Media Politicize

MAGA Media and Violence?

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Article in Raw Story by Robert Davis, 1/27/26

Headline:  ” ‘Bloodthirsty’: MAGA media calls for violence after nurse’s killing leaves analysts aghast”

“Two analysts were stunned on Tuesday after a flood of “bloodthirsty” MAGA media personalities called for President Donald Trump to inflict more violence against protesters in Minneapolis following the killing of ICU nurse Alex Pretti.

“Sam Stein, managing editor of The Bulwark, and Will Sommer, the publication’s senior reporter, discussed how the MAGA media sphere reacted to Pretti’s death during a new episode of ‘Bulwark Takes’ on Tuesday. They highlighted examples from commentators like Megyn Kelly, who claimed she felt no sympathy for Pretti after he was killed, and Greg Kelly, who said immigration officers were right to mistake Pretti’s phone for a gun. . .”

Read the full article at:

https://www.rawstory.com/maga-2675052416/

Getting the Propaganda Right?

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Article in Poynter by Tom Jones 1/27/26

Headline:  “Opinion | How bystander video and newsroom analysis undercut the White House narrative on Alex Pretti”

Subhead:  “The administration tried to shape the story, but evidence and detailed analysis appear to have forced a rare recalibration”

“. . .In the minutes and hours and days after ICU nurse Alex Pretti was shot 10 times and killed by Border Patrol agents on Saturday, many inside the Trump administration immediately pointed fingers at Pretti. They said he was ‘brandishing’ a gun. They called him a ‘domestic terrorist.’ They said he meant to ‘massacre law enforcement.’

“Some conservative media outlets ran with that storyline.

“None of these statements were rooted in truth. . .”

Read the full article at:

https://www.poynter.org/commentary/2026/video-evidence-alex-pretti-white-house-messaging/

NYT Sued Redux?

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Article in Poynter by Tom Jones, 1/23/26

Headline:  “Opinion | Stop us if you heard this one before: Trump threatens The New York Times“

Subhead:  “The president is not happy about the outlet’s recent poll results”

“With Donald Trump finishing up his first year as president for the second time, there’s a new New York Times/Siena poll about his job performance.

“Two things about it are not surprising.

“One, his approval rating is not good. And, two, Trump is mad as hell about it.. .”

Read the full article at:

https://www.poynter.org/commentary/2026/trump-sues-new-york-times-tiktok-deal-reached/

Media Abandon Civil Rights?

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Article in Free Press by Staff, 1/21/26

Headline:  “Comprehensive New Report Puts Major Media Companies on Notice for Anti-DEI Capitulations”

Subhead:  “In a detailed analysis of the 35 most dominant U.S. media companies, Free Press reveals a disturbing and cowardly reversal on prior civil-rights commitments. . .”

“On Wednesday, Free Press published an authoritative report analyzing the retreat in 2025 of the nation’s largest media companies from prior commitments to promote diversity, equity and inclusion principles in their workplaces and policies. The report — COMPLICIT: Corporate Media’s Capitulation to Trump’s Attacks on Diversity, Equity and Inclusion — sheds new light on the ongoing capitulation of major media and tech companies to the dictates of a bigoted and corrupt Trump administration. . .”

Read the Full article at:

https://www.freepress.net/news/comprehensive-report-puts-major-media-companies-notice-anti-dei-capitulations-trump

Negative vs. Biased News

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Article in Daily Kos by Trenz Pruca, 1/20/26

Headline:  “Media Bias, Negative News, and a Persistent Myth”

Subhead:  “You must be a Republican if you believe that: Fox News, MAGA influencers, and professional outrage merchants tell the truth; scientists, judges, journalists, and civil servants are the deep state.”

“Is the media biased? — the Patterson Study. (2018). . .”

“. . .What the study does examine is the long-term trend toward negative news coverage in broadcast media, a shift that began in the early 1960s as television news expanded in length and became increasingly image-driven. Negative events—conflict, scandal, disaster—are simply easier to visualize. This is why automobile accidents receive more coverage than random acts of kindness. The accident happened. Reporting it is neither fake nor biased; it is merely well suited to the medium.

“Patterson explicitly warns against conflating negative news with biased news. . .”

Read the full article at:

https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2026/1/20/2364428/-Media-Bias-Negative-News-and-a-Persistent-Myth?pm_campaign=front_page&pm_source=more_community&pm_medium=web

Minneapolis Journalists Attacked

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Article in Reporters Without Borders by Staff, 1/20/26

Headline:  “Attacks on journalists in Minnesota cap Trump’s first year back in office”

“Federal agents and officials are increasingly targeting journalists in the state of Minnesota covering widespread protests against the government’s sweeping immigration crackdown. At least six journalists have been violently attacked by agents in the state’s twin cities of Minneapolis and St. Paul since the start of the new year. Federal officials have also threatened independent journalist Don Lemon with criminal charges for his reporting on a protest inside a church. The attacks cap Donald Trump’s first year back in office, which has been defined by his explosive war on press freedom. . .”

Read the full article at:

https://rsf.org/en/attacks-journalists-minnesota-cap-trump-s-first-year-back-office

The Press Says, “Search Me?”

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Article in The Washington Post by Kathleen Parker, 1/16/26

Headline:  “Attacks on the press? America’s seen this before.”

Subhead:  “A history of government vs. the media, from the Pentagon Papers to Obama”

“The FBI’s early wake-up call at a Washington Post reporter’s Virginia home and subsequent seizure of her phone and two laptops has sent chills through the Fourth Estate.

“Even non-journalists should be worried by what happened to Hannah Natanson, who found FBI agents at her front door at 6 a.m. Wednesday, wielding a search warrant. . .”

“Even though we’re accustomed to President Donald Trump’s contempt for the “fake” media, this unusually aggressive act felt Gestapo-like.  . .”

Read the full article at:

https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2026/01/16/post-fbi-press-freedom-hannah-natanson/

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Article in Columbia Journalism Review by Riddhi Setty, 1/16/26

Headline: ” ‘A Trauma That You Carry’ “

Subhead:  “An unprecedented attack on press freedom at the Washington Post.“

“. . .’ “You don’t just get over the federal government banging on your door at six in the morning,’ Burke said of the Natanson case. Two years later, much of his equipment remains in the FBI’s possession. . .”

“Journalists who have been targeted by government searches or surveillance said the Natanson incident reflects an alarming escalation of the Trump White House’s hostility toward the media. . .”

Read the full article at:

https://www.cjr.org/analysis/a-trauma-that-you-carry-washington-post-wapo-hannah-natanson-press-freedom-device-search-seizure-trump.php

Right Media Escalate Conflict?

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Article in Media Matters by John Knefel & Sophie Lawton

Headline:  “Right-wing media are describing pro-immigrant Minnesota activists using the language of war”

Subhead:  ” ‘Civil war,’ ‘insurgents,’ ‘a guerilla tactical playbook’ — these are just some of the ways MAGA pundits are describing civil resistance to Trump’s ICE rampages”

“Right-wing media figures and outlets are using the language of war to characterize protests against the presence of violent Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents in Minnesota. . .”

“While some in right-wing media have referred to anti-ICE demonstrations as an “insurrection” since at least October, the overall tenor of right-wing rhetoric has escalated dramatically in recent days. . .”

Read the full article at:

https://www.mediamatters.org/immigration/right-wing-media-are-describing-pro-immigrant-minnesota-activists-using-language-war

Attack a Journalist? – FAFO

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Article in the Huffington Post by David Moye, 1/15/26

Headline:  “Karoline Leavitt’s Meltdown Not Winning Her Any Fans On Social Media”

Subhead:  “People on X weren’t sympathetic to the White House press secretary’s tirade against a journalist asking a legitimate question about issues facing ICE.”

“White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt probably thought attacking a journalist who asked a legitimate question about Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents during Thursday’s press briefing would help her win the hearts and minds of voters.

But it doesn’t appear things worked out as she might have hoped, based on the social media reaction to her meltdown at a simple question asked by The Hill’s Niall Stanage.

During the briefing, Stanage noted an earlier comment made by Department of Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem that ICE agents are ‘doing everything correctly,’ before asking Leavitt how that can be when “32 people died in ICE custody last year, 170 U.S. citizens were detained by ICE, and Renee Good was shot in the head and killed by an ICE agent.”

“Leavitt didn’t like the answer and declared, ‘Oh, OK. So you’re a biased reporter with a left-wing opinion’ before going on a tirade where she called Stanage ‘a left-wing activist” and said he was ‘posing as a journalist.’. . .”

Read the full article at:

https://www.huffpost.com/entry/karoline-leavitt-meltdown-ice-sparks-social-media-backlash_n_69696996e4b00edae2a41e5b?origin=home-whats-happening-unit

Broadcasting into Iran Stopped?

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Article in Mediaite by Sarah Rumpfm 1/13/26

Headline: “Kari Lake Blocks Radio Free Europe from Using U.S. Transmitter in Kuwait to Broadcast into Iran: Report”

“US Agency for Global Media senior advisor Kari Lake has blocked Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty from broadcasting into Iran using a USAGM transmitter located in Kuwait, reported Oliver Darcy in his Status newsletter.

“Lake narrowly lost the 2022 Arizona governor’s race to Democrat Katie Hobbs, and since then has paired her support for former President Donald Trump’s baseless claims of fraud in the 2020 election with her own unfounded accusations that her election was stolen from her as well. . .”

Read the full article at:

https://www.mediaite.com/media/kari-lake-blocks-radio-free-europe-from-using-u-s-transmitter-in-kuwait-to-broadcast-into-iran-report/