Media Politicize

The Right Media

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Article in Media Matters by Kayla Gogarty, 3/14/25

Headline:  “The right dominates the online media ecosystem, seeping into sports, comedy, and other supposedly nonpolitical spaces”

Subhead:  “A new Media Matters analysis found 9 out of the 10 top online shows assessed are right-leaning”

“As Americans increasingly get their news from online shows and streamers, the influence of this media ecosystem becomes more prominent — and Media Matters has found that the most popular of this content is overwhelmingly right-leaning.”

“In a new study, Media Matters assessed the audience size of popular online shows — podcasts, streams, and other long-form audio and video content regularly posted online.  . . .”

“We found substantial asymmetry in total following across platforms: Right-leaning online shows had at least 480.6 million total followers and subscribers — nearly five times as many as left-leaning.
Across platforms — YouTube, Rumble, Twitch, Kick, Spotify, Facebook, Instagram, and TikTok — right-leaning online shows accounted for roughly 82% of the total following of the online shows we assessed.
Comparatively, left-leaning online shows had nearly 104 million followers and subscribers across the eight platforms — nearly five times less. . .”

https://www.mediamatters.org/google/right-dominates-online-media-ecosystem-seeping-sports-comedy-and-other-supposedly

Ready to Lock Up the Media?

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Article in Raw Story by Sarah K. Burris, 3/14/25

Headline:  ” ‘He’s talking about criminalizing it!’ Trump’s DOJ attack on media stuns CNN’s Jake Tapper”

Subhead:  “CNN host Jake Tapper was aghast Friday after listening to President Donald Trump’s speech at the Department of Justice.”

Subhead:  “Tapper called Trump’s lengthy rant a ‘norm-shattering speech,’ noting that it was ‘one of the most political speeches given there by a U.S. president.’ “

In Trump’s new era, Tapper said, ‘he apparently wants to weaponize the Justice Department against the news media and perceived political opponents.’ ”

https://www.rawstory.com/trump-justice-department-2671332356/

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Article in Mediaite by Michael Luciano, 3/14/25

Headline:  “Trump Accuses Media of Doing ‘Totally Illegal’ Reporting”

“President Donald Trump ripped the media on Friday, as is typical, but he went a step further by calling the press’s coverage of the justice system ‘totally illegal.’. . .”

“He then turned his ire toward several news outlets, including the Murdoch-owned Wall Street Journal, which has been critical of his tariff policy. While doing so, he alleged their coverage has been ‘totally illegal. ‘And The New York Times will write whatever these people say. The Washington Post, The Wall Street Journal, and MSDNC [sic], and fake news CNN, and ABC, CBS, and NBC. . . ‘ ”

” ‘. . . It’s totally illegal what they do. I just hope you can all watch for it, but it’s totally illegal. . . ‘ ”

https://www.mediaite.com/trump/trump-accuses-murdoch-owned-wall-street-journal-and-others-of-doing-totally-illegal-reporting/

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Article in Daily Beast by Josh Fiallo, 3/14/25

Headline:  “Trump Goes to DOJ for Bonkers Rant Berating his ‘Illegal’ Media Enemies”

Subhead:  “The president said he will launch a ‘far-reaching investigation’ into the ‘corruption of our system.’ “

“Donald Trump rambled and raged in an unusual visit to the Department of Justice on Friday, rattling off a laundry list of enemies and vowing to have some investigated. . . .”

“Media outlets took the brunt of Trump’s rage and threats in an hour-long speech. He called out some of the biggest players in journalism by name—ABC, CBS, NBC, CNN, MSNBC, The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, and The Washington Post—and said they operate illegally at the behest of Democrats.

“ ‘I believe that CNN and MS-DNC, who literally write 97.6 percent bad about me, are political arms of the Democrat Party,’ he said. ‘And in my opinion, they’re really corrupt and they’re illegal. What they do is illegal.’ ”

https://www.thedailybeast.com/trump-goes-to-doj-for-bonkers-rant-berating-his-illegal-media-enemies/

Journalists Changing Horses Midstream?

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Article in FAIR by Ari Paul, 3/13/25

Headline:  “Did Left Journalists Buy Into Right-Wing Ideology–or Were They Bought?”

“Matt Taibbi, once a populist writer who criticized big banks (Rolling Stone, 4/5/10; NPR, 11/6/10), has aligned himself with Texas Republican Sen. Ted Cruz, the kind of slimy protector of the ruling economic order Taibbi once despised. Putting his Occupy Wall Street days behind him, Taibbi has fallen into the embrace of the reactionary Young America’s Foundation. . .”

“Meanwhile, Glenn Greenwald, who helped expose National Security Agency surveillance (Guardian, 6/11/13; New York Times, 10/23/14), has buddied up with extreme right-wing conspiracy theorist Alex Jones, notorious for falsely claiming that the parents of murdered children at Sandy Hook Elementary were crisis actors. That’s in addition to Greenwald’s closeness to Tucker Carlson . . .”

Some wonder if their political conversion is related to their departure from traditional journalism to new, high-tech platforms for self-publishing and self-production. In Owned: How Tech Billionaires on the Right Bought the Loudest Voices of the Left (2025), Eoin Higgins focuses on the machinations of the reactionary tech industry barons, who live by a Randian philosophy where they are the hard-working doers of society, while the nattering nabobs of negativism speak only for the ungrateful and undeserving masses. . .”

https://fair.org/slider/did-left-journalists-buy-into-right-wing-ideology-or-were-they-bought/

Hate in the Media

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Article in Mediaite by Alex Griffing, 3/12/25

Headline:  “Joe Rogan, Candace Owens, and the Mainstreaming of Anti-Semitism Exposes a Rot in American Media”

“In recent days, some of the most popular podcasts in the United States have hosted known anti-Semitic conspiracy theorists, leading many in the media to sound the alarm over the world’s oldest hate reaching new, younger audiences on the right.

“Joe Rogan, Theo Von, Stephen A. Smith, and Patrick Bet-David have all raised eyebrows for bringing on guests who regularly dabble in anti-Semitic tropes and accuse Jews — or Israel — of global manipulation and influence.

“Last week, avowed neo-Nazi and one-time Trump dinner guest Nick Fuentes praised the ongoing trend.

“Many of the podcasts Fuentes listed make up what has been dubbed the new right’s “manosphere.” President Donald Trump’s 2024 win was fueled by these personalities, which helped him reach younger, male voters across the country.”

https://www.mediaite.com/opinion/joe-rogan-candace-owens-and-the-mainstreaming-of-anti-semitism-exposes-a-rot-in-american-media/

Control the Media Control the People

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Article in Status News by Oliver Darcy, 3/10/25

Headline:  “Press Pool Pandemonium”

Subhead:  “Frustration with the WHCA erupted during an off-the-record meeting Monday, as some members pushed the organization to respond more forcefully to Donald Trump’s assault on the press corps.”

” On Monday morning, dozens of White House Correspondents’ Association members gathered for a virtual meeting to address an urgent issue. Eugene Daniels, the WHCA president, opened with an acknowledgment of the uncomfortable truth: the White House has seized control of the press pool, sidelining the association and leaving it in a precarious position. Daniels assured members that the board was doing everything possible to navigate the crisis. But the underlying frustration was impossible to ignore.”

“. . . Since Donald Trump blocked the Associated Press from official events and took control of the press pool—banning both AP and HuffPost from their rotations—some members have criticized the WHCA for its tepid response. While Daniels has released forceful statements, many members want the organization—which is to a large degree hamstrung by a collective action problem—to respond more aggressively. That frustration boiled over in the meeting.

. . . The tone grew more combative from there. . .”

https://www.status.news/p/whca-white-house-press-trump

Right Wing Eating the Media

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Article in Mother Jones by David Corn, 3/11/25

Headline:  “Why the Right Is to Blame for Distrust in the Media”

Subhead:  “For decades, conservatives have crusaded to discredit the press.”

“Recently, I attended a conference in Washington, DC, on the all-important topic of ‘Innovating to Restore Trust in News.’ The Semafor-sponsored event featured one-on-one interviews with such media bigshots as Joe Kahn, the executive editor of the New York Times; Emma Tucker, the editor-in-chief of the Wall Street Journal; Mark Thompson, the CEO of CNN; Katherine Maher . . . ”

“The prompt for the conversation was a Gallup poll that shows that only 31 percent of Americans have some degree of trust in newsies, a drop from about 70 percent in 1972. Yet there was not much talk of specific innovations that could restore this trust. And it wasn’t until the reception afterward. . . that I realized what had been absent from the hours-long discussion: any consideration of why polls record a decline in trust of the media. . .”

“. . . What also went unmentioned was that Trump, the GOP, and right-wing media (most notably Fox) have done much through the decades to degrade the national discourse with lies and disinformation, while simultaneously and purposefully encouraging profound distrust and hatred of media outlets that don’t buy their bunk.”

https://www.motherjones.com/politics/2025/03/media-distrust-trump-republicans-fox-news-maga-megyn-kelly/

Threat to Broadcasters

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CPJ Photo

Article in Committee to Protect Journalists by Staff, 3/11/25

Headline: “CPJ, partners urge FCC to stop threatening press freedom and free speech”

Subhead: “The Committee to Protect Journalists and 16 other organizations, led by the nonprofit group Public Knowledge, sent a letter to Federal Communications Commission (FCC) Chairman Brendan Carr on March 7, expressing concern about recent developments that threaten to erode long-established safeguards for editorial independence and free expression.”

“The agency recently launched investigations into public broadcasting for allegedly airing advertising and threatening to investigate the northern California radio station KCBS after it reported on planned U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement raids. FCC investigations can result in fines and license revocations, undermining the ability of news organizations to operate freely and without fear of government retaliation.

The signatories underscored that a free press requires the FCC to uphold journalistic independence with impartiality and without political bias.. .”

https://cpj.org/2025/03/cpj-partners-urge-fcc-to-stop-threatening-press-freedom-and-free-speech/

Red Meat for the Media!

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Article in The Guardian by Editors, 3/7/25

Headline:  “The Guardian view on Trump and media: attention is power. Can Democrats grab it? – Editorial”

Subhead:  “The presidency is no longer just a ‘bully pulpit’. It’s become part of the disinformation machine”

“Donald Trump won the White House not with money, though he spent plenty of it, but by dominating the conversation. He hasn’t stopped campaigning. He uses attention to bolster his political power, and uses his office to make sure that everyone keeps watching.

“He was barred from leading social media platforms after the January 6 attack on the Capitol, but four years later, their owners attended his inauguration. Many of his key hires appear picked for their media presence as well as their ideological bent and sycophancy. Tuesday’s interminable address to Congress was garnished with the kind of wild claims or outright lies that he knows take off on social media. . .”

“. . .Like a social media algorithm made flesh, the president himself serves up an endless but unpredictable (and increasingly extreme) stream of material. It keeps admirers coming back for more and overwhelms critics, who don’t know where to focus. . . ”

https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2025/mar/07/the-guardian-view-on-trump-and-media-attention-is-power-can-democrats-grab-it

NPR Keeping Truth Alive

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Article in the Columbia Journalism Review by Bill Grueskin, 3/7/25

Headline:  “Under Attack, NPR Does Its Job”

“Brendan Carr, the newly appointed chair of the FCC, has made no secret of his antipathy for mainstream press—including NPR, which he recently alleged may be violating the law by broadcasting commercial messages.

“It’s an unusually timed claim, but as Carr made clear in a conversation with Semafor’s Ben Smith last week, he’s out for vengeance after four years of a Democratic administration in Washington. That’s why it’s all the more encouraging to see NPR stand tall with its tough-but-fair coverage of the Trump administration.

“One of NPR’s latest and most significant examples: reporter Stephen Fowler dug into many of the most absurd, multimillion-dollar claims made by Elon Musk’s DOGE group. He found error upon error—each of which pointed in the same direction of exaggerated or nonexistent savings for taxpayers. . .”

https://www.cjr.org/laurels-and-darts/laurels-darts-under-attack-npr-does-its-job.php

Fact Check Media Statements?

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Article in The Contrarian by Josh Levs, 3/6/25

Headline:  “Why all those Trump fact checks are too little too late”

Subhead:  “Many Americans distrust the media, largely because false claims have gone unchallenged for so long.”

“In the wake of Tuesday’s onslaught, mainstream news agencies—those whose leaders claim to be about journalism rather than partisanship—offered up fact checks. Unfortunately, these generally fail to make a dent in our political scene. I know because I spent years doing them both on air and online at CNN.

“To understand why these fact checks have so little discernible impact, we need to think about the different audiences. There are those who already dislike serial liars and would never vote for them; for this audience, these fact checks preach to the choir. There are those who adore or support the liar; for them, these fact checks fall on deaf ears.

“There also are millions of Americans who are not firmly in either camp and care deeply about the truth. Unfortunately, a great many of them have lost faith in large news organizations. . .”

https://contrarian.substack.com/p/why-fact-checking-trumps-speech-almost