Media Turmoil

War Concerns Show Up in Media

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Article in Poynter by Tom Jones, 3/3/26

Headline: “Opinion | As coverage intensifies, polls show Americans are uneasy about the Iran strikes”

Subhead:  “Nearly six in 10 Americans oppose the strikes and just as many don’t believe President Trump has a clear plan for handling the situation”

“. . .A CNN poll shows 59% of Americans disapprove of the attack. The poll also found that 60% of Americans don’t believe President Donald Trump has ‘a clear plan for handling the situation’. . .’

“Meanwhile, The Washington Post texted 1,000 Americans to get their thoughts on the attack. The results: 45% opposed, 39% supported and 17% were unsure. In addition, 47% said the U.S. should stop military strikes, compared to 25% who said they should continue.. .”

“The New York Times ran interesting side-by-side videos on its homepage on Monday. As I just referenced above, there was a clip of Trump saying, ‘I’m not going to start a war. I’m going to stop wars.’ Again, that was in 2024. . .”

Read the full article at:

https://www.poynter.org/commentary/2026/trump-negative-polling-iran-strikes/

Will New Owner Melt CNN?

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Article in Poynter by Tom Jones, 3/2/26

Headline:  “Opinion | CNN’s coverage of Iran is a reminder of its power — and what could be lost in the wrong hands”

Subhead:  “The network’s all-hands coverage of the strikes shows exactly what’s at stake as a potential sale to Paramount raises fears inside the newsroom”

“At some point overnight Friday into Saturday, while battling insomnia, I was catching up on some programs I had recently recorded. When I was done and about to head to bed, I went back to cable and came across a startling overnight breaking news alert: The United States and Israel had launched coordinated attacks on Iran. . .”

“As someone who writes about the media and has a special interest in it, I couldn’t help but wonder what CNN will look and sound like when, eventually, it will come under the control of Paramount, with CEO David Ellison, and, perhaps, CBS News, with editor-in-chief Bari Weiss?. . .”

Read the full article at:

https://www.poynter.org/commentary/2026/what-will-happen-cnn-sale-paramount/

Wagging the News-Dog?

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Article in Columbia Journalism Review by Jem Bartholomew and Ivan L. Nagy, 3/2/26

Headline:  “Blackout Iran”

Subhead:  “When the Trump administration launched a major attack on Iran, news organizations had to navigate a shaky environment for communications—and moral clarity.”

“. . .Sunday front pages of the [New York] Times and [Washington] Post did not mention the question of legality, and other outlets, such as CBS News and Fox News, uncritically accepted the administration’s framing of the attack as a ‘preemptive strike.’ Though news organizations did vital reporting before the US assaults in both Venezuela and Iran, exposing the brutality of those regimes, Kourosh Ziabari, an Iranian freelance journalist based in New York who writes for outlets including New Lines Magazine and Foreign Policy, told CJR that the attack must ‘be framed as what it is: an unlawful and illegal military strike.’. . .”

Read the full article at:

https://www.cjr.org/the_media_today/iran-war-trump-epstein-hegseth-tehran-casualties.php

Whither Goest CNN?

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Article in Poynter by Tom Jones 2/27/26

Headline:  “Opinion | CNN future in question after Thursday’s stunning Warner Bros. Discovery sale news”

Subhead:  “Paramount’s bid for Warner Bros. Discovery puts CNN’s future and its editorial independence in question”

“What does the future hold for CNN?

“That’s one of the big media questions following the stunning news that broke Thursday evening. Netflix has decided to withdraw its pursuit of Warner Bros. Discovery. That now paves the way for David Ellison’s Paramount Skydance to take over WBD, including cable news network CNN . . .”

Read the full article at:

https://www.poynter.org/commentary/2026/netflix-pulls-out-warner-bros-discovery-paramount-deal/

Media Deal or Not?

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Article in The Guardian by Coral Murphy Marcos, 2/27/26

Headline: ” ‘Not a done deal’: California vows ‘vigorous’ review of Paramount-Warner Bros takeover”

Subhead: “Attorney general says $111bn deal will be investigated amid concerns over monopoly power and job losses”

“Rob Bonta, California’s attorney general, said his office will investigate a possible merger between Paramount Skydance and Warner Bros Discovery, hours after Netflix backed away from a planned takeover. . .”

”Bonta said in a post on X. ‘These two Hollywood titans have not cleared regulatory scrutiny — the California Department of Justice has an open investigation, and we intend to be vigorous in our review.’ . . . ”

Read the full article at:

https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2026/feb/27/california-paramount-warner-bros

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Article in Media Matters by Matt Gertz, 2/26/26

Headline:  “With Paramount set to take over WBD, Trump just steered a major news outlet into the hands of a crony”

Subhead:  “He wants to turn America into Hungary”

“Another major media conglomerate teeters on the precipice of being absorbed by a deep-pocketed ally of President Donald Trump and his administration.

At the end of last week, Netflix had a signed deal to purchase the theatrical and streaming divisions of Warner Bros., with the company’s cable division — including CNN — set to be spun off into a separate company. Netflix had previously defeated a rival offer for all of Warner Bros. from Paramount, the media conglomerate owned by David Ellison, a Trump favorite and the son of the president’s buddy Larry Ellison, the billionaire. . .”

Read the full article at:

https://www.mediamatters.org/cnn/paramount-set-take-over-wbd-trump-just-steered-major-news-outlet-hands-crony

WaPo and Gaza

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Article in Columbia Journalism Review by Megan Greenwell, 2/26/26

Headline:  “A Look Back at Covering Gaza for the Post“

Subhead: “Since October 7, 2023, Miriam Berger has been on assignment in Jerusalem, covering Israel, Palestine, and war. A few weeks ago, she learned she and hundreds of colleagues were being laid off.”

“. . She was one of three hundred–plus journalists who learned early this month that they would be laid off by the Washington Post, a dismantling that all but eliminated the publication’s international desk. Berger was on leave when the cuts were announced, working on a book about Israel’s starvation of Gaza. . .”

Read the full article at:

https://www.cjr.org/kicker/miriam-berger-look-back-covering-gaza-washington-post-layoffs.php

MAGA Defector Bridge-Burning?

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Article in Raw Story by Robert Davis, 2/23/26

Headline:  “This MAGA media figure is about to cause ‘a whole lot more drama’ for Trump: analyst:”

“A MAGA media figure is about to cause ‘a whole lot more drama’ for President Donald Trump, according to one analyst.

“Last week, Tucker Carlson released an interview with Trump’s ambassador to Israel, Mike Huckabee, where he accused a former Israeli Prime Minister of visiting the infamous Epstein Island and other remarks that left pro-Israel Republicans steamed, Will Sommer at The Bulwark reported on Monday. For instance, pro-Israel voices like Laura Loomer and Dave Rubin spoke out against Carlson’s interview. . .”

Read the full article at:

https://www.rawstory.com/trump-2675303066/

Who Will be Future Journalists?

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Article in Poynter by Barbara Allen, 2/23/26

Headline:   “Cash-starved and censored, America’s student newspapers are fighting to survive”

Subhead:  “Shrinking budgets and university pressure are squeezing the next generation of journalists”

“Andrew Frazier expected to spend his senior year as the sports editor of The Vista, the student newspaper at the University of Central Oklahoma.

“Instead, he became editor-in-chief of a new student-run publication, The Independent View, after his university said printing The Vista wasn’t worth the $12,000 annual cost. . .”

Read the full article at:

https://www.poynter.org/educators-students/2026/student-newspaper-challenges-business-censorship/

More CBS Grief?

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Article in The New York Times by Maggie Astor and Benjamin Mullin, 2/23/26

Headline:  “Peter Attia Leaves CBS News Amid Epstein Files Fallout”

Subhead:  “Emails showed that the longevity influencer had provided medical advice to Jeffrey Epstein and had made crude comments about women.”

“The longevity influencer Peter Attia has resigned from his position as a contributor to CBS News, about three weeks after the revelation of his relationship with the sex offender Jeffrey Epstein. . .”

“Dr. Attia was one of several high-profile contributors recently named to CBS News by Bari Weiss, the new editor in chief, . .”

“The controversy over Dr. Attia is the latest setback for CBS News, which has found itself in the headlines since Ms. Weiss took over last year. . .”

Read the full article at:

https://www.nytimes.com/2026/02/23/well/peter-attia-cbs-epstein.html

New Media Companies

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Article in The Guardian by Jeremy Barr, 12/23/26

Headline:  “A CBS News personality is starting his own media company – but keeping his day job”

Subhead:  “David Begnaud is launching an independent media company using the beehiiv platform while remaining a contributor at the network”

“As media jobs disappear and the industry shifts even further to a focus on individual personalities, rather than global brands, many journalists are choosing to leave stable jobs and strike out on their own by starting paid newsletters on platforms such as Substack and beehiiv. . .”

“On Monday morning, the longtime CBS News personality David Begnaud announced that he would be keeping his day job as a contributor while starting an independent media company called Do Good Crew . . .”

Read the full article at:

https://www.theguardian.com/media/2026/feb/23/cbs-news-david-begnaud-beehiiv