Media Politicize

Short Right Wave

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Article in NPR On the Media by Staff, 5/21/25

Headline:  “S2 THE DIVIDED DIAL EPISODE 3: World’s Last Chance Radio”

“. . .The Divided Dial is the untold story of shortwave radio: the way-less-listened to but way-farther-reaching cousin of AM and FM radio. The medium was once heralded as a utopian, international, and instantaneous mass communication tool — a sort of internet-before-the-internet. But like the internet, it also took a turn for the chaotic. And like AM and FM talk radio, it also went hard to the right, with extremists and cults still finding a home on the shortwaves. . .

Read or listen to the full article at:

https://www.npr.org/podcasts/452538775/on-the-media

Media Sources Not Confidential?

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Article in The Intercept Voices Staff, 5/19/25

Headline: “Attorney General Pam Bondi has opened the door to “subpoenas, court orders, and search warrants to compel” reporters to reveal information about their sources, warning that the Justice Department ‘will not tolerate disclosures that undermine President Trump’s policies.’ “

“. . .No journalist should go to jail for refusing to disclose confidential sources, but now news outlets like The Intercept face the risk of criminal prosecutions. Subpoenas, court orders, and search warrants must not be used to intimidate and silence media outlets from reporting the truth. . . .”

https://theintercept.com/

Giving Radio Away on Silver Platter?

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UPDATE

 

Article in Slashdot by Staff

Headline: “Verizon Secures FCC Approval for $9.6 Billion Frontier Asquisiton”

“The Federal Communications Commission has approved Verizon’s $9.6 billion acquisition of Frontier Communications, valuing the Dallas-based company at $20 billion including debt. The approval comes after Verizon agreed to scale back diversity initiatives to comply with Trump administration policies.

FCC Chairman Brendan Carr, who previously threatened to block mergers over DEI practices, praised the deal for its potential to “unleash billions in new infrastructure builds” and “accelerate the transition away from old, copper line networks to modern, high-speed ones.” The acquisition positions America’s largest phone carrier to expand its high-speed internet footprint across Frontier’s 25-state network. Verizon plans to deploy fiber to more than one million U.S. homes annually following the transaction.”

https://mobile.slashdot.org/story/25/05/16/194255/verizon-secures-fcc-approval-for-96-billion-frontier-acquisition

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Article in Free Press by Staff, 5/16/25

Headline: “Verizon Cowardly Capitulates to Trump and Carr’s Racist Bullying”

“On Friday, the Federal Communications Commission, under the direction of President Trump’s FCC Chairman Brendan Carr, approved Verizon’s acquisition of Frontier Communications. The deal hands control of Frontier’s telecommunications networks in 25 states to Verizon, further consolidating a broadband industry with limited choices and exorbitant prices for consumers.

The price tag of the deal, however, is much higher than the $20 billion announced by the two companies. Buried in the FCC’s approval order, but proudly touted in the agency’s press release, is the claim that Verizon got the deal done only after promising to end its diversity, equity and inclusion programs. . . .

Read the full article at:

https://www.freepress.net/news/verizon-cowardly-capitulates-trump-and-carrs-racist-bullying

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Article in Slashdot by BeauHD, 5/14/25

Headline:  “FCC Threatens EchoStar Licenses For Spectrum That’s ‘Ripe For Sharing'”

“Federal Communications Commission Chairman Brendan Carr has threatened to revoke EchoStar licenses for radio frequency bands coveted by rival firms including SpaceX, which alleges that EchoStar is underutilizing the spectrum. ‘I have directed agency staff to begin a review of EchoStar’s compliance with its federal obligations to provide 5G service throughout the United States per the terms of its federal spectrum licenses,’ Carr wrote in a May 9 letter to EchoStar Chairman Charles Ergen. EchoStar and its affiliates ‘hold a large number of FCC spectrum licenses that cover a significant amount of spectrum,’ the letter said. . .”

https://mobile.slashdot.org/story/25/05/13/2247256/fcc-threatens-echostar-licenses-for-spectrum-thats-ripe-for-sharing

Can’t Praise Too Much!

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Article in the New Republic by Greg Sargens, 5/12/25

Headline:  “Trump Press Sec’s Fawning Over Him to Media Takes Scary, Cultlike Turn”

Subhead:  “As Karoline Leavitt goes full North Korea in her obsequious praise for Trump, a sharp observer of Trumpism explains what all this says about the “MAGA aesthetic” and its likeness to authoritarian propaganda.”

“In her most recent media briefing, White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt went full North Korea with a number of worshipful monologues about Trump. Yet at around the same time, another journalist’s criticism of Trump caused him to explode in a wild, triggered fury that undercut the image Leavitt tried to project of a leader who is strong, calm, and in command of events. . .”

Read the full article at:

https://newrepublic.com/article/195103/trump-press-sec-fawning-media-takes-scary-cultlike-turn

 

Journalism: Holding Feet to the Fire

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Article in Poynter by Tom Jones, 5/13/25

Headline:  “Opinion | Instead of answering legitimate ethics questions, Trump goes to his playbook and lobs insults at a reporter”

Subhead:  “He attacked ABC’s Rachel Scott after she questioned why he’d accept a $400 million jet from Qatar to use as Air Force One”

“Holding the powerful to account. That’s a key role for journalists.

“Among those in power are government officials. So whenever there is potential wrongdoing or misbehavior or shady business practices by our elected officials, it’s the duty of journalists to dig in and then confront those officials. . .”

“Journalists should press the president about whether it really is OK to accept such a gift from a foreign country. And that’s exactly what ABC News’ Rachel Scott did on Monday.

“Instead of answering these legitimate questions and explaining to Scott, to the media and, really, the rest of the country and world his rationale, Trump instead chose to attack Scott. . .”

https://www.poynter.org/commentary/2025/qatar-give-us-plane-trump-ethics/

Media not Kowtowing Enough?

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Article in The Guardian by Adam Gabbatt, 5/11/25

Headline: “Trump complains the US media aren’t bending to his will. Aren’t they?”

Subhead: “Despite owners and networks forsaking journalistic independence, Trump continues to threaten journalists”

“In the telling of Donald Trump and his Republican colleagues, the US media is fake news, stocked with “radical-left monsters” who are guilty of “illegal” reporting on the president.

The reality is different.

Since the president’s election, a number of US news organizations have appeared to bend to his will, with a growing number of examples of billionaire owners seemingly setting aside journalistic independence in favor of staying in Trump’s good grace.

Despite that acquiescence, Trump has continued to threaten journalists, branding pollsters ‘negative criminals’ who ‘should be investigated for election fraud’ . . .”

https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025/may/11/trump-media-journalists-60-minutes

Kitsch in the Media Now?

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Article in The Guardian by David Smith, 5/10/25

Headline:  “Crass, flashy, outrageous: Trump media blitz redefines meaning of presidential”

Subhead:   “White House communications have adopted a Trumpian air that’s ‘either completely malevolent or completely brilliant’ “

“. . .Over the past three-and-a-half months, the US president and his team have launched a relentless media offensive based on crass language, flashy tactics, shock-value videos and social media memes and posts that are outrageous by design. They have used platforms and personalities to bypass traditional outlets and directly engage the Maga (Make America great again) base. They have found new ways to drown out critics, goad opponents and antagonise the world.

“The embrace of viral far-right culture has nurtured a parallel information ecosystem through pro-Trump outlets enjoying a significant growth in influence, access to power and financial investment. . .”

https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025/may/10/trump-media-white-house-communications

Public Media Threat by the State

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Article in Columbia Journalism Review by Josh Hersch, 5/9/25

Headline:  “The Threat Is Very Real”

Subhead:  “NPR’s Katherine Maher on the fight to save public media.”

“Last week, Donald Trump issued an executive order calling for the end of funding for NPR and PBS. It’s the latest attempt by conservatives to cut back on support for public media, and in particular target NPR, which they view as having a liberal bias.

Katherine Maher, NPR’s CEO, says that perception is deeply unfair—and notes that the vast majority of the funding for public media goes to local stations, which are widely trusted across the political spectrum.

But the battle to insulate NPR from political influence is not easy—and, as Maher explains, it’s facing its toughest challenge yet. . .”

https://www.cjr.org/kicker/npr-pbs-katherine-maher-federal-funding.php

Public & State Media Not the Same!

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Article in FAIR by Ari Paul, 5/6/25

Headline:  “Taibbi Cites Government Attacks on Media to Defend Government Attacks on Media”

Subhead: “Cuts to PBS, NPR Part of Authoritarian Playbook.”

“Going after public broadcasters is part of the neo-fascist playbook authoritarian leaders around the world are using to clamp down on dissent and keep the public in the dark.”

“. . .Taibbi asked, “How nuts do you have to be to think ‘strong state media’ doesn’t have a dark side? . . .”

“Taibbi’s main trick is to pretend that ‘state media’ and ‘public media’ are interchangeable. They’re not. State media consists of government propaganda outlets that answer directly to executive authority, rather than independent editors. Public media are independent outlets that receive taxpayer subsidies. As I wrote in my piece, NPR “only gets 1% of its funding directly from the CPB,” the Corporation for Public Broadcasting. . .”

https://fair.org/home/taibbi-cites-government-attacks-on-media-to-defend-government-attacks-on-media/

Local Small Stations Hurt the Most?

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Article in Columbia Journalism Review by Andrew Mercein, 5/8/25

Headline:  “Rural and Tribal Public Radio Stations Brace for Funding Cuts”

Subhead:  “Small broadcasters fear they will be unintended victims of national culture wars.”

“Today, stations like KSTK (Wrangell, Alaska) are facing an existential crisis. Last week, President Donald Trump signed an executive order directing federal agencies to cease all funding to NPR and PBS and to eliminate indirect sources of public financing like the Corporation for Public Broadcasting, which distributes hundreds of millions of dollars annually to stations nationwide. The move could wipe out funding appropriated through 2026 and 2027, endangering stations that already operate on razor-thin margins. “If CPB funding disappears, I don’t know how we’d survive,” said Cindy Sweat, KSTK’s general manager. . .”

https://www.cjr.org/news/npr-pbs-cpb-trump-public-radio-funding.php