Press Freedom

US Cuts Independent Media

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Article in The Nation by Rani Chor, 10/23/25

Headline:  “Independent Media in Cambodia Is Collapsing. Washington Made It Worse.”

Subhead:  “The Thai-Cambodian border conflict is just one of the many stories going underreported in the country as Trump’s funding cuts leave citizens and journalists scrambling.”

“. . .All the while, independent local journalists struggle to tell the stories of those in Run Ta Ek and across the country as funding for their reporting runs dry. . .”

“In January 2025, President Donald Trump signed an order to suspend foreign assistance—resulting in a devastating drop in funding for independent media, particularly in fragile or authoritarian contexts where support is most needed. . .”

Read the full article at:

https://www.thenation.com/article/society/independent-media-cambodia-usaid-budget-cuts/#

Public Radio Fallout

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Article in Freepress.net by Amy Kroin, 10/23/25

Hedline:  “The Defunding of Public Media Is Hitting Local Stations Hardest”

Subhead:  “The decision to end federal funding for public media in the United States already has local stations reeling. . .”

“A New York Times analysis found that 245 stations in rural communities were at risk of closure. That’s because rural stations were far more dependent on CPB funding than many urban stations, which often have a far greater range of underwriters and larger donor pools.

Rural stations have long served as a lifeline for local communities. At a time when media consolidation has decimated local news, public-media stations are often the only source of local journalism. . .”

Read the full article at:

https://www.freepress.net/blog/defunding-public-media-hitting-local-stations-hardest

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Article in NPR by Staff, 10/22/25

Headline: “How Funding Cuts Are Changing Public Radio”

“This summer, Republicans clawed back over a billion dollars that had been pledged to public media. . . . Now, many stations are weighing whether to spend their shrinking budgets on national programming from the likes of NPR, or to fund journalism on their local communities. . .”

Read the full article at:

https://www.npr.org/podcasts/452538775/on-the-media

Media Moving Day

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Article in Columbia Journalism Review by Ivan L. Nagy, 10/19/25

Headline:  “The Pentagon Press Corps Is Gone”

Subhead:  “As reporters for major news outlets turn in their government-issued press badges rather than accept new restrictions, some argue that the best military journalism is yet to come.”

“Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth’s demand that members of the Pentagon press corps sign on to restrictive reporting guidelines has prompted a mass exodus. Nearly all the journalists who had desks in the Pentagon pressroom have declined to sign, and left the building in a joint protest on Wednesday afternoon. . .”

Read the full article at:

https://www.cjr.org/news/the-pentagon-press-corps-is-gone.php

His Enemy, The Media

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Article in Reporters Without Borders by Partager, 10/18/25

Headline:  “Elon Musk attacks the media nearly three times per day on X”

Subhead:  “As the third anniversary of Twitter’s takeover by Elon Musk approaches — the social media platform was purchased on 28 October 2022 and renamed X — Reporters Without Borders (RSF) is releasing the findings from its analysis of the tech billionaire’s X. .”

” ‘The New York Times is pure propaganda.’ ‘Legacy media lies.’ ‘You are the media now.’ These are just a few examples of the anti-press rhetoric found in the 1,017 posts from Elon Musk’s X account — which has over 227 million followers — that RSF analysed, which comes to an average of nearly three attacks on the media per day. . .”

Read the full article at:

https://rsf.org/en/elon-musk-attacks-media-nearly-three-times-day-x

“We Don’t Need no Stinkin’ Badges”

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Article in The Guardian by Jeremy Barr, 10/15/25

Headline:  “Pentagon reporters have now turned in their badges – but plan to keep reporting”

Subhead: “Reporters who declined to sign new set of Pentagon rules had to clear out of world’s largest military headquarters”

“. . .Current and former Pentagon correspondents who spoke with the Guardian said that coverage would undoubtedly suffer from a lack of proximity to administration decision-makers – though many are intent on proving that the restrictions won’t stop the work, with some even saying they plan to take a more aggressive tack. . .”

Read the full article at:

https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025/oct/15/pentagon-press-reporting-policy

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Article in The Washington Post by Dan Lamothe, 10/15/25

Headline:  “Hegseth’s legal fixer at the center of Pentagon’s new media restrictions”

Subhead:  “Tim Parlatore represented the defense secretary when he faced sexual assault allegations, and also counts alleged mobsters and President Donald Trump as former clients.”

“Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth’s bid to impose sweeping restrictions on journalists’ ability to report at the Pentagon was orchestrated with advice from his longtime personal lawyer, whose role on Hegseth’s staff has troubled some defense officials. . .”

Read the full article at:

https://www.washingtonpost.com/national-security/2025/10/15/hegseth-media-restrictions-tim-parlatore/

Some Media Waking Up Now?

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Article in The Guardian by Edward Helmore, 10/13/25

Headline:  “US news outlets refuse to sign new Pentagon rules to report only official information”

Subhead:  “Defense department policy requires outlets to vow not to obtain unauthorized files and restricts access to some areas”

“Several leading news organizations with access to Pentagon briefings have formally said they will not agree to a new defense department policy that requires them to pledge they will not obtain unauthorized material and restricts access to certain areas unless accompanied by an official.

“The policy, presented last month by the defense secretary, Pete Hegseth, has been widely criticized by media organizations asked to sign the pledge by Tuesday at 5pm or have 24 hours to turn in their press credentials. . .”

Read the full article at:

https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025/oct/13/defense-department-media-news-rules

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Article in The Washington Post by Scott Nover, 10/13/25

Headline: “News outlets broadly reject Pentagon rules before deadline for signing”

Subhead: “The Washington Post joined the New York Times, Newsmax and CNN in refusing to sign the restrictive new policy.”

Read the full article at:

https://www.washingtonpost.com/business/2025/10/13/prominent-media-reject-new-pentagon-rules-before-signing-deadline/

Local Journalism Gets it Right

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Article in Media Matters by Noah Howe & Pete Tsipis, 10/10/25

Headline:  “Right-wing media say Portland is a war zone under siege. On-the-ground coverage paints a different picture.”

Subhead:  “Local coverage has highlighted the peaceful nature of protests and the violent response of federal agents”

“Right-wing media claim that Portland’s protests against Immigration and Customs Enforcement show a city ‘under siege’ or ‘conquered by antifa,’ but on-the-ground coverage, by both national media outlets and local media outlets, has revealed the opposite.”

“Multiple local broadcast outlets report that protests are relatively small and peaceful, with many demonstrators ‘in pajamas, sharing pastries, throwing a frisbee, and playing board games’. . .”

Read the full article at:

https://www.mediamatters.org/fox-news/right-wing-media-say-portland-war-zone-under-siege-ground-coverage-paints-different

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Article in Columbia Journalism Review by Editors 10/10/25

Headline:  “Local TV News Does Good”

Subhead:  “Forget about the mergers and buyouts and executive leadership for a while. The local grunts keep breaking news.”

“. . .firestorm ignited by Porter’s [California Governor Candidate] reaction to Watts’s calm, sensible questioning was just one example of what has been a banner couple of weeks for the often overlooked foot soldiers of local television news. At a time when the national conversation about TV news has been dominated by anxiety about mergers and corporate politics and hostile takeovers, it’s reassuring to see the reporters on the ground continuing to do the kind of work that makes them indispensable to the communities they serve.”

Read the full article at:

https://www.cjr.org/laurels-and-darts/local-tv-news-does-good-porter-california-governor-fox.php

Court Defends Reporting

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Article in Free Press by Staff, 9/26/25

Headline:  “A Big Win for the First Amendment in Retaliatory Case Filed Against Journalist Timothy Burke”

“On Friday, Judge Kathryn Kimball Mizelle of the U.S. District Court for the Middle District of Florida dismissed seven of the 14 charges filed in the federal criminal prosecution against reporter Timothy Burke. . .”

“Prosecutors are seeking to convict reporter Burke for publishing unaired footage from the former Fox News talk show Tucker Carlson Tonight. Prosecutors are using the Wiretap Act, which prohibits ‘intercepting’ ‘electronic communications,’ in an attempt to convict Burke for finding and publicizing footage of, among other things, an antisemitic rant by Ye — formerly known as Kanye West — during a taping of Tucker Carlson’s since-cancelled Fox News show. . .”

Read the full article at:

https://www.freepress.net/news/big-win-first-amendment-retaliatory-case-filed-against-journalist-timothy-burke

Passed Time?

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Article in Daiy Kos by Alex Samuels, 9/26/25

Headline: “Broadcasters throw in the towel on censoring Jimmy Kimmel”

“Well, well, well … looks like Sinclair and Nexstar are bringing back ‘Jimmy Kimmel Live!’ beginning Friday. The broadcasters had yanked the late-night show last week over Jimmy Kimmel’s comments about the alleged murderer of conservative activist Charlie Kirk and the MAGA movement. . .”

Read the full article at:

https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2025/9/26/2345643/-Broadcasters-throw-in-the-towel-on-censoring-Jimmy-Kimmel?pm_campaign=front_page&pm_source=top_news_slot_4&pm_medium=web

 

 

Reporting Limitations at Pentagon

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Article in Status by Oliver Darcy, 9/25/25

Headline:  “Predicament at the Pentagon”

Subhead:  “News organizations face a looming deadline from Pete Hegseth’s Pentagon which is demanding they sign restrictive new rules, or risk being expelled from the building entirely”

Read the full article at:

https://www.status.news/p/pentagon-press-restrictions-pete-hegseth