Media News

News about the media.

Media Circus April 25th

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Article in Daily Kos by Staff, 4/21/26

Headline:  “Trump’s media hitman to rub elbows with his victims”

“Federal Communications Commission Chair Brendan Carr, known for using his power to suppress free speech, will be a guest at this year’s White House Correspondents’ Dinner on April 25.

“Carr was asked to attend the event by Paramount, the parent company of CBS, which is headed by Republican donor David Ellison.

“CBS News also reportedly invited Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth and senior White House adviser Stephen Miller. All three have frequently attacked dissenting speech throughout their careers, particularly since joining the Trump administration. . .”

Read the full article at:

https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2026/4/21/800024865/whitehouse/trump-media-hitman-rub-elbows-with-victims/

 

Nunes’ Cow Returning to Barn?

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Article in AP by Bernard Condon, 3/21/26

Headline:  “Trump media company replaces CEO, ex-congressman Nunes after stock plunge that wiped out billions”

“NEW YORK (AP) — The Trump business behind Truth Social is replacing a former congressman and big supporter of the U.S. president as leader of the social media platform after a stock collapse that wiped out billions in investor wealth.

Devin Nunes, a former California congressmen in Donald Trump’s first term, is being replaced temporarily by digital media executive Kevin McGurn as chief executive officer. The company, Trump Media & Technology, didn’t give a reason for Nunes leaving or provide a timeline for his permanent replacement. . .”

Read the full article at:

https://apnews.com/article/trump-media-truth-social-nunes-ceo-don-jr-f528dc294683c7f132c063b4a21dd68e

Infowars Joins Comic Section

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Article in Variety by Todd Spangler, 4/20/26

Headline:  “The Onion Says It Has a Deal to Take Over Alex Jones’ Infowars, Plans to Relaunch Right-Wing Site as Parody of Itself”

“Satire site the Onion says that it has — after 17 months legal wrangling — successfully landed a deal allowing it take over Infowars, the right-wing conspiracy-fueled site run by Alex Jones. . .”

“In November 2024, the Onion gleefully revealed its winning bankruptcy-auction bid for Infowars. Jones and his company filed for bankruptcy amid defamation suits the families of victims in the Sandy Hook mass shooting in Connecticut filed against him. The families won judgments in 2022 against Jones totaling $1.4 billion; last fall the Supreme Court rejected his appeal of the verdicts. Jones had repeatedly lied and posited baseless conspiracy theories about the Sandy Hook massacre. . .”

Read the full article at:

https://variety.com/2026/digital/news/the-onion-deal-taking-over-alex-jones-infowars-1236726130/

Last Correspondent’s Supper?

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Article in Poynter by Kelly McBride, 4/16/26

Headline: “Opinion | The White House Correspondents’ Dinner has always been a cringefest. Trump just makes it obvious.”

Subhead:  “This year’s disaster has been decades in the making”

“The certain awkwardness of President Donald Trump gloating about his presidency in front of a silent press corps at this year’s White House Correspondents’ Dinner — a gala intended to celebrate both free speech and the work of the watchdogs who hold the president accountable — is a trainwreck that should have been averted years ago. . .”

“Journalists and their corporate bosses are going to dress up in gowns and tuxes on Saturday, April 25, and sit down at the Washington Hilton with a man who not only says he despises them, but who repeatedly has used his power to undermine their credibility. . .”

Read the full article at:

https://www.poynter.org/commentary/2026/white-house-correspondents-dinner-trump-criticism/

Sometimes Muck Needs Raking

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Article in Columbia Journalism Review by Susie Banikarim, 4/10/26

Headline:  “Tony Gonzales and the Patient Work of Local News”

Subhead:  “Impactful reporting from the San Antonio Express-News; Fargo columnists fed to the wood chipper; profiling the Big Beautiful Bill’s ugliness.”

“In February, the San Antonio Express-News broke a story that quickly became national news: Tony Gonzales, a Republican congressman from Texas, had an affair with Regina Santos-Aviles, an aide who died by suicide after setting herself on fire. The fallout was significant. Gonzales initially denied the relationship. Last month, he admitted to it and dropped his reelection bid. . .”

Read the full article at:

https://www.cjr.org/laurels-and-darts/tony-gonzales-and-the-patient-work-of-local-news.php

Rt. Wing Media – Bread or War?

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Article in Media Matters by John Knefel, 3/27/26

Headline:  “Divisions emerge in right-wing media as Iran war stirs anxiety about food production, fertilizer”

Subhead:  “Some conservative pundits are calling for escalation, while others criticize the war for surging fertilizer costs”

“The U.S.-Israeli war on Iran — which has been largely but not entirely supported by major right-wing media outlets — is threatening to upend not just international oil markets but also world food production, with fertilizer costs soaring just as farmers in the global north enter the spring planting season.

Some figures in right-wing media have taken notice, alarmed that a spike in domestic food prices could be disastrous for President Donald Trump and Republicans in the fall midterms. . .”

Read the full article at:

https://www.mediamatters.org/us-iran-relations/divisions-emerge-right-wing-media-iran-war-stirs-anxiety-about-food-production

ICE & Rt. Wing Media

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Article in Media Matters by Gideon Taaffe & Sage Hodil, 3/27/26

Headline:  “Right-wing media are calling for ICE to ‘surround the polls’ in midterms”

Subhead:  “Right-wing media figures claim Democrats are ‘basically admitting they’re cheating’ by opposing ICE at polling stations. But noncitizen voting is a fake problem and ICE has racially profiled US citizens.”

“Right-wing media personalities are pushing for Immigration and Customs Enforcement to be deployed to polling stations during the 2026 midterm elections, claiming it will ‘fix the fraud’ of alleged noncitizen voting and suggesting the only reason Democrats oppose the idea is that ‘they want to cheat’ and ‘protect illegals’ voting rights.’ Department of Homeland Security officials, meanwhile, have put out mixed messaging regarding whether or not the department will consider this course of action.

“In reality, according to experts, instances of noncitizen voting are negligible and the presence of ICE agents at polling stations would be illegal, as it could intimidate voters into staying away and have a ‘chilling effect’. . .”

Read the full story at:

https://www.mediamatters.org/voter-fraud-and-suppression/right-wing-media-are-calling-ice-surround-polls-midterms

On the Radio – Listening for the Aether

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Article in Poynter by Amaris Castillo, 3/26/25

Headline:  “A quarter of US radio stations are religious, and most listeners aren’t tuning in for politics, study finds”

Subhead:  “The Pew-Knight study shows religious programming is nearly ubiquitous in the U.S. and often blends faith with lifestyle content”

“About a quarter of all AM/FM radio stations in the United States have a faith focus, and 98% of U.S. adults live within range of at least one religious radio station, a study from the Pew-Knight Initiative released Thursday found.

“The research found that while religion is a throughline, programming often interweaves lifestyle advice, conversations about family, parenting and education, and social commentary or discussions of politics and current events. Among listeners, 62% of those surveyed said they tune in because the content is “spiritually uplifting.”

“Most did not cite news and politics coverage as a core reason for tuning in. . .”

Read the full article at:https://www.poynter.org/reporting-editing/2026/christian-news-radio-united-states/

The Power of Radio!

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Article in Poynter by Tom Jones, 3/24/26

Headline:  “Opinion | Was a conservative radio caller behind the idea to send ICE agents into airports?”

Subhead:  “A suggestion from ‘Linda from Arizona’ on The Clay and Buck Show made its way to Fox News and, soon after, into White House policy”

“. . .So, where did President Donald Trump get the idea to send ICE into airports to help the TSA? It might have been. . .

“Linda from Arizona.

“Several media observers — including Semafor’s Ben Smith and CNN’s Brian Stelter — noted that a woman named Linda called into Clay Travis’ conservative radio show last Friday and made the suggestion to deploy ICE to airports.

“Linda told ‘The Clay and Buck Show,’  ‘I think I have a solution to the TSA problem. … We need to bring in ICE agents.’ Travis replied, ‘Linda, I have to say that’s kind of a brilliant idea.’. . .”

Read the full article at:

https://www.poynter.org/commentary/2026/ice-airports-radio-show-linda-arizona/

RSF Saving Public Media

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Article in Reporters Without Frontiers by Staff, 3/23/26

Headline:  “USA: RSF and allies file second lawsuit to save public broadcaster VOA“

“Following courtroom victories in a first legal case to save Voice of America (VOA), Reporters Without Borders (RSF) has joined a second lawsuit against the Trump administration to protect the international public broadcaster’s journalism. RSF’s first lawsuit established that the Trump administration’s attempt to dismantle VOA and its parent organization, the US Agency for Global Media (USAGM), was illegal. This second case intends to protect VOA’s legally mandated editorial independence and prevent Trump from turning it into a propaganda outlet. . .”

Read the full article at:

https://rsf.org/en/usa-rsf-and-allies-file-second-lawsuit-save-public-broadcaster-voa