Media News

News about the media.

Free Speech for All?

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Article in The Nation by Atarah Israel, 2/20/26

Headline:  “Trump’s Threats to Free Speech Aren’t New to Black Journalists”

Subhead:  “Two years after Trump’s infamous invitation to the National Association of Black Journalists’ convention, the organization is adapting and bracing for escalating hostility.”

“. . .NABJ’s decision to invite a hostile actor to a Black advocacy space in the name of journalistic tradition left many professional Black journalists reeling. Almost two years later, in the wake of the Trump administration’s blatant attacks against Black journalists, the decision seems even more incomprehensible. From the federally backed arrests of Georgia Fort, Don Lemon, and Jerome Richardson in January, to Trump’s recent racist social-media post depicting Barack and Michelle Obama as monkeys, the president’s hostility toward Black people, immigrants, and anyone who questions power has been transparent. Even his social-media tribute to Jesse Jackson on Tuesday sparked heated backlash for using the civil rights leader’s death as self-inflating PR fodder. . .”

Read the full article at:

https://www.thenation.com/article/society/trump-free-speech-press-black-journalists-nabj/

CBS Still Shrinking

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Article in Poynter by Tom Jones, 2/13/26

Headline:  “Opinion | Buyouts signal growing fracture inside CBS News“

Subhead:  “Recent departures sharpen scrutiny of Bari Weiss’ vision”

“Unrest continues at CBS News.

“As I linked to in the newsletter earlier this week, the New York Post’s Alexandra Steigrad reported that about a quarter of ‘CBS Evening News’ staffers eligible for buyouts have chosen to take them ahead of possible impending layoffs under new CBS News editor in chief Bari Weiss. . .”

Read the full article at:

https://www.poynter.org/commentary/2026/buyouts-layoffs-cbs-news-bari-weiss/

Reporter – Obliteration or Obfuscation?

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Article in Mediaite by Karen Wilkens, 2/13/26

Headline:  “Reporter Corners Trump on What’s Left to Bomb If He ‘Totally Obliterated’ Iran’s Nuclear Sites”

“In a Friday appearance before reporters from the tarmac at Fort Bragg, President Donald Trump was questioned on what’s left to bomb in Iran if he truly ‘totally obliterated’ the country’s nuclear sites as he’s previously claimed.

“The off-camera reporter cited Trump’s speech after last June’s military strikes on three Iranian nuclear facilities, in which he deemed the bombings a ‘spectacular’ success that had ‘completely and totally obliterated’ their targets.

“ ‘What’s left to go after?’ questioned the reporter. . .”

Read the full article at:

https://www.mediaite.com/media/news/reporter-corners-trump-on-whats-left-to-bomb-if-he-totally-obliterated-irans-nuclear-sites/

Snipping at CBS?

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Article in Status by Oliver Darcy, 2/12/26

Headline:  “The Coming CBS News Cuts”

Subhead:  “As CBS News staff quietly brace for another round of layoffs, Status has learned key new details about the cuts executives are planning behind the scenes.”

“Last month, when Bari Weiss hosted her inaugural town hall with CBS News staffers, one topic was clearly on the minds of her anxious workforce: the prospect of more layoffs. CBS News had already made cuts in October as part of a broader workforce reduction at parent company Paramount. Dozens of staffers—though fewer than 100—were affected by that round.

“ ‘Are there more CBS News cuts coming?’ a CBS News staffer asked the new editor in chief at the town hall.

“Weiss did not answer directly. . .”

Read the full article at:

https://www.status.news/p/cbs-news-layoffs-bari-weiss

For Post, What’s Next?

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Article in Columbia Journalism Review by Siddhartha Mahanta, 2/6/26

Headline:  “What the Post Cuts Will Do”

“Yesterday, hundreds of Washington Post journalists and supporters amassed in below-freezing temperatures outside the paper’s K Street headquarters to take part in a rally held by the Washington Post Newspaper Guild and the Washington Post Tech Guild. A veteran Post staffer said it was larger than any walkout or picket he’d seen in his time there. The day before, during a Zoom call with staff, Post leadership had announced sweeping cuts, . .”

Read the full article at:

https://www.cjr.org/analysis/what-the-washington-post-cuts-will-do-layoffs-business-of-news-jeff-bezos.php

WaPo – Round and Round. . .

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Article in The Guardian by Jeremy Barr, 2/5/26

Headline:  “Mass layoffs fuel fears of ‘death spiral’ at Washington Post”

Subhead: “On Wednesday, storied newspaper axed nearly one-third of company after earlier unpopular moves by owner Jeff Bezos”

“Under Marty Baron, the Washington Post won 11 Pulitzer prizes and expanded its newsroom to house more than 1,000 journalists. The storied newspaper’s future is now in question, according to its former executive editor.

“The aspirations of this news organization are diminished,” Baron told the Guardian in an interview. ‘I think that’ll translate into fewer subscribers. And I hope it’s not a death spiral, but I worry that it might be.’. . .”

Read the full article at:

https://www.theguardian.com/media/2026/feb/05/mass-layoffs-washington-post

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Article in Poynter by Tom Jones, 2/5/26

Headline:  “Opinion | Inside one of the ‘darkest days in the history’ of The Washington Post“

“That’s how Ashley Parker, a staff writer for The Atlantic and former star reporter at The Washington Post, described what happened at the Post on Wednesday.

“A third of the Post’s staff — about 300 journalists — was laid off. Nearly all departments were affected. The sports and books desks were pretty much eliminated. The foreign desk was gutted. . .”

“And so Parker wrote, “Jeff Bezos, the billionaire owner of The Washington Post, and Will Lewis, the publisher he appointed at the end of 2023, are embarking on the latest step of their plan to kill everything that makes the paper special. . .”

Read the full article at:

https://www.poynter.org/commentary/2026/why-did-the-washington-post-layoffs-happen/

Cooked Medium or Well-Done?

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Article in The Hill by Dominick Mastrangelo, 2/3/26

Headline: “Netflix, Warner Bros Discovery execs grilled by Senators over megamerger”

“Executives for entertainment giants Netflix and Warner Bros. Discovery on Tuesday faced a grilling from lawmakers on Capitol Hill, with senators raising concern about a planned megamerger between the two companies that would create one of the largest media conglomerates in the world. . .”

“Critics of the deal say it would harm competition in the entertainment production and film industry, giving Netflix too much control of the way millions of people in the U.S. and abroad see the world. . .”

Read the full article at:

https://thehill.com/media/5721455-netflix-warner-brothers-merger-hearing/

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Article in Free Press by Staff, 2/4/26

Headline:  “Free-Expression Groups and Creative Labor Unions Call on the Senate to Protect Free Speech and Root Out Corruption in Review of Warner Bros. Discovery Takeover”

“On Tuesday, 11 civil-rights, free-expression, consumer-protection and creative professional organizations and unions called on the Senate Subcommittee on Antitrust, Competition Policy, and Consumer Rights to prioritize free speech and investigate corruption in its review of the competing bids from Netflix and Paramount Skydance to take over Warner Bros. Discovery. . .”

“ ‘We request this subcommittee’s diligent oversight to ensure careful application of antitrust law, uphold the First Amendment, and guarantee this process is free of corruption and abuse.’. . .”

Read the full article at:

https://www.freepress.net/news/free-expression-groups-and-creative-labor-unions-call-senate-protect-free-speech-warner-bros-merger

Down the Drain?

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Article in UPI by Mike Heuer, 2/4/26

Headline:  “The Washington Post fires nearly a third of its news staff”

More than 300 reporters and others are being let go from The Washington Post amid financial troubles, the Jeff Bezos-owned company announced on Wednesday.

“The firings amount to about a third of the total workers at the award-winning newspaper that once broke the Watergate break-in and other important news events. . .”

Read the full article at:

https://www.upi.com/Top_News/US/2026/02/04/washington-post-firings/4841770239709/

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Article in Columbia Journalism Review by Amos Barshad & Siddhartha Mahanta, 2/4/26

Headline:  “A Dismantling of the Washington Post”

Subhead:  “Our leadership destroyed our brand.”

‘In a staffwide call with employees Wednesday morning, Matt Murray, the executive editor of the Washington Post, and Wayne Connell, the paper’s chief human resources officer, announced sweeping staff cuts. ‘Every department across the newsroom will be impacted to some degree,’ Murray said, in a recording of the call shared with CJR. The sports department and books section will be closed; Post Reports, a politics podcast, will be suspended. The paper’s international footprint will shrink. . .”

Read the full article at:

https://www.cjr.org/news/layoffs-dismantling-washington-post-bezos-murray.php

Playing a Game With The Media

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Article in The Hill by Dominick Mastrangelo, 2/3/26

Headline:  “Netflix, Warner Bros Discovery execs grilled by Senators over megamerger”

“Executives for entertainment giants Netflix and Warner Bros. Discovery on Tuesday faced a grilling from lawmakers on Capitol Hill, with senators raising concern about a planned megamerger between the two companies that would create one of the largest media conglomerates in the world. . .”

“Critics of the deal say it would harm competition in the entertainment production and film industry, giving Netflix too much control of the way millions of people in the U.S. and abroad see the world. . .”

Read the full article at:

https://thehill.com/media/5721455-netflix-warner-brothers-merger-hearing/

Has Concepts of the News?

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Article in The New Republic by Alex Shephard, 1/30/26

Headline: “What Bari Weiss Doesn’t Get About CBS News”

Subhead: “Her plan to focus on ‘scoops of ideas’ will only make the news network’s offerings more like (pretty much) everything else in media.”

“At an all-staff meeting on Tuesday, CBS News’s editor in chief Bari Weiss—perhaps the record-holder for the fastest the word embattled has ever been appended in front of a new job title—laid out her vision for the network she had taken the reins of only a few weeks earlier. . .”

“With her new charges in attendance, Weiss finally revealed her vision board for the future of CBS News, and the watchword is ‘scoops.’. . .”

Read the full article at:

https://newrepublic.com/article/205904/bari-weiss-scoops-cbs-news