them to hold strong in their suit. That includes rejecting empty concessions from Paramount before the March 2027 trial.

“Any unenforceable concessions the Ellisons propose in a backroom are a losing proposition, assert the organizers behind http://NoParamountConcessions.com. They ask state AGs to uphold the antitrust laws so workers in the entertainment industry, consumers and the general public get their day in court. . .”

Read the full article at:

https://www.freepress.net/news/block-merger-coalition-urges-state-ags-hold-strong-antitrust-suit-launches-no-concessions

Murdoch Grooming Fox

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Article in Reuters by Reuters, 7/27/26

Headline: “Rupert Murdoch’s wish to re-merge Fox Corp and News Corp ‘could happen in future,’ court documents and video show”

“Rupert Murdoch’s longstanding wish to reunite his Fox Corp, . . . and News ​Corp. . . could happen in a potential merger that would unite a TV company with a widespread news operation, cementing the family’s control ‌over a smaller empire, court documents and video show.

“Discussions of a possible re-merger were revealed during the last few weeks in unsealed court documents and an attorney’s testimony related to a family succession saga that began in 2023. The judicial official overseeing the matter released the findings at the end of July. . .”

Read the full article at:

https://www.reuters.com/world/rupert-murdoch-considering-re-merger-fox-corp-news-corp-court-documents-video-2026-08-27/

Why Are Cameras Off Now?

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Article in FAIR by Louise Liu, 8/26/26

Headline: “Networks Were Ordered to Stop Filming Trump—and They Didn’t Protest the Illegal Censorship”

” ‘Cameras off the president right now.’

“This direct command could be heard this weekend on the live broadcast of the Freedom 250 Grand Prix, an IndyCar street race orchestrated by President Donald Trump’s administration . . .”

“At one point, the presidential couple engaged in heated conversation—possibly regarding, some speculated (Mercury News, 8/24/26), the presence of Trump’s personal assistant Natalie Harp, with whom he has an unusually close relationship. As this discussion transpired, a terse command to the camera operator could be heard: ‘I need the cameras off the president right now. Cameras off the president right now. Turn the cameras.’. . .”

Read the full article at:

https://fair.org/home/networks-were-ordered-to-stop-filming-trump-and-they-didnt-protest-the-illegal-censorship/

Journalist Sources in Jeopardy

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Article in The Guardian by Jeremy Barr, 8/25/26

Headline:  “‘The day I disclose, my career is over’: the journalist facing an $800 daily fine to keep her sources secret”

Subhead: “If Catherine Herridge’s petition to the US supreme court fails, she’ll be on the hook for a daily fine until she discloses her sources – a case unsettling press freedom organizations”

“For 18 days this summer, veteran journalist Catherine Herridge walked to her Washington DC mailbox and dropped off a check for $800. The money was required by law to cover a judge-imposed sanction after she was found in contempt of court in 2024 for refusing to disclose her sources. It. . .”

The check drop is now on hold. The judge who issued that order, Christopher R Cooper, has since clarified that Herridge doesn’t need to pay the fine until she has a chance to plead her case to the supreme court, which she petitioned late last week. . .”

“‘Reporter-source confidentiality is the lifeblood of investigative journalism,’ said Seth Stern, chief of advocacy at Freedom of the Press Foundation. ‘Whistleblowers in a position to expose abuses won’t trust journalists to protect them, and won’t come forward, if they believe reporters will be threatened with financial ruin for not outing them in court.’. . .”

Read the full article at:

https://www.theguardian.com/media/ng-interactive/2026/aug/25/catherine-herridge-journalist-supreme-court