No Low-Income Media Help?

Article in Free Press by Staff, 5/5/26

Headline:  Free Press Opposes Carr’s Cruel and Baseless Attacks on the FCC’s Lifeline Program”

“. . .On Monday,  Free Press filed comments in the Federal Communications Commission proceeding on supposed ‘reform and modernization’ of the agency’s Lifeline program.

“Since the beginning of the year, FCC Chairman Brendan Carr has sought to undermine the bipartisan federal-assistance program, which was created during the Reagan administration to help make communications services more affordable for qualifying low-income consumers. Carr has repeatedly attacked the program and proposed changes that would potentially intimidate eligible people from applying for Lifeline benefits. . .”

Read the full article at:

https://www.freepress.net/news/free-press-opposes-carrs-cruel-and-baseless-attacks-fccs-lifeline-program

Let Corporate Media Decide

Article in Columbia Journalism Review by Jem Bartholomew, 5/4/26

Headline:   “Corporate Meddling and Editorial Fear”

Subhead:  “The Ellisons are closing in on CNN.

“. . .On Thursday, Alfonsi, of 60 Minutes, spoke publicly for the first time about the delay in airing her CECOT story. It was the result of ‘an aggressive contagion: the spread of corporate meddling and editorial fear,’ she said, while receiving an award from the National Press Club in Washington. ‘Right now, our industry is afraid of the wrong things. We’re afraid of offending power. We’re afraid of losing access. We’re afraid of another baseless lawsuit.’ ”

Read the full article at:

https://www.cjr.org/the_media_today/corporate-meddling-editorial-fear-ellison-warner-bros-discovery-paramount-skydance-takeover-fcc-trump-carr.php

Media Court Failure Again


Article in Media Matters by Staff, 5/4/26

Headline: Media Matters secures complete and total victory against Federal Trade Commission”

Subhead: “FTC agrees to forgo future investigations of MMFA to secure withdrawal ahead of judgment”

Media Matters has secured a complete and total victory in its case against the Federal Trade Commission (Media Matters v. FTC).

“In an effort to avoid another damaging decision from a federal court of appeals, the FTC sought to withdraw its appeal of the preliminary injunction awarded to Media Matters to halt the FTC’s retaliatory actions. Media Matters made clear that it would oppose that gamesmanship. Facing the prospect of a loss from what’s often considered the nation’s second highest court, the FTC ultimately submitted to a legally binding settlement agreement with Media Matters

Read the full article at:

https://www.mediamatters.org/angelo-carusone/media-matters-secures-complete-and-total-victory-against-federal-trade-commission

Fox in the White House

Article in Status by Natalie Korach 5/4/26

Headline: Fox’s Pledge of Allegiance”

Subhead: “Rupert Murdoch’s network, having learned its lesson in 2020 is unshakably sticking with Trump while other major MAGA media voices have broken with him over the Iran war.

“On Tuesday night, as Donald Trump feted King Charles and Queen Camilla at a white-tie state dinner, the room could have easily been confused for a Fox News greenroom. . .”

With much of the network’s primetime lineup on the guest list, it served as a visual manifestation of Fox News’ continued allegiance to the Trump White House, standing in sharp contrast to a constellation of right-wing media personalities who have amassed huge digital followings and publicly broken with him on the Iran war. . .

Read the full article at:

https://www.status.news/p/fox-news-iran-war-coverage-trump

No Access, No News

Article in AP by Deepti Hajela, 4/30/26|

Headline:  “Media organizations call on Israel to allow foreign reporters independent access to Gaza”

The leaders of major media companies around the world, including The Associated Press, are calling on Israel’s government to lift a ban keeping foreign journalists from being able to independently enter and report from Gaza, a barrier that’s been in place since the war’s start in 2023 and continues even as a ceasefire has been in place for more than six months. . .”

Read the full article at:

https://apnews.com/article/gaza-israel-journalists-coverage-access-war-zone-0b3e72a7d73e211944fb5ff1c9d5d645

Threatening TV Stations?

Article in Free Press by Staff, 4/28/26

Headline:  “FCC Chairman Carr’s Threat to Pull ABC Broadcast Licenses Is an Unconstitutional Attack on Free Speech”

WASHINGTON — On Tuesday, Federal Communications Commission Chairman Brendan Carr issued an order to initiate early license reviews of all of ABC’s broadcast station licenses. This extraordinary move follows calls by President Donald Trump and his wife Melania for the broadcaster to fire Jimmy Kimmel.

Since becoming chairman, Carr has threatened multiple actions against the network and has opened at least three dubious investigations into the broadcaster, following instances in which ABC news and entertainment programming upset Trump. . .

Read the full article at:

https://www.freepress.net/news/fcc-chairman-carrs-threat-pull-abc-broadcast-licenses-unconstitutional-attack-free-speech

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Article in The Hill by Dominick Mastrangelo, 4/28/26

Headline: “FCC ordering review of Disney broadcast station licenses ”

“. . .In a filing made on Tuesday, the department confirmed it had been conducting an investigation into Disney’s diversity, equity and inclusion practices and was kicking off the process to start an early review of the company’s broadcast licenses for a handful of stations it owns and operates in major markets across the country.

“The stations in question are ABC affiliates in major markets like New York, Los Angeles and Houston. . .”

Read the full article at:

https://thehill.com/homenews/media/5854049-fcc-ordering-review-of-disney-broadcast-station-licenses/

Complained About CBS Edits Once?


Article in The New Republic by Malcolm Ferguson, 4/28/26

Headline:  “Deranged Trump Rants Edited Out of 60 Minutes Interview After Shooting”

Subhead:  CBS news didn’t air some particularly troubling rants from President Trump in its interview following the White House Correspondents’ Dinner shooting.”

CBS News’s 60 Minutes cut out large portions of its interview with President Trump in which he rambled about his ballroom, how hot his Secret Service agents are, and how the No Kings protests are just like the Ku Klux Klan. . .”

Read the full article at:

https://newrepublic.com/post/209590/trump-rants-edited-out-60-minutes-interview-cbs-shooting

Criticize Israel in the Media?


Article in The Guardian by Jason Stanley, 4/27/26

Headline:  “Why is the US media silent about Israel’s role in Trump’s decision to go to war?”

Subhead:  “I suspect the main reason they avoid criticizing Israel is that they believe that would be antisemitic. But this is both dangerous and wrong”

“. . .The western media has been admirably clear that Putin has a closer relationship with Trump than any previous US president (and admirably critical of this relationship). But there has been no similar level of transparency in the media about Israel’s influence on US policy. . .”

“Crucially, propaganda does not just take the form of lies. Omitting mention in the news media of crucial facts is also paradigmatic of state propaganda. . .”

Read the full article at:

https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2026/apr/27/trump-israel-trump-war

Investigate Journalist for Reporting?

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Article in Daily Kos by Oliver Willis, 4/23/26

Headline: “Kash Patel’s FBI is mad as hell that this reporter did her job”

“FBI agents investigated a New York Times reporter who uncovered that FBI Director Kash Patel’s girlfriend was being ferried around on taxpayer-funded flights.

“The New York Times reported Thursday that agents probed reporter Elizabeth Williamson in March, following the article about Patel that she wrote in February. . .”

Read the full article at:

https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2026/4/23/800026413/media-and-culture/kash-patel-fbi-reporter/

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Article in The Hill by Dominick Mastrangelo, 4/23/26

Headline:  “New York Times alleges FBI investigated journalist after report about Patel girlfriend ”

Read the article at:

https://thehill.com/homenews/media/5844807-fbi-investigates-new-york-times-journalist-patel-girlfriend-security/

Censoring Past Media Too?

Article in FAIR by Janine Jackson 4/22/26

Headline:  “The Wayback Machine Has Been the Best Archive for Preserving Our Digital Lives”

Subhead:  CounterSpin interview with Lia Holland on the Internet Archive”

“Janine Jackson: A recent report by Wired‘s Kate Knibbs leads with the contradiction: USA Today published a story recently on how ICE is misinforming about its detainment policies, a case that the paper built on data from the Internet Archive’s Wayback Machine, a nonprofit digital library that preserves webpages.

“At the same time, USA Today bars the Wayback Machine from archiving its work. Along with outlets like the New York Times, the paper is trying to block the Internet Archive project from doing their job of preserving reporting. . .”

Read the full article at:

https://fair.org/home/the-wayback-machine-has-been-the-best-archive-for-preserving-our-digital-lives/