Press Freedom

Rage Against Media by Computer!

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Article in The Daily Beast by Lauren Hartley, 8/31/26

Headline:  “MS NOW Star Torches Trump On-Air For ”Rage Posting’ Against NBC Host”

Subhead:  “The journalist sounded the alarm on Trump’s tendency to kill the messenger”

“MS NOW’s Peter Alexander blasted President Donald Trump on air on Monday, saying, ‘The truth is still the truth, and you deserve to know it, whether a president likes it or not.’
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“Alexander’s remark came after Trump attacked the journalist’s former colleague, Meet the Press host Kristen Welker.

“On Sunday, Welker said on D.C.’s local NBC station that there had been “mixed results” for Trump’s endorsed candidates. . .”

Read the full article at:

https://www.thedailybeast.com/ms-nows-peter-alexander-torches-donald-trump-on-air-for-rage-posting-against-nbc-host-kristen-welker/

“Meet The Press” Word Irks Trump?

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Article in Poynter by Tom Jones, 8/31/26

Headline:  “Opinion | Trump calls on the FCC to punish Kristen Welker — for accurate commentary”

Subhead:  “He once again called on federal regulators to punish journalism he dislikes, despite the FCC having no authority to do so”

“. . .President Donald Trump is calling on the Federal Communications Commission to do something that it does not have the authority to do. And why? Because he’s angry about something a journalist said on television.

“Prior to the airing of Sunday’s ‘Meet the Press’ on NBC, moderator Kristen Welker spoke with WRC-TV, the NBC affiliate in Washington, D.C.

“Welker pointed out that Trump is ‘going to loom large’ over the upcoming midterm elections. Then she accurately noted, ‘He, of course, has endorsed a slate of candidates in the primaries. He’s had some mixed results.’. . .”

Read the full article at:

https://www.poynter.org/commentary/2026/trump-kristen-welker-rebuke-punishment/

Only Approved-Speech Allowed?

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Article in The Atlantic by David A. Graham, 8/31/26

Headline:  “Trump Is Trying New Ways to Quelch Americans’ Press Freedom”

Subhead:  “The president’s latest attacks are dangerous, unconstitutional—and maybe self-defeating.”

Desensitization is one of Donald Trump’s most powerful tools: Through repetition, he acclimates Americans to troubling and dangerous ideas. Occasionally, though, his statements and actions are so outrageous that they can still provide a shock. . .”

Yesterday morning, Trump started off with a post on Truth Social demanding that the Federal Communications Commission do something about “THE FAKE POLLS USED BY OUR CROOKED MEDIA.” About 15 minutes later, he followed this with a long rant about Kristen Welker of Meet the Press, complaining that she had noted that Trump’s record in recent endorsements had been ‘a mixed bag.’ . . . ‘Because of this purposeful inaccuracy, she will be reported to the FCC for rebuke or punishment.’ . . .”

Read the full article at:

https://www.theatlantic.com/newsletters/2026/08/trump-new-attacks-american-press-freedom/688478/?utm_source=reddit&utm_campaign=the-atlantic&utm_medium=social&utm_content=edit-promo&utm_term=short

Report Problems, Get Fired

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Article in The Guardian by Robert Mackey, 8/27/26

Headline:  “Three journalists sue Pentagon after being fired from military news outlet”

Subhead:  “Three employees of Stars and Stripes, a government-funded news service, allege they were fired after reporting on USS Abraham Lincoln”

“Three journalists who were fired by the Pentagon from a US government-funded news outlet sued the Department of Defense in federal court on Thursday, arguing their dismissals were illegal and violated their first amendment rights to free speech.

“The three journalists were all employees of Stars and Stripes, which their court filing calls “the U.S. military’s independent news source since the Civil War with a long history of editorial independence, free from news management or censorship by military command”. . .”

Read the full article at:

https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2026/aug/27/journalists-sue-pentagon-stars-and-stripes

Why Are Cameras Off Now?

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Article in FAIR by Louise Liu, 8/26/26

Headline: “Networks Were Ordered to Stop Filming Trump—and They Didn’t Protest the Illegal Censorship”

” ‘Cameras off the president right now.’

“This direct command could be heard this weekend on the live broadcast of the Freedom 250 Grand Prix, an IndyCar street race orchestrated by President Donald Trump’s administration . . .”

“At one point, the presidential couple engaged in heated conversation—possibly regarding, some speculated (Mercury News, 8/24/26), the presence of Trump’s personal assistant Natalie Harp, with whom he has an unusually close relationship. As this discussion transpired, a terse command to the camera operator could be heard: ‘I need the cameras off the president right now. Cameras off the president right now. Turn the cameras.’. . .”

Read the full article at:

https://fair.org/home/networks-were-ordered-to-stop-filming-trump-and-they-didnt-protest-the-illegal-censorship/

Media Sharks Want to Feed

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Article in Poynter by Tom Jones, 8/24/26

Headline: “Opinion | Why the media has reason to focus on Natalie Harp story”

Subhead:  “Influential aide to President Trump who shapes information he receives wrote personal letters, defended him on social media after Jan. 6”

“Perhaps the most publicized name on the national political scene over the past couple of weeks has been Natalie Harp, the White House aide who never seems more than a few steps away from President Donald Trump.

“And there’s a good reason for all the attention and coverage she is receiving. . .”

Read the full article at:

https://www.poynter.org/commentary/2026/why-the-media-has-reason-to-focus-on-natalie-harp-story/

Latest Media Threats

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Article in Media Matters by Matt Gertz, 8/25/26

Headline:  “Checking in on Trump’s war on the press since his White House Correspondents’ dinner speech”

“Journalists assembled in Washington, D.C., sat impotently as the president delivered remarks that mixed empty platitudes about his “respect for your profession” with withering insults directed at individual reporters. The evening “was a public humiliation for the White House Correspondents’ Association”

“Since then – . . .”

“None of this seems likely to convince the WHCA to change course, and it’s unclear what if anything Trump could do to the press that would result in the rescission of his invitation for next year’s dinner. . .”

Read the full article at:

https://www.mediamatters.org/index%2Ephp/donald-trump/checking-trumps-war-press-his-white-house-correspondents-dinner-speech

Journalist Sources in Jeopardy

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Article in The Guardian by Jeremy Barr, 8/25/26

Headline:  “‘The day I disclose, my career is over’: the journalist facing an $800 daily fine to keep her sources secret”

Subhead: “If Catherine Herridge’s petition to the US supreme court fails, she’ll be on the hook for a daily fine until she discloses her sources – a case unsettling press freedom organizations”

“For 18 days this summer, veteran journalist Catherine Herridge walked to her Washington DC mailbox and dropped off a check for $800. The money was required by law to cover a judge-imposed sanction after she was found in contempt of court in 2024 for refusing to disclose her sources. It. . .”

The check drop is now on hold. The judge who issued that order, Christopher R Cooper, has since clarified that Herridge doesn’t need to pay the fine until she has a chance to plead her case to the supreme court, which she petitioned late last week. . .”

“‘Reporter-source confidentiality is the lifeblood of investigative journalism,’ said Seth Stern, chief of advocacy at Freedom of the Press Foundation. ‘Whistleblowers in a position to expose abuses won’t trust journalists to protect them, and won’t come forward, if they believe reporters will be threatened with financial ruin for not outing them in court.’. . .”

Read the full article at:

https://www.theguardian.com/media/ng-interactive/2026/aug/25/catherine-herridge-journalist-supreme-court

Media Blacklist?

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Article in The Intercept by Nick Turse, 8/24/26

Headline:  “Pentagon Spokesperson Admits There’s a Secret Blacklist of Journalists”

Subhead:  “When pressed about the Iran war, a CENTCOM press official threatened to put an Intercept reporter on a ‘list of people to disregard.'”

“U.S. Central Command maintains a secret directory of journalists who have been blacklisted by the press office, according to an official with CENTCOM public affairs. The disclosure comes amid a failed war in Iran, a ‘cover-up’ of U.S. casualties from that conflict, and repeated refusals by CENTCOM to address questions about civilian deaths in Iran, including the killing of a family recently disclosed by The Intercept.

“The CENTCOM official who revealed the existence of the list threatened that this reporter could be added to it for calling the command too often. . .”

Read the full article at:

https://theintercept.com/2026/08/24/pentagon-military-journalist-blacklist-press-media/

Journalists Have Right to Opinions

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Article in The Guardian by Jeremy Barr, 7/24/26

Headline:  “Washington Post ordered to reinstate opinion writer fired over Charlie Kirk posts”

Subhead: “Arbitrator determined the Post improperly fired Karen Attiah, a union-protected employee, over social media posts”

“An independent arbitrator has ordered the Washington Post to rehire the high-profile opinion columnist Karen Attiah, abruptly fired by the news organization last September over comments she made on social media about Charlie Kirk, the then recently killed conservative activist.

“On Monday, an arbitrator ruled that the Post had violated her rights as a union-protected employee and ordered the newspaper to reinstate her and compensate her for lost wages.

“ ‘This decision confirms what we’ve said from the start: I was doing my job as an opinion journalist, and doing that job is not misconduct,’ Attiah said in a statement. . .”

Read the full article at:

https://www.theguardian.com/business/2026/aug/24/washington-post-reinstate-karen-attiah