Media News

News about the media.

Right Wing Media Like Pardons

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Article in Media Matters by Lis Power & Gideon Taffe, 1/21/25

Headline:  “Right-wing media gloss over Trump’s pardons for violent January 6 rioters”

“Right-wing media have been quick to obscure the facts about President Donald Trump’s pardon of January 6 rioters, suggesting that he pardoned only nonviolent offenders and ignoring the pardons that went to violent offenders who assaulted police and carried weapons.

“The list of people pardoned by Trump includes at least one person who was charged with seditious conspiracy and hundreds more who were “convicted of assaulting police, carrying firearms, destroying property or otherwise contributing to the violent rampage.”

https://www.mediamatters.org/january-6-insurrection/right-wing-media-gloss-over-trumps-pardons-violent-january-6-rioters

Media Bowing Down

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Article in Daily Kos by Oilber Willis, 1/21/25

Headline:  ” ‘Great president’: Mainstream media slobbers all over Trump”

“Early in Donald Trump’s new presidency, mainstream media outlets confirmed fears of how they would cover him—by avoiding the truth, equivocating on his abuse of power, and even praising him.

“The actions by widely read and watched outlets was the continuation of a recent trend that has seen outlets like ABC News, MSNBC, and The Washington Post cave to Trump, even before he was sworn in.”

https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2025/1/21/2298201/-Mainstream-media-fails-the-Trump-test-on-his-first-day-back?pm_campaign=front_page&pm_source=top_news_slot_4&pm_medium=web

Dark Clouds Over FCC

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Headline in Slashdot by Mishmash, 1/21/25

Headline:  “Brenden Carr is Officially in Charge of the FCC?”

“Brendan Carr is now formally the chair of the Federal Communications Commission, giving him the power to set the agency’s agenda and usher through a host of regulations with major implications for the tech and media industries as soon as he has a Republican majority.  . .”

“Carr’s priorities might also be gleaned from a document you might have already heard about: Project 2025. That’s because he authored the FCC chapter of the Heritage Foundation’s wishlist for a Donald Trump presidency. In that chapter, Carr proposes actions including: limiting immunity for tech companies under Section 230 of the Communications Decency Act, requiring disclosures about how platforms prioritize content, requiring tech companies to pay into a program that funds broadband access in rural areas, and more, quickly approving applications to launch satellites from companies like Elon Musk’s Starlink.”

https://news.slashdot.org/story/25/01/21/1424225/brendan-carr-is-officially-in-charge-of-the-fcc

In the Eyes of the Media

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Article in Columbia Journalism Review by Jon Alsop, 1/21/25

Headline:  “Pomp, Policy, and Pardons”

Subhead:  “How the media saw Trump’s return to power.”

“. . .According to Punchbowl News, only twenty reporters were allowed inside to cover the proceedings, due to space restrictions. Whether they were the only journalists present, however, depends on how you define the term. Tucker Carlson was there, as was Joe Rogan. So were media moguls, plural: Rupert Murdoch, who needs no introduction; Bernard Arnault, who needs no introduction as the CEO of the luxury conglomerate LVMH but perhaps does as a French media tycoon; Jeff Bezos, the owner of the Washington Post. Bezos bought another journalist in with him: his fiancée, Lauren Sánchez, a former local TV anchor in California. . .”

“. . .Kid Rock was on Fox News talking to Sean Hannity. He still had a cigar in hand, but was now dressed in black tie. After extolling the January 6 pardons as ‘great’—and dismissing Biden’s as a ‘clown show’—he turned his attention to the press and what he perceives as its unfair treatment of Trump. ‘I think people are really starting to see through what the mainstream media has tried to do to this man,’ he said. ‘It’s a travesty.’

https://www.cjr.org/the_media_today/pomp-policy-and-pardons.php

 

 

Media and Populism

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Article in The Nation by Malaika Jabali, 1/20/24

Headline:  “In 2025, Martin Luther King Jr.’s Economic Populism Is More Relevant Than Ever”

Subhead:  “The political media calls Trump a “populist.” But as Dr. King made clear in a 1965 speech, American populism was a movement against everything Trump stands for.”

“The name ‘Donald Trump’ and the word ‘populism’ have become so intertwined you would think the latter was invented by Trump’s MAGA movement itself. In one 24-hour period, just days before the reelected president’s inauguration, the political media published nearly a dozen articles linking Trump to populism. Even a Japanese outlet made the connection in an op-ed last week: ‘Tune in to American populists,’ the headline reads, referring to the group of mostly white ‘working and middle classes’ who sent Trump to office.

“But the Trump-spawned political rage that the mainstream media likens to ‘populism’ erases the real origins of the idea. This year, on the birthday of civil rights icon Martin Luther King Jr., it’s more important than ever to remember that populism is a political philosophy that’s closer to King’s vision than to MAGA’s.”

https://www.thenation.com/article/economy/mlk-economic-populism/

Social Media In/Out of Dumpster?

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Article in Vox by Adam Clark Extes, 1/17/25Headline:  “The bright side of TikTok’s downfall”

Subhead:  “The end of one wildly popular platform is a chance to overhaul the broken social media industry.”

“The Supreme Court on Friday upheld a law that would spell the end of TikTok as we know it in the United States, and now all parties involved are freaking out. Influencers are fleeing to rival platforms, including Xiaohongshu, a China-based app also known as RedNote. Politicians, even the ones who initially supported the ban, are trying to delay it. TikTok employees are surely wondering what they’ll do at work next week.

“Others, however, are wondering if a future without TikTok could actually be a great thing for America. The complete demise of TikTok would mean one of the largest social media-slash-entertainment platforms is effectively out of the picture. . .”

https://www.vox.com/technology/395541/tiktok-ban-trump-supreme-court-instagram-rednote

Reporter Climate Change

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Article in Columbia Journalism Review by Jon Alsop, 1/20/25

Headline: “The Big Chill”

Subhead:  “The press anticipates Trump’s imminent return to office.”

“. . .Trump announced, in a social media post on Friday, that his inauguration will be moved indoors. It will now take place in the Capitol Rotunda instead. ‘This will be a very beautiful experience for all,’ Trump pledged, “especially for the large TV audience!” Nonetheless, Politico’s DC Playbook newsletter declared ‘the media’ a ‘loser’ of the switch. ‘No formal plans have yet been announced, but it’s hard to see anything more than a small portion of the credentialed media being allowed in the room to personally witness the oath of office,’ the outlet wrote on Saturday; plus, ‘freezing your butt off at a presidential inauguration is a rite of passage for many junior Washington reporters.’ (We will, at least, be spared the tedious litigation of how many people showed up. Not that we’re necessarily being spared Sean Spicer.)

https://www.cjr.org/the_media_today/trump_inauguration_journalism_media_chilling_effect.php

Stomping Out the News

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Article in The Guardian by Richard Luscombe, 1/20/25

Headline:  “CNN defamation case foreshadows Trump media crackdown, experts say”

Subhead:  “Contractor Zachary Young wins damages over Afghanistan story in trial notable for prosecution’s aggressive stance”

“A combative defamation trial in Florida, involving CNN and a former US security contractor in Afghanistan, is providing a roadmap for a crackdown on media independence during the second Trump administration, experts believe.

The case was already unusual because CNN chose to defend itself and risk millions in damages, while other media giants such as ABC News and the Washington Post have opted to back down in the face of threats of persecution from the incoming president. Ultimately, after 18 hours of deliberation, the jury found that CNN defamed the contractor and awarded Zachary Young $4m in lost business and $1m in personal damages.”

https://www.theguardian.com/media/2025/jan/20/cnn-defamation-trial

Media and Burnout

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Article in FAIR by Rainl Lipsitz, 1/17/25

Headline:  “Diagnosing Activist Burnout, Elite Media Fuel It”

“Ten months before the 2024 election, high-profile news outlets were already sounding the alarm: If Trump were to win another term, widespread fatigue, despair and activist burnout would probably minimize resistance.

“Exhaustion and burnout are real phenomena that pose a significant challenge to political movements (Psychology Today, 6/24/20). But articles that focus on feelings of burnout, and exclude or downplay questions of changes in strategy amid shifting conditions, often have the effect—and occasionally the goal—of making everyday people seem and feel less powerful than they are.”

https://fair.org/home/diagnosing-activist-burnout-elite-media-fuel-it/

Duck, But Cover

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Article in Reporters Without Borders by Partager, 1/17/25

Headline:  “USA: Trump inauguration set to trigger period of unprecedented uncertainty for press freedom”

“On the eve of Donald Trump’s inauguration into his second term as US president on January 20, American journalism is set to enter a period of unprecedented uncertainty. US journalists — who already face worsening economic conditions, a growing chasm in trust between the public and the media, and a digital information ecosystem that is rigged against journalism — may now need to contend with direct threats from the White House. Reporters Without Borders (RSF) is more convinced than ever of journalism’s vital role in maintaining democracy and will continue to defend the safety, independence, and plurality of journalism in the United States.”

https://rsf.org/en/usa-trump-inauguration-set-trigger-period-unprecedented-uncertainty-press-freedom

Article in Mother Jones by Julianne Mcshane, 1/16/25

Headline:  “How Trump’s Return Is Pushing the Media to Self-Censor”

Subhead:  “ ‘A lot of the guardrails are down,’ says veteran journalist Margaret Sullivan.”

“Two days before Donald Trump was re-elected president, he told rallygoers that he wouldn’t mind if somebody shot through a crowd of journalists. Some of his supporters laughed a bit, some cheered. It was typical fare.

“The same weekend, Trump called journalists ‘monsters’ and ‘horrible, horrible, dishonest people.’ In the past, he has cheered a journalist shot with a rubber bullet as a ‘beautiful sight;’ he heaped adoration on a candidate who body-slammed a reporter. In 2018, he declared the ‘fake news’ media to be the ‘enemy of the people.’ ”

https://www.motherjones.com/politics/2025/01/margaret-sullivan-trump-free-press-interview-abc-defamation/